Combat Skills

Combat skills determine your effectiveness in battle. They’re split into primary (directly affect combat outcomes) and secondary (tactical and support) skills.

Primary Combat Skills

Skill	Effect
Evasion	Reduces enemy hit chance (not effective during station attacks)
Shield Modulation	Increases shield effectiveness
Attack Maneuvers	Increases your hit chance
Attack Tactics	Attack intensity — shields stripped per hit

Secondary Combat Skills

Skill	Effect
Repair	Repair efficiency (only at stations/planets with landing zones)
Boarding	Loot percentage when boarding a defeated ship
Escape Maneuvers	Chance to flee combat (reduced by counts!)
Pursuit	Prevents enemy from fleeing

Key Mechanics

Hit Damage Cap

Maximum hull damage per hit is 1.5, which requires a weapon value of 225.

Escape and Counts

Escape Maneuvers skill is reduced by approximately 1 point per count. At 100+ counts, escape becomes virtually impossible. This is the game’s punishment for aggressive play — the more you attack, the harder it gets to run.

Repair Limitations

• Repair only works at stations and planets with landing zones
• Repairing at your own station grants no skill gain
• Repair cannot fix structural damage

Combat Stance

Every ship has a defensive stance setting, changeable once every 12 hours:

• Attempt Escape — Try to flee when attacked
• Counter-Attack — Fight back when attacked

Skill Synergies

Offensive builds prioritize Attack Maneuvers + Attack Tactics + Pursuit (to prevent prey from escaping).

Defensive builds focus on Evasion + Shield Modulation + Escape Maneuvers (to survive and flee).

Balanced fighters need a bit of everything, which is why the skill cap makes pure combat builds a real specialization choice.