While every faction uses the same core resources (Food, Production, Research, Credits, Energy), their biological or technological nature drastically changes how they produce and utilize them.
Food & Biomass
Food fuels population growth and prevents starvation. However, not all factions eat grain or livestock. The biological Verdant Accord and Zephyr Hive rely on massive agricultural yields to expand their overwhelming numbers. Conversely, synthetic factions like the Mech Assembly and Auric Syndicate don't eat at all. For them, "Food" represents biofuel, industrial lubricants, and biological components used in cybernetics. This is why synthetic factions often suffer innate penalties to food production; their infrastructure isn't designed for agriculture, but for raw industrial output.
Production & Industry
Production builds ships and structures. Factions like the Auric Syndicate and Krai Dominion excel here, dedicating their entire societies to mass manufacturing and the war machine. Their populations are augmented or culturally conditioned to work tirelessly in foundries. Peaceful factions or those relying on delicate telekinesis, like the Nexari, often struggle with heavy industry.
Research & Intellect
Research points drive technological advancement. Psionic or purely logical factions, like the Nexari and Mech Assembly, possess unparalleled cognitive or computational processing, giving them massive innate bonuses to research speed. More aggressive or instinct-driven factions, such as the Krai and Zephyr, tend to lag behind in theoretical sciences.
Energy & Credits
Credits and Energy represent your empire's wealth and power grid. Master merchants like the Voss Trade League generate vast amounts of wealth to buy their way to dominance. Energy-intensive factions like the Mech Assembly and Auric Syndicate often suffer energy penalties due to the massive power draw of their cybernetic bodies and autonomous factories, requiring them to dedicate more resources to power generation just to break even.
Faction Traits & Bonuses
Each faction starts with innate percentage bonuses or penalties to resource production. These modifiers multiply the base output of your colonies. A faction with a +15% production bonus will construct ships significantly faster than a faction with a -10% penalty. To succeed, you must lean into your faction's strengths while finding ways to mitigate their economic weaknesses.