Fleet leadership

This page should be updated due to game changes.
Reason: Ascension updates totally changed fleet boosting and leadership skills.

While not strictly required in order to form a fleet leadership skills are highly desireable for improving the capabilities of the fleet. Appropriate skills are required to enable the passing down of boosts (whether passive or active) to fleet members lower down in the hierarchy. While pilots without the appropriate skills can still sit in leadership positions their lack of skills will block the passing down of any available boosts.

Fleet Structure

---Fleet Commander (FC) [fleet booster]
 |
 |----Wing Commander (WC) [wing booster] (up to 5 wings in a fleet)
 |  | 
 |  |----Squad Commander (SC) [squad booster] (up to 5 squads in a wing)
 |  |  |
 |  |  |--Squad Members (9 + SC)
 |  |
 |  |----Additional Squads
 |  
 |----Additional Wings

Note that Squad Commander counts for the membership of his squad, but the wing commander and fleet commander do not count toward any squad. This means that the maximum fleet size is 256 pilots.

There is one important position that does not appear in the leadership hierarchy, that of fleet 'boss'. While the name may imply some form of leadership position the role is purely administrative, although it is entirely possible for the FC and fleet boss to be the same person, with the default fleet boss being the person who originally created the fleet. The fleet boss is the only person who can promote people to Wing Commander and Fleet Commander positions (people cannot self-promote like for Squad Commander), edit the fleet's message of the day (MOTD), or post an advert for the fleet in the fleet finder.

Leadership skills

There are 3 leadership skills that enable one to pass on bonuses to other members of a fleet. It is worth noting once more that you do not need these skills to hold these positions.  However, if you intend to fly a fleet, and command fleets, it is worth training these skills.  Leadership is only a basic skill and does not take very long.

Fleet Command

• As a fleet commander, this skill allows you to pass on bonuses to wing commanders, to a maximum of one wing per level of the skill (5 in total).  This skill requires Wing Command trained to 5.
  

Wing Command

• As a wing commander, this skill allows you to pass on bonuses to squad commanders, to a maximum of one squad per level of the skill (5 in total). This skill requires Leadership trained to 5.
  

Leadership

• As a squad commander, this skill allows you to pass on bonuses to squad members, to a maximum of two members per level of the skill (10 in total).

If you take up the FC, WC or SC positions without having the relevant skill, you will 'block' any skills passed on from a higher command level.  To explain further:

• If you have the Leadership skill (and are SC of a squad that is a size you can pass bonuses on to) then you will pass bonuses from the squad booster and bonuses from the wing commander onto your squad members.
  
• If you are an unskilled SC, then your squad members will not receive any bonuses whatsoever.
• If you have the WC skill (and are WC of a wing with as many squads as you can pass bonuses on to) then you will pass bonuses from the wing booster and bonuses from the fleet commander onto your squad commanders.
• If you are an unskilled WC, then you will not pass on the bonus from the wing or the fleet booster, however your SCs, if they are skilled themselves, can still pass on their own bonuses.
• If you have the FC skill (and are FC of a fleet with as many wings as you can pass bonuses on to) then you pass bonuses from the fleet booster to all wing commanders.
• If you are an unskilled FC, then nobody in the fleet receives bonuses from the fleet booster, however the WCs and SCs may still pass on their own bonuses.

Note that bonuses only affect the players at the level at which they are generated or lower. FCs get no benefit from wing or squad boosters, for example. In addition, there is no partial passing-on of bonuses, e.g. if you have 7 pilots in your squad, you need at least Leadership 4 to pass on any bonuses - if you have Leadership 3, then none of your squad will receive bonuses.

The bonuses themselves are generated by the Squad/Wing/Fleet Booster, a position in the fleet that by default is assigned to each Squad/Wing/Fleet commander. However the commanders may assign their booster position to any other member below them in the fleet structure.

Leadership tools

Being in any leadership position gives you access to the fleet composition window which is accessible through the menu that appears when clicking on the four bars at the top left of the fleet window (note that the option will only appear if you are in a leadership position). This window will tell you (for all fleet members that are in the part of the fleet you have the leadership position for) who they are, where they are (including whether they are docked) what type of ship they are flying, what their role in the fleet is (do they hold any leadership position or are they the fleet boss), what fleet leadership skills they have (in order of FC-WC-SC), and what specific part of the fleet (down to squad level) they are currently in.

Booster Skills

There are 6 booster skills (that the game classifies as leadership) that affect the number and strength of the bonuses that you confer as a booster. Bonuses affect fleet members in space within the same solar system. If your SC/WC/FC is docked up, they cannot pass on (or provide) any bonuses.  There is no distance limitation of the bonuses, so long as you are in the same system.

Leadership

• Grants a 2% bonus to fleet members' targeting speed per skill level.
• (Since this skill also passes bonuses on to your squad, as explained above, if you are a skilled SC your squad always gets this bonus regardless of the state of the rest of the fleet.)
  

Armored Warfare

• Grants a 2% bonus to fleet members' armor hit points per skill level.
  

Information Warfare

• Grants a 2% bonus to fleet members' targeting range per skill level.

Siege Warfare

• Grants a 2% bonus to fleet members' shield capacity per skill level.

Skirmish Warfare

• Grants a 2% bonus to fleet members' agility per skill level.
  

Mining Foreman

• Grants a 2% bonus to fleet members' mining yield per level.
  
• This skill is often not trained by PvP-focused pilots as it provides no benefit for a PvP fleet.
  

These bonuses do not stack if more than one person is boosting them, however the highest will be used, possibly combining from different boosters to give the best overall effect.  For instance, if your squad booster has 5/4/3/3  (read about the syntax here) and your fleet booster has 4/4/4/4, then these bonuses will combine and you will receive the highest of each bonus, i.e. 5/4/4/4.

Providing boosts to a fleet

All levels of boosts (fleet/wing/squad) can be provided by any member of the appropriate part of the fleet, not just by the people holding the leadership positions. This is because, although the boosting and leadership positions are by default held by the same pilot, the booster role can be reassigned to any member of the relevant part of the fleet. This reassignment can be done by either the fleet boss or the holder of the relevant leadership position, superior leadership positions can also reassign the boosting roles for component elements of the part of the fleet they are passing boosts down to (i.e. the wing commander can reassign both the wing and squad boosters).

Especially when first setting up the boost and leadership positions it is common for the available boosts to not be properly distributed to fleet members unless the boosts are 'reset' correctly. This is straightforward and involves first revoking all boosting position and then reassigning them in a top-down manner (first fleet booster, then wing boosters, then squad boosters).

Separating the boosting roles from leadership positions can be especially useful when warfare link boosts are being provided by off-grid boosters, as warfare links are deactivated whenever the ship using them enters warp. Separate boosting and leadership positions can enable the safe use of fleet/wing/squad warps without accidentally taking the booster along and thus deactivating the links.

Warfare Link Skills & Modules

This is the other type of fleet booster.  All these modules will only provide a benefit if you are a booster in a fleet, and they act in the same way as the booster skills (e.g. they don't stack, they require proper skilled fleet structure, etc).  If you are not in a fleet, or are not a booster, then they are useless.

The skills required to use these modules have the relevant fleet boosting skill trained to level 5 as a prerequisite.  For example, to use an armored warfare link module requires at least level 1 in Armored Warfare Specialist, which in turn requires level 5 in Armored Warfare.

For convenience, the Tech 1 module's boosts are given below. Tech 2 modules also exists and will generally multiply the Tech 1 boosts by 1.25. Go to the warfare links guide for a detailed review of how these modules function.

[[Skills:Armored Warfare Specialist]]

• Allows the use of armored warfare links and increases the effectiveness these modules.
  

Armored Warfare Link - Damage Control - reduces the capacitor need of armor repairers and remote armor repairers by 4.8% per level.

Armored Warfare Link - Passive Defense - increases the fleet's armor resistances by 4.8% per level. This is a very useful module for armor fleets.

Armored Warfare Link - Rapid Repair - increases the speed (i.e. reduces the duration) of armor repairers and remote armor repairers by 4.8% per level.

[[Skills:Information Warfare Specialist]]

• Allows the use of information warfare links and increases the effectiveness these modules.
  

Information Warfare Link - Electronic Superiority - increases the strength of electronic warfare modules. For each level, increases ECM jam strength by 6.4%, sensor dampener targeting range and scan resolution penalty by 4%, tracking disruptor optimal and falloff penalty by 4%, and target painter signature bonus by 6.4%.

Information Warfare Link - Recon Operation - increases the optimal range of electronic warfare modules by 6.4% per level.

Information Warfare Link - Sensor Integrity - increases the sensor strength and lock range of all ships in the fleet by 9.6% per level.

Mining Director

• Allows the use of mining foreman links and increases the effectiveness these modules.
  

Mining Foreman Link - Harvester Capacitor Efficiency - reduces the capacitor need of mining lasers and gas & ice harvesters by 6% per level.

Mining Foreman Link - Laser Optimization - reduces the duration of mining lasers and gas & ice harvesters by 6% per level.

Mining Foreman Link - Mining Laser Field Enhancement - increases the optimal range of mining lasers and gas & ice harvesters by 13.6% per level.

[[Skills:Siege Warfare Specialist]]

• Allows the use of siege warfare links and increases the effectiveness these modules.
  

Siege Warfare Link - Active Shielding - increases the speed (i.e. reduces the duration) of shield boosters and shield transporters by 4.8% per level.

Siege Warfare Link - Shield Efficiency - reduces the capacitor need of shield boosters and shield transporters by 4.8% per level.

Siege Warfare Link - Shield Harmonizing - increases the fleet's shield resistances by 4.8% per level. As for its armor counterpart, this is a very useful module for shield fleets.

[[Skills:Skirmish Warfare Specialist]]

• Allows the use of skirmish warfare links and increases the effectiveness these modules.
  

Skirmish Warfare Link - Evasive Maneuvers - reduces the signature radius of the fleet's ships by 6.4% per level.

Skirmish Warfare Link - Interdiction Maneuvers - increases the optimal range of propulsion jamming modules by 6.4% per level.

Skirmish Warfare Link - Rapid Deployment - increases the speed of afterburner and microwarpdrive modules by 5.6% per level.

The final skill to cover in the Leadership section is [[Skills:Warfare Link Specialist]], which increases the effectiveness of all warfare link and mining foreman modules by 10% per level. Note that it does affect the mining modules as well, despite its name. This skill is also a prerequisite for flying Command Ships. As an example, assume you have trained the Skirmish Warfare Specialist skill to IV, the Warfare Link Specialist skill to III, and are flying a ship equipped with the Rapid Deployment module. You'll therefore get a speed boost to afterburners and microwarpdrives of ((1+0.2*4)*5.6%)*(1+3*0.1) = 13.1%. Refer to the warfare link guide for details on how these modules, skills, and the mindlink bonuses interact.

Related Information

• Warfare Links
  
• Fleet Doctrine for the Ivy League Navy
  
• How to Properly Form a Fleet
• Fleet Formation and Intel
• Fleet Terminology