Scout Operations
Field Manual
A fleet jumping into an unknown system is a fleet gambling with lives. Scouting is the look before the leap — fast survey ships, survey probes, and the intel reports that turn a blind jump into a planned advance. A good scout wins the battle before the war fleet ever arrives.
Getting Started
Scouting comes down to three ingredients:
A scout ship — one of four dedicated DR-series scouts, each tied to a scan tier.
A survey probe — a consumable, one per scan, that must match your scout’s tier.
A target system — anywhere you want to know more about.
You send a scout to a system, it spends a probe, and it produces a scan report revealing what’s inside. Higher-tier scouts and probes produce sharper, more complete reports.
Scout Ships
Only dedicated scout ships can run scans — a regular ship sent to scan is simply rejected. There are four classes, each locked to a scan tier.
| Scout Ship | Tier | Role |
|---|---|---|
| DR-1A Eos | Tier 1 | Basic survey — cheap, rough picture |
| DR-2A Aether | Tier 2 | Improved detail |
| DR-3A Prometheus | Tier 3 | Precise locations and enemy composition |
| DR-4A Morpheus | Tier 4 | Complete intel — and stealthy |
Survey Probes
Every scan consumes one survey probe, and the probe's tier must match the scout's tier. Probes are a stocked inventory item — you buy them ahead of time and draw them down as you scan.
Where to buy: Probes are purchased from Voran (the in-game vendor) using credits. Higher-tier probes cost dramatically more than lower ones.
How they’re spent: When you dispatch a scout, it reserves a probe. The probe is only truly consumed once the scan actually begins on-site.
Refunds: If you cancel or abort a mission before the scan starts, the reserved probe is refunded. Missions even survive server restarts — any interrupted mission is reconciled and its probe returned.
Running a Scout Mission
Launching a scan is simple — pick a scout, pick a target system, and go. If the scout is already in the target system, the scan begins immediately. If it's somewhere else, the game plots a jump route, flies the scout there respecting its jump range, and starts the scan the moment it arrives.
| Rule | Detail |
|---|---|
| One scan at a time | A scout can't be dispatched on a second scan while it's already on one |
| No redundant scans | You can’t scan a system you already hold an equal-or-better report for — it would waste a probe |
| Upgrades replace downgrades | A new higher-tier report of a system automatically clears out your older, lower-tier reports of it |
| Cancellable | You can cancel a mission mid-flight or mid-scan; a reserved probe is refunded |
What a Scan Reveals
A completed scan covers three things: planets and their resource deposits, asteroid belts, and enemy fleet presence. The scan tier determines how much detail you get — buy a sharper probe for a sharper picture.
| Tier | Planets & Resources | Asteroids | Enemy Fleets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 — Eos | Only the richer deposits show up; quantities are rough; no richness figures | Basic presence | Vague strength band only (light / moderate / heavy) |
| Tier 2 — Aether | Adds approximate richness and tighter quantity estimates | Belt quantities appear | Improved read on presence |
| Tier 3 — Prometheus | Adds precise deposit locations | Per-asteroid detail | Enemy composition — ship types and counts |
| Tier 4 — Morpheus | Everything, unfuzzed — all deposits, exact figures, and a placement hint | Full detail | Full enemy detail including ship stats |
Intel Is Perishable
A scan is a snapshot in time, not permanent knowledge — the galaxy moves on the moment your scout leaves. Every report has a lifecycle, and understanding it is the difference between a planned strike and an ambush.
| Stage | What Happens |
|---|---|
| Sealed | A finished scan arrives sealed — a ~48 hour shelf life. If you never open it, it’s destroyed. |
| Opened | Opening a report starts its decay clock. |
| Decaying | Over days the intel degrades: full → partial → basic → expired, finest detail stripped first. |
| Gone | Fully decayed reports are destroyed. |
Getting Spotted
Scanning isn't always silent. When a scan completes, other players who have units in that system are alerted that a scan took place — a signal that someone is watching them.
Sharing & Selling Intel
Among the Voran, good intelligence is currency. Scan reports are a genuine commodity — knowledge is something you can trade, not just spend.
Share with your guild: An active report can be shared to your guildmates so everyone benefits from one scout’s work.
Sell on VIX: Reports can be listed on the marketplace for auction or buy-now. While a report is listed, its shelf-life clock is paused and preserved. A buyer who wins it receives it sealed, with about a 24-hour window to open it before it expires.
Scouting Also Charts Routes
Scouting has a useful side effect. When a scout travels a new path between systems, it records a mapped route — a known jump lane — and shares it with you and your guild.
Regional Awareness (Sector Intel)
Separate from per-system scanning, every named sector has a Sector Intel dashboard — a free, always-available regional summary showing total systems, resource-tier breakdowns, recent and largest battles, activity levels, and the top guilds by systems controlled.
Scouting Checklist
From your first probe to scouting the competition — follow each tier in sequence as your reconnaissance operation matures.
Warning Signs
The messages you'll run into while scouting, what causes them, and how to clear them.
Key Tips
Distilled reconnaissance doctrine — the habits that separate a scout who wins battles from one who wastes probes.