Morale (Advanced)
Contents |
Morale Levels
There are seven morale levels.
| Morale | Lifecycle | Combat Bonus |
|---|---|---|
| Very Green | Hatchling | -25% |
| Green | Larval Mass | -12.5% |
| Disciplined | Pre-Boil | 0% |
| Hardened | Boil | 12.5% |
| Veteran | Mature Boil | 25% |
| Commando | Great Boil | 37.5% |
| Elite | Demon Boil | 50% |
Conventional Units
Conventional units receive morale upgrades through the MORALE Social Engineering social effect, a number of base facilities and secret projects, unit upgrades, and monoliths. Conventional units have a base morale level of Green.
Morale Sources
Morale Math
Children's Creche Bugs
The Children’s Crèche and effect on morale is notoriously bugged.
Psi Units
Player-controlled native life forms receive lifecycle upgrades from certain base facilities and secret projects along with monoliths. Notably, a faction's PLANET rating has no effect on lifecycle, though positive PLANET ratings do provide a separate 10% combat bonus per level. Bred life forms have a base lifecycle level of Larval Mass.
Lifecycle Sources
- Native life forms bred in a base with a Biology Lab, Centauri Preserve, Temple of Planet, or Bioenhancement Center facility receive a +1 lifecycle upgrade per facility.
- Native life forms bred by a faction that controls The Xenoempathy Dome, The Pholus Mutagen, or The Voice of Planet secret project receive a +1 lifecycle upgrade per project.
Lifecycle Math
Brood Pit Bugs
Much like the Children’s Crèche, the Brood Pit's effect on lifecycle is bugged.
Notably, the +1 morale bonus granted by the Brood Pit when attacking or defending from a base square will stack with the same bonus from the Children’s Crèche even though the manual indicates they should not. A mind worm in a base with both facilities will receive a 25% morale bonus on top of their calculated morale while a conventional unit would only receive a 12.5% bonus.
Probe Teams
Probe team morale is derived from the PROBE Social Engineering social effect, from a secret project and facility, and from certain technologies. Probe teams have a base morale level of Disciplined.
- PROBE ratings of +1, +2, and +3 accordingly add +1, +2, and +3 morale.
- Probes built at a base with a Command Center, Bioenhancement Center, or Covert Ops Center facility receive a +2 morale upgrade per facility.
- Probes built by a faction that controls The Telepathic Matrix secret project receive a +2 morale upgrade.
- The following technologies grant probe teams +1 morale each upon discovery:
Simply add up all morale bonuses to calculate a Probe Team's morale.
Native Life
The native life forms controlled by the Planetmind, which the game typically refers to as "Aliens" (not to be confused with Progenitors), have a unique lifecycle calculation system based on turns passed, actions by the player, and other effects. Native life begins the game at the Hatchling lifecycle level.
The base lifecycle level gradually increases as time passes:
- Hatchling from Planetfall until turn 45
- Larval Mass until turn 90
- Pre-Boil until turn 170
- Boil until turn 250
- Mature Boil until turn 330
- Demon Boil from turn 330 and beyond (skipping Great Boil)
Locusts of Chiron receive an additional +1 lifecycle bonus.
During perihelion, native life receive a temporary +1 lifecycle bonus. Once perihelion ends, the lifecycle bonus is removed.
Native life that encounter a Monolith benefit the same as a player's unit by receiving a one-time +1 lifecycle bonus.
Every major atrocity committed and Tectonic Payload detonated by the faction in combat with the native life form adds +1 lifecycle to the native life form.
Simply add all the lifecycle bonuses to predict native lifecycle levels.
Fungal Towers
Fungal towers have a separate lifecycle calculation. They receive +1 lifecycle for every fungal square bordering their square, minus 2. Thus a fungal tower bordering 4 additional fungus tiles would have a Pre-Boil lifecycle rating.
Fungal towers are not affected by any other lifecycle bonuses.
Combat Promotion Mechanics
When a unit wins a battle, there is a certain chance this unit will receive a morale upgrade of one level. The probability of such a battle upgrade seems to differ depending on the current morale of the unit. An educated guess as to the odds of an upgrade are listed as follows:
- 100% for very green* and green units (CONFIRMED)
- 50% for disciplined units
- 33% for hardened units
- 25% for veteran units
- 20% for commando units
Reverse engineered mechanics
- 100% for very green* and green units
- D/(A+D) for disciplined units
- D/(A+D)/2 for hardened units
- D/(A+D)/2 for veteran units
- D/(A+D)/2 for commando units
A = final attacker weapon strength
D = final defender armor strength
- Special situation for very green units. Under -3 & -4 social engineering morale newly built units in bases without any morale enhancing facilities will at first not receive any morale upgrades from battle. This is probably because the game takes into account virtual morale levels under Very Green. For example under -3 SESocial Engineering Morale units receive minus 2 morale levels, which basically makes new trained units Very VERY Green. Therefore they first need to win two battles to become green. Likewise under -4 SE Morale units will only upgrade to green after winning their third battle
Other Reverse Engineered Information
Battle Upgrades. *(SE) =Social Engineering
A unit homed to a base under drone riots gets a (-) morale modifier.
The effects of this modifier differ depending upon SE MORALE setting: (This is a Bug)
-3 SE Morale: Units homed to a crècheless base get a 25% combat bonus. Units homed to a crèche base get a 12.5% bonus.
-2 or -1 SE Morale: Units homed to a crècheless base get a 12.5% attack bonus. Units homed to a crèche base get no bonus.
0 SE Morale: No effect
1 or >1 SE Morale: -12.5% combat bonus (as expected)
Children’s Crèche A Children’s Crèche (CC) has a two effects on morale. On the one side it gives a morale bonus to units, built in a base with a CC, of a faction running a negative SE Morale. This bonus counts on every location. On the other side a Children’s Crèche gives a battle bonus to units on the base square of a base with a CC. This is (supposed to be) represented in the form of (+)'s. Unfortunately the (+)'s are in some cases a bad indication of the actual battle modifiers given.
(Both of these effects are Bugged)
For any unit built in a base with Children’s Crèche, regardless of location: 0 SE Morale or higher: no difference.
-3 to -1 SE Morale: +1 morale level
-4 SE Morale: +2 morale levels
For units on a base square, with the base having a Children’s Crèche:
When the unit is defending:
0 SE Morale or higher: +12.5% (+) battle bonus
-1 & -2 SE Morale or higher: +25% (++) battle bonus
-3 SE Morale: +37.5% (+++) battle bonus
-4 SE Morale: +50% (++++) battle bonus
The total defense bonus (the sum of the morale level bonus and the (+) bonuses) is capped off at +50%.
When the unit is attacking:
+4 SE Morale: -37% battle penalty
+3 SE Morale: -25% battle penalty
+2 SE Morale: -12.5% battle penalty
+1 SE Morale: no difference
0 SE Morale: +12.5% battle bonus
-1 SE Morale: +25% battle bonus
-2 SE Morale: +25% battle bonus
-3 SE Morale: +37.5% battle bonus
-4 SE Morale: +50% battle bonus
For attacks from a Children’s Crèche base there is no limit at all for the battle bonus.
This could potentially give a +100% attacking Combat bonus to an elite unit under -4SE Morale
