AI War 2:Outguard

Outguards are groups of usually temporary allies that you can hire on any planet. Obtaining Outguards requires hacking the beacon they're on. Once obtained, they can be deployed infinite times for free (albeit with a cooldown). Here they're explained a bit more in depth.

Acquiring And Hiring

First, you have to find an Outguard Beacon, which show up on the Galaxy Map as an icon under the planet it's on. Then you must get a Hacker to that planet, and perform the Make Contact with Outguard hack on it. Once completed, you then have access to the groups listed in the Beacon description. Each Beacon has two groups available from it.

To hire a group, simply be looking at the planet you wish for them to spawn on, and click on the Group in the Hacking tab of the sidebar. Note that each group has a specified type of location (i.e AI controlled only) in their contract, and can only be hired if that requirement is met. Once activated, they will then spawn on the edge of the planet's gravity well.

Each group has a cooldown before it can be hired again, and a limited number of "charges" which regenerate over time. Charge capacity increases with AI Progress generated.

Behaviour

Each group has different behaviours when they arrive:

• Attack: Simply fights every enemy on the current planet, and when done, will move to another planet with enemies to keep fighting until either death or their time expires.
• Defend Local Planet: Will remain on the planet they were hired on and defend it until either death or their time expires.
• Patrol Adjacent Friendly Planets: Will roam this planet and nearby friendly ones, rushing to defend any if they come under attack until either death or their time expires.
• Patrol Adjacent Friendly And Neutral Planets: Similar to the above, but also roams neutral planets.
• Player Controlled: Are added to the players control permanently.

Once spawned, outguards remain in the galaxy for 10 minutes before withdrawing, except where otherwise specified.

Available Groups

There will be more in the future from Backers - until then, these are what are currently available to you.

Group Name	Behaviour	Restriction	Units	Game's Description
Arnaud de Cervole	Patrol Adjacent Friendly Planets	Player Planets Only	Outguard Flagship Aggressor Paralyser	Arnaud became a safe and cautious leader after his family was eaten by AI-infested wombats. He leads a pack of Aggressors and Paralysers who will patrol nearby allied planets.
Lobar the Wolf	Attack	AI Planets Only	Outguard Flagship Vanguard Heavy Fusion Bomber	Lobar and his group hate the AI with a passion and will attack AI planets, using a mix of Vanguards and Heavy Fusion Bombers.
Xenophon	Attack	Any Planet	Outguard Flagship Porcupine MLRS Corvette	Xenophon and his men just want to get home again after each job, and as such will warp out after their first battle. They use a mix of Porcupines and MLRS Corvettes.
Prufrock's Partisans	Defend Local Planet	AI Planets Only	Outguard 'Distractor' Flagship Decoy Drone Carrier	Prufrock is an expert at distracting the AI with swarms of decoy drones.
Hereward the Wake	Patrol Adjacent Friendly And Neutral Planets	Not AI Planets	Outguard Flagship Velociraptor	A defensive specialist, Hereward will lead his group in patrolling nearby planets using a group of Velociraptors.
Kosciuszko Fortifications Inc	Defend Local Planet	Player Planets Only	Outguard Flagship Concussion Turret Spider Turret	Kosciuszko is a turret specialist, and brings his own defensive emplacements.
War Harvesters	Player Controlled	Any Planet	War Harvester	Purchase a group of War Harvester bots from a fellow resistance group. These bots harvest metal from their targets and grant it to you using their scrap cannons. These are put under your command permanently.
War Siegers	Player Controlled	Any Planet	War Sieger	Purchase a group of War Sieger bots from a fellow resistance group. These bots wield a rapid fire plasma cannon for long range devastation. These are put under your command permanently.
Automated Firesupport	Attack	Any Planet	Automated Sentinel Frigate Automated Sniper	A group of vagabonds have activated an abandoned drone factory, and are willing to supply you with a temporary force of Sniper and Sentinel Gunboat units.
Automated Shredders	Attack	Any Planet	Automated Metabolizing Gangsaw Automated Vampire Claw	A group of vagabonds have activated an abandoned drone factory, and are willing to supply you with a temporary force of Gangsaw and Vampire units.
Automated Construction Swarm	Attack	Any Planet	Automated Construction Bot	A group of vagabonds have activated an abandoned drone factory, and are willing to supply you with a temporary force of modified construction bots, that spawn smaller copies on death.
Anvil Securities	Patrol Adjacent Friendly And Neutral Planets	Not AI Planets	Anvil Securities Shield Starship Anvil Securities Spider	Before the current war, they used to be a defense contractor. Now, for a price they'll help defend nearby friendly and neutral planets with their Forcefield Frigates and Spiders.
Sabre Company	Attack	Any Planet	Outguard Flagship Sabre Company Pulsar Tank	This military company, gone rogue from the start of the war, will, for a price, send a group of Pulsar Tanks.
Spire Archivist	Defend Local Planet	Player Planets Only	Outguard Flagship Forcefield Generator Beam Cannon	After decades of silence, a rogue scientist has contacted us, offering potent spire technology to defend our planets. The power required to fuel these defenses is immense, however, and we can only keep them up for a limited time. Withdraws after 5 minutes.
Hydral Hobbyist	Attack	Any Planet	Hydran Outguard Flagship Hydran Outguard Flagship Major Head	We have recieved an offer of assistance by one who simply goes by Hydran. Their ship seems to be weak on offensive power, but is filled to the brim with paralyzing shots and redundancy systems.
Democratic Demolitionists	Defend Local Planet	Any Planet	Outguard Flagship Grenade Launcher Turret Grenade Launcher Corvette	The leader of this group was stuck with nothing but grenade launcher ship and turret schematics. He took the only logical conclusion and built hundreds of them.