Tradewars 2002 Planetary Citadels

Citadels can be upgraded, and you can raise their military value six times. The upgrades requires more resources on the planet, but each upgrade will make your planet more powerful.

LEVEL ONE CITADEL

You can also purchase a planetary transporter, which allows you and your ship to transport to a nearby sector. Note the transporter must be upgraded one unit at a time to add one sector of distance to its capability. The transporter uses 10 units of Fuel Ore for each sector of distance you are transported, but it does save your turns in a low turn game.

LEVEL TWO CITADEL

The completed Level Two Citadel adds a Combat Control Computer to the planet. This now allows defense of the planet by the fighters on the planet surface. From within the Citadel, it is possible to set a Military Reaction Level of your fighters. It is best to keep this number at Zero for now. The planet's fighters will defend against an enemy invader trying to land, and they defend at 3:1 Combat odds.

With a Combat Control Computer, it is now safe for you to spend the night inside your Citadel. Don't forget to leave your ship's fighters on the planet surface before entering the Citadel.

LEVEL THREE CITADEL

A completed Level Three Citadel now adds a powerful Quasar Cannon weapon to the planet's military arsenal. When set properly, the Quasar Cannon uses Fuel Ore from the planet's surface to blast an enemy ship.

The Quasar Cannon has two settings: Sector firing and Atmosphere firing. When an enemy ship simply enters the Sector, the Sector cannon will fire. If the enemy ship tries to land on the planet, the Atmosphere cannon will fire.

It is best to set the Sector cannon to a low percentage (I recommend 1% to 5%) to serve as a warning shot to enemy ships. The Atmosphere Cannon should be set higher, anywhere from 10% to 50%, depending on the planet type, amount of Fuel Ore available, and the stage of the game you are playing.

Now you understand the importance of having planets which can hold a high capacity of Fuel Ore on the surface. The Volcanic planet has the highest capacity - one million units of Fuel Ore.

LEVEL FOUR CITADEL

A completed Level Four Citadel adds the powerful capability of Transwarping your planet to another sector. A transwarp event uses 400 units of Fuel Ore for each sector the planet travels. The transwarp capability is useful to move your planets to a new Home Sector if you should find a better location, or if a relentless enemy finds your Headquarters.

Another good use of the transwarp capability is for planetary trading. See the advanced game tactics page for more details on this concept.

LEVEL FIVE CITADEL

A finished Level Five Citadel establishes a Shield Generator on your planet. You will need to buy shields for the planet. This is done by transferring your ship shields to the planet. Ten ship shields equal one planet shield.

The planet can hold a maximum of either 65,535 or 30,000 shields (depending on the game version you are playing). You can see that the cost of full shielding can add up quickly. It is best to buy full planet shielding when the Port Zero price of shields is lowest.

The planet shields help to repel an attack by enemy ships. The attacker must destroy your shields before landing. This is in addition to the Quasar Cannon blast and fighters a potential invader must face.

LEVEL SIX CITADEL

The Level Six Citadel adds a powerful Interdictor Generator to your planet. When switched on, the Interdictor acts as a tractor beam to prevent an enemy ship from escaping your planet's sector.

With this tactic, the invading ship cannot leave to reload with fighters and shields. Each time an enemy attempts to warp out and activates the Interdictor, a small quantity of Fuel Ore is used from the planet's surface.

Your enemy only has a few choices when trapped by an Interdictor Generator:

• Logoff and wait for destruction
  
• Transport to another ship
  
• Self-destruction

The next time you logon, you may find your enemy waiting, helpless in your sector. Or you may find their abandoned ship waiting for you to capture it.

Level Six is the highest upgrade which can be made to a planet at this time.