Crisis

Version

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

A crisis is an event that threatens the entire galaxy and all life within it. There are two types of crises: those caused by outside entities that make an appearance after the end-game start year, and those caused by player and AI empires (except Fallen Empires).

Each time a crisis conquers a planet it causes diplomatic Threat with all empires, making them more likely to cooperate against the crisis. Fallen Empires will send their fleets against a Crisis if it approaches their borders and may even awaken to help fight it.

If the "Crisis Type" galaxy setting is set to "All" then each crisis will be twice more powerful than the previous one.

## Midgame crises

*Main article: Great Khan*

*Main article: Gray Tempest*

## Endgame crises

Endgame crises are triggered in various ways. The following is a summary of the requirements:

* All of the following must be true:
	+ "Crisis Strength" galaxy setting must not be "Off"
	+ One of the following must be true:
		- In the end-game
		- Finished the Ancient Robot World archaeological site (50% chance)
		- Both the Extradimensional Experimentation and Galactic Threats Committee resolutions have been passed
	+ One of the following must be true:
		- Finished the Ancient Robot World archaeological site (50% chance)
		- At least 25 years have passed since the end-game start year
		- One of the following must be true (default\_endgame\_early\_start\_triggers scripted trigger):
			* No Fallen or Awakened empires exist
			* There cannot be a War in Heaven, regardless of the galactic situation
			* A War in Heaven has already occurred, and finished
		- Any empire has Jump Drives or Psi Jump Drives
		- The Extradimensional Experimentation resolution has been passed
		- The Galactic Threats Committee resolution has been passed
	+ One of the following must be true:
		- A galactic crisis has not happened
		- If the "Crisis Type" galaxy setting is set to "All", another endgame crisis must not have been triggered in the previous twelve years

The above requirements are checked every 5 years. If the requirements are met, then the game randomly selects either one of the crisis, or no crisis, with the following base weights:

* Prethoryn Scourge (10):
	+ x0 if less then 50 years have passed since the end-game start year and the default\_endgame\_early\_start\_triggers scripted trigger is NOT met (see above)
	+ x3 if the "Crisis Type" galaxy setting is set to "Prethoryn Scourge"
	+ x0 if the "Crisis Type" galaxy setting is set to either "Unbidden" or "Contingency"
	+ x2 if there cannot be a War in Heaven, or there are no Fallen or Awakened empires
	+ x0 if the Prethoryn Scourge has already happened
* Unbidden (8):
	+ x3.75 if the "Crisis Type" galaxy setting is set to "Unbidden"
	+ x0 if the "Crisis Type" galaxy setting is set to either "Prethoryn Scourge" or "Contingency
	+ 2x if there cannot be a War in Heaven, or there are no Fallen or Awakened empires
	+ 0.5x if less then 20 end-game years have passed
	+ x0 if the Unbidden has already happened

Note that the Unbidden is the only crisis that can spawn earlier than the endgame start date.

* Contingency (10):
	+ x0 if less then 50 years have passed since the end-game start year and the default\_endgame\_early\_start\_triggers scripted trigger is NOT met
	+ x3 if the "Crisis Type" galaxy setting is set to "Contingency"
	+ x0 if the "Crisis Type" galaxy setting is set to either "Prethoryn Scourge" or "Unbidden"
	+ x2 if there cannot be a War in Heaven, or there are no Fallen or Awakened empires
	+ x0 if the Contingency has already happened
* Nothing (120):
	+ Set to 1 if someone finished the Ancient Robot World archaeological site (50% chance)

Additionally, all of the above options (with the exception of "Nothing") are multiplied depending on how many years since the endgame start year have passed:

* x2 after 35 years
* x2 after 50 years
* x3 after 70 years
* x3 after 85 years
* x4 after 100 years

Endgame crises have a situation log entry that keeps count of the casualties on both sides and shows how close the crisis is to being defeated. During an endgame crisis an audio cue that will play in the background and grow more pronounced the more systems are controlled by the crisis.

The "Crisis Type" galaxy setting and the various difficulty bonuses increase the hull, shield, armour, and damage of the endgame crisis, but not the ship fire rate.

### Prethoryn Scourge

The Prethoryn Scourge Crisis begins with a notice about subspace echoes beyond the galaxy that are approaching. Immediately a situation log notice called "The Coming Storm" is added.

On a MTTH (Mean Time To Happen) of 50 years, they will be close enough to get the general direction of the swarm. A system at the edge of the galaxy will be marked as the center of the Invasion. The system cannot be within or near a Fallen or Awakened Empire. The closest 5 systems are marked for the vanguard fleets. 120 months after that, a transmission will be received from the swarm.

30 months later the Vanguard will arrive with 12 fleets. 200–600 days after the vanguard the main invasion fleet will arrive at the center system. In each vanguard system 3 Star Brood and 3 Transport Fleets will spawn. At this point the Prethoryn Scourge appears in the contact log but cannot be communicated with. If an empire’s primary species has the  Hive Minded or  Psionic traits it will be able to communicate with the crisis but diplomacy is still impossible. If the Galactic Community was formed, a Galactic Priority to fight the Prethoryn Scourge becomes available.

The Prethoryn Scourge uses the following mechanics:

* The Prethoryn species itself is immortal so their commanders will never die of old age.
* The Swarm gets fleets at regular intervals on any system with a spaceport.
	+ (monthly) If they have no planet and army they get a fleet of 20 armies
	+ (yearly) If their count of Infestors is under 4, they get a fleet of 5 Infestors
	+ (yearly) If their count of Infestors is under 4 but they still have at least 10 ships total, they get a fleet of 3 constructors
* The Prethoryn Scourge will attack planets that contain biological pops first
* Each fleet will take systems in a way similar to Total Wars.
* Prethoryn constructors will build starbases to expand their territory into unclaimed systems. Their starbases are as strong as citadels and modified by the Crisis Difficulty setting.
* The Prethoryn Scourge use infestors as colony ships. They will land on uncolonized habitable planets and when the colony development process is complete the planet is turned into an infested world. As with regular colony development any orbital bombardment will instantly interrupt the process.
* Prethoryn transports will invade inhabited planets using ground armies in order to occupy it and purge the Pops. During this phase the planet can be recaptured with ground armies. Once all Pops have been purged the planets will be turned into an infested world.
* Infested Planets cannot be invaded. In order to get rid of the infestation, infested planets must be bombarded until Devastation reaches 100, at which point they will turn into a barren planet that can be terraformed.
* If the Scourge overruns a ring world segment it will destroy it. Ring world segments destroyed by the swarm cannot be rebuilt. Overrun habitats are destroyed entirely and are likewise impossible to rebuild.

When the Prethoryn Scourge is defeated every empire will gain **+20**  Happiness for 10 years and 700-4000  Unity.

**Audio Cue**: As the Prethoryn Scourge infests more of the galaxy soft chewing sounds will start to be heard in the background.

#### Prethoryn Fleets

Vanguard fleets consist of 30 Swarmlings led by a commander with the Void Swimmer Trait. Star Brood fleets consist of 1 Queen, 8 Brood Mothers, 10 Warriors, and 35 Swarmlings led by a commander that has a 25% chance to have the unique Hive Affinity Trait. Every 2 years if the Prethoryn Scourge has below 2000 ships and at least 1 infested planet it will get 2 Star Brood fleets, with a third fleet at 20% galactic border coverage, a fourth fleet at 40% border coverage. They may also get Constructors and Infestors with this reinforcement.

Prethoryn Ships have natural armor despite not using armor components. The stats of their weapons are determined by the Crisis Strength setting. Scourge Missiles and Swarm Strikers can be reverse-engineered. Their bio-drives and thrusters are identical to tier 1 drives and thrusters while their bio sensors are identical to tier 2 sensors.

* 2 Acid Blast
* 1 Regenerative Hull Tissue
* Bio Drive
* Bio Sensor
* Picket tactics
* 2 Acid Blast
* 1 Regenerative Hull Tissue
* Bio Drive
* Bio Thrusters
* Bio Sensor
* Line tactics
* 2 Acid Blast
* 1 Regenerative Hull Tissue
* Bio Drive
* Bio Thrusters
* Bio Sensor
* Artillery tactics
* 3 Acid Blast
* 3 Swarm Strikers
* 1 Regenerative Hull Tissue
* Bio Drive
* Bio Thrusters
* Bio Sensor
* Artillery tactics
* 5 Acid Blast
* 3 Swarm Strikers
* 1 Regenerative Hull Tissue
* Bio Sensor

#### Sentinel Order

If the Prethoryn Scourge borders cover either 15% of the galaxy or 90 systems, the Sentinel Order will spawn. If a Fallen or Awakened Empire is present it will spawn next to its borders, otherwise it will spawn next to the borders of a random empire. A new black hole system will be spawned for them and they have Fallen Empire level tech although their fleets will lack strength from repeatable technologies. Every few years the Sentinels will create a fleet as long as they have below 200 ships. Sentinel fleets use the ship appearance of all species archetypes except DLC ones and use top-tier components. Their initial fleet also includes a Fallen Empire titan. Sentinel commanders have the  Sentinel Training trait, giving them **+20%** damage against the Prethoryn Scourge.

If the Prethoryn Scourge covers at least 50% of the galaxy the Sentinels will make a breakthrough in swarm anatomy, giving every empire **+20%** damage against the Prethoryn Scourge.

Every few years, as long as the Sentinels have more than 30 ships they will offer a one time donation of ships to an empire that destroyed at least 7 Prethoryn fleets and did not attack the Sentinels. Those fleets do not use  Naval Capacity and cannot be upgraded. Each fleets consist of the following:

* 2 Laser T5
* 4 Disruptor T3
* 2 Strike Craft T3
* 2 Plasma T3
* 5 Plasma T3
* 2 Point-Defense T3
* 2 Point-Defense T3
* 4 Plasma T3
* 4 Point-Defense T3
* 2 Plasma T3
* 2 Point-Defense T3
 Utility
* 4 Armor T5
* 2 Shield Capacitor
* 5 Armor T5
* 3 Armor T5
* 3 Armor T5
* 1 Shield Capacitor
* 3 Armor T5
 Core
* Dark Matter Thrusters
* Tachyon Sensors
* Jump Drive
* Sapient Combat Computer (Line)
* Impulse Thrusters
* Tachyon Sensors
* Hyper Drive III
* Advanced Combat Computer (Artillery)
* Impulse Thrusters
* Tachyon Sensors
* Hyper Drive III
* Advanced Combat Computer (Line)
* Dark Matter Thrusters
* Tachyon Sensors
* Jump Drive
* Sapient Combat Computer (Picket)
* Impulse Thrusters
* Tachyon Sensors
* Hyper Drive III
* Advanced Combat Computer (Picket)
* Impulse Thrusters
* Tachyon Sensors
* Hyper Drive III
* Advanced Combat Computer (Swarm)

The sentinels do not expand. A few weeks after the Prethoryn Scourge has been defeated their Grand Master will disband the Sentinels.

#### Captured Queens

There are two queens who can be captured. The first is the  Prethoryn Brood-Queen Relic, which can be obtained by one of the empires in the galaxy after winning a random space battle against Prethoryn fleets. The second is an incapacitated queen that can appear in a random system inside the Prethoryn Space, if the Prethoryn Scourge is not defeated within a number of decades. A special project will become available there to every empire to tame the queen and the first empire that completes it will gain the domesticated queen as a fleet led by an unchangeable level 8 Fleet Consciousness commander. Roughly every two months the queen has a 33% chance to add a Warrior to the fleet and a 66% chance to add a Swarmling to the fleet, until the fleet has 30 ships. In addition roughly 100 years later, if the queen is still alive and the main species is  Psionic, the queen will reveal that the galaxy the Prethoryn species came from has been extinguished or eclipsed by something and the empire will gain 1000-5000 monthly  Physics research.

#### Feral Prethoryn

For 15 years after the Prethoryn Scourge has been defeated, every year there is a 10% chance that on a system with a previously infested planet a Feral Prethoryn starbase and 3 Feral Prethoryn fleets will appear. They will not expand but may roam the surrounding systems and fight other Feral Prethoryn swarms. Roaming fleets are made up of 56 Swarmlings.

#### Successfully repelling the Prethoryn Swarm

Prethoryn Swarm entities are heavily armored, attack enemies with missiles and strike craft, along with some acid bursts. Swarmlings possess Corvette-level evasion.

Since all their weapons either ignore or cause major damage to shields, and work equally well against armor and hull, combat fleets should protect themselves with point defense, armor, and plating. Use energy weapons that deal bonus damage against both armor and hull to attack. Arc Emitters work well too; if you build Arc Emitter battleships, Cloud Lighting is a good support weapon for them.

Empires which lack the means to directly counter the Scourge’s fleets should immediately focus on containing its expansion instead. Keeping multiple small fleets of corvettes or destroyers to hunt down their civilian ships and stopping infestations is a viable strategy to limit the spread of the Scourge, as they will send otherwise engaged fleets to try and stop your efforts.

If an important planet falls to a Prethoryn invasion, it will take much longer for them to infest it compared to uninhabited planets, as purging takes much longer than infestation. Infested planets are immediately turned into barren planets once they take enough planet damage. Since the Swarm only can infest habitable worlds, it is possible to starve them by cornering them and launching surgical strikes toward their planets to render them uninhabitable, thus widening the gap between them and any infestable territory. The Prethoryn will pull any fleets from surrounding systems to defend their planets, so fleets targeting Prethoryn planets must be prepared to face multiple swarm fleets if those have not been dealt with already. AI Empires in particular will use such hit-and-run tactics against infested planets.

Another feasible strategy is to get a Colossus into the area where the Crisis will spawn and breaking all of the planets to starve them, putting your best fleets near the edge of the invasion zone is also helpful, stationing them at the ending for any wormholes leading out of the invasion zone is a must.

Prethoryn "Star Brood" fleets are composed of at least one Queen, escorted by Warrior and Brood Mother battleship equivalents, with Spawnling corvettes making up the bulk of the fleet combat strength. A fleet equipped with long-range weapons can expect to destroy a number of Spawnlings before the Prethoryn units are able to return fire, at which point emergency FTL can be used to avoid casualties altogether. By repairing and repeating, this guerrilla tactic can wear down Prethoryn fleets until they are small enough to defeat in a full confrontation.

Salvage should not be forgotten as it unlocks their bio-weaponry, which is most useful against them. Their starbases are equally good sources of technology while being much easier targets.

### Extradimensional Invaders

The Extradimensional Invaders Crisis begins with a note about a massive power surge somewhere in the galaxy. Immediately somewhere in the galaxy a Dimensional Portal, a portal starbase and the main Unbidden fleet will emerge. If the system lies within the borders of an empire the starbase is instantly destroyed. If the Galactic Community was formed a Galactic Priority to fight the Extradimensional Invaders becomes available. 15 days later a second fleet will emerge. Another 15 days later a third fleet will emerge, contact with the Unbidden will open and the location of the Dimensional Portal will be added to the Situation Log. Fleets will take systems from empires in a way similar to total wars, while constructors will build starbases in unclaimed systems.

The Dimensional Portal cannot be destroyed until all Dimensional Anchors are destroyed. These are located in systems highlighted in the Galaxy Map and improve shields hardening for Extradimensional fleets in the system by 50%. The portal will remain guarded by the main Extradimensional fleet. If the portal system is attacked, then the invaders will recall all of their ships to aid in its defense. If the starbase in the portal system is destroyed, all fleets will remain to guard the system until it is rebuilt, halting their expansion. The empire that destroys the last Dimensional Portal will gain the  Extradimensional Warlock Relic as well as a temporary  opinion bonus from everyone.

If an Extradimensional fleet reaches an undefended planet it will drain life from orbit. When the planet reaches 100  devastation it is turned into a barren world with the  Terraforming Candidate modifier. Ring world segments that are destroyed by them cannot be rebuilt. Overrun habitats are destroyed entirely and cannot be rebuilt.

The Extradimensional Invaders get additional fleets 55, 90, 180, 265, 340, 425 and 550 days after the portal spawns. Afterwards, unless they have more than 2000 ships, they will receive smaller reinforcement fleets through the portal at regular intervals, with the interval being lower if they have more starbases:

* 0 Starbases: 1500 days, ±200
* 1 Starbases: 1300 days, ±200
* 2 Starbases: 1100 days, 200
* 3 Starbases: 900 days, ±200
* 4 Starbases: 600 days, ±200
* 5 Starbases: 400 days, ±200
* 6 Starbases: 400 days, ±200
* 7 Starbases: 300 days, ±100
* 8 Starbases: 250 days, ±50
* 9 Starbases: 200 days, ±50
* 10+ Starbases: 150 days, ±50

It should be noted that unlike the other crises, which provide warning several years in advance, the Extradimensional Invaders will arrive instantly and with no indication where the portal will open.

Extradimensional fleets ignore FTL Inhibitors.

Extradimensional Invaders will focus their attacks on a single empire. If an empire’s ruler has the  Chosen One trait that will be the target. Otherwise empires with a  Psionic main species will be targeted first.

**Audio Cue**: As the Extradimensional Invaders consume more of the galaxy a faint wind will start to be heard in the background.

#### Extradimensional Ships

Unbidden, Aberrant and Vehement ships use different names but are identical save for color. All components can be reverse-engineered, including their unique weapons.

Initial fleets consist of 8 battleships, 12 cruisers and 20 escorts led by a commander which may get the Dimensional Stutter or Ethereal traits.

Reinforcement fleets consist of 5 battleships, 8 cruisers and 15 escorts led by a commander which may get the Dimensional Stutter or Ethereal traits.

Portal fleets consist of 20 battleships, 30 cruisers and 45 escorts led by a commander with the Ethereal trait.

* 5 Psionic Shield
* Psi Jump Drive
* Sensor T4
* Line tactics
* 3 Matter Disintegrator
* 2 Matter Disintegrator
* 5 Psionic Shield
* Psi Jump Drive
* Sensor T4
* Line tactics
* 4 Matter Disintegrator
* 2 Matter Disintegrator
* 5 Psionic Shield
* Psi Jump Drive
* Sensor T4
* Line tactics
* 2 Matter Disintegrator
* 10 Psionic Shield
* 1 Regenerative Hull Tissue
* Sensor T4
* 6 Matter Disintegrator
* 6 Matter Disintegrator
* 10 Psionic Shield
* Sensor T4

#### The Aberrant and the Vehement

When the Unbidden borders cover either 15% of the galaxy or 90 systems, a second extradimensional portal will open, bringing up another faction called the Aberrant. A few years later a third portal bringing a third faction called the Vehement will open. While all three factions will be hostile towards life, they are also hostile towards each other.

The new factions have a far shorter delay for the Initial Fleet spawns (1, 5, 15, 30, 45, 60, 150, 350) in order to bring them on even ground with the Unbidden.

#### Successfully repelling the Extradimensional Invaders

Unbidden ships health is about one third hull, 2 third shield with no armor, so using fleets with only kinetic weapons is very effective. In terms of fleet composition, focus on Battleships with Giga cannons and Kinetic Batteries, combined with Titans using the shield dampening aura. In terms of defense the Invaders solely use energy weapons so a focus on shield modules is ideal. Alternative fleet compositions are pure missile corvettes, Focused Arc Emitters battleships or carrier battleships.

Since Unbidden ship do not use any armor, luring fleets to fight in systems with Pulsar stars can be advantageous as it nullifies their shields while the player’s fleet can use armor. Space Storms also disable all shields, providing a similar advantage to an armor using fleet and the Zroni Storm Caster can be used to create a storm in a system.

The player has multiple strategic choices when faced with these Extradimensional Invaders:

* A quick rush after the portal opening might be possible. However, one needs to be able to quickly dispatch the portal guards and initial fleets as they spawn, which requires very powerful fleets.
* Unlike other crises, their initial invasion fleets are much stronger than reinforcements. If the player can effectively clear their initial fleets, reinforcements shouldn't be a problem since they're much weaker than initial ones.
* Salvage should not be forgotten as it unlocks their unique weapons. The starbases are equally good sources of technology as the fleets while being much easier targets. However, the Matter Disintegrator weapons are anti-armour and hull, and the extradimensionals use no armor on their ships, so replacing your weaponry with these is generally a bad idea to fight the invaders.
* If extradimensional invaders claimed lots of systems before normal empires can strike back, player should focus on destroying their starbases and construction ships, since starbases will reduce reinforcement interval.

The arrival of the other extradimensionals are a mixed blessing. On one hand, they might appear in the rear of a large empire or alliance, threatening important worlds and thus the defense against the existing Factions. On the other, all extradimensional factions will begin to fight each other, potentially causing major damage to one another. Once engaged in combat there, the enemy fleets will have difficulty defending any of their starbases and even the portal itself making this a crucial opening to strike at such critical targets.

###### Early-game/mid-game crisis

The Unbidden is the only crisis that can occur prior to the endgame start date, which can pose a massive challenge for the galaxy if it is unprepared. There are two methods of allowing the Unbidden to spawn earlier than the endgame start date:

1. By completing the Archaeological site "Ancient Robot World". This site spawns in a neutron star system on the outskirts of the galaxy, easily identified by the lack of any connecting hyperlanes. Exploring the system presents a range of decisions, each of which has 50% chance to spawn the Unbidden early, except the decision to build a Sentry Array. Choosing to do so does not affect Unbidden spawn time.
2. By passing both the Extradimensional Experimentation and Galactic Threats Committee resolutions. Passing only one will allow the crisis to spawn 25 years earlier than usual, but still in the endgame.

The Unbidden has an 80% chance to spawn every 5 years immediately after one of these triggers are met (that is: every year divisible by 5), and the total chance for any crisis to spawn increases to nearly 100% after 20 endgame years and/or the finishing/prevention of the War in Heaven. Theoretically, it is possible for the Unbidden to spawn in the early game prior to the midgame crises.

It is thus recommended that the player holds off excavating the Ancient Robot World site and passing both of the aforementioned resolutions in order to better prepare for the crisis.

### The Contingency

The Contingency Crisis begins with a signal dubbed the Ghost Signal bouncing across every empire. Every year each empire will be affected by an event, in the following order:

1. Every biological empire that uses synthetic pops will lose one synthetic pop and every machine empire will lose a machine pop in one of two special events.
2. Every biological empire that uses synthetic pops will lose another synthetic pop mysteriously.
3. Every empire will get a notification about galaxy-wide synthetic disappearances.
4. Every empire will get a notification about the Ghost Signal growing stronger and how it affects machines and synthetic pops differently.

A year after the final event the Contingency will activate. Every 50 days one of 4 random uninhabitable planets located in systems with Strategic Resources will transform into Sterilization Hub AI World and spawn a defense station, 3 attack fleets, and 3 construction ships and an army fleet. The planets are determined at galaxy generation so reloading a save will not alter the result. If the Galactic Community was formed a Galactic Priority to fight the Contingency becomes available. The hubs can not be invaded and must instead be bombed until they reach 50  Devastation, at which point they turn into broken planets with a deposit of  Energy,  Minerals and  Living Metal and may unlock the technology to harvest it. Colossus owners can also use a World Cracker, Global Pacifier or Divine Enforcer on sterilization hubs but the worlds will not gain a deposit that way. The Contingency will initially try to occupy the systems between the various AI Worlds in order to become a continuous empire.

When a planet is captured by the Contingency it immediately starts the process by purging all pops – biological and robot alike. If the planet is recaptured the purges will stop and the planet returns to the original owner. If the purge is completed the planet changes control over to the Contingency. 3  Mechanical pops called Custodian Bots are spawned but the planets will not reinforce the Contingency. Unlike Sterilization Hubs, purged planets can be captured in ground combat. Unlike other crises the Contingency does not ruin ring world segments or habitats.

After all Sterilization Hubs are destroyed a new system will appear at the ends of the galaxy. The system contains a 5th and final AI world, Nexus Zero-One, guarded by 1 Final Core and 4 AI Core Stations. When Nexus Zero-One is destroyed, the Contingency deactivates, all its ships self-destruct, infiltration events and special projects end and the Ghost Signal is removed. The empire that destroys Nexus Zero-One will gain the  Isolated Contingency Core Relic (only for human players, not sure this is intended). The planet does not create any deposit when destroyed.

Contingency fleets ignore FTL Inhibitors.

**Audio Cue**: As the Contingency sterilizes more of the galaxy a mainframe will start to be heard in the background.

#### The Ghost Signal

After the Contingency activates, the Ghost Signal will start to affect every synthetic pop and even ships with the Sapient Combat Computer. It is measured in 5 levels and starts at 5. The Ghost Signal will lose strength each time a Sterilization Hub is destroyed, lessening its effects.

Autonomous Ship Intellects used by  Gestalt Consciousness are immune to the ghost signal.

Synthetically Ascended species are also immune to the Ghost Signal, however any mechanical pops built by these empires that aren't considered part of their main species of synths will be affected.

Machine Intelligence Empires are affected differently as the Contingency attempts to breach their core and take over the central AI. And as such the bulk of processing resources is redirected to the Firewall to prevent that, significantly reducing the efficiency of their drone workers. While a lower penalty per pop, given the demographic nature of these Empires it might be a much bigger penalty. As they are much more heavily affected, Machine Intelligence Empires will get the special project "Blocking the Ghost Signal". The cost is 600 + 100 \* Pop count  Engineering. Finishing it will remove its effects.

#### Synthetic Infiltration

While the war rages among the stars, organic, machine and syntheticallly-ascended empires might have issues at home as well.

The first infiltration attempt will invariably fail. The second infiltration will happen 120 days afterwards and will make every organic and synthetic empire targetable for infiltration events. It will also grant the Synth Detection project within a year. Completing this project grants the Voight-Kampff achievement and a large amount of unity. Until completed every year each organic and synthetic empire has a 30% chance to get the Terror Gatekeeper event, which will trigger a damaging infiltration event. Aside from Synth Bombing each event can only happen once. The weights are the following:

* 40% Synth Bombing: On a random planet three worked buildings are ruined and the pops working them killed. The empire will then get **−10%**  Unity for 6 years.
* 10% Spaceport Scuttled: A random starbase is destroyed.
* 10% Fear and Suspicion: A random planet gets **−20**  Stability for 20 years.
* 10% Ruler Assassination Attempt: 70% chance the ruler escapes and gain some  Influence, 30% chance the ruler is killed.
* 10% Scientist Exposed as Synth: A scientist leader is killed.
* 10% Commander Exposed as Synth: A commander leader is killed.

 Hive Mind and  Psionic empires cannot be infiltrated. Instead, the first infiltration event will describe how their population cannot be infiltrated and how the Contingency will not try further infiltration on them. Infiltrated empires that take the  Transcendence ascension perk will also become immune to infiltration.  Machine Intelligence empires also cannot be infiltrated, and will instead receive the "Blocking the Ghost Signal" project.

#### Warning Signs

Instead of infiltrations,  Machine Intelligences are attacked more directly by the Ghost Signal. They will get a security breach event that will make every machine empire targetable. Until the "Blocking the Ghost Signal" project is completed or the Ghost Signal strength drops below 4 each year every machine empire has a 30% chance to get the Terror Gatekeeper event, which will trigger a damaging subversion event. Aside from Unit Stack Error each event can only happen once. Chances are equal for each event.

* Spaceport Scuttled: A random starbase is destroyed.
* Science Unit Terminated: A scientist leader is terminated.
* Military Unit Terminated: A commander leader is terminated.
* Power Grid Malfunction: Three Power Plants or Power Hubs and the pops working them are destroyed.
* Contingency Intrusion Averted: Contingency sabotage fails, no effect.
* Unit Stack Error: Errors are detected in a unit stack, which may be caused by the Ghost Signal. You are given the option to either terminate the units (no pop is actually terminated) or wait. If you choose the latter after 120 it will turn out to be either:
	+ 65% A false alarm. Nothing happens.
	+ 35% A true alarm. A random planet gets **+10%** Devastation and loses 4 Pops.

#### The Cybrex

Originally one of the Precursor empires, the Cybrex will resurface to help fight the Contingency if it sterilizes either 15% of the Galaxy or 90 systems. At the edge of the galaxy the Cybrex Beta ringworld system will spawn. All Empires will be contacted immediately. The Cybrex will construct a new fleet every few years as long as they have below 300 ships. The Cybrex function analogous to the Sentinels of the Swarm Crisis, except they will only donate ships after 100 destroyed fleets and will take them back a month after the crisis ends.

Cybrex ships are identical to the Contingency’s save for the color. Each fleet is led by a commander with the Cybrex Databases trait, giving it +10% Evasion and Fire Rate and +20% Damage to the Contingency.

The Cybrex do not expand. A few weeks after the Contingency was defeated they will depart from the galaxy, leaving Cybrex Beta free for the taking.

#### Ancient Caretakers

A few days after the first sterilization hub is revealed if the Ancient Caretakers are present in the galaxy they will awaken and the Contingency will attempt to corrupt their civic. The Ancient Caretakers have a 66% chance of gaining the  Final Defense Directives civic (Guardians of the Galaxy awakening) and a 33% chance of gaining the  Corrupted Defense Directives civic and start attacking every other empire (Berserkers). Whether they will awaken as Guardians or Berserkers is rolled at the start of the game so reloading a previous save will not alter the result.

5 years later other Fallen Empire may awaken as a Guardians of the Galaxy as usual, allowing up to 3 Guardian empires against the Crisis.

Once the Contingency is defeated if the Ancient Caretakers awakened as Guardians they will shut down, leaving their ringworlds free for the taking.

#### Contingency Ships

* 1 Plasma Cannon T3
* 2 Laser T5
* 4 Shield T5
* 4 Armor T5
* 1 Regenerative Hull Tissue
* Hyperdrive T3
* Thrusters T4
* Sensor T4
* Sapient Computer (Picket)
* 2 Plasma Cannon T3
* 3 Laser T5
* 1 Point Defense T2
* 4 Shield T5
* 4 Armor T5
* 1 Regenerative Hull Tissue
* Hyperdrive T3
* Thrusters T4
* Sensor T4
* Sapient Computer (Line)
* 4 Lance T1
* 2 Plasma Cannon T3
* 4 Laser T5
* 4 Plasma Cannon T3
* 2 Point Defense T3
* 8 Seeker Drones
* 10 Shield T5
* 10 Armor T5
* 1 Regenerative Hull Tissue
* Sensor T4
* 4 Lance T1
* 2 Plasma Cannon T3
* 4 Laser T5
* 4 Plasma Cannon T3
* 2 Point Defense T3
* 16 Seeker Drones
* 10 Shield T5
* 10 Armor T5
* 1 Regenerative Hull Tissue
* Sensor T4
* 1 Laser T5
* 4 Plasma Cannon T3
* 2 Point Defense T3
* 1 Regenerative Hull Tissue
* Sensor T4

Roaming fleets consist of 10 euthanizers and 20 sterilizers led by a commander with random skill.

Hub fleets consist of 25 euthanizers and 50 sterilizers led by a commander with random skill.

**Special Weapons:** The Contingency uses stock weapons, with only one exception – Seeker Drones:

* 10 Units per Hangar
* 100 HP, 50 Armor, 50 Shield, 80% Evasion per Unit
* 19-21 Damage with 100% accuracy and no tracking, 20 Range, 8 CD, 100% Shield Penetration, 66% Armor Penetration

Contingency uses Android Assault Army to invade worlds. Each transport fleet consist of 20 Android Assault Army and do not have a general.

#### Successfully repelling the Contingency

Contingency warforms use lots of shield and armor to protect their relatively fragile hull, so penetrating weapons (Arc Emitter, Disruptor etc.) work well against them. However, due to the lack of effective L sized piercing weaponry, using Battleships or Titans with 50/50 kinetic and energy weaponry works well too. Defensively, attackers should stack as many shields as they can to counter their pure energy weaponry.

The initial Fleet spawned with the hub systems is considerable and planets in the Hub Systems will often have fallen before the first fleet has mobilised. Colonies in the Hub Systems are generally a writeoff until the roaming fleets have been dealt with.

Even if identified beforehand, hubs normally cannot be prevented from awakening. If the planet is destroyed through the World Cracker Colossus, the shattered world will simply reform into the sterilization hub. Military starbases on the star will be abandoned if there are no colonies there, rendering any resources spent moot. If fleets are parked in the system, the Contingency will spawn an armada of much greater power than standard. Ringworlds cant be build either, as the system will be 'suspect' (Its a good way to find out the worlds early though).

The first order is generally to destroy any roaming fleets (if they attack one’s planets). The Contingency fleets already spawned are generally not likely to rush to the aid of a planet or hub. They are more likely to attack another target than defend.

Destroying the hubs is the ultimate goal. Their hub fleets will always stay with the Hub, making it a hard target together with the AI Core and the starbase. While destroying one of the hubs does reduce the reinforcement intervals, the reduction in spawn cycles running in parallel should be a net advantage.

## Galactic Nemesis

With the  Become the Crisis ascension perk regular empires can become a crisis as well. Empires that pick the ascension perk will be able to acquire  menace and complete expensive crisis special projects to gain various perks. It should be noted that only upon reaching the fifth crisis level is the empire treated as any other crisis: full war with every other empire (the Declare Crisis resolution, or automatic if not passed). This means that through levels 1–4, the "crisis" empire acts as normal, save for not being able to become the Custodian. Level 5 and only level 5 crisis is the "point of no return", gated by the Special Project to level up, so to speak. This gives the ascension perk far more value for empires who don't want to take the final step, with its various bonuses. The crisis tab is located under the traditions tab.

Menace is gained by completing crisis objectives. The amount granted by each objective depends on the number of empires present at the start of the game. Current menace can be found in the crisis tab.
It should be noted that an Empire taking  Become the Crisis does not prevent other Crisis Event from occurring.

Once enough  menace and special projects are completed the empire will gain a new crisis level, unlocking additional perks. The last crisis level requires the empire to be independent.  Opinion penalties only apply from empires that have at least Medium Intel on government.

### Strategy

#### Playing as the crisis empire: pre-crisis

1. It is suggested to build a habitat complex and have many planets in your capital system, and equip all of your planets with at least one fortress. If your capital system is lost while the Aetherophasic Engine is in progress, it will be destroyed, and you will have to start again.
2. Have as many vassals as possible before hitting stage five. Once you hit stage five, all empires that are not your vassal will declare war on you.
3. While on your way to becoming the crisis, Fallen Empires may contact claiming they are not pleased with your current antics. You can either apologize, and gain the humiliation empire debuff (which does next-to-nothing if gestalt), or decline and they will eventually declare war on you. It is only suggested to decline if you can outmatch them. This can be near impossible if the Become the Crisis ascension perk was chosen early game.
4. Make sure you are ready before you perform the last special project to advance to stage five. Once you have crossed stage five, **there is no going back.** All members of the Galactic Community will be in a permanent total war with you.
5. Since the Aetherophasic Engine counts as a Megastructure, then  Master Builders ascension perk boost its construction speed by **+50%**. If you have unplanned slots for perks in your strategy, you can take it before entering stage five.

#### Playing as the crisis empire: post-crisis

1. Avoid losing your Star Eaters at all cost. Constructing a new Star-Eater is possible, but requires 10000  Dark Matter units and takes 20 years! If they are destroyed, it will be a major set back against you.
2. When a Star Eater destroys a star, it will make all fleets teleport out of the system. Evacuate your fleets before firing.
3. Advance the engine’s process when possible. Once it is complete, you will win.
4. Star Eaters destroy every planet in solar systems they detonate. Avoid blowing up any vital systems.
5. Do be aware that the end game crisis (Unbidden, Scourge, Contingency) can still occur. However, your empire’s power will put them to the test.
6. If the War in Heaven starts, empires that join will abandon their war with you. Use this time to prey on undefended empires.
7. Use every possible boost for Megastructure construction speed to shorten duration of Aetherophasic Engine construction. The following options boosts construction speed:
	* Master Builders ascension perk **+50%**
	* Architectural Renaissance unity ambition **+50%**
	* Living Metal Megastructures edict **+50%**
	* Isolated Contingency Core triumph effect **+300%**

If all of these boosts are used simultaneously, then they give a culminative **450%** Mega-construction speed total and reduce each construction stage time from 10 years to just 1.8 years. The Aetherophasic Engine has 4 construction stages; all these, under the best possible conditions, can shorten total construction time from 40 years to 7.2 years.

#### Playing against the crisis empire

1. Take the crisis empire’s home system at all cost. If you take it from them, they must start building the Aetherophasic Engine all over again.
2. Destroying a Star Eater will be a significant setback in the crisis empire’s progress. Construction of new Star Eater is long and requires a huge amount of  dark matter, very hard to get without blowing stars. Advancing Aetherophasic engine requires even more. If all have been destroyed, this will cripple them.
3. If you take the capital system of the crisis, you must still completely eradicate their empire to stop them for good. Only then will the galaxy be safe from them.
4. If the Aetherophasic Engine is finished, **the crisis empire will destroy the whole galaxy, ending the game.** Stop this at all costs.
5. If the War in Heaven begins, it is suggested to stay neutral to focus on the crisis empire. Only take sides if the crisis empire has not made much progress.
6. The end game crisis can still occur while a crisis empire is active. It is suggested to defend your empire from the end game crisis before trying to stop the crisis empire.