The Sensor Phalanx, constructed on a moon, is one of the most useful buildings in the game. Using the phalanx you can scan a planet and see fleets of spacecraft currently in flight to or from the planet, as well as the fleet’s composition of ships, time of arrival, and the type of mission they are conducting. This may allow you to send your fleet to intercept and destroy it (see Combat).
Sensor Phalanx scans are stealthy; they are undetectable by the target player, (unlike espionage probes). A player can only deduce that he has been phalanxed when he sees an inbound attack timed to arrive within seconds of his own fleet’s arrival.
Sensor Phalanxes are also useful to the attacker in another way. A person being attacked may try to destroy the attacker’s fleet by secretly moving a larger fleet to the target planet so that it arrives seconds before the attacking fleet. This is referred to as a “Ninja” because of its stealthy nature. The attacker normally has no way to know that a big fleet is inbound to the target to intercept his attack. A Sensor Phalanx scan of the target will reveal an inbound “ninja” fleet, and the attacker can then decide to recall the attack if necessary.
Note: Phalanxes cannot scan moons or debris fields. Therefore, you can hide your flying fleet by sending it from your moon instead of your planet. Ships flying from one moon to another, or from a moon to a debris field, are completely invisible to a Phalanx and can therefore not generally be intercepted (see Fleetsaving). Also, a fleet sent on a Deploy mission and then Recalled before it reaches its destination becomes invisible to a Phalanx for the rest of its mission.
What a Sensor Phalanx Can See When Scanning a Planet
What a Sensor Phalanx Cannot See When Scanning a Planet
This range is the number of Solar Systems that can be scanned in either direction from the moon where the Phalanx is located. A level 1 Phalanx can only scan planets in the same solar system. A level 2 Phalanx can scan planets 1 solar system on either side of your Phalanx system. Each increase in Phalanx levels allows you to scan planets in solar systems farther away. The practical upward limit to the Sensor Phalanx is level 8. It takes 2.56 million metal and deuterium, 5.12 million crystal and can be built by a level 10 Robot Factory in just under 2 weeks (11 days). A level 8 Sensor Phalanx would allow you to scan 63 systems to either side as well as the home system, giving you 127 systems to scan.
To see the complete range chart, tap the “i” info symbol on the Sensor Phalanx icon in the game.