Capturing

In Star Trek Armada 2, capturing is the act of taking over an enemy ship or station. To be captured, a ship must have crew on board, so Species 8472 cannot be taken over and can't take over themselves. In the Borg's case, it is called assimilation. Assimilated ships have small structures added onto them to indicate they are assimilated. Different races have different crew strength. For example, the Borg's is high while the Federation is low. This means the Borg can capture a ship quicker. Capturing can be a useful tactic, allowing races to add to their strength, resources, or even move up the opposing race's tech tree. A ship's shields must be down before the ship can be captured, except for when the Borg use their holding beam, in which their shields remain up.