







Hi folks,





Endless Space 2 Supremacy is coming to Steam this week, on August 2nd! We're very happy to be bringing another expansion to Endless Space 2, and we hope you'll like it, too! In case you're curious about what's coming up, we'll be publishing the game design documents over the next few days. Here's a closer look at the new faction of the Supremacy expansion, the Hissho...





















Faction: Hissho

Species: Hissho

Government: The Honorable Hissho Doksai





History:

Tempered by steel and battle, the Hissho evolved from avian ancestors on their Home Planet of Uchi. Focused on the constant wars between their own tribes, they lived ignorant of the different species roaming the galaxy until they were picked up by the Endless, augmented and then quickly put to the test as gladiators fighting in the decadent arenas of their new masters. How long this period of mindless slaughter for the pleasure of their overlords lasted, none of them could say, and of this bygone age only memories of slavery and exploitation remain, along with those of glory and adulation.









Society:

Under the rule of the Tokso, their military and spiritual leader, both an accomplished warrior and a symbol of divine authority, the Hissho have long lived divided into clans and regions following feudal lines. However, modernity slowly eroded this very strict organization and changed the makeup of society. Oaths of loyalty are now made to “School” and the way of life prescribed inside the walls of their integrated cities.





Of those, two are worth particular attention: The Way of the Red Blade, whose focus on physical training and warmongering attitude seduced those who would see the Hissho reign supreme on the galaxy; and the Order of the Obsidian Eagle with its daily observation of religious sacrifices and hermetic discipline, earning the respect, and even the fear, of those who come into contact with it.









Gameplay:

The Hissho are a military-oriented faction whose main gameplay feature is Keii (which translates to respect or deference). This new resource that can only be replenished through combat is used to power special abilities applied on Hissho fleets. It also drives their empire Obedience which replaces happiness and supersedes the Obedience of their star systems. Crushingly strong on the offensive, the Hissho will only fall if you cannot sustain your war economy and let your Keii wither away.





Heroes:

As a faction well versed in the art of combat, it’s no surprise that the Hissho would mostly house heroes focused on warfare and space battle. They are therefore best suited for admiral positions thanks to strong damage and fleet upkeep bonuses but if push comes to shove, they make decent governors… as long as your goal is to make your system a manpower and spaceship factory.





Ships:

Powerful and versatile, Hissho fleets can easily switch between straightforward and devious loadouts thanks to numerous polyvalent slot modules capable of hosting both support and defense or attack modules.













Faction Card:





Population Traits:

+1 Industry on planet

+2 Manpower on planet





Assimilation Traits:

+1 Industry on planet

+1 Manpower on planet





Population Collection Bonus:

+1 Military Point per Hissho

+10% Manpower production on System with Hissho

- 50% ship cost production





Starting party:

Main: Militarist

Secondary: Religious





PsychoTraits:

Militarist (War++)

Fanatics (Religion to war)

Anti-pacifist (pacifist--)









Faction Traits: Keii-do





Resources: Keii





Keii is a new resource the Hissho can use to launch special abilities and that drives their empire "Obedience" (more about that lower in this post). More specifically, it is lost by:

Using special laws

Turning outpost into colonies

Building specific star system improvements

Retreating

Losing or giving up a ground battle





And it is earned by:

Fighting a space battle The amount of Keii won depends on the respective power levels and sizes of the fleets involved.

Fighting and winning ground battles

Completing quest and deeds





Along those methods, there is also a way to boost the Keii you will obtain: through your Behemoth ’”Keii zone”. As long as a fleet fights under this specific circular region generated by Hissho Behemoths, you will passively get a 20% boost to all Keii gains after a battle.













Keii uses: Glorious actions





Glorious actions are special abilities that the player can use on a fleet, star system or a Behemoth to impact them.

They are unlocked when the player has reached a certain threshold of Keii and cost Dust and/or strategic resources to be used

Their effect last for a fixed number of turns

Only one of each Glorious action can be active at a time









There are 4 different Glorious actions whose effect depend on their target.





On a fleet/system:

Order of the Red Blade: Target type: fleet Gives the “Emperor’s Guard” bonus to ships belonging to the fleet ( +20% damage, +20% Hull absorption, +20% shield absorption)

War Banner: Target type: fleet +2 movement points on ships, +2 vision range on ships, +50% health shown to enemies on Fleet, + 50% military power shown to enemies on fleet

Way of the Obsidian Eagle: Target type: Owned Colonized Star System Colonized star system will benefit from +25% Industry

Homeland defense: Target type: Owned Colonized Star System Unlock a special Tactic granting bonus DMG done to Attacker in Ground battle (system specific) and + 20% manpower generated per turn on system







On a Behemoth:

Order of the Red Blade: Gives the “Emperor’s Guard” bonus to ships inside the Behemoth’s Keii zone ( +20% damage, +20% Hull absorption, +20% shield absorption)

War Banner: Fleets in the Keii zone get +1 movement points on ships, +1 vision range on ships, +35% health shown to enemies on Fleet, + 35% military power shown to enemies on fleet

Way of the Obsidian Eagle: System under the Behemoth’s Keii zone will benefit from +20% Industry

Homeland defense: System under the Behemoth’s Keii zone will unlock a special Tactic granting bonus DMG done to Attacker in Ground battle (system specific) and + 15% manpower generated per turn on systems







Keii uses: Obedience





Hissho do not have Empire approval and instead have Empire Obedience which directly depends on Keii: your stock of it is directly equal to your percentage of Obedience. They do not have star system Happiness either and get a local Obedience which is always equal to the Empire’s: your Empire basically follows you in unison, they all obey you or all hate you.









This also means that most approval/happiness granting system improvement, laws, etc are replaced for the Hissho.









Keii uses: Colonization





The Hisshos use colonizers like all other factions; however:

Their Outposts have a 50% natural growth penalty, and the migration ships also only take 50% of their usual content

They only have access to 2 outpost actions: Transform outpost into colony Stilt growth of enemy outpost

Their Outposts never turn into a Colony naturally They have to use the action

This action costs a certain amount of Keii This amount decreases with the progress on the Outpost, down to a minimum cost The minimum cost is set to 10 and scales up with the number of systems above the over-colonization threshold The action instantly turns the Outpost into a Colony











Faction Trait: Sacred Tradition





Along with Obedience, Hissho have a special way of dealing with politic. This faction trait ensures that Hissho will not change government type even after a period of rebellion. It also allow them to view the destination of their enemies' fleets.













Faction Trait: Observance





After each new election, the Hissho will gain access to a new "Observance", a ritual that sacrifice a population in exchange for a specific bonus. The newest observance will replace the last one and after 3 elections, the cycle of rituals is over and restarts.













Faction Trait: Pirates Slayers





An honorable faction, the Hissho refuse to deal with Pirates in any other way than war. All diplomatic interactions with the pirates are off the table but in exchange, Hissho earn twice as much loot when destroying a pirate lair.









Faction Trait: Resources Recoverers





Hissho mining probes can also collect part of the FIDS resources of the planet they've been set up on.





***





That's it for the Hissho! I'm personally very fond of them and their gameplay, and I hope many of you will take up the war banners in your future games!





We'll be back tomorrow with another game design document... what do you like most about the new Hissho?



