Cloaking
A cloaked unit cannot be seen, so enemy units cannot pick it as a target by sight. Cloaking has a running cost, and several of a unit's own actions show it for a while.
The Cost
Cloaking is paid once a second, at the settle. The cost is the unit's cloak cost while it stands still, or its moving cost while it moves, rounded down to a whole number. The whole cost must be in your energy store: if it is not, the unit decloaks at once, and the game takes no part payment.
| Unit | Standing still | Moving | Enemies reveal it within |
|---|---|---|---|
| Commander | 200 | 1000 | 40 |
| Infiltrator | 210 | 800 | 80 |
| Cloakable Fusion Reactor | 450 | — | — |
All costs are energy per second.
What Reveals a Cloaked Unit
| Event | The unit can be seen for |
|---|---|
| An enemy unit comes within its reveal distance | 3 seconds, renewed while the enemy stays close |
| It fires a weapon | 20 seconds |
| It builds, repairs or reclaims | 5 or 10 seconds, depending on the job |
| It captures a unit | 30 seconds |
| Your energy store cannot pay the next second's cost | Until you can pay again |
| It takes damage | Not at all: being hit does not reveal it |
During these times the unit is visible but stays set to cloak, and you pay nothing for it. It hides again by itself when the time runs out, if you can pay.
On Radar
Cloaking hides a unit from sight, not from radar. A cloaked Commander inside enemy radar range still shows as a radar dot. Only units marked as stealthy, such as the Hawk, stay off radar (see sight and radar).
Worked Example
Your Commander makes 25 energy a second. Cloaked and standing still, it costs 200 a second, so it needs 175 a second from your other income. Walking cloaked costs 1000 a second: a store of 1000 energy, with no other income, keeps it hidden on the move for one second.
If the cloaked Commander fires its D-gun, it is visible for the next 20 seconds. If it starts to capture an enemy unit, it is visible for 30.