Civilization V Analyst: Beyond Earth

*This page last updated: 09 October, 2015 10:39 PST. (Log of recent changes)
Disclaimer: The information listed below was compiled prior to release and so some of it may be out of date with the released version of the game.

CIVILIZATION: BEYOND EARTH - RISING TIDE

On May 18, 2015 2K announced a new expansion for Civilization: Beyond Earth, titled "Rising Tide." It was released on October 9, 2015 for a suggested retail price of USD $30. David McDonough and Will Miller return as Co-Lead Designers on the expansion.

Aquatic Cities
Four New Factions
Two New Biomes
Diplomacy and Leader Trait Changes
Artifacts
New Naval and Hybrid Affinity Units
New Alien Units
New Buildings and Wonders
New Aquatic Resources and Improvements
Links to Previews

Aquatic Cities

Cities can now be founded on the ocean tiles, and there are resources in the water as well as new aquatic alien units. The floating cities can move, and reportedly this is how they claim new territory.

Players can settle aquatic cities immediately upon landfall (two of the new factions start in the water), and there is a game mode in which all players start at sea.

New Biomes

"Two new world types have been added. Primordial worlds are rife in volcanic activity and the chaotic landscape of a world still forming. Frigid worlds have cooled in their great age, their surfaces covered with icy oceans and frozen tundra."

"We also revisited the original three biomes – the lush, fungal and arid – and made it [so] that they aren’t just ways for the planet to look, they affect gameplay. The aliens will behave differently in the various biomes and the game will get slight modifiers based on the biome." - David McDonough

Diplomacy Changes

"Players and AI Leaders alike unlock new Traits through gameplay and activate different combinations to respond to the changing world. These dynamic sets of Traits also provide benefits and add to the new Diplomacy system, governed by the new Fear and Respect attributes. Shape the diplomatic landscape by using political capital to upgrade your traits, change diplomatic relationships, and leverage the benefits of your allies’ traits."

There is a new resource called Diplomatic Capital which can be traded for agreements with other factions, and possibly spent to buy new leader traits or upgrade existing ones.

"So you start off with one personality trait that your leader always has and this would be as a bonus in base BE that is now contextualized as a trait in Rising Tide; then you can add three more traits to your civ as the game progresses. And these traits can also be upgraded, and this is transparent, so I can see the personalities of the AI characters of the game or the player characters." - Will Miller

When each new faction lands on the planet, you will see the location in which they set down, but you will no longer make immediate contact.

Artifacts

"Collect and combine powerful relics to unlock new perks, unit upgrades, and buildings for your faction on the new world."

"There are three types of artifacts. There are old Earth relics which are things that were sent out long ago, there are biological artifacts and then there are progenitor artifacts which come from the mysterious race that you contact in the Contact Victory. The artifacts are in different places, you will find old Earth artifacts in human settlements and biological artifacts in alien nests and so on. Depending on which types of artifacts you put together you will get different rewards, similar to the sets in Risk. You can consume an artifact immediately for gains, like a quick shot to your economy. If you save several up though you could get a unique ability or unique wonders that you can then build. These wonders are only unlocked through artifacts. You will never be hurting for a particular artifact to complete a set, it is more a case of 'Have I found enough variety to get something really cool?'” - David McDonough

New Civilizations

The expansion adds four new factions, two of which are aquatic-themed and start immediately with ocean cities.

Al-Falah is a Middle-Eastern themed faction, which arrives on generation ships instead of using the cryogenic sleep available to other factions, and so the colonists are descendants of the original people who set out from Earth, and have no direct memory of Earth themselves.

The North Sea Alliance is another aquatic-themed faction, an alliance of former northern European powers.

Faction	Icon	Leader	Capital	Special Ability
Al-Falah		Arshia Kishk	Ard	"Gets bonuses to city processes"
North Sea Alliance		Duncan Hughes	Deepcastle	Aquatic Cities have 50% more Combat Strength and cost 50% less to move.
INTEGR		Lena Ebner	?	Agreements cost 50% less Diplomatic Capital, and purchasing units and buildings cost 25% less Diplomatic Capital.
Chungsu		Han Jae Moon	?	Start with a free Spy. Receive 10/15/30 Science per level for every successful operation.

Special Abilities

Kategorischer Imperativ (INTEGR): Agreements cost 50% less Diplomatic Capital, and purchasing units and buildings cost 25% less Diplomatic Capital.
Enemy Within (Chungsu): Start with a free Spy. Receive 10/15/30 Science per level for every successful operation.
Indefatigable (North Sea Alliance): Aquatic Cities have 50% more Combat Strength and cost 50% less to move.

New Units

In addition to new marine units, there will be new "special hybrid Affinity units and upgrades." Hybrid Affinity units may require more than one type of Affinity-specific resources (Floatstone, Firaxite and Xenomass), and some require all three.

Patrol Boat (Level 1)

Notes: This could be the tier 1 version.

Cutter (Patrol Boat Level 2)

Move: 5; Strength: 30
Notes: The distinction between melee and ranged naval units appears to have returned with Rising Tide. This is the Tier 2 version.

Notes: This appears to be a Purity version of the tier 2 Patrol Boat, but it has the same stats as the above version.

Submarine

Move: 2; Strength: 18; Ranged Strength: 20; Range: 2
Notes: Appears to be the Tier 1 Submarine.

Again, there is a Purity version of the tier 1 Submarine, but which appears to have the same stats.

(Unknown Naval Vessel)

Notes: This may be the tier 2 Submarine.

Colonist

Move: 2; Strength: 1

Explorer

Move: 2; Strength: 3

Alien Units

Aliens appear to have different coloration based on the biome type. The Primordial biome aliens, for example, all appear reddish.

Leash

Harmony players can gain the "Leash" ability for their Explorers, which allows the player to take control of alien units. It is unlocked by an early technology and requires Harmony level 3. "Leash Alien: Take control of a target adjacent Alien unit. The Explorer will suffer moderate damage in the process."

"Eventually at higher affinity and deeper in the tech web you get the ability to domesticate colossal aliens, which includes siege worms and kraken." - David McDonough

Ripper

Move: 3; Strength: 8

Makara

Move: 1; Strength: 28
Notes: This creature is amphibious, able to move on both land and in the water.

Scarab

Move: 2; Strength: 6
Notes: This appears to be essentially the original version of the Wolf Beetles from the pre-release version of Beyond Earth. Its strength of 6 makes it slightly weaker than the current Wolf Beetle.

Hydracoral

Move: 0; Strength: 10
"Hydracoral - a combination of terrain and enemy presence. Players can clear them out by engaging in an attack, although there is a good chance it will potentially anger the alien wildlife of the planet. Players can also consider using these alien lifeforms strategically as a defense mechanism as well."

Hydracoral Brain

New Buildings and Wonders

Some new Wonders can only be built in aquatic cities, such as the Benthic Auger and the Abyssal Mirror.

New Resources and Terrain Features

There are no new strategic resources beyond the original six (Floatstone, Firaxite, Xenomass, Geothermal, Petroleum and Titanium), but there are aquatic versions of the above and new bonus resources.

Marine Version of Existing Resources

There are underwater or floating versions of existing resources, such as Floatstone and Firaxite. Miasma has also been seen on the surface of the ocean. What appears to be algae has a slightly different graphic from the one in Beyond Earth.