Every warship has five upgrade tracks of five levels each. Upgrades are bought per ship in the hangar, and each level makes the ship stronger without changing its shape. Upgrades show as a better-kept ship instead: polished plating in its own colours, brighter lights, more gun ports, a longer exhaust plume and a brighter shield bubble in battle. Most warships (41 of the 48) also wear a lit stripe in their civilization’s colour that widens with every upgrade level.
| Track | Per level | What you see |
|---|---|---|
| Hull plating | +12% hull per level | The plating is polished and stands a little clearer of the hull, in the ship’s own colours. |
| Shield emitters | +14% shields per level | A brighter shield bubble in battle. |
| Weapon cores | +10% primary and point-defense damage per level | Another glowing gun port on each flank. |
| Engines | +5% speed and faster boost recharge per level | A longer exhaust plume. |
| Reactor | +10% energy and ability strength per level | Every window and running light burns brighter. |
What to upgrade first
- Hull plating is the safest choice: more hull means more mistakes forgiven, and losing the flagship ends the mission.
- Weapon cores raise both your main gun and point defence, so every battle goes faster.
- Reactor matters on ships whose ultimate does the work (carriers, support ships, area-damage ships).
- Shield emitters shine on shield-heavy civilizations such as the Aurelian Concord and the Elder Conclave.
- Engines also speed up the boost recharge, which is how you dodge boss attacks.
Upgrades stay with the ship. If you switch flagships often, spread your credits; if you have a favourite, max it out first.
What a fully upgraded ship gains
At level 5 on every track, a hull carries +60% hull, +70% shields, +50% main gun and point-defense damage, +25% speed with a much faster boost recharge, and +50% energy and ability strength. That is why a fully upgraded starter ship beats a brand-new capital with no upgrades: buy a new ship for its role and its powers, not for its base numbers.
Upgrades and the rest of your build
- Mods multiply what upgrades give: a weapon-core ship with damage mods gains from both. Compare mods by their ★ fit score (see the mods guide).
- Doctrines trade one stat for another. Glass Cannon halves your shields, so shield emitters matter less on that ship; Swarm Lord makes your squads the damage, so the reactor and hull carry more weight. See doctrines and play styles.
- Fleet registry and mastery: every capital you buy adds a small bonus to its role’s stat for whichever ship you fly, and every mission you win with a ship raises its mastery. Owning many ships helps your favourite one too.
Spending order for a new ship
- Hull plating to level 2, so early mistakes do not end the mission.
- Weapon cores to level 2 or 3, so battles end before the enemy reinforcements arrive.
- Then the track that matches the ship’s role: reactor for carriers and support, engines for strikers, shields for vanguards, weapons for artillery.
- Finish hull and weapons before the harder difficulties (see difficulty and Threat).