Raids

A raid is an automatic alien assault on one of your asteroids. Wealthy, exposed colonies attract attention; well-defended ones are largely left alone. Raids are setbacks, not empire-enders — you never lose an asteroid, and downed dwarves always recover (see /dwarves/status-needs). For the round-by-round resolution rules shared with expeditions, see /combat/overview.

v0.16.0 note. “Resistance is Useless” introduced a second, station-layer assault system — Sector Raids — where hostile fleets attack your sector stations (not individual asteroids) while you’re online, and your turrets, plating and garrison feed a sector defence strength. This page documents the original per-asteroid colony-defense model; see the Sector Raids page for the newer station-defence layer.

When Raids Happen #

The raid scheduler evaluates each of your asteroids once per minute. The chance of a raid that minute is:

raidChance = baseRaidChance(sectorTier)
           × wealthMultiplier(colony value)
           × sectorHazardModifier(active traits)
           × galaxyRulesetModifier
           × (1 − defenseRating / 300)        // strong defenses suppress raids

A minimum gap of 30 minutes of real time is enforced between raids on the same asteroid — raiders never strike the same rock twice in that window.

Base raid chance by sector tier #

Higher-danger sectors carry their own elevated base rate before any other multiplier. See /world/sectors for sector tiers and traits.

Wealth multiplier #

“Colony value” is your credits plus an estimated value of your stockpiled resources. The wealthier you are, the bigger the target you present:

wealthMultiplier = 1.0                              (value ≤ 5,000)
                 = 1.0 + (value − 5,000)/10,000 × 0.5   (above 5,000)
                 = capped at 3.0×

Sector & galaxy modifiers #

Sector hazard traits stack multiplicatively on top of the base chance — for example pirateActivity sharply raises raid frequency, while the Military Outpost station specialization in a sector pushes hazard modifiers back down (see /infrastructure/stations). Galaxy rulesets reuse their expedition-risk modifier here too, so high-risk galaxies such as The Crucible raid harder (see /world/galaxies-rulesets).

Defense suppression #

Your defense rating directly reduces raid frequency. It is the sum of every installed defensive item on the asteroid:

defenseRating = Σ(turret tier × 10) + Σ(plating tier × 5)     // capped at 300

At the 300 cap, the (1 − defenseRating/300) term drives raid chance toward zero — stacking defenses is the single most effective way to be left in peace.

Threat Scaling #

Wave count and size by wealth #

How many waves and how many enemies you face scales entirely with colony wealth:

Wave 1 fields a single enemy group; later waves field two. Boss enemies only lead high-wealth waves (Wave 3+, threat tier 4+).

Enemy faction by sector #

Which enemies show up depends on the sector tier and its traits:

Sector traits steer the faction too: ancientRuins / precursorCache favour Ancient Automatons; pirateActivity favours the Void Swarm.

Raids get harder over time #

Every raid you successfully defend raises that sector’s raid strength index by 1 (capped at 20). Each point adds +2 HP to all future raid enemies in the sector, representing increasingly determined attackers.

The Enemy Roster #

All raid-capable enemies appear below. Stats are damage per attack, flat mitigation, base accuracy and initiative. (★ denotes a boss.)

Void Swarm #

Fast, low-HP swarmers tied to ionTempests and pirateActivity.

Crystalite #

Crystalline lifeforms from deep asteroid pockets, tied to richVeins and derelictFleet.

Ancient Automaton #

Reactivated precursor war-machines, tied to ancientRuins and precursorCache.

Several enemies also appear in expedition encounters; see /combat/equipment for the exploration-only roster and loot.

Warning & Telegraph #

Whether you see a raid coming depends on your Sensor Array (see /infrastructure/stations and the defense-building catalog in /combat/equipment):

A warning fires as a comms event. During the window you can rush dwarves into the Garrison, load turrets, or pre-activate a Shield Generator before the first wave lands.

How Defense Resolves #

Once a wave arrives, it is resolved with the shared combat model, with colony-specific rules:

1. Garrison dwarves are the active defenders. Off-duty and working dwarves are not auto-drafted — only those you assigned to the Garrison fight.
2. Turrets fight as extra combatants with their own initiative and attack rate, independent of any dwarf.
3. Enemy targeting priority: turrets > buildings > garrison dwarves. You must protect your turrets to keep them firing.
4. Building damage: unprotected buildings lose HP each round enemies attack them. At minimum HP a building becomes damaged (production halved) — never destroyed. Repair costs Credits and a little Steel.
5. Garrison turret bonus: each dwarf in the Garrison boosts all turret damage (+10% per occupant at Lv1, up to +22% at Lv5).
6. Shields recharge between waves, so a shield generator can soak each wave afresh.

Rewards for Defending #

Consequences of Failure #

A raid fails when every Garrison dwarf is Downed (remaining waves are skipped). The fallout:

• Resource loss: 10–25% of your lootable stockpile (iron, copper, steel, alloys, gold/titanium ingots, crystal) is taken. Credits take a lighter hit (roughly half that fraction).
• Building damage: affected buildings drop to ~10% HP and run at halved production until repaired.
• Dwarves Downed → Injured → Hospital as normal. None are ever lost.
• No sector loss. You keep the asteroid; the raid is a setback you recover from.

Defending Well — Practical Tips #

• Build the Armory first — it unlocks every turret, plating and weapon.
• Stack turrets and plating to raise your defense rating; at 300 it nearly shuts off raids entirely.
• Keep a Garrison manned — occupants both fight and amplify turret damage.
• Put a Sensor Array up so raids are scheduled with warning instead of ambushing you (important for an idle game you check periodically).
• Add a Shield Generator on key production buildings to soak a whole wave.
• A Military Outpost in the sector lowers hazard modifiers and softens raid frequency colony-wide (see /infrastructure/stations).
• Mind your wealth — sitting on a huge credit pile with weak defenses is what draws the biggest raids.

Implementation Status #

The raid scheduler, wave composition, sensor-warning system, shield absorption, building damage and failure/reward consequences are all implemented in 0.10.0 (client/js/systems/raids.js). Raid odds, intervals, wave sizes and enemy stats are flagged first-pass / balance TBD in the source and will be tuned.

See Also #

• /combat/overview — the shared resolution model
• /combat/equipment — turrets, plating, defense buildings
• /infrastructure/stations — Military Outpost, Sensor Array
• /world/sectors — sector tiers and hazard traits
• /dwarves/status-needs — the Downed/Injured pipeline