Hull Rupture Hull Construction: Blocks, Routes, and Slots
Hull Construction pauses flight while you place a random block with empty module slots. Blocks cannot be rotated or destroyed, and they cannot block the Airlock or engine. Choose a shape that lengthens the alien route or improves your firing lines, keep the production core compact, and skip a block that creates dead space you cannot use.
Quick answer
Hull Construction is the system that turns ship expansion into a routing decision. You can enter it during a run; flight pauses while you choose where to place a randomly offered block with empty module slots.
The useful question is not “where does this block fit?” but “what route and future slots does this block create?”
The permanent rules
| Rule | What it means |
|---|---|
| Blocks cannot be rotated | You cannot flip a shape to make it fit your plan. |
| Placed blocks cannot be destroyed | A bad placement is permanent for the run. |
| The Airlock and engine cannot be blocked | Keep both routes clear when choosing a position. |
| Blocks have empty module slots | The shape decides where you can build later. |
| There are 15 construction blocks | They appear in a random order before the set cycles. |
Because placement is permanent, skipping a block is a real option. A shape that creates dead space you cannot use is worse than waiting for the next offer.
Route first, slots second
Enemy drop pods land across most of the outer hull and then move toward the Airlock. A longer outer route spreads the pods farther apart and gives your defenses more time.
Bosses land on the far-left, uppermost part of the ship and therefore have the longest trip. Adding distance can prevent a boss and its escorts from arriving together. Internal corridors create extra lanes, choke points, and overlapping fire.
A spiral or loop just outside the Airlock is a legitimate “Despot’s maze” pattern. It is a route-control tool, not decoration. The goal is to make enemies walk through the same firing window more than once, not to build the longest possible path.
The compact-factory tradeoff
There is a real tradeoff between a long route and a compact factory. Blocks that place modules close together improve adjacency bonuses and shorten the distance your human crew must walk.
A long outer route gives better firing positions but can spread the crew and reduce the value of adjacency. Use long routes where the extra distance is covered by turrets, and keep the production core compact enough that workers are not spending the run walking.
Any empty slot in the full release
In the full release, modules can be built in any empty module slot. The old demo rule requiring an adjacent completed module was removed. Empty hull blocks still look different, but those visual differences no longer determine where a module can go.
That makes the current decision simpler: choose a block for the route and the number or shape of slots you want, then fill the slots as the needed kits arrive.
A placement sequence
- Place the block so the Airlock and engine remain clear.
- Decide whether the new edge lengthens the alien route or creates a usable firing line.
- Leave room for the next production module.
- Fill the slots with the resource or turret you are actually short of.
- Skip the block if it creates an awkward dead end that improves neither route nor adjacency.
If you are unsure, look at the next wave’s approach before committing. A block that looks inefficient in isolation can be correct if it forces the next drop pod through a turret you already have.