Teams

Teams allow to conduct various projects across the Empire. There are four types of teams: Xenology, Diplomatic, Espionage and Survey. Each team comprised of up to five leaders, from all areas of your officer corp - scientists, navy, ground and administration. Xenology is used when exploring and utilizing ancient alien ruins; diplomatic helps improve relations between you and another Empire; Espionage is used to increase your knowledge and understanding of another Empire and Survey is used to find more minerals, or increase the accessibility of minerals on a planet/asteroid/comet.

Mechanics

Teams assignments are accessible from the Teams/Academy tab located within the Population and Production window F2. When assigning teams only those leaders with the relevant bonus will appear in the list. Assigned 'Team rating' effects it performance in the field, and is equal to the sum of the appropriate bonuses of its members.

As teams go about their work, it is possible for individual members to drop out due to death or illness, so periodic checks are recommended. If anyone dies or retires, you can replace them either by disbanding the team and reassembling the squad, or assigning officers to a team via the Officer Corps window.

Teams can be transferred to their destination via ships. They do not require any cargo space and any ship can transfer them. When assigning leaders to Teams selecting a population location before creating the team, will cause the team to appear at that location. A time saver if you want to set up a geological survey at a prospective new mining colony. To move an existing team in this way, select it, disband and then create it again in the new site.

Types of Teams

Espionage

Espionage is used to increase your knowledge and understanding of another Empire. They gather information on enemy ship designs, missile designs, system maps, gravitational survey results and other important information. They can be killed in action when operating on an alien world.

Diplomacy

Diplomacy teams are led by Civilian Administrators, and help improve relations between you and another Empire; Diplomatic teams try to help your relations with other empires.(NPRs). Their location is not relevant to their assignment. Once created, they are activated in the Intelligence/Diplomacy window Ctrl + F5.

Xenology

Xenology teams used to explore and utilize ancient alein ruins discovered via geological surveys. It is necessary to transport the team to the site in question.

Geology

Geology survey teams will search all across a world that hasn't had a geological report built and search for more minerals. This is different from a geological survey done by a ship, geology teams will find minerals missed by the probe. The higher the team's skill, the more likely it is that they will find extra minerals and the less likely it is that they will give up after each find.

A good team can find hundreds of thousands of tons of minerals on a planet, which is a great boon to any empire. It is also possible for a team to improve the accessibility of minerals.

In order to survey the mineral resources of a system body, a geological team only has to be dropped on the said body. Dropping a geological team on a planet will automatically create a new colony if this planet was empty. Obviously, gas giants are not a valid destination.

The survey will take place automatically, you don't have to give specific orders to your team. Members of the team will gain a small amount of experience each time new deposits of minerals are discovered.

Once the survey is done, the Geological Team Survey Completed field (F2 screen, Summary tab) will be set to 'Yes'.