AI War:AI Unlock

The ships the AI players use are restricted by the blueprints it has access to. They have and gain blueprints in several ways during a game.

Guardians are not subject to these rules and are unlocked in a different way.

At Game Start

From the beginning of the game, each AI has access to Standard Fighter, Bomber and Missile Frigate and the basic Starships.

Some AIs have a Type that gives several blueprints from the start. They are added and replace no blueprint an AI may already have.

Each AI player also has one random blueprint. This is determined based on the map seed. If an AI get a blueprint it already has from its type, it doesn't have another one. If the AI has a Difficulty of 7 or more, it gains one more blueprint, still based on map seed, but different from what it already has, this time.

During The Game

Each time the total AI Progress (not the effective value, the unreduced total) reaches a multiple of 200, each AI gains one new blueprint (that neither already have). These blueprints are also (mostly) based on the map seed and won't change if players save and reload.

Core Blueprints

Each AI also have two blueprints from game start only available at mark V (mostly used in the Strategic Reserve and the Homeworlds).

Only the three basic ships and the blueprints unlocked by their type are also available at MkV.

Backup

Every blueprint an AI has (not counting the three basic ones and the core ones) are stored in Design Backup Servers, scattered in AI territory. They can be hacked to either corrupt or download their content. The new blueprints unlocked during the game are also stored into new servers.

MkV blueprints cannot be corrupted: all the ship types an AI has access to from its Type will be available for it at MkV even if the Design Backup Server is corrupted.