This guide gives you information about all the ships and orbital structures that you can build in the game Stars in Shadows. There is a section for each type of ship/structure that opens up when you research a certain technology. Each section is formatted similarly, as specified below. Also in this section, you will also find a specification of all the notations used in this guide.

Each section starts with a description of the ship or orbital structure that is copied from the game.

Then comes some information that is nice to know about the ship or orbital structure.

• Sometimes I have some tips to offer and they are put in a bullet list like this.
  
• With one bullet for each tip.

The data table with all the specific information comes last in each section.

All the notations used in the main data table is described below.

If a specification is special for a race it is underlined in order to make it easier to spot.

The data table has a column with the symbol of each of the seven races. The column is filled with data if that race can build the ship or orbital structure in question. It not the column is removed. The races are:

Note: The Ashdar Colonials fighter squadrons now have one additional fighter per Hangar module.

Note: Tinkers are only available if you have the Legacy DLC.

The rows of the table are given in a specific order, but rows that do not add any data are omitted. Thus, some tables can be shorter than others. You will find the following rows:

These components are sometimes built-in. If so, they cannot be removed from the design of a ship class.

This heavily laden transport carries everything needed to start a settlement at a distant planet.

You need to use colony ships in order to form colonies in other star systems. Notice that the humans do not need a Space Station (or more correct, 1 Construction Module in orbit) in order to build colony ships, but everyone else do.

• You can settle other planets in star systems where you have a colony without using a colony ship. In these cases a project will show up in the build menu allowing you to form a new colony.
  
• When the colony ship is finished it will automatically be loaded with a colonist. This colonist is taken from the population of the colony that built it, which will have its population decreased by 1 unit (1 000 000 people). If you have more than one race living on the colony, the largest one will board the colony ship.
  
• You can manually remove the colonist from the colony ship to replace it with a colonist from another race if you like. Don't send out an empty colony ship, as it will not be able to settle a new planet without a colonist.

Heavily loaded transports capable of establishing a self-sufficient outpost inside a distant star system.

Use Outpost Transports to expand you empire without forming a new colony on any of the planets in the system. When you use an Outpost Transport at a planet it will be replaced with an Outpost orbital structure around that planet.

• While the metal cost of a colony ship and an outpost transport is the same, the construction cost of a colony ship is more than 4 times as high. Assuming you do not have a shortage of metal, using outpost transports to expand your empire is a better and quicker method than the slowly process of colonizing one planet in each system.
  
• An Outpost can be converted to a Space Station once you colonize the planet.
  
• If you keep your colonies away from the borders with other races by having a bunch of outposts in between, you can keep your colonies safe even if you neighbors decide to go to war with you. They work very well as a speed bump since the enemy has to destroy them and build one of their own or a colony in the system before they can move on further into your territory.
  
• Consider sending outpost transport to unexplored systems. If the system is not hostile you can claim it right away. If it is hostile, you will lose the outpost transport. All in all you will save a lot of time by sending out a lot of outpost transport in all directions.
  
• As long as you are at peace with your neighbors they will not build colonies in systems where you have an outpost, even if there are planets available without one of your outposts. So you only need one outpost in a system to claim the whole system as long as you are on friendly terms with your neighbors.
  
• Notice while the upkeep cost of an outpost transport ship is 1 gold, the upkeep cost of an outpost is 0 gold. So you only pay maintenance as long as you ship out your outposts, not for the ones you have set up.

This station is built into a fragment of an asteroid, and provided with engines so that it may travel on its own and enter or leave orbit at will.The mass of the asteroid itself provides additional armor protection. The station bay can be equipped with a Fuel Depot to create a re-deployable outpost, or a Constuction Module to support the construction of ships larger than light cruisers, or with any other station module.

Use Asteroid Outpost to expand you empire without forming a new colony on any of the planets in the system. Later when you colonize the system, you can let the Asteroid Outpost leave orbit to grab another system.

Notice: You can only build Asteroid Outposts on planets with a Debris Ring.

• The metal cost of a colony ship is almost twice that than of the asteroid outpost, and the construction cost of a colony ship is more than 3 times as high. Thus, using asteroid outposts to expand your empire is a better and quicker method than the slowly process of colonizing one planet in each system.
  
• If you keep your colonies away from the borders with other races by having a bunch of asteroid outposts in between, you can keep your colonies safe even if you neighbors decide to go to war with you. They work very well as a speed bump since the enemy has to destroy them and build an outpost or a colony in the system before they can move on further into your territory. You can even leave orbit and head for safety before the enemy arrives.
  
• As long as you are at peace with your neighbors they will not build colonies in systems where you have an asteroid outpost, even if there are planets available without one of your asteroid outposts. So you only need one asteroid outpost in a system to claim the whole system as long as you are on friendly terms with your neighbors.
  
• Notice that the Debris Ring requirement will force you to construct all of your asteroid outposts on your starting world for a long while.

These deep space transports make it possible to move colonists and their belongings from one star system to another.

Transports are used actively to transport colonists or ground units, or passively to transport food and trade goods. Active transport ships are on the strategic map and can be given orders just like ordinary ships, while the passive ones are in the trade pool moving food around or earning money. To make it easier to distinguish between a full transport carrying a colonist or a ground unit and an empty transport carrying nothing, all races use one ship image for a full transport and one ship image for an empty transport. In addition there is one design called Transport that when built gives you an empty transport ship, and another design called Troopship that when built gives you a transport ship carrying a single Tank/Hovertank/Battle Mech ground unit.

• If you do not want to send newly built transport ships to the trade pool manually, you can turn on the option "Assign New Transport to Trade". This will automatically move all the Transport ships you build to the trade pool, but all the Troopships you build will remain on the strategic map.
  
• You can recall empty Transport ships from the trade pool to the strategic map, but they will use 3 turns to arrive.
  
• Try to always have enough transport ships in the trade pool so that the first number is higher than the last number in the trade pool. If you have too few you will earn less money each turn. Worse, if you have way too few transports some of your colonies will starve as the capacity to move food around will be too low.
  
• Notice that Phidi need a Space Station (or more correct, 1 Construction Module in orbit) in order to build a Transport ship. Also notice that they are more fragile and more expensive compared to the other races. Try to minimize the number of Transport ships you build as you will get a more efficient model in the Trade Ship once you have researched Containment Fields.

A trade ship has additional cargo capacity as compared with an ordinary transport.

While every race can research Containment Fields, only Phidi get the possibility to build trade ships. Once trade ships are available they make the ordinary transport ship more or less obsolete; at least after a few modifications (see the first tip).

• Notice that the trade ship as it is when you have just researched Containment Fields is actually more expensive than two ordinary transport ships. To make it usable you need to redesign it and do the following:
  
  1. Get rid of the armor
     
  2. Replace the reactor with the Nuclear Reactor
     
  3. Make sure that the two Hold hardpoints are filled with Cargo Pods and not Armor Brigades
     
  4. Remove the module from the second System hardpoint.
• An alternative to having the second System hardpoint empty is to add a Science Stations module to it. This will increase the production cost by just 20, while the metal cost will not increase at all. In my opinion much worth it to get +2 Science for every trade ship you build.

The armed merchant combined cargo capacity with some moderate defensive capability.

While every race can research Heavy Hulls (and get access to cruisers), only Phidi get the possibility to build armed merchant ships. Notice that this ship comes with an integrated Warp Lane Amplifier.

• This ship will be a very expensive trading ship, thus the Hold hardpoint should probably be filled with and Armor Brigade module.
  
• Because of the integrated Warp Lane Amplifier this ship can be ideal for attacking weakly defended enemy colonies that are just outside of your Strategic Range. A single ship will be able to conquer newly formed colonies, while a pack of them can be used to take down mature enemy colonies.

Assault Cruiser:
A fast, heavy cruiser designed to deliver assault marines into action against enemy ships and planets.

Command Cruiser:
The command cruiser adds hangar capacity to a vessel with the other capabilities of a heavy cruiser. It is ideally suited to carrying assault shuttles for use in planetary raids.

Military Transport:
Landing ships transport infantry and other ground forces to the surface of hostile worlds. Designed to accompany the fleet's warship during a planetary assault, they carry heavy armor and ample shields.

All races except Yoral can research Docking Fields and get access to a military transport vessel. Gremak and Human have modified their designs to better match their unique abilities (see the tips for details).

• It is recommended to add Assault Shuttles to the Berth hardpoint even if it is possible to add fighters or bombers to it. The reason is that you will only get a few bombers or fighters compared to Hangar hardpoints.
  
• Assault Shuttles let you carry ground forces that can be used to invade the enemy colony once their defending ships have been taken care of. They can also be used to carry ground forces or colonists between your colonies if you like, but a regular transport ship is more suited to this task.
  
• Assault Shuttles also lets you perform boarding actions at a distance while in combat.
  
• If you add an Assault Marine ground unit (unique human unit) to the human Assault Cruiser, the crew is increased by 100 (doubling it from 100 to 200). This will make the Assault Cruiser ideal for boarding enemy vessels.
  
• If you add a Marauder Raider ground unit (unique Gremak unit) to the Gremak Command Cruiser (or any other vessel with troop carrying capacity), you will be able to Raid enemy colonies to capture slaves.

Scout cruisers are light warships, specifically desigend for long deployments, and outfitted with enhanced sensors and science sections.

The scout class is a specific class that is designed primarily for exploration. Although all races can research Interstellar Expeditions, only Phidi, Yoral, Tinkers, and Humans get access to scout ships. The two Ashdar races and Gremak use a special designed light cruiser for scouting. Orthin do the same, but use a special design for a destroyer instead of the light cruiser. Common for these designs is that they include the Deep Space Scanner module. It is this Deep Space Scanner module that enables you to find out data about a system without creating a colony or an outpost. The Deep Space Scanner is built into the scout class.

• If you play as any of the two Ashdar races, Gremak, or Orthin, you can refit the starting scout vessel once you have explored everything and make it a proper war ship.
  
• As I mentioned in the outpost transport section, an alternative to using scouts for exploration is to use outpost transports. Outpost transports discovers native races and special resources just fine even if they do not have a Deep Space Scanner module.

Small, swift warships designed to serve as scouts, pickets, or screening forces for the heavier battle line units.

Although all races can research Interstellar Expeditions, only Yoral get access to the Frigates class of ships.

• Frigates can only carry PD weapons, but their small size and high speed make them ideal for protecting your larger and slower war ships. They can move in close to the ship they want to protect or in front of it so that all incoming missiles, torpedoes, and small crafts must survive their PD weapons before they can hit the target.

Destroyers are small, swift warships designed to serve as scouts, pickets, or screening forces for the heavier battle line units.

All races can build destroyers and they are the smallest and cheapest regular war ship available. They can be built without the need of any orbital structures, i.e. they do not need any Construction Modules in orbit.

Light cruisers are typically deployed for patrol or anti-piracy operations, however, they can also provide critical fire support to the main line of battle.

All races except Phidi and Orthin can also build Light Cruisers when they research Advanced Metallurgy (in addition to Destroyers). Light Cruisers are decent small war ships.

• Notice that Yoral and Tinkers can equip their light cruisers with heavy weapons.

One of the first dedicated carrier designs, escort carriers are cheap to produce and carry a respectable fighter complement. However, they're also slow and lightly armored, making them easy targets for faster moving destroyers or enemy fighter strikes.

Only Ashdar Colonials can research Escort Carrier.

• The strength of the Escort Carrier is not its stats, but the fact that it can be researched early. It allows you to use small crafts in battles earlier than the other races.

Essentially a mobile torpedo magazine strapped to a destroyer keel, the torpedo destroyer offers a big anti-ship punch in a small package.

Only Phidi and Yoral can research Magazine Bays and get access to the torpedo destroyer. While the Phidi torpedo destroyer is good, the Yoral version is a beast with 16 missile slots. Being essentially destroyers, you do not need any Construction Modules in orbit to build these ships.

• When playing Yoral you can use the torpedo destroyer as your primary weapon for a long time.
  
• Instead of using torpedoes, consider using missiles instead. Missiles are faster and you get twice as many. Even if their damage is less than half compared to torpedoes, it is easier to overwhelm the point defense of an enemy when you are using missiles. Since the travel time is much shorter they will often arrive at the target 1 or 2 turns earlier than torpedoes.

Advanced Destroyer:
Destroyers are small, swift warships designed to serve as scouts, pickets, or screening forces for the heavier battle line units.

Heavy Destroyer:
Destroyers are small, swift warships designed to serve as scouts, pickets, or screening forces for the heavier battle line units.

Only Yoral can research Miniaturization and get access to these two special destroyers. The Advanced Destroyer is an improved version of the Destroyer. Compared to the regular destroyer it has an extra hardpoint for 4 point defense weapons. The Heavy Destroyer is able to mount heavy weapons, which can be very powerful. Being essentially destroyers, you do not need any Construction Modules in orbit to build these ships.

Light carriers were one of the iconic designs of the old imperial fleet. While too fragile for the front lines, their high tactical speed makes them ideal for hit and run tactics.

Only the two Ashdar races can research Light Carrier and get access to the light carriers. Light Carriers are stronger than the Escort Carrier, but weaker than the regular Carrier.

Cruiser:
Mounting powerful weapons and thick armor, heavy cruiser form the core of most fleets.

Heavy Cruiser:
Mounting powerful weapons and thick armor, heavy cruiser form the core of most fleets.

All races can build Cruisers/Heavy Cruisers and they are the second regular war ship available.

Ashdar variant:
Essentially a light cruiser mated with two surplus battleship missile tubes, the Ashdar missile cruiser is more vulnerable than most cruisers. However, its launch capability is unrivaled by any other ship in its class.

Tinkers and Human variant:
A light hull purpose built for long range missile duals, missile cruisers are fragile but dangerous combatants.

Only the two Ashdar races, Tinkers, and Humans can research Missile Cruisers and get access to the Missile Cruiser. Missile Cruisers come with the Extra Munitions module prebuilt, which make them able to fire missiles for a longer time (typically 1-2 turns) than other ships.

• Notice that the built-in Extra Munition module can be both a blessing and a curse. It gives you 10 more missile ammunition, which is good, but if the ship is destroyed it will explode damaging nearby ships, which is bad if the neighboring ships are yours...

Escort cruisers are specialized designs, intended to provide cover from enemy fighters and missiles.

All races except Phidi and Humans can research Escort Cruisers and get access to the Escort Cruiser. Notice that Yoral do not need any Construction Modules in orbit in order to build them.

Assault Carrier:
Carriers provide a mobile platform for fighters or bombers. Bombers can strike at the enemy battle line from a distance, while fighters excel at protecting friendly forces from enemy bombers and missiles.

Carrier:
Carriers provide a mobile platform for fighters or bombers. Bombers can strike at the enemy battle line from a distance, while fighters excel at protecting friendly forces from enemy bombers and missiles.

Fleet Carrier:
The largest vessels produced by the old Empire, each fleet carrier is a valuable strategic asset in its own right. While their true power lies in their fighter squadrons, heavy armor and ample energy weapons make them capable of defending themselves at close range.

All races can research Carriers and build (Assault/Fleet) Carriers. They are the third regular war ship available to all races.

The largest vessels produced by the old Empire, each fleet carrier is a valuable strategic asset in its own right. While their true power lies in their fighter squadrons, heavy armor and ample energy weapons make them capable of defending themselves at close range.

While every race can research Carriers (and get access to (Assault/Fleet) Carriers), only Phidi get the possibility to build Heavy Carriers. Heavy Carriers are the only extra war ships that are available to Phidi, in addition to the 5 core war ships. The other extra ships that Phidi get are either focused on trade or transport of troops.

The hull used for the Orthin gunship was originally designed as a mobile high-energy physics laboratory, intended for conducting dangerous experiments in the relative safety of deep space. When the need arose, this test vessel was repurposed as a mobile weapons platform.

Only Orthin can research Stupendous Energy Physics and get access to the Gunship. Gunships are a modified destroyers and do not need any Construction Modules in orbit.

• You can equip the Gunship with 3 Black Hole Generators in order to operate a single Stellar Surge Beam. This will make the ship very powerful, but keep it in the background as it is also very fragile.

Packed with weapons and designed to shrug of attacks that would vaporize lesser vessels, Battlecruisers are formidable fighters. However, their durability is reflected in their extremely high construction cost.

Only the two Ashdar races, Gremak, and Orthin can research Battlecruiser and get access to the Battlecruiser.

Battleship:
Packed with weapons and designed to shrug of attacks that would vaporize lesser vessels, Dreadnoughts are formidable fighters. However, their durability is reflected in their extremely high construction cost.

Dreadnought:
Packed with weapons and designed to shrug of attacks that would vaporize lesser vessels, Dreadnoughts are formidable fighters. However, their durability is reflected in their extremely high construction cost.

Gremak, Orthin, Yoral, Tinkers, and Humans can research Dreadnoughts and get access to the Battleship/Dreadnought. This ship is even stronger than the Battlecruiser.

The ultimate development of warship design, super-dreadnoughts dwarf more convential capital ships. In addition to sheer size and formidable defenses, they can mount nearly every imaginable type of weapon systems, from conventional weapon mounts to fighter hangars to superheavy siege weaponry.

All races can build Super Dreadnoughts and they are the fourth regular war ship available. Super Dreadnoughts are really strong and can often battle enemy fleets and invade enemy colonies singlehandedly.

Artificial moons designed for deep space combat. Each carries armaments sufficient to match a small fleet of conventional warships.

All races can build Dread Stars and they are the last regular war ship available. Dread Stars are insanely strong and can normally battle large enemy fleets and invade enemy colonies singlehandedly.

Space Stations are required to build ships larger than light cruisers.

Note that Phidi have fewer crew their manning space stations than everybody else, thus they are easier to capture.
Also note that Tinkers cannot build Space Stations. Instead, they may build Asteroid Stations.

• An Outpost can be converted to a Space Station once the planet has been colonized.
  
• Once you have researched Improved Solar Panels you can get rid of the reactor module from the design to make all your future space stations cheaper to build. You can add a Science Stations module if you like to get +2 Science for every space station you build, it is still much cheaper than keeping the reactor module.
  
• Do not remove the Construction Module from the design, since it is the reason why you able to build medium ships on planets with Space Staions.

Planets with the debris ring special have abundant materials in orbit, allowing for additional station construction options. Asteroid bases are the simplest of these -- both cheaper to construct than traditional Space Stations, and with the added protection of the natural built-in armor of the asteroid itself.

• Once you have researched Improved Solar Panels you can get rid of the reactor module from the design to make all your future asteroid stations cheaper to build. You can add a Science Stations module instead if you like to get +2 Science for every asteroid station you build. It is still much cheaper than keeping the reactor module.
  
• Do not remove the Construction Module from the design, since it is the reason why you able to build medium ships on planets with Space Staions.

This orbiting shipyard reduces the production cost of starships and stations to 70% of their base cost. Unarmed and unarmored, shipyards are tempting targets for raiding fleets.

You need a shipyard in order to build the largest ships in the game.

Note: As Tinkers, you should not build a single Shipyard. Build Mobile Bases instead. They are cheaper and you get access to them earlier in the game.

• You should modify this design once you research Shipyards as its default design probably comes with a much better reactor module than you need. All you need is the Nuclear Reactor. This will make all your shipyards a little cheaper.
  
• Do not remove the two Construction Modules from the design, since they are the reason why you are able to build large ships on planets with a Shipyard.

This mobile station platform provides double the station bay capacity of the Asteroid Outpost, though it lacks the added protection and cost-saving features. On the positive side,
it does not require ready access to a debris belt, and so can be constructed at any colony.

Only Tinkers can build Mobile Bases.

Note: As you can fit two Construction Modules in a Mobile Base it can replace the Shipyard. It is a much better alternative than the Shipyard since it is much cheaper and you get access to it earlier in the game. Remember that you need two Construction Modules in order to build the largest ships in the game.

• You should modify this design once you research Orbital Construction as its default design probably comes with a much better reactor module than you need. All you need is the Nuclear Reactor. This will make all your mobile bases a little cheaper.
  
• Remove the armor to reduce the cost of mobile bases significantly.
  
• Do not remove the two Construction Modules from the design, since they are the reason why you are able to build large ships on planets with a mobile base.

A Star Base is an armed space station designed to better protect orbital infrastructure. In addition to built-in capacity for weapons, small craft and defensive systems, its station bays can support construction facilities or additional military options.

Notice that the production cost of weapons added to hardpoints on star bases are reduced to 50% compared to normal ships. The metal cost is also reduced, but only to 80%.

• After you have researched Improved Solar Panels it is possible to create a very cheap science station by removing everything and adding only 4 Science Stations modules. This will generate 8 Science each turn for every science station you build.
  
• If you have a Star Base with a Construction Module, it will enable you to build medium ships at the planet. Thus it can replace the Space Station in systems that needs protection as well as ship building capabilities.

Fleet bases are mammoth orbital constructs designed to supply and support large scale military operations. In addition to extensive repair and construction capabilities, they also mount heavy armor and a range of offensive weapons.

Notice that the production cost of weapons added to hardpoints on fleet bases are reduced to 50% compared to normal ships. The metal cost and the power requirements are the same compared to normal ships.

• If you have a Fleet Base with two Construction Modules, it will enable you to build all ship sizes at the planet. Thus it can replace the Shipyard in systems that needs protection as well as ship building capabilities.

This massive structure makes it possible to move instantly from one star system to another, provided both star systems have a gate.

Notice that the Stargate in the home system of the Ashdar Imperials is special. It can send any ships to any system in one turn as long as it is within strategic range. Also note that Ashdar Imperials can research Star Gates at game start and for a very low research cost.

• After you have researched Improved Solar Panels it is possible to create dirt cheap star gates: Just remove everything, it will still work as a star gate. You can add a Science Stations module if you like to get +2 Science for every stargate you build, it is still dirt cheap.
  
• Remember that it is possible to move colonists through the star gate as well as ships. Thus, once you get a new colony, you can use the first turn to build the stargate (if you don't already have a stargate in that system) and then fill it up with colonists from around your entire empire the next turn.

This special design controls the configuration of all planets with 1 .
Planetary Defenses () represent fixed fortifications being maintained on the surface of a planet. Planetary defenses can be upgraded at any time by editing the "Planet Denfeses" design in the Edit Design screen. One unique defensive design template is shared by all planets with the same number of defensive improvements. Thus, editing the "Planet Defenses 1" design will set the weapon loadout used by all planets with exactly one .
Maintaining becomes increasingly expensive as more are built. The upkeep for the first costs 3 gold, but the second 4 gold, and the third 6 gold.

Notice that are not ships but improvements that you build on your planets. They just use a ship design to specify how they are equipped. Also notice that the construction cost of the improvement does not depend on how you set up the Planet Defenses 1, Planet Defenses 2, or Planet Defenses 3 designs.

• It might be a good idea to dedicate one of the hardpoints to a PD weapon in order to handle incoming missiles, torpedoes, and small crafts. A medium weapon can be used to achieve this but it does not fire automatically as PD weapons do.
  
• You should consider using missiles or torpedoes as your offensive weapon in the other hardpoints since your supply of ammunition is endless. Missiles and torpedoes also have an unlimited range, thus they can always find a target to fire at.