Fleetsaving
If you're new to OGame, or are wondering how to avoid your precious fleet being destroyed along with your resources taken while you're asleep, then there's no more an important concept to learn than "fleetsaving", namely, the technique used to 'save' your fleet from being attacked while you're offline.'Fleetsave' is a procedure used to protect your ships from other players.
what it is not:
1. fleetsave is not a function of the game
2. fleetsave is not a button you can click
3. fleetsave is not guaranteed
Mastering the art of fleetsaving requires understanding one important concept of OGame: the concept that while your fleet is moving around the Universe, it cannot be attacked. This is not Star Wars; if your fleet is not sitting on your planet, no-one can hit it. Therefore it is imperative that you fleetsave when you're offline for even a short time.
Harvesting mission to a debris field
If you're new to the game, a picture that looks similar to this: [1] next to the planet slot number on the galaxy page indicates that there is a debris field there. A debris field is formed when a ship is blown up, and can range drastically in size from 300 crystal (a probe being counter-espionaged) to 100 million (the biggest Hall of Fame hits). ANY debris field can be recycled if you have a recycler, which nets you freebie resources for doing nothing. The best part of this, is that the person who owns the planet cannot find out who took the resources from the debris field.
As a method for fleetsaving, harvesting is particularly easy to master. Simply select your recycler and the rest of your ships, and send them off to a debris field. There are 3 things you should consider when doing this:
1. How big the Debris Field is (might as well make a profit while you're asleep eh?)
2. How far is it (less distance = less fuel used)
3. When are you going to be online next
Point 3 is the most important aspect of fleetsaving. Say for example, you're going to sleep. You'll wake up in say, 10 hours, so you want to fleetsave. You then send your ships off, timed at 100% speed, 3 hours each way. Your fleet will get back in 6 hours, therefore it will be on your planet for 4 hours, leaving plenty of time for someone to spy on it, launch an attack and obliterate it. However, if you send your mission off at 60% speed, 5 hours each way, hey presto, your fleet will be on your planet, safe, when you log on. Also, when sending your ships, you can fill them up with all your resources from today's mining/raiding hauls and this will also be safe. Congratulations.
Deployment mission
If you have another planet, it is possible to fleetsave by deploying your ships to your other planet. This is especially useful in the beginning of a Universe as you won't yet have the techs for recyclers. Remember, using this tactic means that you must choose the time you're not going to be online carefully, as it will only be ONE WAY. This tactic is useful for players as it can allow them to move large fleets overnight for minimal deut costs, as well as being used to deploy ships you've just built to other colonies, or simply transport res. Remember, you can save every single ship and all your res with this method.
Attacking mission
Find an Inactive that your fleet can hit profitably, and send your ships at the speed needed. This way, you can wake up to your fleet home safe and sound plus some extra resources to spend. If you time your recyclers to reach the debris field after your fleet hits you can also get that back, reducing losses.
The best tactic to use is to send your attacking fleet off on its own, then send your recs with all your other ships (cargoes/probes etc) along with your res. This way, even if anything does go wrong with the attack, your resources are still safe.
Transporting mission
Again, simple enough, however remember that once your fleet reaches it's destination your resources will be left there, perhaps leaving it exposed to raiders.
These techniques will all serve you well in the early days of a universe. However, in some of the older universes, you may have noticed the occasional presence of picture that looks similar to this: [2] next to the planet slot number. The presence of this letter is important in its own right, if you haven't already, now may be a good time to read about moons.
So, you've read that and are wondering what that means in actual terms? Sensor Phalanxes, which can ONLY be built on moons, are a practical nightmare for your fleet. Fleet saving from a planet is phlanxable. With a phalanx, it is possible for a player to time his/her fleet to arrive a few seconds after yours returns to your planet, giving you no chance to fleetsave and ruining your day (known as "phalanxing" or as a 'phalanx hit')
Your OWN moons cannot be phalanxed
If you have a moon, there is no excuse for being crashed short of a connection loss/natural disaster etc. If you fleetsave from a moon to another moon, or a moon to a Debris field, no-one can phalanx you and you can therefore feel relatively safe. A moon to debris fleetsaving can be monitored by observing the exact time that the debris disappear, the observation may be in error of 5-10 seconds (see blind phalanx). In another way, a moon to empty slot fleetsaving with a colony ship may be even safer if you have 9 planets already. This is the easiest method for avoiding phalanxes, however, some of you may not have moons...so read on...
Players that do not fleetsave
You may see that some bigger players do not fleetsave. This is because their fleets and defenses are so big, no-one is able to take them out without unprofitable losses. However, it is only when exceptionally large fleets are owned that players dare to do this, fleetsaving is a must for most gamers.
Online Times
Some very good players may crash fleets by learning your online times and therefore knowing when you fleetsave, allowing them to time their fleets close even without a phalanx. To avoid this, fleetsave to different debris fields, at different times, or by splitting your fleet up for the maximum safety margin.
Ultimately, just remember that players will always attack you to make a profit. If you leave resources or ships lying about, they'll get destroyed, defence or not, if the attacker can use your hard-earned res for something else. So, make yourself unprofitable by fleet-saving and res-saving, and you'll progress a lot quicker. If your alliance is at war then the rules are slightly different, as players will attack you just for fun, but if you've fleetsaved you've got nothing to worry about.
