Respond
- Can only be used reactively.
- Used on threatened cities to block the Capture attempt.
- Cost is similar to the cost of the Capture, but without the Devices requirement or any adjacency effect.
- If two cities are threatened at the same time, only one can be saved.
- Also used to remove the effects of certain random events.
Trade
- Used to exchange resources with cities that belong to other factions.
- Each city makes a distinct offer. Offers vary in their profitability.
- When an offer is taken, a new one is generated. In addition, offers slowly change over time.
- You are trading with the civilian population, so what you get does not come out of the owner's stockpile.
- The owner faction collects 25% of what you pay, as a tariff.
- Cost depends on the city's total population.
- Improves relations with the owner faction.
Recruit
- Used to acquire Labour, Violence, or Depth from any city you control.
- Each city has a fixed preference for the input resource.
- Cost and gain depend on the city's total population.
- Cost is modified by prosperity, while gain is not.
- Once you recruit from a city, it goes on cooldown for a duration that depends on current control.
Nurture
- Used to increase the prosperity of a city, and to generate Love.
- Prosperity modifies resource yields from population and population growth.
- Equilibrium control is also modified by a fraction of prosperity.
- When prosperity is positive or negative, it slowly decays toward zero.
- Each city has a fixed preference for the input resource.
- Cost depends on the city's total population.
Steal
- Used to raid adjacent cities for resources, and to generate Fear.
- The choice of which resource is stolen changes after each raid.
- Cost depends on resident cultures.
- The amount stolen is modified by prosperity.
- Reduces the prosperity of the target city.
- Harms relations with the owner faction.
- Stolen resources come from the city's civilian population, and not the owner's stockpile.
Infiltrate
- Used to build up a discount for the next Capture attempt on a city.
- A fraction of any existing discount is used as a critical failure chance.
- In the event of a critical failure, the entire discount is reduced to zero.
- An unused discount will slowly decay toward zero.
- Cost depends on resident cultures.
- Cannot target faction capitals.
- Does not affect relations with the owner faction.
Capture
- Used to attempt to gain control of a city by force.
- The effect is not instant: the city is considered threatened until the start of your next turn.
- On their turn, the owner can block the attempt using the Respond action.
- Cost depends on resident cultures, and also on which side controls more adjacent cities.
- Regardless of whether the attempt succeeds or fails, it harms relations with the owner.
- Capturing a faction's capital destroys it: any other cities they control become independent, and relics are transferred to you.
Negotiate
- Used to gain control of a city through diplomatic means.
- The effect is immediate, and cannot be blocked.
- Cost depends on resident cultures, and on how remote the city is from its owner's capital.
- Cannot target faction capitals.
- Harms relations with the owner faction.
Build
- Used to build or restore landmarks.
- Landmarks are unique in their effect, fixed in their location, and not available in all cities.
- Once a landmark has been completed, it gives its effect to whoever controls it.
- There is an information map to see the locations of all landmarks.
- Cities with landmarks show a progress indicator in the main map view.
Excavate
- Used to discover buried relics and resources.
- How much of what resources can be found is not random, but is also not openly advertised.
- To help identify good places to excavate, the player's excavation statistics are tracked under each city's details.
- The percentage shown under a city is the probability of finding a relic.
- Relics are unique, discovered at random, and give their benefit to the faction that holds them.
- Excavations increase excavation depth, which improves the odds of finding a relic, raises the cost, but does not improve resource yields.