Custom Faction

A custom Faction in Endless Space 2 allows you to play a match as a Faction/Empire of (partly) your own design. They can be created and managed at the same start-game screen where you'd normally select a built-in Faction. Because they take a while to set up, designs for them can be saved for future matches.

A custom Faction is not, strictly-speaking, freeform; much like Amplitude has done in their earlier title, Endless Legend, you will still be locked into one of the pre-existing Faction's appearance and more importantly, their active story-quest that you progress through in the game. This is called the Visual Affinity. It includes their Population's portrait, their ship designs (both the visual look of their ships, but also the module loadout of those ships), as well. You are able to pick your own icon to represent the Empire and pop units. The visual affinity will also replace a limited set of technologies with "Faction-specific" ones, but almost all of these are just the technologies that give you your ship designs.

However, you're given a surprisingly large amount of leeway to customize how they play the game. The most important bit of customization is known as the Gameplay Affinity. For each Faction, quite a few parts of their gameplay that could reasonably be considered "central" to their story and playstyle, are actually uncoupled from the Faction. You're only allowed to pick one gameplay affinity, but this allows you to do wild mixups, like having Vodyani who completely skip the Ark-ship mechanic, and just settle planets like normal. Or for another example - you can give anyone Horatio's gene-splicing mechanic. Amplitude has gone out of their way to make sure that if a particular part of a Faction's questline "requires" a feature that's actually supplied by their gameplay affinity, that part of the quest will morph slightly to be something that does not require it. For example, a "shipbound" Faction will get an appropriate replacement if they're asked to settle additional planets. You are limited to only one of these main mechanics, since some of these would interfere with each other in a pretty incoherent way (for example, there would be a real design conundrum with a Faction that was both "ship bound" and "in the shadows"); some affinities could conceivably play nice with each other ("slave drivers" and "gene hunter", for example), but Amplitude's decided everything's going to work inside this "one gameplay affinity" design, so that's simply the law of the land, so to speak.

There are also other surprisingly customizable aspects. There are even some traits possessed by the main Factions that are bound to neither the visual affinity nor the gameplay affinity - for example, the way that Cravers 'deplete' planets is simply a trait that's part of their Population design, so if you design a custom main-Population unit for them that removes this, they won't have that in the game, and as a result, the game will play quite differently. There's a similar thing with the Riftborn's "biophobic" trait, although their planetary terraforming-towards-sterile stuff is bound to the "Continuum Sculptors" affinity, so having one without the other could get a bit awkward. Also some traits and affinites are mutully exclusive, most of these make sense as they would naturally nulify each other for example "Constructionist" and "Unskilled Builders" or "Ship bound" and "Involuntary Nomads". Others however are allowed even though they cause problems "Ship bound" and "Riftborn" both in balance and gameplay.

Points:

Customization of the Faction is done with a "point" system. The designers felt that because not every available option is worth the same thing as another option, that these should be "weighted" so that if you customize something to have better stats, it comes at the expense of something else in your loadout. Even the gameplay affinities get this treatment, since some of them are considered to be a bit stronger than others. It is worth noting that any custom Faction you make will be naturally disadvantaged against original Factions due to them not having a unique Homeworld and thus lacking the elevated stats unique Homeworlds have.

There are 2 pools of points:

• Population includes: Visual affinity, the three politics traits and the three bonuses traits.
• Traits includes: Home planet, Government and the other Faction traits (lower left).

The maximum size of the Traits pool is determined by the Gameplay affinity.

Population pool starts at 60 points.

Gameplay Affinity

• Gameplay Affinities do not cost points but they set the pool size of points available for Traits.
• Go to the source Faction's page for more information on each affinity.
• They change some of the available technologies, provide unique laws and options after specific actions, thus each tend to favor a certain play-style.

note: currently non-vodyani ship bound do not get the bonus slot for explorers upon researching Adaptive Colonies, with riftborn you also have access to two 600 arks in design creation.

Name	Source Faction	Point Cap	Effects
Slave Drivers	Cravers	100	Enslave other Factions living on the same planet. +100%  FIDSI per Enslavedon Planet. -10  Approval per Enslavedon Planet. Has the option to Consume a System after winning a ground battle.
Omniscience	Sophons	100	Knows how many empires have researched a specific technology. A Science bonus is given for discovering technologies based on how many players have already researched it: the fewer who know it, the higher the reduction on the next research, up to 50%.
Emperor's Will	United Empire	95	Uses Influence to purchase Technologies, Constructions, and items on the Marketplace. Each point of Industry spent gives 0.1 of Influence.
Gene Hunter	Horatio	95	Can splice the genetic material of other Factions to improve its Original Population. Splicing requires the sacrifice of some individuals, each splicing requiring more. +5% Food consumption per Spliced Population on Original Empire Population. Has a unique improvement grating more Approval for luxuries. Has the option to Elevate after winning a ground invasion. Unique laws : Power to the People Act: +2% Science per Spliced Population on Systems. : All Hands Dictum : +2% Industry per Spliced Population on System.
Continuum Sculptors	Riftborn	95	Can build Singularities, and affect time by placing them on a System. Singularities have a fixed duration and can only be placed on a System within the Empire's vision. Singularities can give large bonuses to the player/allies, or penalties to enemies but tend to be costly is resources. Terraforms in reverse (towards ) - Starts the game with the ability to colonize sterile planets but unable to colonize fertile ones, basically, they unlock colonization planets in the reverse order compared to other Factions.
Ship Bound	Vodyani	95	Uses Essence, a unique resource, to generate Population and create Arks. Arks are used to colonize and develop Systems, and can be moved at any time. Leechers are ships used to gain Essence from other Factions. Ship bound do not live on planets but on Ark orbiting in a System. The total Empire Population is the combined Population of the Arks, however the Population on System is the Population of the Ark multiplied by the number of inhabited planets. They do not benefit from the planetary improvement and cannot get more than one Population type. To offset this, they have unique technologies to boost the System production using ship modules. Has the option to Hunt and Penance after winning a ground invasion. Unique laws : Core Vessels Order: +5 Essence on Systems, +5% on Systems. : Peace and Prayer Act: +50 Essenceper Systems of other Empires under Influence. : Species Stability Act: +15 Essence on Systems, +2 Essence per pop on Systems.
Planet Broker	Lumeris	100	Use Dust to colonize instead of colonizers. Can negotiate/trade outposts using diplomacy.
Celestial Vines	Unfallen	95	Can use their ships to expand their "tendrils" to adjacent Systems. When a System is "anchored" this way they can colonize it, or let it provide bonuses ( Approval and Population growth) to friends. It takes a few turn(with enough ships in a fleet can be done in a single turn) to wire up Systems but when it's done, colonization is effortless. Colonization takes turns and the presence of at least one ship but do not require industrial resources.
Metafolding	Vaulters	95	Every Colony can build a Portal that permits instantaneous travel to any other gate in the Empire. Ships will automatically use gates to plot the most efficient route between any two Systems.
Honor Bound	Hissho	100	Can accumulate Keii and use it to launch Keii actions to boost the military and production capacities of Systems. Keii also determines Empire and System Obedience, which replaces Approval. +40% Keii gain after a space battle under the Keii zone of Behemoths. Has the option to Subdue after winning a ground invasion.
In the Shadows	Umbral Choir	100	Possesses a hidden Home System, located on a special node, that can be migrated to another special node for a cost. Cannot colonize Systems in the normal fashion, but is able to place hidden Sanctuaries on planets. Can abduct Sleeper agents from enemy Populations to bring them back to the Home System as enhanced Populations. Faction's Systems are immune to Influence conversion; however its Ships can be attacked in Cold War even when on their Home System. Has the option to Purge and Abduct after winning a ground invasion.
The Last Empire	Nakalim	100	Can collect Relics. Unassigned Relics produce science. Can assign Relics to heroes for new skills or to Empire for economic bonuses. Can create and interact with Temples planetary specialization. Temples allow ceding adjacent Systems to the Academy in exchange for Relics and a permanent tithe (). Systems converted to the Academy count as your Systems for the purpose of Conquest Victory.

Visual Affinity

Choose the Faction's appearance, based off of one of the vanilla Factions. Your choice costs 5-10 Population points and provides the following:

• Unique technologies. All of the bonus listed here needs to be unlocked via a specific technology.
• Unique quests.
• Unique modules.
• Unique ships (the description of the ships can be found on each Faction page)

note: the transportation ship is bound to Gameplay Affinity, the colonization ship upon decolonization is also of the Gameplay Affinity Faction, curiously the Adaptive Colonies research shows explorer according to Gameplay affinity but does generally grant the bonus slot

Affinity	Cost	Bonuses
Cravers	5	Have better military technologies. Cathedral of the Swarm, a late game improvement, give them +1 Approval per Ship in the Empire. Very strong military bonuses from quests. Well rounded but relatively unremarkable Ships, they also have 10% less Health and cost 10% less Industry.
Sophons	5	Bonuses on cold planets. Improvements produce more Science. Fairly strong Empire specialization Industry, Science or Dust from quests. Ships are fairly unique and with manyAttack slots.
United Empire	10	Xeno Anthropology lets them colonize 1 more System before reaching the limit. Emperor's Shadow give Dust and Industry the more Influence the Faction has. Original Population can be overwritten by "Mezari" or "Sheredyn". Many unique Buildings and Modules from quests. Well rounded ships with many Squadron slots.
Horatio	10	Food production produces more Manpower. Highest Population Density (Compact Warp Methods becomes a flat +1 Population slots on all planets). Great Original Population upgrades from quests. Versatile but underslotted ships, they also have 10% more Health.
Vodyani	5	Better heroes. Gain Approval bonuses from heroes. Higher Influence generation, Manpower and Hero improvements and Approval upgrade on System from quests. Well rounded ships with many Squadron slots.
Lumeris	10	Somewhat better diplomacy. Gain a bonus for each friendly major Faction. Generate more Dust and cheaper buyout. Versatile economical improvements from quests. Small and medium ships are fairly powerful.
Riftborn	5	Do not need Food, but minor Factions still do. Population does not grow naturally, it needs to be built with Industry. A lot of Industry and Original Population upgrades from quests. Ships are very specialized, great potential, but they have 10% less Health.
Unfallen	5	Bonus to Dust and Science for each friendly major Faction. Gain more Influence for each Factions at peace and even more with alliances. More Food on Lunar anomalies and on Gas planets. Better System Defense. Many unique ship modules and Approval or Science for Original Population. Defense-focused ships.
Vaulters	10	Better Boarding Pods. Many unique modules and buildings from quests. Coordinator class is quite strong, others are unremarkable.
Hissho	5	Some unique modules and Influence or Manpower improvements. Attack-focused ships.
Umbral Choir	5	Better Hacking and Sleepers. Hacking-focused improvements from quests. Except for Carrier, ships have inferior amount of slots.
Nakalim	5	Can choose between Influence, Dust, Industry and Approval as Original Population improvement and has quite nice FIDSI bonus from quests. Solid ships over all though some are weaker than average.

note: Visual Affinity based health bonuses work on Visual Affinity ships only, even if those ships do not belong to you, or even if those ships do, but are not based on your Visual Affinity, best example is the Ark, who even if is yours is NOT affected, Optimal Defense adds to the bonus, not on top of it, in other words for example Horatio gets +30% to health with optimal defense, instead of +10% and then +20%

note: the strongest theoretical fleet belongs to ship bound riftborn, due to them having both the highest non-behemoth hp per Command Point ship in the game, the Ark, the highest non-behemoth dps per Command Point their Hunter class ship, the Spirit, and the highest module count on their Carrier class ship, the Specter

Home Planet

• This will set the starting Home Planet.
• The cost in Faction trait points is listed on the right side.
• Not all planets are available without mods.
• The default is Terran.

Name	Climate	Fertility	Medium size Population							Cost
Jungle	Hot	Fertile	7	0	6	5	3	0	0	10
Atoll	Temperate	Fertile	8	0	8	6	4	2	0	15
Forest	Temperate	Fertile	8	0	8	4	4	3	0	15
Ocean	Temperate	Fertile	8	0	8	2	4	6	0	15
Terran	Temperate	Fertile	8	0	8	3	4	4	0	15
Boreal	Cold	Fertile	7	0	6	0	3	5	0	10
Arid	Hot	Neutral	5	-3	2	8	4	0	0	5
Med.	Hot	Neutral	7	-1	6	6	3	0	0	10
Monsoon	Temperate	Neutral	7	-1	6	2	4	2	0	10
Savannah	Temperate	Neutral	7	-1	4	3	5	2	0	10
Steppes	Temperate	Neutral	7	-1	4	2	5	3	0	10
Snow	Cold	Neutral	5	-3	2	0	4	8	0	5
Tundra	Cold	Neutral	7	-1	6	0	3	6	0	10

Government

• Detailed information on governments can be in Senate.
• The cost for all governments is 10 Faction points.

Political Traits

Politics

• First, The main ideology of your Population, cannot be unset.
• The Second and Third are secondary and tertiary ways your Population is affected by politics, can be unset.

Main Ideology

The cost is 10 Population points and you must pick one:

• Religious
• Militarist
• Scientist
• Ecologist
• Industrialist
• Pacifist

Secondary and tertiary Ideologies

• Here you can choose up to 2.
• If you pick Aggressive for example, events will also increase support to the ideology an equal amount, in addition to the normal increase.
• If you chose Anti-Ecologists, events affecting this Population will provide less support for the Ideology.

Name	The political influence for these	will become this	Population Point Cost
Aggressive			5
Anti-Ecologists		None	10
Anti-Industrialists		None	10
Anti-Militarists		None	10
Anti-Pacifists		None	10
Anti-Religious		None	10
Anti-Scientific		None	10
Audacious			5
Automatists			5
Biologists			5
Curious			5
Conservationist			5
Druids			5
Dutiful			5
Faithful			5
Fanatical			5
Futurist			5
Harvesters			5
Hedonistic			5
Inquisitorial			5
Investors			5
Merchant			5
Merciful			5
Military-Industrialists			5
Monumentalists			5
Pious			5
Pragmatic			5
Preservationist			5
Relativist			5
Sociologist			5
Sactuarists			5
Skeptics			5
Territorial			5
Virtuous			5
Utopian			5
Xenophobic			5

Population Bonuses

The bonuses come in three parts, and can be left unset.

• First are bonuses per Population on planet.
• Second are generally bonuses per Population but with conditions. For example, +3 on cold planets.
• Third is a collection bonus all cost 10 Population points, that comes in three parts with bonus to Ideology at or above 10 Population, percentage bonus to some resource at or above 25 Population, and lastly usually a percentage bonus on empire at or above 50 Population.

Primary Bonuses

Name	Cost	Bonus per pop	What	Details
Analysts	5	1
Extreme Foremen	15	x 1,5		Until depletion, 1 depletion point per pop per turn. Does not apply bonus if depleted
Bankers	5	1
Gargantuan pop	15	4		And production is halved (proportion to the population amount on system)
Loyal Citizens	5	1
Martial traditions	5	20
Hedonists	5	2
Adept workers	25	5	, , and
Agriculturalists	15	5
Agricultural engineers	5	1
Craftsmen	5	1
Methodists	10	2
Nurturers	10	2
Eager volunteers	10	5		Per turn
Tough defenders	5	50	Damage	Damage done to attacker when defending during a ground battle
Meritocratic cosmopolites	15	2
Natural Born Hackers	5	1
Strategic Sustenance	15	2		On strategic resource deposits

note: depleted planets have 50% FIDSI reduction

Secondary Bonuses

Name	Cost	Bonus per pop	What	Conditions	Details
Cryologists	5	3		Cold
Dust seekers	5	3		Fertile
Engaged denizens	5	1		Temperate
Harshly trained combatant	5	30		Sterile
Warmhearted	5	2		Hot
Bounteous gardens	15	5		Fertile
Efficient farmers	10	5		Sterile
Euphorists	10	4		Fertile
Hephaestian workers	5	2		Hot
Hydroponics specialists	5	5		Gas
Experimentalists	10	3		Anomaly
Scientific Hobbyists	5	3		Happy
Bountiful troops	10	5		Fertile	Per Turn
Ruthless defenders	10	50	Damage	Fertile	Dmg to attacker on ground battle
Catalyzation specialists	5	5		Gas
Prolific farmers	5	3		Fertile
Treasure hunters	5	2		Happy
Anomaly stalkers	10	5		Anomaly
Self sustaining laborers	5	2		Sterile
Dust purists	10	5		Sterile
Naturalists	5	3		Temperate
Geothermal specialists	5	2		Cold
Insulation specialists	5	2		Hot
Logisticians	5	30		Fertile	Capacity
Public Minefields	5	25	Damage	All	Damage to attacker on ground battle
Serve with Honor	5	1		All
Planet menders	10	-0.5	Depletion	Planets with Depletion	Reduce the depletion by 0.5 per turn
Auspicious augurs	10	2		Planets with temple of the lost
Fervant labor	15	2		Happy
Stellar Stoics	5	1		Hot
Hardened dwellers	10	3		Sterile
Biomimetic builders	5	2		Fertile
Strategic science	15	2		Strategic resource deposits

Collection Bonuses

Peer-reviewed	Usually associated with Sophons
10 Population	Increases Political Output.
20 Population	+15% on Systems with main Faction.
50 Population	-20% on Technology Costs.

Belligerent	Usually associated with Cravers
10 Population	Increases Political Output.
20 Population	+10% Ship Cost Reduction on Systems with main Faction.
50 Population	+1% Damage on Ships and Troops per Depleted Planet in Empire.

Mercantile	Usually associated with Lumeris
10 Population	Increases Political Output.
20 Population	+15% on Systems with main Faction.
50 Population	Empire Ignores Blockades on Trade Routes.

Prodigious	Usually associated with Vodyani
10 Population	Increases Political Output.
20 Population	+5% on Systems with main Faction.
50 Population	+100% Hero Recovery (Healing) Rate on Empire.

Boundless	Usually associated with United Empire
10 Population	Increases Political Output.
20 Population	+15% on Systems with main Faction.
50 Population	0.1 Influence per Industry spent.

Pacified	Usually associated with Horatio
10 Population	Increases Political Output.
20 Population	+15% on Systems with main Faction.
50 Population	5% of Output added to Output on Systems with main Faction.

Mass produced	Usually associated with Riftborn
10 Population	Increases Political Output.
20 Population	+15% on Systems with main Faction.
50 Population	Wormhole travel consumes only half of a ship's remaining movement points.

Harmonious	Usually associated with Unfallen
10 Population	Increases Political Output.
20 Population	+15% on Systems with main Faction.
50 Population	+50% Ownership Recovery Rate on Systems.

Heuristic	Usually associated with Vaulters
10 Population	Increases Political Output.
20 Population	+10% on Systems with main Faction.
50 Population	+0.1 per on Systems.

Glorious	Usually associated with Hissho
10 Population	Increases Political Output.
20 Population	+15% per turn on Systems with main Faction.
50 Population	-25% Ship cost on Systems.

Infiltration	Usually associated with Umbral Choir
10 Population	Increases Political Output.
20 Population	+15 +1 per Allocated points on Empire.
50 Population	+15% .

Fervent	Usually associated with Nakalim
10 Nakalim Population	Increases Political Output.
20 Nakalim Population	+10 on Systems with Custom Population.
50 Nakalim Population	Advanced Ground Battle Strategies.

Faction Traits

Limited to a number of 8 without mods, though some vanilla Factions start with more. Some are also locked behind DLCs.

Name	DLC	Category	Cost	Effect
Alternative Imports		Economic	10	-50% Taxes on the Marketplace.
Kingpin Executives		Economic	10	Trade Companies level up 15% faster.
Amateur Executives		Economic	-5	Trade Companies level up 15% slower.
Biophobic		Economic	10	+10 Approval per Population and +1 max Population on Sterile, -2 Approval per Population and -1 max Population on Fertile.
Behemoth Discoverer		Economic	10	Start with an Economic Behemoth on Home System.
Behemoth Builders		Economic	5	+1 Behemoth production limit on Empire.
Growth Plan I		Economic	10	+10% Food on Systems.
Growth Plan II		Economic	25	+20% Food on Systems.
Growth Plan III		Economic	40	+30% Food on Systems.
Black Thumb I		Economic	-5	-10% Food on Systems.
Black Thumb II		Economic	-10	-15% Food on Systems.
Blockade Breakers		Economic	15	Trade routes cannot be blocked during Cold Wars.
Businessmen I		Economic	10	+10% Dust on Systems.
Businessmen II		Economic	25	+20% Dust on Systems.
Businessmen III		Economic	40	+30% Dust on Systems.
Big Spenders I		Economic	-5	-10% Dust on Systems.
Big Spenders II		Economic	-10	-15% Dust on Systems.
Constructionist I		Economic	10	+10% Industry on Systems.
Constructionist II		Economic	25	+20% Industry on Systems.
Constructionist III		Economic	40	+30% Industry on Systems.
Unskilled Builders I		Economic	-5	-10% Industry on Systems.
Unskilled Builders II		Economic	-15	-15% Industry on Systems.
Content Citizens I		Economic	10	-25% Overpopulation penalty on Systems.
Content Citizens II		Economic	15	-40% Overpopulation penalty on Systems.
Crowded Planets I		Economic	15	+1 Population Slots on Planets.
Crowded Planets II		Economic	40	+2 Population Slots on Planets.
Pushovers I		Economic	-5	-10% Influence on Systems.
Pushovers II		Economic	-10	-15% Influence on Systems.
Culturalist I		Economic	10	+10% Influence on Systems.
Culturalist II		Economic	20	+15% Influence on Systems.
Dark Matter Manipulators		Economic	10	+0.5 Manpower per idle Bandwidth on Empire.
Extended Consortium		Economic	15	+1 Max headquarter for Trade Company on Empire.
Expensive Tastes		Economic	-10	+100% System Luxury Development cost on Empire.
Exploited Sleepers		Economic	10	+1 Bandwidth per Sleepers on Empire.
Fledgling Traders		Economic	-10	-50% Star System Trade Value on Systems.
Inept Traders		Economic	-5	-15% Star System Trade Value on Systems.
Skillful Traders		Economic	20	+15% Star System Trade value on Systems.
Free Market Experts		Economic	15	-5% Dust Inflation per Trade Company on Empire.
Immaterial Population		Economic	-5	-75% Food to Manpower on Systems.
Luxury Connoisseur		Economic	10	-25% System Luxury Development cost on Empire.
Luxury Ignoramuses		Economic	-5	+25% System Luxury Development cost on Empire.
Resource Recoverers		Economic	5	Mining Probes can collect FIDS resources of a planet and add them to the Home System's resource generation. -1 Systems Occupied before triggering Overcolonisation Threshold. -5% FIDS per System above Overcolonization on Systems.
Material Expertise		Economic	10	Can use strategic resources to develop Systems.
Vexed II		Economic	-25	-15 Approval on Systems.
Vexed I		Economic	-10	-10 Approval on Systems.
Optimistic I		Economic	10	+10 Approval on Systems.
Optimistic II		Economic	25	+20 Approval on Systems.
Space Cadets II		Economic	-10	-15% Science on Systems.
Space Cadets I		Economic	-5	-10% Science on Systems.
Rational Minds I		Economic	10	+10% Science on Systems.
Rational Minds II		Economic	25	+20% Science on Systems.
Rational Minds III		Economic	40	+30% Science on Systems.
Utopian Infrastructure		Economic	10	+1 Approval per Population on level 2, +2 Approval per Population on level 3, +3 Approval per Population on level 4 of modernization.
Resilient		Economic	15	Adds an Obliterator Shield to your Home System.
Core Worlds		Expansion	5	+10 Approval on Systems while under Overcolonization Threshold.
Apathetic colonies		Expansion	-5	-25% Food sent to and generated by Outposts.
Fervent colonists I		Expansion	10	+15% Food sent to Outposts.
Fervent colonists II		Expansion	15	+30% Food sent to Outposts.
Expansionists I		Expansion	10	-25% Overcolonization penalty on Empire.
Expansionists II		Expansion	25	-50% Overcolonization penalty on Empire.
Observances		Expansion	10	With every election, a new Observance becomes available. Sacrificing a Population will give your Empire the effects of the Observance.
Sacred Tradition		Expansion	10	The government type does not change when in Rebellion. Systems rebel when an Empire is in Anarchy due to low Approval or Obedience. Can see paths and destinations of enemy Fleets.
Stay-at-Home		Expansion	-20	+100 Overcolonization penalty on Empire. -5% maximum Bandwidth per System above Overcolonization threshold.
Efficient Explorers I		Exploration	5	+1 max Probes on Explorers.
Efficient Explorers II		Exploration	10	+2 max Probes on Explorers.
Fast Travelers I		Exploration	10	+1 Movement Points on Ships.
Fast Travelers II		Exploration	25	+2 Movement Points on Ships.
Wary Travelers I		Exploration	-10	-1 Movement Points on Ships.
Wary Travelers II		Exploration	-25	-2 Movement Points on Ships.
Guardians		Exploration	40	Allow the discovery of Guardians.
Pathfinder		Exploration	25	Reveal location of unexplored adjacent nodes.
Well Founded		Exploration	10	Start with your initial Constelation revealed.
Slumbering Ruins		Exploration	20	Marks Systems as Slumebering Ruins which can be re-awakened for bonus resources, population and upgrades.
Legendary Heroes I		Heroes	15	+1 Experience per turn, -25% Upkeep on Heroes.
Legendary Heroes II		Heroes	30	+2 Experience per turn, -50% Upkeep on Heroes.
Perfect Genes I		Heroes	5	+50% Recovery(healing) rate on Heroes.
Perfect Genes II		Heroes	10	+100% Recovery(healing) rate on Heroes.
Lousy Senators		Politics	-5	+50% Influence cost on law and diplomatic actions.
Ace Senators		Politics	10	-50% Influence cost on law and diplomatic actions.
Big Brothers		Politics	5	Relations with minor Factions are always positive.
Disciplined		Politics	5	Rebellion progress 50% slower.
Prone to Agitation		Politics	-5	Rebellion progress 50% faster.
Eternal War		Politics	-15	Peace is impossible unless Pacifist are within the Leading Political Party.
Harmonious I		Politics	5	+4 Approval per peace on Systems, +8 Approval per alliances on Systems.
Harmonious II		Politics	10	+8 Approval per peace on Systems, +16 Approval per alliances on Systems.
Mutual Understanding I		Politics	10	+10% Damage on ships and troops per friendly Major Faction.
Mutual Understanding II		Politics	15	+20% Damage on ships and troops per friendly Major Faction.
Organic Network		Politics	5	+1 Maximum Hacking Operations on Empire.
Pirate Slayers		Politics	5	Cannot interact diplomatically with the pirates, but earn twice as much loot when destroying a pirate lair.
Smooth Talkers		Politics	10	-25% Penalty for political ideologies without representation.
Social Chameleons		Politics	15	+5% Dust per Empire in alliance, +5% Industry per Empire at war on Systems.
Antediluvian Alumni		Politics	10	Can donate Systems to the Academy for Relation, starts with academy discovered and has 20% discount on Relation Points
Twitch Infiltrators		Military	10	+10% Hacking Speed on Empire.
Brilliant Strategists I		Military	10	+10% To minimum and maximum damage dealt on Ground Battles.
Brilliant Strategists II		Military	20	+20% To minimum and maximum damage dealt on Ground Battles.
Poor Strategists I		Military	-5	-10% To minimum and maximum infantry damage dealt on Ground Battles.
Poor Strategists II		Military	-10	-15% To minimum and maximum infantry damage dealt on Ground Battles.
Combat Specialists		Military	10	-30% Cost to Manpower upgrades. (Troop upgrades in Military menu.)
Combat Rookies		Military	-10	+30% Cost to Manpower upgrades. (Troop upgrades in Military menu.)
Big Fleets I		Military	15	+1 Command Points on Empire, -10% Upkeep on Ships.
Big Fleets II		Military	25	+2 Command Points on Empire, -25% Upkeep on Ships.
Fearless Warriors I		Military	10	+10% Infantry Health on Empire.
Fearless Warriors II		Military	20	+20% Infantry Health on Empire.
Feeble Warriors I		Military	-5	-10% Infantry Health on Empire.
Feeble Warriors II		Military	-10	-20% Infantry Health on Empire.
Ghosts		Military	10	All ships can cloak, except Juggernauts and Obliterators.
Corsairs		Military	5	Privateers is unlocked (disguise ships as pirates) and improved since since the start.
Deadly Weapons I		Military	10	+10% Damage on weapon modules.
Deadly Weapons II		Military	20	+20% Damage on weapon modules.
Humane Weapons		Military	-5	-10% Damage on weapon modules.
Cowards I		Military	-5	-15% Manpower capacity on Empire.
Cowards II		Military	-10	-20% Manpower capacity on Empire.
Patriots I		Military	10	+15% Manpower capacity on Empire.
Patriots II		Military	15	+25% Manpower capacity on Empire.
Confident Tacticians		Military	5	-2 Turns on battle tactics cooldown.
Doubtful Tacticians		Military	-5	+2 Turns on battle tactics cooldown.
Optimal defense I		Military	10	+10% Max Health on Ships.
Optimal defense II		Military	20	+20% Max Health on Ships.
Sup-Optimal Defense		Military	-5	-10% Max Health on Ships.
Price of Perfection I		Military	-5	+10% Industry Ship cost, +5% damage on weapon modules.
Price of Perfection II		Military	-10	+20% Industry Ship cost, +10% damage on weapon modules.

note: Material Expertise is 50-250% more expensive on strategic resources than regular luxury resource cost, that is also the case if the luxury cost changes somehow, for example: Federation or Luxury Connoisseur

Starting Minor Population

Additionally, You can also have your pick at your starting minor Faction Population. They come with different bonuses. They each have a unique law, tactic, or combat bonus. You may click on their name for additional information.

Name		Cost
Amblyr		10
Amoeba		5
Basryxo		5
Bhagaba		5
Deuyivans		10
Epistis		10
Eyder		10
Galvran		5
Gnashast		5
Haroshem		10
Illo		5
Kalgeros		10
Kalmat		5
Kal'Tik'Ma		5
Pulsos		5
Harmony		5
Mavros		10
Niris		10
Pilgrims		5
Remnant		5
Sefaloros		5
Sisters of Mercy		5
Sowers		5
Tikanan		5
Xirmisala		5
Yuusho		5
Z'vali		10

Starting Technology

You may also have your choice of traits that determine which technologies your Faction starts with.

Name		Cost	Effect
Forgotten Lore I		30	Start with the first tier of technology researched.
Forgotten Lore II		70	Start with the first two tiers of technology researched.
N-Way Fusion		10	Start with the technology N-Way Fusion.
Off-world Agribusiness		10	Start with the technology Off-World Agribusiness.
Planetary Landscaping		10	Start with the technology Planetary Landscaping.
Plasma Metallurgy		10	Start with the technology Plasma Metallurgy.
Ubiquitous Surveillance		10	Start with the technology Ubiquitous Surveillance.
Xenobiology		10	Start with the technology Xenobiology.
Xenolignuistics		10	Start with the technology Xenolinguistics.

Start Modifiers

Finally, you can choose traits that affect the starting condition of your game or Home Planet.

Name		Cost	Effect
Beliefs Not Breakthroughs		-15	Planets do not generate Science. All Science Improvements are 50% less effective. Cannot obtain Technology from other Empires. Set to 0 on Planets. -50% on Systems and Ship Destructions. +300%cost with Emperor´s Will.
Involuntary Nomads		10	Starts the game with a Super Colonizer ship on the Special Node "Rejuvenation Field" Planets are settled as a Colony instead of an Outpost, with these temporary effects: +25 on System. +5 on System. +15 on colonized System. +10 on all Systems. +25 on Empire. -50% Influence Conversion rate on System.
Hyperium Source		10	Start with a Hyperium source on your Home Planet.
Titanium Mine		10	Start with a Titanium source on your Home planet.
Strange But Good		10	Start with a positive anomaly on your Home Planet.
Strange But Bad		-10	Start with a negative anomaly on your Home Planet.