Stellaris: How Does Space Combat Work?

thegamer.com:

One of the many features that have endeared Stellaris to players is its penchant for epic spaceship battles. Dozens, if not hundreds of ships blasting away at one another fills the game with tense moments and critical decisions. In the late game, a decisive engagement can be all that stands between the galaxy and annihilation.

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Once a battle begins, it's out of the player's hands. That's why it's important to have up-to-date ship designs and competent admirals. Read on to learn how Stellaris resolves combat in space so that you know what you're getting into when battle is joined.

Combat begins in Stellaris whenever a fleet comes within weapons range of hostile vessels. This means that fleets with long-range weaponry can engage enemies from further away. Once a battle is initiated, both fleets are committed to the encounter until one side retreats or is destroyed.

Ships' combat behavior is determined by their class. Corvettes try to get to close range to deal quick damage and soak up hits, while larger vessels maintain a wider distance to bring their larger guns to bear.

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Fleets usually try to focus fire on a single vessel, bringing it down before moving on to the next target. If a ship is not within range of the fleet's main target, it will fire on the most viable alternative. The fleet's target is up to the commanding Admiral - as the player, you have no say in which enemy vessels your fleets prioritize.

Each weapon on a ship has a cooldown listed in days, so weapons with shorter cooldown periods can be fired more often. However, the fleet with the smaller number of vessels in a combat encounter gets a scaling bonus to their fire rate to