Spore - Space Stage Archetype Guide
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* ========== SPORE ========== *
* SPACE STAGE ARCHETYPE GUIDE *
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Author: Luminar
Version: 1.1
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CONTENTS:
1) Introduction (LX-INT)
2) Legalese (LX-LEG)
3) FAQ Update History (LX-HIS)
4) Archetypes (LX-ARC)
a) Shaman (LX-A-SHA)
b) Trader (LX-A-TRA)
c) Warrior (LX-A-WAR)
d) Diplomat (LX-A-DIP)
e) Zealot (LX-A-ZEA)
f) Scientist (LX-A-SCI)
g) Ecologist (LX-A-ECO)
h) Bard (LX-A-BAR)
i) Knight (LX-A-KNI)
j) Wanderer (LX-A-WAN)
5) Previous Phases (LX-PRE)
a) Cell (LX-P-CEL)
b) Creature (LX-P-CRE)
c) Tribe (LX-P-TRI)
d) Civilisation (LX-P-CIV)
6) Achievements (LX-AHV)
7) Conclusion (LX-CON)
================================
1) INTRODUCTION (LX-INT)
Welcome to my first game FAQ. I've been hanging around on the internet since
around 1998, on GameFAQs since 2003 and I haven't published a single guide
or anything. Lazy or what? Regardless, here's my first effort.
This guide is intended as a reference/guide to getting and using the various
archetypes in Spore's Space Stage. I'm not going to patronise you with an
explanation of what Spore is and all that, because if you didn't know what
it was you probably wouldn't be here in the first place, now would you?
Incase you're wondering what those odd codes in the Contents table are in the
brackets, they're intended as a quick way of finding what you want. Just hit
Ctrl+F, type in the code, press enter twice and you'll be taken straight
to it. Convenience is the road to happiness, sometimes.
***
2) LEGALESE (LX-LEG)
Spore and all associated properties are copyright Maxis and Electronic Arts.
GameFAQs is owned by CNET Networks, a CBS company.
This FAQ, written under the alias of "Luminar", is copyrighted to me, but
as far as i'm concerned it may be distributed, copied, printed, rehosted,
kicked, eaten, or whatever you want to do with it freely. It'd be cool if
you gave credit, but i'm not exactly going to come after you for it.
Yeah i'm basically an e-communist. Go figure.
***
3) FAQ UPDATE HISTORY (LX-HIS)
Version 1.0 (4th Oct 2008)
Initial version for publishing.
Version 1.1 (11th Oct 2008)
* Added "AS AN NPC" section to each Space Archetype.
* Removed "DESCRIPTION" section, since it is split into two now.
* Edited "HOW TO GET IT" sections for each Space Archetype.
* Added colour of card and symbol to each Archetype (Space and Previous).
* Re-evaluated the Previous Phase traits a bit.
New ratings and descriptions for several of them. Mainly the discounts.
* Various corrections.
Version 1.2 (14th Dec 2008)
* Archetype power cooldown/durations, thanks to logarithm64.
* Achievements section added.
* Various corrections here and there.
***
4) ARCHETYPES (LX-ARC)
When I say "Archetype", I mean the personality that goes in the fifth card
at the top of your History page. I don't think they have a set term. You can
call them Archetypes, Classes, Personalities, whatever. It all means the same
thing. The Archetypes are essentially a summary of what your race's culture is
like - Warriors are the violent fighting types, Scientists are brainy
researchers, Diplomats love to make friends, and so forth. You gain the
archetype by playing through the other stages - what you do in those defines
just who your race are at heart.
Perhaps more importantly to some, the Archetype you are assigned also grants
you a special power that you can use. These powers are unique functions that
do varying things, from convenient to offensive.
Here is an example of an archetype's section in this FAQ:
-----
x) CLASS NAME (Search Code)
(Card Colour and Symbol)
POWER: The consequence power you get for playing as this class.
(Rate: My own personal rating of it.)
A description of what this power does.
COOLDOWN: How long it takes to be able to use this power again
after using it.
DURATION: How long this power lasts after being used. Only appears
when the power doesn't have an instant effect.
HOW TO GET IT: The combination of personality types you will need
across your race's history.
PHILOSOPHY: The philosophy that NPC races will claim to follow if you
ask them about themselves in diplomacy.
(Vague description of what said races will appear like.)
AS AN NPC: How a race of this archetype will act when computer controlled.
QUOTES: A few lines of dialogue that races of this archetype will say.
CHANGE MISSION: How much it costs to begin, what you have to do, and my own
description of it.
-----
Note you can also change Archetype in the Space Stage by talking to a 5-star
empire you are allied with, who have the Archetype you want. More detail will
be given on this in each individual section.
Be aware that Change Missions cost a lot of spucks, and you must sacrifice
your previous power to earn the new one. The Change Missions are designed to
be long-term commitments, not things you can rush all at once - hence, you
must be prepared to put a bit of time in to completing them. How much varies
between archetype.
One further thing of note is the Wanderer archetype. It isn't so much an
archetype of it's own right as it is a punishment for skipping ahead.
Not only will you not have an archetype power, but you won't have all of
the little boosts that your history gets you such as Prime Specimen or
Pleasing Performance.
-----------------------------
a) SHAMAN (LX-A-SHA)
(Green, Strange Rings)
POWER: Return Ticket (Rate: 5/5)
COOLDOWN: 1 Minute
This power will take you back to your home star system instantly on use.
It takes a while to recharge and you must be on a planet to use it, but
this power is extremely convenient incase you're lost in space and
need to return to your home system ASAP.
HOW TO GET IT: Majority Green (In case of a three-way tie, Civ must be green)
The majority of your traits must be green to become a Shaman.
If you started from Cell, you require at least three green traits.
If you started from Creature, you require at least two green traits. You will
also get shaman if you take one red, one blue and one green; however, the
green trait must come last which means you will need to play as a Religious
Civilisation.
If you started from Tribe, the only way to become a Shaman is to play as
Friendly, then Religious. If you only have one green trait, you will end up
as a Diplomat, Zealot or Scientist depending on what you chose.
If you started from Civ, being Religious is the only way to become a Shaman.
PHILOSOPHY: Harmony
The Philosophy of Harmony states that all things are connected, and that the
universe is a single whole entity, rather than a collection of individuals.
The philosophy does not just apply to living beings, but inanimate objects
too - literally everything that exists is connected. Friendly Shamans may
spend their time trying to seek a more intimate connection to everything,
where more hostile shamans may attempt to seek whatever they feel is
disrupting the universal balance and destroy it.
AS AN NPC:
Shaman NPCs will have a crystalline background in the same colour as their
empire on the starmap. Their voice is female, generally high pitched and
sounds like some kind of singing or intonation.
They generally remain quiet most of the time, but they will sometimes take
a liking to you and send you gifts to tempt you into allying with them.
If they like you paticularly much, they will ask for an alliance.
In trading, Shamans offer the best prices on Colony Incredi-paks. Their
selection is mostly Social Tools, with a couple of Colony Tools thrown in.
For some reason, they don't sell diagonal Atmospheric Tools.
QUOTES:
"We percieve your benevolent aura."
"Noble (race). Speak to us of your request."
"Let us speak mind to mind, spirit to spirit."
CHANGE MISSION: + Pay 2,500,000 Spucks
+ Use Paint/Sculpt tools on 150 different planets
This one is annoying and takes ages even when you try to rush it all at once.
It's best to just fire a paint tool every time you visit a new planet while
you're terraforming, warmongering or searching for treasure.
+++
b) TRADER (LX-A-TRA)
(Blue, Money Bags and Coins)
POWER: Cash Infusion (Rate: 2/5)
COOLDOWN: 20 Minutes
Cash Infusion is usable on alien planets in a system where you have a trade
route. Using the power causes the trade route to instantly max out, thus
making the system purchasable right away. If you're impatient and rich, this
is decent. Otherwise, I don't think it's so good. Again, YMMV.
HOW TO GET IT: Majority Blue (In case of a three-way tie, Civ must be blue)
The majority of your traits must be blue to become a Trader.
This works in exactly the same way as Shaman does with Green traits.
The more stages you skip, the more careful you will have to be if you are
determined to become a Trader.
PHILOSOPHY: Prosperity
The Tablets of Prosperity state that irregardless of what spirituality or
science would tell you about anything, you should seek happiness. Not just
for yourself, but for all - and they state that the act of Trade is the best
way to increase happiness for everyone in the universe. Friendly traders seek
new friendships through the act of trade, whereas more sinister traders seek
only their own fulfillment, ignoring the needs of others.
AS AN NPC:
Traders have a circular, slightly dark metallic background, and a high
pitched male voice which sounds friendly, if perhaps a little fawning.
Traders love to meet new friends (aka customers), so they will usually start
off with a blue face relationship. They will very rarely send gifts, and
do not usually ask you for an alliance.
Suprisingly (or maybe not given they get the better end of the deal), Traders
are a bit poor when it comes to their trade screen. Overall, you can get
better prices for items with other races. They have a wide selection, though.
QUOTES:
"You are rivaled in appearance only by the sun in splendor! Welcome!"
"We are more than happy to assist you in any way we can."
"How delightful that our magnificent friend has come to visit!"
CHANGE MISSION: + Pay 2,500,000 spucks
+ Sell 5000 items
This is probably the hardest/grindiest/most annoying change mission of the
lot. There's no easy way to do this other than fly around collecting and
selling spice for ages.
+++
c) WARRIOR (LX-A-WAR)
(Red, MorningStar Mace)
POWER: Raider Rally (Rate: 2/5)
COOLDOWN: 20 Minutes
Summons a bunch of pirates to attack the planet you're on. This would be
decent if pirates weren't laughably weak.
HOW TO GET IT: Majority Red (In case of a three-way tie, Civ must be red)
The majority of your traits must be Red to become a Warrior.
The same principles apply here as with Shaman and Trader.
PHILOSOPHY: Force
The Stones of Force bluntly state, in a nutshell, that Might makes Right.
Force is somewhat about freedom, in that a powerful and unstoppable empire
cannot be told what to do or restrained - they will always do exactly what
they want to do, when they want to do it. In this way, they avoid enslavement
and misery for their people, even if they end up causing trouble sometimes.
AS AN NPC:
Warriors have a triangular metal door in the background with empire colors at
the corners. They sound gruff and irritable, and often speak in terse bursts
of what sounds like grumbling.
Warriors are grumpy and hostile from the get-go, and will always have a
significant penalty to their relationship score. Unless you have Gracious
Greeter, they will likely start off in Orange relationship level. They have
a -30 reputation modifier as soon as you encounter them, which stays
permanently. (-15 on Easy difficulty)
Warriors will occasionally demand money from you - the amount can range from
trivial to insurmountable. Difficulty level plays a large part in this.
If you fail to pay, they will take quite a large relationship hit - this can
often push them into going to war with you.
As irritating and abrasive as Warriors can be however, it is well worth
keeping at least one around in order to access their trading wares. They are
the only NPC archetype that sells Antimatter weaponary, as well as Planet
Busters. Not only that, but they offer the best price on Uber Turrets.
With a 50% discount on each, it easily beats having to buy them from your
own colony's stores and pay full price.
QUOTES:
"The light of your species is not yet extinguished, we see."
"You stop. Give name."
"Be quick and do not waste our time."
CHANGE MISSION: + Pay 2,500,000 spucks
+ Conquer 20 planets
Just go on the offensive. If there's no-one around you want to attack, just
leap through a black hole and slaughter everyone you find on the other side.
+++
d) DIPLOMAT (LX-A-DIP)
(Yellow, Handshake)
POWER: Static Cling (Rate: 4/5)
COOLDOWN: 20 Minutes
DURATION: 2 Minutes
Paralyses all buildings and ships on the planet it's used on temporarily.
This essentially prevents anything from attacking you for a while, allowing
you to catch a break, flee, or destroy the enemy's defences with impunity.
HOW TO GET IT: Equal Green and Blue
You must have equally as many Green and Blue traits to become a Diplomat.
If you start from Cell, you must take two green traits and two blue.
If you start from Tribe, you must play either Friendly then Economic, or
Industrious then Religious. One green, one blue.
If you start from Creature or Civilisation, you cannot become a Diplomat.
PHILOSOPHY: Order
The Scrolls of Order state that everything has to be brought under control,
rationalised and mediated in order to ensure democracy and fairness for every
citizen of every empire everywhere. They want to make sure disputes do not
escalate into fights, and they want to make sure no-one gets hurt over
arguments or feuds.
AS AN NPC:
A stone archway decorated with the empire colours is in the background for
Diplomats. They speak with a very polite female voice.
Diplomats want to be everybody's friend, and they want everybody to be their
friend. And they want everybody's friends to be friends. And so forth.
Diplomat races love to meet newcomers, so they will start off in the blue
relationship state unless you've done something very wrong. If ignored,
they will often begin sending gifts and asking for an alliance.
Also of note is that Diplomat races seem to expand their territory extremely
quickly. The process only speeds up if you ally with them for some reason.
Diplomats are quite frankly terrible at trading. They have the smallest
selection of all the archetypes, and don't offer better prices for items
than other races.
QUOTES:
"The Grand Council is pleased to welcome its friend."
"Now that all things are in order, please state your business."
"We are always delighted to hear from our ally."
CHANGE MISSION: + Pay 5,000,000 spucks
+ Form 5 new alliances
The easiest change mission, hands down. If you can't do this you've probably
been genociding everyone you see. Even in that instance this is very easy.
+++
e) ZEALOT (LX-A-ZEA)
(Purple, Eye)
POWER: Fanatical Frenzy (Rate: 4/5)
COOLDOWN: 60 Minutes
This is my favourite power, personally. When used on a planet, it instantly
captures the whole star system. Yes, that's right - it just completley yoinks
an entire planet or more without having to damage it, it's a massive "I Win"
button and great to use on enemy homeworlds. There are two catches, however.
Catch one, the recharge time is immense. Catch two, this power is something
akin to a WMD, and breaks the "Galactic Code". This will cause spacefaring
races within about 50 parsecs of where you used it to become VERY angry at
you, making them declare war on you if you weren't in their good books.
You get -50 to relationships with each shot, which caps out at -200.
Curiously, this is inverted for the Grox, who like your style when you break
the Galactic Code. This is near-crucial to allying with them.
As an added bonus this power looks and sounds incredible to boot.
HOW TO GET IT: Equal Green and Red
You must have equally as many Green and Red traits to become a Zealot.
The same principles apply as with Diplomat. You must start from either Cell
or Tribe stage, otherwise it is impossible to become a Zealot.
If you start from cell, take two green and two red traits. If you start from
Tribe you must take one green and one red.
PHILOSOPHY: Faith
Faith dictates that Spode is the one truth of the universe, and that a life
not led in worship and service of Spode is a life utterly wasted. Zealots
are aggressive and will not leave alone anyone they feel they can make a
convert of; or worse, anyone they feel is a blasphemer or unbeliever.
AS AN NPC:
Their background is a stained glass window in the colour of their empire, and
they speak in an odd, deep, resonating male voice.
Zealots are essentially the same as Warriors - they have no desire to
tolerate your presence, and they will demand tithes to Spode in return for
not obliterating you. They have a -30 reputation modifier as soon as you
encounter them, which stays permanently. (-15 on Easy difficulty)
Note that allying with them, as with Warriors, will stop them from demanding
money from you.
Zealots offer the best prices (with a 50% discount) on Global Mind Erase
charges and Happiness Boosters. I tend to never use either of those much, but
you might. Aside from that they have a fairly wide selection.
QUOTES:
"You would do well to listen to the word of Spode."
"Speak of what thou doest desire and the followers of Spode will listen."
"Reject ye not the traveler, until you know their purpose."
CHANGE MISSION: + Pay 5,000,000 spucks
+ Colonise 15 more planets
Simple. Be aware that the colony tools aren't provided, so you may have to
splash out up to 2,250,000 on colony packs. Also take note that planets means
planets - don't put colonies on planets you already own, it won't count.
+++
f) SCIENTIST (LX-A-SCI)
(Deep Blue, Microscope)
POWER: Gravitation Wave (Rate: 3/5)
COOLDOWN: 20 Minutes
Destroys all buildings on a planet. Similar to Fanatical Frenzy, except
destructive in nature. It has the same catches however in that the recharge
time is long (Not as long as FF) and it's a WMD which angers nearby empires.
With this taken into light, it really isn't as good objectively; sure, if you
don't want the planet then just blast it to atoms. But that's exactly what a
Planet Buster is for and looks way more spectacular.
HOW TO GET IT: Equal Blue and Red
You must have equally as many Blue and Red traits to become a Scientist.
Again, start from Cell or Tribe. Anything else will make Scientist impossible
to obtain, due to there being an odd number of traits.
PHILOSOPHY: Science
The Scrolls of Science extol the great mystery of the universe, and how the
Scientist must solve every mystery they find in order to find the reasons or
ramifications of everything. Scientists can seem aloof and dismissive, but
more often than not they are working to a good purpose.
AS AN NPC:
A bright metallic door is in the background along with lights in the race's
starmap colour. They speak in an odd robotic, synthetic-sounding voice.
Scientists will pretty much just sit and mind their own business. They
sometimes send gifts, but that's about it.
Scientists don't sell anything at the lowest price, but they do have the
widest selection of items in the game (at least as far as consumable charge
items go), with 20 items in total. They may not have any lowest prices, but
the prices they do offer for things are pretty good. I have to wonder if
Maxis managed to get these guys's selection mixed up with Traders...
QUOTES:
"Welcome, friend. Let us reason together."
"State your purpose of visit."
"If you don't tell us what you want, we won't be able to help you."
CHANGE MISSION: + Pay 5,000,000 spucks
+ Discover 20 new Black Holes or Proto-Planetary Discs
Very simple. Proto-Planetary Discs are pretty rare, but Black Holes are a
dime a dozen and you can find a ton by just flying around. By the time you
start taking on change missions you'll have a good enough drive to make this
trivial. The Galactic Core also counts for this, but it's like using a nuke
on an anthill.
+++
g) ECOLOGIST (LX-A-ECO)
(Olive, Leaf)
POWER: Safari Vaccuum (Rate: 5/5)
COOLDOWN: 20 Minutes
Instantly sucks up a bunch of wildlife on the planet you use it on.
Compared to how much of a fart around manually abducting a bunch of varied
stuff is, this is a massive time-saver and convenience. Specifically, it will
grab two of a whole bunch of things - note that on a T3 planet with a full
food web, it won't get two of everything. It does get you enough to save a
ton of time, though. The recharge isn't too bad for what it does, either.
HOW TO GET IT: Two Green, One Blue, One Red
You must start from Cell to become an Ecologist. Starting from any other
stage will make it impossible to accomplish.
PHILOSOPHY: Life
The Stones of Life say all living things are connected by the Life Web,
sometimes also called the Wondrous Well. Life is to be protected and
respected, and those who corrupt and exploit are to be destroyed. In
some ways, the philosophy of Life bears great similarity to that of
Harmony, however Life is largely not concerned with things that aren't
alive, as one might expect.
AS AN NPC:
A wooden knot adorns the background, along with empire-coloured leaves.
Ecologists will generally keep quiet and leave you alone, but sometimes if
you do a lot of terraforming, they will decide they like you and begin
sending you gifts regularly.
Ecologists offer the lowest prices on Atmospheric Tools, unsuprisingly.
Their selection is mostly Social Tools like the Creature Tweaker.
QUOTES:
"We surrender! Please! We- Oh hey everyone, look! It's (race)!"
"Peace and light. What is your wish?"
"Take your time... enjoy the waves of the galactic flow..."
CHANGE MISSION: + Pay 10,000,000 spucks
+ Complete 50 ecosystems
It sounds more grindy than it is. Simply suck up 50 each of one large, medium
and small plant, two herbivores and a carnivore. Then go around and find T1
or T2 worlds (NOT T0, they take longer to terraform), terraform them up and
drop one of each onto the world. You can also look for Partial-T1 worlds,
which show up as a tree icon on the starmap.
+++
h) BARD (LX-A-BAR)
(Turquoise, Dice)
POWER: Soothing Song (Rate: 3/5)
COOLDOWN: 10 Minutes
DURATION: 2 Minutes
Firing off this power on a planet at war with you will cause them to stop
attacking you as long as the power lasts and as long as you dont attack them.
The song lasts for quite a long while and you can leave the planet and travel
around space and the song will persist. It's essentially "calling a time out"
with an enemy, or a more mobile version of Static Cling.
One tip: Turn off your auto-blaster if you decide to use this power!
Enemy ships will circle around your ship to listen to the music, and your
auto-blaster will attack them and break the song unless you turn it off.
HOW TO GET IT: Two Blue, One Green, One Red
You must start from Cell to become a Bard. Starting from any other stage will
make it impossible to accomplish.
PHILOSOPHY: Chance
The Philosophy of Chance is something akin to nihilism without the misery.
The followers state that there is no point in anything, and therefore no
point in taking any of it seriously. They are out for fun, and to do
whatever they feel like. They love the suprises and uncertainties in life.
AS AN NPC:
Wooden door with metal trimmings as the background, extremely screechy and
excitable voice with a tendancy for shouting.
Bards are generally quiet, but will occasionally throw gifts at you for no
apparent reason. That's how they roll, I guess.
Bards offer the lowest prices on Fireworks and Spice Storage units. Aside
from that, they have a small selection and don't sell non-diagonal Atmosphere
Tools for some bizarre reason.
QUOTES:
"Wait, wait! Let us guess what you want! Hmmm.. is it... an umbrella?!"
"Do you want some cake? We have any cake? Oh wait.. we don't have any cake."
"As for us, we're not humble at all!"
TRADING:
CHANGE MISSION: + Pay 10,000,000 spucks
+ Find 25 rare items
This one can be greatly annoying if you aren't lucky.
Note that planet sculpt/colour tools do not count towards the total.
+++
i) KNIGHT (LX-A-KNI)
(Fuschia, Sword)
POWER: Summon Mini-U (Rate: 4/5)
COOLDOWN: 2 Minutes
DURATION: 2 Minutes
Summons an allied ship, which manifests as a smaller version of whatever ship
you are piloting at the time. In some ways this is actually better than
regular allied ships, since you won't anger the owner if the mini-ship
happens to die. It functions the same in all ways except one - it's temporary
and will explode after two minutes of being present.
However, the ability's recharge syncs perfectly with the mini-ship's expiry,
so you can just summon a new one right away.
HOW TO GET IT: Two Red, One Green, One Blue
You must start from Cell to become a Knight. Starting from any other stage
will make it impossible to accomplish.
PHILOSOPHY: Force?
Knights are obsessed with justice and will seek out anything they consider
evil or criminal and destroy it.
AS AN NPC:
For some reason, Spore doesn't allow NPC races to be Knights.
Any race you make as a Knight will show up ingame as a Warrior if visited
with another spacefaring race.
+++
j) WANDERER (LX-A-WAN)
(Grey, Winding Path)
POWER: None (Rate: 0/5)
COOLDOWN: N/A
Wanderers don't get any power. Like I said earlier, this is less of an
archetype and more of a punishment for skipping ahead.
The game expects you to play through from Cell ideally. This all said, being
a Wanderer isn't crippling or even inconvenient, it just means you don't have
as many advantages or bonuses, if any at all.
HOW TO GET IT: Start at the Space Stage.
That's the only way to get Wanderer - skip everything.
PHILOSOPHY: None
Wanderers aren't committed to any philosophy. They're pretty much the
ultimate in generic.
AS AN NPC:
Wanderers are technically the most encountered species in the game - when the
game decides that it's a "wanderer" species's turn to be used in the game, it
simply assigns it a random archetype from above (excluding Knight). It then
functions like a normal one of those in every way.
CHANGE MISSION: None
You can't become a Wanderer by choice. Why would you even want to?
-----------------------------
***
5) PREVIOUS PHASES (LX-PRE)
Playing through the previous phases confer bonuses on you in the Space Stage.
This is mainly what the "How to get it" part of each archetype is referring to
when I say Green, Blue or Red. This is also why being a Wanderer is bad.
You're not HURT by skipping stages, you just don't gain something like usual.
Normally, Red is the aggressive route, Green is the nice route, and Blue is
the middle ground.
a) CELL (LX-P-CEL)
GREEN: Herbivore
(Apple)
++++++
BONUS: Social Suave (0/5)
Social Suave gives you a 20% discount on the cost of all Social Tools,
the ones that go in the green panel of your toolbox.
Social Tools are usually fairly expensive, so this would be good: note my
use of the word "would". The discount only applies when you are buying
from one of your own colonies, where normally you have to pay full price
for all items. The 20% knocks it down a bit, but this still isn't good.
Let's use Creature Tweaker as an example. Normally, bought from your own
colony, a Creature Tweaker charge would cost you 500,000 spucks. With 20%
of the cost taken away, it's brought down to 400,000. The problem is that
alien races selling Creature Tweakers (Shaman, Trader, Scientist and
Ecologist races) sell lower still: Trader sells it for 325,000, and the
other three sell it for 250,000!
So even with the discount, you're still getting majorly ripped off if you
buy from yourself. This makes the ability completley and utterly useless.
HOW TO GET IT: Eat mostly green plant bits.
BLUE: Omnivore
(Apple and Chicken Leg)
++++++
BONUS: Gentle Generalist (0/5)
Gives you a 20% discount on the cost of all Spaceship Upgrades.
This includes Health, Energy, Drives, Cargo Holds, and the Wormhole Key.
For the same reasons as Social Suave, this trait is utterly worthless.
Infact, this trait is even MORE useless than the other discounts!
Social, Colony and Weapon tools all have consumable ammo type tools you'll
need to keep buying charges for. With spaceship upgrades, once you've
fully upgraded your ship then the discount pretty much becomes redundant.
HOW TO GET IT: Eat a mixed diet of plant bits and meat/other cells/blood.
This becomes much easier if you manage to get the Proboscis part, which
can eat plant bits and drinks the blood of live cells. The only downside
is it can't eat free-floating meat chunks,but it's a small disadvantage.
If you can't get the Proboscis, just keep an eye on your history and
switch between Filter and Jaw as needed.
RED: Carnivore
(Chicken Leg)
++++++
BONUS: Power Monger (4/5)
Increases the amount of damage your weapons do.
Personally I don't think the increase is all that noticeable overall, but
it's still a nice thing to have around. Though given the "competition"
from the other cell stage abilities...
HOW TO GET IT: Eat mostly meat/other cells/blood.
+++
b) CREATURE (LX-P-CRE)
GREEN: Social (Speech Bubble)
++++++
BONUS: Pleasing Performance (2/5)
Keeps your colonies happy and reduces chance of revolt.
I have never once had a revolt even without this bonus, so i'm not sure
what use this is. This said, I pretty much never let my colonies dip into
the red for happiness anyhow, so in theory i'm assuming this ability will
let you overwork your colonists for longer, should you choose to.
Mixing it with Spice Savant from Civ may lead to lots and lots of spice.
HOW TO GET IT: Make friends with other creatures.
BLUE: Adaptable (Speech Bubble and Targeting Sights)
++++++
BONUS: Speed Demon (1/5)
Makes your ship travel faster on the interstellar map.
Aside from fleeing from enemy territory (easy enough to begin with)
this is pretty pointless. Unless you're really late or something.
HOW TO GET IT: Make friends with some creatures, extinct others.
You may need to evolve back and forth between social parts and combat
parts to do this efficiently.
RED: Predator (Targeting Sights)
++++++
BONUS: Prime Specimen (3/5)
Increases the total amount of health your ship has.
It's a decent trait to have, given you can't get it any other way, but
remember that being careful and avoiding damage altogether is something
you should always try - for everything else, there's Repair Mega Packs...
HOW TO GET IT: Make other creatures extinct.
+++
c) TRIBE (LX-P-TRI)
GREEN: Friendly (Musical Note)
++++++
BONUS: Gracious Greeting (3/5)
Gives you an extra +10 to relationships with alien empires.
It's good enough to always have a little extra kick to your attempts to
make friends, but +10 is a really small amount when you could just fling
money at them or use a Happy Ray to endear even the most grumpy empires.
Given the other traits are both horrible discounts though, if you're
minmaxing then just stick with this. It's the only good trait from Tribe.
HOW TO GET IT: Ally with other tribes, give gifts.
BLUE: Industrious (Hammer)
++++++
BONUS: Colony Craze (0/5)
Gives you a 20% discount on Colony Tools purchased from your own colonies.
Terrible. See Social Suave under Cell for an explanation.
HOW TO GET IT: Stay balanced between being friendly and hostile.
RED: Aggressive (Spiked Mace)
++++++
BONUS: Arms Dealer (0/5)
Gives a 20% discount on Weapon Tools (Red) purchased from your own colonies.
Total garbage like the other discount traits.
HOW TO GET IT: Kill off other tribes, kill tribe members.
d) CIVILISATION (LX-P-CIV)
GREEN: Religious (Eye)
++++++
BONUS: Green Keeper (1/5)
Reduces the likelihood of bio-disasters.
Putting down a Bio-Stabiliser and Bio-Protector on a planet at the same
time all but completley removes bio-disasters completley, so this is
largely useless except in the early parts of space stage where those
tools aren't available, or when you've got no money handy to buy some.
HOW TO GET IT: Take over cities via religious conversion.
BLUE: Economic (Bag of Money)
++++++
BONUS: Spice Savant (5/5)
Increases your spice production rate by 50%.
It's always nice to have more spice and with this you'll get it a good
bit faster. Combine this, Pleasing Performance and a Happiness Booster
and you'll be swimming in a vault full of spice, McDuck-style.
HOW TO GET IT: Take over cities by buying them.
RED: Military (Crossed Swords)
++++++
BONUS: Pirates-B-Gone (3/5)
Reduces the likelihood of pirate raids.
I'm not sure whether this refers to the thieving pirates or raiding
pirates, but 1) it isn't too noticeable a decrease, 2) thieving pirates
can be stopped by an uber-turret, and 3) raiding pirates can be stopped
by an uber turret if you show up to supervise.
This said, Raiding Pirates are the one of two things you can never
completley stop from happening with the colony tools (the other being Grox
raids, which you can simply choose to never START and are not so much
impossible to stop as an unbelievably huge grind), so this may be useful
if you're taking the thorough approach with your colonies.
HOW TO GET IT: Take over cities by conquering them with force.
***
ACHIEVEMENTS (LX-AHV)
Achievements are an assortment of various things to do in the various phases
of the Spore game. Unlocking them doesn't award you anything other than the
achievements themselves, but they're fun to collect. Maybe.
In the Space Stage, there are a total of 39 achievements to be earned.
Of these, 13 relate to archetypes in some way. They are:
(archetype) Passion - Play as a given archetyp
(archetype) Hero - Reach Rank 10 as a given archetype
Alter Ego - Play as every archetype
Alter Ego's Alter Ego - Reach Rank 10 as every archetype
Split Personality - Complete a Change Archetype mission
Of these, the Passion achievements are the easiest to get, and Alter Ego's
Alter Ego is by far the hardest.
(Fun fact: Alter Ego's Alter Ego is tied three ways with Rising Star and Front
Page News for the least attained achievement by Spore players, with only 0.02%
of players having obtained it - that's roughly 448 people as of this update.)
None of these achievements are paticularly difficult to earn, though getting
Alter Ego's Alter Ego and Split Personality could be seen as grindy and boring
so it's up to you if you really want them or not. Bear in mind that you
should not use cheats if you want any of these achievements - cheating will
give you the Joker Badge, which prevents any achievements from being earned.
Getting the Passion achievements is simple. Go through the game in a manner
as detailed in above sections, and once you reach the space stage and are
granted that archetype for the first time, the achievement comes with it.
To get Wanderer Passion, just skip straight to the Space Stage with any
species you haven't played through the game with. Alter Ego is awarded when
you collect all of the passion achievements.
Getting the Hero achievements takes a bit more work. Start as an archetype
(it doesn't have to be your first playthrough) and work your way up towards
Rank 10 by earning badges. Paticularly good badges to get are Eco-Wrangler,
Colonist, Merchant, Golden Touch, Missionista, Planet Artiste, and Zoologist.
Maxing out all of these likely won't make you reach the 275 points required
to reach Rank 10 (Omnipotent), so do what other badges you feel are most
enjoyable or attainable to you in order to fill the gap. Do this with every
archetype and you will earn Alter Ego's Alter Ego.
There is actually a quick way to earn the Hero achievements instead of
grinding through to Rank 10 ten times. Get most of the way through
Rank 9, then save your game. Get to Rank 10 without saving, earn your
achievement and then quit without saving. Reload your game from where
you saved during Rank 9, and take a Change Archetype mission from a
civilisation who you don't have the achievement for. Complete this while
avoiding earning new badges as much as you can - once you've handed it in
and changed archetype, get to Rank 10 again and earn your achievement.
Repeat this as much as you need to and you will cut most of the grind out
of earning the Heroes and Alter Ego's Alter Ego. Bear in mind that you
cannot do this to earn Knight Hero or Wanderer Hero, since you cannot
become a Knight or Wanderer through change missions.
Split Personality is simple, just complete one change mission. I recommend
doing it for a Diplomat since five alliances really shouldn't be that hard
to earn. The first one I did was Trader... ouch.
***
7) CONCLUSION (LX-CON)
Thanks to:
logarithm64, for sending me the cooldowns and durations of the
various space stage archetype powers as well as notifying me of
a few other bits and pieces too.
My Sporepedia username is "Luminar", feel free to visit and drop me a few
comments or whatever. Also, I have a video of every archetype power uploaded
on youtube, incase you want to see what they look like:
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]I also have a video of each Archetype as NPCs and how to identify them:
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]You may contact me at "teh_man_tat_maeks_teh_ppl_go_onoz@hotmail.com" if you
have any questions, queries, corrections, glowing praise, insults,
death threats, or the like. In my defense regarding my e-mail address, I made
it back in 2003 or something when I was too stupid to realise how passé that
was. I can't guarantee i'll answer quickly or at all. If it's something dumb
like how much you like liquorice i'll just delete it, if it's relevant i'll
get around to replying. It's not my main email account, I just use it for less
important things. Seriously though, liqorice is disgusting, what on earth is
wrong with you?
End of file.
