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Phoenix Point Factions & Diplomacy - Missions, Raids, Trade, and War explained

Peace was never an option

Ollie Toms avatar
Guide by Ollie Toms Guides Editor
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The three Phoenix Point Factions dominate the remains of human civilization after the emergence of the deadly mutant-birthing Pandoravirus; and how you govern your interactions with each of them is entirely up to you. Our Phoenix Point Factions & Diplomacy guide will give you an idea of how diplomacy works in Phoenix Point, along with useful details on the three main factions in the game: New Jericho, Synedrion, and the Disciples of Anu.

Phoenix Point Factions & Diplomacy guide contents:

Phoenix Point Factions

Phoenix Point Factions

There are three main Phoenix Point factions which you will come across during your attempts to save the human race from extinction. Each of these factions has military power, influence, unique technologies, and near-invariably opposing viewpoints on the best way forward for humanity.

As you begin to explore the various points of interest around Phoenix Point at the beginning of your campaign, you'll start to run into Havens controlled by the three different factions. After you meet a faction, you'll unlock an initial research project to learn more about them; and you'll also be able to view the factions and their global status (as well as their attitudes towards one another and towards you) from the Diplomacy tab of the Geoscape.

Let's take a closer look at the three main Phoenix Point factions, so you can better understand their role in the game and what they can offer the Phoenix Project.

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Phoenix Point Factions - New Jericho

New Jericho is the most outright military-focused faction in Phoenix Point, and their policies all revolve around the central principles of human purity and the destruction of external threats - namely, the Pandorans. Their leader is Tobias West, former war-profiteering CEO and billionaire who is viewed with no small amount of idolatry within the faction.

New Jericho generally sits between the other two factions in terms of overall number of followers and havens, and their technologies are almost exclusively focused on military advancements. Their Gauss weaponry is a quick and easily obtainable upgrade to the Phoenix Project's default weapons in terms of raw damage; and later on down the line they've got some fairly formidable armor-piercing weaponry to make good use of.

Another big plus is the Armadillo APC - a powerful armoured tank that can withstand an awful amount of punishment from almost any enemy; and they also have the unique Thunderbird aircraft, a beefy helicarrier with a lower speed but a higher range and greater carrying capacity than the Phoenix Project's default Manticore aircraft. Look no further than our Phoenix Point Vehicles & Aircraft guide for full details.

New Jericho Unique Class: Technician

As well as the usual Assault, Sniper, and Heavy classes of soldier, New Jericho offers a unique class in the Technician - an exosuit-clad specialist with the ability to deploy automated turrets and heal friendly soldiers and vehicles alike. For more information, be sure to check out our Phoenix Point Classes guide.

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Phoenix Point Factions - Synedrion

Broadly speaking, Synedrion is the communist faction of Phoenix Point. The only faction governed by a council rather than a single leader, they are the most technologically advanced faction of the three - and their overriding objective is to find a way to co-exist within the new ecosystem that has been thrust upon the human race.

Synedrion is outnumbered by both New Jericho and the Disciples of Anu, but their bleeding-edge technology more than makes up for this deficit. From what I've seen, the emphasis with Synedrion weaponry seems to be on precision and stealth. Making use of Synedrion tech will see your soldiers using silenced weapons, paralysis damage, and an arsenal of weapons with a higher effective range than any of their counterparts from other factions.

Synedrion's answer to the New Jericho Thunderbird is the Helios - a smaller, lighter craft which actually carries one fewer units than the Phoenix Project's default aircraft, but makes up for it with increased range and a blistering speed, making it excellent for responding to the various threats the crop up across the globe as you head into the mid-game.

Synedrion Unique Class: Infiltrator

Another uniqueness about Synedrion is the Infiltrator class, which - as you may have guessed from the name - is unmatched in stealth and reconnaissance. This assassin-like unit makes use of silenced weapons both up close and at range, which is extremely useful for certain missions - and they also have access to drone technology which can be used to scout ahead and gain a tactical advantage in many situations.

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Phoenix Point Factions - Disciples of Anu

The Exalted is the principle figure behind the Disciples of Anu - a new religion which revolves around Anu, the so-called Dead God; and the Exalted's visions regarding said deity. According to the Disciples of Anu, the Pandoravirus and the Pandoran Mist was sent by Anu to purify humanity of its sins.

The Disciples of Anu holds more followers and havens than either of the other two factions, and while not particularly technologically advanced in the traditional sense, their biotech leaning towards mutations and using the Pandoravirus in very controlled ways to augment themselves and their abilities makes for some surprising and unusual military might.

By far the most important creation of the Disciples of Anu from the perspective of increasing the strength of the Phoenix Project is the massive Tiamat airship - a partially organic ship which, while slower than any other aircraft in the game, can carry up to 8 units at once into battle, and makes use of its incredible range to reach new countries and continents far before you otherwise could.

Disciples of Anu Unique Classes: Berserker & Priest

The Disciples of Anu make use of two unique soldier classes. The first is the Berserker, a powerful mutated warrior built for melee and close quarters combat, who can make use of strong armor, natural healing, and extremely punchy close-range weapons to get the job done.

The second unique class of the Disciples of Anu is the Priest, whose mutations allow them to control enemy units for a short time, and whose predilection for viral-based weaponry results in some far more insidious means of victory than most.

Phoenix Point Factions - Independent Havens

Phoenix Point Factions - Independent Havens

But the entirety of the human race is not comprised solely of these three factions and the Phoenix Project. We're not quite in such dire shape as that. In fact, there are a substantial number of Indepedent Havens that you will undoubtedly encounter during your travels and expansions. These havens and their leaders are loyal to no faction, and each will base their opinions of you solely on their personal interactions with you.

Upon meeting a new Independent Haven, the leader will give you an optional mission which, if you complete it, will often reward you with a substantial amount of resources - not to mention goodwill with that haven. Though it seems that goodwill and illwill with Independent Havens do not matter nearly as much as your affairs and interactions with the three primary factions.

Phoenix Point Diplomacy

Diplomacy in Phoenix Point

Diplomacy in Phoenix Point takes many forms, because there are several ways that the Phoenix Project can interact with the three factions. The best place to start is the Diplomacy screen in the Geoscape, which keeps track of everyone's attitudes towards one another.

In order to increase your standing with a particular faction, you'll need to complete missions for them, respond favourably when certain events pop up which require your response, and help them fend off attacks from Pandorans and other factions. At various thresholds, you'll gain more benefits:

  • At an attitude of +25, you'll be able to see every haven belonging to that faction across the globe.
  • At an attitude of +50, you'll gain access to a limited selection of that faction's unique technologies.
  • At an attitude of +75, you'll gain full access to that faction's unique branch of the tech tree.

But as well as doing generally favourable things for that faction, in order to push yourself into the next threshold of alliance, you'll need to complete a specific mission for that faction. Otherwise, no matter what you do for them you'll be locked below that threshold, at 24 or 49 or 74.

On the flipside of this, angering the factions will have certain consequences at two different thresholds:

  • At an attitude of -25, you will be unable to trade with or recruit from havens belonging to that faction.
  • At an attitude of -75, the faction will start to attack your bases. Relations cannot improve from this point.

As a general guideline, I'd say the best course of action for any campaign is to get all three factions up to +25 attitude so you reveal every faction haven on the map (helping marvellously with exploration), and then focus on improving relations with a specific faction while stealing aircraft and technologies from the other two - but don't go overboard with that part, because you don't really want to go to war with any of the factions.

Trade & Recruitment

Two early-game technologies must be researched in order to unlock the ability to trade with and recruit from faction havens. These technologies are Haven Trade Protocols and Haven Recruitment Protocols, respectively.

After you research these two techs, then under each faction haven in the Geoscape global view you'll see certain new icons appear. For trade, the icons that appear will signify which resources you can buy from that haven; and you'll also be able to see whether they have a soldier available for recruitment because there'll be a human icon next to the haven if so. To find out more details about both, simply click on the haven and select Haven Info from the dropdown menu.

Raids & Warfare

Diplomacy doesn't always mean diplomacy in these games. As time goes on, the opposing views of the three factions will spark conflicts, which will almost inevitably turn to all-out war later on down the line. But you can get in on the action too. Not only can you rush in with your army to defend havens from attack by other factions, but you can also head to almost any haven belonging to any faction and there will be one or two opportunities for Raids.

Raids are, as I like to think of them, "naughty missions". If you wish to steal something from a faction, whether it's materials or technologies, or even a whole aircraft, then all you need to do is send your army in an aircraft to the nearest applicable faction haven, and start the raid. These raids often have a very high threat level and are filled with difficult encounters with highly trained soldiers, and the risk appears to increase if you take on stronger and larger havens - but the rewards are almost always well worth it. Particularly if you get a whole new aircraft out of it.

Phoenix Point Factions & Diplomacy guide

And with that, I think we'll conclude this Phoenix Point factions & diplomacy guide. But that's not all we've got in store for Phoenix Point! Check out our ever-expanding Phoenix Point guide series list below for more details and advice on a different aspect of this ambitious turn-based tactics game.

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