If you want to learn about thine enemies or pick out the race you want to lead to victory, this is the place to come. I'll try my best throughout to describe everything you need to know about every race, and hope to accomplish the assembly of the best Master of Orion racial reference on the Web.
[ Alkari | Bulrathi | Darlocks | Humans | Klackons | Meklars | Mrrshan | Psilons | Sakkra | Silicoids ]
Diplomacy- The Alkari tend to be Honorable by nature, and can usually be counted on to keep treaties, or at least formally break them before attacking you. They can usually be counted on by their allies. Mostly, however, the Alkari tend to be warlike by nature, and will often be found fighting; this is a race which will hold a grudge. From the start of the game, they are friendly with the Humans, but are unfavorably disposed to the Darlocks, Klackons, Sakkras, and especially the Mrrshan, their mortal enemies. If you come across the Alkari, they can make good allies in any war.
Economy- The Alkari don't have any racial attributes pertaining to industry of money. For the most part, their constant fighting may cause them to lose any economic advantages once they've had time to start hating some people. They will usually devote a large amount of their economy to building and maintaining a large military star fleet.
Military- This is where the Alkari really shine. The Alkari are the descendants of flying birds, and still retain limited flight capabilities. Thus, the Alkari are naturally able to grasp the concept of 3-dimensional motion better than their non-avian adversaries. The effect of this is to give the Alkari a +3 bonus to their defense and initiative. Note that this does not increase their speed. The Alkari will usually build large amounts of small ships. In fact, the Alkari will never build Huge ships unless you have ships equipped with pulsars. In short, the Alkari are a tough opponent in the combat arena.
Technology- The Alkari are not particularly noteworthy in the technology arena. They are a bit better than other races in the area of Propulsion tech, and are a little behind in the Force Fields area, which is fine, considering that they generaly prefer quick, offensively oriented ships to large, slow, well defended behemoths.
Summary- I you play as the Alkari, you'll have a tough time ahead; the Alkari are one of the toughest races to play as. Make sure that you use your military advantage, but don't make the mistake of fighting on multiple fronts. Also, the CP uses promarily small ships when playing as the Alkari, thus maximizing the effectiveness of their defensive bonus. You would do well to emulate them.
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Diplomacy- The Bulrathi are not too remarkable in the political arena, save their aggressive nature. One thing to note is that they have a small disadvantage in the Computer field, and thus will tend to have poor spying ability. Like all races, they like the Humans, but they are unfavorably disposed toward the Darlocks and Mrrshans alike.
Economy- The Bulrathi tend to be ecologists, and thus will tend to have a fairly stable economic base. They aren't the fasted expanding race, but they will normally have the industrial base to carry out any expansion effort they choose to implement, peaceful or otherwise. If you are playing against them, you might want to make a special effort to keep them busy fighting someone else, to keep their economy from doing too well.
Military- The Bulrathi will be a dangerous opponent in a military confrontation. They are good with weapons and construstion, which transnlates to large ships carrying advanced weaponry. If they are behind in tech, they can easily use their ground combat bonus to recover via conquest.
Technology- While they are not too good with computers, the Bulrathi make up for it in the fields of Construction and Weapons. They can also get tech through ground combat, which is lucky for them, because they tend to be poor spies, thanks to that Computer field disadvantage.
Summary- When playing against the Bulrathi, make sure your planets are well protected along the border. Letting the Bulrathi reach your planets with transports does not bode well. When playing as the Bulrathi, take every opportunity to catch up to enemy tech levels with a few ground victories.
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Diplomacy- This is the most interesting area of the Darlock MO. They are at odds with every race in the game from the very start, except the Humans (who like everyone). The other races' attitudes are not without reason; the Darlocks are sly, devious experts of the fine art of espionage and sabotage, giving them a +20 bonus to all spying operations, be they offensive or defensive. To counter this, you will have to raise your counter-spying levels, and forget about spying on them unless you have a huge advantage in Computer tech. If you're playing as the Darlocks, be sure to use your spying abilities to their fullest, and spy on your enemies at every opportunity.
Economy- There's nothing to spectacular about the Darlocks economically. They aren't likely to build themselves into any sort of superpower, so if you hit their main industry planets, they won't be in good shape, and won't be able to wage an effective war.
Military- Nothing to special about the Darlocks in this area, either. Since they will focus on spying, they will tend to have higher Computer tech, and therefore will have higher attack and missle defense levels, but that's about it.
Technology- Yet another average area for the Darlocks. They are "good" at Computer research, and should focus on it to give their spies an even greater advantage, but they are average in all other tech fields.
Summary- The Darlocks will (and should) use their spying bonuses to wage major covert operations on their enemies. When you are playing against them, bump up your counter-spying spending levels. You will also want to hit them hard in ther industrial centers if you are at war with them, with the idea that they will not be able to maintain a large number of spies. The Darlocks are about a moderately difficult to win with.
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Diplomacy- This is where almost all of the Humans' advantages are. Strength #1 is their ability to persuade the enemy to see things their way. The Humans have +60 bonus to all deals offered to alien empires, meaning that they can ally with others and set them against each other with great ease. Their bonus also comes in handy when they need to get out of an undesirable war. Strength #2 comes in the form of increased trade revenue. The Humans get +25% to all trade treaties, providing a way to increase their income, while a the same time adding to their good relations with alien empires. And if that's not enough, the Humans have a much better chance of swaying undecided voters at Council elections. If you play against the Humans, you can count on their having good relations with many an empire.
Economy- Not much to talk about here. The Humans have no bonuses to their economy. However, their trade bonuses will serve to supplement their economy. Also, their ability to stay at piece with everyone allows them to build their economy while keeping their enemies fighting each other in unproductive wars.
Military- The Humans don't have much to talk about here. The CP Humans will usually build average sized ships, but with their diplomacy bonuses, they won't be doing much fighting until they're ready.
Technology- Next to the Psilons, the Humans have the best research position of any race in the game. They have no real research weaknesses, and they are especially adebt at Planetology, Propulsion, and, most of all, Force Fields technology.
Summary- The Humans should make good use of their abilities, and spend plenty of time in the Diplomacy screen. If you're playing against them, make sure they cannot form good relations with enough empires to win by council vote or lead a crusade against you.
If you'd like, you can read another opinion on how to win with the Humans.
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Diplomacy- This is not the Klackons' strong suit. Diplomacy for the Klackons will probably be one of their most bothersome characteristics. When controlled by the game, the Klackons have 60% chance of being Xenophobic, and a 20% chance each of being Ruthless or Aggressive. Even with human management, the Klackons are unfriendly with the Alkari, Darlocks, Mrrshan, and Sakkra, but start with good relations with the Humans and the Silicoids. If you are playing against them, it might be a good idea to get everyone to rally against a common enemy, and the Klackons would be one of your best targets.
Economy- This is where the Klackons' get to show off their talents. Being descendants of insects, the Klackons are naturally able to produce more than other races, and so have double the production bonus of other races. This makes the Klackons pretty good at starting new colonies, where their sole income is from the population. This also means that with a high Planetology rating, the Klackons will be able to outpace even the Meklars in per capita income. When playing as the bugs, it becomes more important than ever to get that Planetology rating soaring.
Military- The only advantage the Klackons might have here is larger ships, thanks to their abilities in the Construction field. Other than that, the only thing to note is that computer-controlled Klackons, like the Alkari, will tend to build small ships.
Technology- The Klackons are not particularly good at research. They are "good" at Construction research, but this is counterbalanced with a "poor" rating in the Propulsion field. The Propulsion minus will also weaken the Klackons' expansion in the early game, since they will be less able to reach nearby stars for expansion. Make sure that you research a lot of Planetology as the Klackons in order to further advance their population bonus.
Summary- The Klackons will need to try to stay at peace and allow themselves time to build up their empire before striking. They will also need to make up for lost expansion time by transferring population (with their x2 bonuses) to new colonies to speed up their developement.
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Diplomacy- The Meklars' picks do do much for them in terms of diplomacy. As for predetermined race relations, the Meklar empire is friendly with the Humans and the Silicoids, and unfriendly with the Darlocks and the Sakkras. However, when played by the computer, the Meklars have the interesting trait of being the only race which tends to have and Erratic leader. This, needless to say, means that the Meklars will make some enemies during the game, what with their random declarations of war and all. But when played by a human player, they have a pretty average diplomatic outlook.
Economy- Economics is where the Meklars have their strengths. Since the Meklars have evolved to use cybernetic implants, they have the ability to control an extra two factories per population point. This gives them a great production advantage early in the game, although it is diminished later on as a result of all races developing better robotics technology.
Military- The Meklars have no special advantages to help thhem in battle. However, they will tend to have better accuracy and missle defense, thanks to their skill in the realm of computer technology. Also, computer-controlled Meklars will tend to have large ships.
Technology- The Meklars are excellent researchers of the field of computers, giving them better Battle Computers, ECM, and Robotics technology, as well as an increased ability to spy on other races. However, this is counter-balanced by being poor at researching planetology tech.
Summary- The Meklars will enjoy a good production advantage, especially in the early going. They will also be able to keep that advantage a little better by researching better Robotics tech faster than most other races. However, they have a disadvantage in the realm of planetology, one of the most important technology fields to many players. They will need to make sure to press their industrial advantage to compensate.
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Diplomacy- Well, diplomacy with the Mrrshan is about what you'd expect it to be. The Bulrathi, Darlocks, and Klackons all dislike the Mrrshan, and the Alkari and Sakkras hate them with a passion. It might not seem so bad, considering that the Mrrshan are built for fighting, but even these fighting felines wouldn't want to fight on too many fronts; they have enough enemies that it isn't unlikely that the other races would gang up on them. So, if you play as the Mrrshan, tread lightly when negotiating, lest you find the galaxy too unfriendly for your tastes.
Economy- Well, not much to say here. The Mrrshan don't have any sort of economic penalty or bonus. The only thing of note is that the Mrrshan will be at war a lot, and thus will tend to have a poorly developed economy, low on factories and high on warship maintinence. Watch out for this when playing as the cats.
Military- Finally, the Mrrshan's best trait! The Mrrshan recieve a bonus to their ship attacks (+4), which means that the Mrrshan fire more accurately and move earlier in combat (+4 to initiative, too). This being the Mrrshan's only advantage, they must exploit it. If you play as the Mrrshan, you must build up your fleet and decimate your opponents; stealing their worlds will provide you with more production for your growing space fleet.
Technology- The Mrrshan don't have much to say in technology. They are poor Construction researchers, which will hamper their ability to grow economically, but they are excellent Weapons researchers, which will let them conquer the enemy with even greater ease. Hopefully, you'll be able to take enough alien worlds that you will be able to make up for your economic problems with enemy factories.
Summary- The Mrrshan should obviously concentrate on their military conquests, and should use that to buoy their power. However, make sure that, when you play as the Mrrshan, you do not neglect the industry and science of your empire. With out the technology and sufficient production base, you will be unable to manufacture a satisfactory fleet; even smaller fleets will defeat you if your shields and weapons technology is inferior to theirs.
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Diplomacy- The Psilons will probably be one of the nicer computer players you'll meet, thanks to their Pacifistic tendencies. They'll also be better at diplomacy when you control them, thanks to all that technology you'll have to trade away to the computer. The Psilons are also aggressive in the spying department, either as a human- or computer-controlled race.
Economy- The Psilons will have the advantage in economy, thanks to their abundance of technology in this area, although they'll still be unable to catch up to the Meklars or the Klackons for a long time. The computer will also, thanks to their pacifism, get into less wars, which lets them run their economy through the roof unhindered.
Military- What can you say about Psilon military? No matter who controls them, the Psilons will generally have a smaller military, thanks to their pacifism and concentration on research. However, if they do go to war, they will definately have the upper hand once their superior economy starts cranking out starships that are light-years ahead of the competition.
Technology- What can I say? The Psilons get to research 75% of the tech in the game (as opposed to the normal 50%), they produce 50% more RPs, and they only need 80% of the normal cost of all techs to achieve it (they are "Good" at every field). That's all I can say about that!
Summary- This is my favorite race in the game. Not only are they just the best, they're the ones with all of the cool tech. Their abundance of technology will give them an edge in every area; war, industry, growth, and so forth. They're especially good for beginners, since they allow you to get more tech and thus learn what the different technologies are a little faster. How can you say no to this race?
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Diplomacy- The Sakkra have no special ways to gain in the diplomacy arena. About the only thing worth noting is that when controlled by the computer, the Sakkra will be more likely to expand than other races, and more likely to take a liking to the stars on the other side of the border. This will land them in some wars, although not as many as the Mrrshan or the Silicoids.
Economy- The Sakkra have as their racial ability double the normal population growth rate. Extra people mean extra production, which allows them to colonize more new colonies, and do so more quickly than most other races. They will have quite an economy going, especially if they are left to their own devices in a wide open galaxy with few enclosing borders.
Military- The Sakkra will not really have an especially mighty army, unless they are lead by the occassional aggressive leader. They are, as mentioned above, quite willing to go through you if that is what it takes to make room for their growing population, which means that you must be militarily prepared against them, even if treaties are in place. Also, their economy will generally allow them to build a fleet more quickly than the average race.
Technology- The Sakkra will not really have any major technological advantage, although they will be helped by a large economic base. They would be well advised to concentrate mostly on Planetology technology in order to further expand and refine their economy, and to make room for their extra large population.
Summary- While I personally don't like them quite as much as the Psilons (I like getting all the cool toys), they are still one of my top races to play, up there with the Humans and the Klackons. A Sakkra leader must constantly expand and make room for your population; your advantage is population growth, and you must make the most of it.
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Diplomacy- Diplomacy? Not something that is generally associated with most Silicoid emperors. The Silicoids tend to be Xenophobic, but sometimes are merely Ruthless or Aggressive. Oh, and they're usually Expansionistic, too. On the other hand, they aren't unfavorably disposed toward anyone other than the Darlocks due to natural distaste. But in general, the Silicoids will not be your friends. Another problem is that they will tend to have a lot of strong economic planets, meaning that if you can make peace with them, you'd be well advised to do so, unless your position is far superior to theirs.
Economy- The Silicoids have an interesting economic advantage in that they can colonize any planet, right from the start of the game. This allows them to quickly grab up all those Rich and Ultra-Rich planets that other races can only dream of getting. Silicoids can also ignore pollution until they must terraform or put extra money into population growth; this gives their planets another small edge. However, these bonuses are counterbalanced by the Silicoids' slow population growth rate. They reproduce at 50% of the normal rate, and it is thus very important that you cultivate your Silicoid citizens carefully. Make sure that you research terraforming. Also, when transferring population, send a few people at a time, to lessen the impact on the "doner" planet's population and economy. When playing against the Silicoids, biological weapons also gain a little bit more effectiveness, since the population you kill is more important than usual.
Military- The Silicoids don't really have any specifically military advantages. However, they can use those Rich planets I mentioned above to produce some extra ships. They also have those warlike personalities. Combined, well, expect the Silicoids to have a good-sized military. By the way, they prefer large ships.
Technology- The Silicoids are not good researchers. They are poor in every catagory but computers, meaning that for most fields they must pay 120% the normal cost for each tech. However, this is combatted somewhat by their excess of production, allowing them to spend a little extra on research to cover the difference, if so desired.
Summary- When playing as the Silicoids, your performance in the early game is especially important. You must colonize those Rich and Ultra-Rich gems that other races can't due to the lack of proper technology. You must also grow your population as large as possible, and make sure you maximize your population growth rate. Use your superior economy to dominate the galaxy.
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