The Ship Overhaul: 9 Lineages, One Verb Each
When we started reworking the ship tree, we set ourselves one dead-simple rule: every lineage had to boil down to a single verb. Ram. Torpedo. Vanish. Shell. If we couldn't do that, the lineage didn't have an identity. That rule guided the entire Dovion ship overhaul, and we wanted to explain why — and how — we got here.
The old problem: ships that all felt the same
In the old version, leveling up mostly gave you numbers: more HP, more damage. That's satisfying for five minutes, but after a while, one ship was as good as another. And what we love about the great .io evolution games — Diep.io chief among them — is the moment of choice: "so what do I become NOW?"
We wanted that feeling back. Hence V2.
What's changing: 9 lineages, 31 hulls, the E key
The tree now has 31 hulls spread across 9 lineages. You start in the Chaloupe (your starting boat), pick your path at level 5 (Goélette, Brigantin, or Chalutier — we help you choose here), then your lineage at level 15, with milestones at levels 30 and 45.
The big new thing is the active ability: every lineage has exactly one, on the E key, with a visible cooldown. Space stays your fire button, E becomes your signature move:
- Narval (ram hull): the Charge, a ramming rush whose damage scales with your speed — but charging into empty space stuns you. High risk, high reward.
- Torpilles (torpedo hull): the Fan, 3 torpedoes at once (5 at level 45).
- Spectre (stealth hull): the stealth path, all the way to the Voiles Mortes (Dead Sails) of the Ghost Ship, which make you vanish from enemy screens.
- Bordées (broadside hull): the Grande Bordée, a simultaneous salvo from both sides — and the recoil can double as a dash, the famous "recoil-surf."
- Mortier (mortar hull): an arcing shell aimed at your cursor that sails clean over obstacles.
- Orage (storm hull): the Storm Chain, a lightning bolt you charge by holding the key that arcs from hull to hull.
- Pièges (trap hull): Estacades, floating log walls that block ships and cannonballs.
- Flottille (fleet hull): the Armada Banner, which commands an escort.
- Profondeurs (depths hull): the Gong, which heals everyone around you and summons whales.
The full breakdown of every branch is in our guide to the 9-lineage tree, and every ability is dissected in our deep dive on the E key.
One verb, one silhouette
Identity is also visual. Every lineage now has a recognizable silhouette: in the middle of a brawl, you need to be able to identify the threat before it fires. Running into a Mortier or a Narval isn't the same danger, and that should read at a glance.
And what about the Hollandais Doré?
The sharpest-eyed among you spotted a golden hull in the gallery, outside the tree: the Hollandais Doré (Golden Dutchman). We confirm it exists. We confirm nothing else. Not how to get it, not what it does. Some mysteries are part of the game — we talk about it (a little) here.
What we're watching now
An overhaul this big gets tuned over time. We're watching pick rates for every lineage, reading your feedback, and we'll adjust whatever's out of line — in either direction. If a lineage feels too strong or too weak to you, tell us on the forum: that's exactly the kind of feedback that helps us.
Best thing to do is go test your favorite verb at sea: Play Dovion for free.