“Do their work, and they will remember you.”
— Fleet Admiral Selene Voss
The contract board
From commander level 20, each of the eleven factions posts three contracts every day (a new board at 00:00 UTC). Open them with the handshake button on the HUD, beside the battle reports button. A number on it means a contract of yours is ready to claim.
The board has a tab for every faction, with its emblem. Under the tabs are the faction's name, your standing card (click it for the standing screen) and the faction's contracts. The foot says how many contracts you hold and when the next board comes.
- Pick a faction's tab and press ACCEPT on a contract. You can hold three at a time, from any factions.
- Do the work. The row's bar fills as it is counted, wherever you do it.
- When it is done the row is framed in gold and says CLAIM. Press it to be paid.
A contract runs until the end of the day after it was posted (UTC). One that runs out is lost; one that runs out finished is paid by itself. ABANDON gives a contract up. Each contract can be taken once.
Below level 20 the board can be opened and read, but nothing can be taken. A contract you cannot take now says why on its row.
What contracts ask, and what they pay
Every contract pays standing with its faction and blueprint fragments. Contracts never pay coins. Your tier below is your commander level divided by 3.3 (level 30 is tier 9, level 50 tier 15).
| Kind | What it asks | Standing | Fragments |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hunt | Destroy 2 Tide patrols of your tier minus 2, or higher | 400 | 1 |
| Purge | Destroy 20 Tide ships | 300 | 1 |
| Raid | Win a battle against a commander's fleet or base | 600 | 2 |
| Hold the line | Hold your base in a raid, or win a battle you were attacked in | 400 | 1 |
| Mine | Mine a resource with your fleets: 10,000 minerals, 1,000 helium-3 or 200 antimatter at tier 9, scaled with your tier | 300 | 1 |
| Deliver | Deliver a resource from your stores: 50,000 minerals, 20,000 helium-3 or 2,000 antimatter for each tier. CLAIM hands it over | 250 | 1 |
| Survey | Work 2 deep-space signals to the end | 350 | 1 |
| Patrol | Keep a fleet at a named planet for 2 hours | 300 | 1 |
| Strike | Fight the Tide's incursion flagship in 2 incursions | 500 | 2 |
| Fit out | Build 3 modules | 250 | 1 |
Each faction favours its own kinds of work. Two of its three contracts each day are its favourites, in turn; the third can be anything.
| Faction | Favours |
|---|---|
| Iron Vanguard | Hunt, Hold the line, Strike |
| Crimson Fleet | Raid, Hunt, Purge |
| Solar Empire | Strike, Patrol, Deliver |
| Void Syndicate | Raid, Survey, Purge |
| Technocrat Union | Fit out, Deliver, Survey |
| Miner Rebellion | Mine, Deliver, Hold the line |
| Celestial Order | Patrol, Strike, Hunt |
| Shadow Brokerage | Deliver, Raid, Survey |
| Deep Space Explorers | Survey, Patrol, Mine |
| Nomad Clans | Mine, Patrol, Hunt |
| Freelancers | Any work at all |
Rivals
The factions come in five pairs of rivals. The third contract of the day can be one that the rival takes badly: it pays 50% more standing and costs 200 standing with the rival. The row says so in red.
| Rivals | |
|---|---|
| Iron Vanguard | Crimson Fleet |
| Solar Empire | Void Syndicate |
| Technocrat Union | Miner Rebellion |
| Celestial Order | Shadow Brokerage |
| Deep Space Explorers | Nomad Clans |
The Freelancers have no rival.
Standing and its five tiers
Standing climbs through five tiers, and it is kept forever. Your own faction starts you at Recognised.
| Tier | Standing | What it gives |
|---|---|---|
| Neutral | 0 | Contracts open |
| Recognised | 3,000 | The faction's title to wear |
| Trusted | 10,000 | Hull paint, with hull mastery (a later update) |
| Honoured | 22,000 | The faction's modules open to you, for 50 blueprint fragments |
| Exalted | 40,000 | The faction's hulls open to you, for 100 blueprint fragments, and its Exalted title |
Standing stops counting at Exalted. Below zero a faction is Wary of you; below -10,000 it is Hostile and offers you only work that costs its rival nothing. It never goes below -20,000.
The standing screen shows the five tiers as badges, what each one gives with a padlock until you reach it, and where you stand with the faction's rival. CONTRACTS takes you back to the board.
Honoured and Exalted open a faction's modules and hulls once each faction researches and builds only its own. Until then every faction's research is open to everybody, so these two rewards wait for that update.
Titles
Reach Recognised and the faction's title is yours; Exalted gives a second one. Press WEAR TITLE on its tile in the standing screen. A title shows after your name, as a medal's title does, and you wear one at a time.
| Faction | Recognised | Exalted |
|---|---|---|
| Iron Vanguard | Iron Brother | Exalted of the Vanguard |
| Crimson Fleet | Crimson Blade | Exalted of the Crimson Fleet |
| Solar Empire | Sunsworn | Exalted of the Empire |
| Void Syndicate | Void Associate | Exalted of the Syndicate |
| Technocrat Union | Union Engineer | Exalted of the Union |
| Miner Rebellion | Rebel Hand | Exalted of the Rebellion |
| Celestial Order | Order Acolyte | Exalted of the Order |
| Shadow Brokerage | Broker's Friend | Exalted of the Brokerage |
| Deep Space Explorers | Pathfinder | Exalted of the Explorers |
| Nomad Clans | Clan Friend | Exalted of the Clans |
| Freelancers | Free Agent | Exalted of the Freelancers |
Field reports and the Contract Weekend
FIELD REPORT, under the contracts: once a day for each faction, hand it 10 blueprint fragments for 250 standing.
The Contract Weekend is a weekend event: while it runs, standing from every contract counts double, and the board says so.
Fleet Admiral Voss
She speaks from her window at the left of the screen: she introduces contracts the first time they open for you, briefs you on each faction the first time you open its tab, marks every tier you reach, warns you when a faction turns wary or hostile, tells you when a contract is done, and announces a Contract Weekend.
Starting values. The kinds of contract, their targets and pay, the tiers and the rivals' cost may all change.