Factions

Version

This article has been verified for the current PC version (3.10) of the game.

Factions represent political parties and have a potentially high impact on pop happiness. Most ethics have only one faction, and in most cases, every pop joins the faction corresponding to its ethic. Faction names are randomly generated but can be manually changed at any point.

Gestalt Consciousness empires don't have factions.

Faction Properties[]

Every faction has all of these properties. Approval, size, and support are usually the most important figures to keep in mind.

Formation potential[]

Factions can begin forming after 10 years as long as the empire has encountered another species (i.e. has a second species in the empire or has made first contact, including space fauna or primitives); empires with the Parliamentary System civic can have factions form after 30 days instead. All factions require at least five pops as well; a faction with fewer than five pops will be disbanded, though it can be reformed later if conditions allow. There is also a 180-day cooldown between factions forming, though this does not apply to the very first set of factions. A faction can only form if its ethic attraction in the empire is at least 3%.

The Supremacist faction will only form if the empire does not have Pacifist as one of its governing ethics.

Approval[]

Faction Approval is a value from 0 to 100, starting at a base of 50 and modified by fulfilling or ignoring the faction's demands on various issues, as well as actions taken towards factions. Faction approval adds a happiness modifier to all member pops:

Approval	0-19%	20-39%	40-59%	60-79%	80-100%
Happiness	−40%	−10%	0	+5%	+10%

Size[]

Faction Size is the number of pops who are members of the faction. A pop cannot join a faction if it is enslaved, being purged, or has the Nerve Stapled or Zombie traits. A pop can only join the faction that matches its ethics (except the Manifesti, see below). Robot pops can only join factions if they have citizen rights, and never the Traditionalist faction. Alien species can never join the Supremacist faction and will instead join the the Isolationist faction. As a Pop has to have the corresponding ethic to join a faction, ethics attraction plays a major role in faction size. Both systems interact to a degree, with many issues aiming to create (or curb) conflicting attractions.

Ideally, you want to maximize the size of factions with high approval and minimize (or eliminate) factions with very low approval. Depending on the size, an unhappy faction will be listed as white, yellow, or red in the outliner.

Support[]

Faction Support is the percentage of an empire's political power held by pops in the faction. A faction can have higher support than another faction with a larger size if the smaller faction has many members who are rulers with living standards that increase their political power.

Issues[]

Issues indirectly translate to happiness: the more issues that are fulfilled, the higher the faction approval, and the happier the faction members. By their nature, factions with opposing ethics have opposing issues, making it impossible to make all factions happy. An issue can be either fulfilled or not fulfilled. In either case, it might produce a happiness penalty (red), a happiness bonus (green), or be neutral (yellow). Many issues have requirements before they can appear, making it sometimes hard to know what will please a faction before unlocking the proper options.

As they can only have two states, issues come in a few common shapes that can each only have two of the above states:

Positive issues increase approval if fulfilled and don't affect it if not fulfilled.
Negative issues decrease approval if not fulfilled and don't affect it if fulfilled.
Extreme issues increase approval if fulfilled and decrease it if not fulfilled, .
Timed issues belong into one of the above, but rely on having a timed country flag.
Stacking issues are a set of positive issues with 2 or more "levels" to fulfilling them. The higher level is the same basic mechanic/check, but with a higher threshold (i.e., being 10, 20 and 50 years at peace; having 1, 3 or 5 Non-Aggression Pacts). Fulfilling one level will unlock the next one and generally disable the previous, so that it is not possible to increase approval from fulfilling more than one level and you only see one unfulfilled level at a same time.

Effects[]

All factions produce unity for the empire, unless they have extremely low approval. The higher the faction approval and support, the more unity will be produced. Factions produce unity equal to the 0.15 times the combined political power of the pops (not percentage) times the approval of the faction.

The exact formula is:

${\displaystyle \text{Unity from Faction} = 0.3 \cdot (1 + (\sum modifiers) / 100) \cdot ( \text{Multiplied By value} ) = }$

${\displaystyle = 0.3 \cdot (1 + (\sum modifiers) / 100) \cdot ( \text{Faction's Approval} /100) \cdot 0.5 \cdot (\text{Faction's Political Power}) }$

Note: Here Multiplied By value is the value shown on mouse hover over the Unity value in-game: "Multiplied by N due to the Support and Approval level of the faction." It is always rounded down, but that is pure cosmetic.

Faction's Political Power is the sum of the political power of all rulers, specialist and workers, but not slaves:

${\displaystyle \text{Faction's Political Power} = \text{Ruler Political Power} \cdot \sum \text{Ruler Pop} + \text{Specialist Political Power} \cdot \sum \text{Specialist Pop} + \text{Worker Political Power} \cdot \sum \text{Worker Pop} }$

Faction Support is Faction's Political Power divided by the global sum of political power of all pops in all factions (except for slaves):

${\displaystyle \text{Faction Support} = (\text{Faction's Political Power} / \sum \text{Political power of all pops in all factions}) / 100 }$

Note: Pops that have an ethic, but did not form a faction, are not counted in this global sum. Faction Support is always rounded down, but that is pure cosmetic.

Faction Unity Gain can be improved by the following:

Egalitarian ethic: +25%
Fanatic Egalitarian ethic: +50%
Parliamentary System civic: +40%
Shared Burdens civic: +100% from Progressives
Oligarchic authority: +15%
The Living State technology: +10%

Leader[]

Every faction has a faction leader chosen randomly from the empire's leaders, including its envoys, but excluding leaders created by events. If an empire's ruler is also the leader of a faction, the attraction for that faction's ethic will increase by +25%. Some factions have restrictions or weights on which leader classes or species can lead them:

Faction	Faction leader chance
Progressive	0% if leader is the empire's ruler and the empire has Imperial authority
Prosperity	0% if leader is an admiral or general
Supremacist	–50% if leader is a scientist 0% if leader isn't the empire's main species 0% if leader's species has the Mechanical trait^[1]
Traditionalist	0% if leader's species has the Mechanical trait
Xenoist	–50% if leader is a scientist +100% if leader isn't the empire's main species
Manifesti	0% if leader is the empire's ruler and the empire has Imperial or Dictatorial authority

Actions[]

There are three actions available to manipulate your empire's factions:

Action	Effects	Requirements	Notes / Description
Embrace Faction	For 10 years: +10 faction approval –35 faction approval for all other factions You can't embrace factions	Costs 5000 Unity At least 20% faction support Don't have the fanatic version of this faction's ethic Not a dominion	Shifts governing ethics towards this faction. See Ethics change for more. Embrace the policies and values of the [Root.GetName], bringing them into our government. This will permanently change our Governing Ethics* and displease all other Factions in our empire.*
Promote Faction	Until you Stop Promoting Faction: +100% faction ethic attraction	None	This can be used either to promote the governing ethics or to prepare for an ethics switch. Promote the policies and values of the [Root.GetName]. This will make their ethics more attractive to our population for as long as it is active.
Suppress Faction	Until you Stop Suppressing Faction: –75% faction ethic attraction –50 faction approval	None	Can - in the long run - eliminate the faction, but its main use is to limit the size of factions with low approval. Suppress the policies and values of the [Root.GetName]. This will make their ethics less attractive to our population for as long as it is active.

AI empires won't embrace a faction unless their ruler is the faction's leader, and they won't embrace a faction if doing so would shift their ethic from moderate to fanatic unless that faction has at least 50% support. AI empires will never promote or suppress factions, and an AI empire with the Fanatic Purifiers civic will never embrace a faction.

Factions[]

There are 10 factions, one for each ethic except Xenophobe and Egalitarian which each have two. Many faction issues are not present if the empire has the Fanatic Purifiers civic or require the empire to have established communications with a certain number of empires.

Faction & Ethic	Category	Issue			Requirements to appear	Requirements to fulfill
Imperialist Militarist		Strong Diplomacy	+10	0	Not Fanatic Purifiers civic Has fulfilling diplomatic stance	Diplomatic Stance is Belligerent or Supremacist
		Weak Diplomacy	0	–10		Diplomatic Stance is not Cooperative
		Aggressive Diplomacy	0	–30	Communications with at least one independent, regular empire	War Philosophy policy is Unrestricted Wars or Liberation Wars
		Benevolent Subjugation	0	–5	Not a subject Subjugation policy is Benevolent Terms	Subjugation policy is not Benevolent Terms
		Oppressive Subjugation	+5	0	Not a subject Subjugation policy is not Benevolent Terms	Subjugation policy is Oppresive Terms
		Conquest	+10	0	Communications with an independent, regular empire	Conquered a planet within the last 10 years
		Local Rivalry	+5	–5	Communications with at least 3 empires Not Fanatic Purifiers civic Less than 2 rivals	1 rival
		Neighborhood Rivalries	+10	0	Communications with at least 3 empires Is fulfilled	2 rivals
		Galactic Nemeses	+15	0	Communications with at least 3 empires Is fulfilled	3+ rivals
		Imperial Hegemony	+5	0	Communications with at least 3 empires Not Fanatic Purifiers civic	Having a subject or being the president of a Hegemony Federation
		Subject State	0	–25	Being a subject	Not being a subject or being a Bulwark
		Fanatic Purifiers	+10	0	Fanatic Purifiers civic	Fanatic Purifiers civic
		Leviathan Slayer	+10	0	Leviathans enabled Contact with a Guardian or is fulfilled	Killed a Guardian within the last 20 years
		Military Requisition of Artifacts	+5	0	Ancient Relics enabled Arcane Deciphering technology	Find Military Applications temporary empire modifier from the Minor Artifact action
		Waste of Artifacts	0	–5	Ancient Relics enabled Arcane Deciphering technology	Find Peaceful Applications temporary empire modifier from the Minor Artifact action
Faction & Ethic	Category	Issue			Requirements to appear	Requirements to fulfill
Isolationist Xenophobe (alien pops or Pacifist empire only)		Isolationist Diplomacy	+10	–10	Not Corporate authority Not Fanatic Purifiers civic	Diplomatic Stance is Isolationist
		Stalwart Defense	0	–25	Communications with an independent, regular empire	War Philosophy policy isn't Unrestricted Wars
		Unwilling Aggression	0	–25	Communications with at least 3 empires At war as an attacker	In a defensive war or not in an offensive war
		Strong Alone	0	–25	Communications with any empire	Not a Federation member
		Restricted Movement	0	–10	Communications with at least 3 empires	No Migration Treaty with or migration access from another empire Refugees policy isn't Refugees Welcome
		Non-Aggression Pact	+5	0	Communications with at least 3 empires Less than 2 Non-Aggression Pacts and/or Federation Associates	Non-Aggression Pact or is a Federation Associate
		Non-Aggression Covenant	+10		Is fulfilled	2 Non-Aggression Pacts and/or Federation Associates
		Non-Aggression Protocol	+15		Is fulfilled	3+ Non-Aggression Pacts and/or Federation Associates
		Peace	+5	0	Communications with any empire	At peace for more than 9 years
		Extended Peace	+10		Communications with any empire At peace for more than 9 years	At peace for more than 24 years
		Peace Everlasting	+15		Communications with any empire At peace for more than 24 years	At peace for more than 49 years
		Cautious First Contact Protocols	0	–10	Less than 75 years have passed or has started a first contact procedure within the last 20 years	First Contact Protocol policy isn't Proactive
Faction & Ethic	Category	Issue			Requirements to appear	Requirements to fulfill
Progressive Egalitarian		Anti-Autocratic	+10	–15	None	Neither Dictatorial nor Imperial authority
		Cooperative Diplomacy	+5	0	Not Fanatic Purifiers civic Diplomatic Stance is Cooperative	Diplomatic Stance is Cooperative
		Benevolent Subjugation	+5	0	Not a subject	Subjugation policy is Benevolent Terms
		Free Movement	+10	–10	Encountered another species	Resettlement policy is Prohibited Migration Controls species rights are No Migration Controls for every free species
		Reproductive Freedom	+5	–20	None	Population Controls policy is Prohibited
		Anti-Stratification	0	–25	None	Living Standards species rights aren't Stratified Economy for any species
		Born Equal	+5	–5	Selected Lineages technology	Leader Enhancement policy is Natural Selection
Faction & Ethic	Category	Issue			Requirements to appear	Requirements to fulfill
Prosperity Pacifist		Solid Liquidity	+10	0	At least 3 colonies	At least 5000 energy credits
		Defensive Stance	+10	–10	Communications with an independent, regular empire	War Philosophy policy is Defensive Wars
		Keep the Peace	+5	–10	None	Not at war
		Nonviolence	0	–30	Communications with at least 3 empires	Not attacking or joining an aggressor empire in war for 20 years
		Mercantile Diplomacy	+10	0	Diplomatic Stance policy is Mercantile	Diplomatic Stance policy is Mercantile
		Aggressive Diplomacy	0	–10	Diplomatic Stance is Belligerent or Supremacist	Diplomatic Stance is not Belligerent or Supremacist
		Embetterment of Society	+5	0	Ancient Relics enabled Arcane Deciphering technology	Find Peaceful Applications temporary empire modifier from the Minor Artifact action
		Waste of Artifacts	0	–5	Ancient Relics enabled Arcane Deciphering technology	Find Military Applications temporary empire modifier from the Minor Artifact action
Faction & Ethic	Category	Issue			Requirements to appear	Requirements to fulfill
Supremacist Xenophobe (main species only)		No Xeno Ruler	+10	–30	Not Fanatic Purifiers civic	Ruler belongs to the primary species
		Strong Alone	+10	–20	Communications with any empire	Not a Federation member
		Invasive Xeno Studies	+5	–10	Not Fanatic Purifiers civic Contact with a primitive civilization	Pre-FTL Interference policy is Active Interference or Aggressive Interference
		Xenos Disenfranchised	+5	–10	Not Fanatic Purifiers civic Sapient non-robotic alien pops in empire that aren't being purged	Citizenship species rights aren't Full Citizenship for any sapient, non-robotic alien species
		No Immigration	0	–10	Not Fanatic Purifiers civic Communications with at least 3 empires	No Migration Agreement with any empire
		Asserting Dominance	+10	0	Not Fanatic Purifiers civic Contact with a default empire that you aren't in a Federation with	Declared offensive war within last 20 years
		Fanatic Purifiers	+10	0	Fanatic Purifiers civic	Fanatic Purifiers civic
		Strong Diplomacy	+10	0	Not Fanatic Purifiers civic Diplomatic Stance is Belligerent or Supremacist	Diplomatic Stance is Belligerent or Supremacist
		Weak Diplomacy	0	–10	Not Fanatic Purifiers civic Diplomatic Stance is Cooperative	Diplomatic Stance is not Cooperative
		Oppressive Subjugation	+5	–5	Not a subject	Subjugation policy is Oppresive Terms
		Aggressive First Contact Protocols	+10	–5	Less than 75 years have passed or has started a first contact procedure within the last 20 years	First Contact Protocol policy is Aggressive
		Giant Massacre	+10	0	Leviathans enabled Contact with a Guardian^[2]	Killed a Guardian within the last 20 years
		Disdain of History	+5	0	Ancient Relics enabled Is fulfilled	Proclaim Superiority temporary empire modifier from the Minor Artifact action
		Celebrating Weakness	0	–5	Ancient Relics enabled Unfulfilled	Celebrate Diversity temporary empire modifier from the Minor Artifact action
Faction & Ethic	Category	Issue			Requirements to appear	Requirements to fulfill
Technologist Materialist		Cooperative Diplomacy	+5	0	Not Fanatic Purifiers civic Diplomatic Stance is Cooperative	Diplomatic Stance is Cooperative
		AI Allowed	+10	–30	None	Robotic Workers policy isn't Outlawed Artificial Intelligence policy isn't Outlawed
		Bleeding Edge / Dull Edge	+10	–20	Not a subject Has at least low intel on another regular empire's technology	No Default Empire has a Superior or Overwhelming relative technology level
		Science Without Borders	+10	0	Communications with at least 4 empires Not Inward Perfection civic	Either 3+ Research Agreements or member of a Research Cooperative federation
		Synth Envy	0	–10	At least 50 years have passed Don't have the Synthetic Evolution ascension perk Has at least low intel on the economy of another regular empire that has Mechanical or Cybernetic Pops	Any Pop has either the Mechanical or the Cybernetic trait
		Secret Knowledge	+10	0	Is fulfilled	One of the following temporary empire modifiers: Precursor Data Cache fallen empire gift Curator Insight Curator enclave purchase
		Knowledge of the Past	+5	0	Ancient Relics enabled Arcane Deciphering technology	One of the following temporary empire modifiers from using the Reverse-Engineer Arcane Technology minor artifact action: Arcane Insights (5 years) Arcane Deciphering Cooldown (2 years)
		Precursor Secrets	+5	0	Ancient Relics enabled Found your Precursor's homeworld	Completed a Precursor secrets special project
Faction & Ethic	Category	Issue			Requirements to appear	Requirements to fulfill
Totalitarian Authoritarian		Autocracy	+10	0	Not Democratic authority	Imperial or Dictatorial authority
		Anti-Democratic	0	–25	Neither Imperial nor Dictatorial authority	Not Democratic authority
		Stratified Society	+10	–20	None	One of the following: Living Standards species rights for every species is Stratified Economy or Academic Privilege Any species is enslaved or being purged Slaver Guilds civic^[3]
		Elitism	+5	–5	Selected Lineages technology	Leader Enhancement policy is Selected Lineages or Capacity Boosters
		Benevolent Subjugation	0	–5	Not a subject Subjugation policy is Benevolent Terms	Subjugation policy is not Benevolent Terms
		Oppressive Subjugation	+5	0	Not a subject Subjugation policy is not Benevolent Terms	Subjugation policy is Oppresive Terms
		Extranational Authority	+10	0	Communications with at least 3 empires	Having a Subject^[4]
		Underling	0	–10	Being a subject	Not a subject
Faction & Ethic	Category	Issue			Requirements to appear	Requirements to fulfill
Traditionalist Spiritualist		Life Organic	0	–5	None	Robotic Workers policy is Outlawed
		No Synth Rights	0	–10	Positronic AI technology or Synthetics technology or communications with an empire with those technologies or communications Machine Intelligence	Artificial Intelligence policy is Outlawed
		Profane Machines	0	–20		Artificial Intelligence policy isn't Citizen Rights
		Pious Polity	+5	–5	None	Empire is some degree of Spiritualist
		Unhallowed Ground	0	–5	Has surveyed a Tomb World Not Post-Apocalyptic origin Did not accept the Worm’s offer Not Memorialists civic	No Tomb World within borders is colonized or being terraformed
		Hallowed World	+5	0	Has surveyed a Gaia World Consecrated Worlds ascension perk	Consecrate a Gaia World
		Homogeneity	+10	0	At least 10% of all Pops in the empire are Spiritualist	At least 25% of all pops in the empire are Spiritualist
		Embattled Minority	0	–10	Less than 25% of all Pops in the empire are Spiritualist	At least 10% of all pops in the empire are Spiritualist
		Psionic Pursuit	+10	0	Utopia enabled Not Teachers of the Shroud origin At least one ascension perk or ascension perk slot	Mind over Matter ascension perk
		The Flesh is Strong	0	–30	Utopia enabled The Flesh is Weak ascension perk	Not completing the The Flesh is Weak special project
		Shrouded Boon	+5	0	Utopia enabled Fulfilled	Positive outcome when using the Shroud
		Shrouded Blight	–5	0	Utopia enabled Fulfilled	Negative outcome when using the Shroud
		Comfort in the Past	+5	0	Ancient Relics enabled Fulfilled	Proclaim Religious Revelation temporary empire modifier (10 years) from the Proclaim Religious Revelation minor artifact action
Faction & Ethic	Category	Issue			Requirements to appear	Requirements to fulfill
Xenoist Xenophile		Cooperative Diplomacy	+10	0	Not Fanatic Purifiers civic Diplomatic Stance is Cooperative	Diplomatic Stance is Cooperative
		Indirect Xenology	+10	–5	Contact with a pre-FTL civilization	Pre-FTL Interference policy is Non-Interference or Subtle Interference
		No Species-Wide Slavery	0	–25	Sapient non-robotic alien Pops in empire	Citizenship species rights isn't Slaves for any species^[5]
		No Purges	0	–25	None	Purge policy is Prohibited
		Multicultural Society	+10	0	Communications with at least 4 empires Empire contains an alien pop without the Mechanical, Machine, or Hive-Minded trait	4+ species in empire
		All Refugees Welcome	+10	–10	Communications with any empire	Refugees policy is Refugees Welcome
		Recent Uplift	+10	0	Epigenetic Triggers technology	Uplifted a species within the last 20 years
		Recent Enlightenment	+10	0	Own an observation post or is fulfilled	Had a Provide Technology agreement with a Pre-FTL species as they discovered FTL within the last 20 years
		Pre-Sapient Survival	0	–10	Pre-Sapients policy is Tolerated or Extermination Either have encountered a pre-sapient species or have a non-sapient pop	Pre-Sapients policy is Tolerated^[6]
		Landgrab Objections	0	–15	Encountered a primitive civilization	No invasion of a primitive civilization within the last 20 years
		Federated	+20	0	Communications with at least 4 empires	Federation member
		New Contact	+5	0	A default or fallen empire you don't have communications with exists	Established communications with another empire within last 10 years
		Benevolent Subjugation	+10	0	Not a subject Subjugation policy is not Oppresive Terms	Subjugation policy is Benevolent Terms
		Oppressive Subjugation	0	–10	Not a subject Subjugation policy is Oppresive Terms	Subjugation policy is not Oppresive Terms
		Proactive First Contact Protocols	+10	0	First Contact Protocol policy isn't Aggressive Less than 75 years have passed or has started a first contact procedure within the last 20 years	First Contact Protocol policy is Proactive
		Aggressive First Contact Protocols	0	–10	First Contact Protocol policy is Aggressive Less than 75 years have passed or has started a first contact procedure within the last 20 years	First Contact Protocol policy is Aggressive
		Enclaves Incorporated	+5	0	Contact with an enclave	Enclave station within borders
		Celebrate Diversity	+5	−0	Is fulfilled	Celebrate Diversity temporary empire modifier from the Minor Artifact action
		Book Burner	0	–5	Is unfulfilled	Proclaim Superiority temporary empire modifier from the Minor Artifact action
		Xeno Zoological Conservation	+5	0	Xenology technology Not Warrior Culture civic	Alien Zoo built on a planet

Manifesti[]

Manifesti is a special 10th faction that can appear during the Rise of the Manifesti event chain. Pops that have Egalitarian, Pacifist or Xenophile ethic can join it. If the faction approval falls below 35% for an extended period of time the faction will disband and will not appear again. They have 5 odd issues:

Issue			Requirements to appear	Requirements to fulfill	Description
Alluvio-Liberalism	+10	–10	Atmospheric Filtering technology Origin isn't Void Dwellers	One of the following: Climate Control Network technology and a Massive Glacier blocker on any planet Xeno-Hydraulic Mastery technology and a Noxious Swamp blocker on any planet Control Earth and don't have the Great Pacific Garbage Patch blocker	It will please the [faction name] to see unrestricted movement of water in all its forms as glaciers, swamps and oceans.
Personal Autonomy for Munitions	+20	–20	Extended Combat Algorithms technology Robotic Workers policy is Allowed	Sapient Combat Simulations technology Any ship with a Sapient Combat Computer component No Slave Armies No Undead Armies	The [faction name] are keen for military vessels to be granted sapience, and thus liberty of choice in the manner of their deployment.
Heads in the Clouds	+10	–10	None	Every Scientist leading research has either the Carefree or the Roamer trait	The [faction name] assert that technology research* should be entrusted only to a visionary council of carefree roamers.*
Gallery of the Retina	+5	–10	None	Monthly consumer goods income is less than 1	It will please the [faction name] to keep consumer goods production in deficit, keeping our citizens free of what they call 'the Ready-Made Scourge'.
Silent Partner	+5	–5	Member of a Federation or the Galactic Community	No Envoy is assigned to your Federation or the Galactic Community Not proposing a resolution	It will please the [faction name] to wield political or diplomatic power and refuse to deploy it, engaging in staring contests instead of sending envoys.

References[]

↑ If an empire's main species is mechanical, usually after taking the Synthetic Evolution ascension perk, the Supremacist faction can't get a faction leader.
↑ The Giant Massacre Supremacist faction issue is only available if you have contact with a Guardian, so if you kill the last Guardian you won't get the +10 faction approval since the issue will disappear even though it's fulfilled.
↑ The corporate civic Indentured Assets does not fulfill this requirement.
↑ Unlike the similar Imperial Hegemony Imperialist issue, being president of a Hegemony federation doesn't fulfill this.
↑ The No Species-Wide Slavery Xenoist issue is still fulfilled in cases where you're enslaving individual pops but not the entire species, such as when you have the Slaver Guilds civic.
↑ The Pre-Sapient Survival Xenoist issue isn't visible if Pre-Sapients policy is Protected, so you only fail the demand if you have the Extermination policy.