AI War 2: The Spire Rises

All of the normal features of the game, including any mods and other DLC, are compatible with this style of powerful Spire/Human empire. A giant scary ship called the Nemesis can come around if you REALLY get into it with them, but running into Subjugators prior to that is bad enough. However, there are also several notable opt-in new factions:Option For Open WarThe Fallen Spire faction is another fan-favorite adapted from the original AI War, but massively expanded and overhauled in this sequel. Give the player some juicy infrastructure targets that can be killed to weaken the enemy. As you grow your Spire forces, you can either choose to just augment a normal-style campaign, or you can build so many cities and have such massive armies that the AI starts freaking out and recalling its own super-units from its other war outside the galaxy. The scourge's units can organize themselves into Fireteams, granting them unprecedented flexibility and the ability to coordinate their attacks across the galaxy. Aside from the mass of new turrets, there are five new Arks that provide a variety of strange and interesting new abilities as fleet leaders. Give players a chance to There are new mechanics, and modular ships!Content VarietyThis expansion adds a lot of welcome variety to every game you play, without being overwhelming. There's also some new music! extremely satisfying. Fireteams were developed to power the Scourge, though they have now also been made to work for a number of other factions. You have the freedom to push all the way to an alternative victory condition via this faction, or to just build up one or more cities and make use of the extra firepower. For example, they can build a few cloaked ships, then suicide them into your economic command stations behind your defenses. The ScourgeThe Scourge are another optional faction that can be enabled via the lobby, or by activating a beacon in any game. The Scourge provides a new way for the AI to be more active and attack the player in new ways. The Scourge are canonically allied to the AI, but you can have player-allied scourge or independently-teamed scourge (Marauders, Nanocaust and Scourge as a team is terrifying). The AI took various races they have conquered in the Arcenverse, twisted them by genetic engineering, and fused them into a new and powerful force to crush its foes. It's really not a rigid game mode, and allows you to push as far as you feel like going. Lore: The AI felt a need for a subsidiary force to wipe out small annoyances, and not need to bother its main Processors with petty things. There are other new capturables to find in any campaign, and some fan-favorite strikecraft and frigates have been adapted from the original AI War into this game (and made even more interesting). A year on after this DLC's initial release, and there are some players who just don't want to play the game any other way -- which is great! Experience the fallen spire on a gradient scale, doing some of it as you wish, not having to choose "completely fallen spire" or "completely not fallen spire." Let us explore a bit more of the spire lore than we have in prior games. For other players, a Spire game is something to play every so often as a change of pace, or to mix and match. Build entire spire cities of various complexities and styles, which upgrade as you build more cities and more structures. The AI now has a reason and ability to bring back extra-galactic forces from their mysterious "main war" to fight you and the spire openly. The core premise is that you shift from hiding and fighting from the shadows to instead growing an increasing number of large alien cities that work under your orders. The Spire Rises introduces the Spire race, with some factions helping you into open warfare, and others being quiet neighbors or in their own war. These aspects are part of any game once you have the DLC, and make the game a richer experience in general. Get some Really Big Weapons that scare the mess out of the AI. It's always fun to destroy your enemies’ production facilities. Seeing your massive Spire ships in battle against the dismayed Exo War Units of the AI can be... The primary races the Scourge use are the Thoraxians, the Peltians, the Neinzul, the Evucks,the Burlusts… and even Spire.Fallen SpireThe Fallen Spire are an optional faction that can be enabled via the lobby, or by activating a beacon in any game. Thirty new kinds of turret make the various tech options more well-rounded, and make your own planets as well as enemy planets more unique and interesting. The core of the gameplay is epic battles to capture the spire relics, and powerful ships and cities you get as a result. There are new units and arks, a ton of new turrets to defend with, and the insidious Scourge. This doesn't increase the learning curve, since the normal method is to evaluate things as you go (rather than memorizing or coming up with a "perfect" meta) anyway.

AI War 2: The Spire Rises