Rapid Fire lets selected ship types fire additional shots during the same battle round. It is not a fixed number of bonus attacks: after every shot, successful or missed, the game rolls whether the firing group continues according to its Rapid Fire value against the currently selected target type.
What is the continuation formula?
If a ship has RF = n against a target, the chance to fire again is (n − 1) / n and the chance to stop is 1 / n. RF 5 therefore gives an 80% continuation chance after each shot; RF 10 gives 90%.
How many shots does Rapid Fire give on average?
In the simplified case where every next shot keeps hitting the same target type with the same RF value, the expected length of the series is approximately n. RF 5 therefore averages about five group shots, but an individual chain may stop immediately or continue much longer because each roll is independent.
How is the target selected?
A target is chosen randomly from surviving units, weighted by their counts. A stack of 900 light fighters and 100 cruisers makes the light fighter type far more likely to be selected. Every additional Rapid Fire shot may choose another target type, so the RF value can change during one chain.
How are very large fleets processed?
For performance, a stack of one unit type is split into at most 10 firing groups. A stack of 1,000 identical ships is therefore represented by roughly ten groups of 100. Each group fires aggregated damage and its Rapid Fire chain is then resolved. This grouping is an important detail of the current Inter-War battle implementation.
Does a miss stop Rapid Fire?
No. The 1% shield rule can make a shot deal no damage, but the Rapid Fire continuation roll still happens. A chain may therefore continue after a miss. Rapid Fire does not bypass shield or armour: every effective shot still uses normal damage processing.
FAQ — Rapid Fire
Does RF 5 always produce five shots?
No. Five is an expected value in a simplified constant-target case, not a guaranteed chain length.
Does Rapid Fire work against every unit?
No. RF is configured separately for attacker and target types. No configured value means RF 1, so there is no extra shot.
Related FAQ: How do combat and battle rounds work? · How do officers and their bonuses work? · How are player points and ranking calculated?
How should these values be interpreted?
The formulas and limits above describe the current Inter-War logic. Some parameters are universe configuration values, so a balance update can change a number without changing the underlying rule. If the live game panel displays a different configurable value, that value should be treated as authoritative for the current universe. The formulas are useful for planning, while the final settlement and validation are always performed by the server.
What should be checked before using the mechanic?
Check the current account, planet and fleet state, active bonuses and any validation message shown when the action is attempted. Many Inter-War systems combine several layers: requirements, daily limits, free slots, resources and modifiers from technologies, Resorts, Avatar talents or events. Correctly calculating one formula therefore does not automatically guarantee that an action is available; the other conditions are validated independently.