AI War 2:Factions

Please note: Some factions have different possible allegiances, which can be modified in the game setup. Descriptions below will assume the default allegiance. Updated 22/09/2021

Note on Faction Balance

This is an outline for how newer players should approach faction are balance when starting a new game. If you are a strong player (able to beat a Moderate AI at 8+) then this advice may not really applicable, though it may still be interesting.

Understanding exactly how much impact a hostile faction will have when making choices in the Game Lobby can be challenging. Here are some basic tools for thinking about it. Keep in mind that all this advice is imprecise; things like map type, ai type, your available ship lines, etc... can make a large difference. Another important thing to note is that the factions in the DLCs are generally more complex and challenging than those of the base games. It is generally recommended not to add hostile DLC factions until you feel comfortable with the game.

First, you should look at the Faction Impact statement in the Faction Description. They are generally Low, Medium, or High. Impact is essentially a measure of how much time/effort will the player need in order to handle this faction. These can be roughly characterized thusly.

A Low impact faction's baseline impact at 5 is "Flavour to your game"; they are unlikely to be able to do severe damage to you even if ignored, even at intensity 8+.

A Medium Impact faction at 5 is essentially "Another average player in your game"; they are a faction you will need to put time and effort into defeating, and if ignored they can cause your empire severe problems. Medium Factions sometimes require new strategies to deal with, and not knowing those strategies can cause problems especially at intensity >= 8. A Low Impact Faction at 8-10 is very roughly equivalent to a Medium Impact Faction at 2-4.

A High Impact faction at 5 is "An 800 pound gorilla" in your game. You will need to put a lot of effort into defeating them, and they have a real chance to do major damage to you. High Impact factions often require unique techniques or strategies from a player, and not using those can result in you losing the game. A notorious example of this is AI_War_2:The_Scourge#How_to_play_against_the_Scourge. A Medium Impact Faction at 6-8 is roughly equivalent to a High Impact faction at 3-5.

Random factions make use of this. If you ask for a Moderate Random Faction then you might get a High Impact Faction at intensity 2, a low impact faction at difficulty 9 or a Medium impact faction at 5.

Basegame Factions

AI Risk Analyzers

Throughout the galaxy, there are up to 10 risk analyzers. Every hour, each risk analyzer on an AI occupied world will increase the AI Progress by 1, as they begin to correctly estimate the player. The human player may destroy them for a fixed +10 AI progress, or capture a planet with risk analyzer to cause it to reduce AI progress.

After 40 minutes into the game, the risk analyzer will begin allocating resources towards sending exogalactic strikeforces. The speed and strength of these special waves is increased if the planet is not controlled by the AI, with a risk analyzer feeding the budget about ten times as quickly should it be in human hands.

While these can theoretically be a net benefit to the player, it takes a very long time for the reduction effect of taking a few analyzers to overcome the costs and the increases caused by other risk analyzers, so adding these is generally a boost to the AI.

Astro Trains

The AI periodically spawns Depots that are the focal points of various AI anti-human countermeasures. Trains will spawn and travel between Stations on the way to the Depot to increase the power of these attacks. Intercept and destroy the trains to weaken those attacks. You should note however that the more trains you destroy, the better the AI will protect them, so destroying the Depots can be preferable.

This is a notable boost to the AI, boosting it and creating new unique units to fight you, the types of both depending on the selected Intensity. You can however perform some robberies on the Trains for some usually limited resources, so if done right they can be a net boost to you."

Dark Spire

Several mysterious, ancient structures exist on AI Planets throughout the galaxy. They cannot be harmed and do not have any weapons, but they absorb energy when a ship dies on the same planet. When they absorb enough energy, they may either create Dark Spire ships which are hostile to almost everything or share energy with other vengeance generators across the galaxy. The amount of ships spawned is proportional to the energy absorbed, and the generators grow more powerful as they absorb more energy.

Hacking can be used on the Generators to obtain ships, cause further Dark Spire attacks across the galaxy, or make the generators vulnerable, but these are all fairly dangerous hacks.

This is a notable boost to the level of chaos in the galaxy, and scales even further with the number of other factions in play, since their conflict will also feed the generators. They can create new opportunities, but also new challenges.

High Intensity Dark Spire is high impact on it's own, and in a game with other minor factions can take over large sections of the galaxy under certain conditions. You have been warned!

Devourer Golem

The nigh-indestructible Devourer Golem makes its way slowly around the galaxy, absorbing all of the mobile military forces it finds in order to power and repair itself. It is powerful enough to break ceasefire effects.

This is a small boost to the level of chaos in the galaxy, in a way that will usually slightly benefit the player, since they can better avoid the Golem than the AI. However, the AI is better able to absorb the losses.

Human Resistance Fighters

Pockets of human allies still live in deep space around AI planets; when they see you fighting the AI, sometimes they will reveal themselves and join you. The fewer losses they take, the more ships they'll have available next time, so it pays to help them out if they arrive rather than just using them as a distraction.

This is a useful boost to your power, but they won't win games for you on their own.

Macrophage Infestation

The galaxy is being invaded by enormous biological Macrophages. Their Tellia create harvesters which prey on the AI's ships for metal, and they will try to eat your ships too. If they manage to become reasonably prevalent in an area, they can start to create spores, which allows them to create more Tellia. Once they get going, they can grow exponentially, but it is hard for them to get going in the first place.

The impact of this faction tends to relate closely to how much effort the player is willing to invest in them.

Marauders

Hostile human vagabonds who live in deep space will occasionally raid human or AI planets via traditional propulsion methods (and thus come in from the edge of a system, not a wormhole). If they capture a planet then they will fortify it and use its resources to strengthen future attacks. Higher intensity gives this faction stronger and more frequent attacks.

This faction expands, and can do irreparable damage. If allowed to expand enough, they can be an enormous threat, but can struggle to get going initially. This can considerably change the viability of some strategies.

Nanocaust

The Nanocaust is a horde of nanobots that take over other ships. It hates the Humans and AI alike. It can be hacked by the player to make it an ally, which is a massive benefit to the player if successful, but the hack is extremely dangerous and long.

This is one of the highest impact factions in the base game. It expands, and can do irreparable damage. It is capable of steamrolling most enemies due to being able to capture their ships. Even a low Intensity will be dangerous. They will likely dominate any game they appear in except at the highest AI difficulties, and require specialised strategies or overwhelming force to deal with. The level of chaos they add to a game can cause opportunities, but they are quite capable of defeating the player on their own if not managed properly.

Zenith Dyson Sphere

The massive Dyson Sphere Golem exists at one of the AI planets, and is basically a massive fortress that will attack humans and AIs alike. However, if you free the planet from the AI, the sphere will realize your benign intent and will help you fight the AI on nearby planets. If you take the planet for yourself, the sphere will attack you until you give up the planet. If you've needed to kill the command station yourself, it's usually worth temporarily taking the planet in order to claim any fleets, and extract the science and hacking points present there, since you've already incurred the AIP cost. Hacking the Sphere itself will make it temporarily hostile to you, but can gain you ship lines, or affect the Sphere's power in order to make it a stronger ally in the mid-long term. This can however backfire at higher Sphere intensities, due to Dyson Antagonizers:

If the Dyson Sphere's intensity is high enough (>=8), the AI will periodically spawn Dyson Antagonizers that will cause the Dyson Sphere to turn hostile toward you. If there are multiple high intensity Dyson Spheres the AI will spawn Antagonizers for each of them. But any Antagonizer will make all the spheres hostile. This means lots of Dysons can be a scary proposition.

This faction does not expand, and doesn't do any irreparable damage. It can be boosted to a level much higher than it starts via hacking, but can occasionally be a bit wimpy if it has a bad start or is in an irrelevant part of the galaxy.

Impact can be higher if Splintering Spire (DLC1, The Spire Rises) is enabled.

Zenith Trader

These alien traders are happy to do business with anyone who can pay. They travel around the galaxy, providing special structures (for a hefty fee) to both human and AI players alike.

Also causes a temporary ceasefire on any planet it is visiting, which can be a good thing if you need a break or a bad thing if your enemies need a break.

This faction does not expand, and isn't a combatant in any way. Can be helpful, hinderance, or both, but not usually to a large degree. They increase the total possible power of a player slightly, but tend to make it slightly more difficult to go on the offensive after a while.

The Spire Rises Factions

Chromatic Horror

The eldritch Chromatic Horror spire wanders the galaxy seemingly at random, knocking anything it shoots with its Spacetime Lens to a random spot in the gravity well and burning up smaller craft. It can be killed... but it will simply return, motives as inscrutable as ever.

Additionally, if there are any ceasefires on a given planet it visits, the ceasefire is nullified so long as the Horror is present.

MEDIUM IMPACT: This faction does not expand, and does not do irreparable damage... unless it happens to move something critical into a vulnerable spot. It can cause wild swings in defensibility when it comes through a planet. Having all of your turrets on planet moved around can be a major challenge.

Spire Dyson Sphere

Adds a Spire Dyson Sphere (Gray or Chromatic) into the galaxy. These are impactful factions that tend to keep to their own affairs, as long as you leave them alone. They may make for a decent distraction for the AI. Their overall strength, logic, and even how they interact with you, changes based on the type of Sphere you choose.

MEDIUM IMPACT: While capable of putting out a notable amount of threat around its home Sphere, it will generally not halt you for too long. In some cases, they may prove to be an acceptable ally, so long as you respect their boundaries. Impact is higher if Splintering Spire is enabled.

Fallen Spire

Not really a faction of it's own, more of an alternate way of playing the game. Has some interaction with the Dark Spire.

For more information see here: https://wiki.arcengames.com/index.php?title=AI_War_2:Fallen_Spire

Scourge

A new machination of the AI that is remorselessly seeking your doom. Makes the game much more challenging if hostile to you. Their already alarming strength growth is accelerated further as the player spends Science.

This faction drastically changes how the game will play if enabled as an enemy. Normally, there's not too much time pressure, but the Scourge ramp it up severely. Their units can be nasty, and tend to require specific solutions. High intensity Scourge can add as much if not more difficulty than an AI of the same intensity.

For more information see here: (Warning: Some parts of this article may be out of date.) https://wiki.arcengames.com/index.php?title=AI_War_2:The_Scourge

The Zenith Onslaught Factions

Dark Zenith

At some point the Dark Zenith will invade the galaxy. They are a terrifying force of twisted Zenith. It's not sure what diabolical force could have turned the Zenith into ruthless slayers, but surviving the Zenith Onslaught will be an ordeal. If the Dark Spire are also present, they will be allies. The Dark Zenith and Dark Spire together in a Dark Alliance are particularly intimidating.

This faction has an extremely large impact on the game. When they invade, they will spawn some new planets in the galaxy and use them as a staging base for their invasion. You'll have a very short window before they strike to prepare for the attack. Successfully driving them back and pushing them off their core worlds can be very rewarding, since their core worlds can be claimed without raising AIP (assuming you can get there). This gives you access to a large amount of science and hacking points, as well as access to hacks for some Dark Zenith ship lines, and Dark Spire shiplines in the case of a Dark Alliance.

Dark Zenith Svikari

A small group of traitorous Dark Zenith wish to betray the Dark Alliance and join existing factions in this galaxy. If summoned, they start with but a single structure on an allied planet. However if given time to get their economy going, they can still become a juggernaut.

They require a lot of protection in the early game but can become very powerful allies once established. They can seem similar to the Scourge in this respect, but this is somewhat misleading. They are in some ways even more resilient than the Scourge, because they only need their infrastructure to remain intact in order to build their most powerful units, whereas the Scourge are slowed down to a degree by losing their units due to their evolution system. On the other hand, their infrastructure is more complex, more vulnerable, and takes longer to be rebuilt than the Scourge.

Nomad Planets

Not really a faction as such, more of a change to the structure of the galaxy. Nomad Planets move slowly around the galaxy map.

They tend to add to the level of Chaos in the galaxy. Nomad planets will create and remove wormholes to them as they move around the map. This can make it very hard to have defensive choke points, but can create opportunities to skip large amounts of hostile territory. Whether or not this is a good thing for you will depend on your playstyle.

Zenith Architrave

Intensities above 4 not recommended for a first game with these!

The Architrave are a warlike bunch of Zenith. They will claim a small part of the galaxy as their Territory, and defend it ruthlessly. Periodically they will attempt to expand further. If you start near them, you can control which systems they claim as their core territory by making sure you defend any systems you really want to keep until they've fulfilled their quota.

This is a complex faction, and reading the ingame Journals will definitely help you understand how they work.

This faction will essentially prevent you from accessing a region of the galaxy unless you want some major battles (for example, it might make some Data Centers, ARSs or other valuable capturables much harder to take). However, certain Architrave structures can be destroyed for Hacking and Science, or hacked for shiplines. Additionally, they can prevent the AI from accessing that part of the galaxy without some major battles, too.

For a HIGH IMPACT version, you can enable the Civil War. If there are 2 or more Architraves with civil war enabled then they will wage war against each other when any Civil War Enabled Architrave gets too powerful (even if they are on the same minor faction team). You can get caught in the crossfire, so be wary. Taking a central position can mean you have giant Architrave armadas pathing through your planets. Since Civil Wars are so impactful, these ZAs will expand more slowly. Note this means that you can put a single Architrave into Civil War Enabled mode to make it a bit weaker but without triggering the civil war.

Zenith Miners

It's amazing what eating a planet will do for your digestion.

Every so often, gigantic Zenith Miners will descend on the galaxy and attempt to eat planets. They can lead to some major battles to save a planet.

If not kept under control this faction will PERMANENTLY remove planets from the galaxy, including all the structures on that planet. This can be a good thing for you, if it brings AI territory into reach that you would otherwise have had to take a world to avoid deepstrike penalties, or if it removes a troublesome AI world directly, but it can be very bad if it removes crucial powerful capturable before you can get them, and it's even worse if it removes a world you've already paid for an still rely on as part of your defences, economy, or as a stepping stone to access deeper AI worlds.

However, destroying them grants you Science and Hacking, and their probes can be hacked to influence their destination or effects.

The Neinzul Abyss Factions

Work in Progress

Elderlings

An incursion of Neinzul Elderlings has come into the galaxy. Each Elderling will defend a territory of the map, and reproduce slowly. Eventually more and more Elderlings will patrol the galaxy.

Killing Elderlings will grant Science.

HIGH IMPACT: If the Elderlings are not culled regularly, then they can make it very hard to move around the galaxy.

Neinzul Custodians

A relatively large collection of Neinzul that have found their way to our galaxy have fractured due to disagreements, each new small force reaching out to potential allies.

While no longer collectively strong, they will show undying loyalty to any that accept them.

MEDIUM IMPACT: Enabling this faction causes a number of Neinzul to join in as allies to you, allies to the AI, and allies to minor faction teams.

These Neinzul act as a very potent mobile addition to any team they manage to join, and may potentially cover what would normally be a weakness.

Neinzul Migrant Fleets

The Neinzul are migrating through the galaxy. Should you assist them in their journey, you may find your nation home to a new alien life.

MEDIUM IMPACT: This faction acts as a sort of never ending quest for whatever team they're aligned with. Due to their constant appearance at random on the map, they may either open up new holes in your enemies' defenses or aggravate them and leave you to pick up the pieces.

On higher intensities, you may find yourself overwhelmed due to their sheer number, so be warned.

Neinzul Sappers

These Neinzul Sappers will help their allies defend their planets.

LOW IMPACT: This faction will assist their allies and have no downsides.

Neinzul Wild Hives

A number of Neinzul have started corrupting the resources of this galaxy, and begun to spread. Largely ignored by the AI for the moment, they will be competing with you for control over your resources. They appear to be relatively peaceful if left alone, but their hives actively inhibit the abilities of any ships within their territory.

If left alone and allowed to propagate in your territory, you may find yourself a new ally, albeit a very clingy one that greatly inhibits your regular economic power. Be wary to not allow them to cripple you while you're not looking.

VARIABLE IMPACT: This faction works by claiming (and in some cases stealing) resources that are normally yours. They can be exceptionally sticky and hard to remove once ingrained in a sector of the galaxy.

If you only have one Wild Hives faction, they will otherwise be passive unless you attack them, leading to an overall Moderate impact.

If you have multiple instances of this faction however, they will actively compete with one another for resources, and will be much more aggressive. Rival Hives on the same planet will become aggressive, lashing out at not only each other, but at any ships that get in the way of their dispute.