After a great many hours playing Stars in Shadow, I began writing faction primers to introduce players to the core elements of playing that faction.

My background is in the design and development of tabletop games (predominantly board games, card games, and miniatures games), but I'm also a big fan of turn-based strategy PC games and of 4X games in particular. The Stars in Shadow developers have done an exceptional job creating unique and compelling races and a faction guide is one way I thought I could celebrate that success.
I've broken the content down into the eponymous four Xs - Explore, Expand, Exploit, and Exterminate.

The Orthin have a clearer theme and clearer path to victory than many of the other factions in Stars in Shadow. It’s difficult to miss their role as “The Research Faction,” but their strengths and weaknesses outside of that role are less severe than those in Phidi or Gremak. They’re a well-rounded faction that also happens to be excellent at research. Let's take a deeper look at each of their four Xs.

As far as exploration goes, the Orthin are quite average. Their Scout ship design is fairly typical with the expected low build cost and low upkeep. As with several other factions, their Scout is simply a Destroyer chassis that happens to have a Warp Lane Amplifier and a Deep Space Scanner. There are other ships that could be used in a scouting role but none that stand out as particularly exceptional choices over the basic Destroyer chassis.

Their outposts aren’t anything special either, but their exceptional research capabilities mean they can acquire Improved Solar Panels much earlier than other factions. This cuts down on the time and metal needed for each outpost dramatically. (I recommend putting a Science Station in the slot vacated by the engine, giving 2 more research points each turn and still leaving the outpost cheaper than before.)

-----

Exploring the tech tree is just as important as exploring the galaxy itself, and no one does that quite like the Orthin. Orthin population units each produce 1 science, fully double that of other factions. On top of that, their empire produces double the standard 5 science per turn (10), and they get a 30% discount on techs in the field of physics. Not only is 30% tied for the best discount, but physics is one of the best research fields with plenty of high-importance techs for you to discover.

The Orthin faction-specific techs are Shield Capacitors, Stupendous Energy Physics, and Atmospheric Condensation. Shield Capacitors are a busbar hardpoint component that will be covered in the Exterminate section, and Stupendous Energy Physics gives both a new ship chassis and a new siege weapon. It’s one of two selection-screen perks for the Orthin, so it will be covered in the Exploit section.

Atmospheric Condensation is a remarkable tech, allowing Orthin to terraform inferno planets. Outside of finding some Tarib (the inferno-dwelling neutral faction), other factions struggle to get much use out of inferno planets, but with enough time and the right techs, Orthin can turn those infernos into beautiful island planets. You’ll want to prioritize “warm” inferno planets over “hot” ones, though. Hot inferno planets require both Atmospheric Condensation and Orbital Mirrors to make them truly habitable for the Orthin.

Orthin colonists are some of the best in all of Stars in Shadow. The doubled research value is a huge boost over the other factions, and they are the only faction that can colonize Iceball planets. This allows them to create colonies in star systems that other factions have no use for, making it easier to expand without creating conflict before you’re ready. Not only that, but the Iceball planets have truly impressive population caps relative to their size and are high-fertility planets.

Sure, Orthin do have some planetary limitations. Just like the Phidi, Orthin need Habitat Domes for desert, steppe, and arid planets and have low population caps on those planet types. Their rapid research can be applied towards expansion if desired, however, getting them to Habitat Domes and Atmosphere Generation faster than other factions.

The Orthin can find some use for neutral races, especially early in the game, but they’re a lot less reliant on them than other factions. Wrem are pretty handy to have around for cold barren planets and Spice Mongers are fine on cold steppe planets, but most of the other races just feel like wasted population units. Even faction races are pretty “meh” with two notable exceptions. The best ones are the Phidi, and the Yoral come in a close second. Both will increase the population caps of some of your favored planet types, and they bring specialization in trade and production to complement your existing expertise in research.

-----

The “Initial Impression” scores for the Orthin aren’t too bad, but they’re not all that great either. It’s definitely helpful to build a few ships to avoid penalties for having a weak military (or even gain bonuses for having a strong one). The Orthin arguably have the best long game in all of Stars in Shadow, but they don’t want to get into protracted scuffles with their neighbors while everyone else is expanding further into the galaxy.

The ability to grab systems no one else cares about (thanks to Iceball planets) can ease the early tensions, allowing you to build up technological superiority with which to crush your enemies.

The two listed strengths of the Orthin are "Academics" and "Heavy Artillery."

"Academics" is the Orthin ability to produce 1 research per turn instead of the usual 0.5. It’s not listed in the tooltip, but I consider their 10 research per turn instead of the usual 5 part of this perk as well. It would be difficult to overstate the importance of research because it’s not simply one facet of gameplay. It affects every single aspect of gameplay and can be refocused as needed to fit what you need most at any given time.

"Heavy Artillery" refers to the Stupendous Energy Physics tech mentioned earlier. It unlocks the unique Ion Artillery weapon as well as the Gunship, a Destroyer-sized chassis with a siege hardpoint. Stupendous Energy Physics also creates a faster research path to Primary Artillery if desired. You’ll need some really good engines to get much mileage out of the Gunship as a siege weapon, but considering that engines are physics techs, that’s not as severe a limitation as it would be for other factions. While it’s certainly fun to get early siege weapons, they’re power-hungry and other weapons can be just as powerful. Still, it can enable a unique play style with beam weapons that can reach out and blast someone at great distances before they have a chance to close.

The unlisted perk of being able to build impressive colonies on planets no one else even wants also plays into the Orthin strengths you should seek to exploit.

One of the most important elements of playing the Orthin is being more flexible with research opportunities than most other factions. My research order tends to be fairly static with some factions, but Orthin quickly blow through the techs you can treat as an opening in chess. Then you’ve got to pay more attention to the current board state. Do you need to prioritize economy? Expansion? Combat? Research can provide tools to improve your position in any area of gameplay but can only focus on one at a time.

The Orthin ships are fairly average in their class on a chassis-by-chassis basis. Even the Gunship, while unique, is not all that impressive relative other factions' ships. The key, as with everything else Orthin, is in the tech. Orthin often have better weapons and shields than their adversaries, and that is what makes them more powerful pound-for-pound than the ships on the other side of the starmap.

A unique element of five Orthin chassis designs is the “busbar” hardpoint. No other factions have this highly limited hardpoint on their ships, but it’s a nice bonus. It doesn’t feel like Orthin ships are “paying” for this hardpoint with lower counts of weapon or system hardpoints relative to other factions, either, which makes it feel pretty valuable.

The first component available for the busbar hardpoint is Blast Doors, giving a tiny bit of extra staying power. You’ll soon unlock the Shield Regenerator, giving a much greater degree of protection. The third option you’ll see is the Shield Capacitor, an Orthin-only tech and the offensive mirror to the Shield Regenerator. It provides extra offense after your shields are damaged as opposed to extra defense. The fourth and final option for the busbar hardpoint is the Power Converter, a bonus component that is unlocked at the same time as the Quantum Generator engine. Though thematically tied to shields, it provides a fixed amount of power regardless of the ship’s shields. It’s 420 for Escort Cruisers, Heavy Cruisers, and Carriers, 620 for Battlecruisers, and 820 for Dreadnoughts. That extra energy is an amazing boost and can even allow you to design ships that don’t spend a single system slot on engines.

There are two solid paths for Orthin battle tactics – projectile and direct-fire. You’ll want to lean hard into one of the two rather than a mixed offense. Having just a few missiles, torpedoes, fighters, and shuttles means they just get chewed up in point defense weapons, but having a ton of them means a ton of dead enemies. Direct-fire tactics can be viable as well and will often want a heavy focus on a particular engagement range. Either blast them from downtown with Gunships and other heavy/siege equipped ships or get up close and personal with massive arrays of medium weapons.

It's impressive that Stars in Shadow continues to see occasional updates, which led me to muse on what I would change about the factions in some magical fairy land where I controlled what came next. The Orthin are another faction where there really isn't much.

The thing I would like to see most would be further embracing the busbar hardpoint. I understand why it can’t be added to the Super Dreadnought and Dread Star, but why isn’t it on the Military Transport? Why not add it to the Destroyer and Gunship? While we’re at it, why not expand its options a little? Busbar versions of the Deep Space Scanner, Maneuvering Engine, Warp Lane Amplifier, Science Stations, Transporter, and more would be a great addition to this unique faction element.

Along the same lines of pushing the themes a bit, I’d like to see more of a focus on heavy/siege weapons. Changing some medium slots here and there to heavy slots would be a good way to push that theme, and a few Battlecruiser hardpoints could be sacrificed to get another siege hardpoint into the lineup.

Those changes are small, though, and I’m certainly not claiming the Orthin need buffs. I think they could simply be a little more flavorful. Some of these changes could even come with small nerfs to some of their ship designs where warranted.

• February 4, 2021 - Guide uploaded to Steam.