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This is an updated version of the FAQ, including more info than before. This FAQ covers what to do before you get a moon, how to get a moon, and what you can do with your moon.
Please look for the answer to your question carfuly amount the stacks of information, more than likely it is here. This is a tutorial/FAQ so that it clears up a lot of the recent questions regarding moons that were not answered by the previous FAQ.
All info in this FAQ is correct to the best of my knowledge, and is correct at time of posting.
Thinking of getting a moon?
1. First Steps
Initially you need to gain permission from a GO before you take a 'moonshot' or 'moonchance'. Just send them an email to let them know what your plans are. Include the information of who you are and who the other party involved is, the number of ships involved and the planned date for the moonshot.
When sending this email ask the GO for a response to make sure that you have their permission, some GO's may choose not to respond unless you ask them to. Having comfirmation from a GO will solve any future issues arriving from the moonshot. Eg. if you get banned.
2. After permission is gained
You will need to think about where you will be having your moon, the size that you would like your moon, and the amount of res that you are prepared to use to get your moon.
A moon is not just for christmas... you will be stuck with the moon that you have, it is not possible to delete it like a planet, once a moonslot over a planet is filled there is no way to remove it without sending RIP's to destroy it or by deleting the whole planet.
The size of a moon can be determined by the amount of res that you are prepared to spend to get the moon. Each moonchance is identifiable by a percentage factor. Each percent chance of getting a moon requires 100,000 units of debris to be created around your planet. This is done by either getting someone to crash a weaker fleet into your defence, or, by getting a stronger fleet to crash your fleet that sits on the planet surface. Each 100,000 units of debris will give a 1% chance of a moon appearing, with the maximum chance being at 20% (a meagre 2million of debris).
3. The legalities of getting a moon, make sure that you don't break the rules
Whatever % chance that you decide upon you need to make sure that you do not end up 'pushing' the other party involved. This is where they would make a profit from the moonchance.
If a stronger player crashes your fleet on your planet they are NOT allowed to harvest the DF.
If you send your fleet to a stronger player then they are NOT allowed to harvest the DF around their planet, as this would be pushing.
The ONLY exception to this is when you do an equal moonchance trade. Whereby you give each other the same percentage chance of a moon, in such cases you are usually permitted to harvest the DF that is abvove your own planet (Gain confirmation from the GO for this)
If a stonger player suffers losses while attacking your fleet, or while your fleet is attacking, you are permitted to refund the lossess and/or cover teh cost of the Deuterium to fly to you, all such actions need to be sanctified by a GO.
Making A Moon
Below I have included a list of percentage moon chances (5, 10,15 and 20) and the number and type of each ship that you can use to create it. Note that while the list is accurate it does not list the losses. Each listing creates the mimium loss to be able to create the neccessary DF, however some of the listings, such as the Cruisers will cause you more lossess in lost Deuterium used to build the ships, that is not put into the DF.
5% Chance
417 Small Cargo Ships
139 Large Caro Ships
417 Light Fighters
167 Heavy Fighters
62 Cruisers
28 Battle Ships
56 Colony Ships
105 Recyclers
1667 Espionage Probes
23 Bombers
16 Destroyers
10% Chance
884 Small Cargo Ships
278 Large Caro Ships
834 Light Fighters
334 Heavy Fighters
124 Cruisers
56 Battle Ships
112 Colony Ships
209 Recyclers
3334 Espionage Probes
45 Bombers
31 Destroyers
15% Chance
1250 Small Cargo Ships
417 Large Caro Ships
1250 Light Fighters
500 Heavy Fighters
186 Cruisers
84 Battle Ships
167 Colony Ships
313 Recyclers
5000 Espionage Probes
67 Bombers
46 Destroyers
20% Chance
1667 Small Cargo Ships
566 Large Caro Ships
1667 Light Fighters
667 Heavy Fighters
247 Cruisers
112 Battle Ships
223 Colony Ships
417 Recyclers
6667 Espionage Probes
89 Bombers
3334 Solar Satelites
61 Destroyers
1 Death Star
When you are successful you will recieve a note at the end of the CR that will read something along the lines of...
The enormous amounts of drifting metal and crystal particles attract each other and slowly form a lunar satellite in the orbit of the planet.
When a moon is created the DF still exists, meaning that it can be harvested.
Moonchance Probabilities
There are often questions about the chances of getting a moon with multiple attempts. The following is the clearest explanation that I have ever come across regarding the matter.
The "20% moonshot" events are independent, and any one of them has a 20% chance of creating a moon, independently of previous attempts. If you want to work out the chances of getting at least 1 moon in a number of attempts, you can do so as follows...
The chance of a moon *not* occuring is 80% or 0.8. (Probability of No Moon = P)
The only way that a moon will *not* occur in 2 attempts is if the first attempt does not create a moon AND the second chance does not create a moon.
P(NO MOON) * P(NO MOON)
0.8 x 0.8 = 0.64
So you can say using 2 attempts, there is a 64% chance of no moon, or a 36% chance of getting one by the end of the 2nd attempt.
For 3 attempts...
P(NO MOON) * P(NO MOON) * P(NO MOON)
0.8 x 0.8 x 0.8 = 0.512
Chance of no moon after 3 attempts is ~ 51%, chance of at least one moon by the end of 4 attempts is therefore ~49%.
The following table lists the chances of getting at least one moon by the end of so many attempts
1 attempt 20%
2 attempts 36%
3 attempts 49%
4 attempts 59%
5 attempts 67%
6 attempts 74%
7 attempts 79%
8 attempts 83%
9 attempts 87%
(100 attempts 99.999999979629640236655139137316%)
Taken from Moon Chances
Now I Own A Moon, What's Next?
1. Moon Size and Fields
Now that you have a moon you need to be aware of its size and max field spaces, this can be worked out using the following formula
(moonsize/1000) ^2
The size of the moon is totally random. A successful 1% chance could give a size of 5632km while a 13% could give 1200km. The exception is a successful 20% chance, this will ALWAYS give a moon of at least 8000km.
Moons start with one free field, this means that you need to build a Lunar Base first, when this is complete you will be given another 3 fields (using 1/4). If you want to expand a decent amount then you need to reserve one of these fields for the next Lunar Base, leaving 2 spare fields.
2. What Can I Build On A Moon?
Lunar Base's are the building that make the moon 'work', explained above.
Robotics Factory, this will shorten the time taken to build the buildings and any defence.
Shipyard, to build defence on moons. Note IPM's can't be fired at moons.
Resource storage, pretty pointless to build this as it has no use.
ACS Depot, only if ACS is in your Uni.
Phallanx, the main reason to have a moon. A device that will let you scan the surrounding planets for fleet activity that it arriving or departing at the planet. Will provide you with fleet consistency, time of arival and place of origin.
Jumpgates, provide you with a method of being able to move your fleet vast distances at litte cost. Needs to be used in accosiation with at least one other jumpgate owned by you.
3. What Order Do I Build Things?
This all depends on personal taste. Some people advocate that you should build only Lunar Bases and Robotics Factories until you reach lvl10 on both, and then build a Phalanx to lvl 6 or more, and a Jumpgate.
If you are an active crasher, or aspire to being one, then you should be thinking of getting the Phallanx up and running asap. If you are a more cautious player then you may think about getting some defence on the moon. Typically most gamers see defence on a moon as pointless, as it is ever so easy to fleetsave/res save with a moon, due to it not being able to be scanned by another moons Phallanx.
Below you will see two short build orders, these are by no means a definative answer. If you are still unsure about what to build after reading this then politely ask someone near you who has a moon for their advice too.
Defensive Build
Empty Moon(0/1 fields used)
Lunar Base level 1 (1/4 fields used)
Robotics Factory level 1 (2/4 fields used)
Robotics Factory level 2 (3/4 fields used_
Lunar Base level 2 (4/7 fields used)
Robotics Factory level 3 (5/7 fields used)
Robotics Factory level 4 (6/7 fields used)
Lunar Base level 3 (7/10 fields used)
Shipyard level 1 (8/10 fields used)
Shipyard level 2 (9/10 fields used)
Lunar Base level 4 (10/13 fields used)
Shipyard level 3 (11/13 fields used)
Shipyard level 4 (12/13 fields used)
Using a moon in a defensive capability includes wanting to fleetsave from it and having some defence to protect any res on the planet and the ships a little if you do get caught out.
Offensive Build
Empty Moon(0/1 fields used)
Lunar Base level 1 (1/4 fields used)
Robotics Factory level 1 (2/4 fields used)
Phallanx level 1 (3/4 fields used)
Lunar Base level 2 (4/7 fields used)
Robotics Factory level 2 (5/7 fields used)
Phallanx level 2 (6/7 fields used)
Lunar Base level 3 (7/10 fields used)
Robotics Factory level 3 (8/10 fields used)
Phallanx level 3 (9/10 fields used)
Lunar Base level 4 (10/13 fields used)
Robotics Factory level 4 (11/13 fields used)
Phallanx level 4 (12/13 fields used)
At level 4 you reach a useable distance that the Phallanx can scan, although it is strongly recommend that you continue to build this to at least a level 6. It is also advised that if you plan to have jumpgates then build the first one before you get your second moon, otherwise you will struggle a lot to complete either.
How Do I Use My Moon?
1. What is a Sensor Phallanx and how does it work?
A sensor phalanx allows you to scan any planet within range (range is [(level of the phalanx)² - 1] solar systems). When you scan a planet, you get a readout in a popup of all fleets going to and coming from that planet, similar to the overview screen of that player, giving the exact arrival times, and the fleet composition. The advantage of this, is a player can scan your planet, see your fleet on a mission, and time his fleet to arrive 2 seconds after at your planet, this meaning he will destroy it for sure. This is why it's vital to avoid being in phalanx range. Every scan with a sensor phalanx costs 5,000 deuterium.
2. What are Jumpgates and what do they do?
Jumpgates are hugely expensive buildings that can be built on moons. You need at least TWO jumpgates (and therefore TWO moons) for them to function. You can then send a fleet of as many ships as you like (but not resources, only ships) between the two jumpgates once per every 60 minutes, TOTALLY free. Jumpgate travel is instantaneous. You can only send fleets between two jumpgates that YOU own.
3. Fleetsaving
Assuming that you know what this is. With a moon you are able to fleetsave to a DF by including Harvesters in the fleet, while you are able to do this from a planet, when you do it from a moon the fleet is undetectable by Phallanx. The only vulnerable time is when it sits on your moon. This allows for some very handing fleetsaving over long distances. Having a moon in orbit also means that it takes approx 3 minutes for a fleet to travel to the planet at full speed and costing just a few 100 in Deuterium, even for a huge fleet. The advantages of this are covered just below.
4. Ninja's
If you have two moons you are able to set up Ninja's if you have jumpgates on both moons. Typically you need some bait to lure an attacker to attack with a decent sized fleet. When they are just about to hit the moon/planet, you can then send your ships through the jumpgate and catch them offgaurd. This technique is best used with a high level of espionage, this may have the effect of limiting the attackers view of your moon, thus not enabling them to see that you have a jumpgate. Naturally this means that you will need some form of defence to shoot the probes down.
Using the Phallanx you are able to see at what time a fleet will reach a certain planet. Armed with this knowledge you are now able to send your fleet to arrive at the planet (if they are returning home) just a matter of seconds after them, thus not allowing enough time for them to fleetsave. Alternativly you are able to defend someone with the same level of accuracy if you are on their buddy list.
This is the basic jist of a Phallanx Ninja, it is a little more intricate, and I would suggest that advice is sought from an experienced player, or small experimentations are made prior to a major Ninja attempt.
So are there any disadvantages?
1. Destroying Moons
Yes there are disadvantages. If you have an established colony and recieve a poor sized moon there is no way that you are able to 'delete' the moon. You would need to abandon the colony, or get a large player to destroy the moon with some RIP's.
Moon destruction with RIP's is a risky bussiness. There is not a huge chance that they will be able to destroy the moon and a very good chance that they will be destroyed in the attempt themselves. The chance of the Deathstar destroying the moon is worked out with the following formula
(100 - squareroot(moonsize)) * (squareroot(number of deathstars))
For ten Deathstars attacking a moon that is 8000km in size
(100 - 89.44) * 3.16 = 33.36
So a 33% chance of succeeding
At the same time as this there is a chance that the Deathstars will be destroyed by the moon, worked out by the following
(squareroot(Moonsize))/2
89.44 / 2= 44.72
A 44% chance that they will be destroyed themselves
If a moon is destroyed, all fleets going to the moon will go to the planet instead. If a moon is destroyed, you can get a new one at the same planet.
Misc Questions
1. When I mouse over a moon on the galaxy page, what do those numbers mean?
S:xxxx is the size of the moon in kilometers, and the T:xx is the minimum temperature of the moon (not useful for anything currently).
2. Can I get more than one moon, and would it be useful?
Of course, but not around the same planet. Two moons, especially in different galaxies, would be great - you can have phalanxes on both, giving you two large scanning areas, and jumpgates between them - it takes recyclers around 10 hours and 1.5k deut each to travel 2 galaxies at 100% speed, so free instantaneous travel quickly pays for itself.
3. Does the moon give extra points?
No, the moon does not give etra points. In fact if you have a moon you may have lost points as you would have had to loose fleets to get it, unless you get a larger player to suicide some of his ships into you.
With thanks to Naugus, Drew from the Uni5 Rampage alliance, ChowRitt, Bibob and various others. |
