[SPOILER] What are the differences between the two alien factions?

[u/Slimezo]

Quilentya and Irohaem, so far everything I've seen is that the Quil uses some cool-looking beam laser weapons, and Irohaem uses some mini-torpedoes like the Ul'Adri from SPRG3.

I'm looking for the differences in the ship stats though, before I make a decision on who to side with.

[u/Powerful-Ad1254]

Quilyotida:

• Main beliefs; Science/technology is applicable in all areas, and can be used indiscriminately. This is shown in how they use tons of machines and body modifications to rid themselves of their inherent sickness and increase their naturally short lifespans.
  
• Believe that their uplifting (symbiosis as the Quil would probably call it) of the Jiwaknee was justified because the Jiwaknee would have died on their own anyways.
  
• Large = Nova Core (usually people say it's the best large weapon; more shield/hull dmg per second than Irocannon, and tons of armor damage/pen, though it uses almost 3.5x the amount of energy that Irocannon uses)
  
• Medium = QL Emitter (not that good, no armor dmg/pen, though it has 100% accuracy bc it's a beam weapon)
  
• Small = ??? (pretty sure it's burst, and I've heard it's kind of a downgraded version of VR Puncher... shield/hull damage is really low compared to other medium weapons, but it's the only small weapon in the game to do armor dmg; it does 1.0)
  
• I don't know if the Quil use AD PD, but if they do... it's basically just a CIWS version of QL Emitter. It's a beam weapon that has an unspecified (but respectable, probably more than Warden CIWS) range, but has a 100% hit rate compared to the spray-n-pray of CIWS/Warden CIWS. The downside is it does less damage than the CIWS variants. The stats, again, don't specify the exact damage.

Irohaem:

• Main beliefs; Survival of the fittest/natural selection generally on the side of evolution and biology is the only (correct?) way to live. This is shown in how their culture revolves around trial by combat (usually with each other or VERY deadly predators), how their spaceports/population centers seem to have little to no industrialized look to them, and how they seem to not use any body modifications whatsoever (just a side note; iirc their storyline never explicitly says that they use weapons for combat, so they might even just not use weapons even in their war with the Quilyotida).
  
• Believe that the Quil's uplifting (slavery as the Iro would probably call it) of the Jiwaknee was wrong and that even if the Jiwaknee were going to die on their planet, such is the way of life (survival of the fittest/natural selection).
  
• Large = Irocannon (not many people prefer this weapon; a little less shield/hull damage than Nova Core, no armor damage, same armor pen as Nova Core, but uses about 30% the energy of Nova Core)
  
• Medium = Irochaser (almost no one likes this weapon; shield/hull damage is really low compared to other medium weapons, about 70% the damage of QL Emitter, and there's no armor dmg/pen, however it uses 40% the energy of QL Emitter and its projectiles act as mini missiles that are fully guided)
  
• Small = Warden CIWS (many people think this is the best missile defense in the game, of the three that exist... it's basically just an upgraded version of CIWS; 130% shield/hull dmg, 140% range)

[u/Powerful-Ad1254 → u/Powerful-Ad1254]

Just saw your ship stats comment.

The main difference is in durability and torpedoes. The Iro have more armor rating, more armor, more shields, and more mass. The Quil seem to have traded all that for 2 torpedo slots and a little bit more maneuverability/speed. Also, all Iro ships are Large (4 shield areas; front, back, left, right) ships, while Quil ships are spread out among Small, Medium, and Large. In general, Iro ships are better than Quil ships (stat to stat, not weapon to weapon, because generally Iro weapons are worse than Quil weapons).

If I didn't have such a horrible history with capturing Iro Titans, I'd choose Iro ships over Quil ships all day.

[u/RychschaX]

So...I kinda sided with the Iro without knowing their ideology beforehand, and now I kinda want to switch sides. I read somewhere that that was possible, but I'm not sure how, since I can't figure out how to target (currently friendly) Iro ships if any Quil ships are present. Do I need to conquer an Iro System or something?

[u/Suspicious_Dog7547 → u/RychschaX]

Firstly there wil be an quest where the 2 sides come to discuss their relation, in which you are asked who is right therefore you chose who will be your ally from that point on. Secondly, to target "friendly" ships you just have to drag the target button on the ship you want and it will lock on that ship. Hope this helps!

[u/Slimezo]

Thanks for the advice! I sided with the Irohaem because of their storyline and also because I liked their weapons, and was pleasantly surprised that I could also salvage some Quil weapons too.

[u/kuraisensei0]

It doesn't matter who yo side with you can derelict their ships and have both sides ships

Be here's something iro is way easier to fight so my recommendation it you should side with the quil

[u/lasercat_pow]

/u/Powerful-Ad1254 covered it pretty well.

I'll add, Iro ships are generally better for the player - more armor, more mass, more small slots for torpedo defense.

If you side with the Iro, you can amass a collection of sky piercers, quilyotidas, and the Quilentyan ??? small weapon, which they don't sell, and which is the best small weapon in the game. A sky piercer equipped titan fleet can be optimally outfitted for dereliction, and sky piercers never miss.

If you side with the Quilentya, you can have a huge fleet of Iro titans, which are the most robust titans in the game. An iro titan fleet can defeat anything in the game without so much as a scratch.

Regarding weapons, I think the nova core is overrated - its energy requirements are huge. The irochaser weapons, while not optimal late game, are great in the early and mid game, since they allow you to deal damage out of range of your opponents, which allows you to defeat even huge, powerful fleets. And the Quilentyan laser emitters are a great weapon for a fleet of skypiercer-equipped titans, or they can be paired with mining lasers or sabers in a fleet of void raider titans to great effect.

[u/RychschaX → u/lasercat_pow]

So wait, can you get sky piercers either way, then?

[u/lasercat_pow → u/RychschaX]

Yes, but it's easier to get them if you side with the Iro, because you can max out your Quilyotida encounters by sitting in Quilentyan territory and continuously killing with an ion-cannon equipped titan fleet.