Espionage

Espionage is a game mechanic introduced by the Shadows expansion, along with pillaging and the Forgotten faction. Espionage introduces the ability to infiltrate the cities of other empires, and in doing so it is possible to see more detailed information about the city that is infiltrated, as well as providing a way to sabotage and steal from the empire controlling the city. A means of counter-espionage, referred to as Security, was also introduced; the higher a city's Security rating, the more difficult it is for other empires to successfully perform infiltration actions on that city.

Infiltration

Infiltration enables heroes to be assigned to the cities of other empires as spies. Performing requires that the target city be visible, and costs a small amount of Influence which is determined by the current technological Era and a few other factors. A few things happen immediately upon infiltrating a city: first, you are now able to view the infiltrated city's City Screen as though you owned the city. This by itself can provide a large amount of useful information about the city. Second, you will gain vision over the city, including that gained from expansions, such as Watchtowers. Finally, the infiltrated hero will begin to build up Infiltration Points , which are necessary to perform Infiltration Actions that can sabotage the infiltrated city or empire.

Spying

As part of the Espionage system, all heroes were given the Spying capacity, which is divided into four levels. Every level gives heroes the ability to infiltrate cities as described earlier, and all heroes will gain 4 XP per turn while infiltrated, but higher levels of Spying provide more Infiltration Points on the hero each turn and decrease the upkeep of the hero (when infiltrated) further. Each faction's heroes have different levels of the Spying capacity, as shown in the table below:

Spying Level	Effects	Faction(s)
	Can infiltrate visible cities of other empires. +4 Infiltration Point per turn . +4 XP per turn when infiltrated. -40% on Hero Upkeep when infiltrated.	Necrophages
	Can infiltrate visible cities of other empires. +6 Infiltration Point per turn . +4 XP per turn when infiltrated. -50% on Hero Upkeep when infiltrated.	Wild Walkers Broken Lords Vaulters Mezari Ardent Mages Drakken Cultists Allayi
	Can infiltrate visible cities of other empires. +8 Infiltration Point per turn . +4 XP per turn when infiltrated. -60% on Hero Upkeep when infiltrated.	Roving Clans Morgawr
	Can infiltrate visible cities of other empires. +12 Infiltration Point per turn . +4 XP per turn when infiltrated. -80% on Hero Upkeep when infiltrated.	Forgotten

The only exception to this is Sable Deceiver Bayari Kulaa, a Mezari hero that is partially designed after the Forgotten, and thus has the Spying 4 capacity instead of Spying 2.

Infiltration Points

Infiltration Points are a kind of resource that is needed to perform Infiltration Actions. More specifically, Infiltration Points are needed to gain Infiltration Levels, and each Infiltration Level unlocks more powerful Infiltration Actions. There are a total of 5 Infiltration Levels, and all heroes start at Level 1. The following table displays how many Infiltration Points are necessary to reach each Infiltration Level:

Level	Points
1	0
2	45.9
3	112.1
4	211.1
5	344.9

Whenever a hero performs an infiltration action - whether successful or not - or is removed from the city they are infiltrating, they spend all the Infiltration Points they have built up, putting them back to Infiltration Level 1. As such, it is ideal to gain Infiltration Points as quickly as possible, so that the more powerful Infiltration Actions can be used more quickly and more frequently. While the Spying capacity provides every hero with a base amount of Infiltration Points per turn, there are a number of other ways to increase a hero's Infiltration Point gain.

Seniority

One of the most straightforward ways to increase a hero's Infiltration Point gain is by developing something called a Seniority Bonus. Whenever a hero performs an Infiltration Action, they will get a Seniority Bonus equal to the amount of Infiltration Levels it required to perform the Action. A hero will then gain a bonus amount of Infiltration Points every turn equal to their Seniority Bonus. The Seniority Bonus can be increased up to 20, and is reset to zero if the hero leaves the city.

Skills

There are two skills that heroes can take that can help increase the rate at which a hero gains Infiltration Points, one of which is available to all heroes, while the other is exclusive to Forgotten (and Morgawr with ELCP) heroes.

Skill Tree	Level	Icon	Name	Effect	Assignment
Common	3		Lord of the Trance	Level 1: +5 on infiltrated Hero. Level 2: +5 on infiltrated Hero.	Spy
Forgotten	3		Double or Nothing	Level 1: +50% Seniority bonus on Hero. Level 2: +50% Seniority bonus on Hero.	Spy
Morgawr	4		Spy Glass	Level 1: With ELCP: +5 on infiltrated Hero.	Army (Any with ELCP)

Items

There are also a few items that can increase a hero's Infiltration Point gain. They are unlocked with the Uncommon Armor, Marvelous Armor, and Exceptional Armor technologies.

Icon	Name		Effects	Technology	Lore
	Scope of the Initiate	12	-15% Infiltration Action cost on hero +3 on infiltrated hero	Uncommon Armor	Enhanced by the Dust magics in this spyglass, even novice spies gain improved abilities to understand and influence other beings they observe.
	Scope of the Adept	24	-30% Infiltration Action cost on hero +5 on infiltrated hero	Marvelous Armor	As Forgotten infiltrators make the difficult transition from eager novices to cynical experts, the magics in these lenses aid them to more easily remember to sift information on people, groups, and activities.
	Scope of the Shadow	48	-50% Infiltration Action cost on hero +8 on infiltrated hero	Exceptional Armor	A powerful object intended only for those with vast experience and strong minds, this spyglass brings extensive powers of persuasion, conviction, and intimidation to skilled infiltrators.

Technology

Finally, there is one piece of technology exclusive to the Forgotten which increases the amount of Infiltration Points gained by heroes.

What's Mine is Mine Faction: Forgotten Obtained: Era II Category: Military Type: Empire Focus: Security		Those who are strong in the ways of espionage must also be ready when their enemies use those skills against them. Additional training in counter-espionage is never wasted time.
Effects: +15 Security on cities +3 on infiltrated hero

Infiltration Actions

As an infiltrated hero reaches higher Infiltration Levels, they will gain access to more powerful Infiltration Actions. There are no Infiltration Actions available at Level 1, and every Action is available at Level 4. However, Infiltration Actions become more powerful as the hero's Infiltration Level increases beyond what is needed to simply unlock the Action. For example, the Damage Fortification action reduces the Fortification of the infiltrated city by 25% at Level 2, but reduces the city's fortification to 0 for 10 turns at Level 5. All Infiltration Actions cost a small amount of Influence to perform, which increases based on your technological Era (exact cost TBD).

When an Infiltration Action is performed, the affected empire will be notified that an Infiltration Action has been performed (with a few exceptions), and there are four possible outcomes for the hero that performed the action depending on the Security rating of the city. First, nothing could happen, and the hero will remain infiltrated in the city unharmed. Second, the hero could be wounded, and will remain infiltrated in the city, but will lose half their health. Third, they could be disabled, losing all their health and being sent back to the academy. And finally, they could be captured - the infiltrated empire will place the captured hero in Jail for 30 turns, but you can negotiate with the empire to have your hero released earlier. The higher the city's security rating, the more likely the later effects are; this will be broken down more thoroughly in the Security section.

Here are all the Infiltration Actions that can be done and their different levels.

Note: If you play with ELCP, there is nerf for several commonly used Infiltration Actions. Details below.

Empire Infiltration Actions

Icon	Name	Level 2	Level 3	Level 4	Level 5
	Decrease Vision	Locked	Reduces to minimum vision of watchtowers for 6 turns	Reduces to minimum vision of cities and regional buildings for 10 turns (4 turns on Normal game speed with ELCP)	Reduces to minimum vision armies , cities and regional buildings for 10 turns (4 turns on Normal game speed with ELCP)
	Reveal Spy	Locked	Locked	Reveals and wounds one spy of the infiltrated empire within your empire (-50% Life )	Reveals and wounds all spies of the infiltrated empire within your empire (-75% Life )
	Decrease Science Production	Reduces the science production of the infiltrated empire by 10% for 6 turns	Reduces the science production of the infiltrated empire by 20% for 6 turns	Reduces the science production of the infiltrated empire by 30% for 6 turns	Reduces the science production of the infiltrated empire by 40% for 6 turns
	Decrease Morale	Locked	-1 Morale (-15% Attack and Defense ) on all units owned by the infiltrated empire for 6 turns (2 turns on Normal game speed with ELCP)	-2 Morale (-30% Attack and Defense ) on all units owned by the infiltrated empire for 6 turns (4 turns on Normal game speed with ELCP)	-3 Morale (-45% Attack and Defense ) on all units owned by the infiltrated empire for 10 turns (6 turns on Normal game speed with ELCP)
	Steal Vision	Locked	Gives vision over armies for 4 turns	Gives vision over armies for 10 turns (6 turns on Normal game speed with ELCP)	Gives vision over armies , cities and regional buildings for 20 turns (8 turns on Normal game speed with ELCP)
	Decrease Diplomatic Cost	Locked	-20% on diplomatic costs for 10 turns	-40% on diplomatic costs for 10 turns	-60% on diplomatic costs for 20 turns
	Steal Technology	Steals 1 generic Era I technology (or Era I technology of the same faction), among those the infiltrated empire has researched	Steals 1 generic Era I to Era II technology (or Era I to Era II technology of the same faction), among those the infiltrated empire has researched	Steals 1 generic Era I to Era III technology (or Era I to Era III technology of the same faction), among those the infiltrated empire has researched	Steals 1 generic Era I to Era V technology (or Era I to Era V technology of the same faction), among those the infiltrated empire has researched
	Dust Opportunists	Steals a flat amount plus a small percentage of the infiltrated Empire's Dust	Steals a small flat amount plus a percentage of the infiltrated Empire's Dust	Steals a very small flat amount plus a large percentage of the infiltrated Empire's Dust	Steals a very small flat amount plus a large percentage of the infiltrated Empire's Dust

It should be noted that the Actions Steal Vision, Decrease Diplomatic Cost, and Steal Technology will not alert the affected empire that an Infiltration Action has been performed so long as the infiltrated hero is not wounded, disabled, or captured. As such, these actions can be a good way to increase an infiltrated hero's Seniority Bonus in a city without raising the suspicion of the city's owner and prompting a Roundup.

Additionally, the Steal Technology and Dust Opportunists actions are only available to the Forgotten. Steal Technology replaces the Decrease Science Production action, and Dust Opportunists is only available during a Dust Eclipse.

City Infiltration Actions

Icon	Name	Level 2	Level 3	Level 4	Level 5
	Decrease Population	-1 Population	-2 Population	-3 Population	-4 Population
	Damage Fortification	Reduces the fortification by 25% of the maximum fortification value	Reduces the fortification by 50% of the maximum fortification value	Reduces the fortification by 100% (75% with ELCP) of the maximum fortification value	Reduces the fortification to 0 for 10 turns (1 turn with ELCP).
	Decrease Industry Production	Reduces the industry production of the infiltrated city by 50% for 2 turns	Reduces the industry production of the infiltrated city by 50% for 6 turns	Reduces the industry production of the infiltrated city by 100% for 6 turns	Reduces the industry production of the infiltrated city by 100% for 12 turns
	Target Governor	Locked	-30% Life per turn on the governor for 10 turns	Sends back the governor to its academy with the disabled status	Captures the governor

Security

Security is a property of cities that determines what happens to a hero infiltrated on a city after they perform an Infiltration Action. For any action, there are four possible effects on the hero:

• Nothing: The hero remains infiltrated in the city unharmed.
• Wounded: The hero remains infiltrated in the city, but loses half their health.
• Disabled: The hero loses all their health and is returned to their owner's academy.
• Captured: The hero is captured by the city's owner, and put in Jail. The hero will be released to their owner after 30 turns, or the hero's owner can negotiate with their captor for an early release.

A city's security rating is given on a percentile scale in increments of 5%, each increment having a different set of chances for the four outcomes listed above. Here is a table listing the odds of each outcome based on the security rating:

Security	Nothing	Wounded	Disabled	Captured
0	85	15	0	0
5	82	18	0	0
10	80	20	0	0
15	77	23	0	0
20	74	26	0	0
25	67	27	6	0
30	62	31	8	0
35	57	34	10	0
40	52	37	11	0
45	47	40	13	0
50	41	44	15	0
55	35	47	17	0
60	26	45	17	12
65	22	47	18	13
70	19	48	19	13
75	16	48	21	15
80	13	49	23	16
85	10	49	25	17
90	6	49	26	18
95	3	50	28	19
100	0	50	30	20

There are a number of factors that affect a city's security rating, and while most of them are a means to increase city security, the biggest factor on security early on is Approval .

Roundups

A roundup is an action you can use on a city to temporarily increase its security rating, as well as possibly root out any spies in the city. While looking at a selected city's City Screen, there is a button labeled "Roundup" located in the top center of the screen, below the area that shows population growth and the city's security rating. Upon pressing this button, a roundup will begin, which lasts 4 turns and has a few effects. First, it will reduce the city's "Per " output by half for the duration of the roundup. Second, the city's security rating will increase by 10 each turn. Finally, once the roundup is completed, each spy in the city will effectively be forced to take a 'null action'; the spies won't actually perform an action, but they will face the consequences as if they had, and this will be done with the security rating of the city at the height of the roundup. This is one of the most effective ways to root out spies from a city.

Approval

A city's approval rating is the biggest factor on security for most of the game, and is the only thing affecting city security at the start. While a city that is Content or better will get a boost to security, a city that is Unhappy or in Rebellion will experience a negative modifier to security, making it very easy to perform infiltration actions in unhappy cities. The security modifier for different approval ratings are as follows:

Approval	Security
Rebellion (0-10 )	-40
Unhappy (11-39 )	-20
Content (40-60 )	+20
Happy (61-89 )	+30
Fervent (90-100 )	+40

Skills

There is one skill in the Common skill tree that gives a city governed by a hero with that skill a boost to security. And another one if you play with ELCP. The skills is:

Skill Tree	Level	Icon	Name	Effect	Assignment
Common	4		Face Reader	Level 1: +15 on city. Level 2: +15 on city.	City
Morgawr	4		Spy Glass	Level 1: With ELCP: +15 on city.	Army (Any with ELCP)

Items

There are also a few items that can increase a city's security when equipped to the hero governing it. They are unlocked with the Uncommon Armor, Marvelous Armor, and Exceptional Armor technologies.

Icon	Name		Effects	Technology	Lore
	Register of the Taiga Hawk	12	+10 Security on city	Uncommon Armor	This notebook records events that are seen through special spyglasses issued to the city guards. While the spyglasses are simple things, they can see through obvious disguises and identify those who bear the city ill will
	Register of the Snow Leopard	24	+20 Security on city	Marvelous Armor	An improved version of the registry records information gathered from upgraded spyglasses. City guards or citizens that use these spyglass can see through many disguises, and more easily identify furtive and suspicious behavior.
	Register of the Great Owl	48	+30 Security on city	Exceptional Armor	The Dust-enhanced spyglasses linked to this register can even read hostile intent in the minds of passers-by. This formidable ability greatly increases City security from all but the most highly trained operatives

City Improvement and Technology

There are two City Improvements that are able to increase the Security of a city, as well as one piece of technology exclusive to the Forgotten. They are the following:

Inquisitors' Divinity Faction: All Obtained: Era III Type: City Improvement Focus: Security	Costs: 600 5 -6 per		By founding a new Divinity expressly dedicated to unmasking the worms in the pulp of Forgotten society, the ability to find enemy spies is greatly improved.
Effects: +20 security on city

Traitor's Lottery Faction: All Obtained: Era V Type: City Improvement Focus: Security	Costs: 2000 10 5 -8 per		By inaugurating a lottery system that covertly rewards those who achieve the most denouncements of suspicious friends and kin, the chances of uncovering enemy operatives is better than ever.
Effects: +30 security on city

What's Mine is Mine Faction: Forgotten Obtained: Era II Category: Military Type: Empire Focus: Security		Those who are strong in the ways of espionage must also be ready when their enemies use those skills against them. Additional training in counter-espionage is never wasted time.
Effects: +15 Security on cities +3 on infiltrated hero