Fleetsaving
There is no player, no matter if he is ranked #1 or #5000, who can sit 24 hours in front of his computer and watch out that nobody steals his resources or kills his fleet – everyone has got to go to work, school, or at least sleep for a few hours. During this time, the account would be open to possible attacks without any protection, and for that reason, fleetsaving has become one of the most important aspects of OGame. That means dispatching your own fleet with all resources from a planet or moon during your absence, because fleets cannot be attacked while they are flying. But killing fleets is a very lucrative business, so you have be smart when fleetsaving and it is important that you have to pay attention to choose the correct method. For this reason we created this guide, which should help you with this problem, in order that you do not have to learn from your own mistakes or casualties.
Do I really have to fleetsave every day ?
You should not think of fleetsaving as a consequence, but rather you should plan it well, so that you will not suddenly wake up one day without your fleet, which you have spent time and resources on building. Of course, it can happen sometimes, that you are in a hurry and you are pinched for time – but especially then, faults will happen fast, which benefits your enemy. It is very important if you have the feeling that someone is zeroing in on your own fleet – e.g. if there is a new colony of a strong player in your own system, or if you are spied on often. You also have to watch out for keeping the same fleetsaving patterns. Sometimes change your fleetsave time and the position to which you dispatch your fleet, because if you always save exactly the same way, you will be a potential target for those players who will find out the flying time of your fleet very fast by such regularities, and your fleet will get crashed. Mainly this sort of interception is the biggest danger, where you have to be careful when fletsaving – but that also can be minimized with this tutorial. For more detailed information and tactics regarding fleetsaving have a look at our more advanced Fleetsaving Guide.
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Besides the best saving method, control is also to account for. This means precisely, after you have sent your fleet, you have look on the overview, if the fleet really returns at the time you want it to. Nothing is more infuriating than a fleet loss by a typing error with the coordinates, by the wrong speed or by the wrong mission. Furthermore, especially if you feel like being watched, it is advisable to stay on the account for a while. Most wait to fleetsave when they have to leave (which is logical), by doing that, the enemy can figure out the time you sent your fleet on a fleetsave without having to spy your planet.
What is the best way to save on a planet ?
At the beginning of a universe, when no one has a moon yet, the choice of saving possibilities is limited. But later, for example, if you fleetsave your fleet on a raid from a colony without any moon, you have to rethink this method. It is important and vital to know how much safety each fleetsaving method provides
Planet to Debris Field:
- This is a very simple method, which is very dangerous, which should only be used at the beginning of a universe, when nobody has a moon or a sensor phalanx. In this case, just send your fleet with at least one recycler to a close debris field and adjust the flying time, so that the fleet returns when you can be online again. By doing that you ensure that nobody can kill your fleet while you are away. But as soon as somebody has a phalanx in the immediate vicinity, this method to save is pure suicide, because the fleet can be intercepted easily.
Planet to attack(raid):
- If you do not have any recyclers at the beginning of a universe, or if you are ready to take a risk for a few more resources, you also can save via attacking a player. But you should only fly on inactive players or such, who are most likely not going to log on again, because someone else can give you a nasty surprise very fast. Nobody wants to log in after the fleetsaving action and notice that the fleet was killed during the attack. This option is more dangerous than fleetsaving to a debris field, because the fleet can not only be intercepted on the return path with the sensor phalanx (see Moon for more), but also by an ACS defend (see ACS) on the attacked planet.
Planet to planet deployment:
- Unlike saving to a debris field or via attack, this method will provide more safety even if there are players with moons near you. The requirements for that are two planets, which are relatively close together. Which is why you should not disperse your colonies in all different galaxies at the beginning of the game. Now you just send your fleet via deployment to the other planet, so that you are online when it arrives there. If an enemy tries to intercept the fleet, you just can call it back and let the attack run into emptiness. Alternatively, you can also call back your fleet anytime, so that it disappears from the dangerous phalanx – however, also take care that the fleet arrives back to the original planet when you are online again. The problem of this alternative is, that if you use it regularly, the time of return can be calculated. That can cause a loss of your fleet via intercepting (blind phalanx), but in this case, it will only be used for big fleets because of deuterium costs (from using a phalanx).
The best saving methods with a moon
The minute you have one or more moons, fleetsaving can become much easier and safer. Because moons cannot be scanned by a sensor phalanx, the fleet movement on a moon is not obvious to enemy players. Thereby you are provided some comfort, but secure options of saving your fleet are given.
Moon to debris field:
- Since moons cannot be scanned by sensor phalanx, you can save more securely on a debris field. Although only a few players will bother, this method is still far from absolute safety. Experienced fleet hunters will watch debris field you send your fleet to, and can start an interception by observing the harvest time (Blind phalanx hit).
- This is the reason why some players use so-called shadow waves – they first send one or more single recyclers to a debris field and let follow their fleet shortly after – so the enemy cannot know, which part of the fleet he has to intercept. If the distance between the single fleets is more short ( less than 20 seconds ), one shadow wave is sufficient to fleetsaving safetly, because the attacker is not able to observe the debris field meanwhile to find out the arrival time of the main fleet. It is advisable to send more recyclers instead of one. Because, if there is a really valuable fleet, maybe the attacker create a debris field with more crystal that can be harvested by a normal shadow wave (one recycler). Then the attacker will see when exactly the debris field will change, and he will, according to this, wait until the big debris field entirely disappears. Generally that means that the main fleet just reached/harvested the Debris field. But, if you send more equal recycler waves to the debris field, the attacker won't be able to figure out enough data fast enough.
- The most secure method is never letting the fleet arrive at the debris field. If the ships are recalled while they are flying, nothing will be changed at the debris field, even if the enemy keeps a close eye on you.
- Please note: Invisible debris fields will be deleted every week at night from Sunday to Monday (at ca. 1:30 am) and new fleets cannot be sent until there is a new debris field (just destroying a probe via attack there). They will not be deleted if a fleet flies to or from this debris field at the time. Especially if you have the option to save on a debris field, which you cannot uncover, you shall save it by flying on it at the deleting time, because they give you extra protection against losing your fleet from getting intercepted. Debris fields, which give you such advantage, are those of players, who are in the vacation mode or those on empty positions, which is still there if there was a planet. But also debris fields on planets of inactive players, on which there are no ships or defensive structures, will make saving much easier.
Moon to empty slot via colonization:
- Just send your whole fleet as well as a colony ship with all the resources to an unsettled position. If you are not able to colonize more planets, the colony ship will just return with the fleet and the resources. Other players are not able to notice the failed attempt to colonize, which makes this method very secure. But please note: if there is one free colony, the colony ship will subdue the planet and before it will return, the fleet will dump all resources.
Moon to moon via ACS defend:
- Here it is necessary, that you have a player which you can trust your fleet with. For fleetsaving you have to fly to his moon with the order to ACS defend. It is important, that the time of holding is 0, so the fleet could not be intercepted on the other moon. The only thing, what can be dangerous is your target moon getting destroyed or your friend betraying you.
Moon to moon:
- Everyone is lucky to have two moons close to each other, which is the most secure method for fleetsaving. Just send the fleet from one moon to the other; nobody can calculate the arrival and no phalanx can find it. But it is possible that a player destroys one or both moons, and intercepts your fleet – but it is associated with immense effort and risk, that is why it will be tried only if there is a desired target. And even in this case, when both moons are destroyed, you still can avoid an interception by calling back the fleet. This way, it disappears from the phalanx and flies securely back to the original planet.
What if I am intercepted anyway?
If your fleet is intercepted and destroyed, do not take it too seriously. OGame is after all just a game and it should not be a reason to flame other people and attack them verbally. The best choice is to ask the player about what you have done wrong, and avoid this mistake in the future, because every player and enemy has learned this way – also the enemy who just destroyed and crashed your ships. To speed up rebuilding your fleet, you can try to harvest the debris field of your destroyed fleet if the attacker did not harvest it yet.
