30 Oct 2016
Guide created

Karsten75 on the Knuckle Cracker forums for compiling a list with some information: https://knucklecracker.com/forums/index.php?topic=21347.0

Bacteriophage, Xalos, and others for determining energy efficiency values for modules:
https://knucklecracker.com/forums/index.php?topic=21752.0

Like previous Knuckle Cracker games, Particle Fleet is about resource management as well as strategy and positioning. Unlike most strategy games where both human and computer use similar units, you primarily manage ships while the enemy generates an endless flow of Particulate. As the game progresses, additional mechanics allow you to harness Particulate while the enemy begins to create more advanced structures.

This guide will have spoilers for units and enemies seen later in the campaign. There will not be specific tips or exploits for any levels, so I would consider it a "fair" resource for a first playthrough.

Major notes in regards to Particle Fleet versus Creeper World:

• You no longer have to build Collectors. All you got is Anti-Creeper, which also produces half of your energy. Yay!
  
• Omnis create AC, are Nullifiers, and look like cannons. There's a deployment cap, but these things are useful. Use them like you would a cannon with a built-in Nullifier.
  
• Your HQ can actually do stuff. Losing it still means you're screwed.
  
• No terrain manglement or shields.
  
• Reactor ships are a bad idea, as they don't feed energy back into the network unless you're off the grid.
  
• Mire has no depth, unlike Creeper. No Mortars, everything's fairly clear-cut in terms of efficiency.
  
• Particulate also has no depth, besides rare cases where Particulate has more than 1 health.
  
• Less leapfrogging of weapons - Particulate spreads slower than Creeper.
  
• Struct is much less aggressive than Digitalis. Also harder to destroy, but it doesn't conduct anything or grow back nearly as fast.
  
• staticballs are less threatening than Spores. You can outrun them, and they don't have payloads. Even if they did, you have AC everywhere as well.

• Much more moving across the map, rather than across specific fronts.
  
• Ramming stuff. For all of you who wanted to do that.
  
• Claiming risky points of power is still a valid strategy. Go fast.

Overall, the design themes are similar but Particle Fleet is a bit more cozy in terms of what you've got to manage. No need to TERP land, no need to manage multiple weapon types while figuring out how you're going to power your totems. You also can't turtle as effectively, though the hard cap on particulate spawn makes it so that you won't get completely overrun either.

Ships are made of hull components and modules. The most important component is the command module - if it is destroyed, the ship is destroyed.

Data sourced from https://knucklecracker.com/forums/index.php?topic=21752.0
For more exact energy consumption/cost values, refer to that page.

Each ship has a base energy storage of 50 energy and can move slowly, even without engines.

• Engine - Provides movement. Does not consume energy. Larger ships require more engines to move quickly.
  
• Lathe - Creates friendly buildings, collects pickups, destroys enemy buildings. Cannot affect Particulate. Short range.
  
• Laser - 0.58 en/P, but has very short range. Can't miss.
  
• Cannon - 0.5 en/P. Medium range, light knockback. Prone to missing.
  
• Missile - 1 en/P. Long range, medium knockback. Less efficient.
  
• Particle Beam - 0.3 en/P per second, max of 10P affected. Slows, no damage. Medium-long range. Also clears out enemy Plasma and restores your Plasma - super, super useful.
  
• Discharge - only useful on static balls.
  
• Energy Tank - 500 energy storage.
  
• Port - allows for energy link.
  
• Guppy - Remember these from CW? :D Automatically flies off to energy field to collect energy. 50 per run.
  
• Shield - 15 energy/sec (0.5 energy/frame), activates only when you take damage. Doubles hull durability.
  
• Reactor - Creates 1.5 energy/sec.
  
• Fighter Base - Creates fighters that are untargetable. 1 en/sec. Extremely long range, no fear of retaliation.
  
• Grabber - No energy consumed. Redirects friendly P. Has a sight line so you know where it'll go.
  
• MK7 - 1.5 en/P. Long range, large knockback. Each bullet has 3 health.

Most ships will be armed with some combination of Missile Launchers, Lasers, Cannons, and Particle Beams.

Ships have both an energy requirement and a build time. Energy requirement is based purely on the components (hull and modules), while build time increases exponentially with ship size. Tiny ships build in 5-6 seconds, most campaign ships build in 15 secs tops, and the largest ships take 60 seconds. Many custom "capital ships" have an impractical build time of ~10 minutes!

tl;dr: Small ships build/repair fairly quickly and are easily replaced, while large ships take way too long.


Your HQ is the most important ship in your fleet. It generates some energy for self-sufficiency, has two cannons and three lasers for defense, and a lathe so it can build Energy Mines. Losing your HQ causes it to warp out for 20 seconds, deactivating all Energy Mines as well. The HQ has a larger-than-normal command module, so it's more vulnerable than its size implies.

The Lathe has one laser and a lathe, and is lightly armored.

TO BE CONTINUED

(P)
P is the basic enemy unit. It deals damage to your ships and is converted to Mire when it touches land. In earlier levels P stays in small clusters or single units, but in later levels it begins to cluster up, multiple units connected in either strands, clusters, or distinct ship-like configurations.

P is vulnerable to knockback and explosions. MK7 cannons can push back anything it does not destroy, rocket explosions slow down Particulate, and explosions from ship/mine/structure destruction can push Particulate away from the source.

In addition, some P leaves behind Plasma, which slows down units of the opposing color. P clears out enemy Plasma without being destroyed, but is significantly slowed while passing through it.

Weapons can destroy P, but in later levels when P spawn rates are high you may want to keep it at bay instead. MK7s and rockets, while less energy-efficient, can knock back large blobs of P so you can focus on another area.

P comes in Hard, Medium and Soft variants, with 3/2/1 health, respectively. In most cases, P is Soft. Certain ships and specialized enemy weapons can fire Hard/Medium P.


Emitters create P. They, like all other enemy buildings, can be destroyed with a Lathe. Clusters, snakes, or single P can all be created from an Emitter.

There seems to be a maximum for both P count and spawn rate. If you move a unit within Lathe range of an Emitter, the nearby P will attempt to swarm the ship, and P spawn rate at that Emitter will increase (while other Emitters will slow down).

Swarming an Emitter with multiple Lathes, with a durable ship to body-block incoming P, is an effective way of taking it out.

The only unit which can create Plasma fields is P. Be sure to clear out enemy Plasma with Particle Beams before assaulting a location, or your units will be slowed. Significantly.

Oddly enough, Omnis are not slowed by Plasma.

Enemy mire acts similarly to friendly mire, spreading one square for every P that collides onto the surface. Enemy mire disables most of your pickups and deals damage to Omnis/Mines that are on it.

Rockets can destroy mire, but dropping multiple Omnis onto a piece of mired land is another way of clearing it out. Omni energy efficiency is not as high as it seems, because energy is also spent repairing the Omni.

Assuming enemy P is not reinforcing the mire, an Omni can clear out enough space for itself. Since mire spreads instantly, you can leave the Omni in that location and let it reclaim the land.

Enemy Mines, just like yours, are fragile and easily destroyed with a lathe.

Enemy Mines, unlike yours, have cannons. These will wreck any flying Omni, and will target grounded Omnis as well. Mine cannon fire is destroyed by mire, so a grounded Omni with a decent foothold can distract or even destroy an enemy Mine with its lathe.

The energy range and production don't seem to have a purpose, other than to denote the effective range/capability of the Mine once you take it over.


Emergent spawn from mired land and move in an erratic pattern at right angles. Each has at least 5 health (up to 20 for large Emergent), and can take that many shots from a laser or rocket launcher before being destroyed. This means it can burrow into (or through) your ships with ease. I'm not sure on the details, but at the very least, small Emergent can destroy 2 layers of armor.

P and Emergent can both deal damage to more than one hull piece while taking only one damage. This immediately destroys P, but Emergent may be able to take out modules behind two layers of armor because of this. As most ships are lightly armored to help with build time and speed, this makes Emergent extremely dangerous.

Emergent is also immune to particle beam and plasma. I get the feeling that Emergent takes damage from P.

The game recommends using rockets against Emergent, as they'll track the erratic movement. Rocket clusters can immediately take out incoming Emergent. Lasers on an armored/shielded ship also work. Naturally, cannons will miss most of their shots. Small, fast-moving target? Nooope.


Doppels are P in the shape of a ship, controlled by a vulnerable center unit. The Doppel Spawner can be destroyed with a lathe, while the Doppel's center cannot.

Doppels come in various configurations, emulating your ships' shapes and weapons. All of them fire P instead of rockets/cannons, just faster than P normally travels.

Because Doppels are made out of P, MK7 shots and rockets can significantly deform its shape, and ship collisions also work. Remember that armor is 4x as durable as P (or hull). Even with glitchy collision, Doppels are less durable than ships.

Doppel centers do not seem to deal damage, so any shot or ship part that passes through its center will likely kill it. A Hammer or Big Nose can punch through the P and destroy Cruiser/Destroyer Doppels without being destroyed.

After being destroyed, the remaining P tries to cluster up and either attacks your ships or retreats confusedly.

Like ships, Doppels have build time when their weapons are inactive and they move more slowly. If your Lathe ships are off doing somethng else, you can park one or two fragile ships (even Microtanks) on top of a Doppel spawner and take out the Doppel core whenever it spawns.

MK7s can hit Doppel cores when they turn to flee, taking them out in a salvo or two.


The enemy can also create ships. As mentioned above, ships are more durable than P. Enemy ships also don't require refueling and can therefore repair themselves on the fly. Fortunately, they tend to patrol areas rather than going for your command module.

To add to this, ships' weapon fire cannot be disabled by your typical methods of destroying P. The only projectiles you can destroy are rockets, and those only with laser cannons.

Either take them out with overwhelming force, ram them with a Hammer/Big Nose, or ignore them if they're on regular patrol runs and not attacking anything important. The one weakness of ships is that they don't create P, so they won't spread mire over your lands. When attacking enemy ships, remember about Plasma fields. Clear them out, or enemy ship fire will shred yours before you get close enough to ram.

MK7s are again incredibly efficient at taking out ships, especially since ships have a tendency to retreat after taking some damage, turning around and exposing their lightly-armored sides.

Amp Gems

Amp Gems show up partway through the campaign. They can be collected with a lathe. Right off the bat, you can slot Amp Gems into your ships to boost their stats.

• Ships fire 40% faster (0.7*delay, rounded to nearest frame)
  
• Ship weapons gain ~20% range (40% for Dischargers)
  
• Ship armor is 20% more durable
  
• Laser/P. Beam fire rate is NOT affected.
  
• Energy generation and storage is NOT affected.

Removing a gem takes 15 seconds, unless the ship is destroyed. In that case, the gem is dropped and you need to lathe it again.

Tips on using Amp Gems:

• Weapons fire faster but are no more efficient.
  
• Ship armor becomes more durable, so a gem on a Hammer is probably the only good way to get more energy efficiency out of a gem this way.
  
• The boosted range lets Tankers power your fleet from a longer distance.
  
• As lasers and lathes have short range, the range boost really helps them.
  
  Amp Gems: Upgrades
  In a later mission, you unlock the ability to use Amp Gems to upgrade the other parts of your infrastructure.
  
  
  Upgrades take time to build up to 100% effectiveness. If you know you need an upgrade earlygame and have the gems to use it, start the upgrade immediately.
  
  All upgrades are useful in specific situations, but the energy generation upgrades are invaluable for maintaining a large fleet, and the energy range boost reduces your need for Tankers so you can spread out your fleet more.
  
  Specific details for each upgrade at 100% efficiency:
  
  
  • Mine Production Increase: +100% Campaign mines go from ~10 to ~20.
    
  • Land Production Increase: +50%. Campaign land goes from ~20 to ~30.
    
  • Energy Range Increase: +100%. Quadruples effective area, though you're generally attacking so you only get a linear increase anyway.
    
  • Omni Reactors: Omnis basically become self-sufficient instead of consuming ~2.6 en/sec. Good for pushing.
    
  • Move/Build Speed Increase: Unknown values.
    
  • Mine Dischargers: Unknown values. Assumed that Mines deal damage at least equal to a Discharger module.
    
  • Defensive Struc: Creates defensive Struc framework of 10-unit radius, which must then be filled. Puts a lathe on the Mine as well.
    
  • Rock Burner: Allows you to destroy rock with Lathes. Mainly to let friendly Emitters spread P.
    
  • Mine Cannons: Shoots stuff. Not sure if it consumes energy. Rarely used it anyway.
    
  • Omni Cannons: Shoots stuff. Costs 1.5 en/sec. You have more Omnis than Mines.
    
  • Emitter Control: Lets you direct where your friendly Emitters send P.
    
  • Benign Emergent: Creates Emergent for you. Spawn rate and cap depend on the mission.
    
    =====
    Techs I use often:
    
    Omni Cannons boost your firepower for holding onto pieces of land. Omni Reactors can be useful, especially since you free up a lot of energy. IMO these are the two best techs.
    
    Defensive Struc is also useful for protecting Mines that may be in enemy range, without relying on parking your ships on the point. The built-in lathe is awesome. Set up a Mine and run off to build another one, let it lathe the rest of the nearby energy caches.
    
    I would recommend Mine/Land Production Increase. Pick one or the other, or both, depending on how much energy production you can get and how much Amp Gems you can afford to use. I generally get both to be safe and for a fast start.
    
    =====
    Optional techs:
    
    Energy Range Increase if you're moving slowly. It's definitely useful, since Tankers can only receive energy at a certain rate. Can't fuel 8+ ships with just one Tanker, heh.
    
    Benign Emergent is onlyuseful if you have enemy ships that you need to take out. It takes a long time to build up Emergent, and you need to take out the spawner. I recommend putting the Amp Gem somewhere else and getting creative with your ships.
    
    Rock Burners are useful if you need to open out flippable emitters. Take the Amp Gem off once you've done that.
    
    =====
    Techs I don't use:
    
    Move/Build Speed Increase lets you recoup losses and recover more quickly, but building faster means burning more energy. If it's energy production that's limiting you, there won't be any benefit. I feel like ships move fast enough already.
    
    Emitter Control and Mine Dischargers are marginally useful, since you should have ships for that anyway. Having a ship or mine taken offline doesn't hurt you too badly, and if you're out of position you can outrun energy balls that are targeting ships you care about.
    
    Mine Cannons are really an afterthought.
    
    =====
    
    Remember that you can always remove Amp Gems from upgrades if you don't need them - for example, if there is no land left to mire and no land near the enemies you need to eliminate, remove Omni upgrades. Get rid of any defensive upgrades once you've got a secure stronghold.

• Build only as many ships as you can support with your energy output. Start off with a lathe and some kind of attack ship.
  
• Use Omnis wherever possible. You clear out enemy mire and generate more energy.
  
• Pause the game if you need to make a decision or micro-manage.
  
• Build your Hammer early. It's cheap and good for body-blocking but takes a long time to build.
  
• Omnis can be built in space/can sit in space.
  
• Instead of moving an Omni to a distant location, destroy it and rebuild it. Much faster.

• Claim as much land as possible, as early as possible. Use your HQ to block things while your other ships build. Tech Defensive Struc if needed.
  
• AGGRESSIVELY DEPLOY OMNIS. They are energy-efficient, boost energy production, can't be targeted by most enemies, and can lathe spawners. Give them a decent foothold and they can take out mire machines.
  
• If you have a surplus of energy production, move more ships into position.
  
• If you still have a surplus, ram things. I'm assuming you know how durable certain ships are at this point.
  
• For any ship with heavy P.Beam loadouts, either disable the P. Beams or set it to Plasma and clear out any P in its range. Save your energy for destroying stuff.
  
• Prioritize energy caches. Maintain a surplus of energy caches while you can, to set up a strong foothold.
  
• Prioritize Mines that cover large landmasses. Reclaiming other Mines takes one Lathe and another attack ship, as you won't attract the attention of an Emitter by doing that.
  
• Amp your Lathes. More range for Lasers, making them actually useful. More range for the lathe, making it much safer. More durability, because losing one is a pain. Two amped Lathes can take out most medium-difficulty Emitters with light backup.