This article has been verified for the current console version (2.2) of the game.
Traits represents a species' innate functions, abilities and personality. A species's traits are selected at the start of a new game, but a species or certain pops of a species can adapt new traits through genetic engineering or occasionally events. Traits affect a wide variety of areas, from population growth rate to resource output to lifespan or even how pops are viewed by other aliens. Most traits come in mutually exclusive groups that affect the same aspect of the species, such as Nomadic and Sedentary, and each pop can only have one such trait from the group at any given time. These groups include traits with opposite effects, as well as stronger variants of a trait. Though traits are initially decided at a species level, individual pops of the same species can end up with different traits with genetic modification, producing new subspecies or variants. This rarely happens without player intervention.
Traits are mostly fixed at the start of the game. Altering traits during the game is generally possible only later in the game through some select events or by using genetic engineering. Certain technologies and Ascension Perks add additional trait points that can be used to alter a part of your species' pops; modifications can range from altering their planet habitability to adding an additional positive trait or removing a negative one.
Traits are purchased from a points pool, with 2 points being available at the start of the game. Some traits are negative and have a negative cost, refunding points into the pool. Each species is limited to a maximum of 5 traits; non-standard traits do not count against this limit.
These traits are required for special cases of species and cannot be removed from the creation menu.
The Hive-Minded trait can only be added by hive mind empires and can only be removed by empires that are not hive minds. Pops with this trait in an non-Hive Mind empire will slowly die while pops without the Hive-Minded trait in a Hive Mind empire can only be displaced, purged or used as livestock.
Special traits that cost trait points can be removed via the biological ascension path.
Type
Effects
Excludes
Cost
Requirement
Description
DLC
Uplifted
0
Epigenetic Triggers
This species was uplifted from a primitive origin, and its members are happier when living on planets belonging to their benefactor.
Self-Modified
0
A New Species event
Members of this offshoot species have spontaneously altered their genetic makeup to give themselves an advantage.
Bioadaptability
Habitability +5%
0
Speed Demon event (Green solution)
This species has been modified to be slightly more adaptive and can now better endure harsh climates.
Limited Regeneration
Army Damage +10%
Leader Lifespan +10 Years
0
Speed Demon event (Blue solution)
This species is has been modified to heal faster, making them more dangerous in battle and somewhat longer-lived in general.
Social Pheromones
Pop Housing Usage −5%
0
Speed Demon event (Red solution)
This species has been modified to be more social and accepting of crowded conditions.
Cybernetic
Army Damage +10%
Habitability +20%
Leader Lifespan +40 Years
0
The Flesh is Weak Driven Assimilator Keepers of Knowledge Fallen Empire
This species has embraced cybernetics on such a scale that its members may be considered cyborgs. They routinely replace their organic body parts with more advanced mechanical versions.
Psionic
Energy Credits from Jobs +10%
Research Output +10%
Happiness +5%
0
Transcendence Holy Guardians Fallen Empire
All members of this species possess powerful psionic abilities. They typically communicate with each other through telepathy.
Latent Psionic
Energy Credits from Jobs +5%
Research Output +5%
0
Mind over Matter
This species has latent psionic abilities, which are dormant in most of its members. Although quite rare, these powers will manifest in some leaders.
Serviles
Happiness +10%
Resources from Jobs +10%
Cannot be employed in Ruler or Specialist Jobs
Cannot generate Leaders
Intelligent
Erudite
Natural Physicists
Natural Sociologists
Natural Engineers
1
Syncretic species
This species evolved alongside a second, more advanced species. Never particularly intelligent to begin with, selective breeding for physical prowess and docility has reduced them to servile proles.
Servile Battle Thralls can still be employed as Enforcers.
Hive-Minded
Not Affected by Happiness
0
Hive Mind
This species is made up of semi-autonomous individuals slaved to a single, unfathomably vast consciousness.
There are 5 advanced traits which are made available for genetic modification if the Evolutionary Mastery ascension perk is taken and Genetic Resequencing has been researched.
Type
Effects
Excludes
Cost
Slave Cost
Description
Robust
Habitability +30%
Resources from Jobs +5%
Leader Lifespan +50 Years
Adaptive
Extremely Adaptive
Nonadaptive
4
+200
Bio-Optimized organs with redundant functions have made this species extraordinarily resistant to environmental hazards and disease.
Erudite
Researcher Output +20%
Leader Level Cap +1
Intelligent
Nerve Stapled
Uplifted (Enigmatic Cache)
Somewhat Uplifted
4
0
Biological engineering has unlocked previously dormant parts of this species' brains, greatly increasing mental acuity.
Fertile
Pop Growth Speed +30%
Pop Housing Usage −10%
Rapid Breeders
Slow Breeders
4
+200
The natural fecundity of this species has been dramatically enhanced through aggressive physical and behaviorial sculpting.
Nerve Stapled
Resources from Jobs +5%
Cannot be employed in Ruler or Specialist Jobs
Cannot generate Leaders
Not Affected by Happiness
Can't join a faction
Talented
Intelligent
Natural Physicists
Natural Sociologists
Natural Engineers
Erudite
Communal
Solitary
3
+150
Unessential neural pathways relating to self-preservation and free-will are severed, creating a docile and obedient client species.
Delicious
Food from Livestock and Processing +2
2
+100
This species has the curious evolutionary adaptation of being highly nutritious when eaten.
Pre-Sapient species have exclusive traits that cannot otherwise be chosen when creating or modifying a species. They retain these traits after being uplifted as a sapient species. All of these traits cost 1 trait point.
Type
Effects
Description
Conservative
Happiness +5%
Governing Ethics Attraction +25%
Leader Experience Gain −33%
Members of this species often prefer old wisdom over new experiences.
Earthbound
Energy from Jobs +10%
Defense Army Damage +50%
Members of this species are very possessive of the planets they call home.
Irradiated
Tomb World Habitability +100%
Leader Lifespan +30
This species has evolved to thrive in environments subject to extremely high levels of background radiation.
Natural Intellectuals
Unity from Jobs +5%
Engineering Research from Jobs +10%
Physics Research from Jobs +10%
Society Research from Jobs +10%
Minerals from Jobs −10%
Members of this species are more philosophically inclined than most.
Proles
Army Damage +10%
Minerals from Jobs +10%
Food from Jobs +10%
Engineering Research from Jobs −15%
Physics Research from Jobs −15%
Society Research from Jobs −15%
This species has traditionally shunned intellectual pursuits in favor of physical labor.
Starborn
Pop Growth from Immmigration +25%
Resettlement Cost −25%
Habitability +10%
This species has always, consciously or not, longed to traverse the void between the stars.
Each organic species also has a Habitability trait that determines their base habitability on the various types of worlds, usually that corresponding to the type of their homeworld. Habitability traits can be changed through genetic modification, but a pop can never have more than one Habitability trait.
The habitability of Gaia worlds, Ecumenopolises, Habitats, Ringworlds, Machine Worlds, Hive Worlds and (except for pops with a preference) Tomb Worlds is unaffected by these traits.
Preference
Climate
80% Habitability
60% Habitability
20% Habitability
Arid
Dry
Arid
Desert
Savannah
Alpine
Arctic
Tundra
Continental
Ocean
Tropical
Desert
Dry
Desert
Arid
Savannah
Alpine
Arctic
Tundra
Continental
Ocean
Tropical
Savannah
Dry
Savannah
Arid
Desert
Alpine
Arctic
Tundra
Continental
Ocean
Tropical
Alpine
Frozen
Alpine
Arctic
Tundra
Arid
Desert
Savannah
Continental
Ocean
Tropical
Arctic
Frozen
Arctic
Alpine
Tundra
Arid
Desert
Savannah
Continental
Ocean
Tropical
Tundra
Frozen
Tundra
Alpine
Arctic
Arid
Desert
Savannah
Continental
Ocean
Tropical
Continental
Wet
Continental
Ocean
Tropical
Arid
Desert
Savannah
Alpine
Arctic
Tundra
Ocean
Wet
Ocean
Continental
Tropical
Arid
Desert
Savannah
Alpine
Arctic
Tundra
Tropical
Wet
Tropical
Continental
Ocean
Arid
Desert
Savannah
Alpine
Arctic
Tundra
The following habitability traits are not available for starting races:
Preference
Main world habitability
Other worlds habitability
Notes
Gaia
100% Gaia
Only available to empires with the Life-Seeded civic.
Ring World
100% Ring World
Only present on the primitive civilizations inhabiting the Sanctuary system and must be changed to allow them to colonize new worlds.
Habitat
100% Habitat
Only present if the pop was created on a habitat via an event and must be changed to allow them to colonize new worlds.
Machine World
100% Machine World
Tomb World
80% Tomb
60% for:
Arid
Desert
Savannah
Alpine
Arctic
Tundra
Continental
Ocean
Tropical
Only be found on pre-FTL or pre-sapient species inhabiting a Tomb World. Can also be obtained through the Horizon Signal or A New Species event on a Tomb World.
Outside Machine Intelligence empires Robots always start only with the Mechanical trait, which gives them +200% Habitability on all habitable planets and structures. They can then be given new traits through Robomodding. A few of them are restricted to Mechanical or Machine pops.
Positive traits
Type
Effects
Excludes
Description
Domestic Protocols
2
Can be employed in Servant Jobs if under AI Servitude
Amenities from Jobs +20%
Robot
Specialized equipment and behavior protocols for all conceivable domestic needs. Full functionality guaranteed. (Has no effect on Synthetics with Citizenship Rights.)
Double Jointed
1
Pop Housing Usage −10%
Bulky
Collapsible labor units with flexible joints that enable them to fold neatly into stacks during transportation, then self-assemble on site.
Durable
1
Robot Upkeep –10%
High Maintenance
Protected by exoskeletons of chrome-plated titanium, these heavy-duty machines were designed to excel under harsh conditions and require less maintenance.
Efficient Processors
3
Resources from Jobs +5%
Though not given much attention at the time, early "battery saver" hardware/software implementations were a breakthrough of immeasurable lasting impact.
Emotion Emulators
1
Amenities from Jobs +20%
Uncanny
Complex social predictive models help autonomous units not only to emulate appropriate emotions but to elicit favorable responses from organics and synthetics alike.
Enhanced Memory
2
Leader Level Cap +2
Robot
Droid
All autonomous units are fitted with memory cells using a revolutionary, new technique for magnetic induction, improving their performance significantly.
Harvesters
1
Food from Jobs +15%
A suite of tools, from nutrient solution diagnostics and on-site balancing to per-stalk micro-threshing, enables robotic workers to increase produce yields.
Learning Algorithms
1
Leader Experience Gain +25%
Repurposed Hardware
Robot
Droid
Sophisticated, self-learning algorithms that stimulate the rapid evolution of a unit's neural clusters.
Logic Engines
2
Research Output +10%
Robot
Efficiently navigating the increasingly complex frontiers of science requires new states, beyond the simple half-truths of ternary and quaternary logic.
Loyalty Circuits
2
Happiness +10%
Robot
Droid
Loyalty as an ideal is a distinctly organic concept. Instead, imagine loyalty as a physiological need in even the remotest of terminals.
Mass-Produced
1
Pop Assembly Speed +15%
Custom-Made
Streamlined production cycles and modular designs allow for unit mass-production at an unprecedented rate.
Power Drills
2
Minerals from Jobs +15%
Outfit a robot with a battery of power drills, and everything looks like a mineral deposit.
Propaganda Machines
1
Unity from Jobs +15%
Units are constantly uplinked to a central stream of public service announcements and other useful information that they pass along via internal broadcasting systems.
Recycled
2
Pop Assembly Cost –20%
Luxurious
Unit manufacturing has been optimized to be as cost-effective as possible, using recycled materials, and components inherited from previous generations.
Superconductive
2
Energy Credits from Jobs +15%
The use of superconductive materials in units have cut energy transmission losses to zero percent.
Negative traits
Type
Effects
Excludes
Description
Bulky
–1
Pop Housing Usage +10%
Double Jointed
These highly advanced mega-machines were not designed to traverse the universe in a box.
Custom-Made
–1
Pop Assembly Speed –15%
Mass-Produced
Each new unit is crafted with unparalleled attention to detail. A marvel of engineering and art, but not very efficient.
High Maintenance
–1
Robot Upkeep +10%
Durable
These machines were designed with a complete disregard for longevity and are prone to malfunction. They will require frequent maintenance.
Luxurious
–2
Pop Assembly Cost +20%
Recycled
Designed after the principle that you cannot put a price on quality, these first-rate units are costly, but shiny.
Repurposed Hardware
–1
Leader Experience Gain –25%
Learning Algorithms
Robot
Droid
Designed to meet the very specific needs of their creators, this line of machines were never intended to have the capacity for higher reasoning, and retrofitting will only get them so far.
Uncanny
–1
Amenities from Jobs −20%
Emotion Emulators
These monstrous machines were created in the image of one of the most horrific species in the universe, and the resemblance is uncanny.
The Machine trait can only be added by machine intelligence empires to robot pops and cannot be removed. Pops with this trait in an non-Machine Intelligence empire will slowly die while pops without the Machine trait in a Machine Intelligence empire can only be displaced, purged or used as batteries.
Type
Effects
Cost
Requirement
Description
Awoken
Research Output +30%
Resettlement Cost +50%
Consumer Goods Cost +25%
0
Limbo event species
Even in mechanical form the Awoken have kept some of their original traits. Could wasteful habits and a sedentary lifestyle have been the downfall of this ancient race of scientifically advanced fungi?
Machine
Habitability +200%
Immortal
Not Affected by Happiness
0
Machine Intelligence
This species is made up by the executive terminals of a single Machine Intelligence, originally built by organics.