Amplitude Studios — After Strategy

Endless Legend 2 at 1.0: Eight Factions, the Sandshapers and Six Weeks of Patches

Mon, 21 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMT

The Sandshapers do not farm. In a 4X where the food tile is the first reflex, the sixth major faction of Endless Legend 2 only finds food on Sand, a terrain that does not exist in the world and that it has to manufacture itself. Six weeks after the 1.0 release of September 17, 2026, that is the sharpest picture of what the final version set out to add. What remains to be seen is whether the launch kept its promises.

What 1.0 really adds

Version 1.0 closes an Early Access that opened on September 22, 2025. Amplitude Studios and Hooded Horse add three playable factions, which brings the roster to eight: the Sandshapers, the sixth major faction, and two Rogue Factions, the Order of Zelevas and the Severed Claws. A minor faction, the Mangrove of Harmony, completes the set. It came out of a contest started ten months earlier to design both the gameplay and the art together with the community.

The studio also added a consumable born from its Insiders program, the Apotheosis Dirge: if it kills an enemy, a copy of that enemy appears with half its health under your control, and stays with you after the battle. The rest of the content is a very long list of fixes. On the eve of release, the studio stated that every bug with more than five upvotes on the Amplifiers platform had been handled for launch.

Amplitude’s retrospective counts close to sixty updates during Early Access, nearly five a month. Several left a mark: the unit rebalance, the zone of control, multiplayer, custom factions, gamepad support and Steam Deck certification, the narrative overhaul with Retold Tales, then mod support with The Architects. The 1.0 therefore lands on a game that has already been heavily reworked.

The Sandshapers: a faction built against the terrain

According to the official presentation, the Sandshapers are the oldest inhabitants of Saiadha, those who remember a world from before the oceans. They are expansionists and terraformers: they want to claim as much land as they can to fuel their Wishes and their economy, turning it into Sand tiles that are less useful to other empires.

The starting constraint is what makes the faction singular. The Sandshapers only harvest food from Sand, they get nothing from tiles next to a river or a lake, and they can neither cross a river nor build a bridge. To get by, they must find Ruins that only they can see, raise them and then restore them. The Wishes this unlocks let them terraform the tiles around each Ruin into Sand.

This design answers a mistake the team says it corrected. In an early version, Ruins were totems placed by the player that gave bonuses to neighboring districts. The result was too isolationist: you could build a powerful capital and stop there, much like the Kin. Ruins became points of interest spread across every territory, which forces you out of your borders and into contact with other empires.

What matters for the player: a faction that reshapes the map for its own benefit is not a simple numeric bonus. It demands a long-term plan, with a hostile start that softens as the desert spreads. The studio designs it for survivor profiles, and the selection screen labels it Expert.

The risk is twofold. The first is technical: several October patches target these mechanics, such as Sand tiles that were not giving their bonuses. The second is balance. A faction that makes terrain less useful for others can weigh heavily in multiplayer, but that effect only shows up in serious games, and no public data settles it yet.

The Rogue Factions, the most interesting idea of 1.0

Rogue Factions are fully playable variants of major factions that broke away from their origin. They keep the same base affinity but change the traits, the battle affinity, the leader and the quest. The studio added them because Early Access players asked both for more factions to play and for more factions to meet.

The first, the Order of Zelevas, grew from one question: can a faction share the DNA of another without being “the Kin with 20% more attack”? The answer lies in the gauge. The Kin raise it with fortifications, the Order raises it with territory. Same mechanic, inverted behavior: you must conquer instead of fortify. Soldiers are bought with Dust rather than Industry, and the top level removes the city cap.

The Severed Claws apply the same logic to the Necrophage. Cut off from their queen, they have no larvae and enslave minor factions. Destroying a village gives them a unit of that faction, and rebuilding a pacified village gives them population. Their game therefore depends on the minor factions drawn at random on each map. The designer explains that the two pillars of Necrophage identity were kept: a single city, and a reward for killing.

On the strategy side, the appeal is that these variants create choice without asking you to learn an entirely new game. A player who knows the Kin finds the same structure and changes mindset. The detail of both factions is in our Endless Legend 2 faction guide.

The console bet

In August, Amplitude announced Xbox Series and PS5 versions for September, and released a demo on PC and consoles in parallel. The demo numbers surprised the studio: PC turned out to be the least played platform, even if many PC players already owned the game in Early Access. Average playtime was a little over 2 hours on PC, about 1.5 hours on PlayStation and 4.5 hours on Xbox.

That data says console players are not just passing through. It says nothing about port quality. On the interface side, gamepad support arrived with the “Stand United” update, alongside Steam Deck certification, and the October patches keep working on gamepad navigation. Update #43, for instance, adds navigation on the minor faction protectorate cards in the gamepad interface, on Steam Deck and consoles.

What the studio has not published, however, is a comparative review of the versions. Console promises are therefore better read as announcements to verify, not as established facts.

Steam reception and price

At release, Steam rated the game Very Positive, with more than 1,500 English reviews and 88% positive among the latest 206. As of October 26, the Steam page still shows Very Positive, with about 82% positive across more than 2,300 English reviews, and 81% across the 578 reviews of the last 30 days. Reception stays good, but the recent score has dropped a few points since launch. The patches detailed below offer a lead, without proving it.

On price, the game costs 49.99 at base price. It had a 50% discount at launch, then another 50% discount during the Hooded Horse Autumn Publisher Sale announced on October 2. Amplitude presented the first as a celebration of the release. For anyone on the fence, these promotion windows are the most favorable moment, as long as you accept a game still being fixed.

Six weeks of patches: what the launch says about itself

Between September 18 and October 22, Amplitude published eleven numbered updates, from #37 to #47, and five quick hotfixes, from Hotfix #21 to #25. The version went from 1.0.116 the day after release to 1.0.218 on October 22. That pace is a responsive studio’s, but it also shows that the release shipped with real problems.

Several examples are telling. On September 23, Update #39 fixed a bug where armies drowned against the Aspects, which the studio itself described as making the faction unplayable. In early October, Update #44 removed the Severed Claws’ ability to consume for Corpses, because they were “still feeling a bit Necrophage in their heart”. It also fixed a flaw that kept Sand tiles from giving their bonuses to the Sandshapers.

Saves were the most delicate point. Hotfix #23 resolved games that could not load after the minor faction and Lord’s Estate fixes. Update #46 fixed further loading problems, while acknowledging that some older saves were permanently corrupted and apologizing for it. Hotfix #25 then fixed a freeze reported the day before.

Editorial reading: these patches do not disqualify the 1.0. They remind us that a “full release” label does not mean total stability. The point to watch is save continuity from one version to the next: a 4X is played over long sessions, and a lost save costs more than a visual bug.

What to watch

For PC players, the balance of the Sandshapers and the Severed Claws, the newest in the roster, remains the main unknown. Recent patches still touch their core mechanics, which suggests tuning is not finished. For console players, feedback on gamepad comfort, especially in heavy management during mid and late game, will be the real test.

The studio also promised an official roadmap, without a date. It said it wants to observe first reactions before adapting future content. One technical point deserves attention from modding fans: the 1.0 changelog flagged that the toolkit to upload mods was still missing from the game files.

If you hesitate, the decision comes down to three criteria. You like asymmetric factions and accept a game still being tuned: the 1.0 is worth it. You want a stable, polished 4X: wait a few more weeks of patches. You are looking for an entry point: take the Kin of Sheredyn and leave the Sandshapers for later.

Going further

Endless Legend 2: faction guide since 1.0, the detail of the eight factions and the player profile for each.
All our Endless Legend 2 articles, the game’s hub.

Endless Legend 2: Which of the Eight Playable Factions to Pick Since 1.0

Mon, 07 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Since September 17, 2026, Endless Legend 2 has been out of the Early Access that opened a year earlier. The roster now holds eight playable factions: six major factions and two Rogue Factions. In practice, the opening choice weighs heavily, because each faction changes how you feed your people, how you expand and how you fight.

This guide describes each faction from Amplitude Studios’ official presentations and the patch notes published up to Update #47 on October 20. It does not rank factions by power. It pairs each one with a player profile, so you know which to launch first and which to keep for later. The studio also announced Xbox Series and PS5 versions for September, and the October patches already mention the gamepad interface on consoles.

Eight factions, but not eight easy ways in

Saiadha changes with the Tidefalls, the tides that push the oceans back and uncover new land. Each faction reacts to that rhythm in its own way. Some look for safety, others lean on currency, science, coral or sand.

On the selection screen the six major factions sit side by side: Kin of Sheredyn, Last Lords, Necrophage, Aspects, Tahuks and Sandshapers. A seventh slot lets you create a custom faction. Only the Sandshapers carry the Expert label. What matters here is the signal: the studio itself warns that this faction is hard to approach.

The statistics the studio shared in August give a useful hint: the Kin of Sheredyn and the Last Lords are the two favorite factions among players. The Kin are even the most played faction of Early Access, according to the retrospective published in early September.

Kin of Sheredyn: fortify first, then radiate

The Kin of Sheredyn are the game’s defensive builders. Amplitude describes them as an excellent faction for exploring Endless Legend 2, because they engage every system, from industry to war, without asking you to master an exotic mechanic. They develop their territory through strong production and protect it with tough fortifications and a disciplined army.

Their faction affinity rests on a gauge, the Strength of Our Zeal. It rises with the fortification level of their cities. At certain thresholds it unlocks passive bonuses on Keeps and Holy Commandments, active abilities usable inside your own territory: fully healing an army, or granting it an extra action in the same turn. The Chosen, mech suits worn by elite soldiers, act as a beacon to use these Commandments beyond the borders. Their number is deliberately limited.

In battle, the Stand United affinity gives each unit a shield for every adjacent ally. The textbook tactic is hammer and anvil: Legionaries and Chosen hold the line, archers and cavalry deliver the blow. The Kin were also reworked in spring to offer several paths of play rather than just one. For players who want a safe first game, this is the faction that pays off fastest.

Who is it for? The player discovering the game, who likes to build at their own pace and prefers a solid defense to an expansion race.

Last Lords: Dust instead of food

The Last Lords are spirits of Dust trapped in armor. They have no use for food: no tile shows it to them, they build no farms or food improvements, and their citizens produce Dust. Their population does not grow on its own. You have to create it by paying.

Amplitude files them among the economic factions. The game director sums them up this way: powerful when rich, limited when poor. A new city can fill up instantly if the Dust reserve keeps pace, and armies can be bought out and healed without delay as long as the war chest is full.

Minor factions play a central role. On a village, the Lord’s Estate lets the minor population keep living and growing while paying you a small Dust tax. The Soul Repository drains the village to give birth to a Primordial Last Lord, a population that improves the yields of ordinary Last Lords. The Last Lords can also sacrifice the population of other factions to create their own.

On the military side, their Gifts of the Fallen affinity heals neighboring units whenever a unit falls, and many of their units leech life from their opponents to regenerate.

Target profile: the player who enjoys optimizing an empire, counting every resource and fighting only when necessary.

Tahuks: science as a lever of faith

The Tahuks are the game’s science faction, but Amplitude wanted more than a faction that simply researches faster. Their identity blends science and theocracy: fervent engineers whose every great power also carries a drawback.

Their armies build Observatories on mountains to produce Science. An Observatory can later become a Library, which improves Approval, or a defensive Sacred Flame. Each Tahuk empire can build a single Holy Oculum, in one of its cities. Once finished, it unlocks the Holy Oculum Actions, active abilities you charge by diverting part of your Science output. Their effects range from yield bonuses on Observatories to turning an entire region into glass.

The strength of some actions depends on which side you favor in the Assembly during the main quest. The Tahuks also manage the Called, a particular population you either keep in your cities or send to other empires as Missionaries. On the battlefield they field more ranged units than other factions, which makes them effective as long as nobody traps them in melee.

Pick them if you like tech trees, multi-resource systems and active powers to plan around.

Necrophage: one queen, one city, one swarm

The Necrophage are one of the most aggressive factions in the game. Their whole economy sits in a single city, the capital, fed by armies that devour their enemies and the land itself. According to the studio, peace is never an option against them.

Instead of founding camps, they attach faraway territories to the capital through Burrows and Hives, placed anywhere on the map. These tunnels also move armies from one point to another. The Corpses harvested by killing enemies or razing cities evolve larvae into stronger forms and can also create population when you have a surplus. Every victorious battle spawns a larva nearby, and the Devour the Land action strips a tile of all its resources and sends them to the hive.

Their basic unit is deliberately the weakest in the game. The trick is to give it terrain to devour, or meat and strategic resources to make it evolve. The Necrophage can neither parley with nor bribe minor factions, but they declare justified wars for free and suffer less war weariness.

The typical profile: the player who likes constant pressure, large armies and a rhythm built around the next target.

Aspects: coral, treaties and soft power

The Aspects are Endless Legend 2’s diplomatic faction. The designers wanted to move away from the classic pacifist and aim for a deal with the devil instead: the Aspects manipulate others for their own supposed good. They suit players who would rather tend their economy than fight, while still being able to go to war when needed.

They do not found camps. They place Coral Spores, which can become cities but first serve as growth nodes for the coral. Tiles covered in coral give Dust to any empire that exploits them, and benefits to the Aspects: faster movement, faster healing, crossing water tiles and permanent vision around the coral. The more coral an opponent exploits on their land, the easier it is to force a treaty or a truce on them.

To stop others from clearing all the coral, the Aspects offer special treaties that extend their advantages to the other empire. Another design quirk: the coral is a resource shared by every Aspects empire in the game. The faction therefore plays differently depending on whether a second Aspects empire is present. In combat, the Harmonious Tactics affinity gives allies a damage bonus when an Aspects unit defends rather than attacks.

Ideal for: the player who likes relations between empires, agreements and a slow but hard-to-stop expansion.

Sandshapers: reshape the world before you can eat in it

The Sandshapers are the sixth major faction, arriving with 1.0. They are the oldest civilization of Saiadha and want to return the planet to its deserts. Their starting rule is harsh: they only harvest food from Sand tiles, and those tiles do not exist naturally. They also get no yields from tiles next to a river or a lake, and can neither cross a river nor build a bridge.

Their answer is terraforming, and this is where the game gets demanding. Nearly every territory hides a Ruin that only the Sandshapers can see. You raise it, then restore it to unlock Wishes. One of them, the Wish of Awakening, turns the tiles around the Ruin into food-producing Sand that only the Sandshapers can exploit. Extractors on strategic and luxury resources also give them food, and the studio advises weighing the nearby Ruin when choosing where to place a camp.

The real risk is water. In practice it remains a trap. Even after a Wish of Awakening, a neighboring lake or river removes the yield of Sand tiles. A dam, often ignored with other factions, becomes a major tool here: it makes a river passable and gives riverside tiles their yields back. In battle, the Stone Stance affinity deals 8 damage to all adjacent enemies at the end of the turn, ignoring their defense, and several units teleport short distances.

Reserved for: the experienced player who enjoys hostile starts and mechanics that reshape the map. Amplitude designs them for survivor types, and the Expert label in the menu confirms it.

The two Rogue Factions: variants that change the loop

Rogue Factions are fully playable variants of the major factions that broke away from their parent. They share the base affinity but bring other traits, their own battle affinity, a distinct leader, a different look and a short faction quest. They are included for free with the base game.

The Order of Zelevas comes from the Kin of Sheredyn, under Imperator Vecc. Instead of raising the gauge through fortifications, it raises it by expanding its territory, and the highest level removes the city cap. Every soldier is bought with Dust, not Industry, and cavalry replaces tight formations. Building a Keep even grants a cavalry unit. It lacks its parent faction’s level 3 districts. One trap to know: an army wiped out without a Dust reserve is hard to replace.

The Severed Claws are a Necrophage hive cut off from its queen. Without larvae, they enslave minor factions: destroying a village spawns a unit of that faction in their capital, and rebuilding a pacified village adds population. Their natural growth is slow, and they cannot even create a protectorate before Era 3. The studio describes them as the most unpredictable faction, because their strength depends on the minor factions met during the game.

Target audience: players who already know the parent faction: the Order of Zelevas for those who like the Kin but want to conquer, the Severed Claws for those who like the Necrophage spirit with an adaptation challenge.

Which faction for which profile

You are starting out: Kin of Sheredyn, the faction the studio recommends and the community plays most.
You like numbers and optimization: Last Lords, provided you watch the Dust reserve every turn.
You want to plan active powers: Tahuks, with the Holy Oculum as the pivot.
You want to attack early: Necrophage, or the Order of Zelevas if you prefer a conquest backed by currency.
You prefer to negotiate: Aspects, with coral as leverage.
You want a challenge: Sandshapers, or the Severed Claws for a game that depends on the luck of the minor factions.

What the October patches have already adjusted

1.0 did not freeze the factions. On September 23, a patch fixed a bug where armies drowned against the Aspects. In early October, Update #44 fixed Sand tiles that were not giving their bonuses to the Sandshapers. It also removed the Severed Claws’ ability to consume for Corpses, judged too close to the Necrophage. Update #45 fixed a case where the Tahuks’ Called population went to the Necrophage. Update #47 of October 20, version 1.0.203, removed the food yield when placing a camp for the Sandshapers.

Read the descriptions above as a snapshot at October 26: the core mechanics remain those of the official presentations, but the numbers can still move. Amplitude said it wants to share a roadmap later, after watching the first feedback.

Going further

All our Endless Legend 2 articles: the game’s hub.
Endless Legend 2 at 1.0: the Sandshapers and the Tidefalls, the launch analysis.

Endless Legend 2: 1.0 Arrives September 17 With the Sandshapers on PC, PS5 and Xbox

Mon, 10 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Amplitude Studios and Hooded Horse announced on August 4, 2026 that ENDLESS Legend 2 will leave Early Access on September 17, 2026. Version 1.0 arrives on PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series, with a sixth major faction, the Sandshapers, two Rogue Factions and a new minor faction. The central question is how these additions fit a game where the water recedes with every Tidefall.

Update, October 26, 2026: version 1.0 came out on September 17 as planned, with the Sandshapers, the Order of Zelevas, the Severed Claw and the Mangrove of Harmony, and the game has since received several patches. See the release announcement on Steam.

The Sandshapers, sixth major faction

According to Amplitude’s announcement, the Sandshapers are the oldest civilization on Saiadha. They remember a world before the oceans, and their sacred duty is to terraform the planet back into a desert. Like other major factions, they bring a faction quest, units, heroes, technologies and traits, also available in the custom faction creator.

Two Rogue Factions and one minor faction

Version 1.0 introduces Rogue Factions, variants of existing factions. These splinter groups share a lot with their parent faction, but each has its own quest, story and playstyle. The first two are the Order of Zelevas, a conquest-focused variant of the Kin of Sheredyn, and the Severed Claw, a Necrophage variant that can only replace its losses by enslaving other factions. With the Sandshapers, that makes eight playable factions at launch.

The Mangrove of Harmony is a starfish-like minor faction designed with the community. It brings its own hero, quest, new villages, recruitable units, a new population and two hero skills.

PC, PS5 and Xbox Series

The September 17 date applies to PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series, according to Amplitude’s community post. On PC the game is sold on Steam, the Epic Games Store and the Microsoft Store, at €49.99 in Early Access. Two physical PS5 editions are announced with Strictly Limited, timing to be confirmed.

Consoles are a first for the Endless Legend series: the original game only came out on PC, according to the Amplitude Store listing. Amplitude has already shipped other games on console, such as Endless Dungeon.

What to watch

Balance is the real test: a faction that turns land into sand runs against the game’s central mechanic, and the risk is that it hampers other factions instead of opening new ways to play. The quality of the PS5 and Xbox Series versions remains to be checked at launch.

For anyone already playing, July’s Retold Tales update reworked the quests of two factions ahead of this 1.0.

Going further

Our Endless Legend 2 hub: every article on the game.
Endless Legend 2 faction guide for 1.0: the playable factions.
Endless Legend 2 1.0 launch analysis: the review after release.

Endless Legend 2: Retold Tales Rebuilds the Quest Window and Two Faction Quests

Fri, 31 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Update #29 of ENDLESS Legend 2, Retold Tales, went live on July 1, 2026, while the game was still in Early Access. It replaces the quest window, rewrites the main quests of the Kin of Sheredyn and the Necrophage, and adds new artwork. The point is simple: a complaint raised in the first weeks, a story that took too many clicks, finally gets a concrete answer.

Update, October 26, 2026: ENDLESS Legend 2 reached version 1.0 on September 17, 2026, with the Sandshapers, two Rogue Factions (Order of Zelevas and Severed Claw) and the Mangrove of Harmony. See the launch announcement on Steam.

A rebuilt quest window

Amplitude explains in the Update #29 notes that the community missed the narrative presentation of the first Endless Legend and found the old one too click-heavy. Quests now open in a larger window, with an opening text that sets the scene and a piece of art. Dialogue plays on its own, text speed is set in the options, and a left click shows the full line.

The rework was also a chance to add 2D art for major and minor factions. Minor factions that still lack their illustration share a temporary picture. The resource panel stays visible during events, which helps compare choices and rewards, according to the June state of the game.

The Kin of Sheredyn and Necrophage quests

The Kin of Sheredyn quest is the oldest in the game, and the faction has changed a lot since. Chapters 1 and 2 are swapped: you start with a cautious builder chapter, then move to exploration objectives. Nested choices create four branches from chapter 1, to vary playthroughs. Chapter 3 becomes an investigation rather than another rescue of Pryjza, and the tie to the United Empire from Endless Space 2 is made clearer.

The Necrophage quest is rewritten for tone. The designers want a hive driven by instinct, dangerous rather than merely strong. Some Necrophage see outsiders as prey, others as a source of knowledge about the world. Rarely triggered branches are cut, such as the one that asked you to ransack a hero haven, in favor of more compelling objectives.

Resources and roadmap

The resource window gains three heavily requested tools: automatic selling above the maximum stock, bulk buying and selling, and automatic booster renewal. Events also become less frequent, and lone wolf events only trigger after the hero reaches level 7.

The summer roadmap is the part to read carefully. According to Shacknews, it places faction world quests, minor faction improvements and quality-of-life tweaks in a July-August window. A new playable faction and more minor factions are planned for 2026, undated. Custom Factions and the Endless Monsoon are not part of it: they shipped on March 12, 2026 with Update #16.

What to watch

The July public branch, opened on July 16, already tests what comes next. It redoes the awakening quests for each major faction, partly disables simultaneous turns so the AI only moves its units after you end your turn, sharpens minor faction asymmetry and buffs the Necrophage, per the public branch announcement.

The risk is a two-speed story: only two of five faction quests are redone, and Amplitude says art is still to be finished for some minor factions. The 1.0 date had not been announced by the end of July.

Going further

Our Endless Legend 2 hub: every article on the game.
Endless Legend 2 1.0 release date and the Sandshapers: what came after the roadmap.
Endless Legend 2 faction guide for 1.0: the playable factions.

Humankind Complete Guide: 4X Civilization Alternative 2026

Thu, 02 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Watch the official trailer:

Introduction: Humankind’s Bold Bet on Civilization Building

When Amplitude Studios and SEGA launched Humankind in August 2021, they did so with a revolutionary premise: what if you didn’t have to pick a single civilization at the start and play it for the entire game? What if, instead, you could combine cultures across eras, building a truly unique civilization that evolved through history?

This single idea — the culture combination system — is what defines Humankind and separates it from its most obvious competitor, the Civilization series. After years of patches, DLC, and community feedback, Humankind in 2026 is a significantly improved game from its launch version. It’s not without flaws, but for strategy fans looking for a fresh take on the 4X formula, it offers something genuinely different.

This guide covers everything from optimal culture picks to advanced strategies, DLC recommendations, and how Humankind stacks up against Civilization VII in 2026. For broader context, see our best PC strategy games 2026 ranking.

The Culture System: Humankind’s Core Innovation

How Culture Selection Works

Humankind divides history into six eras: Neolithic, Ancient, Classical, Medieval, Early Modern, and Contemporary. In the Neolithic era, everyone starts as a generic nomadic tribe. From the Ancient era onward, each era presents you with approximately 10 cultures to choose from, each belonging to one of seven affinities.

When you pick a culture, you gain:

A Legacy Trait — a permanent passive bonus that stacks with all future culture choices.
An Emblematic Unit — a unique military unit for that era.
An Emblematic Quarter — a unique city district with special bonuses.
An Active Ability — tied to your culture’s affinity, usable once per era.

The crucial insight is that Legacy Traits stack permanently. By the Contemporary era, your civilization has accumulated six Legacy Traits — one from each era. This creates enormous build diversity and strategic depth.

The Seven Affinities

Each culture belongs to one of seven affinities that define its playstyle:

Affinity	Focus	Active Ability	Best For
Agrarian	Food & Population	Harvest food bonus	Tall play, population growth
Builder	Production & Wonders	Faster construction	Infrastructure, Wonder rushing
Aesthete	Culture & Influence	Culture bomb	Cultural dominance, border expansion
Merchant	Gold & Trade	Trade bonus	Economic strategies, buying power
Militarist	Combat & Conquest	Combat strength bonus	War and domination
Scientist	Research & Technology	Research burst	Tech rushing, late-game advantage
Expansionist	Territory & Outposts	Cheap expansion	Wide play, many cities

Top Culture Combinations

Here are some proven culture paths that synergize well:

The Science Steamroller: Babylonians (Ancient) → Mayans (Classical) → Joseon (Medieval) → French (Early Modern) → Japanese (Contemporary)

This build stacks science bonuses across eras, ensuring you always have access to advanced technologies before opponents. By the Early Modern era, you should be an entire age ahead in tech.

The Military Juggernaut: Mycenaeans (Ancient) → Romans (Classical) → Mongols (Medieval) → Spanish (Early Modern) → Soviets (Contemporary)

This path provides exceptional military units and combat bonuses in every era. The Mongols in the Medieval era are particularly devastating — their cavalry can sweep across the map.

The Cultural Empire: Egyptians (Ancient) → Khmer (Classical) → Franks (Medieval) → Mughal (Early Modern) → Americans (Contemporary)

Stacking culture and builder bonuses lets you generate influence at an incredible rate, spreading your civilization’s borders and absorbing rivals through cultural dominance.

The Economic Powerhouse: Phoenicians (Ancient) → Carthaginians (Classical) → Ghana (Medieval) → Dutch (Early Modern) → Japanese (Contemporary)

Gold-focused cultures accumulate wealth that can be converted into military units, bought buildings, and diplomatic leverage. Money makes everything easier in Humankind.

The Six Eras: Detailed Strategies

Neolithic Era: The Foundation

The Neolithic era is unique — you don’t have a city, just a nomadic tribe. Your goal is to explore, hunt animals, and collect curiosities (which provide science and influence) while growing your population.

Key Principles:

Explore aggressively. Curiosities provide valuable science stars early.
Hunt animals for food. Each food star earns you another population unit that converts to citizens when you settle.
Don’t rush to advance. Staying in the Neolithic an extra few turns to accumulate 6-7 population gives a massive start. However, don’t wait too long — other players picking cultures first get priority choice.
Find a good settling location. Scout for a tile with river access, food resources, and strategic resources nearby.

Ancient Era: Setting the Direction

The Ancient era establishes your civilization’s identity. Your first culture choice matters enormously because it shapes the next 50+ turns.

Top Ancient Cultures:

Egyptians (Builder): The Pyramids emblematic quarter provides massive production bonuses. Combined with the builder affinity’s faster construction, you can rush early Wonders like the Stonehenge or the Pyramids of Giza. Excellent for players who want to build tall.
Harappans (Agrarian): The Canal Network provides food bonuses that accelerate population growth. More population means more citizens working tiles, which accelerates everything else. The strongest “generalist” Ancient pick.
Mycenaeans (Militarist): If you want to conquer early, Mycenaeans provide combat bonuses and the powerful Promachoi unique unit. An early military rush can eliminate or cripple a neighbor before they get established.
Zhou (Aesthete): Generate massive culture early, unlocking civics and border expansion faster than anyone else. Culture is underrated in the early game — it translates to real strategic advantages.

Classical Era: Expansion and Conflict

The Classical era is when empires begin to clash. You should have 2-4 cities by now and be encountering other civilizations regularly.

Key Considerations:

Military readiness is essential. Even if you’re playing peacefully, AI civilizations become aggressive in the Classical era. Maintain a defensive army.
Attach outposts to cities. Each outpost attached to a city extends that city’s territory and resource access. Prioritize attaching outposts with luxury or strategic resources.
Build districts aggressively. Makers Quarters, Farmers Quarters, and your emblematic quarter should be the priority. Production snowballs — the more you have, the faster you can build everything else.

Medieval Era: The Power Spike

The Medieval era is where certain culture picks become game-defining. The Mongols are the most notorious — their cavalry hordes can sweep across the map and conquer multiple cities in a single era. Even if you’re not picking Mongols, you need to be prepared to defend against someone who does.

For non-military players, the Medieval era is about consolidating. Build Wonders, develop infrastructure, and research key technologies that unlock advanced buildings and military units.

Early Modern Era: The Global Stage

By the Early Modern era, the map is fully explored and all civilizations are in contact. Diplomacy, trade, and religion become increasingly important. This is also when gunpowder units arrive, fundamentally changing military dynamics.

Key Early Modern Cultures:

Ottomans (Militarist): Powerful gunpowder units that dominate the battlefield.
French (Aesthete): Massive culture generation that can flip enemy cities through influence.
Dutch (Merchant): Economic bonuses that fund everything else. The Dutch East India Company emblematic quarter is exceptional.

Contemporary Era: The Final Push

The Contemporary era is a sprint to the finish. Every remaining Fame star matters, and the culture you choose should complement your existing strengths to maximize final-turn scoring.

Endgame Tips:

Focus on completing as many era stars as possible in every category.
Build remaining Wonders — they provide significant Fame.
Transcending (staying in your current era’s culture) can be worth it if you’re close to completing additional stars.
Nuclear weapons become available — they’re devastating but cost enormous production and Fame penalties.

City Building and District Placement

District Types and Placement Rules

Humankind’s city-building revolves around districts, which are placed on specific tiles around your city center. Each district type benefits from different adjacency bonuses:

District Type	Primary Yield	Adjacency Bonus
Farmers Quarter	Food	Adjacent to rivers, other Farmers Quarters
Makers Quarter	Production	Adjacent to mountains, other Makers Quarters
Market Quarter	Gold	Adjacent to other Market Quarters, harbors
Research Quarter	Science	Adjacent to mountains, other Research Quarters
Emblematic Quarter	Varies by culture	Usually benefits from specific adjacency
Commons Quarter	Stability	Reduces city instability
Garrison	Defense	Military bonus, city defense
Harbor	Naval + Gold	Coastal tiles, enables naval units

Placement Tips:

Cluster districts of the same type for adjacency bonuses. A row of three Makers Quarters benefits from each other’s proximity.
Place emblematic quarters thoughtfully. They often have unique adjacency requirements detailed in their description.
Don’t forget Commons Quarters. City instability grows with size. An unstable city suffers significant penalties. Build Commons Quarters proactively.
Plan ahead. District placement is permanent. Think about where future districts will go when placing current ones.

Wonders

Wonders are special buildings that provide powerful bonuses and significant Fame. Each Wonder can only be built once globally — if another civilization completes it first, you lose your investment.

Tips for Wonder building:

Commit fully or don’t start. Partial Wonder construction that gets sniped wastes enormous production.
Builder cultures have an inherent advantage in Wonder races. If you’re not playing a Builder culture, only contest Wonders you’re confident you can finish first.
Prioritize Wonders that match your strategy. A science-focused civilization should rush the Library of Alexandria, not the Colosseum.

Combat and Military Strategy

Army Composition

Military units in Humankind are organized into armies on the overworld map. When armies clash, combat occurs on a tactical battle map where you command individual units.

Balanced Army Composition:

2-3 melee infantry (frontline)
1-2 ranged units (damage dealers)
1 cavalry (flanking and pursuit)
1 siege unit (for city assaults, when needed)

Tactical Combat Tips

Use terrain. Units on hills gain defensive bonuses. Forests provide cover from ranged attacks. Rivers slow movement.
Flank with cavalry. Melee units attacking from behind deal bonus damage. Cavalry are fast enough to reach rear positions.
Protect your ranged units. Place infantry in front of archers and crossbowmen. Ranged units are fragile but deal excellent damage from safety.
Use auto-resolve wisely. For overwhelming advantages, auto-resolve saves time. For close battles, manual control can turn the tide.
Emblematic units are powerful. They’re stronger than generic units of their era. Build and use them aggressively before advancing to the next era makes them obsolete.

Diplomacy and Religion

The Diplomatic System

Humankind’s diplomacy was significantly improved by the Together We Rule DLC, which added the Congress of Humankind (a United Nations-like body), espionage, and more diplomatic actions.

Key diplomatic features:

War justification: You need a grievance against another civilization to declare war without massive penalties. Grievances accumulate through border disputes, religious tensions, and broken promises.
Demands and treaties: You can demand resources, territory, or vassalization from weaker civilizations. Treaties provide mutual bonuses.
The Congress of Humankind (DLC) allows civilizations to propose and vote on global resolutions that affect everyone.

Religion

Religion in Humankind works through tenets — religious bonuses chosen when your religion reaches certain follower thresholds. Religion spreads through influence and dedicated religious units.

A strong religion provides:

Stability bonuses for cities following your religion
Science, gold, or production bonuses from tenets
Diplomatic leverage — shared religion improves relations

Modding Scene

Humankind has a healthy modding community, supported by the mod.io integration built directly into the game and Steam Workshop support.

Recommended Mods (2026)

Humankind Community Patch: A comprehensive balance mod maintained by top community members. Adjusts AI behavior, unit balance, and pacing. Considered essential by many players.
Expanded Cultures: Adds entirely new cultures to each era pool, increasing the already substantial variety.
Better AI: Improves AI decision-making in combat, expansion, and diplomacy. Addresses one of the game’s most common criticisms.
Larger Maps: Enables map sizes beyond the default maximum, ideal for 8-player games.
UI Improvements: Quality-of-life changes including better tooltips, district placement helpers, and resource overlays.

Humankind vs. Civilization VII: The 2026 Verdict

This comparison is inevitable, so let’s address it directly.

Feature	Humankind	Civilization VII
Culture Flexibility	60+ cultures, mix per era	Fewer options, era-based transition
Combat	Tactical battle maps	Hex-based strategic
Multiplayer	Up to 8 players, async	Larger scale, better matchmaking
AI Quality	Improved but still inconsistent	Generally stronger
Modding	mod.io + Steam Workshop	Strong Workshop support
Price (2026)	Frequently on sale, excellent value	Full price
DLC Model	Culture packs + expansions	Season passes

The honest verdict: Civilization VII is the more polished, complete product with a larger community. However, Humankind’s culture combination system offers something Civ cannot — the ability to build a truly unique civilization every single game. At its frequent sale price, Humankind offers exceptional value for 4X fans who want variety and experimentation.

If you enjoy one, you’ll likely enjoy the other. They complement rather than compete.

Tips for New Players

Don’t rush through eras. Staying in an era to complete more stars earns additional Fame. Advancing too quickly means missing out on potential stars.
Build districts early and often. Infrastructure snowballs. The earlier you build production, the faster everything comes afterward.
Pay attention to stability. An unstable city can rebel and become an independent faction. Build Commons Quarters and religious buildings to maintain order.
Scout aggressively in every era. Map knowledge is always valuable. Know where resources, opponents, and natural wonders are.
Don’t neglect culture output. Culture unlocks civics, which provide powerful passive bonuses. A civilization that ignores culture falls behind in key policy areas.

Conclusion

Humankind is a game that dared to challenge the king of 4X strategy — and while it didn’t dethrone Civilization, it carved out a genuine identity through its innovative culture combination system. In 2026, with years of patches and DLC behind it, Humankind is the most polished and content-rich it has ever been.

For strategy fans who’ve played hundreds of hours of Civilization and want something that feels familiar yet fresh, Humankind delivers. The ability to combine 60+ cultures across six eras creates near-infinite replayability, and the tactical combat system adds depth that traditional Civ lacks.

For more 4X strategy, check out our Old World guide — another excellent Civilization alternative — and our comprehensive best PC strategy games 2026 ranking.

Your civilization awaits. What will it become?

Sources

Endless Legend 2 in 2026: the Tidefalls finally give the 4X a clock

Mon, 11 Aug 2025 00:00:00 GMT

In a 4X, the map is often decided before the first turn. Borders shift, cities grow, but the mountains, coasts and passes that dictated expansion stay in place. Endless Legend 2 adds a deadline to this geography: the oceans of Saiadha retreat during the game and reveal lands no one could exploit at the start.

The Tidefalls are not just a decorative effect. They can open a route between two empires, reveal resources or suddenly make contestable a border previously protected by water. It is the idea that best distinguishes this sequel, which entered early access on September 22, 2025.

A map that refuses to stay a solved problem

The start of a 4X game rewards exploration. You have to understand the terrain, identify resources and choose where to found the first cities. Once this reading is done, the map often becomes a set of optimized routes.

The Tidefalls challenge this certainty. After the monsoons, the falling waters reveal new portions of terrain. A perfectly settled empire can discover a passage toward a neighbor, a resource zone or a threat that did not exist in its initial plan.

This mechanic acts as a clock. It announces that a comfortable position is only temporary, without imposing an abstract countdown. The player can observe the environment and prepare their expansion, but they do not fully know the geopolitical consequences of the next retreat.

The potential gain is considerable: mid-game could keep part of the curiosity of the first turns. The risk is just as real. If the new lands systematically offer more value than the old ones, the right strategy simply becomes waiting then rushing toward the last open space.

Five factions launched early access

Amplitude opened early access with five factions: Kin of Sheredyn, Aspects, Last Lords, Tahuk and Necrophage. Each has its own perspective, mechanics and narrative. The studio also announced several victory paths and hundreds of quests and encounters on generated maps.

Asymmetry structures the Endless formula. A global change only makes sense if empires do not all respond to it the same way. A military faction must see a new strip of land as an invasion axis; an economic power can look for a resource chain there; a society tied to the ocean should read a loss as much as an opportunity.

The problem identified by Amplitude in 2026 matches precisely this expectation. Some world quests were too generic and repeated regardless of the chosen faction. The studio decided to rewrite them so that the same event is discovered and interpreted differently.

The July update works on the world’s personality

In the public test branch presented in July 2026, the shared awakening quest is replaced by faction-specific quests and dialogues. The event triggers after the second Tidefall and stays separate from the main quest or the victory conditions.

This editorial detail answers a design challenge. Saiadha does not look alive only because its water level changes. It becomes so when its inhabitants understand this upheaval differently.

Amplitude does not hide the still moving nature of the project. In April 2026, the studio indicated that seven months of feedback had led to regular changes, notably around public opinion, color readability and the personality of minor factions. Early access is therefore not a simple period of technical fixes: systems and texts are still being reworked.

For a buyer, this transparency has two consequences. The game already has its central idea and a playable volume. It does not yet offer the conceptual stability of a finished 4X.

Ten months of work have shifted the priorities

The September 2025 launch announced five factions, nine victory paths, quests, equippable heroes and tactical battles. Amplitude also planned a sixth faction, custom factions and several improvements during early access.

In February 2026, the studio was testing custom factions and a new presentation of districts. The Steady Tides update then reworked victory conditions, early-game economy, hero skills and militias. In April, the team was still observing reactions to the public opinion changes and preparing more distinct minor factions.

This timeline shows that development does not just add content at the end of a roadmap. It goes back over the systems that explain to the player why they win, how a city specializes and what personality a faction has.

For some players, this is precisely the interest of an early access: watching a 4X change from data and feedback from real games. For others, it is a source of fatigue. A strategy learned on one version can lose its value when technologies, victory conditions or skills are reorganized.

The July PTB continues this logic. By individualizing the awakening quests after the second Tidefall, Amplitude is not just adding text. The studio is trying to align the narrative with the mechanical asymmetry already promised by the five starting peoples.

Tactical battles remain in service of the empire

Endless Legend 2 keeps tactical combat on the strategic map. The terrain, unit abilities and heroes’ active powers influence the confrontation. The game also borrows from the RPG with equipment, skills and quests.

Amplitude insists however on a useful limit: it is neither an RPG nor a wargame. Heroes and battles serve the construction of the empire. A tactical victory must open a position, protect a city or exploit the revealed terrain, not replace diplomacy, research and economy.

This hierarchy avoids judging the game on a promise it does not make. The old article described an exhilarating multiplayer and a one-week demo as if these elements defined the experience. The heart of the project lies elsewhere: making an empire react to a world whose shape changes.

Should you enter early access now?

The right moment depends on what you are looking for. A player interested in the development of a 4X can already observe how the Tidefalls, custom factions and quests evolve across versions. They must accept that balance, narrative and some systems keep moving.

Those who prefer learning a rule once, building stable strategies and playing through a definitively written campaign have good reasons to wait. The 2026 changes are not anecdotal: they touch how factions express their identity and how the player understands victories.

Endless Legend 2 nevertheless has a more precise direction than the old text suggested. Saiadha is not just an “alien world rich in history”. It is a map that reveals itself late and forces empires to renegotiate their certainties.

The game’s success will depend on each faction’s ability to turn this same phenomenon into a different problem. If Amplitude achieves that, the Tidefalls will not be a spectacular animation. They will become the clock the 4X was waiting for to wake up its mid-game.

The same caution applies to the roadmap itself. Amplitude publishes regular state-of-the-game posts, and each one reshuffles the priorities between factions, quests and balance. Following them is part of the early access experience: the game you test in January is not the game you will review in December.

Another article presents the Last Lords faction. It details the return of these ghostly vampires and their place in Saiadha.

Amplitude Studios — After Strategy

Endless Legend 2 at 1.0: Eight Factions, the Sandshapers and Six Weeks of Patches

What 1.0 really adds

The Sandshapers: a faction built against the terrain

The Rogue Factions, the most interesting idea of 1.0

The console bet

Steam reception and price

Six weeks of patches: what the launch says about itself

What to watch

Going further

Endless Legend 2: Which of the Eight Playable Factions to Pick Since 1.0

Eight factions, but not eight easy ways in

Kin of Sheredyn: fortify first, then radiate

Last Lords: Dust instead of food

Tahuks: science as a lever of faith

Necrophage: one queen, one city, one swarm

Aspects: coral, treaties and soft power

Sandshapers: reshape the world before you can eat in it

The two Rogue Factions: variants that change the loop

Which faction for which profile

What the October patches have already adjusted

Going further

Endless Legend 2: 1.0 Arrives September 17 With the Sandshapers on PC, PS5 and Xbox

The Sandshapers, sixth major faction

Two Rogue Factions and one minor faction

PC, PS5 and Xbox Series

What to watch

Going further

Endless Legend 2: Retold Tales Rebuilds the Quest Window and Two Faction Quests

A rebuilt quest window

The Kin of Sheredyn and Necrophage quests

Resources and roadmap

What to watch

Going further

Humankind Complete Guide: 4X Civilization Alternative 2026

Introduction: Humankind’s Bold Bet on Civilization Building

The Culture System: Humankind’s Core Innovation

How Culture Selection Works

The Seven Affinities

Top Culture Combinations

The Six Eras: Detailed Strategies

Neolithic Era: The Foundation

Ancient Era: Setting the Direction

Classical Era: Expansion and Conflict

Medieval Era: The Power Spike

Early Modern Era: The Global Stage

Contemporary Era: The Final Push

City Building and District Placement

District Types and Placement Rules

Wonders

Combat and Military Strategy

Army Composition

Tactical Combat Tips

Diplomacy and Religion

The Diplomatic System

Religion

Modding Scene

Recommended Mods (2026)

Humankind vs. Civilization VII: The 2026 Verdict

Tips for New Players

Conclusion

Sources

Endless Legend 2 in 2026: the Tidefalls finally give the 4X a clock

A map that refuses to stay a solved problem

Five factions launched early access

The July update works on the world’s personality

Ten months of work have shifted the priorities

Tactical battles remain in service of the empire

Should you enter early access now?

See also

Sources