How to Think Before an Attack: A Checklist for Fleet Building in War for Galaxy

In War for Galaxy, an attack doesn’t start with the "Send" button. It starts with a decision: which target you choose, what price you’re willing to pay, and which fleet you’ll use to complete the task. In space games, browser-based strategies, and space MMOs, it’s easy to be tempted by simple logic: more ships — better chances. But in War for Galaxy, a strong fleet isn’t necessarily the most expensive one. A strong fleet is the one built specifically for a particular battle.

One sortie is aimed at gathering resources, another for debris, the third to remove a threat from orbit, the fourth to support an alliance operation. In every case, everything changes: the makeup of the strike core, ratio of transports, need for reconnaissance, combat rating risk, and even the fleet’s return time. Thus, the main idea of this article is simple: an attack is a decision about risk, not a check of one nice number.

Conditional combat power helps roughly predict the outcome, but equal power doesn’t mean an equal fight. Different fleets penetrate armor differently, absorb damage with shields, use range, and execute firing sectors differently. Battles last until one side is destroyed or 10 minutes expire; if no winner is decided, there’s a draw. And a draw after an expensive sortie can mean a wasted hour, burnt fuel, and an unachieved goal.

It’s important to remember regular attack rules: you cannot completely destroy or capture another player’s regular planet. Upon victory, you can destroy ships and defenses, and take half of the planet’s resources. Combat rating is calculated by the Elo system: a win grants points, a loss takes points; the higher the opponent’s rating relative to yours, the greater the potential reward for victory.

Below is a practical War for Galaxy fleet building checklist. This is not a set of universal builds or a promise of guaranteed victory, but a system of questions for beginner and intermediate players: before attacking a player, pirates, or in an alliance strike.

Block 1. What Am I Attacking: Target, Recon, Profit, and Restrictions

Before building your fleet, first identify the scenario. The attack target dictates the composition and risk.

• Player Planet. It's a raid for resources, fleet destruction, or defense elimination. On victory, you take half the resources but ownership doesn't change. The key question: is the loot worth your losses, fuel, and rating risk?
• "The Seven." This term describes player planets that have been offline for seven or more days. It can be a convenient target but not free: you still need to check the fleet, defense, and resources.
• Pirate Fleet. Pirates give almost no combat rating but leave debris. You can’t scan them, so don’t plan espionage on pirates: composition must be judged by experience and system conditions.
• Alliance Planet. First clarify what exactly you are doing: a regular loot attack or a capture operation via Alliance multi-account. A personal raid and alliance war are different mechanics.

For player planets, ask yourself several questions: is there recent recon report, is ground defense visible, is there an orbital fleet, can the target evacuate resources, is there a risk of allied protection? A recon probe can be accidentally destroyed during a "Spy" mission—by debris on an empty planet or by enemy fleet—but the owner still receives the report. This makes scouting risky but extremely useful.

Also check for premium shields. They block scanning both ways: a shielded planet cannot be scanned, and its owner cannot scan others. The shield also blocks attacks and raids and can protect even from already sent attacks. If the target is shielded, the best fleet is the one that stays home.

The pirate logic is different. Pirate fleets refresh every 4 hours, and their composition depends on the average combat power of all inhabited planets in the system. In newbie systems, lighter opponents are more common; near strong players, far more dangerous compositions may appear. Don’t include the Marauder in your plan: it can’t participate in battles, isn’t destroyed when attacked on its home planet, and only performs "Theft" missions.

Block 2. What Will I Use to Strike: Fleet Composition, Defense Levels, and Class Roles

The second checklist block is composition. Don’t ask “which ship is strongest.” Ask: what covers light targets, what penetrates heavy ones, what works against defense, what supports the fleet against skills, and what hauls loot.

The main mistake is building an armada of one ship type. In battle, all ships of one type combine into a super-unit. Convenient for calculations but risky for builds: if your only big squad fails to penetrate the needed defense level or doesn’t use its weapons well, the entire attack fails due to one weakness. Conditional combat power matters: with fivefold superiority, the winner suffers almost no losses. But equal power may give different results due to armor, shields, hits, range, and composition.

Ship roles should be considered like layers:

• Fighter — light, fast combat ship. Conditional power 9, base speed 12,500, 15% chance to recover on victory. Good as mass units but shouldn’t be the sole answer.
• Assaulter — stronger than light layer; important where torpedoes are needed against defenses.
• Corvettes and Frigates — mid-level units: help cover gaps between light and heavy targets but depend on the enemy.
• Bomber — useful against defense, especially for breaking ground defenses and using "Hail."
• Destroyer — heavy tool for powerful targets, including lepton strikes.
• Galaktion — important against skill-heavy fleets: radio suppression can disable enemy unit skills and reduce attack.
• Colossus — huge strength and responsibility. Conditional power 28,000, armor 3,600,000, shield 500,000, base speed 100, cargo 1,000,000, fuel consumption 10,000, 85% chance of recovery on victory. Expensive, slow, vulnerable without proper support.
• Shuttles and Transports — needed for cargo tasks. They help haul resources but shouldn’t replace the strike core.

Check defense levels next. The game has three levels: 1, 2, and 3. Infrared lasers deal 100% damage to defense level 1 but only 16% to levels 2–3. Lepton weapons deal 100% to levels 1–2 and 52% to level 3. Ultraviolet and rocket weapons are generally more versatile but exceptions exist, so check specific armaments rather than general class names.

In summary: fleet composition is your answer to the goal. A good build doesn’t copy others but covers intel: light and heavy targets, defense, defense levels, skills, and cargo tasks.

Block 3. How the Battle Will Compute: Field, Sectors, Shields, and Losses

Even the right composition must execute within battle mechanics. The battlefield is a 20×20 grid. The attacker and defender each occupy 4 rows on opposite sides. All squads simultaneously check available targets and fire at those within weapon range. If after 10 minutes no side is destroyed, the battle is a draw.

Damage is absorbed first by shields, then armor. If a shot overkills one unit, residual damage transfers to the next unit in the squad. Thus, total stats matter and also how your damage distributes across ship groups and defenses.

Firing sectors are a reason why "expensive" doesn’t always mean "effective." Almost all ships have weapon placement by sectors and fire only at certain angles, except rockets. A ship may be dangerous from the front but weaker from sides or rear. The Colossus is especially fearsome when holding a target frontally in the main caliber sector. But if small ships attack from flanks or behind, part of its armament may not reach targets.

Defensive structures work differently: they are stationary but fire 360° and don’t depend on the front. Destroyed defenses can recover after the battle per their recovery chance. Ships recover only after victory, with recovery chances varying: e.g., 15% for fighters, 85% for Colossus.

Don’t forget energy domes. They don’t shoot, attack, or recover post-battle but absorb damage aimed at ground defenses. Important detail: energy domes protect defensive structures, not the planet’s fleet. So before attacking, ask: am I ready to pay losses even if victory is nominal?

Block 4. Can I Fly and Return: Logistics and Alliance

Fleet building isn’t only about damage. Before flight, check antimatter fuel, cargo bays, free fleet slots, return time, and need for transports. A ship’s fuel capacity always equals its cargo hold size, so holds serve for both loot and fuel reserve. A long-range raid may require not the strongest but the most viable composition.

Teleport helps prepare ops but doesn’t replace attacks. It allows instant redeployment of your fleets among your own planets equipped with Teleport. It cannot be used for attacks, scouting, or against enemy planets. Teleport takes a fixed 5 minutes, consumes no antimatter fuel, occupies one fleet slot, and can’t be cancelled after start. Fleets too large for the teleport level won’t launch; the system warns you.

If you can’t defeat the target alone, alliance coordination comes in. Joint attack is the only way to mass-join fleets in attack. The organizer selects "Joint Attack" mission; allies join via the alliance fleets window. The organizer must be the slowest participant; otherwise, slower fleets won’t arrive simultaneously.

Participant limit depends on the organizer’s Navigation level: max fleets = ⌊Navigation level / 5⌋ + 1. In battle, ships of the same type from all participants combine into one super-unit, and tech is weighted average proportional to ship counts. One upgraded ship won’t make the whole mass of weak allied ships strong.

Always consider possible target defense. "Defense" mission is only available between alliance members, and the defended planet must have a Refueling Base. Its level equals the number of allied fleet slots; without it, defense is impossible. Defense fleets stay in planet defense for up to 3 days (72 hours) unless cancelled earlier. For attackers, this means defenders may be multiple allied fleets upon arrival.

Final Pre-Attack Checklist: 20 Admiral’s Questions

Open this list before flight. If there’s no answer to a critical question, the fleet is not ready.

1. What do I want to gain? Resources, debris, rating, threat removal, alliance help, or territory?
2. Is the target available? Not shielded and truly attackable?
3. Are there recon data? Or is it a target that can’t be scanned, like pirate fleet?
4. Is the profit worth the risk? Regular attack doesn’t capture the planet, only loots part of resources upon victory.
5. Do I have enough damage against the target’s defense levels?
6. Is the fleet too homogeneous? One huge super-unit may have one huge weakness.
7. Are Bombers needed against defenses and energy domes?
8. Are skills a threat and is a Galaktion needed for radio suppression?
9. Will the battle stay within 10 minutes? Otherwise it’s a draw.
10. How many ships am I ready to lose?
11. What about combat rating? Depends on real attacks and defenses, wins and losses, not directly on buildings or research.
12. Am I just flying for a pretty report? Losses count too.
13. Is fuel and cargo enough?
14. Are fleet slots free for attack, return, recycling, or redeployment?
15. Are Collectors needed after battle? Debris doesn’t have fixed lifetime: it exists until recycled or server restart.
16. Are Collectors ready for "Recycle" mission? Other ships don’t recycle debris.
17. Where will the fleet return? Is the return planet safe?
18. Is there risk of allied protection for the target?
19. Am I confusing regular attack and capture? Regular attack on an alliance planet using personal account leads to standard battle with looting; ownership doesn’t change.
20. If capturing, is it via Alliance multi-account? Only Alliance multi-accounts can capture planets, only from other Alliances. Upon victory, the planet transfers to the attacking Alliance with buildings, defense, and infrastructure; the organizer’s fleet stays on the planet, joined fleets return to start planets.

Admiral’s rule: if target, composition, fuel, time, allies, and error cost aren’t calculated, the best attack is the one not sent yet.

Ready to test the checklist in action? Launch War for Galaxy in your browser or download the version from the download page. This is a galaxy game for those who love space combat games, spaceship games, browser strategy games, and online strategy games where the winner isn’t the loudest fleet but the best-prepared admiral.