Federation

This article is about the "Federations" mechanics. For the DLC, see Federations (DLC).

Version

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

Diplomacy

Relations

Galactic community

Federation

A Federation is a supranational union of two or more spacefaring empires who sacrifice variable amounts of economic and political autonomy in exchange for unique mutual benefits. Federation members automatically defend each other in war as they would in a Defense Pact, but must agree to offensive wars as a group and have a unique system of Experience, Tiers, and Laws that differentiate Federations from other types of Diplomatic Pacts. Members also gain more general diplomatic benefits with each other to allows the Federation to act as a unit on the Galactic stage - members do not generate border friction amongst themselves, build trust with each other to a cap of +100 and share 10% of their victory score with each other. Players can set a name for their federation at creation or leave it random; the name can be changed at any time. If the union map view is toggled on, all Federation members share the same color.

A federation can only be created by one of four ways: an empire that adopts the The Federation tradition from the Diplomacy tree may create a Federation with another empire, an empire that has an origin that starts them in a federation, a revolt against the Galactic Imperium, or during the late game "War in Heaven," the strongest empire in the galaxy will get an event to create a League of Non Aligned powers, even if that strongest empire doesn't have The Federation. An invited empire must have a positive acceptance score with an existing federation member for said member to vote for their addition. Hovering over the diplomatic choice will show which empires agree and disagree.

Members of a federation have their energy output reduced by −15%. This tax doesn't apply to energy generated from trade.

When a member leaves or is kicked from a federation it gains a Truce with the federation.

Leaving a federation will grant a decaying −200 opinion with all federation members.

Federation types[]

The federation type represents the founding ideals and wider goals of a Federation and its members, and determines what perks the federation provides at each level. The federation type can be changed at any time with a vote by clicking on the federation type icon. Changing the federation type, however, resets the federation level to 1.

The Galactic Union federation type is available by default, and all other federation types are only available with the Federations DLC and require the founding member to possess either a certain Tradition Tree Finisher or a particular ethic, authority, or civic. Barbaric Despoilers empires can only create a Martial Alliance or Hegemony.

Federation type	Level 1 perks (0 XP)	Level 2 perks (1200 XP)	Level 3 perks (3600 XP)	Level 4 perks (8400 XP)	Level 5 perks (18000 XP)
Galactic Union	−50% Cohesion loss from ethics +60 Intel cap between members	+25% Naval Contribution effect −50% Cohesion loss from new members President modifiers: +1 Available envoys	+2 Unity per federation envoy +5% Trust growth per federation envoy +10% Ship speed in federation space President modifiers: +1 Federation influence gain	−50% Cohesion loss from failed votes +25% Damage to crisis ships President modifiers: +10% Diplomatic weight	+2 Unity per federation envoy +5 Trust cap per federation envoy +25% Damage to crisis ships President modifiers: +10% Monthly unity
Hegemony	Members cannot freely leave the federation Members can gain the Secede casus belli Reduced Centralization requirements +40 Intel cap between members	President modifiers: −100% Naval contribution cost +1 Available envoys Non-president member modifiers: +5% Resources from jobs	−50% Cohesion loss from new members President modifiers: Gain the Establish Hegemony wargoal Non-president member modifiers: +5% Resources from jobs	No Migration Pact upkeep between members No Research Agreement upkeep between members President modifiers: +1 Federation influence gain Non-president member modifiers: +5% Resources from jobs	+25% Damage to crisis ships 10% of Federation fleet size as monthly unity President modifiers: 10% of every member's diplomatic weight
Holy Covenant	Robot empires cannot become president +10% Monthly unity +50 Intel cap between members	+50% Cohesion per federation envoy +20% Spiritualist attraction per federation envoy +1 Culture Worker from Planetary Capital President modifiers: 25% Voting strength on Divinity of Life	+20% Planetary ascension effect Holy Covenant trade policy President modifiers: −20% Planetary ascension cost	+1 High Priest per tier 3 temple building +1 Priest per 25 pops with unity colony designations President modifiers: −20% Shroud delve cooldown	Zro Catalysis edict +1 Unity per priest for Spiritualist empires +15% Biological growth speed −30% Robot assembly speed Non-spiritualist, non-gestalt empires have Bureaucratic buildings swapped for Temples President modifiers: +20% Edicts fund
Martial Alliance	+100 Ship starting experience +100 Army starting experience +25% Ship build speed +50 Intel cap between members	+25% Naval contribution effect +10% Ship speed in federation space President modifiers: −10% Claim influence cost	+1 Admiral level cap +10% Ship fire rate President modifiers: +1 Available envoys	+25% Naval contribution effect +25% Damage to crisis ships 10% of Federation fleet size as monthly unity	+25% Naval contribution effect +25% Damage to crisis ships President modifiers: +10% Diplomatic weight
Research Cooperative	Free Research Agreement with all members +50 Intel cap between members	+5% Research speed from agreements +5% Research speed President modifiers: +1 Research alternatives	+5% Research speed from agreements ×2 Rare tech discovery chance if other members got it President modifiers: +20% Diplomatic weight from technologies	+5% Research speed from agreements +20% Research speed during a crisis President modifiers: +1 Available envoys	+5% Research speed from agreements +20% Research speed during a crisis President modifiers: +1 Megastructure build capacity
Trade League	Trade League trade policy +50 Intel cap between members	+5% Trade value +10% Ship speed in federation space President modifiers: +1 Available envoys	+5% Trade value +5 Trade protection President modifiers: +1 Federation influence gain	+5% Trade value +25% Naval contribution effect President modifiers: +10% Diplomatic weight	+5% Trade value +25% Damage to crisis ships President modifiers: +10% Trade value

Joint operations[]

Once 60 years pass, if a federation has reached at least level 2 and is at peace, its president may be offered the choice to start a joint project with the other federation members. The joint project lasts 10 years and requires each member to individually complete a special project.

Ephemeral Puzzle[]

Galactic Union and Research Cooperative federations have the objective of studying a space aurora. Each member is given a choice to start a special project above its capital starbase that requires a science ship with a level 2 or higher scientist and requires 200 physics research. Completing the special projects brings a choice to free or trap the cloud; either choice progress the project, but affects which final outcome is received. The joint operation ends after 3 years, or completes when every participating member finishes the special project.

If all participating members freed the cloud, the federation gains +30 cohesion, and all federation members gain +10% physics and +5% society research for 10 years.
If all participating members trapped the cloud, the federation gains +20 cohesion, and all federation members gain +10% physics research, −5% happiness, and −20% immigration pull for 4 years.
If some participating members trapped the cloud and some freed it, all federation members gain +10% physics research for 6 years.

If the project was not completed, it can happen again after 20 years.

A Celebration of Unity and Leadership[]

Hegemony federations have the objective of building a monument. Members that agree gain a temporary +100 opinion with the president, while those that refuse gain −150 opinion with the president. Members which cannot access the president's capital system are not considered. If more than half of the members refuse, the federation loses 100 cohesion and the president loses 50 influence. If at least half of the members agree, all members that agreed are issued a special project above the president's capital which requires a construction ship and takes a year to complete, while the president is issued a special project to give up to two members +35% attraction towards the president's ethics for 20 years, which requires a science ship and takes 6 months to complete. Any member that finishes the special project gains a temporary +50 opinion with the president. Once all member special projects are finished, the joint operation is completed.

If all members agreed and completed the special project, the federation gains +100 cohesion and 1000 experience and the president gains the Federation Monument planetary feature on their capital ( +0.5).
If more members completed the project than didn't or refused, the federation gains +50 cohesion and 500 experience and the president gains a lesser version of the Federation Monument planetary feature on their capital ( +0.25).
If at least two members completed the project, but more didn't or refused, the federation gains +25 cohesion and 250 experience.
If no members completed the project, the federation loses −50 cohesion and the president loses 50 influence.

If the monument is not completed (the president didn't gain the planetary feature), the project can happen again after 50 years, but only for a different president. A current project will be canceled if the federation president changes.

Joint Military Exercises[]

Martial Alliance federations have a federation-wide fleet exercise as their objective. Members that agree gain a temporary +50 opinion with the president while those that refuse gain −50 opinion with the president. If more than half of the members refuse, the federation loses 100 cohesion and the president loses 50 influence. If at least half of the members agree, the president and all members that agreed are given a location in the Situation Log which they must reach with a fleet of at least 15 ships within 6 years. Once each member reaches the location, a hostile fleet of 5-9 ships appears for each participating member and must be defeated within 30 days. Once the fleets are defeated or not, the joint operation is completed. Members succeed if they complete the project and destroy the hostile fleet before 30 days pass; they fail otherwise. Members who refused to participate also count as failing.

If all members succeeded, the federation gains +100 cohesion and 1000 experience and all members gain +15% fire rate for 25 years.
If more members succeeded than failed, the federation gains +50 cohesion and 500 experience and all participating members gain +15% fire rate for 25 years.
If more members failed than succeeded, the federation loses −25 cohesion and all participating members gain −15% fire rate for 25 years.
If no members succeeded, the federation loses −50 cohesion and all participating members gain −15% fire rate for 25 years.

This joint operation can be repeated once every 50 years.

Logistics Remodelling[]

Trade League federations have the objective of creating a shipping standard. Within two years, each member must generate at least 50 trade value in an owned system. Members that fail gain −10% trade value until the project is complete. Members that succeed gain +5% consumer goods and −10% trade value, or only −5% if the system's Starbase has an Offworld Trading Company building, and are issued a special project on the system's Starbase that requires a construction ship. Once each member completes the special project, all modifiers are removed and the project is completed. The joint operation also ends if 15 years pass before all members complete their projects.

If all members participated, each member gains the Fully Streamlined Logistics permanent empire modifier.
If not all members participated, each member that participated gains the Streamlined Logistics permanent empire modifier.
If no members participated, the federation loses −50 cohesion.

Federation Ecumenical Council[]

Holy Covenant federations have the objective of creating a unified dogma. Within the next 300 days each members will receive two events where they have an arrogant option (gain Influence and/or Unity or not pay anything) and a humble option (receive no reward or pay Influence and/or Energy). Each member is also given the option to assign a leader to the project for 300 days. Accepting counts as a humble option while refusing counts as an arrogant option.

If the number of humble choices was greater than the number of arrogant choices, each member will gain +20% Unity from Jobs for 20 years and the federation will gain +3 Monthly Federation XP for 20 years.
If the number of humble choices was equal to the number of arrogant choices, each member will gain +10% Unity from Jobs for 10 years and the federation will gain +3 Monthly Federation XP for 10 years.

Gestalt Consciousness empires cannot take part in the project and will not receive any rewards. This joint operation can be repeated once every 50 years.

Federation Cohesion[]

Cohesion is a measure of how unified a federation is and ranges from +100 to −100. It has the following effects:

Each 10 points of cohesion above 0 adds +1 XP per month to a federation, up to +10 at +100 cohesion.
Each 10 points of cohesion below 0 adds −1 XP per month to a federation, up to −10 at −100 cohesion.
Each 4 points of cohesion above 0 adds +1 acceptance for changing federation laws.
Each 4 points of cohesion below 0 adds −1 acceptance for changing federation laws.
Cohesion below 90 reduces the acceptance for increasing the Centralization Law by −50.

The following incur immediate cohesion penalties:

−100 whenever a member joins or leaves the federation, including when an empire integrates a subject that was also a member.
−50 whenever the federation type changes
−10 whenever the federation Centralization Law changes
−5 whenever any other federation law changes
−10 whenever a failed vote occurs

The following incur monthly cohesion penalties:

−0.25 for each member of the federation
−0.15 multiplied by the number of different ethics, minus 3 (moderate and fanatic ethics of the same type will count as different ethics)
−0.5 for each opposed ethics (Two opposing fanatics, or any combination with only a single fanatic will only count for one set of opposed ethics. Normal and fanatic on one side, and fanatic or normal and fanatic on the other will count for two.)

Cohesion can only be increased by assigning an Official to the federation. Each leader level increases cohesion each month by +1. AI empires will always assign an Official to the federation.

If a federation loses the experience required for a level and fails to raise it above the required limit within 90 days, the federation level will downgrade and remove all perks from the previously held level. A federation's experience is capped at 20,000XP.

Federation Fleet[]

Federations that have their Fleet Contribution law set to anything other than None feature a joint fleet, controlled by the current federation president, in addition to the forces of the separate member empires. Federation fleets cost no maintenance and use the federation fleet capacity, which every member contributes to based on the Fleet Contribution law, up to 600. The fleets cannot exceed this cap. The Entente Coordination tradition doubles the naval capacity contribution of the members that adopt it while not reducing their own further. The command limit of federation fleets is increased by the non repeatable technologies of federation members (repeatable technologies, civics, traditions and ascension perks are not taken into account) but somewhat can be surpassed???

The president designs the federation fleet ships via a special ship designer available in the federation menu and may use any technology available to any member empire. Regular ship designs cannot be used to build federation ships. The president's empire is responsible for commanding the federation fleets. Federation law determines whether any member of the federation or only the president's empire can build ships for the federation fleet. Any AI federation member's research of a component-unlocking technology will auto-update the default federation designs, but not any player-created ones, adding theirs to the list instead. Since their designs are considered newer, if you update your federation fleets at this time, your fleet will become their design, which can be undesirable.

If a federation is disbanded, so is the federation fleet.

The federation fleet has its own Titan limit, which does not affect the number of Titans its members can construct individually.

The federation can include one Juggernaut regardless of whether any member empire has one of their own.

Federation laws[]

Federation laws dictate how the federation operates and customize certain aspects of a federation. Any federation member can propose a law change. Hovering over any law will list the federation members that will support or oppose it. A failed vote adds −10 cohesion.

Federation Centralization[]

Federation Centralization determines what Federation laws are available and is limited by the current federation level. Raising centralization will incur increasingly higher costs to cohesion. Enacting any option adds −10 cohesion.

Option	Monthly cohesion	Member intel cap	Required level	Description
Minimal	0	+10	1	The Federation's influence over its members is kept at a minimum.
Low	−1	+20	2	The level of Federation influence over member states are kept very low.
Medium	−2	+30	3	The Federation has a good deal of influence over its members, while still allowing some independent governing.
High	−3	+40	4	The Federation's influence over its member states is almost absolute.
Very High	−4	+50	5	The Federation has sovereign control over how member states are being governed.

Fleet Contribution[]

The Fleet Contribution law determines how much naval capacity is transferred from federation members to the federation fleet. The availability of this law is heavily affected by the federation type. Enacting any option other than None adds −5 cohesion.

Option	Monthly cohesion	Transferred naval capacity	Max naval capacity	Required centralization
Option	Monthly cohesion	Transferred naval capacity	Max naval capacity	Martial Alliance	Hegemony	Galactic Union	Trade League	Holy Covenant	Research Cooperative
None	0	0	0	Minimal	Minimal	Minimal	Minimal	Minimal	Minimal
Low	−0.25	10%	200	Minimal	Minimal	Low	Low	Medium	Medium
Medium	−0.5	20%	400	Low	Low	Medium	Medium	Very High	Very High
High	−0.75	30%	600	Medium	High	High	Very High

Federation Fleet Construction[]

The Federation Fleet Construction law determines who can build ships for the federation fleet.

Option	Effects	Required Centralization
Everyone	All members can build ships for the federation fleet	Minimal
Only Leader	Only the federation president can build ships for the federation fleet	Low

Succession Type[]

The Succession Type law determines how the next federation president is chosen once their term is up. Enacting any option other than Rotation adds −5 cohesion.

Option	Monthly cohesion	Effects	Required centralization
Rotation	−0.5	Leadership is rotated among each Federation member	Minimal
Strongest	−1 0 if Hegemony	The empire with the highest succession power becomes the next president	High Minimal if Hegemony
Random	0	The next president is chosen randomly	Minimal
Challenge	0	The empire that wins the challenge becomes the next president	Low

Succession Power[]

If the Succession Type law is set to Strongest, then this law will define what criteria is used to determine which empire is "the strongest". This category is not visible with any other succession type. Enacting any option adds −5 cohesion.

Option	Effects	DLC
Economy	Chooses the president based on economic power
Diplomatic Weight	Chooses the president based on diplomatic weight
Technology	Chooses the president based on technology level
Fleets	Chooses the president based on fleet power

Challenges[]

If the Succession Type law is set to Challenge, then this law will define what the challenge for the choosing the next president will be. This category is not visible with any other succession type. Empires that do not meet the challenge requirements will be forced to drop out from the competition.

Challenge

Description

Empire drops out if

Arena Combat

The rulers of all federation members fight in an arena battle, and the winner becomes president while all losers are killed. Each ruler has a chance to win based on a variety of factors.

Condition	Odds
Empire ethics	Fanatic Militarist: +10 Militarist: +5 Pacifist: −5 Fanatic Pacifist: −10
Empire civics	Warrior Culture: +20 Citizen Service: +6
Ruler traits (any tier)	Chosen of the Composer: +500 Chosen of the Eater: +500 Chosen of the Instrument: +500 Chosen of the Whisperers: +500 Chosen One: +500 Psychic: +25 Synth: +20 Cyborg: +15 Mercenary Warrior: +15 Butcher: +10 Resilience: +5 Adaptionist: +3 Army Veteran: +3 Carefulness: +3 Trickster: +3 Aggressiveness: +2 Retired Fleet Officer: +2 Eagerness: +1 Stubbornness: +1 Armchair Commander: −3 Lethargic: −3 Substance Abuser: −5 Unifier: −10
Ruler's species traits	Very Strong: +15 Strong: +10 Resilient: +6 Robust: +6 Lithoid: +5 Survivor: +3 Quick Learners: +2 Talented: +2 Slow Learners: −2 Weak: −10

Gestalt Consciousness

Psionic Battle

The psionic Pops of all federation members fight in an arena. Before the fight, each empire will be offered to pay

Zro to increase its odds of winning. Each empire's odds to win, capped at 400, are calculated by the following:

+1 per Pop with the Latent Psionic trait
+3 per Pop with the Psionic trait
+10 per Telepath job
+40 if the empire paid 100 Zro
+60 if the empire paid 500 Zro
+80 if the empire paid 1000 Zro

No pops with the

Psionic or

Latent Psionic trait

Golden Rule

A bid value is determined based on the federation president's stored

energy credits.

President's Energy Credits	Bid
0-10000	2500
10000-100000	5000
100000+	10000

Each member is offered the chance to pay and place a bid or drop out. If multiple members placed a bid, then the offer is given again to those members. Bidding continues until all but one empire have dropped out. This remaining empire then becomes the new president and will also gain the option to invest the bids placed by all members, distribute them, or appropriate them.

Investing will give all federation members +10% trade value and +5% energy credits for a year
Distributing will refund each member energy credits based on the sum of bids made by all members
Appropriating will grant the president energy credits based on the sum of bids made by all members and give +5% energy credits and −100 opinion with all federation members for 50 years

Base sum	Redistribution value	Appropriation value
0-10000	1000	7000
10000-100000	2500	15000
100000+	5000	75000

Empire refuses to pay or can't afford to place a bid

Thesis Defense

Each member empires assembles a team consisting of up to five recruited scientists. Each scientist leading a research area will always join if present. Each team has a chance to win based on the traits of each team member. Each odds adjustment is applied or not based on the number of team members that meet its condition.

# with	Condition	Odds
—	Base weight	20
1+	Adaptable	+10
1+	Eager	+5
1+	Maniacal	+10
1+	Meticulous	+10
1+	Spark of Genius	+20
1+	Substance Abuser	+10
2+	Substance Abuser	−20
1+	Expertise: Statecraft	+10
1	Any Expertise trait	+5
2+	Any Expertise trait	−10
1+	Custom AI Assistant	+10
1+	Sapient AI Assistant	+20
1+	Towel-bearer	+9
1+	Curator	+10
1+	Psychic	+10
1+	Chosen One	+30
1+	Cyborg	+10
1+	Synthetic	+5
1+	Erudite	+15
1+	Paranoid	−5
1+	Stubborn	−5
2+	Carefree	−10
2+	Maniacal	−20
—	No other empire in the federation has Superior or Overwhelming technology	+40
—	No other empire in the federation has Equivalent technology	+30
—	One other empire in the federation has Superior or Overwhelming technology and more than one other empire has Inferior or Pathetic technology	+20
—	Another empire in the federation has Overwhelming technology	×0.1
—	Per technology researched	+1
—	Per repeatable technology researched	+1

Empire does not have at least three scientists

Spiritual Conclave

Each member of the federation is ranked by the percentage of priest category and mortal initiate jobs worked, times two, then multiplied by a number of factors, summarized below.

Factor	Source
×1−(percentage)	Percentage of robot pops
×1+(0.1×total)	Total ascension tier levels
×1.1	Spiritualist
×1.25	Fanatic Spiritualist
×1.25	Psionics tradition tree finisher
×5	Ruler has Chosen One trait
×1.25	Owns the Head of Zarqlan
×1.25	Owns a Holy World
×1.25	Has three consecrated worlds
×0.75 / ×1.25	8.3% chance of either random factor
×0.85 / ×1.15	16.6% chance of either random factor
×0.95 / ×1.05	25% chance of either random factor
×1+(total)	Total bribe value
−100	Gestalt Consciousness
−1000	Is a subject

Each independent member has two chances to influence the ranking by increasing the "bribe value". This requires an amount of unity per owned planet, specifically, 600 (+0.15), 1800 (+0.3), or 5400 (+0.5). The second time there is also an option to pay 100 energy credits per pop to add +2 to the bribe value, but there is a 25% chance (set at the beginning of the conclave) for this option to add −0.5 instead. The total bribe value can thus vary between −0.5 and 2.5.

The highest ranked empire becomes the new leader.

Succession Term[]

The Succession Term law determines the length of the federation president's term and thus how often the president changes. This law cannot be changed if any federation member is at war.

Option	Effects
10 Years	Succession happens every 10 years
20 Years	Succession happens every 20 years
30 Years	Succession happens every 30 years
40 Years	Succession happens every 40 years
Status Change	Succession happens when a member surpasses the president by 25% Only available with Strongest succession

Other federation laws[]

Without the Federations DLC, the following categories only have a single available option. Enacting any option, except in the Can Subjects Join category, adds −5 cohesion.

Can Subjects Join
Option	Monthly cohesion	Effects	Required centralization	DLC
No	0	Subject empires can join the federation only if invited by or asking their overlord Existing subjects of federation members are kicked from the federation when this law is passed Unavailable for Hegemony federations	Minimal
Yes	0	Subject empires automatically join or leave the federation with their overlord Existing subjects of federation members join the federation when this law is passed A new federation will have this law set automatically unless the members propose and affirm the "No" law	Minimal
Vote Weight
Option	Monthly cohesion	Effects	Required centralization	DLC
Equal	0	Each member has equal voting power	Minimal
Diplomatic	0	The voting power of each member is determined by their diplomatic weight	Medium
War Declaration
Option	Monthly cohesion	Effects	Required centralization	DLC
Unanimous Vote	0	All members must agree to declare war	Minimal
Majority Vote	0	A majority of voting power is required to declare war	Low Minimal if Hegemony
President Decides	−0.5	The federation president alone approves whether to declare war	High
Invite Members
Option	Monthly cohesion	Effects	Required centralization	DLC
Unanimous Vote	0	All members must agree to invite or accept a new member	Minimal
Majority Vote	0	A majority of voting power is required to invite or accept a new member	Low
President Decides	−0.25	The federation president alone approves whether to invite or accept a new member	High Minimal if Hegemony
Kick Members
Option	Monthly cohesion	Effects	Required centralization	DLC
Majority Vote	0	A majority of voting power is required to kick a member	Minimal
President Decides	−0.5	The federation president alone approves whether to kick a member	Very High Minimal if Hegemony
Free Migration
Option	Monthly cohesion	Effects	Required centralization	DLC
Disabled	0	Pops cannot migrate to other federation members without a Migration Treaty	Minimal
Enabled	0	Pops can migrate to other federation members without the need for a Migration Treaty	Medium
Separate Treaties
Option	Monthly cohesion	Effects	Required centralization	DLC
Allowed	0	Members can sign Commercial Pacts, Migration Treaties, or Research Agreements with outside empires	Minimal
Prohibited	−0.1	Members cannot sign Commercial Pacts, Migration Treaties, or Research Agreements with outside empires	Low