Learn all about ships in the upcoming Web3 space 4x game from Ion Games and Gala Games!
The information contained in this document is subject to change with or without notice.
Ships
Ships are the primary tool that players will use to explore the world of EOE. Ships are vital to every activity you complete, from quests and galactic discovery, to PvP combat and mining expeditions. Every player will need to use ships in EOE to move forward and progress through gameplay. There are two primary types of ships that are used at the helm of every Fleet: Flagships and Capital Ships. While these two variations have a great deal of differences and similarities amongst them, their most important shared aspect is destructibility.
This commonality ensures that every commander will think carefully and strategically about which ships they send on a mission. Do I send ships I’m comfortable losing and risk failing the mission? Do I send my star Flagships knowing I may be brigaded by enemy players? These options are at the core of our ship design.
Capital Ships
Capital Ships are your standard fleet-leading ship. They come in all standard rarities (Common, Uncommon, Rare, Epic, Legendary), and have a level and tier, which are determined at manufacturing. Capital Ships have less statistical power than Flagships and one less module slot, but they are cheaper to manufacture, and therefore less risky to use.
Flagships
Flagships are the premium ship variation to use in your fleet. Because of their superior nature, their rarities are shifted up. There are no Common Flagships, and Ancient rarity Flagships can be manufactured. Flagships have significant statistical advantage over Capital Ships, can be outfitted with a Flagship-only module, and are tradable assets via the in-game Auction House. Although their power increase is large, it is more difficult and more costly to manufacture higher level Flagships.
Classes
Each ship, regardless of type, can come in one of 12 classes. 4 Classes fall under each Faction:
Garrison
- Commander
- Sniper
- Specialist
- Iron Dreadnought: Ancient Flagship Only
Royals
- Archivist
- Ambassador
- Guardian
- Resplendent Empress: Ancient Flagship Only
Arbeiters
- Geologist
- Surveyor
- Machinist
- Hulking Terraformer: Ancient Flagship Only
Stats
Each ship class has strengths and weaknesses that are reflected in its stat affinities. Many of those stat affinities relate to the Faction it comes from, and because of this, no one ship is strong in every stat category, and no one Faction can come out ahead in every aspect of the game. Players will need to work together with others who prioritize other Factions in order to be able to compete in all facets of gameplay. Stat Affinities are broken down into the following categories:
Discovery
- Movement
- Reconnaissance
- Diplomacy
Combat
- Defense
- Attack Power
- Agility
Collection
- Harvesting
- Storage
- Questing and Commerce
Construct Blueprints (CBs)
Since ships are all destructible, players will need to manufacture new ships each time one is destroyed. In order to manufacture a ship of any kind, you will need a Construct Blueprint (CB). Each CB will have its own parameters that dictate how it can be used, and what it will make. For example, an Epic Commander Flagship can only be manufactured using an Epic Commander Flagship CB.
Every CB can only be used to manufacture a single asset at a time, so having multiple CBs is necessary to optimize your throughput. Some CBs also have a limited number of uses. Once the use limit has been reached, the CB will be destroyed. As a safety measure, all players will have access to tier 1 Common Capital Ship CBs. This way, you can always manufacture a new ship, even if you lose all your ships and all your resources.
Manufacturing Flagships
To manufacture Flagships, players must use Flagship Construct Blueprints (Flagship CBs). Flagship CBs are unique in that they have unlimited Flagship manufacturing capability. Flagship CB owners will always be able to manufacture new Flagships for their personal use, and depending on the model, some owners will also be able to manufacture tradeable Flagships as well.
Manufacturing Capital Ships
Capital Ships are manufactured using Capital Ship CBs. Capital Ship CBs are in-game items that can be earned via gameplay like quests and daily missions, or purchased from vendors and the Auction House. Most Capital Ship CBs will have limited uses and will be destroyed once all the uses have been depleted. Some Capital Ship CBs can also produce a random result. For example, a rare Garrison Capital Ship CB has a random chance to produce any rare Garrison ship.
Manufacturing Capital Ship Construct Blueprints
Flagship CBs also have the unique ability to manufacture Capital Ship CBs. This means that Flagship CB owners can create and sell both Flagships and Capital Ship CBs to other players via the in-game Auction House. Capital Ship CBs purchased this way will typically be the most efficient for players since Flagship CB owners can manufacture Capital Ship CBs of a specific rarity, tier, and level. Capital Ship CBs earned as rewards for gameplay, or purchased from NPC vendors will typically have lower limits, produce more randomized results, or start at a lower level and tier.
Progression
Progression for ships is attached to the Construct Blueprint that manufactures the ship. Every CB will have a level and tier. Level increases are completed instantly via XP books, and can continue to be completed until the max level within that tier is reached. Once the max level is reached, players can perform a tier upgrade which costs power cores (Flagships only), refined resources, and time to complete. Once the tier upgrade is completed, the CBs stats increase dramatically and the level cap increases.
Keep in mind that Capital Ship CBs have limited uses, so after those uses are depleted, the Capital Ship CB and its progression are destroyed. Because Flagship CBs have unlimited manufacturing capability, Power Cores are required to tier up Flagship CBs. Power Cores are earned via manufacturing and using your ships in the game world.
Because one of our primary design goals is strategic optionality, CBs can also manufacture ships of lower tiers than its current max. For example, if a player has a tier 5, Rare Ambassador Flagship CB they could choose to use their Flagship CB to manufacture a tier 2 Rare Ambassador instead of the max tier they’ve reached. Players may wish to do this because the cost to manufacture lower tier ships will also be lower, reducing the risk and loss if the ship is defeated before completing its task.
Flagship Construct Blueprint Models
Flagship Construct Blueprints will be sold in the Gala Games store (date TBA). There will be 5 model classifications of Flagship CBs: Ancient, Origin, Mk2, Mk3, and Mk4 Flagship CBs. Each Flagship CB model will have slight variations in utility, with Ancient and Origin models having the highest utility and the lowest inventory. Flagship CBs will be released one ship at a time, in order of model classification. Once each model has sold out, we will not sell that model again in the future.
Ancient Flagship CBs
Ancient models are the top tier of all Flagship CBs. Their utility is completely unmatched because these Flagship CBs can not only manufacture Ancient Flagships, but they can also manufacture any Flagship within the same Faction, all while producing ships faster than any other Flagship CB. Ancient Flagships also have the strongest module in the faction, leading to major competitive advantages in combat, discovery, and collection.
Origin Flagship CBs
Origin models are the cream of the crop for all non-Ancient rarity Flagship CBs. These Flagship CBs have uncapped manufacturing capability both for personal and tradeable ships. Origin NFT owners will essentially be able to continually build and trade Flagships and Capital Ship CBs with other players in order to help maintain an economic advantage for as long as they own the NFT Flagship CB. Flagships manufactured via Origin NFTs will also have a unique module designed specifically to suit the strengths of that Flagship.
Mk2 and Mk3 Flagship CBs
Mk2 and Mk3 Flagship CBs still retain unlimited personal manufacturing capability, but they do have an upper limit on their tradeable manufacturing with Mk2s having a higher limit than Mk3s. Mk2 and Mk3 Flagship CBs also produce Flagships with the same unique module associated with the respective class, however with each higher model, the power of the module decreases.
Mk4 Flagship CBs
Mk4 Flagship CBs will not be sold until the game releases, and will not be limited in inventory, however they lose all tradeable manufacturing capability and the unique Flagship module seen on Mk2 and Mk3. Mk4 Flagship CBs also have slower manufacturing speeds than all other models. While their primary utility is worse than the other prior models, Mk4 Flagship CBs still retain the ability to produce an unlimited number of Flagships and Capital Ship CBs for personal use. Mk4s one unique trait is that they can be burned in exchange for Dark Matter Power Cores, which allows players to instantly increase the tier of another Flagship CB while circumventing the level requirement.
Below you can find an infographic of all of the Flagship CB models and their various utility traits:
See you soon with more exciting updates from the Echoes of Empire team!