When a ship enters a sector that contains mines, the ship will hit the mines and an attack screen will be shown to that player as his guns automatically fire on the mines. The attack screen shows the number of mines that hit the ship, the damage done to the ship and the amount of damage the ship's guns did to the mines. The player who hit the mines must click the Current Sector link to view the sector again and see what is there and continue play. You can exit a mined sector safely using the bright Green exit.
Some effects of entering a mined sector:
How mines damage your ship:
Some further detail on the math behind mines:
Helpful hints:
When you hit mines and get the attack screen, click Current Sector to see what or who is in sector with you. Often times as you fly around in your ship, you hit a single mine left behind by a trader or hunter who was recently in the area. When you look at the current sector, there are no mines left because you just shot them or they crashed against your hull. So you can then continue on to your destination.
When you enter a sector with a large number of mines, your guns will destroy some of them, some will blow up on your ship, and the rest will be left sitting in the sector untouched. The current sector view will reveal the mines that are left and you will see your choices of exits. Back out of a mined sector the way you came in using the bright GREEN exit, and you will move safely. If you try going out using a non-green exit, your ship does not move and you hit the remaining mines in the sector. This can be useful, however, because using the non-green exit "clears the way" in that direction and that exit then becomes bright green and thus safe to move toward. If your ship can withstand the damage of doing this you can pass through a mined sector in this way.
Remember: the Green exit is always the safe way out of a mined sector, and clicking a non-green exit turns that exit into the new Green exit.
Combat Drones are very useful as they serve as both defense and offense.
When Combat Drones are on your ship, they are basically robot fighters that attack enemy ships in combat and will defend your ship in an attack. In combat, a random number of Combat Drones launch from your ship and do damage to your opponent. When an enemy ship returns fire it may destroy some of your drones. Drones will also attack mines if you run into them.
When laid in a sector, Combat Drones work much like mines do, but don't automatically explode when an enemy enters the sector. However if you attack any forces in a sector, they will do 2 damage per drone hit to your ship.
You can drop a maximum of 50 combat drones per player in a sector.
Scout drones are passive sensors that, when dropped in a sector, alert you to the comings and goings of all ships in that sector. You can place a maximum of five scout drones in a single sector. While they will do no damage to a ship entering or leaving the sector, they will do 20 damage each if attacked.