Race guide
The twelve races of Skyfire
In Skyfire you do not build from one shared pool of cards. You command a race, and each race has its own ships and its own rule. Here are all twelve, with what makes each one different and the kind of commander it suits.
How races work
A deck belongs to one race: seven cards chosen from that race's roster of around twenty. Some hulls are flown by several races, such as the freighters, the Merlin alchemy ship and the Neutronic Refinery. Most are unique to one.
You hold a separate rank with each race. Climbing the ladder with one opens more of its hulls, and it does not carry over: an admiral of the Federation starts as an ensign with the Birds. Matchmaking knows the difference between a new player and a veteran trying a new race.
New commanders begin with three races, the Solar Federation among them. The others are opened with tokens that you earn at rank milestones.
The twelve
Solar Federation
“Disciplined crews fight above their tonnage.” Shields regenerate. Take a Federation ship's shields down and leave it alone for a few seconds, and the crew has part of the bank back up. Their line is plain, tough and honest: scouts, destroyers, the Missouri battleship, the Kittyhawk carrier. They also field the Loki, which stops enemy ships cloaking. Play them if you want to learn the game on ships that do what they look like they do.
Lizard Alliance
“Hisssss. They simply refuse to die.” Hulls hold to 150% damage; double-speed mining. A Lizard hull keeps fighting half again past the point where another race's would be scrap, and their freighters empty an ore deposit twice as fast. Their troop cruisers put landing parties down on the enemy homeworld, and several of their ships cloak. Play them if you like grinding an opponent down and out-earning them while you do it.
Empire of the Birds
“Silent wings in the dark.” Master cloakers. Nearly the whole fleet cloaks, from the Swift Heart scout to the Dark Wing battleship. A cloaked ship cannot be targeted: it closes unseen, surfaces, fires and vanishes again. The ships are fragile when caught in the open. Play them if you would rather choose every fight than win a fair one.
Hordes of Fury
“Burn everything. Then burn the ashes.” Beams fire in pairs. Every Fury hull puts twice the beam bolts downrange. They are the close-range brawlers of the cluster. The Saber and the D19b carry glory devices that detonate when the ship dies, and a few of their hulls cloak. Play them if your plan is to get close and stay there.
Privateer Bands
“Your cargo is our cargo.” Space pirates. Fast gravitonic raiders that drop onto a ship as a flight, surround her and take her, crew and all. The captured ship then fights for you. Light hulls, high speed, and a lot of damage to the other side's economy. Play them if you would rather steal a battleship than build one.
Cyborg
“Resistance is futile.” Self-repair. Cyborg hull plating knits itself back together, slowly and without stopping, so a ship that disengages comes back. The Firecloud opens a chunnel to a distant point and takes every ship stacked with her through it. Play them if you like long fights and sudden, whole-fleet repositioning.
Crystal Confederation
“Everything sticks to the web.” Web minefields. Only the Crystals have the web minefield. A ship that flies into one is held fast and its shields drain while it hangs there. Their warships then take their time. Play them if you enjoy deciding where the battle is allowed to happen.
Evil Empire
“Fear keeps the local systems in line.” Starbase builds its own fighters. The Imperial starbase fabricates replacement fighter wings on-site, so it never runs dry. Behind it stand the heaviest carriers in the game, led by the Gorbie. Play them if you want a fortress at home and the biggest ships on the board.
Robotic Imperium
“Fighters. So many fighters.” Much larger minefields. A Robot minefield holds far more mines over a wider area than anyone else's, and their baseships launch fighters in numbers. They win by filling space the enemy has to cross. Play them if you like area control and attrition.
Rebel Confederation
“Strike fast, vanish faster.” Elite pilots. A hit-and-run fleet built around fighters and fast escorts. The Falcon hyperjumps: she can be launched to any point on the board and damages what she lands beside. The Rush is one of the great carriers. Play them if you like striking where the enemy is not looking.
Missing Colonies of Man
“Their fighters sweep the void clean.” Fighters sweep minefields. Colonial fighter wings clear enemy minefields as they fly, which makes them the natural answer to Robots and Crystals. The Virgo battlestar leads the carrier line, and the Cobol projects a field in which friendly ships move and recharge faster. Play them if you want a carrier fleet that supports itself.
Horwasp Plague
“The swarm does not negotiate.” Pods. The hive does not fly ships out from home. It launches sealed pods that can land anywhere on the board and cannot be touched in flight: rocks that crush, stingers that hatch on arrival, swarms and worse. Cloaking does not work against them. Play them if you want to play a different game from your opponent.
Which race should you start with?
| If you like… | Try |
|---|---|
| Learning the game on forgiving ships | Solar Federation |
| Ambushes and choosing your fights | Empire of the Birds |
| Carriers and fighters | Missing Colonies, Rebel Confederation, Evil Empire |
| Controlling space with minefields | Robotic Imperium, Crystal Confederation |
| Getting close and hitting hard | Hordes of Fury |
| Outlasting the other side | Lizard Alliance, the Cyborg |
| Wrecking the enemy economy | Privateer Bands |
| Something unlike everything else | Horwasp Plague |
Matchups
Because the races differ so much, the first thing to do in any battle is look at who you are facing. A few pairings every commander should know:
- Against cloakers (Birds, and parts of the Lizard and Fury fleets): a Loki in play means no enemy ship can cloak. Without one, keep something back to answer ships that appear behind your push.
- Against minelayers (Robots, Crystals): beams sweep mines, so a ship that stops at the edge of a field will burn it down. Colonial fighters sweep as they fly. Do not send a fleet through a web.
- Against carriers (Empire, Rebels, Colonies, Robots): fighters are the weapon, the carrier is the target. Get something onto the carrier itself.
- Against Privateers: guard your freighters and do not leave an expensive ship alone.
- Against the Horwasp: pods can land anywhere, including beside your homeworld. Keep a defender at home, and remember that cloaking will not hide you from them.
Where the races come from
These are the races of VGA Planets, the space strategy game that planets.nu has run for many years, and their rules here follow what they have always been known for: the Federation's crew bonus, the Lizards' 150% damage, the Crystals' webs, the Cyborg chunnel. There is a page for Planets players that sets the two games side by side.
Questions people ask
What is the best race in Skyfire?
There is no single best one. Each race has matchups it likes and matchups it does not, and the top of the ladder is held by commanders of several different races.
Which races do I start with?
New commanders begin with three races, including the Solar Federation. The rest are unlocked with tokens earned at rank milestones.
Can I mix races in one deck?
No. A deck is built from a single race. In 2v2 you and your partner can each bring a different one.
Do I lose my rank if I switch race?
No. Rank is held separately for each race, and promotions are permanent. Switching back and forth costs nothing.