Guide 06: Fleetsaving Guide

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    • Guide 06: Fleetsaving Guide

      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 because of that 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 the absence, because fleets cannot be attacked while they are flying. But killing fleets is a very lucrative business, so you have to save very conscientiously and you first and foremost have to pay attention to choose the correct method. For this reason we created this compendium, 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 save every day?==
      You should not see saving as a necessary evil, but rather you should plan it advisedly, so that you will not suddenly awake one day without your fleet, which you have built tediously. 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. That is very important, if you have the feeling that someone watch 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 never falling for daily habits. Sometimes change your save 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 who will kill it. Mainly this sort of interception is the biggest danger, of which you have to take care during saving – 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>>.
      As you already know, under noob protection (up to 50k points for old universes or up to 500k points for new universes) your ships can be saved from other players attacks due to the tactical retreat feature. If one of your planets is attacked by a superior opponent, your ships can escape under certain conditions. Also, there is some important hints to take into account about this game function, listed below:
      *Power ratio of the ships involved is over 5:1 (if you have an Admiral officer working, you can set this ratio to 3:1 in the fleet menu page at "Tactical retreat" section.
      *Defensives structures are not taken into account for the ratio calculation.
      *Civil ships only count for 25% (rounded).
      *Tactical retreat runs automatically but it needs 1,5 times as much Deuterium available as the fleet would need for a flight to the neighbouring position. If there is a lack of Deuterium, no ship can retreat. After retreat the fleet is instantly available again.
      *Deathstars, Espionage Probes, Solar Satellites and fleets at ACS defend cannot retreat.
      Besides this temporary feature and the right saving method used, also the control is a useful element to avoid fleet loss. That means precisely, that after you have sent your fleet, you have to look on the overview, if the fleet really comes back to the designated time. Nothing is more infuriating than a fleet loss by a typing error with the coordinates, by the wrong speed or by the wrong mission. Especially if you feel like you’re being watched so it is advisable to stay in your account for a while after fleet saving. Most of the players defer the saving on the end of the playing time (logically), thus the enemy can value the possible time of dispatch without spying.

      ==How to save from a planet?==
      At the beginning of a universe, when you do not have a moon yet, the choice of saving possibilities is limited. But also later, for example if you deploy a fleet on a raid-colony without any moon, you have to go back to these methods. There it is important to know, what kind of safety each method provides.

      =====Planet – Debris Field:=====
      : This is a very simple method, which is very dangerous, and 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 – Attack:=====
      : If you do not have any recyclers at the beginning of a universe, or if you are ready to dare for a few more resources, you can also save via attacking a player. However you should only fly on inactive players who are in an inferior position because you can get a nasty surprise very fast that nobody wants to log in after the saving action and notice that the fleet was killed during the attack. This option is very insecure because the fleet can not only be intercepted on the return path with the sensor phalanx (see {{Link|Tutorial:Moon}} for more), but also by an ACS defend (see {{Link|Tutorial:ACS}}) on the attacked planet.

      =====Planet – Planet – Deployment:=====
      : Unlike saving to a debris field or via attack, this method will also be secure in some degree even if there are players with moons near you. The requirements for that are two planets, which are relatively close together. That is why you should not disperse your colonies in all galaxies at the beginning. 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 can recall it in fleet movement and let the attack run into emptiness or hit your defenses. Alternatively you can also recall your fleet anytime (before reaching the planet) so that it disappears from the adversarial phalanx, however take care that the fleet arrives back to the origin 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 interception, but with this, time and cost consuming method (phalanx/deuterium) will only be used for big fleets.

      ==The best saving methods with moon==
      The minute you have one or more moons, you can take the topic saving easier. Because moons cannot be scanned by a sensor phalanx which means the fleet movement on a moon is not obvious to adversarial players. Thereby some comfortable, but secure options of saving your fleet are given.

      =====Moon – Debris Field:=====
      : Since Moon/Debris Field cannot be scanned by sensor phalanx, you can save more securely on a Debris Field. But, although only fewer players will bother, this method is still far from absolute safety. Seasoned fleet hunters will look after the Debris Field, on which you send your fleet, and can start an interception by observing the harvest time when it disappears.
      That 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 their fleet follow shortly afterwards – so the enemy cannot know which part of the fleet he has to intercept. If the distance between the single recycler is less than 20 seconds, one shadow wave suffices more often than not, because the attacker is not able to uncover the Debris Field and to figure 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 bothers to shoot a Debris Field with more Crystal as fits into a normal shadow wave (one recycler). Than 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. But if you send more equal recycler fragments to the Debris Field, the attacker will need even more information, because he will not be able to infer only to the harvest.
      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 observes very much.
      Please note: Invisible Debris Fields will be deleted every week at night from Sunday to Monday (at ca. 1:30 am) and they cannot be approached 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 an extra protection against a loss of fleet via intercepting. Debris Fields, which give you such advantage, are those of players, who are in the vacation mode or those on empty positions, which are still there if there was a planet. But also Debris Field on planets of inactive players, on which there are no ships or defensive structures, will make saving much easier.

      =====Moon – 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 that the colonization failed, 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 – Moon – ACS defend:=====
      Here it is necessary, that you have a player of good repute in your vicinity. For saving you have to fly to his moon with the order “hold”. 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 a moon destroying or a betrayal by your holding target.

      =====Moon – Moon:=====
      Everyone, who is lucky enough to have two moons close to each other, can use the most secure save method and sleep calmly. Just send the fleet from one moon to the other; nobody can calculate the arrival and no phalanx can localize 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 lucrative target. And even in this case, when both moons are destroyed, you still can avoid an interception by calling back the fleet. Thereby it disappears from the phalanx and flies relatively secure back to the planet.

      ==What if I am intercepted never the less?==
      If it happens, that 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 attack other people verbal or to flame them. Better ask the player about what you have done wrong, and avoid this fault in the future, because like that every player has learned and advanced himself – also the enemy, who was just now destroying your ships. To quicken the rebuilding of your fleet, of course you can try to harvest the Debris Field of your destroyed fleet, whether the attacker did not yet. Recently a new building was introduced ( version 6.2) : The Space Dock. This building will help you recover some of the lost ships For more details please read <<Wreck Filed>> .

      The post was edited 1 time, last by ErikFyr ().

    • Changes to english template:

      Intro

      While destroyed defenses don't create any debris (except in Hydra)

      While destroyed defenses don't create any debris (except in universes with debris from defense)

      (See this guide to get more info about turtling: Turtles & Defense <--- is this guide still ok?).

      See this guide to get more info about turtling: Guide 03: Turtle guide

      1) Harvesting

      2. When you own a moon

      Question: Great! So this is perfectly safe!?
      Answer: Not exactly. Remember, your attacker is clever, he can easily check if you're using baits. How? By creating another visible DF (crashing more probes) right after your bait harvests the first one.


      Question: Great! So this is perfectly safe!?
      Answer: Not exactly. Remember, your attacker is clever, he can easily check if you're using baits. How? By creating another visible DF (crashing more probes) right after your bait harvests the first one. So the best way to cheat your attacker is recalling your fleet before it reaches debris field. Debris field will be still there and it will be much more difficult to find your fleet.
      The only disadvantage of this is that you have to be online to recall your fleet. But remember that those 2 minutes can save your years of playing.

      To conclude, the best way to FS with harvest mission is:
      - to FS with harvest mission from a moon to an invisible DF over an inactive player without defences
      - to have all planet mooned
      - to FS from a different moon every day
      - to split your fleet

      To conclude, the best way to FS with harvest mission is:
      - to FS with harvest mission from a moon to an invisible DF over an inactive player without defences
      - to have all planet mooned
      - to FS from a different moon every day
      - to split your fleet
      - to recall your fleet before it reaches a debris field

      2) Deployment - added:

      Question: But what if someone checks if I use deployment ?

      Imagine that you have only two moons in the same system and the rest of your moons is somewhere else. If you use deployment with those two moons and harvesting from the rest, attacker will know where you made your FS because there debris field dissapears but no activity on these two moons because you used deployment.

      Now you have some options to hide it:
      1. Recall your fleet from deployment and harvesting so that there is activity on all moons (you have to be online where fleets reach debris fields).
      2. Send extra fleets from moons which you used for deployment to harvest some debris fields. It will be less obvious for attacker that you sent your fleet for deployment (you don't have to be online when fleets reach debris fields).

      Final conclusions:

      5) always make activity on all moons before and after your fleet lands and before and after you send your fleet for FS


      Full version - old
      FLEETSAVING

      This is a guide for noobs and pros. Each chapter deals about a different way to FS. Each way starts with the simple stuff for newbies and gets more advanced towards the end.

      Chapters:

      Intro

      1) Harvest
      2) Deployment
      3) Colonization
      4) Expedition
      5) ACS defend
      6) Attack
      7) Espionage

      Intro

      The concept of Ogame is to crash fleets and to take resources. Planets can't be conquered, researches and mines can't be torn down by other players. Ships and defence, however, can be destroyed. While destroyed defenses don't create any debris (except in Hydra), 30% (40% in uni 40) of the Structural Integrity (metal + crystal) used to build a ship will end into debris, where attackers can harvest it and use it themselves. Each attack can also take up to 50% of the resources you left on the planet.
      To be a successful player and to be able to progress, you need to learn how to be unprofitable. Being unprofitable is all about not keeping anything worth taking on your planets. Defenses do help to prevent you from being crashed, but remember that there will always be players big enough to get through them. (See this guide to get more info about turtling: Turtles & Defense <--- is this guide still ok?).
      So what's the secret to be unprofitable? Fleetsaving! Mastering the art of fleetsave requires understanding one important concept of Ogame, that while your fleet is moving around the Universe, it cannot be attacked. Therefore it is imperative that you fleetsave while you're not online.

      Fleetsaving is important to any type of player. "No FS = no Fleet" is a golden rule of Ogame and respecting it surely is the first step to a successful Ogame career.

      1) Harvesting

      As a method for fleetsaving, harvesting is particularly easy to master. Simply select your recycler and the rest of your ships and send them off to a debris field. Make sure to time it to return when you'll be back. Always act conservative: if you believe you will be back in 9 hours then fleetsave for 10. This is to prevent your fleet arriving back on your planet early, which may then leave enough time for an opponent to crash it. It will also make sure you are online before your fleet lands, which may be useful if you need to try and avoid a phalanx hit.
      You can do it this way: sccroll solar systems near to your on galaxy view and find a DF, note its coordinates then go to fleet dispatch I, select all your ships, click "next" to go on fleet dispatch II, then select speed, coords and "DF" as target, next to fleet dispatch III to store resources in your fleet houl and there you go.

      Note: if using the Commander, you can send a recycler straight from the galaxy view. The appropriate number of recyclers will be chosen automatically and sent to DF at 100% speed.

      Dangers of this kind of FS:
      FSing in a harvest mission from a planet is in most cases an extremely unsafe way to save your fleet and resources. Ever heard of phalanx? Read this: Moon, Jumpgate and Phallanx FAQ ver3. In short, phalanx is a structure on a moon which allows other players to see fleet movements on planets. The only mission that can't be seen on lanx is recalled deployment, but more about that later on this guide.

      Wondering how it looks like? Here's a screenshot:
      ***screenshot***
      As you see, the attacker can know your fleet composition and the exact time of landing while any eventually transported resource can't be seen.

      Note for attackers: DFs can't be lanxed and the time you see on the lanx is cumulative of both times: one way and return. This is important for the attacker as defender can recall his fleet. Fleet will still be seen on lanx, but the return time will be shorter and his fleet could return too early to be caught if launching again.

      Question: Are there occasions when I can use this kind of FS?
      Answer: Yes, there are two occasions where this FS works fine.

      1. At the early start of the uni - when you're not under lanx

      Right when a new uni opens, players have no moons. This normally lasts for some weeks and with a good planet placement you can stay out of lanx range and FS by harvest mission. As soon as you are under lanx you should use a different FSing method.

      2. When you own a moon

      As we said, moons can't be phalanxed. That's why a moon to DF fleetsave can become very safe. BUT! There are still ways to catch such a FS, and they're not too uncommon. As this is a FAQ about FSing, I won't go in details. Let's just say that FSing to a DF means that a DF will disappear when your fleet reaches it. If anyone studies your FS times, then he can calculate when you will arrive to the DF and watch it dissapear. When that happens, (assuming the attacker knows your drive tech and speed of your FS) he can calculate the exact time your fleet returns and catch you. This is called a blind lanx. As the attacker can't check how good he caught you, it is very important to be online before your fleet returns, you could have few seconds to save your fleet moving it somewhere before the impact of the attacker's fleet.

      Question: Soooo... is there a way to make it safer?
      Answer: Yes, fleetsave on an invisible DF. Invisible DF is every DF that is smaller than 400 units. It won't be shown in galaxy view, but it still exists, therefore you can send ships to it. Blind DFs can be made visible in most cases. That's simply done by crashing a couple of probes to a planet with some defense/ship and there you have a visible DF. At some occasions, DF can't be made visible though. That's when that kind of DF is on: inactives planet without defence, v-moded player or a floating DF (DF over a destroyed planet).

      BUT! There's always a but ;) Here's the dangers of that:

      - FSing to v-moded player's DF: They can come online. You have to keep the DF "alive". See the note above.

      - FSing to a "floating DF": attackers can check if there are floating DFs near you. If they figure out you FS to one of them, they can colonize that slot and create a visible DF. You also have to keep the DF "alive". See the note.

      Note! All invisible DFs get cleared at 1:10 AM ST on Monday. Exception are DFs that have a recycler heading to or coming back from the DF before it gets erased.

      All these methods can be hardened by a very easy device: you can use "fakes" or baits. This means sending at least one additional fleet to the same DF as your main one, at the same speed but harvesting the DF with a slight advance (30+ seconds) towards your main fleet. This will make the DF watcher think your main fleet harvested it and time the attack to hit your bait while your real fleet is landing few seconds later.

      Question: Great! So this is perfectly safe!?
      Answer: Not exactly. Remember, your attacker is clever, he can easily check if you're using baits. How? By creating another visible DF (crashing more probes) right after your bait harvests the first one.

      Question: But... what if I make the main fleet get to the DF soon enough that attackers second attempt to create a visible DF isn't fast enough?
      Answer: That could work, but the attacker could inflate the DF before your first fake arrival, in order to completely fill the recycler you're using as a bait. To be comepletely safe, use about 10 recycles in your bait and use more baits (three or even more - depends on how hunted you are). Hide your fleet in a random position between baits to make the attacker have to guess where your fleet is and eventually send few fakes to different DFs.

      To conclude, the best way to FS with harvest mission is:
      - to FS with harvest mission from a moon to an invisible DF over an inactive player without defences
      - to have all planet mooned
      - to FS from a different moon every day
      - to split your fleet

      2) Deployment

      If you have more than one planet, it is possible to fleetsave by deploying your ships and resources to other planet of yours. This is especially useful (and safe) when you start a new account as you won't have the techs for recyclers yet. Remember to use this tactic means that you must choose the time you're not going to be online carefully, as it will only be ONE WAY, unless you recall it.

      Dangers:
      Well, this kind of FS is not completely invisible to the phalanx. Deploment mission can always be seen on the planet the deployment it's heading to. However, deployments can never be seen on the planet they were sent from. So, until your fleet is heading towards another one of your planets, the attacker will still see it coming. Important thing to remember is that once you recall your deployment it can't be seen on lanx. It dissapears from the lanx completely.

      A screenshot from the deployment mission:
      ***screenshot***
      A quite big disadvantage of deployment FS is deut cost. Unless you place 2 colonies in the same system, this is an expensive way to fleetsave. With a highly recommended planet placement across galaxies it costs you a lot. If you let a deployment land, it will deliver 50% of the deut spent for a flight though. Due to the deut cost, many players place 2 colonies in same system and the rest further away.

      Question: I've heard about recalled deployment FS to be the safest. How does that work?
      Answer: Once all of your planets are under lanx, this is the safest way to FS without moons. It's even safer if you have moons. There's two ways to FS this way.

      1. Make a FS arrive a bit later then you're planning to log in.
      It's important that you're logged in before your fleet lands! Attacker will always see your fleet heading towards a planet. Only recalled deployments aren't visible on lanx. They might try to lanx you hoping you won't be online when your fleet lands. If you're online, you can save your fleed by recalling it in case you see you're under attack.

      2. Make a 10% FS and recall it in the middle of the time you want it to return.
      A very bad side of this FS is that you need to be online in the middle of the FS. Ogame already calculates the exact time your fleet will return in case you recall, but you need to know when to log in to recall.
      If you're going to recall it however you could send your fleet at 10% to reduce the deut cost - the time fleet needs to arrive to the chosen destination is not important as you'll recall it in any case.

      Question: So am I safe when I recall my fleet?
      Answer: Sadly, you're never 100% safe. There's a strategy called "forced recalled deployment blind lanx" and here's how it works: the attacker lanxes your deployment and launches fleet on 100% to arrive seconds after yours. As soon as you log in, he starts lanxing your planet every 2-3 seconds. You will probably PM him asking to recall as you're on, but when you'll realise he won't recall it, you'll recall your deployment. Attacker will see that your fleet has dissapeared from lanx and note down the exact time when you recalled. Now he can calculate the return time of your recalled deployment.

      Instead of recalling, try to arrange a ninja instead, if possible. Also, note that this is quite expensive for the attacker as every lanx report costs 5.000 units of deuterium and a lot of lanxing is needed, that's why you should never be in the condition to recall your fleet shortly after your login.
      Also, try not to FS always in same pattern, an attacker can soon understand when you normally recall your fleet and lanx a lot at the predicted time of your recall.

      Question: But what about FSing to a moon?
      Answer: With a moon, everything gets easier. Deployment FS with only one moon is rational when you have two planets in same system and one of them mooned. You need to launch your fleet from planet and make it arrive to the moon. This will be completely invisible to lanx, even if a moon is destroyed because in this case your fleet would be automatically recalled.
      FSing from moon to planet isn't safe at all instead - that's due to the strategy above.

      Question: Ok, now let's get 2 moons! How about now?
      Answer: that's known to be the safest FS you can make. Again, having both moons in a same system will save you deut if you're planning to use this kind of deployment.

      Detailed explanation of why this FS is so good:
      As moons can't be lanxed, FSing by deployment between 2 moons is completely invisible to the lanx. Even more than that! It is completely invisible even if you have both of your moons crashed! Let's look at the quote from the Phalanx guide again: If a moon is destroyed, all fleets returning to the moon will go to the planet instead. And even more important: all fleets sent to the moon will be automatically recalled at the same moment when the moon explodes. Let's remember the line about the deployment: recalled deployments can't be seen on lanx.

      Now let's imagine someone would like to crash our fleet which we FS with deployment between moons. As moons can't be lanxed, the attacker will try to destroy your moons in order to see your fleet. But here's a bad news for the attacker: even with both moons gone, they won't be able to see your fleet. Lets see how:

      Imagine you FS from moon A to moon B.
      1. Attacker destroys moon A: He will not be able to see anything as deployment can only be seen on the planet it's heading to (unless recalled).
      2. Attacker destroys moon A and then moon B: When moon B is destroyed, your deployment will be recalled and it will go back to planet A. Since it's a recalled deployment, it won't be seen on lanx.
      3. Attacker destroys moon B: as above, your fleet will be recalled and recalled deployments can't be seen on lanx.
      4. Attacker destroys moon B and then moon A: As above.

      Question: So is this the uncrashable way to FS?
      Answer: not really. A very determined and skilled attacker will always find a way to catch you, expecially understanding if you made any little mistake during your fleetsave.
      Some player's last action before they log off is fleetsaving. If you're sure this is the case, you can check the activity at the planet where defender FSed from, then go and destroy the destination moon (Moon B in the example above), then calculate when the self-recalled deployment will return to moon A and...... the rest is debris :)
      To avoid being crashed this way, always make some activity after fleetsaving.

      To conclude, best way to FS with deployment mission is:
      - deploying between planets and recall if attacked
      - deploying between moons

      3) Colonizing

      Colonisation mission is normally used when colonizing a new planet. However, when you filled all your planet slots, it can also be used as a pretty good fleetsaving method.
      In order to FS with colonisation mission, you need to have a colony ship. Choose fleet, select desired time and coords and fill the fleet with resources. You will get this warning:
      *****screenshot*****
      Click yes and the fleet will be on the FS. Once your fleet reaches the destination, you will recieve this message:

      Quoted
      The fleet has arrived at the assigned coordinates. [X:XXX:X], and discovers that the planet is qualified to be colonized. Shortly after starting to develop the planet, colonists realise that astrophysics has not been studied sufficiently to colonize this new planet.

      Your colony ship will not be destroyed during the procedure and there will be no sign that you tried to colonize a slot. No resources will be lost. Your fleet will return normally.

      Question: But, is it phalanxable?
      Answer: Yes, the planet it was sent from can be lanxed, thus making this kind of FS only useful when you're not under lanx.

      Question: How is this better than a harvest FS?
      Colonisation FS is very similar to a harvest FS, in both cases only the planet these missions were sent from can be lanxed. Colonisation has one big advantage though. No-one will see you colonizing and there will be no disappearing DFs, therefore you can't be timed back in a blind lanx. Also, normally you don't have an inactive player without defence in your system, but there are different empty slots nearly in all, which makes it even harder to tell where you FS.

      Note: The dangers of this FS are similar to those when harvesting. Please see chapter 3 for that.

      To conclude, the best way to FS with a colonization mission is:
      - to have all planet mooned
      - to FS from a different moon every day
      - to split your fleet
      - advantage from harvesting is that you don't have to look for good DFs


      4) Expeditions

      Expedition is a special mission which lets you explore the outer space. You can read about it here: FAQ about Expeditions and Merchants You need to research astro technology in order to be able to make expeditions.

      As you can only get lanxed on the planet the expedition FS was launched from, some players can be tempted to FS with this mission, especially because it can bring you some profit while you're gone. But be careful! The chances of your fleet getting delayed or coming home early are big and you can also meet aliens, pirates or have your fleet lost. These are all reasons that this kind of FS is highly un-recomended.

      Screenshot from expedition FS:
      *****screenshot*****

      To conclude:
      Never send your entire fleet to expedition with intention to save it.

      5) ACS defend

      ACS defend is a mission that is only enabled in some unis. It allows you to combine fleets with your allies and attack/defend together. Read about it here: ACS~{Alliance Combat System} Tutorial

      ACS defend can be used as a FS as well. It's not particularity useful once you have recyclers or colony ships, but can serve you well early in the uni when there are no moons around. For the first 7 days there's no inactive to attack via FS, so ACS defend mission can be a solution.
      In order to be able to do an ACS defend FS, you need to be buddies with a player you'll be FSing to or be in the same alliance. Select all ships and set hold time to 0. This is very important as hold time longer than 0 will make your fleet sit at your friends planet, ready to be crashed by anyone. When selecting a 0 hour hold time, fleet will return instantly. Select a desired speed and appropriate coordinates. Don't forget to save your resources with the fleet. You will see option ACS defend at the fleet launch screen - choose it and you're good to go.

      Question: Is it lanxable?
      Answer: Yes, it can be seen on lanx at both planets.

      Screenshot from lanx from the planet this FS was sent from:
      *****screenshot*****

      Screenshot from lanx from the planet this FS was sent to:
      *****screenshot*****

      Disadvantage of this FS:
      1. You can't ACS defend players in noob protection.
      2. It's lanxable both being sent from a planet and to a planet.

      Question: How about ACS defend from a moon to a moon?
      Answer: This works too, but it normally costs you more deut than a colonization or harvest FS, so it just doesn't make much sense FSing this way. It also generates activity on the target moon so you could be timed back.

      To conclude:
      Other than very early when a universe opens, it's just better to use other kind of FS.

      6) Attacking

      Fairly self-explanatory this one. Find an inactive that your fleet can hit profitably, and send your ships at the speed needed. This way, you can get some resources while you're away. The best tactic to use is to send your attacking fleet off on it's own, then send your recs with all your other ships (cargoes/probes etc) along with your res. This way, even if anything does go wrong with the attack your res is still safe. Make sure you ONLY use this method on inactives, an active player would have plenty of time to 'ninja' your fleet (bring a larger fleet to his planet to destroy you) , whereas the chances of an inactive player ninja-ing you are remote. The danger may occur if the player logs in, but that doesn't happen often.

      Note: FSing this way when under one or more lanxes can be even more dangerous than having your fleet sitting!

      Question: What about attacking from a moon?
      Answer: As it's lanxable on the planet you're attacking, not even a moon will make it safer.

      Question: What about attacking an inactive moon from your moon?
      Answer: When your fleet arrives to the target moon, activity will be created, meaning you can get timed back. FS can't be lanxed, but the defender can come online any time or get deleted, making your fleet come back on your moon all of a sudden, few seconds after your target has been deleted byt the server. The server checks for accounts to be deleted every night at 1.10 a.m. and inactives normally gets deleted after the 35th day of inactivity, except those who have purchased DM on them, which will never get deleted, but it's hard to know which are them most of the times.

      To conclude:
      Unless none of the planets, the one you're hitting and the one you're launching from, are under lanx, this is an extremely bad way to FS.

      7) Espionaging

      Just like the attacking method, except that you include a probe and select the mission 'espionage'. This is a very bad way to FS too, and here's some reasons why:

      1. If there's any ships on the defenders planet, even solar sats, a battle may occur and you can lose the entire fleet.
      2. Bad idea to do it on an active player - it's a recipe for an easy ninja.
      3. It's lanxable at both planets.

      The only advantage comparing to FSing with an attack is that if there's inactive turtles with 0 ships (not even solar sats), you're better off by using espionage than attack. This is hardly an advantage as there's too much to go wrong and there's just too many other and better ways to FS. Also, remember your target could get deleted and you'll be in the same situation we mentioned above.
      Moon doesn't help much in this case either.

      To conclude:
      This kind of FS is useless in most cases. Only way you can use it is when none of the planets are under lanx, but the inactive has too many defences to win the battle and 0 ships at the planet.

      Additional tips

      There are a few general game points that you may/should remember whilst fleetsaving:

      1) Death Stars are good for fleetsaving, as they travel very slowly and use very little deut. This slows down the overall speed of your fleet, allowing you to save for extremely long times whilst using very little fuel. This can be exceptionally handy if fleetsaving by deploying between 2 colonies or moons in the same system, for moon to debris field or colonization FSs.

      2) Some very good players may crash fleets by learning their online times and therefore knowing when they're on save, being able to crash them even without a phalanx. To avoid this, fleetsave to different debris destinations, at different times, from differetn locations and splitting your fleet up to the maximum safety margin.

      3) It is always worth leaving a few recyclers on your planets 'just in case'. You never know what may happen in OGame, and should the worse come to the worse, you will have options available to res-save try to collect the debris of your fleet before your sly attacker.

      4) Always remember that a bad FS can be as lethal as not FSing at all.

      Ultimately, just remember that players will always attack you to make a profit. If you leave resources or ships lying about, they'll get destroyed, defences or not, if the attacker can use your hard-earned res for something else. So, make yourself unprofitable by fleet-saving and res-saving, and you'll progress a lot quicker. If your alliance is at war then the rules are slightly different, as players will attack you just for the hell of it, but if you've fleetsaved you've got nothing to worry about.


      Final conclusions:

      1) The safest way to fleetsave is between moons via a deploy mission or by moon to colonize mission.
      2) If you don't have a moon, use the recalled deploy method.
      3) ALWAYS time your fleet to land AFTER you expect to be online. You never know when you'll miss the bus or your alarm clock will fail.
      4) Fleetsave resources

      The post was edited 2 times, last by Horizon ().

    • Horizon:

      Using harvest mission at all, when you simply can use colonization is unecessary. Recalling your fleets from a DF when you can use colonization instead (which is completely invisible nowadays) is crazy unecessary. But anyway, you´re not wrong about what you´re saying so it might as well be added.

      However, you are wrong about what you´re saying about the deployment. Harvesting missions haven´t left activity on planet/moon when picking up DF for several years, way before RD. So there is in fact no way to tell if you´re using deployment, harvest mission or anything else just by looking at the activity.

    • Well I can agree but in this english template you have a chapter called "Harvesting" so I had to refer to that what was written ;)
      Well telling about activity I meant picking up debris so changed it in description - you were right it was badly written. My mistake.

    • Yes you´re right, it might as well be included even it it´s uneceassary to actually fs that way.

      ah, ok I understand, I misunderstood what you meant by the activity :) But in all honesty it´s not gonna matter very much if someone knows that you´re deploying between 2 moons, since it´s near impossible to catch that FS ^^

    • Honestly I don't see this guide meant to deal about "all the possible ways to use all the possbile ways to fleetsave" so I find useless saying (for instance) that you can fleetsave by harvesting using baits and being online in the middle of your fleetsave to recall them. If you know you'll be online in the mid-time, just no need to use baits (and no need to use harvest mission). Anyway it was said somewhere in the very begenning that being online in the mid-time of your fs to recall it was a general very good technique. Still "not always" possible.

      Also I didn't exactly get what you meant with the last paragraph.
      Imagine that you have only two moons in the same system and the rest of your moons is somewhere else. If you use deployment with those two moons and harvesting from the rest, attacker will know where you made your FS because there debris field dissapears but no activity on these two moons because you used deployment.
      :?: :?: :?:

      Now you have some options to hide it:
      1. Recall your fleet from deployment and harvesting so that there is activity on all moons (you have to be online where fleets reach debris fields).
      2. Send extra fleets from moons which you used for deployment to harvest some debris fields. It will be less obvious for attacker that you sent your fleet for deployment (you don't have to be online when fleets reach debris fields).
      1- see above. Anyway also recalling has its own risks, in a pure theory of course.
      2- hiding deployment using harvest mission? I don't get the point of this, apart the fact that the eventual attacker will have more chances to know that you _really_ fleetsaved there.

      I might remind you also that these kind of fleetsave are almost never timed-back, being moon distruction the easiest way to catch any kind of fleetsave. So, hiding which is the moon you fleetsaved from is the best strategy than all. imho.

      Final conclusions:

      5) always make activity on all moons before and after your fleet lands and before and after you send your fleet for FS
      It has been said already and again in the guide this is the main thing to do.

      Personal conclusion: this is a very very very general guide, safira already did a great job dealing all the most general aspects of any kind of fleetsave and giving all the important hints necessary. I wouldn't complicate it too much with peculiarities and "exotic techniques" which can confuse rather than explain.

    • Short version



      Fleetsaving methods

      There are multiple Fleetsaving methods, depends of age of universe, level of your account,existence of moons and your playing style. One of the most important things are to be online before your fleet returns from fleetsave and also make sure that after you have sent your fleet on fleetsave, you create activity on all your planets for a few more minutes to hide the exact time and location of your fleetsave.

      1) Harvesting
      - good from planet at early stage of universe when there are no moons
      - can be traced by Debris watch
      - Are invisible on phalanx when sent from moon
      - It is advisable to send decoy harvesting missions to hide the main fleet return

      2) Deployment
      - it is the safest way of fleetsave when sending from planet to planet and from moon to moon as well. In case the destination moons is destroyed, the fleet returns to origin planet and is invisible to phalanx.
      - The deploy missions are visible on phalanx but not on their way back if they are recalled
      - you have to be online before fleets arrives to destination to be able to recall in case you are under attack


      3) Colonising
      - they are visible on phaalanx when sent/ recalled from planet
      - if you have a free planet slot you'll get a new colony and all your resources will be dumped unprotected on new planet
      - they are good if you don't have a near colony to save by deploy and quite cheap regarding the fuel consumption if you do it in your own system,

      4) Expeditions
      - They are visible on phalanx at origin planet and they can bring back resources, ships or DM but also can be attacked by pirates or aliens and be partially or totally destroyed
      - not advisable to use it as fleetsave but you can send smaller fleets to expedition while you are away from the game

      5) ACS defend
      -It is a cheap and secure fleetsave in the first days of a universe before you get recyclers or a colony to use recycling or deployment .
      -You should use it only with well trusted alliance mates or buddies, always set 0 hold time
      -It is visible on phalanx on its way on and back if it is sent from planet

      6)Attacking
      -It is a good fleetsaving mission in new universes before moons appearing in neighborhood as is visible on phalanx on both sending planet and defended planet, this is not applying to moons but the activity star created by the attack can disclose your FS time.
      - make sure the defender is inactive or offline for the entire duration of attack or he might call for ACS defend or bring/ build ships to ninja your attack
      - is not a safe method if your planet or defender's planet are under enemy phalanx

      7) Espionaging
      Is similar to FS by attack

    • Fleetsaving

      Edit: I kept Intro. I introduced some theory. Should I explain some of the words used? Should I go into more detail about easy stuff like sending fleet etc? Criticsm? gogo :P
      Ahhh and have fun reading this much Looool :P

      Chapters

      Intro

      1) Theoratical concepts
      1.1 Temporal consideration
      1.2 Variance
      1.3 Splitting your fleet
      1.4 Observing
      1.5 Always save your fleet!
      1.6 Be online before fleet returns
      1.7 Stay yourself
      1.8 Why do I need a moon?

      2) Fleetsaving
      2.1 Saving without a moon
      2.1.1 Harvest / Colonising / ACS defend ( defending duration = 0 hours )
      2.1.2 Deployment ( planet to planet )
      2.2 Saving with a moon
      2.2.1 Moon -> Harvest / Moon -> Colonising | Moon -> ACS defend to mate's Moon ( defending duration = 0 hours )
      2.2.2 Moon/Planet -> Moon: Deployment ( Recall )
      2.2.3 Moon -> Harvest on Moon's DF


      ==Intro==
      The concept of Ogame is to crash fleets and to take resources. Planets can't be conquered, researches and mines can't be torn down by other players. Ships and defence, however, can be destroyed. While destroyed defenses don't create any debris (except in Hydra), 30% (40% in uni 40) of the Structural Integrity (metal + crystal) used to build a ship will end into debris, where attackers can harvest it and use it themselves. Each attack can also take up to 50% of the resources you left on the planet.
      To be a successful player and to be able to progress, you need to learn how to be unprofitable. Being unprofitable is all about not keeping anything worth taking on your planets. Defenses do help to prevent you from being crashed, but remember that there will always be players big enough to get through them. (See this guide to get more info about turtling: Turtles & Defense <--- is this guide still ok?).
      So what's the secret to be unprofitable? Fleetsaving! Mastering the art of fleetsave requires understanding one important concept of Ogame, that while your fleet is moving around the Universe, it cannot be attacked. Therefore it is imperative that you fleetsave while you're not online.

      Fleetsaving is important to any type of player. "No FS = no Fleet" is a golden rule of Ogame and respecting it surely is the first step to a successful Ogame career.

      ==1) Theoretical concepts==
      These are just general considerations. They do differ between each universe depending on its characteristics and your account's situation. However, they are essential to be able to understand and come up with advanced fleetsaving.

      1.1 Temporal consideration
      If a potential attacker requires more time to attack you than your actual savetime he can be as strong as he wants, he will not be able to catch your fleet. Keep in mind, that this can strongly vary from player to player ( you can probably reduce the relevance of this to slow ( 1x ) universes ).
      If you apply this concept to moons it means: If the time a potential attacker requires to destroy your moon ( time his RIPs require to reach your savemoon ) is greater than your savetime, he cannot catch your fleet. Please be aware that it is not destroying time + attacking time. You can start your attacking fleet simultaneously to your RIPs and adapt its timing by ACS.
      Conclusion: The more time you are online, the more you play, the less and the shorter you are safe the harder it is to catch your fleet. Depending on your universe's activity and depending on the fleeters playing in it, it might be crucial to save at a certain time in day instead over night ( given as example ).

      1.2 Variance
      If you save creative and change your saving-technique regularly, it will be harder to predict you resulting in less chance to catch your fleet. Do not save at the same position and timing every day ( especially when saving Moon -> Harvest or Moon -> Colonising or Moon -> ACS defend to moon. These will be explained later on. ). Vary your savetimes. Do not save from 10:30 pm to 08:00 am every day. Even small changes ( about 30 minutes - 1 hour ) do matter. Ideally you want to switch up your savetimes completely. ( 10:30 pm to 8:00 am <-> 4:00 am to 12:00 pm ).

      1.3 Splitting your fleet

      There are players that tend to splitt their fleets into several parts and save all parts individually ( like 1/4 of your fleet per moon ). This is only useful if your attacker is trying to maximize his win and minimize his efforts. In older universes or universes that progressed to the point where destroying all your moons is easy, you should abondon splitting your fleet, as you will not be able to save any of your fleet's parts. Even in young universes it is questionable if splitting your fleet for saving is actually useful or not.

      1.4 Observing
      Observing your target is a crucial skill as an attacker, but nonetheless it is important for you ( as the attacked one ) as well. The least a potential attacker has to do to attack your fleet is: Spy/Scann or lanx your fleet ( saving without moon ). After finding you, the attacker has to wait until you log off. A player who has never seen your fleet before is unlikely to attack you or blindly destroying your moons.

      So what does that mean for me?
      Bascially, when you notice someone is regularly scanning you or trying to attack you where you usually fleetsave it is imperative to switch up your savingmethod ( excluding deployment and deployment recall at the moment ).
      Many fleeters wait for you to idle and leave your fleet alone for a while not saving it properly. So if player A is observing you on coordinate B because he is positioned close to it, do not leave your fleet alone on coodinate B. Leave it somewhere else, so you have more time to log in, in case something happened and delayed you. Do not leave your fleet idleing close to players who are trying to catch you. They will gladly take your fleet.

      Observe your surrounding systems and possible changes. Suddendly appearing strong players, who additionally observed you for a long time, combined with a planetpositioning like x:xxx:15 are pretty strange and should be considered when saving your fleet!
      New planets in your own system could be rated as a confession: I want your fleet!

      1.5 Always save your fleet!
      No matter when and for how long you have to leave your fleet unattended: Save it! ( with buffer )

      1.6 Be online before fleet returns
      A good value is being online at least 1 hour before your fleet returns from save to check for anything strange in your account. If something happened, like this you still have some time to react.

      1.7 Stay yourself
      In the following save descriptions you will see, that increasing universe speed requires you to invest more time into OGame to stay safe. This is just a game and that is what it is supposed to remain. Do not overdo it.

      1.8 Why do I need a moon?
      A moon has several benefits for saving and - should you ever have to - for defending your fleet.
      1. Moon hides your fleet. It cannot be lanxed as long as the moon is not destroyed ( exluding Moon -> Harvest or Moon -> planet ( any mission ). They can be retimed without destroying the moon. However a potential attacker does not know what might hide behind the moon [ possible defenders ] ).
      2. Friends/Helpers/Defenders are hid behind the moon as well.
      3. You can use your moon for jumping.
      4. You can position tons of ressources on your moon, not affecting any production.
      ...

      ==2) Fleetsaving==
      2.1 Saving without a moon
      2.1.1 Harvest / Colonising / ACS defend ( defending duration = 0 hours )
      I summarize these saving methods as you should refrain from using them as fast as possible. Furthermore they are pretty similar to each other. You have a flight to your destination, an impact time and a flight back to your starting position. These methods are only viable in a universe's first few days, as long as there are no moons and/or lanxes that can reach you. Afterwards these saving methods are a free ticket to lose your fleet.

      2.1.2 Deployment ( planet to planet )
      If you have no moon you should only save like this. Deployment from planet to planet. It enables you to always have the chance to recall your fleet ( that's why you have to log in before your fleet returns ). Deployment ( recalled ) cannot be seen in the lanx anymore. Deployment can only be seen by lanxing the target. After recalling it disappears. A potential attacker has to spend a lot of deuterium ( lanxing every few seconds until you recall ) to determine your return time. Small fleets are not worth doing so. Especially when your start planet ( now your returning target ) is not in the attacker's lanx range ( Defenders could help against the blind attacker ).

      2.2 Saving with a moon
      2.2.1 Moon -> Harvest / Moon -> Colonising | Moon -> ACS defend to mate's Moon ( defending duration = 0 hours )
      I summarize these saving methods again, as their mechanic is similar again. You still have a flight to your destination, an impact and a flight back to your starting moon. As long as your starting moon is not being destroyed all three methods are really save ( be aware Moon -> Harvest can be retimed by observing debris fields. Use shadow waves ). However, if you lose your savemoon your fleet is probably lost. It is hard to react in time, as the moon can be destroyed close to your returntime, except you've been online for several hours before your fleet returns from save. After your moon has been successfully destroyed all 3 missions are easily lanxable.
      If you are using these techniques pay close attention to "1.2 Variance". Save from different positions, otherwise you become an easy target.

      2.2.2 Moon/Planet -> Moon: Deployment ( Recall )
      This is how you want to save your fleet! This is, by far, the safest saving method. You deploy your fleet to one of your moons. It is not that important to start from a moon however it is recommended. By saving Moon -> Moon: Deployment ( Recall ) you can become close to uncatchable. It's still possible to lose your fleet, but if you are doing it right it is way too expensive.

      To carry out a deployment save with huge fleets most of the time you use two moons in the same system to minimize fuelcosts. Throw in some RIPs to slow down your fleet to increase savetime. If you do not recall your fleet, half the fuelcosts will recover.
      To become invisible it is essential that you recall your fleet before a potential attacker could destroy your destination moon. After recalling your fleet is no longer visible in the lanx even if your moons fall and before your recall the fleet was sent between two moons, these are unlanxable.

      => Attackers have no exact time when your fleet returns. They can only guess.

      There are two methods to ensure, that your fleet is recalled before your savemoons fall:
      1. You only log off/go to sleep when your fleet is already recalled. Example: 8 hours before you go to sleep you save via deployment. When you go to sleep you recall your fleet and it will be extremely save for 8 hours.
      2. Every few hours ( depending on universe's speed ) you check if a recall is necessary.
      Advantage: You are not bound to save your fleet before you actually go offline.
      You might be able to safe deuterium.
      Disadvante: You cannot sleep for more than x hours straight.
      Keep in mind: 1.1 Temporal Consideration.

      ( Example: 4x universe with blocked savesystem: It takes 2 hours to destroy your moons from the next system, meaning you have to get up every 2 hours. No blocked Sys? -> 1h )

      2.2.3 Moon -> Harvest on Moon's DF
      Last but no least.
      It is the cheapest saving method. Takes as much deuterium as flying to the moon's planet. You should only use this when you are experienced with shadow waves. On top of that: This is only useful in slow universes, otherwise you will not have much savetime.

    • Ok I am gonna editing based on the above two posts of Valent and Lord_ and probably add something.

      Color in Quote: Part with suggestion
      Color underneath the Quote: Suggestion

      ====INTRODUCTION=====
      The concept of Ogame is to crash fleets and to take resources. Planets can't be conquered, researches and mines can't be torn down by other players. Ships and defence, however, can be destroyed. While destroyed defenses don't create any debris (except in Hydra), 30% (40% in uni 40) of the Structural Integrity (metal + crystal) used to build a ship will end into debris, where attackers can harvest it and use it themselves. Each successful attack can also take up to a percentage (from 50%-100%) of the resources you left on the planet. See version 3.0 info
      The destruction of ships, but not defense, create a debris field equal to 30% of the ships's Structural Integrity (metal +crystal costs of the ships), except in special universes where the DF% might be higher and the destroyed defense might create DF.

      delete

      It could be 50%, 75%, or 100%, which might be explained somewhere else?
      To be a successful player and to be able to progress....
      Good


      1.1 Temporal consideration... I will rewrite this part with a different emphasize
      Consideration 1. Time
      Given that your fleet can only be attacked when it sits on a planet/moon, fleet save is about sending your fleet away while you are not checking the game during sleep/work/commute/other events. The first thing you need to do is find the right destination and %speed to send your away for the right time. A constraint on choosing your FS time is the deut cost, which could be really high for cross-galaxy (xgal) deployment; also, another constraint will be whether you have the right kind of slow ships to slow your flight time down to something that fit into your schedule, e.g. rips, recycler, colony ships, or large cargo.


      Consideration 2. Visibility
      All fleet movement sent from a planet except deployment will be visible on phalanx at the starting position, and all fleet movement will be visible at the destination position. That is the reason why a moon can help you do a safer FS, because




      Consideration 3. Traceability

    • I see why and what you are trying to emphasize.

      What I dislike about your suggestions is that you have to include information several ( at least twice ) times.

      I would have to describe visibility in "Visibility" and later on when I am describing a deployment save. However, I will try to include your suggestions at a later time and I guess I figured what you were trying to show me: My guide is way too "complex" for a completly new player and needs more detail on the easy/basic stuff.

      Why did I include the theory at my guide's beginning?
      To be honest, if you pay attention to the points mentioned and you understand their meaning, it does not matter if you save deployment or something else, you will be able to estimate what is safe enough in your current position and that is what I am trying to teach. I do not want people to say "Deployment is best because I've read 10 posts saying so", I want them to understand the game.

    • i would like a tl:dr short version of this text in the beginning...
      saving is such an important thing, but nobody wants to read ~2000 words in the beginning, so a short version with the most important things would be a better solution for us noobs ;)

      Es sei denn du gehst wirklich davon aus, dass sich jemand einen 2000 Wörter Text rein-pfeift, nur weil er in einem Spiel ganz am Anfang etwas besser werden möchte - Rücksicht auf die Zielgruppe, die sind nämlich, so wie auch ich, meist sehr faule Menschen - Ich habe den Text auch nicht komplett gelesen ;)

    • Short version


      ==Fleetsaving methods==
      There are multiple Fleetsaving methods, depends of age of universe, level of your account, existence of moons and your playing style. One of the most important things are to be online before your fleet returns from fleetsave and also make sure that after you have sent your fleet on fleetsave, you create activity on all your planets for a few more minutes to hide the exact time and location of your fleetsave.

      =Harvesting=
      - good from planet at early stage of universe when there are no moons
      - can be traced by Debris watch
      - are invisible on phalanx when sent from moon
      - It is advisable to send decoy harvesting missions to hide the main fleet return

      =Deployment=
      - it is the safest way of fleetsave when sending from planet to planet and from moon to moon as well. In case the destination moons is destroyed, the fleet returns to origin planet and is invisible to phalanx.
      - the deploy missions are visible on phalanx but not on their way back if they are recalled
      - you have to be online before fleets arrives to destination to be able to recall in case you are under attack

      =Colonising=
      - they are visible on phalanx when sent/recalled from planet
      - if you have a free planet slot you'll get a new colony and all your resources will be dumped unprotected on new planet
      - they are good if you don't have a near colony to save by deploy and quite cheap regarding the fuel consumption if you do it in your own system

      =Expeditions=
      - they are visible on phalanx at origin planet and they can bring back resources, ships or DM but also can be attacked by pirates or aliens and be partially or totally destroyed
      - not advisable to use it as fleetsave but you can send smaller fleets to expedition while you are away from the game

      =ACS defend=
      - it is a cheap and secure fleetsave in the first days of a universe before you get recyclers or a colony to use recycling or deployment
      - you should use it only with well trusted alliance mates or buddies, always set 0 hold time
      - it is visible on phalanx on its way on and back if it is sent from planet

      =Attacking=
      -It is a good fleetsaving mission in new universes before moons appearing in neighborhood as is visible on phalanx on both sending planet and defended planet, this is not applying to moons but the activity star created by the attack can disclose your FS time.
      - make sure the defender is inactive or offline for the entire duration of attack or he might call for ACS defend or bring/ build ships to ninja your attack
      - is not a safe method if your planet or defender's planet are under enemy phalanx

      =Espionaging=
      - is similar to fleetsave by attack

    • full version


      ==Intro==
      Planets can't be conquered, researches and mines can't be torn down by other players. Ships and defence, however, can be destroyed. While destroyed defenses don't create any debris of the Structural Integrity (metal + crystal) used to build a ship will end into debris, where attackers can harvest it and use it themselves. Each attack can also take up to 50% of the resources you left on the planet.

      Mastering the art of fleetsave requires understanding one important concept of Ogame, that while your fleet is moving around the Universe, it cannot be attacked. Therefore it is imperative that you fleetsave while you're not online.

      Fleetsaving is important to any type of player. "No FS = no Fleet" is a golden rule of Ogame and respecting it surely is the first step to a successful Ogame career.

      ==Theoretical concepts==
      The more time you are online, the more you play, the less and the shorter you are safe the harder it is to catch your fleet. Depending on your universe's activity and depending on the fleeters playing in it, it might be crucial to save at a certain time in day instead over night.

      =Variance=
      If you change your saving-technique regularly, it will be harder to predict your fleetsave resulting in less chance to catch your fleet. Do not save at the same position and timing every day (especially when saving Moon -> Harvest or Moon -> Colonising or Moon -> ACS defend to moon). Vary your savetimes. Even small changes (about 30 minutes - 1 hour) do matter. Ideally you want to switch up your savetimes completely.

      =Splitting your fleet=
      There are players that tend to split their fleets into several parts and save all parts individually (like 1/4 of your fleet per moon). This is only useful if your attacker is trying to maximize his win and minimize his efforts. In older universes or universes that progressed to the point where destroying all your moons is easy, you should abandon splitting your fleet, as you will not be able to save any of your fleet's parts. Even in fresh universes it is questionable if splitting your fleet for saving is actually useful or not.

      =Observing=
      Observing your target is a crucial skill as an attacker, but nonetheless it is important for you (as the attacked one) as well. The least a potential attacker has to do to attack your fleet is: Spy/Scan or phalanx your fleet (saving without moon). After finding you, the attacker has to wait until you log off. A player who has never seen your fleet before is unlikely to attack you or blindly destroying your moons.

      ==Advices==
      Bascially, when you notice someone is regularly scanning you or trying to attack you where you usually fleetsave it is imperative to switch up your savingmethod.

      Many fleeters wait for you to idle and leave your fleet alone for a while not saving it properly. So if player A is observing you on coordinate B because he is positioned close to it, do not leave your fleet alone on coodinate B. Leave it somewhere else, so you have more time to log in, in case something happened and delayed you. Do not leave your fleet idleing close to players who are trying to catch you. They will gladly take your fleet.
      New planets in your own system could be rated as a confession: I want your fleet!

      =Always save your fleet!=
      No matter when and for how long you have to leave your fleet unattended: Save it!

      =Be online before fleet returns=
      A good value is being online at least 1 hour before your fleet returns from save to check for anything strange in your account. If something happened, like this you still have some time to react.

      =Stay yourself=
      In the following save descriptions you will see, that increasing universe speed requires you to invest more time into OGame to stay safe. This is just a game and that is what it is supposed to remain. Do not overdo it.

      ==Fleetsaving==
      =Why do I need a moon?=
      A moon has several benefits for saving and defending your fleet.
      1. Moon hides your fleet. It cannot be phalanxed as long as the moon is not destroyed (exluding Moon -> Harvest or Moon -> planet (any mission). They can be retimed without destroying the moon. However a potential attacker does not know what might hide behind the moon [possible defenders]).
      2. Friends/Helpers/Defenders can hide behind the moon as well.
      3. You can use your moon for jumping (moving fleet between moons with cooldown within a second).
      4. You can position tons of ressources on your moon, not affecting any production.

      ==Fleetsaving without a moon==
      =1. Harvest / Colonising / ACS defend (defending duration = 0 hours)=
      You should refrain from using them as fast as possible. Furthermore they are pretty similar to each other. You have a flight to your destination, an impact time and a flight back to your starting position. These methods are only viable in a universe's first few days, as long as there are no moons and/or lanxes that can reach you. Afterwards these saving methods are a free ticket to lose your fleet.

      =2. Deployment (planet to planet)=
      If you have no moon you should only save like this. Deployment from planet to planet. It enables you to always have the chance to recall your fleet (that's why you have to log in before your fleet returns). Deployment (recalled) cannot be seen in the phalanx anymore. Deployment can only be seen by phalanxing the target. After recalling, it disappears. A potential attacker has to spend a lot of deuterium (phalanxing every few seconds until you recall) to determine your return time. Small fleets are not worth doing so. Especially when your start planet (now your returning target) is not in the attacker's phalanx range.

      ==Fleetsaving with a moon==
      =1. Moon -> Harvest / Moon -> Colonising | Moon -> ACS defend to mate's Moon (defending duration = 0 hours)=
      You still have a flight to your destination, an impact and a flight back to your starting moon. As long as your starting moon is not being destroyed all three methods are really safe (be aware Moon -> Harvest can be retimed by observing debris fields. Use shadow waves). However, if you lose your origin moon your fleet is probably lost. It is hard to react in time, as the moon can be destroyed close to your return time, except you've been online for several hours before your fleet returns from save. After your moon has been successfully destroyed all 3 missions are easily lanxable.
      If you are using these techniques pay close attention to Variance chapter. Save from different positions, otherwise you become an easy target.

      =2. Moon/Planet -> Moon: Deployment (Recall)=
      This is how you want to save your fleet! This is, by far, the safest saving method. You deploy your fleet to one of your moons. It is not that important to start from a moon however it is recommended. By saving Moon -> Moon: Deployment (Recall) you can become close to uncatchable. It's still possible to lose your fleet, but if you are doing it right it is way too expensive.

      To carry out a deployment save with huge fleets most of the time you use two moons in the same system to minimize fuelcosts. Throw in some RIPs to slow down your fleet to increase savetime. If you do not recall your fleet, half the fuelcosts will recover.
      To become invisible it is essential that you recall your fleet before a potential attacker could destroy your destination moon. After recalling your fleet is no longer visible in the lanx even if your moons fall and before your recall the fleet was sent between two moons, these are unlanxable.

      => Attackers have no exact time when your fleet returns. They can only guess.

      There are two methods to ensure, that your fleet is recalled before your savemoons fall:
      1. You only log off/go to sleep when your fleet is already recalled. Example: 8 hours before you go to sleep you save via deployment. When you go to sleep you recall your fleet and it will be extremely save for 8 hours.
      2. Every few hours (depending on universe's speed) you check if a recall is necessary.
      Advantage: You are not bound to save your fleet before you actually go offline.
      You might be able to safe deuterium.
      Disadvante: You cannot sleep for more than x hours straight.

      =3. Moon -> Harvest on Moon's DF=
      Last but no least.
      It is the cheapest saving method. Takes as much deuterium as flying to the moon's planet. You should only use this when you are experienced with shadow waves. On top of that: This is only useful in slow universes, otherwise you will not have much savetime.

    • Mastering the art of fleetsave requires understanding one important concept of Ogame, that while your fleet is moving around the Universe, it cannot be attacked. Therefore it is imperative that you fleetsave while you're not online.


      This is first FLEETSAVE it will bi nice to put (FS) just to players know what abbreviation means




      Do not save at the same position and timing every day (especially when saving Moon -> Harvest or Moon -> Colonising or Moon -> ACS defend to moon).


      This is first ACS - need meaning.

      Everything else is perfect.

    • 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 because of that 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 the absence, because fleets cannot be attacked while they are flying. But killing fleets is a very lucrative business, so you have to save very conscientiously and you first and foremost have to pay attention to choose the correct method. For this reason we created this compendium, 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 save every day?==
      You should not see saving as a necessary evil, but rather you should plan it advisedly, so that you will not suddenly awake one day without your fleet, which you have built tediously. 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. That is very important, if you have the feeling that someone watch 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 never falling for daily habits. Sometimes change your save 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 who will kill it. Mainly this sort of interception is the biggest danger, of which you have to take care during saving – 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>>.
      As you already know, under noob protection (up to 50k points for old universes or up to 500k points for new universes) your ships can be saved from other players attacks due to the tactical retreat feature. If one of your planets is attacked by a superior opponent, your ships can escape under certain conditions. Also, there is some important hints to take into account about this game function, listed below:
      *Power ratio of the ships involved is over 5:1 (if you have an Admiral officer working, you can set this ratio to 3:1 in the fleet menu page at "Tactical retreat" section.
      *Defensives structures are not taken into account for the ratio calculation.
      *Civil ships only count for 25% (rounded).
      *Tactical retreat runs automatically but it needs 1,5 times as much Deuterium available as the fleet would need for a flight to the neighbouring position. If there is a lack of Deuterium, no ship can retreat. After retreat the fleet is instantly available again.
      *Deathstars, Espionage Probes, Solar Satellites and fleets at ACS defend cannot retreat.
      Besides this temporary feature and the right saving method used, also the control is a useful element to avoid fleet loss. That means precisely, that after you have sent your fleet, you have to look on the overview, if the fleet really comes back to the designated time. Nothing is more infuriating than a fleet loss by a typing error with the coordinates, by the wrong speed or by the wrong mission. Especially if you feel like you’re being watched so it is advisable to stay in your account for a while after fleet saving. Most of the players defer the saving on the end of the playing time (logically), thus the enemy can value the possible time of dispatch without spying.

      ==How to save from a planet?==
      At the beginning of a universe, when you do not have a moon yet, the choice of saving possibilities is limited. But also later, for example if you deploy a fleet on a raid-colony without any moon, you have to go back to these methods. There it is important to know, what kind of safety each method provides.

      =====Planet – Debris Field:=====
      : This is a very simple method, which is very dangerous, and 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 – Attack:=====
      : If you do not have any recyclers at the beginning of a universe, or if you are ready to dare for a few more resources, you can also save via attacking a player. However you should only fly on inactive players who are in an inferior position because you can get a nasty surprise very fast that nobody wants to log in after the saving action and notice that the fleet was killed during the attack. This option is very insecure because the fleet can not only be intercepted on the return path with the sensor phalanx (see {{Link|Tutorial:Moon}} for more), but also by an ACS defend (see {{Link|Tutorial:ACS}}) on the attacked planet.

      =====Planet – Planet – Deployment:=====
      : Unlike saving to a debris field or via attack, this method will also be secure in some degree even if there are players with moons near you. The requirements for that are two planets, which are relatively close together. That is why you should not disperse your colonies in all galaxies at the beginning. 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 can recall it in fleet movement and let the attack run into emptiness or hit your defenses. Alternatively you can also recall your fleet anytime (before reaching the planet) so that it disappears from the adversarial phalanx, however take care that the fleet arrives back to the origin 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 interception, but with this, time and cost consuming method (phalanx/deuterium) will only be used for big fleets.

      ==The best saving methods with moon==
      The minute you have one or more moons, you can take the topic saving easier. Because moons cannot be scanned by a sensor phalanx which means the fleet movement on a moon is not obvious to adversarial players. Thereby some comfortable, but secure options of saving your fleet are given.

      =====Moon – Debris Field:=====
      : Since Moon/Debris Field cannot be scanned by sensor phalanx, you can save more securely on a Debris Field. But, although only fewer players will bother, this method is still far from absolute safety. Seasoned fleet hunters will look after the Debris Field, on which you send your fleet, and can start an interception by observing the harvest time when it disappears.
      That 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 their fleet follow shortly afterwards – so the enemy cannot know which part of the fleet he has to intercept. If the distance between the single recycler is less than 20 seconds, one shadow wave suffices more often than not, because the attacker is not able to uncover the Debris Field and to figure 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 bothers to shoot a Debris Field with more Crystal as fits into a normal shadow wave (one recycler). Than 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. But if you send more equal recycler fragments to the Debris Field, the attacker will need even more information, because he will not be able to infer only to the harvest.
      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 observes very much.
      Please note: Invisible Debris Fields will be deleted every week at night from Sunday to Monday (at ca. 1:30 am) and they cannot be approached 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 an extra protection against a loss of fleet via intercepting. Debris Fields, which give you such advantage, are those of players, who are in the vacation mode or those on empty positions, which are still there if there was a planet. But also Debris Field on planets of inactive players, on which there are no ships or defensive structures, will make saving much easier.

      =====Moon – 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 that the colonization failed, 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 – Moon – ACS defend:=====
      Here it is necessary, that you have a player of good repute in your vicinity. For saving you have to fly to his moon with the order “hold”. 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 a moon destroying or a betrayal by your holding target.

      =====Moon – Moon:=====
      Everyone, who is lucky enough to have two moons close to each other, can use the most secure save method and sleep calmly. Just send the fleet from one moon to the other; nobody can calculate the arrival and no phalanx can localize 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 lucrative target. And even in this case, when both moons are destroyed, you still can avoid an interception by calling back the fleet. Thereby it disappears from the phalanx and flies relatively secure back to the planet.

      ==What if I am intercepted never the less?==
      If it happens, that 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 attack other people verbal or to flame them. Better ask the player about what you have done wrong, and avoid this fault in the future, because like that every player has learned and advanced himself – also the enemy, who was just now destroying your ships. To quicken the rebuilding of your fleet, of course you can try to harvest the Debris Field of your destroyed fleet, whether the attacker did not yet. Recently a new building was introduced ( version 6.2) : The Space Dock. This building will help you recover some of the lost ships For more details please read <<Wreck Filed>> .