Frequently Asked Questions

General

What is Orbitarion? A tick-based space strategy MMO where you control a planet, build fleets, scan for orbitals, join alliances, and compete against other players across multiple seasons. Between ticks, you plan. When the tick fires, everything resolves simultaneously.

Is it free to play? Yes, completely. All game mechanics, all 38 ships across 5 races, every research branch, all of Nebula War, all of Orbital Dominion — fully accessible without spending anything. Premium is an optional subscription for quality-of-life features. See Premium.

What platforms is Orbitarion available on? Android and iOS. A web version is planned.

Is there a pay-to-win element? No. This is a hard line. Premium subscribers have zero gameplay advantage over free players. The battle engine, scan success rates, ship stats, and combat math are identical for everyone.

Gameplay

How often do ticks happen? Every 30 minutes in regular seasons. Every 5 minutes in Speed Rounds. Between ticks you plan your moves — queue ships, start research, send fleets. When the tick fires, everything resolves simultaneously. See The Tick System.

What's a Speed Round? A short test season (typically 1–2 weeks) with 5-minute ticks, run between regular seasons as beta tests for new engine features. Speed Rounds often include perks like free premium for participants. See Seasons.

How long is a season? Regular seasons run 4–6 weeks (about 1 300–2 500 ticks). Speed Rounds run 1–2 weeks. The exact end date is announced when the season starts.

What happens when a season ends? Winners are announced across three categories: best planet, best galaxy, and best alliance. Stats are archived permanently to stats.orbitarion.com, and the universe resets. Your Commander Career profile preserves your lifetime stats across all seasons.

Can I join mid-season? Yes. Late joiners are placed in a galaxy with an open slot and receive the same full personal protection (96 ticks) from their arrival. There is no penalty for joining late, though you do start behind on economy.

What are orbitals? Resource-producing platforms orbiting your planet. Each orbital generates Titanium, Silicon, or Uranium per tick. More orbitals = more income — and a bigger target. See Orbitals.

What are the three resources? - Titanium — ships, PDS, orbital initiation - Silicon — scanning, research, ships - Uranium — late-game ships (Destroyers and up)

Every orbital produces one of the three.

How do I get more orbitals? Three ways: scan for them (costs Silicon, requires Basic Sweep Sensors research), steal them from other planets after winning a battle (requires capture ships in your fleet — stolen orbitals arrive pre-initiated), or claim the orbital ad-reward (4-hour cooldown, gives +1 uninitiated orbital instantly — choose "orbital" from the 4 ad-rewards). Premium players skip the ad but share the same cooldown.

What are the rewarded ad rewards? Watching one rewarded ad gives you a choice of 4 rewards: orbital (+1 instant uninitiated orbital), resource (+25% income for 4 hours), production (next build runs at half ticks), or research (next research runs at half ticks). Picking one locks you out of all four for a cooldown of 4-8 hours depending on which you chose. Premium players skip the ad but share the same cooldown.

What is protection? Your first 96 ticks after joining a season, your planet cannot be attacked. Use this window to research Fighter Operations + Basic Sweep Sensors, start economy growth, and find your alliance.

Combat

Can I be attacked? Not during your 96-tick protection. After that, yes — but a sliding score floor prevents larger players from punching down. The floor scales with attacker size: 20% for small players, sliding up to 60% for whales (200M+ score). There is no upper limit — you can always punch up against a bigger target. The Void (NPC race) is always attackable regardless of score. See Scoring — attack rules for the full algorithm.

Can my fleet get wiped out? Not in PvP. The v2 battle engine enforces a 50% survival floor per ship type — no ship type in a PvP fleet can be reduced below 50% of its starting count. If your fleet loses ≥50% in the battle, it scatters and limps home over 8-12 ticks (locked from any orders during scatter). Against The Void (NPCs), there is no floor — Void fights play out by normal combat math, including total wipeouts if it goes badly. See Combat — Panic Retreat & Scatter.

What happens when I'm attacked? The battle resolves at the next tick. All your ships at home automatically defend, including ships you've organized into fleets (as long as they haven't departed). Afterward, check your Private News feed for the full battle log.

Can I stop an incoming attack? You can't stop a fleet once it has landed. Before it arrives, you can evacuate your own fleet to deny the attacker a clean kill — your ships survive, but you may still lose orbitals if their capture ships survive.

Can alliance members attack each other? No.

What is EMP? The Aetherians' Pulse, Arc, and Volt ships carry EMP weapons that freeze enemy ships instead of destroying them. Frozen ships can't fire that round and can be killed by allied kill-ships. EMP alone doesn't win fights — you need damage to follow up. See Combat.

What are capture ships? Capture ships steal orbitals from defeated planets after a winning battle. Each playable race has them:

UEC: Orbital Pod (Fi) + Atlas Transport (Fr)
ODO: Orbital Pod (Fi cloaked) + Brood Carrier (Fr cloaked)
ATH: Orbital Pod (Fi) + Conduit (Fr)
STC: Orbital Pod (Fi) + Infiltrator (Fr)

They have zero combat ability and must be escorted. See Combat — Orbital theft.

What's special about STC? The Sytherian Cartel captures enemy ships mid-battle instead of destroying them. Their Cutlass, Raider, and Black Frigate hijack target ships, which then fight on the STC side for the rest of the battle and are permanently added to the STC player's fleet. See Sytherian Cartel.

What is PDS? Planetary Defense Systems — stationary ground-based defenses that fight alongside your ships in any battle on your planet. There are 5 PDS classes (Pulse Laser, Plasma Turret, Ion Cannon, Orbital Strike Platform, Planetary Shield Generator), unlocked through the Defense Engineering research branch. See Planetary Defense.

Races

How many races are there? Five total, but only four are playable: United Earth Command (tank), Odonari Hive (stealth), The Aetherians (EMP), and Sytherian Cartel (ship-stealing). The fifth race, The Void, is bot-only — they appear as NPC garrisons in nebulae and Dominion sectors but are not playable by humans.

Can I change my race? Not during a season. Race choice is permanent for the season. You can pick a different race next season.

Which race is best for beginners? United Earth Command. Their ships are straightforward, their +10% armor bonus makes them hard to destroy, and the +20% construction speed accelerates your fleet building. Easy to learn, hard to wipe.

Which race is best for advanced players? Depends on playstyle: - STC for snowball-from-captures — high reward but the trickiest race to play well - ATH for alliance-anchor support — EMP frigates set up coordinated kills - ODO for fast strikes and swarm tactics — cheap ships, cloaking, but fragile

Alliances

How do I join an alliance? Through the Alliance tab in the app, or by connecting with players on the Orbitarion Discord. Many alliances recruit actively at the start of each season.

Can I create my own alliance? Yes. Anyone can create an alliance — no resource cost. You become the founder and can invite up to 49 other members (max 50 total).

Do alliances reset between seasons? The alliance entity resets, but the relationship doesn't — same Discord, same players, same coordination, fresh start in-game.

What are alliance tiers? Alliances earn Victory Points (VP) from Nebula War and Orbital Dominion. VP determines tier (Bronze → Silver → Gold → Platinum → Diamond). Higher tiers unlock more Dominion sector slots and free scans per member per day. See Alliances.

Where do alliances communicate? On Discord. There's no in-game chat. Join the Orbitarion Discord to find an alliance.

Premium

What does Premium include? Six premium-differentiated features: planned attacks (schedule fleet launches), no ads, push notifications for in-game events, avatar customization, theme customization, and badge customization. See Premium for the full breakdown.

Does Premium give any gameplay advantage? No. Zero. The battle engine, scan rates, ship stats, research speed, and every gameplay outcome are identical for free and premium players.

How much does Premium cost? $2.99 USD per month or $24.99 USD per year (about 30% savings yearly). Localized prices in your currency are shown in the app's Premium screen. See Premium.

How do I cancel Premium? Through the platform you purchased from — App Store → Subscriptions on iOS or Google Play Store → Payments & Subscriptions on Android. Cancellation stops auto-renewal; you keep premium for the remainder of your paid period.

Is Premium free during Speed Rounds? Often yes — Speed Rounds typically grant free premium to all participants as part of the beta test. Each Speed Round announces its policy on the sign-up screen and in Discord.

Account

Can I change my planet name? You choose a new planet name each season at sign-up. You cannot change it mid-season.

How do I delete my account? In the app: go to Settings → Profile, scroll to the bottom, and tap Delete My Account. Or email [email protected] from your registered email. See Delete Account.

How do I see my career stats across seasons? Visit stats.orbitarion.com and click your planet name in any leaderboard. Your Commander Career profile shows lifetime stats across every season you've played.

Why is race data hidden on the stats site during a live season? To preserve the in-game scanning mechanic. Knowing an opponent's race without scanning them would gut the Spymaster archetype and the entire scanning research tree. Race data unmasks across the archive when the season ends. See Stats.

I'm having a problem not covered here. Visit Support or reach out on Discord.

Documentation reflects Orbitarion v2.0. Last updated: 2026-05-29.