Enclaves are special AI empires. They do not own any planets or systems, but consist of large stations. Once an empire has made contact with an enclave, they can purchase various services from the enclave. Enclaves are listed in the Diplomacy Menu under the "Others" category. Each enclave has two or three basic interactions, and a number of restricted interactions that can only be used after sufficient opinion is reached.
The maximum opinion with an enclave is 100, and an empire builds opinion with them by using their services or owning the system with the enclave. Enclaves in owned systems gain +1 opinion with the system owner each year. This is not cumulative when owning multiple systems with the same enclave.
When an enclave modifier expires the empire will be offered the option to extend it.
Curator Order[]
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Available only with the Leviathans DLC or the Distant Stars DLC enabled. |
The Curator Order is an order dedicated to safeguarding lost knowledge and spread across up to three stations. They offer the following services:
Service | Effect | Requirements |
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Research aid | ![]() ![]() |
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Mysteries of the Universe Tell us about |
Adds a Leviathan point of interest to the situation log, and ![]() |
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Mysteries of the Universe How to defeat |
Adds a permanent ![]() ![]() |
Has encountered a Guardian![]() ![]() ![]() |
Mysteries of the Universe How would we fare |
Compares the total fleet power against the Guardian, and ![]()
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Has encountered a Guardian![]() ![]() ![]() |
Establish Think Tank | Allow the construction of ![]() ![]() |
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Recruit scientist | Gain a level 5 ![]() If the ![]() |
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Fundamental principles | Cognitive Node gains the ![]() |
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Buy Intelligence | Gain ![]() ![]() |
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Infinity mystery | Gain ![]() |
![]() Can only be done once |
L-Gates | Gain an L-Gate Insight, and ![]() |
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Artisan Troupe[]
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Available only with the Leviathans DLC enabled. |
The Artisan Troupe is an enclave dedicated to all arts and spread across up to three stations. They offer the following services:
Service | Effect | Requirements |
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Become patron | Gain the Patron of the Arts modifier for 10 years (![]() ![]() Becoming a patron also allows Patron Events to trigger: |
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Commission art piece | Gain the ![]() ![]() |
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Found Art College | Allow the construction of ![]() ![]() |
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Organize festival | Gain the Festival of Worlds modifier for 10 years (![]() ![]() ![]() There is also a chance for one of the following to happen within the next year:
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XuraCorp[]
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Available only with the Leviathans DLC enabled. |
XuraCorp is one of the three trader enclaves and the one guaranteed to appear in every game. They offer the following sevices:
Service | Effect | Requirements |
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Strategic Resource deal | Provides 1-5 monthly ![]() ![]() ![]() Can be ended at any point but will cancel the ![]() Automatically canceled if there is an ![]() |
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Seek expertise | Gain a level 5 ![]() If the ![]() |
![]() ![]() Once per enclave |
Muutagan Merchant Guild[]
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Available only with the Leviathans DLC enabled. |
Muutagan Merchant Guild is one of the three trader enclaves. They offer the following sevices:
Service | Effect | Requirements |
---|---|---|
Strategic Resource deal | Provides 1-5 monthly ![]() ![]() ![]() Can be ended at any point but will cancel the ![]() Automatically canceled if there is an ![]() |
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Seek expertise | Gain a level 5 ![]() If the ![]() |
![]() ![]() Once per enclave |
Riggan Commerce Exchange[]
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Available only with the Leviathans DLC enabled. |
Muutagan Merchant Guild is one of the three trader enclaves. They offer the following sevices:
Service | Effect | Requirements |
---|---|---|
Strategic Resource deal | Provides 1-5 monthly ![]() ![]() ![]() Can be ended at any point but will cancel the ![]() Automatically canceled if there is an ![]() |
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Seek expertise | Gain a level 5 ![]() If the ![]() |
![]() ![]() Once per enclave |
Salvagers[]
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Available only with the Overlord DLC enabled. |
The Salvagers is an enclave dedicated to scrapping and repurposing ships or their materials. They will contact an empire and offer a gift of 150-2000 Alloys if first contact with them is not completed before the empire researches the
Battleships,
Citadel or
Mega-Engineering technology. They offer the following services:
Service | Effect | Requirements |
---|---|---|
Scrap a fleet | Disbands a fleet and gain ![]() ![]()
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Fleet in the enclave system![]() ![]() |
Reclaimed vessels | Purchases 1 or 10 ships based on other empire' designs, and ![]() |
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Salvage some debris | Automatically investigate up to 3 debris fields in 90 days, and ![]() |
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Engineering research | ![]() ![]() |
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Salvage Works buildings | Allow the construction of ![]() ![]() ![]() |
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Hire a master salvager | Gain a level 5 ![]() If the ![]() |
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Shroud-Touched Coven[]

Shroud-Touched Coven station
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Available only with the Overlord DLC enabled. |
The Shroud-Touched Coven is an enclave dedicated to harnessing the power of the Shroud and spread across up to three stations. Empires with the Teachers of the Shroud will start in contact with them. They offer the following services:
Service | Effect | Requirements |
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What is to be our fate | Starts a Sign of the Visitor or Sign of the Locus situation, which can trigger various events or create anomalies, and ![]() |
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Send us a teacher | Gain a level 5 ![]() If the ![]() |
![]() ![]() One use per purchase |
Insight on another empire | Starts a Shroudwalker Insight situation which gives the following reward when completed, and ![]()
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Travel via the Shroud | Allow the construction of ![]() ![]() |
![]() ![]() Can only be done once |
Mercenary enclaves[]
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Available only with the Overlord DLC enabled. |
Unlike other enclaves, mercenary enclaves do not exist at the start of the game and instead are founded during gameplay. Gestalt Consciousness empires cannot found mercenary enclaves but they can become patrons by taking ownership of an enclave's system.
Founding a mercenary enclave requires sufficient mercenary enclave capacity, a fleet of size 50 or larger that cannot cloak led by a commander in an owned system with a moon or asteroid, and no enclave – mercenary or other – already present in that system; this costs
1500 energy,
2000 alloys, and
100 influence. Once the order is given, the enclave constructs its station in the fleet's current system, the fleet's commander leaves the empire to become the leader of the new enclave, and the fleet is transferred to the enclave.
Mercenary enclaves provide the following services:
- Empires can rent a mercenary fleet for 10 years and gain
+15 opinion for an
Energy cost that scales with the enclave's opinion and tier. The contract can be renewed at any point for an additional
energy cost and
+5 opinion. Mercenary fleets are led by commanders with the
Mercenary Warrior trait. If the mercenary enclave station is attacked, all mercenary fleets are recalled, and their clients are refunded between
3000-44000 energy, depending on enclave tier.
- Empires that have at least
20 opinion with the enclave can pay
600, 1100, or 2000 energy to hire
5, 10 or 15 mercenary armies. If the enclave is at least tier 4, empires can also pay
1200 or 2300 energy to hire
5 or 10 mercenary mechanized armies. All options will grant
opinion equal to the number of armies hired, plus 5 additional opinion if hiring a mechanized army.
- Empires that have at least
30 opinion with the enclave can buy
+15% naval capacity for 10 years. This costs between
1000 and 5000 energy based on current capacity and gives
+15 opinion.
- Empires that have at least
40 opinion with the enclave can pay
1000 energy to unlock the
Mercenary Garrison starbase building and gain
+15 opinion.
- Empires that have at least
50 opinion with the enclave can pay
1500 or 5000 energy to gain
+15% damage versus a mid-game or end-game crisis.
The empire that owns a mercenary enclave's system, initially its founder, is the enclave's patron. Patrons have slightly reduced prices and receive a dividend at regular intervals. The dividend interval is mechanically a situation, and the base progress rate is +0.417 per month, resulting in a total time of 20 years. With all positive modifiers maxed out, the interval is a mere 1.83 years, though that relies on a non-patron hiring the fleet. More consistently, with the patron hiring the fleet, the minimum interval is 2.25 years. The rate is increased (and thus total interval decreased) by the following:
Source | Base multiple | Raw increase | Interval with only this modifier |
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+2.5 | +1.043 | 5.75 years |
Enclave fleet hired by anyone | +1 | +0.417 | 10 years |
Enclave fleet hired by non-patron (stacks with above) | +2 | +0.833 | 5 years |
Per mercenary enclave tier | +0.4 (max +2) |
+0.167 (max +0.835) |
See table below |
Per ![]() |
+0.5 (max +2.5) |
+0.208 (max +1.04) |
13.3 years at level 1 5.75 years at level 5 |
Enclave has Financial Troubles modifier | −5 | −2.085 | Never Cannot reduce progress below 3 |
The dividend can be in the form of basic resources, research, or a fleet if the patron is using less than 95% of their Naval Capacity; there is also a small chance of a special dividend or no dividend.
Dividend type | Chance | Tier 0/1 | Tier 2/3 | Tier 4/5 |
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Basic Resources | 24% | |||
Energy only | 24% | ![]() |
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Research | 24% |
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Fleet Ships received based on largest class enclave has |
24% 0% if patron uses >95% of ![]() |
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Special Ships received based on largest class enclave has |
2% |
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Financial Troubles Choose one of three options: |
2% |
• • Kills current enclave ruler, and enclave gains Financial Troubles modifier for 2.78 years • Subsize enclave, based on tier (below), and gain | ||
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Patrons that have at least 80 opinion with the enclave can ask it to recall a fleet hired by another empire for a scaling cost and
−15 opinion; the fleet is recalled after 6 months and then 3 months later hired to the patron for 10 years. The patron can also offer to upgrade the enclave – with a one year cooldown, up to 5 times; upgrading improves the tier of its weapons and grants
+20 opinion each time, but also increases the fleet recall costs.
Enclave tier | Upgrade cost | Fleet recall cost | Base patron dividend time | Enclave loadout | ||||||||
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0 | - | - | 1500 | 50 | 20 years | 0 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
1 | 1000 | 500 | 3000 | 75 | 14.3 years | 0 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
2 | 2500 | 1250 | 6000 | 100 | 11.1 years | 0 | 6 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 4 |
3 | 5500 | 2750 | 10000 | 125 | 9.08 years | 0 | 6 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 4 |
4 | 10000 | 5000 | 15000 | 150 | 7.75 years | 1 | 6 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 4 |
5 | 13000 | 6500 | 22000 | 200 | 6.66 years | 1 | 6 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 4 |
Mercenary enclaves build and upgrade ships the same way playable empires do, using all technologies researched by the empire that founded the enclave at the time of the founding. The enclave's patron can grant the enclave all its researched technologies, gaining +1000 energy and
+15 opinion.
Attacking enclaves[]
While enclaves never become hostile to any empire except in retaliation, they can be attacked like any neutral entity. With around 10k fleet power and highest level weapons, they are no easy prey. Various rewards can be salvaged from their remnants, depending on the type of enclave destroyed.
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Loadout | ![]() | |||||
Reward | ||||||
AI Opinion change | −15 | 0 | −15 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Enclave stations do not drop debris for salvage. Attacking a Curator, Artisan, or Shroudwalker enclave makes every enclave station of the same type unavailable for trade.
Crystalline empire[]
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Available only with the Federations DLC enabled. |
If playing with the Void Dwellers origin (AI empires can't trigger it) then there is a 1% chance that during the mid-game a unique enclave known as the Crystalline Empire spawns near the galactic core. Its system does not have hyperlane connections but instead has a wormhole to a random system in the galaxy. Empires that are not
Genocidal and have not attacked them can offer to help them every 20 years to receive one of the following:
- 1 use of the
Settle Crystalline Refugees decision on a
Habitat for 10 years (
10 Influence for 5
pops)
- 1 use of the
Crystalline Construction decision on a
Habitat for 10 years (
10 influence for
+8 housing and
−10% building cost)
- A level 7
scientist
Destroying the Crystalline Empire enclave grants no rewards.
References[]
Exploration | Exploration • FTL • Anomaly • Archaeological site • Relics • Pre-FTL species • Fallen empire • Events • Spaceborne aliens • Enclaves • Guardians • Marauders • Caravaneers |
Celestial bodies | Celestial body • Colonization • Terraforming • Planetary features • Planet modifiers |
Species | Species • Traits • Population • Pop modification • Species rights • Ethics • Leader |
Governance | Empire • Origin • Government • Civics • Policies • Edicts • Factions • Technology • Traditions • Situations |
Economy | Resources • Planetary management • Districts • Buildings • Holdings • Jobs • Designation • Trade • Megastructures |
Diplomacy | Diplomacy • Relations • Galactic community • Federations • Subject empires • Intelligence • AI personalities |
Warfare | Warfare • Space warfare • Land warfare • Starbase • Ship • Ship designer • Crisis |
Others | The Shroud • L-Cluster • Unique systems • Preset empires • AI players • Easter eggs |