¶ Portals
Portals are instant teleportation links between two points in the galaxy. Wormholes are natural and free for anyone to use; portals are player-built connections between two owned planets, requiring technology, buildings, and weekly upkeep (see Days and weeks).
¶ What do I need to build a portal?
You need the Artificial Black Holes technology researched, and a Portal Gate building constructed on both planets you want to connect.
¶ How many portals can I have?
You can have a maximum of 3 portal connections at a time.
¶ Can other players use my portals?
Only you and your alliance members can use your portals. Anyone else's ship that targets one will be turned away.
¶ What does upkeep cost?
Each connected portal costs both ore and credits per week:
- Ore upkeep:
ceil(distance / 500)ore per week, drawn from your dedicated portal ore — one of the three level-3 ores (Ferros Nr.6 / Sjampoo / Texorrium), whichever one isn't already used by your Dyson Swarm or Ringworld. - Credit upkeep: each Portal Gate building costs 100 credits/week, so a connected pair costs 200 credits/week in total.
¶ What happens if I can't pay the maintenance cost?
The portal is disconnected and both gates go into a 20-week recovery cooldown before they can be used again.
¶ Can I delete a portal connection? What happens when I do?
Yes — and the result is the same as a missed payment: both gates enter a 20-week cooldown before you can create a new portal from them.
¶ Why can't I create a portal connection from my planet?
Check, in order:
- Is a Portal Gate built on the planet?
- Is the gate still recovering from a recent disconnection?
- Is the gate already in use by another active portal?
¶ How do I send ships through a portal?
Select your ships and target the portal gate. Your ships will automatically fly to the portal and be transported to the linked location.
¶ How do I destroy an enemy portal?
Conquer the planet that hosts one of the portal gates and the portal is automatically disconnected. The conqueror doesn't gain control of the link — both ends drop offline.
¶ What's the difference between wormholes and portals?
- Wormholes are natural, fixed at map generation, and free for anyone to traverse. You cannot control or destroy them.
- Portals are player-built, owned by the empire that constructed them, restricted to that empire and its alliance, and require weekly upkeep.