Sylon

Races

**Federation**

**Sylon**

**Athrael**

**Thorun**

**Zhogarn**

* Portrait
* Logo

## Overview

*NOTE - This section covers gameplay specifics for the Sylon faction. For background history, check Sylon's lore*

The **Sylons** (represented by the Sylon Collective) are one of the five playable races of Five Nations. Sylons are, in their majority, remote-piloted drone ships subservient to sub-systems of the Sylus, a highly advanced central intelligence that is constantly evolving to secure it's own immortality. The once biological species which the Sylons originate from have been captured in Sylus throughout the centuries, their minds digitalized and imprisoned, and are only granted the right to free thinking on special occasions. These entities, assigned as Praetors, possess independent will only for as long as it serves the objectives of the Sylus.

## Gameplay style

Sylon gameplay is characterized by the extensive cloaking of their units, so much so that even their cargo ships, the Haulers, possess cloaking. This makes Absorptive Plating research critical to extend survivability, as well as neutralization of detection-capable units such as Explorers, Vanguards, Hailstorms and Minds, since the Sylons also have the issue of having to retreat to the stationary Repair Stations to recover their hull, and are dependant on Absorbers to extend the survivability of their shields.

Sylon unit attacks are also unique in which their anti-capital defense structure, the Aegis, and their Gloom cruiser are capable of ignoring enemy shields entirely, making them dangerous against shield-heavy units like Rectors and Corsairs, and their main artillery, the Arson, is capable of causing destructive area damage in a straight path. Sylon forces have only one fighter unit, the Spear, which is the only fighter unit that has it's attack nature changed (from a projectile to an instant hit attack), but is extremely vulnerable and is most dependant of being used in swarms (more than Guards, especially) and relies the most on the Sylon carrier unit, the Eclipse, for survivability.

A definitive strength of the Sylons is the uniqueness of their spellcasters - Absorbers are critical to ensure survival of units that use shields, especially Glooms and Twinblades, while Masks, aside from their cloaking fields, are useful in both providing and denying vision (and detection) to other units, friend or foe. Finally, the Sylon Assimilator is the most feared unit in the game for it's ability to wrest control of enemy units, especially high damage, high value ones such as Flagships, Invaders and Charybdises, or capable artillery such as Avengers, Rictii and Harbingers.

Sylon infrastructure is also unique in which their supply facilities (Support Centers and Support Complexes) produce both energy and supply at once, requiring not as much an overextended infra-structure as other races do. While being slightly more expensive than other supply structures, Support Centers also double as barricades for defenses.

Notorious weaknesses of the Sylons are the frailty of their units and defenses, almost like paper tigers, and the strict nature of their units which can only fill so many roles, from the Twinblade being best served as anti-fighter cover, to the Arson being more dedicated to area control while it's capital counterpart, the Shade, is more dedicated to bombardment from a long range. In addition, it's highest tier unit, the Plasma Raid, is potentially the most cost-ineffective unit in the game in regards to the little pay-offs for the time and resources invested (both construction and upgrades).

## Units

Installation Prime units

Drone Facility units

Automation Plant units

Manufacture units

Campaign only

## Buildings

Tier 1 structures

Tier 2 structures

Tier 3 structures

Campaign only

# Renegades expansion

## Units

File:Mace-ingame.png Mace
 Praetor

## Buildings

File:Izlar Montior-ingame.png Izlar Montior

# Trivia

* The Sylon faction design may have been taken inspiration from multiple sci-fi franchise sources.
	+ The name *Sylon* is a very close reference to the Cylons in *Battlestar Galactica*.
	+ The Sylon Collective is a reference to the Borg Collective in *Star Trek: The Next Generation*.
		- Another references to the Borg are the use of assimilation, of taking over vessels by force, and regenerative plating.
		- The Aurum System may also be a reference to the Delta Quadrant, where the Borg Originated from.
	+ Another possible reference to *Star Trek* might be the Installation Prime, which resembles Deep Space Nine.
	+ Sylon character design (except Unizar) is most likely based on either the Ceph Scouts in *Crysis* or the Sentinel machines in the *Matrix* franchise.
	+ The sleek design of multiple units and structures plus the dark metal color and the extensive use of stealth technologies references the Brotherhood of Nod in *Command & Conquer*.
		- The Sylon's duplicitous nature of making enemy forces engage each other - as depicted in *False Flag* in Chapter 02, also references Nod, in turning mutant populations against it's enemies in *Tiberian Sun*, especially using vehicle designs of the Global Defense Initiative.
	+ In the *Blackout* mission in Chapter 01, Greg Leskovski calls the Sylons 'Daleks', a clear reference to the species of the same name in *Doctor Who*.
	+ Sylus initial assessment of statistics regarding the protagonist Praetor, regarding chances of betrayal, is a nod to the Ordos first mission's briefing cutscene, spoken by Edric O, in *Dune 2000*.
	+ The Sylus' origins, especially the part of it's creators transferring their consciousness from their organic bodies to it's digital databanks, may be a nod to the 'patterning process' performed by the CORE Empire in *Total Annihilation*.

* Aside from the Federation, the Sylons also takes multiple references to the *StarCraft* franchise:
	+ All their Manufacture units - Shade, Eclipse and Plasma Raid - use shell-like designs akin to the Protoss Carrier.
	+ The Aegis' design heavily resembles the Protoss Photon Cannon in *StarCraft II*, as the Quantum Core heavily resembles a Zerg Hatchery.
	+ The Arson's function and attack heavily resembes both the Zerg Lurker and Terran Siege Tank.
	+ The Mask's function of cloaking units around it but not itself resembles Protoss Arbiters. Both it's Vision and Blind abilities may also be a nod to Protoss Oracles in *StarCraft II.*
	+ The Sylus Core heavily resembles the Zerg Overmind, as does Sylus itself, being a central intelligence from which the Sylon hierarchy and functions are centralized around it.
	+ Both Cura and the Praetor's functions and limited autonomy resembles Zerg Cerebrates.
	+ Unizar, in the concept of a hybrid between a human being and another species, heavily resembles Sarah Kerrigan. The concept of two separate entities sharing the same body is also a nod to Protoss Archons.

# See also

 * Federation
* Sylon
* Athrael
* Thorun
* Zhogarn