Espionage

Prerequisites

• Building: Research Lab level 3 (to unlock the research)
• Research: Espionage level 1 (improves both your interception odds and report completeness)
• Ship: Recon Drone (Shipyard level 1)

Launching an espionage mission

Assemble a fleet containing at least one Recon Drone and send it on an Espionage mission to a planet in an already-discovered system. A few rules to keep in mind:

• Only Recon Drones count toward the report — other ships in the fleet provide no mechanical benefit
• No cooldown between missions — you can send new Drones immediately if you can afford them
• No target restrictions: allies, newbies, vacation-mode or inactive players can all be spied on (even your own planets, to test the output)

How the report is built

The potential report contains five sections (Resources, Fleet, Defenses, Buildings, Research). Each section is revealed or not independently, based on its own probability:

• Each section has its own probability of being revealed, which decreases the further behind the defender you are in Espionage level
• Sending more Drones softens that gap, but with diminishing returns
• Sections are rolled independently: you might get Resources but miss Defenses, for example
• At equal or greater level than the defender, all sections are revealed at 100%

Section sensitivity

Not all sections are equal. The most sensitive intel drops off the report first when you are at a level deficit, while the most public intel stays visible longer. Listed from most sensitive to least sensitive:

Role of the Drone count

Sending more Drones can compensate for a level deficit in Espionage, but it is no silver bullet:

• 1 Drone is enough if you are at equal or greater level than your target
• Beyond that, each additional Drone helps less and less — returns clearly diminish
• Closing a large level gap by sheer numbers alone becomes very expensive
• Espionage research remains the main strategic lever: experiment to find the right balance

Interception risk

On arrival, your Drones may be destroyed by the target's defenses. If interception succeeds, you lose the entire fleet and receive no report.

• The further the defender is ahead in Espionage, the higher the risk
• The higher your own Espionage, the better your Drones slip through
• Sending many Drones increases your footprint and the risk of being spotted
• A minimum floor always applies: no raid is ever fully risk-free, even with overwhelming superiority
• Cap: 100% interception is possible under extreme deficit

The defender is always alerted

There is no stealth espionage in Spacy. Whatever happens, the target is notified on fleet arrival:

• Your identity and origin coordinates are always revealed to the defender
• If the defender has equal or greater Espionage level, the exact composition of your Drone fleet appears in their report
• If your Drones are intercepted, the target is also notified — and receives the extra confirmation that you lost everything

Espionage and system discovery

Sending a reconnaissance mission to an undiscovered system reveals only the system's content (star, planets, owners, debris fields) — it is not a planetary espionage and produces a distinct report. To spy on a specific planet, you must first discover the system that contains it. See the "Galaxy map" section.