Governments

Once your empire holds two systems, it can choose a government. A government changes how your whole empire works: what it is good at, and what that costs.

The three governments

• Admiralty: a military government led by the fleet command. +5% offense when attacking and +5% travel speed for your fleets, and your vanguards drain at least 25 loyalty from other players' stars. Costs +5% fleet upkeep and -3% defense when defending.

• Consortium: a merchant government led by the trade houses. +5% credits from Trade Hubs, and your vanguards drain at least 25 loyalty from NPC stars. Costs -3% offense, -3% defense when defending and -3% travel speed for your fleets.

• Protectorate: a defensive government led by the council of wardens. +5% defense when defending, no vanguard drains more than 30 loyalty from your stars, and NPCs raid your stars less often. Costs -3% offense, -5% travel speed for your fleets and +5% fleet upkeep.

Choosing and changing

• Your first choice is free and takes effect immediately.

• Changing costs two days of your credit income, counted before upkeep, and at least 1,000 credits. If your treasury can't cover it, the change is refused.

• After a change, your current government stays in effect for three days. Then the new government takes over, bonuses and drawbacks together. You can't change again until those three days have passed.

• Losing systems doesn't take your government away. If you respawn, you choose again for free.

What other players see

Other players see your government on your profile. During a change they keep seeing the government that is still in effect, and only see the new one once it takes over.

Loyalty and raids

A vanguard that lands on a star normally drains 20 to 35 loyalty, and loyalty comes back by 2 every hour between waves. A higher minimum means fewer waves to take a star, which counts most when your waves are far apart. Admiralty gets that edge against other players, Consortium against NPCs. A Protectorate star never loses more than 30 to a single vanguard, whoever sends it.

NPCs wait longer between plain raids on a Protectorate empire. Their siege waves, the ones that carry a vanguard, are not slowed.

How it combines

Government effects multiply with the other modifiers on the same stat: sector bonuses, morale and the credit deficit penalty. Trade shipments between empires are not slowed by Protectorate.

Policies

Each government offers six policies, each with its own advantage and drawback. You can adopt up to three, one at a time, for free. You can't drop a single policy, but you can reset all of them at once and pick again. A reset costs a quarter of a day's credit income for each policy you hold, at least 500 credits, and after one you wait 3 days before the next. You can't reset during a government change.

When you change government, your current policies stay in effect together with your current government until the switch. You can pick the new government's policies right away, and they take effect at the switch. Other players never see your policies.

NPCs

NPC empires choose a government too, once they hold two systems, and never change it. When an inactive player's empire becomes an NPC, it keeps its government, but its policies are replaced by the set NPCs hold.