Federation

This article is about the "Federations" mechanics. For the DLC, see Federations (DLC).

Version

This article has been verified for the current PC version (3.4) of the game.

Diplomacy

Diplomacy

Relations

Galactic community

Federation

Subject empire

A Federation fleet from every species class.

Federations are groups of empires that band together for mutual benefit. A federation is a more involved version of a Defense Pact with its own set of laws, rules, and perks. Diplomatic relations inside of a federation become more favorable: members do not generate border friction amongst themselves, build trust with each other to a cap of +100 and share 10% of their victory score with each other. Players can set a name for their federation at creation or leave it random; the name can be changed at any time. If the union map view is toggled on, all federation members share the same color.

A federation can only be created by one of four ways: an empire that adopts the  The Federation tradition from the Diplomacy tree may create a Federation with another empire, an empire that has an origin that starts them in a federation, a revolt against the  Galactic Imperium, or during the late game "War in Heaven," the strongest empire in the galaxy will get an event to create a League of Non Aligned powers, even if that strongest empire doesn't have  The Federation. Empires with the  Barbaric Despoilers civic can only create a Martial Alliance or Hegemony federation. An invited empire must have a positive acceptance score with an existing federation member for said member to vote for their addition. Hovering over the diplomatic choice will show which empires agree and disagree.

Members of a federation have their  energy output reduced by −15%. This tax doesn't apply to  energy generated from trade.

When a member leaves or is kicked from a federation it gains a Truce with the federation.

Leaving a federation will grant a decaying  −200 opinion with all federation members.

Federation types

The federation type determines what perks the federation provides at each level. The federation type can be changed at any time with a vote by clicking on the federation type icon. Changing the federation type, however, resets the federation level to 1.

The Galactic Union federation type is available by default, and all other federation types require the  Federations DLC as well as meeting an additional ethic, authority, civic, or completed tradition tree requirement.

Type	Level 1 perks	Level 2 perks	Level 3 perks	Level 4 perks	Level 5 perks	Requirements
Galactic Union	−50% Cohesion loss from ethics  +60 Intel cap between members	+25% Naval Contribution effect  −50% Cohesion loss from new members	+2 Unity per federation envoy  +5% Trust growth per federation envoy  +10% Ship speed in federation space	−50% Cohesion loss from failed votes  +25% Damage to crisis ships	+2 Unity per federation envoy  +5% Trust cap per federation envoy  +25% Damage to crisis ships	Not Barbaric Despoilers
		President modifiers:  +1 Available envoys	President modifiers: +1 Federation influence gain	President modifiers:  +10% Diplomatic weight	President modifiers:  +10% Monthly unity
Trade League	Trade League trade policy  +50 Intel cap between members	+5% Trade value  +10% Ship speed in federation space	+5% Trade value	+5% Trade value +25% Naval contribution effect	+5% Trade value  +25% Damage to crisis ships	Federations DLC  Not Barbaric Despoilers Any of:  Corporate Dominion  Merchant Guilds  Corporate  Mercantile finisher
		President modifiers:  +1 Available envoys	President modifiers: +1 Federation influence gain  +5 Trade protection	President modifiers:  +10% Diplomatic weight	President modifiers:  +10% Trade value
Martial Alliance	+100 Ship starting experience +100 Army starting experience  +25% Ship build speed  +50 Intel cap between members	+25% Naval contribution effect  +10% Ship speed in federation space	+1 Admiral level cap  +10% Ship fire rate	+25% Naval contribution effect  +25% Damage to crisis ships	+25% Naval contribution effect  +25% Damage to crisis ships	Federations DLC Either:  Militarist  Unyielding finisher
		President modifiers:  −10% Claim influence cost	President modifiers:  +1 Available envoys	President modifiers: 10% Federation fleet unity	President modifiers:  +10% Diplomatic weight
Research Cooperative	Free Research agreement with all members  +50 Intel cap between members	+5% Research speed from agreements  +5% Research speed	+5% Research speed from agreements ×2 Rare tech discovery chance if another member has it	+5% Research speed from agreements  +20% Research speed during a crisis	+5% Research speed from agreements  +20% Research speed during a crisis	Federations DLC  Not Barbaric Despoilers Any of:  Materialist  Machine Intelligence  Discovery finisher
		President modifiers:  +1 Research alternatives	President modifiers: +20% Diplomatic weight from technology	President modifiers:  +1 Available envoys	President modifiers: +1 Megastructure build capacity
Hegemony	Members cannot freely leave Members gain the Secede casus belli against the president Reduced Centralization requirements  +40 Intel cap between members	Non-President modifiers:  +5% Resources from jobs	−50% Cohesion loss from new members Non-President modifiers:  +5% Resources from jobs	No influence upkeep for  Migration treaties or  Research agreements with other members Non-President modifiers:  +5% Resources from jobs	+25% Damage to crisis ships 10% Federation fleet unity	Federations DLC Any of:  Authoritarian  Rogue Servitor  Domination finisher
		President modifiers: −100% Naval contribution cost  +1 Available envoys	President modifiers: Gain the Establish Hegemony wargoal	President modifiers: +1 Federation influence gain	President modifiers: 10% of every member's diplomatic weight

Joint operations

Once 60 years pass, if a federation has reached at least level 2 and is at peace, its president may be offered the choice to start a joint project with the other federation members. The joint project lasts 10 years and requires each member to individually complete a special project. If not even a single member completes it, the joint project fails and the federation gains  −50 cohesion.

Space Cloud

 Galactic Union and  Research Cooperative federations have the objective of studying a space aurora. Each member will be given a special project above its capital starbase that requires a science ship with a level 2 or higher scientist and requires 200  physics research. Completing the special projects brings a choice, but its effects are purely visual. The project is complete after 3 years, or when every member finishes the special project.

• If all members participated, the federation gains  +30 cohesion and each member gains  +10% physics and  +5% society research for 10 years.
• If not all members participated, each member that participated gains  +10% physics research for 6 years.

Logistics Remodelling

 Trade League federations have the objective of creating a shipping standard. Within two years, each member must generate at least  50 trade value in an owned system. Members that fail gain  −10% trade value until the project is complete. Members that succeed gain  +5% consumer goods and  −10% trade value, or only −5% if the system's Starbase has an Offworld Trading Company building, and are issued a special project on the system's Starbase that requires a construction ship. Once each member completes the special project, all modifiers are removed and the project is completed.

• If all members participated, each member gains  +5% consumer goods and  +12% trade value
• If not all members participated, each member that participated gains  +2.5% consumer goods and  +10% trade value

Federation Monument

 Hegemony federations have the objective of building a monument. Members that agree gain a temporary  +30 opinion with the president, while those that refuse gain  −50 opinion with the president. If more than half of the members disagree, the federation loses  100 cohesion and the president loses  50 influence. If at least half of the members agree, all members that agreed are issued a special project above the president's capital which requires a construction ship and takes a year to complete, while the president is issued a special project to give members +35% attraction towards the president's ethics which requires a science ship and takes 6 months to complete. Any member that finishes the special project gains a temporary  +50 opinion with the president. Once all member special projects are completed, the project is completed.

• If all members participated, the federation gains  +100 cohesion and the president gains the Federation Monument planetary feature on the capital.
• If not all members participated, the federation gains  +25 cohesion.

Joint Military Exercises

 Martial Alliance federations have a federation-wide fleet exercise as their objective. Members that agree gain a temporary  +50 opinion with the president while those that refuse gain  −50 opinion with the president. If more than half of the members disagree, the federation loses  100 cohesion and the president loses  50 influence. If at least half of the members agree, the president and all members that agreed are given a location in the Situation Log which they must reach with a fleet of at least 15 ships. Once each member reaches the location, a hostile fleet of 5-9 ships appears and must be defeated within 30 days. Once the fleet is defeated, the project is completed.

• If all members participated the federation gains  +100 cohesion and each member gains  +15% fire rate for 25 years
• If not all members participated, the federation gains  +50 cohesion and each member that participated gains  +15% fire rate for 25 years

Federation Cohesion

 Cohesion is a measure of how unified a federation is and ranges from +100 to −100. It has the following effects:

• Each 10 points of cohesion above 0 adds +1 XP per month to a federation, up to +10 at  +100 cohesion.
• Each 10 points of cohesion below 0 adds −1 XP per month to a federation, up to −10 at  −100 cohesion.
• Each 4 points of cohesion above 0 adds +1 acceptance for changing federation laws.
• Each 4 points of cohesion below 0 adds −1 acceptance for changing federation laws.
• Cohesion below 90 reduces the acceptance for increasing the Centralization Law by −50.

The following incur immediate  cohesion changes:

• −100 whenever a member joins or leaves the federation, including when an empire  integrates a subject that was also a member.
• −50 whenever the federation type changes
• −10 whenever the federation Centralization Law changes
• −5 whenever any other federation law changes
• −10 whenever a failed vote occurs

The following incur monthly  cohesion changes:

• +1 for each envoy assigned to the federation
• −0.25 for each member of the federation
• −0.15 multiplied by the number of different ethics, minus 3 (moderate and fanatic ethics of the same type will count as different ethics)
• −0.5 for each opposed ethics (Two opposing fanatics, or any combination with only a single fanatic will only count for one set of opposed ethics. Normal and fanatic on one side, and fanatic or normal and fanatic on the other will count for two.)

If a federation loses the experience required for a level and fails to raise it above the required limit within 90 days, the federation level will downgrade and remove all perks from the previously held level. Each level requires the following amount of experience:

Level	2	3	4	5
Total XP	1200	3600	8400	18000
XP from previous level	1200	2400	4800	9600

A federation's experience is capped at 18000, meaning that at level 5 any negative Cohesion will downgrade the federation level.

Federation Fleet

Federations that have their Fleet Contribution law set to anything other than None feature a joint fleet, controlled by the current federation president, in addition to the forces of the separate member empires. Federation fleets cost no maintenance and use the federation fleet capacity, which every member contributes to based on the Fleet Contribution law, up to 600. The fleets cannot exceed this cap. The  Entente Coordination tradition doubles the naval capacity contribution of the members that adopt it while not reducing their own further. Federation fleets do not have a command limit.

The president designs the federation fleet ships via a special ship designer available in the federation menu and may use any technology available to any member empire. Regular ship designs cannot be used to build federation ships. The president's empire is responsible for commanding the federation fleets. Federation law determines whether any member of the federation or only the president's empire can build ships for the federation fleet. Any AI federation member's research of a component-unlocking technology will auto-update the default federation designs, but not any player-created ones, adding theirs to the list instead. Since their designs are considered newer, if you update your federation fleets at this time, your fleet will become their design, which can be undesirable.

If a federation is disbanded, so is the federation fleet.

The federation fleet has its own Titan limit, which does not affect the number of Titans its members can construct individually.

The federation can include one Juggernaut regardless of whether any member empire has one of their own.

Federation laws

Federation laws dictate how the federation operates and customize certain aspects of a federation. Any federation member can propose a law change. Hovering over any law will list the federation members that will support or oppose it. A failed vote adds  −10 cohesion.

Federation Centralization

Federation Centralization determines what Federation laws are available and is limited by the current federation level. Raising centralization will incur increasingly higher costs to cohesion. Enacting any option adds  −10 cohesion.

Option	Monthly cohesion	Member intel cap	Required level	Description
Minimal	0	+10	1	The Federation's influence over its members is kept at a minimum.
Low	−1	+20	2	The level of Federation influence over member states are kept very low.
Medium	−2	+30	3	The Federation has a good deal of influence over its members, while still allowing some independent governing.
High	−3	+40	4	The Federation's influence over its member states is almost absolute.
Very High	−4	+50	5	The Federation has sovereign control over how member states are being governed.

Fleet Contribution

The Fleet Contribution law determines how much  naval capacity is transferred from federation members to the federation fleet. The availability of this law is heavily affected by the federation type. Enacting any option other than None adds  −5 cohesion.

Option	Monthly cohesion	Transferred naval capacity	Max fleet size	Required centralization					Description
				Martial Alliance	Hegemony	Galactic Union	Trade League	Research Cooperative
None	0	—	—	Minimal	Minimal	Minimal	Minimal	Minimal	This federation has no collaborative military effort.
Low	−0.25	10%	200	Minimal	Minimal	Low	Low	Medium	This federation has a minor collaborative military effort.
Medium	−0.5	20%	400	Low	Low	Medium	Medium	Very High	This federation has a moderate collaborative military effort.
High	−0.75	30%	600	Medium	High	High	Very High		This federation has a extensive collaborative military effort.

Federation Fleet Construction

The Federation Fleet Construction law determines who can build ships for the federation fleet.

Option	Effects	Required Centralization
Everyone	All members can build ships for the federation fleet	Minimal
Only Leader	Only the federation president can build ships for the federation fleet	Low

Succession Type

The Succession Type law determines how the next federation president is chosen once their term is up. Enacting any option other than Rotation adds  −5 cohesion.

Option	Monthly cohesion	Effects	Required centralization	DLC
Rotation	−0.5	Leadership is rotated among each Federation member	Minimal
Strongest	0 if  Hegemony −1 otherwise	The empire with the highest succession power becomes the next president	Minimal (if  Hegemony) High (Otherwise)
Random	0	The next president is chosen randomly	Minimal
Challenge	0	The empire that wins the challenge becomes the next president	Low

Succession Power

If the Succession Type law is set to Strongest, then this law will define what criteria is used to determine which empire is "the strongest". This category is not visible with any other succession type. Enacting any option adds  −5 cohesion.

Option	Effects	DLC
Economy	Chooses the president based on economic power
Diplomatic Weight	Chooses the president based on diplomatic weight
Technology	Chooses the president based on technology level
Fleets	Chooses the president based on fleet power

Challenges

If the Succession Type law is set to Challenge, then this law will define what the challenge for the choosing the next president will be. This category is not visible with any other succession type. Empires that do not meet the challenge requirements will be forced to drop out from the competition.

Challenge	Description	Empire drops out if
Arena Combat	The rulers of all federation members fight in an arena battle, and the winner becomes president while all losers are killed. Each ruler has a chance to win based on a variety of factors. Winning Odds above 60 and below 500 is counted as 60, namely  Chosen One plus an Odds reducing factor. Condition Odds Empire ethics  Fanatic Pacifist: −10  Pacifist: −5  Militarist: +5  Fanatic Militarist: +10 Empire civics  Citizen Service: +6  Warrior Culture: +20 Ruler traits  Substance Abuser: −5  Eager: +1  Stubborn: +1  Adaptive: +3 Resilient: +5 Cyborg: +15  Synthetic: +20  Psychic: +25  Chosen One: +500 General traits (if the ruler was a General)  Armchair Commander: +3  Army Logistician: +3 Charismatic: +3  Restrained: +3  Glory Seeker: +8  Butcher: +10 Mercenary Warrior: +15 Admiral traits (if the ruler was an Admiral)  Lethargic: −3  Aggressive: +2  Trickster: +3  Mercenary Warrior: +10 Governor traits (if the ruler was a Governor) Bureaucrat: −10  Intellectual: −10  Retired Fleet Officer: +2  Army Veteran: +3 Ruler species traits  Weak: −10  Slow Learners: −2  Talented: +2  Quick Learners: +2  Resilient: +6  Robust: +6  Strong: +10  Very Strong: +15  Survivor: +3  Lithoid: +5	Empire is a  Gestalt Consciousness
Psionic Battle	The psionic Pops of all federation members fight in an arena. Before the fight, each empire will be offered to pay  Zro to increase its odds of winning. Each empire's odds to win, capped at 400, are calculated by the following: +1 per Pop with the  Latent Psionic trait +3 per Pop with the  Psionic trait +10 per  Telepath job +40 if the empire paid 100  Zro +60 if the empire paid 500  Zro +80 if the empire paid 1000  Zro	Empires without Pops with the  Psionic or Latent Psionic trait automatically drop out from the competition
Golden Rule	A bid value is determined based on the federation president's stored  energy credits. President's Energy Credits Bid 0-10000 2500 10000-100000 5000 100000+ 10000 Each member is offered the chance to pay and place a bid or drop out. If multiple members placed a bid, then the offer is given again to those members. Bidding continues until all but one empire have dropped out. This remaining empire then becomes the new president and will also gain the option to invest the bids placed by all members, distribute them, or appropriate them. Investing will give all federation members  +10% trade value and  +5% energy credits for a year Distributing will refund each member  energy credits based on the sum of bids made by all members Appropriating will grant the president  energy credits based on the sum of bids made by all members and give  +5% energy credits and  −100 opinion with all federation members for 50 years Base sum Redistribution value Appropriation value 0-10000 1000 7000 10000-100000 2500 15000 100000+ 5000 75000	Empire refuses to pay or can't afford to place a bid
Thesis Defense	Each member empires assembles a team consisting of up to five recruited scientists. Each scientist leading a research area will always join if present. Each team has a chance to win based on the traits of each team member. Each odds adjustment is applied or not based on the number of team members that meet its condition. # with Condition Odds — Base weight 20 1+  Adaptable +10 1+  Eager +5 1+  Maniacal +10 1+  Meticulous +10 1+  Spark of Genius +20 1+  Substance Abuser +10 2+  Substance Abuser −20 1+  Expertise: Statecraft +10 1 Any Expertise trait +5 2+ Any Expertise trait −10 1+  Custom AI Assistant +10 1+  Sapient AI Assistant +20 1+  Towel-bearer +9 1+  Curator +10 1+  Psychic +10 1+  Chosen One +30 1+  Cyborg +10 1+  Synthetic +5 1+  Erudite +15 1+  Paranoid −5 1+  Stubborn −5 2+  Carefree −10 2+  Maniacal −20 — No other empire in the federation has Superior or Overwhelming technology +40 — No other empire in the federation has Equivalent technology +30 — One other empire in the federation has Superior or Overwhelming technology and more than one other empire has Inferior or Pathetic technology +20 — Another empire in the federation has Overwhelming technology ×0.1 — Per technology researched +1 — Per repeatable technology researched +1	Empire does not have at least three scientists

Succession Term

The Succession Term law determines the length of the federation president's term and thus how often the president changes. This law cannot be changed if any federation member is at war.

Option	Effects
10 Years	Succession happens every 10 years
20 Years	Succession happens every 20 years
30 Years	Succession happens every 30 years
40 Years	Succession happens every 40 years
Status Change	Succession happens when a member surpasses the president by 25% Only available with Strongest succession

Other federation laws

Without the  Federations DLC, the following categories only have a single available option. Enacting any option, except in the Can Subjects Join category, adds  −5 cohesion.

Can Subjects Join
Option	Monthly cohesion	Effects	Required centralization	DLC
No	0	Subject empires can join the federation only if invited by or asking their overlord Existing subjects of federation members are kicked from the federation when this law is passed Unavailable for  Hegemony federations	Minimal
Yes	0	Subject empires automatically join or leave the federation with their overlord Existing subjects of federation members join the federation when this law is passed A new federation will have this law set automatically unless the members propose and affirm the "No" law	Minimal
Vote Weight
Option	Monthly cohesion	Effects	Required centralization	DLC
Equal	0	Each member has equal voting power	Minimal
Diplomatic	0	The voting power of each member is determined by their  diplomatic weight	Medium
War Declaration
Option	Monthly cohesion	Effects	Required centralization	DLC
Unanimous Vote	0	All members must agree to declare war	Minimal
Majority Vote	0	A majority of voting power is required to declare war	Minimal (if  Hegemony) Low (otherwise)
President Decides	−0.5	The federation president alone approves whether to declare war	High
Invite Members
Option	Monthly cohesion	Effects	Required centralization	DLC
Unanimous Vote	0	All members must agree to invite or accept a new member	Minimal
Majority Vote	0	A majority of voting power is required to invite or accept a new member	Low
President Decides	−0.25	The federation president alone approves whether to invite or accept a new member	Minimal (if  Hegemony) High (otherwise)
Kick Members
Option	Monthly cohesion	Effects	Required centralization	DLC
Majority Vote	0	A majority of voting power is required to kick a member	Minimal
President Decides	−0.5	The federation president alone approves whether to kick a member	Minimal (if  Hegemony) Very High (otherwise)
Free Migration
Option	Monthly cohesion	Effects	Required centralization	DLC
Disabled	0	Pops cannot migrate to other federation members without a  Migration Treaty	Minimal
Enabled	0	Pops can migrate to other federation members without the need for a  Migration Treaty	Medium
Separate Treaties
Option	Monthly cohesion	Effects	Required centralization	DLC
Allowed	0	Members can sign  Commercial Pacts, Migration Treaties, or  Research Agreements with outside empires	Minimal
Prohibited	−0.1	Members cannot sign  Commercial Pacts, Migration Treaties, or  Research Agreements with outside empires	Low

References

Game concepts