Planet-based Scanners

More General Planet Topics

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A scanner is the planet's radar, giving you information about all objects within its range. There are several types of planet-based scanners, with different ranges for detecting fleets, mass packets, mine fields and wormholes, and different ranges for detecting the environment and mineral content of other planets.

You start the game with a basic scanner on your home planet. As you research areas that gain you new scanner technology, the new scanner types appear in the Production inventory.

To learn about each of the different planet-based scanners and the type of research required to attain them, open the Technology Browser (press F2) and choose Planetary from the drop-down menu.

The cost of building a scanner is fixed. Once you build a scanner, it will automatically be upgraded when your research allows you to build a better scanner.

A planet's scanner type and range appear in the Status tile.

Planet-based scanners are useful for detecting opponent's fleets that pass near or enter your empire. Only fleets that are cloaked have a chance of escaping detection. It's a good idea to build the strongest scanner possible on each of your planets, allowing you to fully cover all your space. You can reduce the chances of fleets sneaking past if you place scanners on all your planets. When you select an enemy fleet, the scanner will also show the estimated path of the fleet.

To view the area covered by your scanners, select the Scanner pane's Radar overlay. Your basic radar coverage appears in RED. Planet-penetrating radar coverage appears in YELLOW. You can also adjust the relative (not the actual) coverage to different percentages, showing your vulnerability to cloaked fleets.

Alternate Reality Races and Planetary Scanners

Races based on the Alternate Reality primary trait can not build planetary installations. Read more about how these orbit-loving nuts perform scanning.

Learn more about:

Scanning and Cloaking