Sins of a Solar Empire II

Sins of a Solar Empire II combines real-time battle tactics with 4X empire strategy. You lead one of six playable factions as emperor and battle commander, fighting to survive an extinction threat. There are no turns or separate battle and strategy modes: the entire game takes place in real time.

Command battles and empires

Zoom in to direct tactical engagements, where missiles, turrets and ships are fully simulated and affect the battle. Zoom out to manage your empire across a changing strategic landscape, as asteroids, moons and planets orbit their parent bodies. You can view the galaxy up to an hour into the future to plan for shifting fronts and opportunities.

Combat depends on positioning and unit capabilities. Turrets have their own pitch and tracking speeds, missiles can be blocked by ships or destroyed by point defense, and shields, armor and hull points shape tactical decisions. You might use a rogue asteroid to conceal a secondary fleet until its orbit brings it behind enemy lines, or use a titan to block missiles targeting a starbase and its planetary shield. Point defense flak frigates can protect long-range cruisers from bombers and missiles, while faster ships can exploit the slow turrets of larger vessels. You can also secure your borders by influencing hostile Minor Factions, bid for items with Influence, and use time-locked alliances to guard against a backstab until the agreement expires.

Races and factions

The game features three races, each with distinct starting conditions, mechanics, units, abilities, items and technologies. Their new Empire Systems add race-specific strategic options:

• TEC: Humans united as the Trader Emergency Coalition to fight the alien Vasari Empire. They use trade to support their industry and supplement resource income; their trade system lets you adjust how traded resources are allocated.
• Vasari: Once rulers of hundreds of planets and dozens of sentient species, they are now fleeing an unknown enemy. They use their command of phase space to conquer and gather resources for their exodus, while strategically placed structures collect Phase Resonance to customize global phase mastery effects.
• Advent: Humans forcibly exiled by the Traders over a thousand years ago, they have returned with technologically amplified psionics and the Unity, an expression of their collective will. The Unity system lets them harness their population to unlock global abilities.

Each race has two sub-factions, bringing the total to six playable factions, with different features and play styles shaped by their goals. For example, the TEC: Primacy is a xenophobic, human-first empire focused on aggression, while the Vasari: Exodus is willing to destroy planets to fuel its mobile empire.

Manage your empire

You can analyze, customize and upgrade planets and ships from one place. Intelligent Construction queues the prerequisites for requested items, research or units, while the fleet system lets you request reinforcements on the fly. Units are queued from the optimal factory and rallied to the fleet, so you can focus on tactical decisions and overall strategy.

Planet surfaces can be customized with items that vary by race and planet type. Capital ships, titans and starbases can also equip race-specific items to fill gaps in your fleet or support particular strategies.

Minor Factions offer trade, auctions for rare items and, if you gain enough Influence, access to their strongest abilities. You can choose to befriend them or destroy them to keep enemies from turning them against you. Diplomacy includes offers and counteroffers, the ability to give or demand planets, and time-locked cease-fires that prevent an ally from attacking until the agreement expires.

Multiplayer and mod support

Online games support up to 10 players through join codes and lobbies. Players can rejoin a game in progress after dropping out or leaving, and a human can take over for an AI player when joining late. Mod support is built into the game for discovering, installing and sharing mods; custom maps are shared automatically for multiplayer games.

Key features

• A real-time galaxy whose orbiting planets create changing fronts, with views available up to an hour ahead.
• Fully simulated ships, missiles and turrets, with combat shaped by tracking, point defense, shields, armor and hull points.
• Six playable factions across the TEC, Vasari and Advent races, each with distinct sub-factions and Empire Systems.
• Centralized planet and ship management, Intelligent Construction, on-demand fleet reinforcements and unit customization.
• Minor Factions, Influence, item auctions and expanded diplomacy.
• Online multiplayer for up to 10 players, with rejoining in progress and integrated mod support.