Harmony
Bonuses
- Level 1: Alien aggression levels return to neutral twice as quickly.
- Level 3: Units take 5 HP less damage from Miasma.
- Level 6: Units heal 5 HP in Miasma.
- Level 8: 4 Xenomass resources for free.
- Level 11: Call Worm Strike Operation can be performed by Covert Agents.
- Level 13: Mind Flower can be constructed for Transcendence Victory Quest.
Harmony is about finding the ways of the new world and adjusting to live with them instead of fighting against them. You are going to benefit from Miasma instead of hating the stuff, and healing becomes a major aspect of your military. Harmony has the weaker Units than Purity in direct battle, but Research into leaf technologies with Harmony experience often gets you more survivability over time. This healing helps Harmony players survive long engagements and lose fewer units during combat.
This makes it important to fight defensively as a Harmony player. Lure opponents into Miasma, where you have greater advantages over them in the mid and late game. Your units eventually get major bonuses to Combat Strength when fighting in Miasma, and your enemies may be taking damage over time just for sitting in the goop.
Core Tactics for Harmony
- Spread Miasma all over the world.
- Wait for enemy military forces to enter your territory, defeat them there where it's much easier, and then expand once adversaries are weaker.
- Be patient, and try to draw out warfare.
Defensive players are most likely to enjoy the Harmony line. The military units you get are somewhat harder to use than their Purity and Supremacy equivalents. Harmony gets much more interesting powers, but it takes time and practice to set them up correctly. You can push enemy units around, heal through kills, or have some of your units explode on death. Neat stuff!
Harmony is also very effective at getting large city populations. Their Biowell tile improvement provides Food and Health, making it a Farm that sustains both the city's growth and its bursting citizenry. This is invaluable when combined with buildings that have Specialist slots.
Purity
Bonuses
- Level 1: Aliens will not attack tiles with Explorer Units.
- Level 3: +20% Strength and Ranged Strength when attacking or defending against aliens.
- Level 6: +2 Orbital Coverage in all Cities.
- Level 8: 4 Floatstone resources for free.
- Level 11: Dirty Bomb Operation can be performed by Covert Agents.
- Level 13: Exodus Gate can be constructed for Promised Land Victory Quest.
Purity focuses on maintaining what has made humanity great in the past. It's often at odds with the aliens and the ways of the new world. You're likely going to exterminate aliens, destroy their nests, and reduce the miasma to a wisp of what it once was. However, being friendly with Aliens is an option for any Affinity. Purity units have high Combat Strength, very strong firepower even when alone, and can go on the offensive without any trouble. Purity is a slightly easier affinity to play because of its self-reliant units and highly defensible cities.
Purity has both strong defensive and offensive units. Their Rangers become wickedly effective at defending cities in the midgame. They have fast raiding units with Combat Rovers that become very effective against cities, and there are multiple powerful ranged units in the late game that are hard to take down.
Core Tactics for Purity
- Use your superior one-on-one units to try launching fast campaigns against weaker colonies.
- Avoid drawn-out battles against large groups of Supremacy units or entrenched Harmony players; win fast, or go home and wait for a good peace offering.
- Use early fighting against aliens and their nests to toughen your military with free Veterancy bonuses.
Aggressive players are likely to love Purity. They have a great tendency toward blitzkrieg warfare, and their units can be used to take land quickly against any opponent who doesn't prepare well ahead of time. Scout constantly to look at your neighbor's borders. This gives you information about their combat readiness, but that's not all: you also prevent your enemies from knowing when the attacking is imminent. Keep your units mobile, like they're always ready to go. Don't have them lean on people's borders, because that is diplomatically negative, but have a force close to each border so that no one knows when you're going to strike.
Defensive players will love the Dome tile improvement, which grants +10 City HP to whichever city is working the tile. Stacking several of these per city greatly increases their survivability against any Affinity. The Dome also grants Culture, making Purity a powerhouse for gaining Virtues.
Supremacy
Bonuses
- Level 1: Explorer units can build an additional Expedition.
- Level 3: Roads and Magrails do not cost any Energy to maintain.
- Level 6: Orbital Coverage on and next to any tile with Firaxite.
- Level 8: 4 Firaxite resources for Free.
- Level 11: Sabotage Operation can be performed by Covert Agents.
- Level 13: Emancipation Gate can be constructed for Emancipation Victory Quest.
Supremacy isn't about the past or the present; Supremacy looks to the future for salvation. Its goal is to see humanity rise to new heights. To do that, Supremacy Units are made to work together. They're not always going to win in one-on-one battles against their opponents, but that's not their purpose. Supremacy is about combinations of troops. Ranks of melee go in the front, ranged units and artillery behind. With Supremacy, victory is all about the numbers game.
Almost all Supremacy units get bonuses for being near allies, sometimes even per ally. Commando raids aren't normally their thing. Instead, they gather a huge army, push into enemy territory, and blow away everything that stands against them. This is a slower process than Purity attacks, but it's even harder to fight against. Supremacy is thwarted only by persistent, unyielding defense. Multiple units, good chokepoints, and fortified defenders buy people time to stave off defeat.
Core Tactics for Supremacy
- Use formations of units to maximize your bonuses.
- Depend on superior range and multiple attacks to make the most out of your Units.
- Win by overwhelming opponents rather than surprising them.
Supremacy favors persistent aggression. You can't usually surprise anyone because your military takes longer to put together. Formations are important, and you can't send people in by themselves. Thus, your warfare should be slow and almost civilized. Get your people into the area, declare war, approach each city, and then use your siege units to bring down the defenses. Then, take the city and repeat the process. Multiple fronts and raiding tactics are still viable with Supremacy, but they're not required in the same way. Even fast Supremacy units are made to work with the team rather than head off to unleash their own mini-campaigns.
The Node tile improvement is a great defensive feature, providing Supremacy players with extra healing at home, as well as much-needed Energy. Large armies have large upkeep, so the more Energy income that's available, the better.