Syndicates can claim systems in the Frontier and the Void, hold them by living in them, and lose them to whoever fights harder. A claim pays the owner a levy on bounties and refining in the system, and paints it in the syndicate's colours on the Star Map. To take one, attackers knock down the owner's Claim Spire, then win a contest over six command nodes.
Steps
- Be in a syndicate of at least 5 members, with the Territory permission.
- Build a Claim Spire at an industry slot. Open IndustryPlay to try this
- Haul it to an unclaimed Frontier or Void system and deploy it near a planet.
- Survive the hour of anchoring. Then live in the system to raise its hold.
Claiming
- Where: any system below 0.5 that isn't claimed and isn't Cinder. Deploy within 50 km of a planet, and at least 100 km from gates, stations and other structures.
- Who: a member whose role has the Territory permission, in a syndicate of 5 or more. The founder always has it, officers by default.
- Anchoring takes 1 hour. During that hour the spire can be destroyed outright. Once anchored, the system is yours at hold 1, and the Reach hears about it.
Hold
Hold, from 1 to 5, measures how much your syndicate actually lives in the system. It's the defender's advantage. Hold rises with what your members do there over a rolling 7 days: bounties, ore mined, industry jobs, sites cleared, and hours present. No single activity can max it. It drops one level per 3 days without enough activity.
Frontier claims cap at hold 3. Void claims go to 5.
| Hold | Reinforcement timer | Vulnerable hours a day | Nodes attackers need |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 24 h | 6 h | 3 of 6 |
| 2 | 30 h | 5 h | 4 of 6 |
| 3 | 36 h | 4 h | 4 of 6 |
| 4 | 42 h | 3 h | 4 of 6 |
| 5 | 48 h | 2 h | 5 of 6 |
Taking a system
1. Reinforce. The spire can only be hurt during the owner's daily vulnerability window. Attackers shoot its shield to zero, and it goes into reinforcement for the hold's timer. A Reach Broadcast tells everyone when the contest will come.
2. Contest. When reinforcement ends, six command nodes appear: four in the system and two in neighbouring systems. The contest lasts up to 60 minutes.
- A side captures a node by keeping at least one ship within 10 km of it, with no enemy ship within 10 km, for 3 minutes. Captured nodes can be flipped back.
- Defenders are the owner's members. Attackers are every other pilot. Capitals, NPCs and ships that are slipping or cloaked count for neither side.
- Attackers win by holding the hold's share of nodes at the end, or for 10 minutes in a row. The spire's armor falls and for 30 minutes anyone can destroy it. If it dies, the system is unclaimed.
- Defenders win otherwise. The spire repairs to full and can't be reinforced again for 48 hours.
The contest HUD lists every node with its distance and owner, the score and what's needed. It appears while a contest runs in your system.
Levies
The owner sets a levy, paid into the syndicate wallet, on activity in the system. Roles can be exempted.
| Levy on | Frontier cap | Void cap |
|---|---|---|
| Bounties paid in the system | 5 % | 15 % |
| Refining at the system's stations | 3 % | 10 % |
Charter stations stay open to everyone, whoever owns the system.
Watching territory
- The Territory layer on the Star Map shows owners, hold pips, and reinforced or contested systems with their timers. Open the Star MapPlay to try this
- The system info card shows the owner, hold and levies.
- The Territory tab in the Syndicate window lists your claims, hold by activity, levies and contest timers.
Upgrades, upkeep and NPC raids on weak claims are planned for later.