Build and Conquer Naval Ships & Ports Guide

The Naval update turned Build and Conquer from a pure plot-and-mainland ground war into a coastal strategy game. Ports and a shipyard let you base, build, repair, and rearm a fleet; community showcases now walk gunboats, Arleigh Burke destroyers, Ticonderoga cruisers, and Virginia-class submarines—with Eastern and French pack skins layered on top. This guide explains how to unlock the navy loop, what each hull is for, and how ships fit beside missiles, drones, and air defense in V0.2 beta.

Pair this page with Update V0.2 Notes for patch context, Air Defense Guide so your coast survives inbound fire, and Mainland Warfare when you still need tunnels and strategic zones. Economy fuel still comes from Make Money Fast—warships are expensive to lose.

What the Naval update added

Creator and community coverage (November 2026) consistently names these systems:

• Small and medium ports for basing and logistics along the coast
• A shipyard / drydock to build, repair, and rearm vessels
• Gunboat as the early hull
• Arleigh Burke destroyer for multi-role surface combat
• Ticonderoga cruiser for heavier surface presence
• Virginia submarine for undersea strike and denial
• Coastal defense launchers (community videos highlight Yakhont-style anti-ship tubes with limited engagement bands)
• Eastern and French fleet skins / packs that reskin or extend the roster when you own the matching game passes

Exact research costs, build times, and HP values are not published as a developer spreadsheet. Treat in-game tooltips as truth after every join, then use this page for doctrine.

Video guide

Unlock path: research → coast → fleet

1. Stabilize city level 2 (~250 population) so basic military exists—see City Levels.
2. Fund a research office and push naval / shipyard nodes when they appear in your tree.
3. Claim or clear coastline on your plot side; ports need waterfront placement, not inland vanity.
4. Build a small port first if the UI offers tiers, then scale to medium when traffic and repairs justify it.
5. Place the shipyard once steel, fuel, and cash can absorb a hull without freezing housing growth.
6. Queue the gunboat, learn formations and auto-defense toggles, then climb destroyer → cruiser → submarine as research and industry allow.

Do not skip shops. A drydock with empty warehouses is a museum.

Hull roles at a glance

Hull (community name)	Typical role	Notes
Gunboat	Early coastal patrol, cheap presence	Learn formations and repair loops here
Arleigh Burke	Multi-role destroyer	Surface fights, escort duty, flexible loadout
Ticonderoga	Cruiser / heavier surface punch	Higher upkeep; bring when cash is stable
Virginia sub	Undersea strike and denial	Pair with intel; do not park blind
Eastern / French variants	Pack-themed fleet skins / extras	See Game Passes

Moskva-style cruisers appear in Eastern pack showcases; French pact skins show up in the same unlock videos. Passes change cosmetics and listed equipment—they do not replace research or city progression.

Formations and command habits

Naval UI in creator videos supports preset formations plus free drag layouts. Practical habits:

• Keep gunboats screening while destroyers hold the center line
• Separate repair cycles so the whole fleet is never drydocked at once during contested hours
• Use coastal launchers as a fixed layer; ships are mobile, tubes are not
• Watch for missile counters—community comments regularly report hypersonic or ballistic strikes deleting fleets that sail without plot AD backing
• Re-check auto-defense toggles after patches; beta remotes move

Right-click mainland troop habits from Controls still matter for ground follow-ups after a naval strike shapes the coast.

Industry: steel, fuel, and repair tempo

Warships inherit the same industrial truth as tanks and missiles:

• Steel from industry / export decisions—do not Auto Sell your last plates (Scripts warnings apply)
• Fuel from refinery chains
• Cash from shops and strategic-area buffs (~+20% income / ~+30% population while held, community reports)
• Power / water so shipyard districts stay online

If repairs stall, pause new hull queues and restore How to Play fundamentals before another sortie.

Navy versus missiles and air defense

Ships do not replace the Missile Guide ladder (SRBM 5 → Cluster 1,500 hit quests). They add a coastal axis:

• Use navy to contest water approaches and punish exposed coastal industry
• Keep Sea RAM / C-RAM-style and layered interceptors covering the plot so enemy drones and missiles cannot delete your drydock while the fleet is away—details on Air Defense
• Time missile salvos with naval pressure so enemy AD faces multiple axes
• Remember Military HQ (level 4) community notes: upgrade ground, navy, missile, and air-defence limits from one panel when that building unlocks

Eastern vs French naval cosmetics

Unlock videos showcase Standard, Eastern, and French Pact fleets. The Eastern European and French military packs (~399 R$ each, store-listed) also grant named ground / AD / missile gear. Buying a pack for pretty hulls alone is optional; buying because you want the listed S-300 line or B-Strike family is a separate decision covered on the passes page.

Common naval mistakes

• Building a shipyard before shops fund repairs
• Parking the entire fleet in one clump under hypersonic arcs
• Ignoring coastal AD while celebrating a new cruiser
• Assuming pack skins equal free research unlocks
• Neglecting mainland tunnels because “navy will carry”—strategic areas still pay population and income buffs
• Running outdated auto-farm scripts that never learned port remotes

Suggested session plan

1. Confirm version tag V0.2 and read Update V0.2 if the naval UI looks new.
2. Audit coastline, port tier, and shipyard power.
3. Sortie a gunboat-only training loop.
4. Add destroyer escort once repair tempo is proven.
5. Layer coastal launchers + plot AD.
6. Only then queue cruiser / submarine ambitions.

Related wiki map

• Guides Hub — full tutorial index (dropdown shows eight entries; open the hub for everything)
• Drones & Research — tech tree siblings
• Players / Units — roster context
• Codes — still no working promos as of November 2026

Master ports before cosplaying carrier groups. In Build and Conquer, the admiral who can rearm twice beats the admiral who launches one pristine Ticonderoga into a missile storm.