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A philosophy is an attribute given to players once they reach the Space stage. There are 10 archetypes in Spore, with 8 unique philosophies. The default of Wanderer is given if a species starts at Space without any prior traits. The remaining 9 can only be obtained through playing earlier phases, or completing a "change archetype" mission to change their philosophy to match one of an alien race, though it is impossible to become a Knight or Wanderer this way. This can also be changed through Cheats, though there are reasons a player may not want to go that route.
The archetype and its associated philosophy are given to the player's species depending upon the number of green, blue or red Trait cards their species gained as it evolved, which depends on the way your species behaves in each of the stages. The cards the player has obtained and their current trait for the current stage can be seen at any time using the history timeline of their species. Alien species in the Space Stage also have their own random archetypes.
Each archetype grants the player a unique special ability (except Wanderer), many of which are extremely powerful. As such, it is common for intermediate or veteran players to plan the first 4 stages according to what archetype they want (often in a specific order so as to attain their preferred Consequence Abilities). Your archetype also affects diplomatic relations—some alien empires may be friendlier or more aggressive towards you if you share the same philosophy.
The 10 archetypes[]
Each archetype provides a short analogy of the play style so far through the stages and a special ability that is unique to the archetype. Each archetype has an associated philosophy, of which there are 8. Wanderer and Diplomat follow the same philosophy, the Philosophy of Order, as do Warrior and Knight, who follow the Philosophy of Force.
Bard (Philosophy of Chance)[]
Bards receive the Soothing Song ability which, upon activation, boosts relations with the species that occupy the system temporarily. The ability sets the relationship to 0 (neutral) and lasts for 2 minutes.
The Bard philosophy can be reached by having 1 green card, 2 blue cards, and 1 red card. The recommended layout is Omnivore (more edible food in creature and tribal), Predator (50% more durable ships for you), Friendly (empires like you more), and Economic (more spice from your colonies).
Alternatively, if you only care about Space, Carnivore (Power Monger), Adaptable (Speed Demon) Friendly (Gracious Greeting) and finally, Economic (Spice Savant).
Diplomat (Philosophy of Order)[]
Diplomats receive the Static Cling ability which, upon activation, immobilizes all enemy ships and turrets on the planet. The ability lasts for two minutes.
The Diplomat philosophy can be reached by having blue and green cards, an equal number if starting from cell or tribe, or just two of one and one of the other from creature. The recommended layout is the same as the Bard layout, but with the Social card (reduces the chances of revolt, a minor convenience) instead of Predator to meet the requirements.
Ecologist (Philosophy of Life)[]
Ecologists receive the Safari Vacuum ability which, upon activation, instantly abducts 2 members of each species from the planet. This can be very useful for collecting herbivores/carnivores to stabilize the terrascore of a planet.
The Ecologist philosophy can be reached by having 2 green cards, 1 blue card, and 1 red card. The recommended layout is Omnivore (more edible food in creature and tribal), Predator (50% more durable ships for you), Friendly (empires like you more), and Religious (fewer Eco-disasters is always convenient).
Knight (Philosophy of Force)[]
Knights receive the Summon Mini-U ability which, upon activation, summons a miniature clone of your spaceship that acts as an allied spaceship. It also should be noted that Knight empires cannot be NPCs. Summon Mini-U also cannot be received from adventures. So it is best to start out as one and gather points for getting other super weapons.
The Knight philosophy can be reached by having 1 green card, 1 blue card and 2 red cards. The recommended layout for a knight is Carnivore (50% more energy for your ship), Predator (50% more durable ships for you), Friendly (empires like you more), and Economic (more spice from your colonies). Please note that sometimes it is in fact impossible to follow this route as it is not always so that Economic cities will appear for you. In that case you must start the civilization stage over, and should not save in the civilization stage unless you're able to capture an Economic city (if you do save and are unable to get an Economic City, then you must start all over). A more reliable method is to loot tribes for Economic Vehicles at the start of the stage, and play passively until you can easily befriend the stronger nations for trading.
If a creature you made is a Knight, if you reach them with another one of your Empires, your Knight empire will appear as and function as a Warrior, because Knights are noble Warriors. Mods such as Platinum Spore are needed to have them appear as Knights for your other empires.
Scientist (Philosophy of Science)[]
Scientists receive the Gravitation Wave ability which, upon use, will destroy every city and tribe on a planet. Note that this breaches the galactic code and using it gives a negative relationship penalty of -30 for all empires within 10 parsecs.
The Scientist philosophy can be reached by having red and blue cards, an equal number if starting from cell or tribe, or just two of one and one of the other from creature. The recommended layout for them is Carnivore (50% more energy for your ship), Predator (50% more durable ships for you), Industrious (They start out with an Economic city, giving them a boost towards Economic), and Economic (more spice from your colonies).
Shaman (Philosophy of Harmony)[]
Shamans receive the Return Ticket ability, which upon activation teleports the player to their home system.
The Shaman philosophy can be reached by having 3 or 4 green cards. The remaining card can be of any color. You can also get one green card in a game that started in civilization stage. The recommended layout for the remaining card is to use it in Civilization stage as an Economic (more spice from your colonies, plus it pairs well with being a friendly creature). As an alternative for a final card, you may want prime specimen (Predator) for your ship, as more health could keep you active in a fight for a longer time before you need to use Return Ticket to escape.
Trader (Philosophy of Prosperity)[]
Traders receive the Cash Infusion ability that, upon use, will instantly fill the financial takeover meter for the solar system the planet is in.
The Trader philosophy can be reached by having 3 or 4 blue cards. The remaining card can be of any colour. The recommended layout for the remaining card is Friendly (green) in the Tribe stage (empires like you more, which fits well with traders liking other empires more on average, and is also a major boon to keeping empires in good relations).
Wanderer (Philosophy of Order)[]
The Wanderer philosophy cannot be reached by starting from previous stages and collecting cards. It is only given to races starting in the space stage. Wanderers originally received the Species Shuffler (which changed every creature and plant on the planet with another random one), but it was later removed.
Note: Wanderers belong to the Philosophy of Order, though Wanderers do not seem very orderly. Just like Knight empires, Wanderer empires cannot be NPCs.
Warrior (Philosophy of Force)[]
Warriors receive the Raider Rally ability which, upon use, opens a pirate portal on the planet.
The Warrior philosophy can be reached by having 3 or 4 red cards. The remaining card can be of any color. However, if you started in the Tribal Stage, 2 red cards are enough; the same goes for one red card if you started from the Civ Stage. The other card can be:
- A. Omnivore (more edible food in creature and tribal)
- B. Friendly (empires like you more)
- C. Economic (more spice from your colonies)
Zealot (Philosophy of Faith)[]
Zealots receive the Fanatical Frenzy ability which, upon use, converts the system to your empire. However, this ability breaches the Galactic Code to the tune of 100 demerits with all the nearby empires.
As with any other cooldown abilities, Fanatical Frenzy can be exploited by quitting and joining the world, which resets the cooldown.
The Zealot philosophy can be reached by having red and green cards, an equal number if starting from cell or tribe, or just two of one and one of the other from creature. The recommended layout is Carnivore (50% more energy for your ship), Predator (50% more durable ships for you), Friendly (empires like you more), and Religious (fewer Eco-disasters is always convenient).
Path to each archetype[]
There are 256 ways to obtain each archetype and its philosophy (1 for Wanderer, 12 for each of Bard, Ecologist and Knight, 31 for each of Shaman, Trader and Warrior, and 42 for each of the remaining Scientist, Zealot and Diplomat archetypes) depending on your species' behavior in each phase of its evolution.
The table below shows most of the paths to each archetype. The table is ordered by phases gone through. Visiting each archetype's page will display a smaller table showing only the paths for that archetype. It is possible to voluntarily skip individual stages, by using a creature in a save file which has not completed those stages.
Consequence abilities for Space Stage[]
| Colour of card earned | Cell stage consequence ability for Space stage | Creature stage consequence ability for Space stage | Tribal stage consequence ability for Space stage | Civilization stage consequence ability for Space stage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Green | Social Suave: Gives you an immediate 20% negotiation discount on all social tools | Pleasing Performance: Makes all of your colonies happy and reduces the likelihood of revolt. | Gracious Greeting: Boosts your initial relationship with alien races (+10) | Green Keeper: Decreases the rate of biodisasters on all of your colonies |
| Blue | Gentle Generalist: Gives you a 20% discount on all standard equipment | Speed Demon: Makes interstellar space travel faster (2/3 total flight time) | Colony Craze: Gives you a 20% discount on all colonization tool trades. | Spice Savant: Increases spice production from all your colonies |
| Red | Power Monger: Increases your spaceship's total energy (1.5x, see below) | Prime Specimen: Increases your spaceship's total health (1.5x) | Arms Dealer: This ability gives you a 20% discount on all combat tools | Pirate B Gone: Reduces the frequency of pirate raids |
Changing philosophies[]
In order to change your philosophy, you must do the following:
- Find an empire of the desired philosophy. You can find out an empire's philosophy by choosing "Diplomacy → Tell me about your race."
- Take a look at its Empire-tier Value, (the little yellow star with a number in it) if it is already 4 or 5 jump to the next step. If it is 1-3, ask the Empire to attack neighboring systems and assist them to ensure they succeed. In this way you can force an empire to expand, increasing their Empire-tier Value.
- Become their ally.
- Go into "Missions → "Teach me your ways".
- Do the associated philosophy quest.
- Return to receive your change in Philosophy, which also changes your archetype to the archetype of the empire you took the mission for. This gives you the Split Personality achievement
Cheating in archetypes[]
Archetype of pollinated species[]
Species that are pollinated into a game from the online Sporepedia do not bring with them the philosophy they were originally created with. For example, a species that collected only green and or blue trait cards during its progression may nonetheless, when added to a game as pollinated content, spawn in with the warrior or zealot archetype.
The Grox archetype[]
The Grox empire does not appear to follow any specific known archetype. They are uniquely more hostile than any alien race, including the facts that they have a permanent -70 reputation penalty and the fact that they will always attack you in their territory regardless of actual relations, unless you are formally allied. Fans have nick-named this Archetype "Groxology" or "Groxism”.
Videos[]
- Spore: Identifying Alien Races — A video on how to identify empire archetypes.
Spore How to become Archetypes
By LuminarNightblade
