Odonari Hive
ODO · Stealth
"The swarm does not conquer. It consumes."
Overview
The Odonari did not develop through technology. They developed through biological perfection.
Their civilization is a collective — a Hive Mind where every individual is part of a greater intelligence. They know no nations, no politics, no individualism. Only expansion. When their world became too small, they adapted organisms for space travel. Their ships are not built. They are grown.
In battle, the Odonari attack as swarms: fast, numerous, and relentless. They are invisible on scanner until it's too late. By the time your sensors detect the incoming fleet, it's already on top of you.
Race bonuses
| Bonus | Value |
|---|---|
| Fleet ETA | −1 tick on all fleets |
| Research speed | +15% |
The −1 tick ETA bonus applies to every fleet you send, every time. This compounds significantly over a season — your ships arrive faster for every attack and return home faster after. Combined with faster research, ODO hits key milestones before other races and strikes before enemies can prepare.
Race research branch
ODO's own research branch (see Research — Race branches) sharpens the cloak and the surprise:
| Tier | Research | Ticks | Cost (Ti / Si / Ur) | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Phase Hulls | 20 | 6 000 / 6 000 / 0 | +1 agility on cloaked hull types |
| 2 | Ghost Signatures | 30 | 12 000 / 12 000 / 1 500 | +3 blocker levels against enemy intel scans |
| 3 | Decoy Beacons | 40 | 20 000 / 20 000 / 4 000 | One decoy fleet every 72 ticks — no Spymaster commander needed |
| 4 | First Strike | 52 | 30 000 / 30 000 / 8 000 | Cloaked ships fire before initiative in round 1 |
What each research does
Four Odonari hulls are cloaked: Stinger (Fi), Reaver (Co), Broodleach (Co) and Mantis (Fr). Phase Hulls and First Strike work on these four only. Your Leviathan Beetle, Scarab and Hornet are not cloaked and are not affected.
- Phase Hulls gives +1 agility to your cloaked ships, so enemy guns hit them slightly less often. It is added after any commander agility bonus.
- Ghost Signatures adds +3 blocker levels whenever someone runs an intel scan on you (planet, military or fleet scan). The scanner's chance to succeed drops, and more of their scans fail. See Scanning & Intelligence.
- Decoy Beacons lets you send a decoy fleet once every 72 ticks without a Spymaster commander. A decoy looks like a real fleet to enemy scans but carries no ships. If you do have a Spymaster with the T3 decoy, the commander's faster 48-tick decoy is used instead. The two do not stack.
- First Strike changes who shoots first. Normally ships fire in initiative order: lower number first, with PDS at 1–2 and the fastest battleships at 3–4. In round 1 your cloaked ships get initiative 0, so they fire before everything else on the field, PDS included. Whatever they destroy in that volley never gets to shoot back in round 1. From round 2 they return to their normal initiative (Mantis 7, Reaver and Broodleach 8, Stinger 9, minus any Tactician bonus).
In practice: First Strike pays off most when your fleet has many cloaked ships and the enemy has fragile ships that would otherwise fire before you. Phase Hulls and First Strike stack: your cloaked ships are harder to hit and fire first in round 1.
Combat identity
ODO's defining feature is cloaking. The combat lights — Stinger, Reaver, Broodleach and Mantis — are invisible to enemy scanners. An enemy planet doesn't see the fleet coming until it arrives — which means no time to call allies, no time to evacuate, and no time to prepare a counter-attack.
ODO ships are the cheapest and fastest to build in the game. The strategy is volume: flood the battlefield with cheap, fast, invisible ships that overwhelm defenses through sheer numbers.
The weakness is armor. ODO ships are fragile individually. A UEC Pegasus with 24 flak guns aimed at fighters is a direct counter to an ODO swarm — it can tear through hundreds of Stingers per round.
Strengths: - Cloaked Fighters, Corvettes, and Frigates — invisible to scanners - Cheapest ships in the game - Fastest fleet arrival (−1 tick ETA) - Faster research unlocks advantages early
Weaknesses: - Lowest armor per ship - Fragile under concentrated fire - Counter-building (Pegasus, scan enhancers) reduces their advantage - Destroyers and above are not cloaked — and neither are the capture ships (Orbital Pod, Brood Carrier)
Ships
Combat ships
| Ship | Class | DPS | Armor | Cloaked | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stinger | Fighter | 8 | 23 | ✅ | Cheapest combat ship in the game |
| Reaver | Corvette | 27 | 55 | ✅ | Assassin — targets corvettes first |
| Mantis | Frigate | 68 | 115 | ✅ | Cloaked predator, hunts frigates |
| Hornet | Destroyer | 145 | 185 | — | Fast, aggressive |
| Scarab | Cruiser | 372 | 330 | — | Cruiser-hunter |
| Leviathan Beetle | Battleship | 800 | 610 | — | Cheapest battleship |
Support ships
| Ship | Class | Role |
|---|---|---|
| Orbital Pod | Fighter | Steals orbitals after a won battle (not cloaked) |
| Brood Carrier | Frigate | Heavier orbital transport (not cloaked) |
Changed since S2: the capture ships are no longer cloaked. Only the combat lights carry cloak — an incoming orbital grab is visible on scanners like anyone else's.
Targeting chains
ODO uses an assassin targeting philosophy. Ships skip past light targets and hunt their own class or above, letting the swarm handle the small stuff while heavier ships punch at equal or higher tiers.
| Ship | Primary → Secondary → Tertiary |
|---|---|
| Stinger | Fighter → Corvette → Frigate |
| Reaver | Corvette → Fighter → Frigate |
| Broodleach (raid) | Fighter → Corvette → Frigate |
| Mantis | Frigate → Destroyer → Corvette |
| Hornet | Destroyer → Frigate → Cruiser |
| Scarab | Cruiser → Destroyer → Battleship |
| Leviathan Beetle | Battleship → Destroyer → Cruiser |
The Leviathan Beetle is the game's first dedicated capital killer — its Bs → De → Cr chain hits enemy battleships at full effect, something no other battleship does. Bring it to the mirror match.
How to play ODO
Early game: Your −1 ETA and +15% research speed mean you hit key milestones before anyone else. Get to Frigate Engineering fast. Your Mantis frigates — cloaked, with assassin targeting — can hit neighboring planets before they have meaningful defenses.
Scanning: You can initiate orbital scans faster than most races thanks to your research speed. Build your economy up through protection. More orbitals = more silicon = faster scanning cadence.
Attacking: Always exploit the cloaking advantage. Send your fleets in the final seconds before a tick fires — your opponent won't see the incoming fleet until it's already resolving. Pair cloaked Mantis frigates with Stinger swarms for a layered attack.
Mid game: Your Hornet destroyer hunts destroyers first — it synergizes well with cloaked frgate swarms that have already softened the target. Continue producing Stingers in volume for cheap fleet mass.
Late game: Your Leviathan Beetle is the cheapest battleship in the game. You can mass them faster than any other race can mass their equivalents. Volume is your advantage — and at end-game, numbers matter.
Defending: ODO is not a strong defensive race. Your ships die fast individually. The best defense is keeping your fleet active — don't let a large ODO fleet sit idle at home. Keep attacking; it's both offensive and defensive pressure.
Matchups
vs UEC: UEC's Pegasus is your biggest threat — 24 flak guns targeting fighters will tear through Stinger swarms. The counter is to not send swarms into a Pegasus-heavy fleet. Use Mantis frigates (which target frigates, not fighters) or overwhelm with sheer volume before they can field many Pegasus.
vs ATH: ATH's Arc corvette (EMP) freezes your Reavers. ATH's Volt frigate freezes your Mantis. But your ships are cloaked — if ATH can't scan you coming, they can't position their fleet to maximize EMP. Speed and cloaking are your best tools against ATH.
vs STC: STC steal-ships target your ships for capture, not destruction. Your cheap, fragile Stingers and Reavers are exactly what STC wants — they cost STC nothing to convert into their own fleet. Volume helps, but only up to a point: the more ships you field, the more potential captures. Cloaking is your real defense — STC can't board what they can't find. Strike fast, withdraw fast, never let your fleet sit in scan range.
vs The Void: A favorable matchup. ODO swarms excel against Void's quantity-over-quality fleets. Cheap cloaked Stingers and Reavers can stripmine nebula garrisons cost-efficiently. Watch out for Cathedral (Cr) and Apex (Bs) in deep Dominion sectors — their per-shot damage shreds 23-armor Stingers. Bring Mantis and Hornet for the inner-ring fights.
Lore
The Odonari originate from a world covered in gigantic forests and organic megastructures. Their civilization never developed through technology — it developed through biological perfection.
Every individual is part of the Hive Mind. There are no nations, no politics, no ambition in the human sense. There is only the imperative of expansion.
When their world became too small, they did what they had always done: adapted. Organisms were evolved for vacuum survival. Ships grew from biological material. The Hive extended into space the same way it had always extended across its homeworld — relentlessly, invisibly, and in overwhelming numbers.
They don't understand diplomacy. For the Odonari, the galaxy isn't territory to be negotiated over. It's sustenance to be consumed.
Documentation reflects Orbitarion v4.6.0. Last updated: 2026-10-13.