Terra Invicta Ship Design Guide — Hull Types, Weapon Slots & Fleet Composition
Ship design is the single most complex and consequential system in Terra Invicta. Every hull class, weapon slot, armor layer, and reactor choice compounds into a vessel that either dominates the battlefield or explodes in the first 10 seconds of combat. This guide breaks down hull types, weapon slot optimization, armor and reactor matching, radiator requirements, and fleet composition strategies for every stage of the campaign. Whether you are designing your first escort in 2025 or your first dreadnought in 2045, the principles here will keep your ships alive and your MC well spent.
Last updated: July 4, 2026
Hull Type Comparison — Every Class Explained
Every ship in Terra Invicta begins with a hull class choice. The hull determines your tonnage limit, number of weapon slots, and base cost in megacredits (MC). Larger hulls carry more weapons and armor but are slower, more expensive, and harder to replace. Smaller hulls are fast and cheap but cannot survive late-game alien firepower. The key insight is that hull slots are your true limiting resource: a battleship with 14 hull slots can carry seven times the firepower of an escort, but costs 15 times as much.
Nose slots and hull slots serve different purposes. Nose slots accept spinal mount weapons (heavy lasers, coilguns, torpedoes) that fire forward only but deal massively increased damage. Hull slots accept turret-mounted weapons (PD lasers, broadside railguns) that can fire in any direction. A well-designed ship uses nose slots for its main anti-ship battery and hull slots for point defense, armor, reactors, and radiators. Never put a turret weapon in a nose slot or vice versa; the slot types are not interchangeable.
Speed decreases as hull size increases. An escort with high-efficiency engines can reach 5 km/s, allowing it to chase down alien scouts and intercept missiles. A dreadnought with the same engine tech may only reach 1.5 km/s because the engine power is spread across 25,000 tons of hull and armor. This speed gap is why specialized fleets with matching hull classes always outperform mixed fleets: everyone arrives at the battle at the same time.
| Hull Type | Tonnage | Hull Slots | Nose Slots | Cost | Speed | Best Use |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Escort | 800 tons | 4 slots | 1 slot | Low (2-4 MC) | High (4-5 km/s) | Early-game missile screen and point defense. Cheap to produce in bulk. Dies quickly but absorbs enemy fire that would otherwise hit capital ships. |
| Corvette | 1,500 tons | 5 slots | 1 slot | Low-Medium (4-7 MC) | High (3.5-4.5 km/s) | Versatile early-to-mid-game platform. Can carry a single heavy nose weapon plus 4 hull weapons. Ideal for wolfpack tactics in destroyer packs. |
| Destroyer | 3,000 tons | 7 slots | 1 slot | Medium (8-14 MC) | Medium (2.5-3.5 km/s) | The workhorse of mid-game fleets. 7 hull slots allow 4 PD lasers plus 3 offensive weapons. Fast enough to reposition and tough enough to survive alien return fire. |
| Cruiser | 6,000 tons | 10 slots | 2 slots | Medium-High (15-25 MC) | Medium (2-3 km/s) | Heavy mid-to-late-game combatant. Two nose slots enable spinal mount weapons. 10 hull slots support layered defense plus serious firepower. The backbone of any serious battle fleet. |
| Battleship | 12,000 tons | 14 slots | 2 slots | High (30-50 MC) | Low-Medium (1.5-2.5 km/s) | Late-game line ship. 14 hull slots allow 6 PD plus 8 offensive weapons. Requires fusion or antimatter reactor. One battleship can solo an entire early-game alien fleet. |
| Dreadnought | 25,000 tons | 20 slots | 3 slots | Very High (60-100 MC) | Low (1-2 km/s) | Endgame flagship. Three nose slots for triple spinal mounts. 20 hull slots enable maximum armor, PD, and broadside weapons. Requires antimatter reactor and heavy exotic armor to survive. |
| Titan | 50,000+ tons | 30+ slots | 4 slots | Extreme (150+ MC) | Very Low (0.5-1 km/s) | Super-heavy endgame platform. Only available with the highest tech. Serves as a mobile fortress and alien mothership counter. Build one per fleet maximum due to extreme cost. |
Armor Types & Reactor Tiers — Protection and Power
Armor and reactors are the two systems that determine whether your ship survives combat and whether it can fire its weapons. Basic steel armor is better than nothing but weighs so much that it cuts your speed in half on small hulls. Composite armor is the mid-game standard and should be researched as soon as possible. Exotic armor is game-changing: it provides triple the protection of steel at one-third the weight. Every endgame ship should use exotic armor exclusively. Reactors follow a similar progression: fission is adequate for early escorts, fusion is the mid-game workhorse, and antimatter is required for endgame weaponry. Match your reactor tier to your weapon power draw; a battleship with a fission reactor cannot fire its lasers.
| Tier | Protection / Power | Weight | Tech Era | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic Steel Armor | Low (10-20 damage reduction) | Heavy (1 ton per unit) | 2020s-2030s | Cheap and readily available. Weighs down your ship significantly. Only use on early escorts and corvettes where exotic materials are unavailable. |
| Composite Armor | Medium (30-50 damage reduction) | Medium (0.6 tons per unit) | 2030s-2040s | The standard mid-game armor. Good protection-to-weight ratio. Research composite materials before committing to any cruiser or battleship design. |
| Exotic Armor (Carbon Nanotube / Metamaterial) | High (70-120 damage reduction) | Light (0.3 tons per unit) | 2040s-2050s | Endgame armor. Extremely lightweight and provides massive protection. Essential for dreadnoughts and Titans. Requires exotic materials from space mining. |
| Fission Reactor (Small) | 100-200 MW | 40 tons | 2020s-2030s | Adequate for escorts with infrared lasers. Cannot power UV lasers or heavy kinetic weapons. Upgrade immediately when fusion tech unlocks. |
| Fusion Reactor (Medium) | 400-800 MW | 60 tons | 2030s-2040s | The mid-game standard. Powers visible and UV lasers plus railguns. Medium fusion (600 MW) is the sweet spot for destroyers and cruisers. |
| Antimatter Reactor (Large) | 2000-5000 MW | 100 tons | 2040s-2050s | Endgame power plant. Required for X-Ray lasers, Gamma lasers, and coilguns. Extremely efficient weight-to-power ratio. Build multiple on dreadnoughts. |
The Radiator Capacity Rule — Why Ships Overheat
The single most common ship design mistake is insufficient radiator capacity. Every weapon and reactor generates waste heat when operating. In the vacuum of space, the only way to shed that heat is through radiator panels. If your total radiator capacity is less than your total weapon power draw, your ship will accumulate heat during combat, trigger an overheat warning, and automatically shut down all weapons until the heat dissipates. In a fleet engagement, this means your supposedly mighty battleship sits dark and defenseless while alien ships continue firing.
The correct rule is: total radiator capacity in megawatts must exceed total weapon power draw by at least 20 percent. For a destroyer with two Visible Laser PD turrets (120 MW each) and one UV Laser spinal mount (300 MW), total weapon draw is 540 MW. You need at least 648 MW of radiator capacity. Each radiator module provides a fixed amount of dissipation depending on tech level; check the module stats before finalizing your design. Always reserve at least 2 hull slots on capital ships exclusively for radiators, more if you are running heavy laser broadsides.
Alien ships consistently violate this rule in the early game, which is why they overheat and shut down in prolonged engagements. Once you understand radiator mechanics, you can design ships that outlast alien fleets by simply having more dissipation margin. The alien AI improves its designs in the mid-to-late game, so do not rely on alien incompetence forever. By 2040, alien battleships will have proper radiator capacity and will not overheat on you.
Fleet Composition by Era — Early, Mid, and Late Game
Early Game (2025-2032): Escort Swarm
In the first years of the game, you cannot afford cruisers or battleships. Your fleet consists of 10-15 escorts with infrared laser PD and basic steel armor. These ships are individually weak but numerically overwhelming. The strategy is to accept that most escorts will die and to screen your few valuable corvettes and early destroyers. Build escorts in groups of 4-6 so that at least some survive each engagement. Research fusion reactors and composite armor as absolute priorities; everything else can wait. An escort swarm can hold the line against alien scouts until 2032, after which it becomes hopelessly outclassed.
Mid Game (2032-2042): Destroyer Wolfpacks
Once fusion reactors unlock, destroyers become the dominant ship class. A wolfpack of 8 destroyers with visible or UV lasers and composite armor can engage and destroy alien cruisers reliably. The wolfpack doctrine relies on focus fire: all 8 destroyers target the same alien ship simultaneously, overwhelming its point defense and radiators in one salvo. Destroyers are fast enough to dictate engagement range and cheap enough to replace. This is the longest-lasting viable design in the game; destroyer wolfpacks remain useful even in the late game as screens for capital ship formations. Invest heavily in destroyer production lines during this era.
Late Game (2042+): Battleship Lines and Dreadnought Flagships
The late game is defined by fusion and antimatter technology. Battleships with 14 hull slots can carry enough PD to be nearly immune to alien missiles while mounting broadside laser batteries that melt alien armor at 1000 km. A standard late-game fleet consists of 4 battleships in a line formation, 2 cruisers as flankers, and 6 destroyers as a point defense screen. The dreadnought is a specialized flagship that carries triple spinal mounts and leads the formation. Dreadnoughts are expensive (80+ MC each) and slow, so only build one every 2-3 years. The alien endgame fleet includes motherships that require multiple dreadnoughts or 6+ battleships to destroy. Transition to this composition around 2045 when your MC income exceeds 200 per month.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the ideal destroyer design for a 2032 campaign?
A 2032 destroyer should use a medium fusion reactor (600 MW), two Visible Laser PD turrets for missile defense, one UV Laser spinal mount for anti-ship damage, and composite armor plating (15-20 units). This design costs approximately 10-12 MC per ship and can engage alien cruisers at 500 km while surviving their return fire. The key is balancing PD coverage with offensive capability. If you cannot afford UV lasers yet, substitute with three Visible Lasers: two turrets for PD and one spinal for offense. Avoid overloading the power plant; total weapon draw should not exceed 80 percent of reactor output to leave margin for sensors, engines, and future upgrades.
How important is radiator capacity in ship design?
Radiator capacity is the most commonly overlooked factor in ship design, and inadequate radiators will cripple your fleet in prolonged engagements. The rule is that total radiator capacity in megawatts must exceed your total weapon power draw by at least 20 percent. Weapons generate waste heat when firing, and that heat must be radiated into space or your ship will overheat and shut down its weapons systems. A battleship with 2400 MW of laser weapons needs at least 2880 MW of radiator capacity. Build radiators into every unused hull slot on capital ships. Early-game players who neglect radiators find their expensive dreadnoughts going dark after 30 seconds of combat while alien ships keep firing.
Should I mix ship classes in the same fleet or specialize?
Specialized fleets are almost always superior to mixed fleets. A wolfpack of 8 destroyers with identical loadouts is more effective than a fleet with 2 destroyers, 2 cruisers, and 1 battleship because the wolfpack can focus fire and share point defense coverage efficiently. Mixed fleets suffer from speed mismatches: your fast escorts dash ahead and get destroyed before your slow battleships arrive, or your battleships lumber forward while escorts never engage. That said, every fleet needs some point defense escorts to survive alien missile spam. The optimal composition is 6-8 destroyers plus 2-3 escort screens per fleet, all with matching speed and weapon range. Transition to cruiser-battleship fleets only in the late game when you have the MC budget for homogeneous capital ship groups.