FLEETSAVING

Fleet saving is invaluable to any player. As long as you have a
fleet, you need to fleet save (unless you have #1 in fleet rank, or
have an EXTREMLY large fleet.), whether you are 1k or 100k points.

Before you start, you must understand that in OGame, your fleet
CANNOT be attacked. Therefore, it is essential that you fleet save
when you are not online. There are 2 questions you must ask
yourself before you fleet save:

1. how far is it? (less distance=less fuel)
2. WHEN ARE YOU NEXT ONLINE?

I have put #2 in capitals for a simple reason, it is the most
important part about fleet saving. For example, if you are going to
sleep, you'll wake up in say, 10 hours. You then send your ships
off at 100% speed, which is 3 hours each way. Your fleet will get
back in 6 hours, leaving it on your planet 4 hours, giving plenty
of time for someone to spy on it, launch an attack and harvest your
debris. However, if you send it off at 60% speed, 5 hours each way,
your fleet will be on your planet safely exactly when you log on.
Also, when sending your ships, you can fill them up with all your
resources thus keeping them safe.

There are a few ways to fleet save, which I will list.

1) 'Harvesting' mission to a debris field. - If you are new, a
debris field is created when a ship is blown up. It can range
anywhere form 300 (blown up esp probe) to over 100million, as with
top 10 hits. For these fleets save, you will need a recycler, which
will get you some freebies while you are offline. Even better, the
person won't know who stole his debris!

This fleet save is rather easy. Just select a recycler (check
technology page if you don't have one yet) with the return of your
ships and send it to a debris field. To do this, on the planet
co-ords selection drop the *planet* display to the *DF* display.
Try and fleet save to bigger debris fields for more profit.

2) 'Deployment' fleet save - This can only be done if you have
another planet. Very useful if you don't have a recycler. You MUST
be careful with the timing, as it is only ONE WAY. It is useful
because you can deploy your ships and resources to new colonies etc.

3) 'Attacking' - Self explanatory. Find an inactive player,
preferably with a lot of resources, and send your fleet at the
speed you require. It can also hopefully net some freebies while
you are not on. It would be recommend that you send recyclers with
cargos and your resource to the debris field, so if you are
crashing a fleet and something goes wrong, your resources are still
safe.

4) 'Transporting' - Also self explanatory. Note that your resources
will be open for attacking during the 2nd half of your fleet save,
so be careful.

5) 'Holding target position' - If you have a buddy or is in an
alliance, you can do this. Find a buddy's planet, or anyone in your
alliance's planet. You will note that there is a 'holding target
position'

You can hold up to 36 hours. However, during the hold your fleet
will be vulnerable on THAT planet. Also, holding target position
consumes extra deuterium. The best way is to hold for ZERO hours,
which means your fleet will just reach theirs and immediately
return for home, like a transport mission, without sending the
resources.

Editors Note: This method is only available for the universes that
have the Alliance Combat System enabled. ~ Voidhawk

There is an enemy to your fleet saving, a MOON. You can build a
'sensor phalanx' on moons ONLY, allowing them to scan you and know
exactly when your fleet returns. They can then launch an attack and
arrive a few seconds after your fleet, giving you NO time to fleet
save or whatever, and ruining your day (commonly called 'phalanx'
hit).
Every disease has a cure. Well, most diseases. Here is a few ways
to avoid being Phalanxed:

1) Having your own moon. - Moons can't be phalanxed, end of story,
you may go home now. If you have one, you really don't have a
reason to lose your fleet. If you fleet save to another moon, or to
a debris field from your moon, you can't be phalanxed. However, you
most likely won't have one, so here are some more.

2) The recalled Deploy. - Phalanxes can't see recalled deploy
mission. Why? It disappears completely off YOUR screen as well,
until you get back. You can recall by hitting the 'recall' button
in your fleet slot menu. However, you MIGHT need to wake up in the
middle of the night to recall...

3) Fleet save in chunks - Send your fleet off in bits. That way,
your opponent can't kill off ALL of your fleets.

A few notes to remember:

1. If you are lucky enough to have a DEATHSTAR, they travel VERY
slowly and use little deuterium, allowing you to fleet save for
long times using little fuel.
2. Some players don't fleet save. That is because they have such
huge fleets/defense that they are not worried about being crashed.
3. Try to fleet save in different time margins, for some good
players can learn your fleet saving times, and crash you even
without a moon.

IMPORTANT: Players will ONLY attack you for profit, unless you have
annoyed someone, in a war or the guy just wants to attack you. Keep
your fleet and resources clear off your planet and you should
quickly progress into a top OGame player.

PS If you don't have enough cargos, do a long-term
building/research project, as you can always cancel it for a full
refund. (Over 24hrs will be best e.g. lunar base)