Ethics

Version

This article has been verified for the current PC version (2.6) of the game.

Ethics types interface

Ethics are the guiding principles of an empire and its people and determine an empire or pop's favored courses of action and responses to situations. Empires and individual populations don't always align ethically which can cause internal strife in large nations. AI species follow the same ethics rules and their behavior is heavily dependent on the ethics they follow. Naturally, a Militarist Xenophobe alien empire will react very differently to the player than a Pacifist Xenophile. AI empires will, however, compromise on their ethics if circumstances are dire enough, for instance, if threatened with imminent conquest.

Every empire except Fallen Empires can have either three moderate ethics or one fanatic and one moderate ethic. Fallen Empires have only one fanatic ethic. Pops have only one moderate ethic each.

Empire ethics[edit]

Each empire has 3 ethic points which can be spent on ethics. Each moderate ethic costs 1 point and each fanatic ethic costs 2 points. Gestalt Consciousness costs 3 ethic points and requires either the Utopia DLC or the Synthetic Dawn DLC.

Empire ethics have a profound effect on options available during the game. For instance, diplomatic options with alien species are affected by ethics, as are some options for dealing with anomalies. As a result, ethics choices have a greater impact on game experience than the bonuses and maluses listed on this page.

There are 4 ethic axes present:

The Authoritarian-Egalitarian axis looks at whether the empire's political power belongs in the hands of the many or the few.
The Materialist-Spiritualist axis looks at whether the unknowns of the universe can be explained by science or the existence of something greater.
The Militarist-Pacifist axis looks at whether the empire's military should be used offensively or strictly defensively.
The Xenophile-Xenophobe axis looks at whether alien species and cultures should be embraced or distrusted.

Fanatic Spiritualist +20% Monthly Unity −10% Edict Cost Can use the Declare Saint edict Principles Can build Temple buildings Cannot use Full AI Rights policy		Fanatic Militarist −20% Claim Influence Cost +20% Ship Fire Rate Principles Can use the No Retreat War Doctrine		Fanatic Xenophobe −40% Starbase Influence Cost +20% Pop Growth Speed Can use the Fear Campaign edict Principles Can Purge and Displace aliens Can enslave aliens Decreased Opinion with alien empires Cannot give aliens Full Citizenship Cannot allow aliens Full Military Service Cannot use Refugees Welcome species policy
	Spiritualist +10% Monthly Unity −5% Edict Cost Can use the Declare Saint edict Principles Can build Temple buildings Cannot use Full AI Rights policy	Militarist −10% Claim Influence Cost +10% Ship Fire Rate Principles Can use the No Retreat War Doctrine	Xenophobe −20% Starbase Influence Cost +10% Pop Growth Speed Can use the Fear Campaign edict Principles Can Purge and Displace aliens Can enslave aliens Decreased Opinion with alien empires Cannot give aliens Full Citizenship Cannot allow aliens Full Military Service Cannot use Refugees Welcome species policy
Fanatic Authoritarian +1 Monthly Influence +10% Worker Output Can use the Information Quarantine edict Principles Allows Stratified Economy Living Standards Can enslave aliens Must use Autocratic authority	Authoritarian +0.5 Monthly Influence +5% Worker Output Can use the Information Quarantine edict Principles Allows Stratified Economy Living Standards Can enslave aliens Cannot reform into or start with Democratic authority	Gestalt Consciousness −20% War Exhaustion Gain +1 Monthly Influence Cannot change ethics Principles Cannot reform into or start with any default authority Can use the Indiscriminate Orbital Bombardment policy Factions cannot form Native Pops are not affected by happiness Native Pops cannot survive in empires with a different authority Non-native Pops cannot survive in Gestalt Consciousness empires Can use the No Retreat War Doctrine Pops use Menial Drone and Complex Drone strata	Egalitarian +25% Faction Influence Gain +5% Specialist Output Can use the Encourage Political Thought edict Principles Allows Utopian Living Standards Cannot reform into or start with Autocratic authority	Fanatic Egalitarian +50% Faction Influence Gain +10% Specialist Output Can use the Encourage Political Thought edict Principles Allows Utopian Living Standards Must use Democratic authority
	Xenophile +10% Trade Value +1 Available Envoys Can use the Land of Opportunity edict Principles Increased Opinion with alien empires Cannot use No Refugees species policy Cannot Displace aliens	Pacifist −15% Empire Sprawl from Pops +5 Stability Can use the Peace Festivals edict Principles Cannot use Unrestricted Wars policy Cannot engage in Indiscriminate Orbital Bombardment	Materialist −10% Robot Upkeep +5% Research Speed Can use the Research Grants edict Principles Allows Academic Privilege living standards Cannot use AI Outlawed policy Cannot use Robotic Workers Outlawed policy
Fanatic Xenophile +20% Trade Value +2 Available Envoys Can use the Land of Opportunity edict Principles Increased Opinion with alien empires Cannot use No Refugees species policy Cannot Displace aliens		Fanatic Pacifist −30% Empire Sprawl from Pops +10 Stability Can use the Peace Festivals edict Principles Must use Defensive Wars policy Cannot engage in Indiscriminate Orbital Bombardment		Fanatic Materialist −20% Robot Upkeep +10% Research Speed Can use the Research Grants edict Principles Allows Academic Privilege living standards Cannot use AI Outlawed policy Cannot use Robotic Workers Outlawed policy

Pop ethics[edit]

Each pop in an empire will now only embrace a single, moderate ethic. At the start of the game the population's ethics will match the empire ethics but as an empire grows its population will become more diverse in its views and wants. Each ethic has an attraction value for each pop in an empire depending on both the empire's situation and their own situation.

Over time, the ethics of the pops will drift in such a way that it roughly matches the overall attraction of that value. For example, if the materialist attraction sits at 10% for decades, it's likely that after that time, around 10% of all pops will be materialist. There is some random factor so it's likely never going to match up perfectly, but the system is built to try and go towards the mean, so the more over-represented an ethic is compared to its attraction, the more likely pops are to drift away from it and vice versa.

The following attraction factors are valid for each Faction:

+2 if the empire has the ethic in moderate form
+3 if the empire has the ethic in fanatic form
+2 if the empire does not have the ethic and the Faction representing it has formed
+0.5 if the leader of the Faction representing the ethic is the empire ruler

Each ethic has its own multitude of factors that will increase or lower its attraction.

Ethic	Attraction	Requirement
Authoritarian	1.50	Member of a Hegemony federation
	1.25	Imperial authority
	0.75	Democratic authority
	1.25	Pop is Decadent
	1.50	A pop of this species is enslaved. Ignores robot Pops.
	1.25	A pop from another species is enslaved. Unless a pop of this species is also enslaved. Ignores robot Pops.
	0.75	Pop has social welfare, utopian or shared burden living standards
Egalitarian	0.75	Imperial authority
	1.25	Democratic authority
	1.50	Is in Defense Pact, Commercial Pact or Federation with a Egalitarian or Fanatic Egalitarian Empire
	2.00	Any non-subject Egalitarian or Fanatic Egalitarian Empire has migration access
	0.50	Pop is Decadent
	1.25	Pop does not have Full Citizenship
	1.50	Is not enslaved but another non-Robot pop on the world is.
	1.25	Pop has social welfare, utopian or shared burden living standards
Materialist	1.50	Member of a Research Cooperative federation
	1.25	Mechanist origin
	1.25	Has AI full rights
	1.33	Has a research agreement with a Fanatic Materialist or Materialist
	0.00	Pop has Priest or High Priest job
	2.00	Pop is a robot
	1.50	Pop has cybernetic
	1.25	Pop is not a robot but owned Robot pop on planet
	1.25	Pop has trait Natural Engineers
	1.25	Pop has trait Natural Sociologists
	1.25	Pop has trait Natural Physicists
Spiritualist	1.25	Psionic Theory technology
	1.50	Has mind over matter ascension perk
	1.50	Has transcendence ascension perk
	0.75	Has AI full rights
	2.00	Is Subject of a Spiritualist or Fanatic Spiritualist empire
	1.50	Has defense pact, commercial pact or Federation with a Fanatic Spiritualist or Spiritualist
	2.00	Non-Subject Fanatic Spiritualist or Spiritualist Empire has migration access
	0.25	Pop is a robot
Militarist	1.50	Member of a Martial Alliance federation
	0.33	Inwards Perfection civic
	0.75	Has been at peace for over 20 years (After year 2250)
	0.75	Has been at peace for over 40 years (After year 2250)
	0.75	Has been at peace for over 60 years
	0.75	Has been at peace for over 80 years
	0.75	Has been at peace for over 100 years
	1.25	Another empire controls a planet you were the original owner of
	2.00	Pop has citizen rights or can be military leader and is in a war
	2.00	Pop has citizen rights or can be military leader and has recently lost a war
	1.50	Pop has citizen rights or can be military leader and a neighbor is hostile, domineering or a rival
	1.10	Pop is Strong
	1.20	Pop is Very Strong
	0.75	Pop is Weak
	3.00	Pop is on an occupied Planet
Pacifist	1.50	Inwards Perfection civic
	0.50	Fanatic Purifiers civic
	1.33	Has been at peace for over 20 years (After year 2250)
	1.33	Has been at peace for over 40 years (After year 2250)
	1.33	Has been at peace for over 60 years
	1.33	Has been at peace for over 80 years
	1.33	Has been at peace for over 100 years
	0.50	Pop has citizen rights or can be military leader and any neighbor is hostile, domineering, or a rival
Xenophile	0.50	Inwards Perfection civic
	0.33	Fanatic Purifiers civic
	1.50	Allows alien leaders
	1.50	Non-subject alien empire has migration acess
	1.33	In a defensive pact, commerical pact or Federation with an alien empire
	0.25	An alien empire has committed genocide on your empire's primary species
	0.50	An alien empire has enslaved a pop of your empires primary species
	2.00	Pop is an alien, does not have full citizenship and is not enslaved
	2.00	Pop is not enslaved and a sapient free alien pop is on the world
	1.50	A charismatic alien is on the world
Xenophobe	1.50	Inwards Perfection civic
	1.50	Fanatic Purifiers civic
	0.75	Non-subject alien empire has migration acess
	0.75	Allows alien leaders
	3.00	In a defensive war against an alien empire
	2.00	An alien empire has enslaved your primary species. Robot Pops excluded
	4.00	An alien empire has committed genocide on your empire's primary species
	2.00	This pop is not enslaved but an alien is enslaved on the world
	0.50	This pop is not enslaved and a not enslaved alien is on the world
	1.50	A Repugnant alien is on the world

Governing Ethics Attraction[edit]

Governing Ethics Attraction is a modifier that attracts Pops towards the primary ethics of an empire rather than unrelated ethics. As the Factions corresponding to the governing ethics tend to have more Faction Approval having Pops match those ethics to join those Factions is desirable. An empire's Governing Ethics Attraction can be increased by the following:

Source	Bonus
Empire Capital	+100%
Hearts and Minds ambition	+100%
One Vision ascension perk	+50%
Information Quarantine edict	+50%
The Greater Good harmony tradition	+25%
Deep Space Black Site starbase building	+25%
Conservative species trait	+25%
Conformists species trait	+30%
Chosen One ruler trait	+20%
Psychic ruler trait	+10%
Imperial Cult civic	+10%
Deviants species trait	−15%

Ethics change[edit]

Empire ethics can be changed once every 20 years by embracing a faction. You will also receive a notification if another empire does so. Embracing a faction causes an ethic shift to the faction's ethic, having it added or promoted into fanatic if you have it. Other ethics gets demoted or removed to keep the total ethic points the same as before, using the following rule:

Shifting to a new ethic: the fanatic ethic gets demoted to non-fanatic if there is one, otherwise the ethic with the lowest attraction will be removed.
Shifting to an existing non-fanatic ethic: the existing fanatic ethic gets demoted to non-fanatic if there is one, otherwise the ethic with the lowest attraction will be removed.
Shifting to an opposite ethic: the ethic opposing the new one gets removed, if it was fanatic then your other existing ethic becomes fanatic.

One way to ensure an ethic has the lowest attraction and will be removed is to suppress it and promote other factions with the game paused, shift ethics and then undo the suppression and promotions before unpausing.