Void Strongholds
New in v4.0. Each cluster now holds a tenth, Void-only galaxy — a stronghold. Nine Void planets that defend each other: attack one and you fight the entire galaxy.
Strongholds cannot be captured or colonised. They are the game's PvE raid bosses — you wear their strength down, everyone who did damage shares the breach reward, and the stronghold rebuilds.
The four tiers
One stronghold per cluster, at four difficulty tiers:
| Tier | Strength multiplier | Who it's for |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 0.5× | Early raids, small alliances |
| 2 | 1.0× | Mid-game fleets |
| 3 | 2.0× | Strong alliances |
| 4 | 4.0× | The endgame boss |
A stronghold's strength ceiling is scaled against the real players in the round — as they grow, so does the wall. Each tier measures against a different reference, so the four form a ladder from the pack to the top of the board:
| Tier | Reference fleet |
|---|---|
| 1 | Upper quartile of players' home fleets |
| 2 | 90th percentile of players' home fleets |
| 3 | Twice the 90th percentile |
| 4 | A quarter of the largest home fleet in the round |
ceiling = max(reference fleet, 50 000) × tier multiplier × living planets
The strength meter you see in the app is the galaxy's current fleet value as a percentage of that ceiling.
Attacking a stronghold
Send an ordinary attack fleet at any planet in the stronghold galaxy. The difference from a normal battle:
- The whole galaxy defends. Every neighbouring stronghold planet injects its defence into the battle as fixed installations. You never fight one Void planet — you fight nine.
- The injected defenders don't consume the neighbours' ships — the wall is worn down by killing the ships that live on the planets, attack after attack.
- Capture ships are pointless here (nothing transfers), but steal-ships hijack normally and every ship you destroy counts toward the breach ledger.
Your damage is tracked per attack window in a contribution ledger — the fleet value you destroy is your share of the breach payout.
Breaching
When the galaxy's strength falls below 40% of its ceiling, the stronghold breaks:
- Everyone who destroyed fleet value during the window is paid by attrition share — the player who did the damage gets paid, not whoever landed last.
- The payout, split by your share of the damage:
- antimatter: 10 × tier
- a share of the stronghold's stockpile — 10% of what its planets hold at tier 1, 15% at tier 2, 20% at tier 3, 25% at tier 4 (taken from the stronghold)
- commander XP: 100 × tier
- Breaches pay no Valor Points, so solo players and alliance members are paid the same way.
- The window then resets: the ledger clears and the stronghold rebuilds. It can't pay out again until it has climbed back above 40% strength.
Because the ceiling tracks the strongest players, a stronghold broken mid-season comes back harder than it fell.
Mobilisation — the stronghold hits back
While the Void is awake (the Void Awakens window), a stronghold at 80%+ strength can mobilise: every planet in the galaxy launches its whole fleet — everything except recon, Siphons and Engulfers included — at one target: the highest-scoring player within its reach.
- Within reach means a score between about a third of and three times the stronghold's own strength, at least 50 orbitals, not under protection, and not already under Void attack.
- The Void never attacks without capture ships: a stronghold with no Siphons or Engulfers does not mobilise.
- Mobilisations are at least 24 hours apart (48 ticks in a normal season).
- A mobilised stronghold has emptied its garrison: it is measurably weaker and breachable by attackers who couldn't touch it at full strength. The strike window after a mobilisation is the best time to hit one.
If you're near the top of the rankings during Void Awakens: keep a home fleet.
The stronghold nebula
Each stronghold galaxy has its own nebula, and it plays by different rules:
- Open to everyone — no alliance needed, no adjacency ladder: any slot, any time.
- Nothing to hold. Control never transfers; clearing a slot pays its instant reward, then the Void respawns. No holding VP accrues here.
- It is a fight arena, not territory — a place for solo players and small alliances to farm Void battles without the politics.
Quick reference
| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Strongholds per round | 4 — one per cluster, galaxy 10, tiers 1–4 |
| Ceiling | max(tier reference, 50 000) × multiplier × planets — references Q3 / P90 / 2×P90 / largest ÷ 4 |
| Defence | whole-galaxy injection — you always fight all nine |
| Breach threshold | strength below 40% of ceiling |
| Payout | 10 × tier antimatter + 10–25% of the stockpile + 100 × tier XP, split by damage share; no VP |
| Re-arm | Pays again only after rebuilding above 40% |
| Mobilisation | Void awake + 80%+ strength + capture ships aboard → full strike (all but recon) at the top player in reach, ≥24 hours apart |
| Colonisable | Never — stronghold galaxies are excluded from placement |
| Stronghold nebula | open to all, no adjacency, control never transfers, no holding VP |
Documentation reflects Orbitarion v4.6.0. Last updated: 2026-10-13.