Verified against the live game, August 2026. One honest note first: the free Cadet plan plays Humans; the Private plan (and up) unlocks all six races. Every race fights in the same galaxy on the same terms.
Humans — the foundation race
Start: three Deliverer colonising craft. Empire measure: systems held.
Balanced, adaptable, and the best onboarding in the game — which is why they're the free race. Their signature is the jump-gate network: Human gates let fleets cross the map between gated systems in a single hop, which turns a scattered empire into a connected one. A generalist roster that does most things well; if you don't yet know what kind of commander you are, be Human first.
Knossons — one ship, one civilisation
Start: a single Worldship — a vast ancient hull with a 520-ship berth and one of the longest jump ranges in the game. Empire measure: systems held.
Your whole civilisation starts inside one ship, and that ship can found Settlements, raise Production Hangers, and eventually anchor Jump Nodes — the Knosson gate tech. It's a slower, weightier opening (lose the Worldship early and you've lost everything), but it matures into an empire with a mobile heart. For players who like committing to one big decision at a time.
Feon-Tar — the empire that owns nothing
Start: three Tanice Freighters. Empire measure: fleet value — not systems.
The nomads. Their Tanice Freighters transform into construction ships, resource collectors and repair vessels — ships, never colonies. Feon-Tar hold no territory at all: their Tier, their income and their identity ride with the fleet. Their collectors mine wherever they stand — claimed space or no — and their Resource Finder probes chart the galaxy on their own and report back. The most different race in the game, and the most misunderstood. Pick them if borders bore you.
Vatari Cult — the faith militant
Start: two Crusaders. Empire measure: systems held.
The Cult spreads like a religion because it is one. Crusaders both build and fight, founding Cult Temples and Missionary Colonies; the Holy Shrine blesses your repair crews, and the cloning programmes keep the faithful coming. A flavour-rich, expansionist race with an aggressive edge — for players who want their empire to feel like a movement.
Sharne — the strip-mining machine
Start: three Settlement Drones. Empire measure: systems held.
The Sharne open with industry: their drones deploy into Strip Miner Construction Facilities and Umbral Assembly Stations — an economy-first engine that chews through system reserves faster than anyone. Strong for players who win by out-producing rather than out-fighting, with a roster (Carrion, Dark Omen, Eclipse) that turns the profits into teeth.
Derulons — cheap, everywhere, relentless
Start: three Nesters. Empire measure: systems held.
A Nester deploys into a Gamarr Habitat for 10 RP — the cheapest foothold in the galaxy by two orders of magnitude. Derulons sprawl: many cheap claims, fast, everywhere. The empire that's hardest to fully dig out, for players who like playing the swarm and thinking in terms of the whole map rather than a fortress.
The short version
- First game? Humans. Free, forgiving, and the gate network teaches you the map.
- Like one big commitment? Knossons — everything rides on the Worldship.
- Hate borders? Feon-Tar — the fleet is the empire.
- Want flavour and aggression? Vatari Cult.
- Economy player? Sharne.
- Map-painter? Derulons — 10 RP a claim.
Every race's full roster is in the Ship Registry, and each has a deeper lore page in the race guides. Whichever you pick, the galaxy is the same one — and it already has opinions about your borders.