Starbases

More about Orbital Devices

General Planet Topics

A starbase can be an orbiting shipyard (space dock), defensive station, and a platform for both a stargate and a mass driver. Before a planet can build ships, it must have a starbase with a space dock. Starbases stand in the way of attacks against the planet--your fleet must destroy the starbase before bombing can commence. Starbases with weapons always strike back and can initiate attacks against enemies in orbit.

A starbase can also carry cloaks, and thus can partially cloak itself from remote scans. Cloaking a starbase does not cloak the planet.

Your starbase is your primary defense against bombing and invasion by enemy fleets. Your planet can not be bombed or invaded as long as your starbase still exists. Defend it well.

In the Scanner pane, a starbase appears as a yellow or blue dot orbiting the planet. The Starbase tile describes a starbase belonging to the planet you're commanding. 

You can find details on a specific starbase hull design in the Technology Browser: press F2, click on the dropdown list and choose the Starbase Hulls category.

Building a Starbase

Build a starbase by adding it to the production queue. Like a ship, cost depends on the type and number of items attached to the hull. You'll find that a starbase hull is very expensive, so you'll need to plan how to afford it. You'll also find that hull parts attached to a starbase are 50% cheaper than the same parts attached to ship hulls, helping balance out the cost and making the replacement or addition of components easier to handle.

A planet can have only one starbase at a time. An existing starbase can be upgraded or replaced, with credit given for the recycled materials.

You'll have access to additional starbase hulls if you have the Improved Starbases trait.

Starbase Design

There are five starbase hulls, with slots for weapons, armor and other items:

♦        Orbital Fort -- No ship building capacity. These don't count as starbases in the score.

♦        Space Dock -- Ship building capacity: 200kT or smaller ships. This hull requires the Improved Starbases lesser trait.

♦        Space Station -- Unlimited ship building capacity.

♦        Ultra Station  -- Unlimited ship building capacity--more slots for weapons, shields and other components. This hull requires the Improved Starbases trait.

♦        Death Star – Top of the line orbital habitat for races based on the Alternate Reality primary trait.

For Alternate Reality races the starbase also determines their maximum population. Read more about these unusual Stars! denizens.

Upgrading a Starbase

You can upgrade a starbase by changing the hull or by adding or changing items in the hull slots. You receive full credit for the existing installation, paying only the difference between the old and new hulls. The upgrade appears in the production inventory, ready for you to add to the production queue when you wish.

Here's how the cost is determined:

If the hull changes:

♦        You receive a 50% credit for minerals and resources used in the original starbase.

If the hull does not change:

♦        Slots where the components don't change are free.

♦        Slots where only the count of the component increases cost only the component price multiplied by the number of additional items.

♦        Slots where the component type changes to a similar component are discounted in cost; the discount based on the closeness of the part types.

♦        Slots where the component type changes dramatically cost the full price of the new component. You will receive some minerals back if the old components are recycled.

Sorting Starbases for Easy Upgrades

1.        Press F3 to open the Planet Summary Report, then maximize it.

2.        In the report, sort (or reverse sort) by Starbase. Just click on the top of the Starbase column and selecting the sort. 

3.        In the report, find the first planet with a starbase design you want to upgrade.

4.        Click on the Production column for that planet. The Production dialog opens, showing the queue for that planet.

5.        In the Production dialog, double click on the new design listed in the production inventory (left-hand list).

6.        Click on Next. Notice that the Next and Prev buttons follow the sort order of the report.

7.        Keep adding upgrades for each planet until you've upgraded all that need it.

8.        Close the Production dialog and the report.

Learn about

Hull Design

Adding Items to the Production Queue