A Round, Step by Step

A fight is fought in rounds, and every round runs in the same order. The raw JSON combat log records it as it happens: a round opens with its hull repair, and only then come the sub-rounds, each opening with the abilities that apply in it.

Start of the round. Hull repair comes first: it restores its share of the hull damage taken in the round before, so round 1 has none. Where a hazard is active, hyperthermic decay takes its tick next. Shield restores and every ability that fires at the start of each round apply before the first weapon fires, and so does an ability carried over from the last sub-round of the round before (see Officer Ability Activation).

Sub-rounds. A round has one sub-round per weapon slot, as many as the ship with the most weapons has. In each sub-round the abilities due in it apply first, then every ship fires the weapon in that slot, if it is loaded. What a hit triggers takes effect in the next sub-round, never on the shot that triggered it.

Who fires first. Within a sub-round the ships fire one after another. Against a hostile or an armada target, the hostile fires first in every sub-round, whoever started the fight: in the raw logs the hostile’s shots come before the player’s in every sub-round, also in fights the player opened. Between two players, the ship that attacked fires first.

End of the round. After the last sub-round, Burning takes its tick from every burning ship, unless the round’s shots have already decided the fight. The next round then opens with hull repair, which counts that tick as part of the damage it restores from.

The round limit. A fight ends when one side is destroyed, or when it reaches its round limit. The limit is 100 rounds; some armadas have a lower one. A fight that reaches its limit with both sides still alive ends as a partial: neither side is destroyed.

See also: Officer Ability Activation, State Duration, Targeting, Burning, hull damage repaired, Raw JSON Combat Logs