Fleet Building

A fleet should be built for the job. The same ship mix will not be equally good for spying, raiding, defending, trade, siege, and conquest.

Ship roles

Combat ships provide attacking power. Defender ships are better for holding ports. Spy Ships gather information. Trade Ships move resources. Fire Ships pressure Port Defenses. Flagbearers turn successful attacks into conquest pressure.

The mistake is treating every ship as part of one generic fleet score. A Spy Ship that prevents a bad attack may save more than a warship. A Trade Ship can be the difference between a stalled upgrade and a finished one. A Carrack may be more valuable sitting at home than sailing in an attack fleet.

If the next decision depends on hidden information, build and use Spy Ships before adding more expensive attackers. Spying is part of fleet planning, not a separate chore.

Docks are the center of fleet management. Use the ship building view for new orders, the ship overview to understand what each ship is for, and ship activity to track what is building, moving, or returning. Queue space, resources, population, and unlocks all matter before a ship can be ordered.

Speed and timing

Fast fleets arrive sooner and are easier to use for quick raids or spying follow-ups. Slower ships can still be worth bringing when their role matters, but they change the timing of the whole mission.

Plan around the slowest ships you include. Fire Ships, Flagbearers, and heavy combat ships can turn a quick raid into a long commitment. That is fine for a planned siege or conquest push, but it is often wrong for a small opportunistic raid.

Cargo and loot

Cargo capacity matters when the goal is resource movement or loot. It does not replace combat strength, and it only helps if enough ships survive.

For raids, think about surviving cargo rather than listed cargo. A fleet that barely wins may have too little capacity left to bring home meaningful loot. If loot is the goal, bring enough combat strength to protect the cargo plan.

Specialist ships

Specialists usually need protection. Fire Ships need the fleet to win before siege value matters. Flagbearers need to survive for conquest pressure. Trade Ships should not be treated as battle strength.

Specialists are strongest when the mission is named clearly before launch. “Raid for resources” usually wants combat ships and cargo. “Damage Port Defenses” wants Fire Ships plus enough escorts. “Build influence” wants Flagbearers protected by a winning fleet. “Move resources” wants Trade Ships and a route plan, not a battle.

Flagbearers deserve extra planning. They are expensive, unlock later, and each additional Flagbearer at the same port becomes a bigger investment. Build them when a conquest plan is forming, not as casual fleet filler.

Stationed ships

Ships do not only matter when they sail. Defensive ships and spare combat ships make ports harder to punish. If all useful ships are in transit, a port can become vulnerable during the exact window when enemies are watching.

Station ships where the risk is highest: ports with full Warehouses, active Trade Routes, conquest pressure, or strategic map position. Safe interior ports can often run lighter defense than border ports.

Fleet planning checklist

Spy if the target is unknown.
Choose one main goal: information, loot, defense damage, conquest, support, or resource movement.
Check whether slow specialists make the timing unacceptable.
Keep enough ships at home for defense or emergency support.
Avoid using Trade Ships as casual attackers unless losing them would not hurt your economy.

Unlock planning

Docks progression opens many ship roles. Spy Ships let you gather information properly, War Galleons improve offensive strength, Turtle Ships strengthen defense, and Flagbearers make conquest possible when HQ progress is also ready. Trade Ships come through Trade Post progress, so logistics planning is tied to building choices outside the Docks as well.