BGS Guide
The Background Simulation, colloquially known as BGS, governs the ongoing status of the Elite Dangerous galaxy. From powerplay, to faction states, to system control, understanding how to manipulate BGS to our advantage will help us generate the missions we’re looking for, spawn the materials we wish to collect, and create a stronger environment to advance our gameplay.
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Please note: While the below guide is a great starting point, more in-depth guides are available. CMDR Purrfect wrote an incredible in-depth guide in 3310, which you can find here.
Stellar Screenshot by CMDR OfMiceAndClyde
What are the key aspects to BGS?
There are a few key dynamic components to BGS that we should keep in mind. Each populated system has one to seven factions, including one controlling faction that holds temporary ownership of the system. Each faction has a certain type of government that is permanent to the faction, and various states which change based on the system and faction’s health, economy, and influence.
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Faction Basics
What type of factions are there?
There are two axes for faction measurement. A faction can be a player minor faction (PMF), or just a regular faction. A player minor faction was introduced to the game at the request of a player group. (Note: As of Update 15, Frontier is no longer accepting requests for new PMFs.) Additionally, a faction can be a native faction or a non-native faction in a particular system. A native faction is one that was established in that system, and cannot be removed from the system. Typically, a native faction has the name of the system in the faction name (ie, Beatis Republic Party in the Beatis system). A non-native faction in a system was established elsewhere and expanded into that system; and, can be forcibly removed from that system and replaced with another non-native faction. The key to a successful expansion campaign is to replace non-native factions with the faction of choice.
What is the difference between reputation and influence?
Upon completion of a mission, CMDRs are often given mission reward options that list reputation and influence as rewards. Understanding the difference between these two is critical to managing a successful BGS campaign.
Reputation is a CMDR’s standing with a particular faction; that is to say, how the faction views that CMDR. A CMDR starts with a Neutral reputation with any faction; a decrease in reputation will lead that CMDR’s status with that faction to Unfriendly, and eventually Hostile; whereas an increase in reputation will lead the CMDR’s status to Cordial, then Friendly, then eventually Allied. A ship’s scanner will display neutral factions in orange, friendly and allied factions in green, and unfriendly and hostile factions in red.
Influence is a measurement of the faction’s control over the system. A faction can have different levels of influence in different systems. In order to be given the best missions offered by a faction, a CMDR should strive to have a high reputation with that faction, regardless of the faction’s influence.
What is the most important factor in BGS?
The most important factor affecting BGS between factions is faction influence. All factions in a system hold a different percentage of the influence over a system, to a total of 100%. Increasing one faction’s influence decreases other factions’ influence. The faction with the most influence is not necessarily the faction in control of the system (see System Control for details).
How is influence affected?
CMDRs can increase a faction’s influence by completing missions for that faction. If a faction controls a starport, outpost, or settlement, CMDRs can increase that faction’s influence by trading, turning in combat bonds, turning in bounty vouchers, and selling cartographic data at the starport, station, or settlement owned by that faction. To increase influence for a non-controlling faction, CMDRs can commit crimes in the system, or destroy the controlling faction’s ships or megaships. CMDRs can decrease a faction’s influence by destroying that faction’s NPC ships, regardless of whether the NPCs are wanted or clean. Abandoning, failing, or timing out missions does not produce a negative impact on a faction’s influence; it only decreases the CMDR’s reputation with that faction. (Note: more recent reports indicate that timing out a mission does decrease the influence of the faction that assigned the mission, but further testing is required to confirm this.)
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System Control
Who controls a system?
The system is controlled by the faction that has control of the “controlling station”. The controlling station is the starport closest to the system’s main star. If the system does not have a starport, the controlling station is the outpost closest to the main star. If the system does not have a starport or outpost, the controlling station is the large settlement closest to the main star. If the system does not have any of the above, the controlling station is the settlement closest to the main star. If the system has no stations and no settlements, the system has a population of zero and cannot be controlled by a faction.
How does a faction take control of a system they are present in?
The only way to make a faction take control of a system is through conflicts. Conflicts occur when two factions are at relatively the same amount of influence in the system and both factions hold at least 7.5% of the system's influence. A faction that holds less than 7.5% of the system's influence cannot engage in conflict. There are three kinds of conflict:
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Civil War is a conflict between two native factions. The outcome of the civil war is determined primarily by conflict zones.​​
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War is a conflict between a non-native faction and another faction, native or non-native. The outcome of war is determined primarily by conflict zones.
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Election is a conflict between two factions with the same government structure. Election is resolved through missions and trade, NOT combat. Combat has ZERO influence on election, unless CMDRs complete combat-related missions for one of the factions in election.
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War and Civil War are seven-day cycles. In order to win the conflict, one of the competing factions must win four out of the seven days of the conflict. When two factions are at conflict, the starports, outposts, and settlements they control in the system are up for grabs. If the loser of the conflict has control over any starports, outposts, or settlements in the system, the winner of the conflict will take control of one of these. Only one starport, outpost, or settlement can change hands in a conflict.
While two factions are in conflict, another faction can completely jump the conflicting factions in influence without triggering a conflict. This requires a substantial effort on the part of CMDRs supporting that faction.
Example: If factions A and B both hold 10% influence in a system, they will trigger a conflict. During that seven-day conflict, faction C can be increased from 5% influence to 15% influence without triggering a conflict with A and B. Thus, at the end of the conflict, both A and B will have less control over the system than C. If there are multiple conflicts occurring in a system simultaneously, a faction can jump several other factions in influence.
How does a faction take control of a system they are NOT present in?
In order for a faction to take control of another system, they must enter an Expansion state. Expansion is triggered when a faction reaches 75% influence over a system. When a faction achieves an expansion state, they become established as the lowest-influence faction in the nearest system within a 20 LY radius that does not have seven factions already present.
If a faction wants to expand to a system that already has seven present factions already, they must first ensure that there are no opportunities to expand to a system without a full faction presence already, lest the expansion state be used to expand to those systems. This can be manipulated by choosing which controlled system to trigger the faction’s expansion state.
Example: Say a faction is present in systems A and B, and wants to expand to system C, which already has seven factions present and is within 20 LY of both A and B. If system A is within 20 LY of a system that does not have seven factions present, and system B is not, the faction should trigger expansion in system B to have a higher chance of expanding into system C.
If a faction hits expansion and there are no systems to expand to without seven factions already present, the expansion state becomes an invasion state. In an invasion, the faction will become the eighth faction in the system within 20 LY of the invasion system that has the non-native faction of the lowest influence. As such, a faction's invasion can be planned by first retreating a non-native faction in a nearby system, ensuring that it has the lowest influence of all nearby non-native factions. When a faction invades a system as the eighth faction in the system, it immediately triggers a war with the non-native faction that holds the least influence in that system. The loser of the war will be expelled from the system, leaving seven factions remaining in the system.
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Other Faction Factors
Beyond influence, what other factors affect factions?
Factions have different forms of government, different levels of security, and various healths of their economy. All three of these play into how a faction functions, and what dynamics create larger and smaller effects on the faction, the missions it grants, and the overall system it is present in.
What is the effect of a faction’s government type?
A faction’s government determines what activities positively or negatively affect the faction’s influence. In addition, the government type determines how activities affect the contentment of the populations in systems under that faction’s control. Finally, the government influences the availability of various services at stations controlled by that faction. There are eleven active government types, and many of them have subtypes determined by the faction’s allegiance to a superpower. Descriptions of these governments and subtypes can be found in the following tables:
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Table of Government Types
Government Type | Description |
|---|---|
Communism | Communist governments believe in an equal society, although one controlled by a central group. The means to choose that central group are varied, and often contradict the altruistic aims of such a society. Generally such governments are totalitarian and centralized. |
Confederacy | Confederacy factions are sometimes considered forms of proto-democracy. Although instead of a centrally elected government their society is governed by smaller parties and interest groups working in concert. The votes of the individual are not a core concept for these societies, although can be found in some. |
Cooperative | Cooperative factions are similar to communist ones in that their core precept is equal stature of all members of society. Unlike communist factions, a cooperative's governance is not centralized, but organized through devolved parties and committees. All are expected to work equally for the betterment of their society, rather than that of the individual. |
Corporate | Corporate State governments extend the corporate structure throughout the society, with shareholding being the equivalent to citizenship. The principles will vary, but are generally set to ensure smooth operations for the corporations, often to the benefit of the attached population. |
Democracy | Democratic governments are chosen by the voting public. The government then sets the law. While the specifics often vary between democratic states, they are all unified by the concept of being accountable to their voters. |
Dictatorship | Dictatorships have an overall ruler, who will remain leader until they die, or are overthrown. Power in the society is controlled (often by extreme measures) by that single individual. Succession is often a tumultuous affair. All members of society owe their allegiance to that individual. |
Feudal | Feudal societies are based around a group of feudal leaders, each of which have absolute power within their region. They usually cooperate to appoint a single overall representative, but power rests with the feudal lords, rather than the appointed representative. |
Patronage | Factions and societies based upon Patronage have at their root a family structure, with a hierarchy extended beyond that. Loyalty and honor is generally at its centre, similar to that of the Empire. Some argue this provides a truer form of democracy. |
Prison Colony | Prison colony factions deal with the governance of prisoner inmate populations, usually on a large scale. While they are authoritarian and often controlled at the top end by a law enforcement element, they do sometimes contain a political element contributed by the prisoners. |
Theocracy | Theocratic factions are based upon the structures of their respective religions. The practical processes are different between the religions, but they all share the concept that their society exists in devotion to their religion and the deity or deities or beliefs at their centre. |
Government Type | Federation | Empire | Alliance | Independent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Anarchy | Rebel. A faction that engages in activity that quite often places them at odds with members of the Federation Law Enforcement agencies. | Rebel. An organization that is actively engaged in activity that goes against the Imperial status quo. Members openly defy Imperial law, although not all known associates are involved in criminal activity. | Rebel. An organization that is actively engaged in activity that goes against the Imperial status quo. Members openly defy Imperial law, although not all known associates are involved in criminal activity. | Unfettered. This group is known to have a disdain for any laws outside its own attempts to govern its members' behavior. |
Communism | N/A | N/A | Communist. A group that promotes the idea that all members are created equal, even though clearly some members are more equal than others. | Communist. A faction that believes that all assets should be communally owned, and that resources should be fairly divided among all members by judging each individual's true needs. |
Confederacy | Venturist. A faction that, in conjunction with a number of similarly aligned organizations, promotes their agenda by manipulating the application of capital being channeled into local business and social ventures. | N/A | Unionist. An organization that engages in activities designed to strengthen ties with other independent groups in order to increase the influence of the Alliance of Independent Systems. | Unionist. An organization that engages in activities designed to strengthen ties with other independent groups in order to increase the influence of the Alliance of Independent Systems. |
Cooperative | N/A | Cooperative. A faction which works to further the common goals of its members. They are considered unusual in Empire space, but are not unknown. | Cooperative. A faction which works to further the common goals of its members. They are considered unusual in Empire space, but are not unknown. | Cooperative. A faction which works to further the common goals of its members. They are considered unusual in Empire space, but are not unknown. |
Corporate | Corporation. A business orientated organization that has been incorporated as per the Federation Charter of Free Commerce. Members of this faction are representative of a corporate entity and are seen as such in the eyes of the law. | Corporation. An organization that has been granted the rights of an Imperial Corporation. They are likely to have business interests that extend beyond a single station or planet. | Corporation. An interstellar business organization that has been incorporated in accordance with the terms laid out by the Alliance of Independent Systems. | Corporation. An independent business organization that has been incorporated with its respective home government. |
Democracy | Political. Members of this group are actively engaged in the promotion of a democratically approved political agenda. | Reformist. As staunch believers in representative democracy, this faction often finds itself at odds with the more traditional Imperial factions. Despite frequent clashes with members of the old guard, this group continues to try and implement various systems for devolving social responsibility to duly appointed members of the community without going against the established status quo. | Democrat. A faction that is known for actively following the ideal that all members should be able to influence how their organization operates. | Democrat. A faction that is known for actively following the ideal that all members should be able to influence how their organization operates. |
Dictatorship | N/A | Dictator. A faction that has been granted absolute power over a specific area of influence by decree of the Imperial Senate. | Authoritarian. A faction that uses a top-down management style in order to maintain a tight hold over its assets. | Dictator. An organization that engages in authoritarian activities in order to establish and maintain absolute control over its chosen field of interest. |
Feudal | N/A | Neo-Feudalist. A faction that actively engages in activity to ensure that Imperial Corporations are ceded more control over the day to day running of Imperial Worlds. | Feudalist. A group that leverages land based assets and corporate investments to exert its control over the systems that fall within their reach. | Feudalist. A faction that has built up a significant sphere of influence in the sector through a series of investments and acquisitions. As such they are able to use their portfolio of assets as leverage against local leaders. |
Patronage | N/A | Feudalist. A faction that has built up a significant sphere of influence in the sector through a series of investments and acquisitions. As such they are able to use their portfolio of assets as leverage against local leaders. | Lobbyist. A group that is known for leveraging its economic resources in order to influence the actions of others. | Investor. A group that invests significant resources into Independent projects in order to incubate the growth of civilisation in the supposedly untamed areas of space. |
Prison Colony | N/A | Warden. An organization that has been commissioned to ensure that the Emperor's Justice is meted out at an officially sanctioned Imperial Penal Colony. | N/A | Watchmen. An organization that has been formed to maintain control over a specific independent penal colony. Often such groups have sponsors that are decidedly not independent in nature. |
Theocracy | Watchmen. An organization that has been formed to maintain control over a specific independent penal colony. Often such groups have sponsors that are decidedly not independent in nature. | N/A | Watchmen. An organization that has been formed to maintain control over a specific independent penal colony. Often such groups have sponsors that are decidedly not independent in nature. | Theocrat. An independent group that claims to be religious in nature. It is possible that this group may not be an officially sanctioned religion. |
Source: https://elite-dangerous.fandom.com/wiki/Government
Faction States
What are faction states?
A faction’s state is indicative of the current situation (read: state of affairs) a faction is experiencing. Factions experience both primary and secondary states. A faction will always have the three primary states, and can experience no secondary faction state, one secondary state, or multiple secondary states. Factions are always characterized by their three primary states (even if those states happen to be none).
What are the primary faction states?
Primary faction states are sliding-scale measurements of the faction’s happiness, security, and economy. All three metrics follow the scale very bad, bad, neutral, good, and very good. One can easily assign values to these metrics as {-2, -1, 0, 1, 2}, where 0 indicates the neutral state and 2 indicates the very good state.
Happiness
A faction’s happiness is a measure of the faction’s outlook. The five states {-2, -1, 0, 1, 2} are {Despondent, Unhappy, Discontented, Happy, Elated}. Any faction’s happiness is determined by the number of positive and negative secondary states it is experiencing.
Security
A faction’s security is a measure of the faction’s stability and capacity to protect its’ citizens and stations. It has four states, represented by {-2, -1, 0, 1}, which are {Lockdown, Civil Unrest, None, Civil Liberty}. Bounty hunting increases a faction’s security when destroying targets wanted by that particular faction, whereas selling prohibited commodities to black markets and destroying clean ships operated by that faction decrease its’ security.
Civil Liberty
Civil Liberty is a faction’s only positive security state. When a faction enters Civil Liberty,
the system’s security level is increased, either from Low to Medium, or from Medium to High. As a result, NPC criminal activity has a lower chance of occurance.
Civil Unrest
When a faction enters Civil Unrest, it lowers the security and standard of living for the system. As a result, all combat missions and actions for that minor faction have an increased effect. To drive a faction into Civil Unrest, sell prohibited commodities to a black market controlled by that faction. To counter a faction’s Civil Unrest, CMDRs should bounty hunt for targets wanted by that faction.
Lockdown
When a faction has low security and development, it runs the risk of entering Lockdown, which will immediately raise the system’s security at the expense of system wealth. While a faction is in a Lockdown state, bounty hunting for that faction has an increased effect. Additionally, if the faction in Lockdown is the controlling faction for the system, checkpoints are spawned. In order to trigger a lockdown, CMDRs should destroy system security forces.
Economy
A faction’s Economy state is a manifestation of the faction’s relative wealth and trade activity. A healthy Economy will increase Happiness, and vice versa. Additionally, the Economy state has reflective effects on starports, outposts, and stations the faction controls, and all systems where it has a presence. The Economy states {-2, -1, 0, 1, 2} are represented by {Famine, Burst, None, Boom, Investment}.
Famine
When a faction’s economy reaches its’ lowest-health state, it triggers a Famine, which is represented by a severe shortage of vital commodities. A famine can also be triggered if a faction maintains a Blight state for too long. While a faction is in famine, signal sources such as “Seeking Foods” and “Distribution Center” may appear near stations controlled by that faction. To reduce the duration of a Famine, bring food cartridges to these signal sources.
Bust
Bust is the first negative economic state. While Bust will decrease a faction’s happiness, it doesn’t necessarily trigger any events. It should be seen as an early predictor of an oncoming famine.
Boom
A mid-range positive state of economy, factions in Boom will provide better mission rewards. Additionally, the system as a whole will show increased wealth, positively influencing mission rewards for all factions. Factions in Boom also have increased influence rewards for completed missions. Generally speaking, a Boom state lasts three weeks, or until the accrued value is spent. To put a faction in Boom, generate consistent trade profits for the faction by selling goods at starports, settlements, and outposts owned by that faction, and by completing trade contracts for that faction.
Investment
Investment is a stronger version of Boom, and is the most positive economic state a faction can experience. When a faction is in Investment, expect high mission rewards and influence gains for completing missions.
What are secondary faction states?
While primary faction states are a constant measure of a faction’s overall health, secondary states are triggered by random-chance occurrences, or by a faction meeting certain conditions. A faction does not have a secondary state at all times.
Expansion
A faction enters Expansion when its’ influence hits 75%; increasing the faction’s development at the expense of faction wealth. Expansion must be triggered to allow a faction to expand to another system, as defined in How does a faction take control of a system they are not present in? When a faction expands to another system, missions will appear in that system to allow the faction to build their influence in the new system.
Retreat
When a faction enters retreat, it will withdraw completely from the system. This is triggered by maintaining influence levels lower than 2.5%. When a faction enters retreat, it loses wealth in other systems that it is present in.
Outbreak
Outbreak is triggered by low development level and standard of living, and is representative of a disease sweeping through the faction’s population. When an outbreak is triggered, the faction’s standard of living drops further. Combat missions no longer provide benefit to the faction, but medicine trade missions have increased benefit.
Elections
Elections occur when two factions with similar government types engage in conflict; triggered by the two factions having similar influence in a system. Elections is the only way two factions of a similar government structure can resolve conflict.
Civil War
Civil War is a conflict type triggered by two native factions reaching similar influence levels. Civil war cannot occur between factions with less than 7% influence. Civil war has a three-day cooldown, during which time the factions involved cannot engage in another Civil War. In fact, a Civil War will not be triggered if either faction is in a cooldown state. A faction can only engage in Civil War in one system at a time, and cannot engage with more than one other faction at any given time. The victor of a Civil War may earn control of starports/outposts/settlements as defined in How does a faction take control of a system they are present in?. During a Civil War, security level and standard of living decrease. Additionally, conflict zones appear. Combat missions and actions are the only factors affecting the outcome of a Civil War.
War
Almost identical to Civil War, but occurs when one or both of the factions involved are non-native.
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What are spontaneous faction states?
Spontaneous faction states occur seemingly at random, but have drastic effects on a faction's primary states (Happiness, Economy, Security). Depending on the state, they can be affected by missions and other BGS-related activities.
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Blight
Blight is a precursor to Famine, and will trigger shortages of food-related commodities. Delivering Agronomic Treatment to a station in Blight will counteract the oncoming Famine.
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Drought
Drought will negatively affect a faction's Economy state, and can be counteracted by delivering water and other relief supplies to affected systems.
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Infrastructure Failure
Infrastructure failure occurs randomly, and will be repaired naturally. However, CMDRs can speed up repairs by delivering food and machinery to affected systems. While active, Infrastructure Failure negatively affects a faction's Security and Economy states.
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Natural Disaster
Natural Disaster occurs randomly, and cannot be counteracted. It has a negative effect on Security and Economy states, and causes increased chance of Drought or Infrastructure Failure.
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Pirate Attack
Pirate Attack lowers a faction's security state and spawns "Pirate Activity Detected" signal sources. Interdictions will increase in the system, but killing pirates will grant larger-than-normal bounty vouchers.
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Public Holiday
When a faction enters Public Holiday, it will experience an influence boost at a small cost of Security and Economy states. Most notable is the monthly Public Holiday at Rackham's Peak, during which players often earn billions of credits transporting wine to the station.
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Terrorist Attack
Terrorist Attack can be countered by deliveries of legal weapons to a faction. It causes negative effects on a faction's Security and Economy states.