| The Psilons are indisputably the strongest race in the game. That should tell you something about the impact of gaining a significant edge in technology. They enjoy a whopping +50% bonus to all research AND they gain another 25% on top of that for being rated Good in all research categories. They have no natural enemies, but also have no friends, with most relations starting at Neutral. |
| Psilons are the only race who default to Pacifistic diplomacy. They are also the only race who default to the Technologist strategy. This combination usually makes them pliable. They are skittish, unsure of themselves in matters of war. They have a glass jaw, since their pain threshold is usually rather pathetic. If they start to throw their weight around and you stand up to them, they will almost invariably back down. Their long term goals are to achieve technology supremacy. There is a line from the diplomacy section of the game manual: Finally, there will come a time when one empire recognizes its superior position and will attempt to eliminate all weaker competitors to win the game. At this time no amount of tribute will prevent the enemy from attacking. The Psilons are by far the most likely to obtain a commanding lead and run away with the game. Their personality usually causes them to wait until their lead is insurmountable before they turn aggressive, but once they do, you are usually past the point of no return, and you will come to know the feeling of being squashed like a bug beneath their heel. |
| When playing against the Psilons, you would be wise to recognize the scope of the threat they pose. Their presence in the game usually commands attention, as games can fairly be categorized into two groups: Psilons Present, and Psilons Not Present. Their research abilities are so strong, they can pose a threat even from a weak position, territorially. Of course, they are far short of omnipotent, so don't be surprised to see them weak and vulnerable, being bullied most thoroughly, in many games. They are a late bloomer, as their personality causes them to behave meekly until their research efforts grant them an indisputable advantage. |
| Of all the races, the Psilons are the ones whose personality most comes to life within the game. The AI is balanced to play them perfectly, so that they invariably pose a major threat but will delay pressing their advantage until they are certain of the outcome. Time is not on your side when facing the Psilons, but you will usually have enough time to do something about them, if you choose wisely. |
| When playing as the Psilons, you will not be bound by their personality traits and AI tendencies. Yet if you are playing on higher difficulty, you may still be weaker than your boosted rivals. You just won't be AS MUCH weaker as if you were playing any other race. |
| Psilons favor Large ships, which also boosts their performance. The secondary personality traits for the Psilons are Honorable and Xenophobic. They never play as Erratic or Aggressive, thank goodness, although either of their secondary personalities, if in force, can make them more dangerous than they usually are. I believe their secondary objectives (the strategy they use when not played as Technologists) are Industrialists and Expansionists. Beware if you run across the latter: you are in for a wild ride. |
| As a final note, Psilons are paranoid about spies, for obvious reasons. They will spend huge amounts of resources on internal security and conduct intensive sweeps (maximum security expenditure) every few turns. To spy against them is almost impossible, thanks in part to their inevitable advantage in Computer tech, and difficult even if you've made spying your focus. Consider yourself warned. If you pin your hopes on being able to steal their secrets, you may be in for a big disappointment. |
| The Klackons enjoy double production from their population. Production comes from two sources: factories and population. Factories are limited by population, with each population point you have able to control a certain number of factories (which increases with robotic controls tech). Production from population is low: 0.5 units from each pop point. Production from factories is 2 units per factory. Yet when a colony first begins, it will have population and no factories. So the Klackons enjoy DOUBLE production rates on new colonies, and continue to enjoy boosted production through the factory building phase. Their production boost persists even when their factory count has been maxed out, giving them a slightly higher output even on fully developed worlds. The real power of this race lies in its rapid growth curve, however. No other race gets up to speed as quickly. They are further boosted by their expertise in Construction, one of the six research fields. They are the only race Excellent in Construction. Construction affects hull integrity, which translates to how much space there is for adding equipment (weapons, shields, etc) aboard your ship designs. (In case you didn't know, in Master of Orion, players design their own ships from lists of available components). In terms of shipbuilding, Construction is the most important field because it increases the space you have onboard ship, boosting all other categories by allowing you to add more goodies. Construction tech also covers the autorepair specials, which can negate damage. Combined with the Klackon's preference for Huge ships, this usually makes them formiddable in any conflict, despite their one glaring weakness, being Poor at Propulsion. Klackon ships are often slow and easy to target, but if a massive fleet of jumbos arrives on your doorstep, that isn't likely to help you much, is it? |
| Klackons tend to be Xenophobic. This makes them uncertain allies. They usually relish trade agreements, hungering for anything that boosts their productivity, but they will be quick to take offense. You should be especially careful about fleet buildups along any border you have with them. They won't like that. Not one bit. They won't like it if you have more territory than they do, either. In fact, there are a lot of things they don't like. Get used to it. You can make friends with them if you work at it, but you will have to work at it. They usually choose the Industrialist strategy, which best favors their racial strengths, but sometimes they will play as Ecologists or Expansionists. Their secondary personality traits are Aggressive and Erratic. No matter which way you slice it, they make for difficult, restless neighbors. They have no natural enemies, though, and can be more adept at diplomacy than you might expect. |
| Their poor abilities at propulsion present a significant weakness when you play as the Klackons. This can be exacerbated if you cannot gain access to improved engines and/or increased range. It can be difficult to prosecute an effective offensive when your propulsion tech is lagging. You should have no trouble loading up your ships with heavy armors, though. |
| There are two other races with production advantages: the Sakkra, whose population grows at double the normal rate, and the Meklars, who gain an additional two levels of factory controls. The Sakkra boost their growth curve while expanding, but stop benefitting from their bonus when the colonies mature. Meklars enjoy no growth curve benefits at all -- in fact, their weakness in planetology and ecology often slows their growth -- but they can keep on growing and growing their production past where other races have hit their maximums. Compared to the Klackons, though, each of those races benefits in only one of the two ways, with boosted growth curve OR with boosted maximum productivity. Klackons enjoy benefits both ways, and that tends to set them apart, and usually above, the other productivity-oriented races. |
| The Humans are the diplomatic specialists. They enjoy relaxed, friendly relations with all races. This gives them an incredible advantage in the diplomatic side of this game. There are two ways to win at Master of Orion. One is conquest, to eliminate all rivals. The others is diplomacy, to secure the active support of two thirds of the galactic population, to form a Galactic Republic and be elected as President. The diplomatic victory is more easily obtained when playing Humans than with any other race. Only the two most populous races are nominated to run in each election. Elections do not even begin until 75% of the stars in the galaxy have been inhabited. Races will tend to abstain from the voting process unless their relations are very strong with one of the candidates. Thus, to win the election, you must either grow to the point of having most of the galaxy's population by yourself, or you must win alliances from enough friends. The Humans are by far the best at forging these alliances. |
| The racial bonus of Humans is efficient trading. Trade agreements begin at -30% efficiency (that is, at first they COST you money), and each turn they are in force, the profit rate will improve slightly. Humans gain a +25% trading bonus, so their trade agreements start at -5% and turn profitable much more quickly. Trading with Humans always benefits the Humans more than their trade partners, but when playing against them, you'll trade with them anyway, because you don't want to be the only one in the galaxy with whom they have poor relations. That is not a desirable position to be occupying. |
| Because the trade bonus is arguably the weakest bonus in the game, the Humans are given more of a technological specialty than any race short of the Psilons. They are the only race Excellent in Force Fields, which can make them formidable in combat. If you can't penetrate their shields, you can't touch them at all, and so you will need stronger weapons to face them in combat. They are also Good in both Planetology and Propulsion, while being Poor at nothing. |
| When you add it all together, the Humans add up to a strong performer. Their trade boosts, if allowed to mature, will boost their performance across the board, giving them more money to be spending in all areas. They will have plenty of cash to buy friends, issue bribes, etc. Their primary personality is Honorable, which makes them a fast friend but also a bitter enemy. They will not forget it if you backstab them. Their primary strategy is diplomacy, which means they cultivate friends even when the AI is playing them, and they will spend considerable resources into maintaining good relations and conducting espionage. They also tend to favor Huge ships, which can be nasty in a protracted war. |
| Secondary personality traits are Pacifistic and Aggressive. The three traits hardest to negotiate with are Xenophobic, Erratic, and Ruthless, none of which applies to the Humans, and since no matter what race you play, you will start with Relaxed relations, you will more often than not find yourself cultivating the Humans as a friend and trading partner. As a military force, whether you are playing as them or playing against them, they tend not to pose much threat, but a seasoned perspective can judge them on the whole, where their diplomatic strengths often make them a much more effective total package than more aggressive races. Secondary objectives include Industrialists and Technologists. |
| Although the Humans are clearly weaker than either the Psilons or the Klackons, in my estimation they definitely deserve to be categorized among the Strong Races. |
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