Undermining

How to weaken enemy Powers' control over their systems.

Overview

What is undermining? Performing activities in enemy-controlled systems to reduce their control score. Enough undermining can downgrade a system from Stronghold → Fortified → Exploited, or even cause it to revolt.

Merit values scale with system strength: Standard > Moderate > High > Very High
Higher system strength = fewer merits per action (harder to undermine)
+5% merit bonus on all undermining activities (since April 2025)
Some activities are blocked in stronghold systems with a carrier present
Control score decay is nonlinear — higher scores decay faster, but no system loses its level from decay alone. Undermining is always required to downgrade.

Activities Scaled by System Strength

Top activities that scale with system strength. Empty cells are untested.

Activity	Standard	Moderate	High	V. High
Settlement data (Assoc/Polit/Class)	486	378	268	?
Settlement data (Indust/Research)	324	252	180	?
Tracker upload	224	172	124	?
Power goods stealing	124	96	68	?
Donations (1M Cr)	36-48 merits (does not work with stronghold carrier)
Holoscreen hacking	40-100 merits
Settlement NPC kills	22-36 merits (does not work in strongholds)
Mining (sell in system)	~1 per 1,470 Cr	~1 per 2,200 Cr	~1 per 2,650 Cr	? (no stronghold carrier)

Fixed-Value Activities

Activity	Merits	Notes
Megaship datalink scan	~240	Once per cycle per system
Sell low-value commodities (<500 Cr)	Varies	Water, biowaste, scrap, algae. Mind station economy. No stronghold carrier
Liberal Propaganda	0.7-1.2 per pkg	15-250 per 30min. Does not work for UM strongholds

Kill Power Ships — Merit Table

Merits depend on target rank and system strength. Values in parentheses are calculated estimates.

Rank	Standard	Moderate	High	V. High
Harmless	(12)	(12)	(11)	(9)
Mostly Harmless	(23)	20	(18)	(14)
Novice	(32)	27	(25)	(20)
Competent	40	35	100	25
Expert	(48)	42	124	31
Master	57	50	144	36
Dangerous	66	57	50	41
Deadly	75	(65)	56	(47)
Elite	(84)	73	(61)	(52)

Values in parentheses are calculated and need confirmation. Best to kill ships belonging to the undermined Power — all others give only 20 merits per kill. Can drop from supercruise at random locations to find Power ships.

Activity Details

Settlement Data & Goods Stealing

E-breach or 4-digit code required. Find dataport locations using terminals. Data and goods must be delivered to a Power Contact in any Winters system. Downloading is illegal — turn off alarms first. Every commander in a team can copy data from the same dataport. Power goods can only be taken by one commander.

Tracker Upload (224/172/124 merits)

Upload to any dataport in a settlement (one per dataport, multiple per settlement). Collect 10 trackers from a stronghold's Power Contact every 30 minutes. Tracker is illegal — do not get scanned. Uploading is criminal — turn off alarms first. Every commander in a team can upload to the same dataport. Does not work in strongholds.

Low-Value Commodity Selling

Commodities must be worth less than 500 Cr. Merits depend on base value per ton and quantity. Profit/loss does not matter. Best options: water, biowaste, scrap, algae. Watch station economy — water can be 4 Cr in Agriculture but over 500 in others. Does not work with stronghold carrier present.

Settlement NPC Kills (22-36 merits)

Kill NPCs dressed in the enemy Power's colour suits at settlements. Check staff list on terminals to identify them. Does not work in strongholds.

Stronghold Carrier Assault

Dangerous team activity. Strongholds with carriers are the hardest to undermine because many activities are blocked. Direct assault on the carrier group is an organized action, not something for solo players.

Carrier Layout

1 main carrier (where CMDRs land) + 6 supporting vessels
Main carrier has high-powered lasers
Support vessels vary, most have turrets
Ship with green arrow down = main carrier
Focus on surrounding support vessels

Assault Activities (by stealth risk, lowest to highest)

Data link scan (within 200m) — data transmitters visible from distance. Sequential numbering = same carrier. One time per instance.
Hatch breaker limpets on cargo holds — repeatable. Draws some attention with delayed response. Some support vessels have 4 cargo bays in a straight line for fast execution.
Recon limpets on fighter bays — repeatable. Usually four bays on the carrier. Cargo holds located beneath them.
Shoot power capacitors — one time per instance. Use explosive weapons (Advanced Missile Racks with extra ammo capacity recommended).
Disable turrets — repeatable. Use explosive weapons.

Each objective = 30 CP: defenses, capacitors, SLFs, cargo holds, fighter bays.

Stealth approach: Use a cold-running small ship (Cobra Mk V works well). Silent running + 4 heat sink launchers. If the ship hasn't shot at you, turrets won't fire. As soon as you're scanned and spotted, everything opens up. "Cycle Next Subsystem" hotkey is your best friend for sub-targeting carrier components.

Power Vulnerabilities

Certain Powers are more susceptible to specific undermining activities:

Power	Vulnerable to
Aisling Duval	Holoscreen hacking, stealing data
Zemina Torval	Stealing goods, mining in her systems
Arissa Lavigny-Duval	Megaship datalink scanning
Denton Patreus	Megaship datalink scanning
Pranav Antal (Grom)	Tracker uploads
Felicia Winters	Low-value commodity selling

Merit values from FUC PowerPlay Activities document (astral451) and community testing. Stronghold carrier assault guide by astral451. Some values are estimates pending confirmation.