Galactic Anomalies

Concept · Game mechanic

An anomaly switches on a fixed set of buffs in a system, some for you and some for the hostiles, each at its own level; the set’s tier raises them all together.

A Galactic Anomaly is not one buff but a set of them, switched on together in the systems it covers for as long as it lasts. A set usually mixes sides: Adaptive Hulls makes hostiles with a Hull Breach hit harder, and the FKR reputation buff Faction Amity comes up beside it. Every ship fighting in the system is under the whole set; you cannot have part of it.

Each buff in the set carries a level, and the level is what sets its strength. The anomaly’s tier moves every buff’s level at once, but not by the same steps: one buff can climb 10, 25, 34, 42 across the tiers while its companion climbs 5, 12, 16, 26.

The same buff can come up in more than one set, at different levels. Armed to the Teeth, which raises hostile damage, rides with the Victory crit-mitigation buffs and also with the Venari Ral loot buff, and is a different strength in each. So a buff’s strength depends on which set brought it, and a buff on its own does not tell you which anomaly is up; the other buffs beside it do.

Some buffs come in ship-grade variants that share a name, such as the 6-star and 7-star Faction Amity; a fight carries one of them, not both. A battle log records every anomaly buff active in the fight and its level, which is how the sets and their levels are known.