*This page last updated: 05 November, 2014 14:59 PST. (Log of recent changes)

Disclaimer: The information listed below was compiled prior to release and so some of it may be out of date with the released version of the game.

CIVILIZATION: BEYOND EARTH

On April 12, 2014 2K announced a new title in the Civilization series: "Sid Meier's Civilization: Beyond Earth." It is a standalone game using the Civ V engine that takes place on a new extrasolar colony, in a similar vein to 1999's Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri. It was released worldwide on October 24, 2014 for a suggested retail price of USD $49.99. The Co-Lead Designers on the project are David McDonough (who previously worked on Kingdoms of Amalur at Big Huge Games, and during a prior stint at Firaxis was on the XCOM: Enemy Unknown team) and Will Miller (who also previously worked at Big Huge Games). The Lead Producer is Lena Brenk.

The game is set c.2250 AD; with Earth facing global catastrophe, the player must build a new civilization on an alien world, contending with hostile local life-forms and ultimately with other colonist factions.

Game Systems

The Planet

Players found cities and build empires in a similar manner to Civilization V, but in Beyond Earth, the alien environment is as much of an opponent as the other human factions, and the first competing human factions won't even arrive until later in the game. In addition to facing rampaging alien units similar to Civilization's barbarians, the player will be given quests to accomplish.

The planet that you land on has a three possible biomes: Lush, Fungal and Arid/Desert. Although the set of alien units is fixed, the frequency of alien types will vary based on the terrain; a world with large oceans may have more marine aliens, for example.

David McDonough: "There are two ways we differentiate the planets. The first way is with biomes. The game ships with three very distinctive biomes. There’s a lush biome — very green, lots of jungle, and all of that. There’s a fungal biome, which is very strange — fungus and lichen all over the place, a very cool color temperature. Then there’s an arid biome … very little water, sand everywhere. Each of these is additionally augmented by our map scripts. We have a lot of map scripts that tell the game how to generate the environments — what the distributions of resources are, what the land masses look like, things like that. Those have been rewritten to take advantage of our new resource types and new terrain features. Within those three biomes, you have a lot of variation in terms of the kind of map you’ll be playing on."

The Steam achievements list four map types: Terran, Vulcan, Protean, and Atlantean. These refer to map scripts rather than the Lush, Fungal, and Arid biomes mentioned above.

Combat

Beyond Earth uses a 1-unit-per-tile system similar to that in Civilization V (it's the same game engine), and combat will be very familiar to anyone who has played that game. Unit types (melee, ranged, siege, cavalry) are essentially the same. City combat is essentially the same, though the Annex and Puppet options have changed slightly (see Cities, below). There is a new "orbital layer" in which colonies can place satellites, which have an area of effect that can influence tiles on the surface (see Satellites, below).

Affinities

Beyond Earth has three different "Affinities" which, similar to Civ V's Ideologies, will differentiate civilizations, create tensions or friendships between them, and partially determine available victory conditions. Affinity choice will also affect your leader, cities and units visually. Your Affinity is determined mainly by which technologies you choose to research, but also by the quest choices that you make. As you accumulate points in your dominant Affinity, you eventually earn Affinity "levels" which unlock upgrades for your units, and other bonuses as well (listed below):

Purity : you uphold traditional human values, and strive to remake the new world in Earth's image, concentrating on terraforming and military force to pacify the hostile environment. Level 1: Aliens will not attack tiles with Explorer Units Level 3: +20% Strength and Ranged Strength when attacking or defending against Aliens Level 6: +2 Orbital Coverage in all Cities Level 8: 4 Floatstone resources for free Level 11: Dirty Bomb Operation can be performed by Covert Agents Level 13: Exodus Gate can be constructed for Promised Land Victory Quest

: you uphold traditional human values, and strive to remake the new world in Earth's image, concentrating on terraforming and military force to pacify the hostile environment. Harmony : you seek to adapt to the new world and its alien ecosystem, to the extent of genetically altering your people. You will eventually be able to use alien units in your armies or even design new alien organisms. Level 1: Alien aggression level returns to neutral twice as quickly Level 3: Units take 5 HP less damage from Miasma Level 6: Units heal 5 HP in Miasma Level 8: 4 Xenomass resources for free Level 11: Call Worm Strike Operation can be performed by Covert Agents Level 13: Mind Flower can be constructed for Transcendence Victory Quest

: you seek to adapt to the new world and its alien ecosystem, to the extent of genetically altering your people. You will eventually be able to use alien units in your armies or even design new alien organisms. Supremacy : you seek to use machines and cyborg interfaces to dominate the new world (and the old one), developing virtual consciousness and employing robot troops. Level 1: Explorer Units can build an additional Expedition Level 3: Roads and Magrails do not cost any Energy to maintain Level 6: Orbital Coverage on and next to every tile with Firaxite Level 8: 4 Firaxite resources for free Level 11: Sabotage Operation can be performed by Covert Agents Level 13: Emancipation Gate can be constructed for Emancipation Victory Quest

: you seek to use machines and cyborg interfaces to dominate the new world (and the old one), developing virtual consciousness and employing robot troops.

Affinities are not mutually exclusive; you can gain levels in all three, and you can gain level benefits from any Affinity levels you've attained. You can also use your "minority" Affinity levels to select "hybrid" upgrades for your Affinity-unique units.

The cost in Affinity XP for your next level appears to be (10+(the sum of all your previous Affinity levels)). Earning levels in any Affinity increases the cost of the next level in all Affinities, and the cost is the same regardless of which Affinity you're trying to level. If you had, say, Harmony level 1, Purity level 9, and Supremacy level 1, then your next level in any affinity will cost 21 XP. Earning levels in off-Affinities will increase the cost of levels for your main affinity.

David McDonough: "Harmony finds that the planet is a beautiful place. It's a gem, a jewel. Maybe the mistakes that they made on Earth, pillaging, polluting and so on, they don't want to repeat, so they find a way to make themselves belong on the planet. They say 'this is going to be our new home'. We're going to be fully of this world, and not ruin it, not spoil it, so they take a very positive, welcoming, inclusive approach to the planet. Their territory is large, they grow very easily, they have a lot of free movement over the terrain. They're very fluid, they're very nimble.

The Supremacy player says 'well, technology is the salvation of humankind. The ability to build a colony ship is what got us off that world, we've got to keep going down that road, it's the only way we'll be safe and keep humankind going.' So, robotics, advanced artificial intelligence, machinery, things that are immune to an alien world and the depths of space. They start to leave behind organic ties, including up to a point their own bodies, eventually.

Purity is I think the most interesting thing, because it's not exactly a rejection of the two. It's a very plausible philosophy of what humanity would do if faced with, as the quote goes, 'the unimaginable strangeness of space', which is that they'll hold on very tightly to what they know, and what they recognize, and where they came from. So the player tries to push away the alien, they try to make the planet more like Earth, they try to avoid conflict with the alien life forms by building massive defenses, by being tough and very hard to kill, very secure in the territory they've made safe, then at the same time try to devote themselves to the preservation, or you might say the conservation of the idea of humanity, hence the name."

Technology

Research uses a "web" rather than a linear tree, meaning that you can go in any direction, and there are multiple paths to reach any given technology. It will not be practical (or perhaps even possible) to research every technology in a single play-through. Your research choices will be an important part of what defines the "Affinity" of your faction (see below).

The web is only four tiers deep, but each node of the web has from one to three additional technologies that can be researched. It is these "leaf" technologies that give Affinity points.



(click on the image for a view of the full web)

Analysis of the contents of the Tech Web can be found on this page.

Quests

At various points throughout the game, you will be offered quests to complete or choices to make. Some of these will reward resources or benefits, and others will award Affinity points based on choices. Some of these quests form chains that unfold based on the player's decisions; for example, in the "Familiar Exotics" quest illustrated at right, if the player chose to ignore the outbreak, a later quest will appear offering the player the opportunity to engineer the new plants for a tile bonus.

Each building type also triggers a quest allowing the player to choose additional benefits for that building.

I won't post any of the details of the various quests so as not to spoil the experience for first-time players, but if you'd like to see some of them, GenEngineer has compiled a list over at the CivFanatics Forums.

Virtues

Virtues are the new versions of Social Policies, which are unlocked with Culture. In addition to the bonuses provided by the Virtues themselves, the colony also earns additional "kicker" bonuses either for going deep in a single tree, or by buying Virtues across the trees in a single tier. There are four trees: Might, Knowledge, Prosperity, and Industry. The trees are fewer but deeper than those of Civ V.

David McDonough: "There’s a system called virtues, which is an expression of what your civilization cares about, so who they grow up to be, what their priorities are and so forth. It’s been totally redesigned for this game, meaning it’s different from any previous Civilization. Culture drives the acquisition of items within a virtue table, and those items have a lot of cross-linking benefits in and out of other systems in the game — everything from city progression to tile improvement to military strategies to territorial acquisition and diplomacy and so on."

Lena Brenk: "The way Anton designed it, the trees are a lot deeper, so you have a tree that you can follow down, the whole column through, and the more points you spend in one tree, you get kickers — additional bonuses that you rack up. If you go very wide and select virtues from different branches of different trees, you get kickers as well, but they’re different in that they give you bonuses for going in very different directions and not focusing on one tree."

There is a synergy bonus for every 5 virtues purchased within a particular tree, or for purchasing a certain number of virtues from any tree in the same tier.

Width Synergy Bonuses

Tier I 6 Virtues: 1 free Virtue 10 Virtues: +10% Growth, Production and Energy in the Capital 15 Virtues: 1 free Technology

Tier II 8 Virtues: Choose 1 free Virtue, Recruit 1 new Covert Agent 12 Virtues: Choose 1 Free Affinity Level

Tier III 10 Virtues: +10% Growth, Production, Science, Culture and Energy in every City.



Might

Tier I (Synergy bonus: +5% combat strength and +5% ranged strength for all units) Adaptive Tactics : +50% XP from combat. Survivalism : +25% Strength and Ranged Strength against alien life forms. Liberation Army : After conquering an enemy Outpost, automatically found an Outpost of your own in its place. Military-Industrial Complex : +15% Production towards military units Public Security : +0.25 Health for every Military Unit under your command

Tier II (Synergy bonus: +5% combat strength and +5% ranged strength for all units) Scavenging : Earn 100% of an alien lifeform's strength as Science after killing it Earn 30 Science from destroying alien nests Adaptive Sciences : +20% Affinity earned from researching technologies Special Service : +40% Intrigue from Covert Operations Army Engineering Corps : +1 Production, +1 Energy from every Strategic Resource Martial Meditations : Choose 1 Free Affinity Level

Tier III (Synergy bonus: 1 free Affinity level) Brutal Efficiency : +50% quantity from sources of strategic resources Integrated Arm s: +10% Production towards a Unit for each upgrade it has Joint Operations : +3 Orbital coverage by stations you trade with Democratized Quartering : -50% maintenance for Units Channeled Wrath : +10% Strength and ranged strength for all units



Prosperity

Tier I (Synergy bonus: +10% growth in all cities) Frugality : 10% Food retained after a City grows Helping Hands : +15% tile improvement rate. Homesteading : +30% faster development for Outposts. Workforce Initiative : Gain a free Worker Unit. Colonist Initiative : Gain a free Colonist Unit.

Tier II (Synergy bonus: +1 Health in every city) Pathfinders : Explorer units can build 3 additional Expeditions. Pioneer Spirit : -25% Culture needed for border expansions Gift Economy : +3 Energy from your Trade Routes to foreign cities. Settler Clans : +2 Population for newly founded Cities Mind over Matter : +7 health

Tier III (Synergy bonus: +50% Orbital Coverage radius from Cities) Nature's Bounty : +1 Production from every Basic Resource Joy From Variety : +1 Health from every type of Basic Resource that is improved Hand Never Idle : +2 energy from any Population acting as a Specialist Ecoscaping : +1 food, +1 production, +1 culture from every Terrascape Improvement Eudaimonia : 25% less negative health



Knowledge

Tier I (Synergy bonus: +10% Culture in every city) Foresight : +10% science when healthy. Social Mores : +0.25 culture per population. Field Research : Earn 50 science from finishing expeditions. Social Mores : Each city tile generates +0.25 culture per population. Laboratory Apprenticeship : Each city tile generates +0.25 science per population. Creative Class : Earn extra culture up to 30% of positive health

Tier II (Synergy bonus: +10% Science in every city) Cohesive Values : -10% Culture needed for new virtues Applied Aesthetics : Earn extra energy equal to 30% of the culture you generate. Networked Datalinks : -40% Science penalty from number of Cities for new technologies. Community Medicine : +1 Health for every 6 Population in a City Memeweb : -40% Culture penalty from number of Cities for new Virtues.

Tier III (Synergy bonus: 1 Free Technology) Information Warfare : Recruit 1 new Covert Agent. Learning Centers : +2 Science from Academy Improvement Technoartisans : Earn extra Science equal to 15% of the Culture you generate. Metaresearch Methods : Leaf Technologies cost 10% less science Monomyth : +7 culture for every Great Wonder



Industry

Tier I (Synergy bonus: +10% Energy in all cities) Labor Logistics : +10% Production towards Buildings Central Planning : +5 energy in your capital. Standardized Architecture : +25% Production towards Buildings which have already been built in the Capital. Commoditization : +1 Energy from every Basic Resource Scalable Infrastructure : +15% Production towards Wonders

Tier II (Synergy bonus: +10% production in every city) Investment : Earn 1% of stockpiled Energy amount every turn, up to 100 energy. Entrepreneurial Spaceflight : +25% Production towards Orbital Units Profiteering : +0.5 health for every trade unit under your command. Alternative Markets : Trade Routes with Stations grant +6 Energy per Station tier. Interdependence Network : +25% yield from Trade Routes with your own Cities

Tier III (Synergy bonus: earn 1% of stockpiled Energy amount every turn, up to 100 Energy) Social Investment : +2 Production from Manufactory improvements. Liquidity : -20% Energy cost to purchase Units Civic Duty : Each City tile generates +0.5 Production for every Population Magnasanti : Each City generates +0.2 Health for every Building Superior Engineering : Orbital Units stay in orbit 50% longer before de-orbiting



Aeson of Apolyton.net has put up a very nice Virtue calculator that lets you play with configurations.

Trade Routes

Civ V's land and sea trade routes return in what appears to be a very similar form. Trade routes can help a new Outpost more quickly grow into a full City. These routes can also be used to trade with Stations, the Beyond Earth analogue to City-States. The routes still project a graphical overlay on the map. Trade Routes appear to last for 25 turns on Standard speed, down from 30 turns in Civ V. Rather than having a fixed global number of Trade Routes, they are now added by building the Trade Depot building in Cities, which provide 2 Trade Routes per building.

There is no longer any range limit on Trade Routes, but they cannot pass through impassable terrain or miasma (until you develop immunity to miasma through technologies or affinity bonuses).

Trade Routes with your own cities now provide more complex yields based on the difference between the two cities, rather than a simple choice of providing a simple food or production boost, and it provides benefits to both cities. Trading with Stations provides a very specific benefit based on Station type.

Trade Routes that are cancelled due to a declaration of war no longer destroy the trade unit, but instead return it to its originating city.

Health

The Happiness system in Civilization V is replaced in Beyond Earth by the Health system. Health appears to operate almost exactly the same way that Health did; it's essentially the same resource with a different name. Health limits the size of cities and the number of cities, and can be countered by constructing buildings that provide extra health. Luxury Resources (which provided Happiness in Civ V) do not exist in Beyond Earth, and there doesn't appear to be a Health-related analogue.

Low Health will confer a number of disadvantages similar to but less severe than Unhappiness in Civ V. Unhealthy colonies accumulate Intrigue faster. Though there are no longer Golden Ages triggered by positive Health, there are bonuses for mainting certain levels of positive health. The Health thresholds and their associated Positive and Negative modifiers include:

Utopian (+20 Health or higher): +10% Science, +10% Culture

Prosperous (+10 Health or higher): +10% Production in Cities, -50% intrigue in your Cities from hostile Covert Ops

Stable (+0 Health or higher): +20% speed towards outpost growth

Shaky (-1 Health or lower): -10% Science, -10% Culture

Troubled (-10 Health or lower): -10% production, +100% intrigue for opponent spies in your city

Panicked (-20 Health or lower): -50% growth, -50% outpost growth

Note that the above modifiers are cumulative.

Covert Ops

Covert Ops is unlocked by building the Spy Agency, a National Wonder which gives you three Covert Agents (more can be acquired through virtues and quests). This operates in a very similar manner to Espionage in Civilization V, though with a lot more options and limited by Intrigue levels, which must be accumulated over time. As in Civ V, Agents gain up to three experience levels. In addition to providing visibility and Intrigue, agents have a choice of different operations:

Establish Network (Intrigue Level 0, Very Easy difficulty): Establish the Agent's operational network and gather additional information about the city. The higher the Agent's rank the more information is provided. Once established, the network remains until the Agent leaves the city or is killed (Gives the player access to a UI that provides an Intel Report on the city, showing current yields and production, research target, presence of counter-intelligence Agents in the city, and a history of previous ops in that city).

(Intrigue Level 0, Very Easy difficulty): Establish the Agent's operational network and gather additional information about the city. The higher the Agent's rank the more information is provided. Once established, the network remains until the Agent leaves the city or is killed (Gives the player access to a UI that provides an Intel Report on the city, showing current yields and production, research target, presence of counter-intelligence Agents in the city, and a history of previous ops in that city). Dossier Delivered (Intrigue Level 0, Very Easy difficulty): Quest operation: deliver secret documents. (Special operation for the Culper Cell questline.)

(Intrigue Level 0, Very Easy difficulty): Quest operation: deliver secret documents. (Special operation for the Culper Cell questline.) Siphon Energy (Intrigue Level 0, Easy difficulty): "Steal" a lump sum of Energy (which is not subtracted from the target's supply)

(Intrigue Level 0, Easy difficulty): "Steal" a lump sum of Energy (which is subtracted from the target's supply) Steal Science (Intrigue Level 1, Easy difficulty): "Steal" a lump sum of Science (which is not subtracted from the target's supply) and apply it towards the technology that you are currently researching.

(Intrigue Level 1, Easy difficulty): "Steal" a lump sum of Science (which is subtracted from the target's supply) and apply it towards the technology that you are currently researching. Steal Technology (Intrigue Level 2, Moderate difficulty): gives you a technology that the target player has researched.

(Intrigue Level 2, Moderate difficulty): gives you a technology that the target player has researched. Recruit Defectors : Gifts you 1-3 military units (depending on Agent level), randomly selected from the classes that the target can build, near your Capital.

: Gifts you 1-3 military units (depending on Agent level), randomly selected from the classes that the target can build, near your Capital. Hack Satellites (Intrigue Level 4, Moderate difficulty): De-orbit all satellites within 5 hexes of the target City.

(Intrigue Level 4, Moderate difficulty): De-orbit all satellites within 5 hexes of the target City. Coup D'etat (Intrigue Level 5, Moderate difficulty): Claim control of the city for yourself. Works with Capitals as well as normal cities.

(Intrigue Level 5, Moderate difficulty): Claim control of the city for yourself. Works with Capitals as well as normal cities. Dirty Bomb (Purity level 11) (Intrigue Level 5, Moderate difficulty): Detonate a nuclear device in the city, reducing the city's Population by half.

(Purity level 11) (Intrigue Level 5, Moderate difficulty): Detonate a nuclear device in the city, reducing the city's Population by half. Call Worm Strike (Harmony level 11) (Intrigue Level 5, Moderate difficulty): Activate a device which attracts Siege Worms to a city.

(Harmony level 11) (Intrigue Level 5, Moderate difficulty): Activate a device which attracts Siege Worms to a city. Sabotage (Supremacy level 11) (Intrigue Level 5, Moderate difficulty): Destroys all tile improvements within 3 tiles of the target city.

Whether the operation succeeds or fails, the Agent can remain undetected, be detected (the target is informed that something happened, but not who did it), be identified (the target is informed who conducted the operation, and the Agent flees the city), or captured and killed. So an operation can succeed but result in a captured Agent, or it may fail but allow the Agent to remain in the city undetected.

Intrigue

As an Agent completes successful Operations in a city, he or she builds Intrigue, which is represented on a 0-5 scale. Each Operation has an Intrigue requirement; more damaging Operations require a higher level of Intrigue; an Intrigue level of 4 or higher is required for Operations that will overtly damage the target. There are a number of ways to counter intrigue: you can station counter-intelligence agents in the city, or deploy certain types of satellites near the city. Note that Intrigue in a city is the same for all opposing players; increasing Intrigue in an opponent's city will make it more vulnerable to all spies, not just your own.

Agents in friendly cities can still perform counter-intelligence, which reduces Intrigue in addition to attempting to uncover foreign agents. Another addition is a choice of National Security Project missions, which is a cumulative task that Agents can add to if they are left at Headquarters. The options include:

Homeland Security : +1% City Strength and +1% City Hit Points for each Agent at Headquarters.

: +1% City Strength and +1% City Hit Points for each Agent at Headquarters. Research and Development : +1% Production for Wonders for each Agent at Headquarters.

: +1% Production for Wonders for each Agent at Headquarters. Propaganda : +2% Health for each Agent at Headquarters.

: +2% Health for each Agent at Headquarters. Operations Support : Lowers the risk to Covert Agents doing Operations for each Agent at Headquarters.

: Lowers the risk to Covert Agents doing Operations for each Agent at Headquarters. Operations Reconnaissance: Increases the chance of Operation success for each Agent at Headquarters.

There is a series of quests (beginning with "For Your Eyes Only") involving the Culper Ring, which will award additional agents and ultimately the Culper Lodge, a building which levels up your agents.

Will Miller: "One of the systems we're really excited about is the white hat black hat covert ops. It takes espionage from Brave New World and expands it quite a bit. You can do many, many more things with spies when you get them in cities and things like smuggling from them and stealing their research and technology to things like planting the Dune thumper device in their city and having worms pop out. Only the Harmony player can do that. Or setting off a nuclear explosion, a dirty bomb in their city. There's some stuff that's white hat stuff that's done peacefully, that's not detrimental to the other player but is still clandestine, so if the AI catches you doing it they're not going to be pleased about it, but it benefits you and doesn't harm them as much. Then the more clandestine activity happens in a city, we call it intrigue, there's an intrigue level that increments. Once that gets real high you can start doing things that are more directly offensive, like detonating a bomb or sending the aliens to attack. You telegraph that the - there's a part of the HUD that's your intrigue. Once it gets to a certain threshold you can see, you don't know who's doing it, but you can see that there's a lot of intrigue going on, so I'd better put counterspies in here, or I'd better build the office of homeland security to clamp it down. There's several ways, virtues, buildings, even satellites can assist you in defending yourself against covert action."

Diplomacy

Interacting with the other factions appears to operate in mostly the same way as in Civilization V. The other factions arrive one by one over the course of the first 20-50 turns, and contact the player the moment they land. Factions arriving later will receive appropriate boosts to technology and starting conditions. The diplomacy screen now appears as an overlay to the map, with the 3D-rendered leader and conversation options appearing without the elaborate backgrounds of Civ V.

Factions may trade "Favors" in lieu of resources or currency -- these appear to be "IOU's" that can be accumulated and traded back to the same faction for something more concrete later in the game. Favors are lost if you later go to war with that faction, or if the faction is destroyed by someone else. In addition to being traded as a sort of currency, if you have accumulated a certain (unknown) number of Favors, you can compel the debtor to perform certain actions with an additional "I Insist" element in the UI.

New in Beyond Earth is the Alliance. Friendly colonies can enter into a 30-turn Alliance, in which if either member goes to war with a third party (no matter how it started), the other member will immediately and automatically declare war on that third party. Alliance also provides Open Borders.

Victory Conditions

There is "flavor text" about each of the victory conditions in their corresponding quest entries, but I will not sport with your intelligence by reposting them here. Below are the gameplay-relevant summaries of each:

Domination : conquer the capital cities of all other factions.

: conquer the capital cities of all other factions. Contact (Science): discover clues left by the intelligent Precursor aliens who once inhabited this planet, decode "The Signal" and contact them. To start, complete two of these three tasks: Find a fragment of The Signal via an Explorer Expedition on Progenitor Ruins. The chance is slim, but possible. Launch a Deep Space Telescope orbital unit to search for a fragment of The Signal. Research the Transcendental Math technology and solve the Transcendental Equation to derive a Signal fragment. Then: Build the Decode Signal project. Build the Beacon planetary wonder to attract the attention the aliens. Achieve oneness with Carl Sagan.

(Science): discover clues left by the intelligent Precursor aliens who once inhabited this planet, decode "The Signal" and contact them. To start, complete two of these three tasks: Then: The Promised Land (Purity): tame the planet in the name of Humanity and make it a home for our Earthbound brethren. Research Orbital Networks and build a Lasercom Satellite to reestablish communication with Earth. Achieve Purity level 13 and build the Exodus Gate planetary wonder. Receive 20 colonists from Earth through the gate and settle them. Profit.

(Purity): tame the planet in the name of Humanity and make it a home for our Earthbound brethren. Transcendence (Harmony): awaken the planet's sentient superorganism and mind-meld with it. Research Nanorobotics, Transgenics, and Swarm Intelligence to develop the Cognitive Link. Achieve Harmony level 13 and build the Mind Flower planetary wonder. Defend the Mind Flower from the unclean and support it with resources and Mind Stem buildings. Achieve eco-nirvana and become one with the planet's consciousness.

(Harmony): awaken the planet's sentient superorganism and mind-meld with it. Emancipation (Supremacy): annihilate humanity on Earth. Er, I mean, "free" them from their biological bodies. Research Orbital Networks and build a Lasercom Satellite to reestablish communication with Earth. Achieve Supremacy level 13 and build the Emancipation Gate planetary wonder. Send 1000 combat strength worth of military units through the gate to effect the mass genocide of humanity on Earth. Er, I mean, "liberate" them from their trifling, unenlightened existence. Go directly to Hell. Do not pass GO, do not collect $200.

(Supremacy): annihilate humanity on Earth. Er, I mean, "free" them from their biological bodies. Time: If you have the Limited Turns option selected, the game will be won when time expires by the colony with the highest score.

Will Miller: "One of the ways to win the game is called Contact, which you'll probably recognize from the book or the movie of the same name. You research a signal that you find either by exploring alien ruins you find on the planet or receive from outer space via radio telescope or finding it in the mantissa of a transcendental number, and you build this giant thing and then you contact the aliens."

"The Harmony victory is an homage to Alpha Centauri. You discover the planet is sentient, like Solaris or something. Then you build these machines that interface with it, and you win the game by awakening and interfacing with the planet. But to do that, you have to build these big structures and protect them and turn them on and devote resources that you would otherwise be devoting to your cities. There's a give and take there; you're vulnerable when you decide to shoot for those victories."

"The Purity and Supremacy victories are sort of two ends of the same coin. In the game, about halfway through... you re-establish contact from Earth. You kind of left it in a nebulous space; you're not really sure what happened. About that time, you've also researched the technology to build a warp gate. So for the Purity player, you build a warp gate and bring settlers from Earth to the new world, and you have to protect them, settle a certain number of them, find space for them. There's a territorial problem you have to work out, which obviously causes conflict. That's one of your real-life conflicts today—that's the Israeli/Palestinian conflict right there. The flipside of that is what we call the Emancipation victory. That's the Supremacy victory where you build the warp gate to send troops through it to conquer Earth. So you have to sacrifice a huge chunk of your army to feed the warp gate while you're protecting yourself and protecting it."

Features Missing from Civilization V: Brave New World

As Beyond Earth is built on the framework of Civilization V, it uses most of the same systems, with some modifications (Social Policies become Virtues, Happiness becomes Health, Ideologies become Affinities, Espionage becomes Covert Ops, etc.). However, a few systems have been removed in Beyond Earth without a replacement.

Religion

Several early previews made direct references to faith and religion, saying that some factions are weaker or stronger in religion, and one preview listed Pilgrims as a colonist option for "stronger faith." However, the developers have since said that formal religions are not in Beyond Earth, and neither does there appear to be a Faith resource. The role of religion appears to have been taken over by the Affinity system.

Great Persons

Wonders no longer generate Great Person Points, and there are no Great Person units (although there are still City Specialists). Great Person improvements (such as Manufactories and Academies) are now constructed by Workers, and have maintenance costs. Satellites fill a similar role to Great Generals.

Victory Types: Culture, Diplomatic, and Time

There is no specific Culture-oriented victory, and so there are also not Great Works of Art or Archaeology Artifacts (though the new Explorer Expeditions operate in a manner similar to Archaeological Digs. There is no Diplomatic victory, and consequently no United Nations or World Congress equivalent. There also does not appear to be a Time victory, in which the game ends after a certain number of turns and the highest score wins.

Luxury Resources

Though the Happiness mechanic has been closely replaced by the Health mechanic, there are no tradable resources that improve Health in the same manner as Luxury Resources improved Happiness. This means that the only tradable resources are the six Strategic Resources: Firaxite, Floatstone, Xenomass, Geothermal, Petroleum, and Titanium.

Natural Wonders

The various Expedition targets (such as Progenitor Ruins, Crashed Satellites, Derelict Settlements, and Alien Skeletons) essentially replace Natural Wonders, though again there is no analogous replacement for the Happiness/Health they once provided. Together with the lack of a Luxury Resource equivalent, this is likely to mean that maintaining sufficient Health will be an important challenge.

Golden Ages

In Civilization V, excess Happiness accumulated to trigger Golden Ages, in which gold and production increased for a set number of turns. In Beyond Earth, various level of positive Health provide benefits, but beyond that there is no cumulative benefit to excess Health.

Strategic View

Civilization V's simplified optional "2D Boardgame" view has not been seen in any of the public builds of the game.

Civilizations

The eight starting factions have unique leaders and starting advantages, but many starting advantages will be chosen by the player in the initial outfitting of his starship, selecting ship types, colonist types, and special cargoes. By default, the player arrives alone on the planet, and the AI-controlled rival players arrive over the course of a few hundred turns (with appropriate catch-up bonuses). There will also be an option to have everyone arrive at the same time.

Will Miller: "Depending on when they land, they may bring better things than you have. So there's some asymmetry there that wasn't present in previous civ games. They also make contact with you immediately, so as soon as they get there, you can begin engaging with them diplomatically and see where their capital is."

Faction Icon Leader Capital Special Ability American Reclamation Corporation Suzanne Fielding Central Covert Operations are 25% faster and cause 25% more Intrigue Brasilia Rejinaldo de Alencar Cidadela Units have +10% Strength in melee combat Franco-Iberia É lodie Le Coeur Gain a free Technology for every 10 Virtues developed Kavithan Protectorate Kavitha Thakur Mandira Cities and Outposts acquire new tiles twice as fast Pan-Asian Cooperative Daoming Sochua Tiangong +10% Production towards Wonders, and +25% Worker speed People's African Union Samatar Jama Barre Magan +10% Food in growing Cities when Healthy Polystralia Hutama Freeland +2 Trade Routes available for the Capital Slavic Federation Vadim Kozlov Khrabrost Orbital Units stay in orbit 20% longer, and the first one launched grants a free Technology

Seeding Options

Prior to launch, the player selects from among multiple choices of ship type, cargo and passengers that will determine early bonuses upon landfall. The choices for each category currently are:

Colonists

Scientists: +2 Science in every City

Refugees: +2 Food in every City

Aristocrats: +3 Energy and +1 Health in every City

Engineers: +2 Production in every City

Artists: +2 Culture and +1 Health in every City

Spacecraft

Continental Surveyor: Reveal Coasts on Map

Retrograde Thrusters: Wider areas for choosing where to land first City

Tectonic Scanner: No technology is needed to see Petroleum, Geothermal and Titanium resources

Fusion Reactor: Begin with 100 Energy

Lifeform Sensor: Reveal Alien Nests on Map

Cargo

Hydroponics: Begin with an extra Population in your first City

Laboratory: Being with the Pioneering technology

Raw Materials: Begin with a Clinic building in your first City

Weapon Arsenal: Begin with a Soldier unit

Machinery: Begin with a Worker unit

Stations

City-States are replaced by Stations, which are single-tile independent businesses that establish themselves throughout the map over the early stages of the game. You can trade with them via Trade Routes, but only one city per colony can trade with a Station at a time. Stations start at Tier 1, and will improve to Tier 2 when any player completes a Trade Route with that station. Stations provide better benefits to trade partners at higher tiers (up to Tier 3). Some Stations that settle near your territory will even offer you a choice of what kind of business they are doing. Stations can be attacked and destroyed like Cities (though Stations don't have a ranged attack), and doing so earns some resources (which increase with Station tier) and leaves a Derelict Settlement in that tile. Stations will also eventually disappear if no one trades with them for a long enough period of time. Stations will also offer quests, including quests to destroy other Stations. The AI factions will periodically receive such quests, so you may have to protect a Station you're trading with from other factions who will try to destroy it.

Rather than having a basic type as with Civ V City-States, Station appear to be unique and have unique benefits.

Known Stations include:

Palatine is an elite resort and retreat operation specializing in holistic cogno-emotional renewal. Our top officials and executives could benefit from the invigoration their treatments promise. Trade with Palatine provides 4 Culture per turn at Tier 1, 6 Culture per turn at Tier 2, and 10 Culture per turn at Tier 3.

is an elite resort and retreat operation specializing in holistic cogno-emotional renewal. Our top officials and executives could benefit from the invigoration their treatments promise. Trade with Palatine provides 4 Culture per turn at Tier 1, 6 Culture per turn at Tier 2, and 10 Culture per turn at Tier 3. New Babylon seeks to develop self-sustaining biospheres for consumer use. They are a leader in closed energy systems and luxury habitation. Trade with New Babylon provides 4 Culture per turn.

seeks to develop self-sustaining biospheres for consumer use. They are a leader in closed energy systems and luxury habitation. Trade with New Babylon provides 4 Culture per turn. Adept Blue has established a revolutionary, vertically-integrated laboratory. Their unorthodox process could yield new breakthroughs our scientists might never have considered. Trade with Adept Blue provides +2 Food and +2 Science per turn at Tier 1. (Previously provided a random Technology from among those available to you when the Trade Route is complete.)

has established a revolutionary, vertically-integrated laboratory. Their unorthodox process could yield new breakthroughs our scientists might never have considered. Trade with Adept Blue provides +2 Food and +2 Science per turn at Tier 1. (Previously provided a random Technology from among those available to you when the Trade Route is complete.) Hekima Station provides biomedical enhancements to domesticated livestock. Their compounds contribute to the growth of healthy food animals, not just for consumption but for conversion to highly-desirable leathers, textiles, and jewelry. Provides 3 Food and 1 Culture to any city that establishes a Trade Route. This improves by +1 Food and +1 Culture at Tier 2.

provides biomedical enhancements to domesticated livestock. Their compounds contribute to the growth of healthy food animals, not just for consumption but for conversion to highly-desirable leathers, textiles, and jewelry. Provides 3 Food and 1 Culture to any city that establishes a Trade Route. This improves by +1 Food and +1 Culture at Tier 2. Far Base One provides full-spectrum individual and squad-level tactical combat training. Their elite trainers claim they can turn any ordinary citizen into an elite soldier. Provides 2 Energy and 2 Science for Trade Route at Tier 1, and 5 Energy and 5 Science at Tier 3. (Previously provided soldier units)

provides full-spectrum individual and squad-level tactical combat training. Their elite trainers claim they can turn any ordinary citizen into an elite soldier. Provides 2 Energy and 2 Science for Trade Route at Tier 1, and 5 Energy and 5 Science at Tier 3. (Previously provided soldier units) Camp Cascade is an elite survival and deep-field operations school. Their instruction could assist our military with long-term independent operations, including incursion tactics and hit-and-run warfare. Provides 2x Combat Rover Units at the trade route origin city when the trade route is complete.

is an elite survival and deep-field operations school. Their instruction could assist our military with long-term independent operations, including incursion tactics and hit-and-run warfare. Provides 2x Combat Rover Units at the trade route origin city when the trade route is complete. Jinsoku Labs is a cutting-edge player in biomechanical research. Their procedures could help us make real breakthroughs in human-machine systems development. Provides 2 Science and 2 Production to any city that establishes a Trade Route.

is a cutting-edge player in biomechanical research. Their procedures could help us make real breakthroughs in human-machine systems development. Provides 2 Science and 2 Production to any city that establishes a Trade Route. Red Sun is an energy operations specializing in high-density, high-output power generation. Their power cells could literally jump-start our civil infrastructure. Provides +3 Energy to the city that established a Trade Route.

is an energy operations specializing in high-density, high-output power generation. Their power cells could literally jump-start our civil infrastructure. Provides +3 Energy to the city that established a Trade Route. Stet Mining is a leader in heavy metal extraction. Their deep-core drilling rigs are some of the safest and most productive in operation. Trade provides +4 Production per turn at Tier 1.

is a leader in heavy metal extraction. Their deep-core drilling rigs are some of the safest and most productive in operation. Trade provides +4 Production per turn at Tier 1. Banu Musa is a theoretical sciences think tank. Their theories on research practices and methods could lead to profound advances in our technological development. Trade provides 4 Science per turn at Tier 1, 6 Science per turn at Tier 2, and 10 science per turn at Tier 3.

is a theoretical sciences think tank. Their theories on research practices and methods could lead to profound advances in our technological development. Trade provides 4 Science per turn at Tier 1, 6 Science per turn at Tier 2, and 10 science per turn at Tier 3. Shackleton is a survey and geological mapping enterprise. Their reports on the alien landscape and ecosystems could lead to progress in a variety of fields, from scientific research to nature tourism. Provides 1 Culture, 1 Production and 2 Science to any city that establishes a Trade Route.

is a survey and geological mapping enterprise. Their reports on the alien landscape and ecosystems could lead to progress in a variety of fields, from scientific research to nature tourism. Provides 1 Culture, 1 Production and 2 Science to any city that establishes a Trade Route. Fort Barca is an advanced ballistics and targeting workshop. Their proving grounds and battlefield simulations could give us an edge in long-range remote warfare.trade provides 2 Energy and 2 Production per turn at Tier 1; 3 Energy and 4 Production at Tier 2. (Previously provided rover units)

is an advanced ballistics and targeting workshop. Their proving grounds and battlefield simulations could give us an edge in long-range remote warfare.trade provides 2 Energy and 2 Production per turn at Tier 1; 3 Energy and 4 Production at Tier 2. (Previously provided rover units) Keagungan is an applied sciences skunkworks. They specialize in converting military tech to civilian use, and are known as pioneers of autonomous domestic systems. Provides 2 Culture and 2 Science to any city that establishes a trade route.

is an applied sciences skunkworks. They specialize in converting military tech to civilian use, and are known as pioneers of autonomous domestic systems. Provides 2 Culture and 2 Science to any city that establishes a trade route. Church of Dawn's Light : Trade Route provides +4 Food and +6 culture per turn at Tier 3.

: Trade Route provides +4 Food and +6 culture per turn at Tier 3. Golden Bell Temple: Trade provides 1 Food, 1 Energy, and 2 Culture at Tier 1, 2 Food, 2 Energy, and 3 Culture at Tier 2.

Trade provides 1 Food, 1 Energy, and 2 Culture at Tier 1, 2 Food, 2 Energy, and 3 Culture at Tier 2. Omoikane has developed techniques for ultra-dense agriculture. Their patented layer farms could lead to an explosion in food production output. Trade Route provides 4 Food per turn at Tier 1.

has developed techniques for ultra-dense agriculture. Their patented layer farms could lead to an explosion in food production output. Trade Route provides 4 Food per turn at Tier 1. Lalibela provides 4 Culture per turn at Tier 1.

Stations that were seen in pre-release screenshots or video but haven't been seen in the finished game include: Fort Miller, McDonough Labs, Scyon Group Labs, and Aspera Station.

Units

The player will start with a stable of generic unit classes (Melee, Ranged, Cavalry, Siege, Air, Naval) which can be customized through upgrade choices, to which are added a number of Affinity-specific unit types. There are four upgrade levels for most basic unit classes; the first two are generic, and the latter two are faction-specific. Affinity-specific units have two upgrade levels. Progressing through your Affinity periodically unlocks a choice of upgrades; choosing one applies it to all existing units of that class. Each unit has a progression tree which starts out linear and then branches according to Affinity. In the concept below, the left-most two examples are level one and level two upgrades of generic troops, available to all factions. The right-most two examples are Purity-specific upgrades. Harmony colonies can develop genetically enhanced soldiers, while Supremacy colonies can develop cyborg or robotic troops. This new upgrade system is in addition to the promotion system from Civ V; units still earn XP and promotions from combat, although the promotions appear to be limited to levels of "Discipline" (+10% Combat Strength).

The unit models themselves no longer have faction-specific team colors; everyone starts with the same red and white markings. Unit appearance then varies by Affinity choice, but all the Purity units, for example, have the same red and khaki coloration, regardless of what faction they belong to. Military land units now have a hexagonal icon (which changes to a shield when fortified), and civilian units have a circular icon. Orbital units have a pentagonal icon. Upgraded units show the number of upgrades with the chevrons above the unit icon; the Level 4 Centurions unit at right shows 3 chevrons (for 3 upgrades above the basic Soldier).

Kate Distler: "For example, any and all Marines deployed on the planet will receive the new upgrade as soon as you choose it. Upgrades can’t be revisited, so players have to think hard about what they’re willing to give up. These upgrades help distinguish two factions who share the same Affinity. Two Supremacy Marines facing off will not be on equal footing. Based on the chosen upgrades, one faction’s Marines may have a lot more firepower than the other."

David McDonough: "The art team has done a lot of work to bring the affinities into the game visually, so the units will look different. Your high level Supremacy marines will look like these lithe, robotic gleaming things, versus the Purity marine, which is really heavily armored with a heavy bore gun, so yeah. And their cities. Their building composition will change. Their leader will change. Everything about them will get colored by their dominant affinity."

Unit progression is chosen in the Unit Upgrade Screen, which is Beyond Earth's simplified equivalent to Alpha Centauri's Unit Workshop. Upon reaching the appropriate Affinity level, the player may choose an upgrade for a unit type; for example, the basic Soldier can be upgraded to a Marine. In addition to the +6 Strength increase, the player can choose between two Perks that give additional advantages (in the case of the Marine, the choice is between a +15% attack bonus or a +5 HP/turn healing bonus). These perks stack with each upgrade, and the upgrade applies to all units of that type already deployed, in addition to those subsequently built or purchased. Units of that type will become more expensive after the upgrade, so there is an advantage to purchasing the cheaper versions of the units before upgrading them. Earned upgrades can be deferred; they do not have to be selected right away.

Most Affinity-unique units can also be upgraded once; the appearance of the unit doesn't change, but the name of the unit changes (Purity units become "True," Supremacy units become "Prime," and Harmony units become "Evolved." Unique units can also be upgraded along alternate affinity paths; for example, the Purity Battlesuit can be upgrades to a True Battlesuit, an Evolved Battlesuit, or a Prime Battlesuit. These "hybrid" upgrades have the same stats, but offer different perks.

Colonist

*indicates a stat that can be improved through upgrade perk choices

Move: 2; Cost: 186 production

Technology: Pioneering

"Civilian Unit. Can establish an Outpost, which transforms into a full City once time passes and it acquires all territory adjacent to it. While producing this Unit, a City's Growth temporarily stops. Colonists may only be built in Cities with at least 2 Citizens."

Explorer

Move: 2; Strength: 3; Cost: 40 production; Cost to Purchase: 200 energy

Technology: Habitation

Abilities: Ignores Terrain Cost

"Exploration Unit. Ideal for scouting the terrain, opposing forces, and alien activity. Its light Combat Strength gives it modest defense, but it is not suited to full-scale warfare."

Notes: This is an exploration unit that can scout terrain and construct Expeditions to investigate alien ruins, bones, or other features. An Expedition takes 10 turns to construct. The Explorer has 1 "Expedition Module" which is expended when an Expedition is constructed; Explorer itself is not consumed when this is used, and can reload modules by returning to any friendly city. Are are quest rewards, a Prosperity Virtue and a Supremacy affinity level reward which increases the number of Expedition Modules that can be carried. Expeditions will take longer to complete in forested areas. If an Explorer abandons an Expedition before it is completed, the progress is retained (if that or another Explorer goes back to try again). Although the Explorer remains useful throughout the game (as Crashed Satellites and Derelict Settlements will continue to reappear), there are no strength upgrades for this unit.

Worker

Move: 2; Cost: 60 production; Costs 200 energy to purchase

Technology: Habitation

"Civilian Unit. Constructs improvements on the land, increasing the effectiveness of tiles when worked by a City's population."

Notes: In early alpha shots, this unit had 2 models, but in more recent beta shots, it just has one.

Trade Convoy

Moves: 2; Cost: 60 production

Technology: Pioneering

"Trade Unit. Used to establish Trade Routes by land between your cities and other cities, outposts, or stations. Trade Routes generate yields or increase growth rate for the trading partners, but trade units are vulnerable to attack and their routes must be protected by military units."

Trade Vessel

Moves: 3; Cost 70 production

Technology: Pioneering

"Naval Trade Unit. Used to establish Trade Routes by sea between your cities and other cities, outposts, or stations. Trade Routes generate yields or increase growth rate for the trading partners, but trade units are vulnerable to attack and their routes must be protected by military units."

(Embarked Unit)

Notes: This is the graphic for sea-embarked land units. The Worker has a different graphic (presumably because it can construct improvements while embarked).

Soldier (Infantry Level 1)

Move: 2; Strength: 10; Cost: 50 production

Technology: Habitation

Upgrades to: Marine

"Melee Unit. A basic unit that is easy to build. It begins weak, but can be upgraded to increase its effectiveness and fight alongside more advanced units."

Ranger (Ranged Infantry Level 1)

Moves: 2; Strength: 3; Ranged Strength: 8; Range: 2; Cost: 60 production

Requires: Physics

Upgrades to: Gunner

Notes: This is a separate unit from the Soldier, which appears similar but has some of the models armed with heavy weapons and laser designators. It is essentially the Beyond Earth version of the Archer.

Combat Rover (Cavalry Level 1)

Move: 3; Strength 12; Cost: 60 production

Technology: Engineering

Upgrades to: Armor

"Melee Unit. Specializing in mobility, it excels in battlefield positioning, chasing down enemy units, reconnaissance, and exploration."

Missile Rover (Siege Level 1)

Move: 2; Strength: 3; Ranged Strength: 12; Attack Range: 2; Cost: 100 production

Technology: Computing

Upgrades to: Artillery

"Ranged Unit. Specializes in reducing defenses of Cities and Outposts from afar, but has limited mobility."

Gunboat (Naval Fighter Level 1)

Moves: 3; Strength: 6; Ranged Strength: 16; Attack Range: 2; Cost: 120 production

Requires: Computing

Upgrades to: Cruiser

"Ranged Unit. Uses ranged weaponry to attack enemies at sea, or bombard enemies on nearby coasts."

Tacjet (Air Fighter Level 1)

Ranged Strength: 10; Attack Range: 4; Cost: 100 production

Technology: Robotics

Upgrades to: Needlejet

"Air Unit. Attacks at range from a base, such as a City or Carrier."

Notes: Air Units still have the same range of functions as in Civilization V; Air Strike, Air Sweep, Rebase and Air Intercept. 3 Aircraft may be based in a City. Carrier capacity varies from 1 to 3. Air Units cannot be based in Outposts.

Marine (Infantry Level 2)

Move: 2; Strength: 14

Requires: Habitation, Any Affinity, Level 1

Upgrades to: Brawler, Sentinel, or Disciple

Perk: +15% Strength when attacking, or +5 HP heal per turn when not embarked

Notes: This is an upgrade from the regular Soldier, available when you achieve your first Affinity level. Later upgrades specialize this unit according to Affinity choices.

Gunner (Ranged Infantry Level 2)

Move: 2; Strength: 6; Ranged Strength: 14; Range: 2

Requires: Physics, Any Affinity level 2

Upgrades to: Striker, Guardian, or Overseer

Perk: +5 HP heal when not embarked, or +30% when defending against ranged

Notes: +3 Strength, +6 Ranged Strength

Armor (Cavalry Level 2)

Move: 3; Strength: 22

Requires: Engineering, Any Affinity level 3

Upgrades to: Lancer, Prophet, or Viper

Abilities: +33% vs. fortified units.

Perk: +20% flanking bonus, or +30% Strength against fortified units

Notes: Has +10 strength more than the basic rover. Was previously called " Veteran Rover."

Artillery (Siege Level 2)

Move: 2; Strength: 5; Ranged Attack: 20; Attack Range: 2

Requires: Computing, Any Affinity level 4

Upgrades to: Punisher, Educator, or Centaur

Abilities: +10% when attacking Cities

Perk: +30% when attacking cities, OR +20% against land units

Notes: (+2 Strength, +8 Ranged Strength, +10% when attacking cities) over the base Missile Rover. It appears that artillery units can attack satellites. This unit has an "Anti-Orbital Strike" command: "Order the unit to shoot down the orbital unit at the selected tile." The orbital unit in question must be within range; in the case of Artillery, the shoot-down range appears to be 0 tiles (the unit must be in the same tile as the target).

Cruiser (Naval Fighter Level 2)

Moves: 4; Strength: 6; Ranged Strength: 24

Requires: Computing, Any Affinity level 5

Upgrades to: Destroyer, Arbiter or Triton

Upgrade Perk: +20% against sea units, OR +20% against land units

Notes: Gains +1 Move, +12 Ranged Strength over the Gunboat.

Carrier (Naval Carrier Level 1)

Moves: 3; Strength: 18; Cost: 160 Production

Requires: Fabrication

Upgrades to: Hydra, Bastion or Shepherd

Aircraft Carrying Capacity: 1

"Support Unit. Has no attack capability of its own, but serves as a base for air units to launch operations."

Notes: There is only one generic level to the carrier and one affinity-specific upgrade level.

Needlejet (Air Fighter Level 2)

Ranged Strength: 20; Attack Range: 5

Requires: Robotics, Any Affinity level 6

Upgrades to: Raider, Herald or Locust

Upgrade Perk; +30% when intercepting, OR +15% against land and sea units

Notes: +10 Ranged Strength, +1 Range and +20% when Air Sweeping over the Tacjet. Evidently an homage to the Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri chassis type of the same name.

Purity Units

Purity relies on large numbers of well-armed units. They are able to fully exploit the Floatstone resource, allowing them to field a number of floating units. Upgraded unique units for Purity are identified with the "True" tag; for example, the LEV Destroyer upgrades to a "True LEV Destroyer" with higher combat strength.

Note: levitating units can move over canyon and water tiles, but receive a -25% combat penalty when attacking over water.

Battlesuit

Moves: 2; Strength: 40 (66); Cost: 160 production; Requires Resource: 1 Titanium

Requires: Servomachinery, Purity level 4

True Battlesuit (Purity 12): +26 Strength, +30% defense; +20% when flanking OR +30% when attacking

Evolved Battlesuit (Purity 10, Harmony 2): +26 Strength, +30% defense; +20% when flanking OR +40% when alone

Prime Battlesuit (Purity 10, Supremacy 2): +26 Strength, +30% defense; +20% when flanking OR +20% adjacent to friendly unit

"A soldier armored in augmented armor. Tough melee shock unit."

Notes: This is the first available Purity unique unit. The True Battlesuit requires Purity level 12, but you can alternatively upgrade it to a Prime or Evolved Battlesuit with Purity level 10 and level 2 in the associated minor affinity.

Sentinel (Purity Infantry Level 3)

Strength: 24

Requires: Habitation, Purity Level 6

Upgrades to: Centurion

Upgrade Perk: +30% when defending, or +10% attack strength for every leftover movement point

Notes: +10 Strength over Marine

Guardian (Purity Ranged Infantry Level 3)

Moves: 2; Strength: 12; Ranged Strength: 30; range: 2

Requires: Physics, Purity level 7

Upgrades to: Warden

Upgrade Perk: +50% when inside city, OR +10% per unused Movement

Aegis

Move: 2; Strength: 20; Ranged Strength: 40; Range: 2; Cost: 180; Requires Resources: 1 Titanium, 1 Floatstone

Requires: Surrogacy, Purity level 7

True Aegis (Purity 14): +16 Strength, 1 more attack every turn, Can move after attacking, +10 HP heal for adjacent units every turn, +40% when attacking wounded units, OR +60% when inside city

Prime Aegis (Purity 12, Supremacy 3): +16 Strength, 1 more attack every turn, Can move after attacking, +10 HP heal for adjacent units every turn, +40% when attacking wounded units, OR +20% when next to a friendly unit

Evolved Aegis (Purity 12, Harmony 3): +16 Strength, 1 more attack every turn, Can move after attacking, +10 HP heal for adjacent units every turn, +40% when attacking wounded units, OR +50% when attacking fortified units

"Aegis specializes in fire support and anti-infantry operations."

"A light, mechanized walker with a variety of mounted weapons. Armored ranged unit with versatile fire support capabilities."

Notes: The upgraded "True Aegis" gains a second attack.

Notes: Unfortunately, the Aegis requires technologies that are more expensive and harder to get than the LEV Tank, which is a more powerful unit.

Lancer (Purity Cavalry Level 3)

Move: 3; Strength: 40; Cost:

Requires: Engineering, Purity Level 8

Upgrades to: Dragoon

Perk: +20% attack strength, OR 10% per unused Movement

Notes: Has +18 strength more than Armor.

Centurion (Purity Infantry Level 4)

Move: 2*; Strength: 48

Requires: Habitation, Purity Level 11

Upgrade Perk: +1 movement, OR automatic heal each turn

Notes: +24 Strength over Sentinel

Punisher (Siege level 3)

Move: 2; Strength: 8; Ranged Strength: 30; Range: 2

Requires: Purity Level 9

Upgrades to: Devastator

Abilities: Anti-Orbital Strike, Must Set Up to Range Attack, May Not Melee Attack, +20% when attacking Cities

Upgrade Perk: +20% when attacking OR +1 Movement

Notes: (+3 Strength, +10 Ranged Strength, and +20% vs. Cities) over Artillery.

LEV Tank

Move: 2; Strength: 28 (48); Ranged Strength: 52 (86); Range: 2; Cost: 300; Require Resource: 4 Floatstone

Requires: Mobile LEV, Purity level 9

True LEV Tank (Purity ??): Strength +20, Ranged Strength +34; ?? OR ??

"An armored assault vehicle that hovers above the terrain, allowing it to traverse canyons and water. Powerful mobile ranged unit."

Notes: Upgrades to the "True LEV Tank," with the stats in parentheses above.

Destroyer (Purity Naval Fighter Level 3)

Move: 5; Strength: 16; Ranged Strength: 46

Requires: Purity level 10

Upgrades to: Dreadnought

Upgrade Perk: +20% when attacking, OR +5% per unused Movement

Notes: +10 Strength, +18 Ranged Strength and +1 Move over the Cruiser.

Bastion (Purity Carrier Level 2)

Move 6; Strength 36

Requires: Fabrication, Purity level 10.

Abilities: Aircraft Carrying Capacity: 2*

Upgrade Perk: +20% for onboard aircraft when attacking or defending, OR +1 capacity as base for aircraft

Notes: +1 Movement, +18 Strength, and +1 aircraft carrying capacity over the base Carrier.

Raider (Purity Air Fighter Level 3)

Ranged Strength: 36; Range: 5

Requires: Robotics, Purity level 11

Upgrades to: Predator

Upgrade Perk: +30% against Air units OR +25% against land and sea units

Notes: +16 Ranged Strength, +30% when Air Sweeping. Unlike the other bonuses, the +% to Air Sweep does NOT stack between upgrades.

Warden (Purity Ranged Infantry Level 4)

Movement: 2; Strength: 18; Ranged Strength: 66; Range: 2

Requires: Physics, Purity level 12

Upgrade Perk: Attack over terrain obstacles, OR +1 Range when unit has not moved

Dragoon (Purity Cavalry Level 4)

Move: 3*; Strength: 76

Requires: Engineering, Purity Level 13

Perk: +1 movement or +50% when attacking cities

Notes: (+36 strength, Levitating (All Terrain costs 1 Movement, levitates over land and sea terrain)) upgrade from the Lancer. As a floating unit, this tank can enter water tiles and cross any land terrain except mountains.

Devastator (Siege Level 4)

Move: 2; Strength: 14; Ranged Strength:; Range: 2

Requires: Purity level 14

Abilities: Anti-Orbital Strike, Must Set Up to Range Attack, May Not Melee Attack, +60% vs. Cities, all terrain costs 1 Movement (Levitates over land and sea terrain)

Upgrade Perk: Attack over terrain obstacles, OR +1 Range when unit has not moved

Notes: (+6 Strength, +26 Ranged Strength, +20% vs. Cities, All terrain costs 1 Movement (Levitates)) increase from Punisher.

Dreadnought (Purity Naval Fighter Level 4)

Move: 5*; Strength: 32; Ranged Strength: 71

Requires: Purity level 15

*Upgrade Perk: +1 Range OR +1 Move

Notes: +16 Strength, +25 Ranged Strength over the Destroyer

Predator (Purity Air Fighter Level 4)

Ranged Strength: 54; Range: 6

Requires: Robotics, Purity level 16

Upgrade Perk: ?? OR (+heal after killing enemy unit)

Notes: +18 Ranged Strength, +1 Range, +40% when Air Sweeping.

LEV Destroyer

Move: 2; Strength: 50 (70); Ranged Strength: 84 (112); Range: 2; Cost: 380 production; Requires Resource: 7 Floatstone

Requires: Tactical LEV, Purity level 12

True LEV Destroyer (Purity 18): +20 Strength, +28 Ranged Strength, +30% when attacking, 10 HP splash damage to enemy units next to target; Perk: +1 Range when unit has full health, OR +15 HP splash damage to enemy units next to target

Evolved LEV Destroyer (Purity 16, Harmony 5): ?

Prime LEV Destroyer (Purity 16, Supremacy 5): ?

Abilities: Must Set Up to Range Attack, May Not Melee Attack, Ability to Cross Most Types of Terrain

"Ultimate Purity Unique Unit. A gigantic, heavily-armed assault platform that hovers above the terrain, allowing it to traverse canyons and water. Very powerful ranged and siege unit."

Notes: Upgrades to the "True LEV Destroyer," with the stats in parentheses above. Reportedly contains an old Earth relic.

Earthling Settler

Move: 1

Notes: Used for the Purity "Promised Land" victory. Earthling Settler units come through the Exodus Gate and must be settled in Earthling Settlements, which can hold up to 6 each. 20 Settlers must be housed for victory.

Supremacy Units

Supremacy uses fewer units which gain various bonuses based on how they are deployed relative to each other. Upgraded unique units for Supremacy are identified with the "Prime" tag; for example, the CNDR upgrades to a "Prime CNDR" with higher combat strength.

CNDR

Move: 2; Strength: 38 (72); Cost: 155; Requires Resource: 1 Firaxite

Requires: Tactical Robotics, Supremacy level 4

Prime CNDR (Supremacy 12): +34 Strength;

Evolved CNDR: (Supremacy 10, Harmony 2):

True CNDR (Supremacy 10, Purity 2):

"A limited but reliable robotic drone soldier. Simple, hardy defensive melee unit.

Notes: A unique unit for Supremacy. Upgrades to the "Prime CNDR", which has the increased strengths listed in parentheses above.

Disciple (Supremacy Infantry Level 3)

Movement: 2; Strength: 24

Requires Affinity: Supremacy Level 6

Upgrades to: Apostle

Perk: +20% when next to friendly unit, or +8% per adjacent friendly unit

Notes: +10 Strength

Overseer (Supremacy Ranged Infantry Level 3)

Move: 2; Strength 12; Ranged Strength 26; Range: 2

Requires: Physics, Supremacy level 7

Upgrades to: Executive

Upgrade Perk: +20% when next to friendly unit, OR +40% when attacking Cities

Notes: +6 Strength, +12 Ranged Strength

CARVR

Moves: 2; Strength: 50 (86); Cost: 220 production; Requires Resource: 3 Firaxite

Requires: Autogyros, Supremacy level 7

Prime CARVR (Supremacy 14): +36 Strength; ?? OR ??

Evolved CARVR (Supremacy 12, Harmony 3):

True CARVR (Supremacy 12, Purity 3):

"A sophisticated, fully autonomous robotic drone soldier. Versatile recon and melee assault unit."

Prophet (Supremacy Cavalry Level 3)

Strength: 30

Requires: Engineering, Supremacy Level 8

Upgrades to: Redeemer

Perk: +30% when attacking wounded units, or +20% when next to friendly unit

Notes: Has +18 strength as compared to Armor.

SABR

Move: 1; Strength: 15 (30); Ranged Attack: 56 (96); Attack Range: 3*; Cost: 320; Requires Resource: 4 Firaxite

Requires: Synthetic Thought, Supremacy level 9

Prime SABR (Supremacy ??): ??, OR +1 Range

"A high-precision robotic artillery platform with exceptional range and accuracy. Slow but powerful ranged and siege unit."

Notes: Upgrades to the "Prime SABR", which has the increased strengths listed in parentheses above.

Educator (Supremacy Siege Level 3)

Move: 2; Strength: 6; Ranged Strength: 30; Range: 2; Cost: ?

Requires: Computers, Supremacy level 9

Upgrades to: Ambassador

Upgrade Perk: +30% when attacking wounded units, OR +20% when next to friendly unit

Notes: (+3 Strength, +10 Ranged Strength, and +20% vs. Cities) over Artillery.

Apostle (Supremacy Infantry Level 4)

Movement: 2; Strength: 48

Requires Affinity: Supremacy Level 11

Upgrade Perk: +10% HP heal for adjacent units every turn, or +30% flanking bonus

Notes: +24 Strength

Herald (Supremacy Air Fighter Level 3)

Ranged Strength: 28; Range: 5

Requires: Robotics and Supremacy level 11

Upgrades to: Seraph

Upgrade Perk: +50% when Air Sweeping, OR +20% when attacking wounded units

Notes: +16 Ranged Strength, +30% when Air Sweeping. Unlike the other bonuses, the +% to Air Sweep does NOT stack between upgrades.

Executor (Supremacy Ranged Infantry Level 4)

Movement: 2; Strength 20; Ranged Strength: 26; Range: 2*

Requires: Physics, Supremacy level 12

Upgrade Perk: +8% per adjacent friendly unit, OR +1 Range when unit has not moved

Notes: +8 Strength, 1 more attack every turn, Can move after attacking

Redeemer (Supremacy Cavalry Level 4)

Strength: 68

Requires Affinity: Supremacy Level 13

Perk: +30% when flanking, OR ignores zone of control

Notes: Has (+28 strength, +1 Movement, Levitating) over the Prophet.

Ambassador (Supremacy Siege Level 4)

Move: 2; Strength: 12; Ranged Strength: 24; Range: 2; Cost: ?

Requires: Computers, Supremacy level 14

Upgrade Perk: Attack over terrain obstraces, OR -1 setups needed before attacking

Notes: (+6 Strength, +20% vs. Cities, 1 more attack every turn, Can move after attacking, Levitates) upgrade from the Educator.

Seraph (Supremacy Air Fighter Level 4)

Ranged Strength: 46; Range: 6

Requires: Robotics and Supremacy level 16

Upgrade Perk: 1 more Interception every turn, OR 1 Rebase costs no Movement

Notes: +24 Ranged Strength, +1 Range, +40% when Air Sweeping.

Arbiter (Supremacy Naval Fighter Level 3)

Move: 5; Strength: 16; Ranged Strength: 36

Requires: Computing, Supremacy level 10

Upgrades to: Vindicator

Upgrade Perk: +15% when next to friendly unit, OR +30% when defending

Notes: +10 Strength, +18 Ranged Strength, +1 Move

Shepherd (Supremacy Naval Carrier Level 2)

Move: 6; Strength: 44

Requires: Fabrication, Supremacy level 10

Upgrade Perk: +2 Range for onboard aircraft, OR +1 capacity as base for aircraft

Notes: Increases the range of the aircraft it carries. +1 Movement, +26 Strength, and +1 aircraft carrying capacity over the base Carrier.. The concept artwork at left was labeled "Level 4", but appears that there is only one upgrade to the basic carrier.

Vindicator (Supremacy Naval Fighter Level 4)

Requires: Computing, Supremacy level 15

Upgrade Perk: Can move after attacking, OR +1 capacity as base for aircraft

Notes: +16 Strength, +26 Ranged Strength, +1 Range. Note that one of the perks allows the Vindicator to carry an aircraft.

ANGEL

Move: 2; Strength: 88 (108); Ranged Strength: 88 (108)

Requires: Neural Uploading, Supremacy level 12

"Ultimate Supremacy Unique unit. A highly-advanced robotic walker with heavy armaments and exceptional agility that can traverse canyons and shallow water, Extremely versatile unit suited to any battlefield role.

Notes: The Supremacy apex robotic walker unit. The upgraded "Prime ANGEL" has 108 combat strength and ranged strength

Harmony Units

Harmony units are adapted to the environment, move more easily through alien terrain, and can gain benefits from some features (like Miasma) that are harmful to units of other affinities.

Xeno Swarm

Move: 2; Strength: 34; Cost: 120 production; Requires Resource: 1 Xenomass

Requires: Alien Adaptation, Harmony level 4

Evolved Xeno Swarm (Harmony 12): +20 strength, +20% in miasma; +20 HP damage to adjacent enemy units on death, or +40% in miasma

True Xeno Swarm (Harmony 10, Purity 2): +20 strength, +20% in miasma; +20 HP damage to adjacent enemy units on death, or +30% when attacking

Prime Xeno Swarm (Harmony 10, Supremacy 2): +20 strength, +20% in miasma; +20 HP damage to adjacent enemy units on death, or ?

"A mixed squad of human soldiers and adapted alien lifeforms. Simple, versatile melee assault unit."

Notes: A mixed unit of 3 Wolfbeetles, 2 Raptor Bugs, 1 Manticore and 2 human soldiers.

Brawler (Harmony Infantry Level 3)

Movement: 2; Strength: 24

Requires Affinity: Harmony Level 6

Upgrades to: Marauder

Upgrade Perk: +40% when not next to any friendly unit, OR 20 HP damage to adjacent enemy units on death

Notes: +10 Strength on upgrade

Striker (Harmony Ranged Infantry Level 3)

Move: 2; Strength: 12; Ranged Strength: 26; Range: 2

Requires: Harmony level 7

Upgrades to: Shredder

Upgrade Perk: +25 HP heal after killing an enemy unit, OR +30% when attacking fortified units

Note: +6 Strength, +12 Ranged Strength

Xeno Cavalry

Move: 3; Strength: 48 (72); Cost: 210 production; Requires Resource: 2 Xenomass

Requires: Alien Domestication, Harmony level 7

Evolved Xeno Cavalry (Harmony 14): +24 strength, all terrain costs 1 movement; +40% attacking and defending in miasma, OR +40% when not next to any friendly unit

True Xeno Cavalry (Harmony 12, Purity 3): +24 strength, all terrain costs 1 movement;

Prime Xeno Cavalry (Harmony 12, Supremacy 3): +24 strength, all terrain costs 1 movement;

Viper (Harmony Cavalry Level 3)

Movement: 3; Strength: 32

Requires Affinity: Harmony Level 8

Upgrades to: Cobra

Perk: +40% when not next to any friendly unit, OR no movement penalty to pillage and +20 heal on pillage

Notes: Has +14 strength over Armor

Centaur (Harmony Siege Level 3)

Move 2*; Strength: 8; Ranged Strength: 30

Requires: Harmony level 9

Upgrades to: Minotaur

Upgrade Perk: +40% when defending against ranged, OR +1 Movement

Notes: (+3 Strength, +10 Ranged Strength, and +20% vs. Cities) over Artillery.

Rocktopus

Movement: 1; Duration: 10 turns; Effect Range: 2; Ranged Strength: 60; Cost: 280; Requires Resource: 3 Xenomass, 1 Floatstone

Requires: Designer Lifeforms, Harmony level 9

Abilities: Anti-Orbital Strike (Range 1), Line of Sight Rules Do Not Apply, Levitating, May Not Melee Attack

"A bioengineered, living orbital unit that can move between orbital deployments and provide limited orbital coverage around its location."

Evolved Rocktopus (Harmony 16): +22 Ranged Strength, Generate Miasma in orbit; +30 when attacking, OR +1 Movement

True Rocktopus (Harmony 14, Purity 4): +22 Ranged Strength, Generate Miasma in orbit; +30 when attacking, OR +2 Orbital Coverage provided by this unit

Prime Rocktopus (Harmony 14, Supremacy 4): +22 Ranged Strength, Generate Miasma in orbit; +30 when attacking, OR manually de-orbit any time

Notes: The Rocktopus has two modes: in one, it's a floating ground unit, and in the other, it's an orbital unit. It can launch itself into orbit at its current position, and will remain there for 10 turns (unless it obtains the upgrade to allow manual de-orbit). There is no Combat Strength listed in the tooltip, so it's not clear exactly what its attributes are if attacked when in ground mode.

Marauder (Harmony Infantry Level 4)

Move: 2, Strength: 48

Requires Affinity: Harmony Level 11

Perk: +30% combat strength in Miasma, OR all terrain costs 1 Movement point

Notes: +24 Strength

Locust (Harmony Air Fighter Level 3)

Ranged Strength: 28; Range: 5

Requires: Robotics, Harmony level 11

Upgrades to: Shrike

Upgrade Perk: +30% against Air units OR +2 Range when unit has full health

Notes: +12 Ranged Strength, +30% when Air Sweeping. Unlike the other bonuses, the +% to Air Sweep does NOT stack between upgrades.

Shredder (Harmony Ranged Infantry Level 4)

Move: 2; Strength: 20; Ranged Strength: 52; Range: 2

Requires: Harmony level 12

Upgrade Perk: Can move after attacking, OR All Terrain Costs 1 Movement

Notes: Has +8 Strength and +26 Ranged Strength over the Striker.

Cobra (Harmony Cavalry Level 4)

Movement: 4; Strength: 52

Requires Affinity: Harmony Level 13

Perk: +30% combat in miasma, or can move after attacking

Notes: Has (+20 strength, +1 Movement, Levitating) over the Viper.

Minotaur (Harmony Siege Level 4)

Move: 2; Strength: 14; Ranged Strength: 44

Requires: Harmony level 14

Perk: 50% chance to scatter attacked unit to another hex, OR -1 Setups needed before attacking

Notes: (+6 Strength, +14 Ranged Strength, +1 Range, +20% vs. Cities, Levitates) upgrade over the Centaur.

Shrike (Harmony Air Fighter Level 4)

Ranged Strength: 46; Range: 6

Requires: Robotics, Harmony level 16

Upgrade Perk: +25 HP heal after killing an enemy unit, OR 30% chance to scatter attacked unit to another tile

Notes: +18 Ranged Strength, +1 Range, +40% when Air Sweeping.

Triton (Harmony Naval Fighter Level 3)

Strength: 16; Ranged Strength: 36

Requires: Computing, Harmony level 10

Upgrades to: Poseidon

Upgrade Perk: +30% when not next to any friendly unit, OR +40% when attacking Cities

Notes: +10 Strength, +12 Ranged Strength, +1 Move

Hydra (Harmony Carrier Level 2)

Move: 6; Strength: 44

Requires: Fabrication, Harmony level 10

Upgrade Perk: +10 HP heal per turn for carried aircraft, OR +1 capacity as base for aircraft

Notes: +1 Movement, +18 Strength, and +1 aircraft carrying capacity over the base Carrier.

Poseidon (Harmony Naval Fighter Level 4)

Requires: Computing, Harmony level 15

Upgrade Perk: Heal even when outside friendly territory, OR 50% chance to scatter attacked unit to another tile

Notes: +16 Strength, +18 Ranged Strength, +1 Range

Xeno Titan

Move: 2; Strength: 96 (120); Cost: 400 production; Requires Resource: 7 Xenomass

Requires: Alien Evolution, Harmony level 12

"Ultimate Harmony Unique unit. A bioengineered, monstrous creature based on alien lifeforms. Enormous, very powerful melee siege unit."

Notes: this is a large, genetically-engineered alien unit that can be created by the Harmony colony. Upgrades to "Evolved Xeno Titan" with 120 strength at Harmony level 18.

Alien Units

There are a variety of alien unit types, which will appear with a frequency based on the type of terrain at hand. Attacks on alien units will tend to make the remaining aliens more aggressive, potentially triggering an overwhelming response. The alien unit icons change in color from green to orange to red as the aliens become more hostile to the human presence on the planet. Alien aggression level gradually eases over time (and does so twice as fast for a Harmony colony). Aggression levels can also improve to be higher than "neutral," if you permit alien nests to exist unmolested inside your territory; aliens with then become "friendly" (blue icon). It appears that different regional groups of aliens can have different aggression levels.

David McDonough: "Any player can operate friendly to the aliens. The way you do it is: if you avoid killing them, and you allow their nests to exist inside your territory -- pretty much you create a sanctuary or haven, wherein their nests are safe, and you don't let people come in and kill them -- then their opinion of you will improve, and eventually it will improve to the point where they're friendly. You can tell how the aliens feel about you by the color of their units flags... if they go orange or red, they're hostile or very hostile. Right now they're sort of pale green, which is neutral, and if they go blue, they're friendly. [You don't have to go Harmony], you gotta have the nests active inside your territory for long enough. The opinion will just gradually kind of arrive there. And when they're blue, they will not attack you period, you can move around them... they'll just sort of exist among you. You live in symbiosis."

Wolf Beetle

Move: 2; Strength: 8

Notes: Seem to have nests similar in function to Barbarian Camps.

Notes: The images below were pre-alpha versions of the graphic for Wolf Beetles; they have exactly the same arrangement and size distribution of 8 models, and the icon for the current Wolf Beetles still looks like these guys.

Raptor Bug

Move: 3; Strength: 14

Notes: This unit also appears to have changed around a bit since the earliest shots.

Notes: in earlier builds, the Raptor looked like this:

Manticore

Move: 1; Strength: 4; Ranged Strength: 12

Notes: Fire balls of acid from their tails.

Drone

Strength: 12

Notes: A flying alien unit; like a Helicopter from Civilization V, it can traverse land or sea terrain.

Siege Worm

Move: 1; Strength 48

Notes: Siege worms are roving monsters that are not initially indifferent to humanity, but may inadvertently pillage your improvements through their activities. Those who learn the ways of the worm (Harmony) may be able to use them for their own purposes, such as attracting them to their enemies' cities with a covert ops "Call Worm Strike" (Dune-style thumpers).

"When you kill the siege worm, you see its skull, and when you pick the skull up you may find a new quest thread that you can pick up and follow, and each time you complete an objective in that thread, you get a little bit of the fiction." - Will Miller

Sea Dragon

Move: 4; Strength: 18

Kraken

Move: 2; Strength: 70

Notes: An aquatic counterpart to the Siege Worm.

Unit Promotions

As in Civilization V, when a unit gains a promotion, it can choose between available promotions, or to heal itself for 50 HP (half its full health). This is heal does increase with experience level; the "Expert" level version heals 75 HP.

Known promotions:

Discipline (Seasoned): Permanent +10% Strength and Ranged Strength in Combat.

Discipline (Veteran): Permanent +10% Strength and Ranged Strength in Combat.

Discipline (Expert): Permanent +10% Strength and Ranged Strength in Combat.

Orbital Units

Notes: Satellites exist on a separate "Orbital Layer"; each one projects a fixed zone of influence onto the map below. These areas of effect can't overlap, so once a satellite is in place, another can't occupy the same zone. Satellites can only be launched into areas of Orbital Coverage; normal cities appear to have a coverage radius of 5 tiles, and this can be increased through various buildings, Virtues or Affinity bonuses. Satellites are temporary, and will eventually crash if they are not shot down, and the remains can be looted by an Explorer for salvage. Orbital units can be shot down by artillery units.

Different types of satellites can reportedly detect spies, clear miasma, provide energy, heal units, provide combat bonuses, or even engage in direct attack.

A satellite unit ready for launch in a city appears as a rocket on the launch tower, as illustrated at right. Orbital units have pentagonal icons.

Note: entries marked with an asterisk (*) below are from game speeds other than Normal.

Unit Technology Prod.

Cost Purch.

Cost Duration Range Requires

Resource Game Info Solar Collector Photosystems 80 340 60 1 - +1 Energy per tile, +20% Energy to City in range Tacnet Hub Communications 80 340 60 2 - +20% combat and ranged strength and +5 HP heal per turn to friendly units in range Miasmic Repulsor Ecology 50 240 10 2 - Clears miasma from the affected tiles Miasmic Condenser Alien Ecology 130 490 10 2 3 Petroleum

1 Xenomass Generates miasma on the affected tiles Weather Controller Climate Control 60* ? 48* 1 2 _ Petroleum

1 _ Titanium +1 Food on tile you own; Generates new Basic Resources on unimproved tiles All-Seer Dark Networks 140 ? 30 1 4 Petroleum

1 Titanium Removes all Covert Agents and Intrigue from any City in range, and prevents both while active. Deep Space Telescope Geoscaping 140 ? 60 2 2 Petroleum

1 Firaxite +25% Science to any City in range; eventually will discover a fragment of The Signal. Holomatrix Civil Support 90 ? 60 1 3 _ Petroleum

1 _ Floatstone +2 Culture on any tiles you own. Any City in range receives 50% less Intrigue from enemy Covert Agent activity. Lasercom Satellite Orbital Networks ? ? ? ? ? Establishes Faster-Than-Light communication with Earth; the first step toward building a Warp Gate Orbital Fabricator Orbital Automation ? ? ? ? ? Orbital Laser Cybernetics 130 490 60 3 2 Petroleum Bombards units with Ranged Strength 70 Phasal Transporter Cybernetics 130 490 30 1 2 Petroleum

1 Titanium Teleport units one-way from any friendly city to any tile within the satellite's radius Planet Carver Astrodynamics 140 ? 30 2 4 Petroleum

1 Titanium Bombards units with a ranged strength of 120 Rocktopus Designer Lifeforms 280 870 10 2 3 Xenomass

1 Floatstone Redeployable, Attacks with a ranged strength of 60. Anti-Orbital Strike (range 1), Levitating

Tacnet Hub

Notes: Provides +20% combat and ranged strength and +5 HP heal per turn to friendly units within a 2 tile range (area 5 tiles across).

Solar Collector

Miasmic Repulsor

Notes: Clears miasma from affected tiles, starting from the center.

Miasmic Condenser

Notes: Spreads miasma.

Orbital Laser

Notes: In earlier videos, this model was used for the TacNet Hub, but it's currently the Orbital Laser.

Planet Carver

Notes: This satellite can directly attack units on the ground.

Weather Controller

Phasal Transporter

Holomatrix

Lasercom Satellite

Deep Space Telescope

(Unknown Satellite 1)

(Unknown Satellite 2)

Notes: Economy-related, according to the image filename.

Cities

The city screen will be instantly familiar to any player of Civilization V. The production queue, citizen management, tile purchasing, etc. appear to operate in a familiar manner.

City Resources have changed. There are now five: Culture, Production, Food, Energy (currency), and Science. Happiness is now called Health (indicated by a green EKG symbol), and operates in a similar manner

Resources that were in Civ V but are missing from Beyond Earth are Tourism, Faith, and Great Person points.

Capturing a City

The options to Puppet or Annex a captured city have changed slightly from Civilization V. The Puppet option works as before, though with a halved period of martial law after capture (during which the city is not productive). The Annex option now introduces a period of resistance equal to the population of the city, and martial law equal to 120% of the population, regardless of how long you've held it, so if you Puppet a city and then later choose to Annex it, you will have to wait through the unproductive period twice. The change is intended to encourage the player make a choice of whether to Annex the city right away, or to Puppet and keep it that way (instead of always Puppeting a city and then decide whether to Annex later).

Outposts

Newly-founded cities begin as 0-population Outposts, which can't produce anything and are vulnerable. An Outpost grows into a full City over time, once it has acquired all adjacent tiles. Establishing Trade Routes with an Outpost accelerates this process. If an Outpost is captured by a rival faction, it is destroyed (it becomes a Derelict Settlement); it is not converted (unless that faction has purchased the Might virtue Liberation Army). And contrary to rumor, Outposts cannot be attacked without declaring war on the owner.

Generic Human Cities

Notes: Cities start as Outposts, which must be protected and sustained by Supply Routes for a certain number of turns before they mature into full Cities.

Purity Cities

Notes: As the colony gains levels in an Affinity, the visual character of his cities will begin to change.

Supremacy Cities

Harmony Cities

Buildings

As in Civilization V, buildings are structures that can be constructed or purchased within a city. Also as in Civ V, most buildings do not appear on the actual map. Once again as in Civ V, some buildings have slots to which you can assign population, which converts them into a certain type of specialist, which produces more of the associated resource. Specialist types include:

Trader - Energy

Grower - Food

Artist - Culture

Engineer - Production

Scientist - Research

The Building Costs have fluctuated quite a bit over the course of various the pre-release builds, so take them with a grain of salt.

Building Technology Prod.

Cost Mnt. Purch.

Cost Benefit Specialists Notes Clinic Habitation 60 1 270 +1 Science

+1 Health - Old Earth Relic Habitation 40 1 200 +2 Culture - Trade Depot Pioneering 60 1 270 +1 _ Production - Adds 2 Trade Routes Laboratory Chemistry 80 1 340 +2 Science - Recycler Chemistry 76 1 320 +2 Production - +1 Production from Internal City or Station Trade Routes Ultrasonic Fence Ecology 120 1 460 - - Prevents Alien units from approaching within 2 tiles of this City Vivarium Ecology 80 1 340 +2 Food - +1 Food from Desert Cytonursery Genetics 90 1 370 +1 Health

+1 Science - +1 Food from Marsh Pharmalab Genetics 95 1 390 +2 Health - Alien Preserve Alien Lifeforms 125 1 470 +2 Culture - Rocket Battery Ballistics 125 1 470 +18 City Def

+15 City HP - +2 Range for Anti-Orbital Strike Network Computing 185 1 640 +3 Science - +1 Science from Copper Thorium Reactor Engineering 105 - 420 +3 Energy 2 Traders +1 Energy from Silica Repair Facility Engineering 90 1 370 - - +10% Production for Land Units Launch Complex Physics 130 1 490 +3 Orbital Coverage - Observatory Physics 100 1 400 +2 Science - +1 Science from Firaxite Water Refinery Biochemistry 150 1 540 - - +1 Food and +1 Production from Water tiles; Can only be constructed in coastal cities Defense Perimeter ? 150 1 540 +10 City HP +10 City Defense Petrochemical Plant Biochemistry 160 1 ? - 1 Trader +1 Production and Energy from Petroleum; requires Petroleum Xenofuel Plant Alien Sciences 127 - 650 +3 Energy 2 Traders +1 Energy from Xenomass. Requires Harmony level 2, Requires Xenomass Xenonursery Alien Sciences 180 1 ? +10% Science 1 Scientist +1 Science from Xenomass. Requires Harmony level 2, Requires Xenomass Gaian Well Terraforming 265 1 ? +3 Energy - Requires Geothermal and Purity level 4 Autoplant Robotics 210 1 700 +2 Production 2 Engineers +1 Energy from International City or Station Trade Routes Command Center Communications 310 1 940 +20 City Def

+20 City HP - Feedsite Hub Communications 225 1 ? +3 Culture - +1 Science from International City or Station Trade Routes; Requires Supremacy level 2 Gene Garden Genetic Design 200 1 ? +1 Science

+2 Health - Requires Purity level 2 Cloning Plant Genetic Design 210 1 700 +2 Food 1 Grower +1 Production from Xenomass; requires Xenomass Microbial Mine Synergetics 255 1 1210 +3 Production - +10% Production. Requires Harmony level 7, requires 2 Xenomass Organ Printer Synergetics 261 1 ? +15% Science - Requires Supremacy level 6 Bionics Lab Bionics 265 1 ? +20% Health - +1 Production from Resilin; Requires Resilin and Purity level 4 Institute Bionics 310 1 940 - 3 Scientists Augmentery Augmentation 336 - ? +1 Food

+1 Production

+1 Energy

+1 Science

+1 Culture - Requires Supremacy level 7 Neurolab Cognition 255 1 810 +10% Science - +1 Science from Firaxite; requires Firaxite and Supremacy level 4 Holosuite Cognition 245 1 ? +2 Culture 2 Artists +1 Culture from Firaxite; requires Firaxite CEL Cradle Artificial Intelligence 310 1 940 - 4 Artists Requires Supremacy level 4. Surveillance Web Artificial Intelligence 235 1 760 City HP +5 - Maximum Covert Ops Intrigue for this city reduced by 2. Borehole Planetary Engineering 335 1 ? +5 Production - Requires Purity level 8. Alloy Foundry Fabrication 310 1 ? +2 Production 2 Engineers +2 Production from Titanium; requires Titanium Xeno Sanctuary Alien Ethics 550 1 990 +4 Culture - Adds one point per turn to Transcendence Victory progress. Requires 1 Xenomass, and Harmony level 5 Mind Stem Alien Ethics 330 1 ? - - Requires Harmony. Adds one point per turn to Transcendence Victory progress. LEV Plant Mechatronics 390 1 ? +4 Production - Consumes 2 Floatstone, Requires Purity level 5 Optical Surgery Mechatronics 370 1 ? +4 Health - +1 Health from Silica; Requires Supremacy level 5, 2 Firaxite Mass Digester Organics 255 1 810 - 4 Growers +1 Energy from Tundra Biofactory Organics 194* 1 ? +3 Production - +1 Production from Chitin; Requires Petroleum and Harmony level 4 Biofuel Plant Biology 220 - ? +3 Energy 2 Traders +2 Energy from Algae; requires Algae Growlab Biology 265 1 ? +3 Food - +1 Food from Fungus; Requires Fungus and Harmony level 4 Civil Crèche Social Dynamics 445 1 ? +2 Food 3 Growers Soma Distillery Social Dynamics 400 1 ? +4 Health 2 Artists ("Soma" was the Vedic/Hindu nectar of the gods) Terra Vault Social Dynamics 390 1 ? +15% Culture - Requires Purity level 7 Nanopasture Nanotechnology 415 1 ? - 2 Scientists 30% Food carried over after City growth Hypercore Hypercomputing 470 1 ? +2 Science

+15% Science - Requires 4 Firaxite, Supremacy level 10 Gene Smelter Transgenics 350 1 1030 +3 Health 2 Scientists Neoplanetarium Astrodynamics 500 1 ? +3 Orbital Coverage - +20% Production for Orbital Units, +3 Range for Anti-Orbital Strike Skycrane Astrodynamics 470 1 ? +15% Production - Requires 4 Floatstone, Purity 10 Node Bank Cybernetics 375 1 ? +10 City HP 2 Engineers +24 City Defense Molecular Forge Bioengineering 390 1 ? +5 Food - Requires Harmony level 8 Bioglass Furnace Bioengineering 470 1 ? +2 Production - +15% Production; Requires Supremacy level 8, consumes 2xFiraxite Field Reactor Field Theory 500 - ? +2 Energy 2 Traders +10% Energy Mantle Field Theory 470 1 ? +3 Science

+10% Science - Requires Purity level 8, consumes 4xFloatstone Progenitor Garden Artificial Evolution 430 1 ? +20% Health - Requires 4 Xenomass, Harmony level 10 Culper Lodge - - ? - ? ? A quest-reward building that levels your Covert Agents to top rank.

Building Bonus Quests

*Value from a game speed other than Normal

In addition to the listed statistics, most (if not all) buildings trigger quests that allow the player to choose between two additional benefits for each building. Below is a partial list of the choices:

Clinic: +15 City HP OR +1 Health

Old Earth Relic: No maintenance for the building OR +1 Culture

Trade Depot: +1 Production OR +1 Energy

Laboratory: +1 expedition for explorers OR +1 Science

Recycler: +10% worker rate OR +1 Food

Pharmalab: +1 Science OR +1 Health

Cytonursery: +5% Production for military units OR +1 Production

Ultrasonic Fence: +1 to Fence radius OR trade convoys will not be attacked by alien units

Vivarium: +1 Science OR +1 Food

Network: No maintenance for the building OR +1 Culture

Thorium reactor: +2 Energy OR +1 Production

Repair Facility: +1 orbital coverage OR +5% Production for military units

Observatory: +2 Defense for the city OR +2 Movement for naval units

Launch Complex: +1 orbital coverage OR +10% Production for orbital units

Alien Preserve: +5 heal rate OR +1 Science and +1 Energy

Auto Plant: +1 trade route limit OR +1 Energy

Institute: +5% Science OR a free tech

Xeno Sanctuary: +2 Culture OR +2 Food

Rocket Battery: +5 City Defense OR +1 Anti-Orbital Strike range

Mass Digester: +1 Production OR +1 Food

Holosuite: +2 Culture OR Free Virtue

Gene Garden: +3 Gold OR +1 Health

Cloning Plant: 10% Food carried over after pop growth OR +1 Health

Xenofuel Plant: one-time 1000 Energy OR +3 Energy and +2 Production from Xenomass Wells

Xenonursery: one-time 450 Science OR +5 Xenomass

Gaian Well: +2 Energy OR +1 Production

Command Center: +15 City Defense OR +1 Covert Agent

Feedsite Hub: +1 Covert Agent OR +10% Worker speed

CEL Cradle: 10% Food carried over after pop growth OR +1 Covert Agent

Surveillance Web: Covert Agents advance in rank faster OR +10 City HP

Alloy Foundry: +2 Production from Titanium Mines OR +4 Titanium

LEV Plant: +2 Production OR +2 Energy

Auto Plant: +1 Trade Route OR +1 Energy

Bionics Lab: +1 Science OR +1 Culture

Institute: +5% Science OR Free Technology

Biofuel Plant: +1 Energy OR +1 Production

Wonders and Projects

Most Wonders in Beyond Earth are city structures (as in Civilization V) which may or may not appear among the city's buildings or near to the city on the border between hexes (example: The Pyramids in Civ V). However, some are Planetary Wonders, which occupy a tile on the map, and can be directly attacked by hostile forces.

Notes: Will Miller: "You build the warpgate, which is a planetary wonder, which is a new concept in the game. It's a wonder that takes up an entire hex, and you have to give up that hex as part of your city to build this thing, and it takes a while and a lot of resources to build, and then if you're sending things through it or taking things out of it you have to protect it, they're very weak, so there's a military presence that has to be there, and there's a certain number of units you have to send in, and a certain number of units you have to pull out, and it it's the same with all of the other ones. It's not just "I build this thing and I win," it's "I build this thing, and you turn it on, you have to protect it and all the other players know you're gunning for it. It's a neat twist on winning Civ."

Wonder Technology Cost Benefit Notes Headquarters - - +3 Production

+4 Energy

+2 Science

+1 Culture

+6 Defense National Wonder that starts the game in the player's Capital City; the equivalent of the Civilization V Palace Spy Agency Computing 200 - National Wonder; enables Covert Ops, provides 3 Covert Agents Gene Vault Genetic Mapping 205 +4 Food

+1 Culture +10% Growth in all Cities Panopticon Defense Grid 250 +1 Culture +1 sight range for Military units Stellar Codex Ballistics 225 +3 Science +10% production towards orbital units, +4 range to orbital coverage around city Ectogenesis Pod Genetic Design 300 +3 Food

+3 Production All Farms produce +1 Food Drone Sphere Swarm Robotics 650 +2 Science +10 Healing for Military Untis in friendly territory. Provides a free Surveillance Web in the City in which it is built. Markov Eclipse Artificial Intelligence 1050 +4 Science

+1 Culture Military Units gain experience 50% faster Nanothermite Nanotechnology 1050 +4 Energy +30 City Defense ByteGeist Swarm Intelligence 1250 +2 Science

+4 Culture -15% Culture cost for Virtues. Master Control Autonomous Systems 225 +1