The Empire Plan window.
Every 20 turns (or 10 turns on Fast Speed) the player may configure the Empire Plan, a set of powerful empire-wide bonuses. These bonuses, divided into ministries and levels, last for the entire duration until the next empire plan and can greatly aid the development of the empire in one direction or another. All bonuses cost 
influence scaling with the number of cities in the empire, and configuring the empire plan is primary way to spend in the game.
Mechanics[]
There are four ministries, or categories, of empire plan bonuses, corresponding to the four sections of the Research disk:
- Military
- Science and Industry
- Empire and Expansion
- Economy and Population
Each ministry is further divided into four levels, with increasing benefits for each level. Levels are configured individually for each ministry, and selecting one level of benefits will also include all preceding ones (for example selecting level 3 will include the benefits of levels 1 and 2).
Only level 1 bonuses are available at the beginning of the game, and a higher level is unlocked with each Research era (from II to IV). One exception is the 
Drakken, who can select empire plan bonuses one level higher than their current era due to their "Advanced Diarchy" faction trait.
Each bonus costs influence based on its level as well as the number of cities in the empire.
Empire Plan Bonuses[]
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Notes[]
- For the
Broken Lords (or any faction with the "Appetite for Dust" trait), level 4 of the Empire and Expansion ministry is replaced with to "+50% Population Buyout Reduction on Cities".
- For the Forgotten (or any faction with the "Science Phobic" trait), level 1 of the Science and Industry ministry is replaced with "+20% Cost Reduction on Researches", and level 3 is replaced with "+30% Research Cost Reduction in Past Eras".
Influence Cost[]
Each bonus costs Influence based on its level as well as the number of cities (C) in the empire. This cost also scales with Game Speed.
| Lvl. | Cost (Normal) | Cost (Fast) | Avg. / City / Turn |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 20 × C
|
10 × C
|
1
|
| 2 | 60 × C
|
30 × C
|
3
|
| 3 | 150 × C
|
75 × C
|
7.5
|
| 4 | 400 × C
|
200 × C
|
20
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Notes[]
- For the Cultists or any empire with the "Conversion" trait, each converted Minor Faction village counts as 20% of a city.
- For the Mykara or any empire with the "Creeping Presence", each Fungal Bloom counts as 4% of a city.
- With ELCP, the Era IV Legendary Building Throne of Emperors reduces the Influence cost of the Empire Plan by 30%.
Strategy[]
Empire plan bonuses can be extremely powerful, but Influence is hard to generate relative to other 
FIDSI. As a result, it is highly recommended to settle or wage war based on the 20-turn (or 10-turn) cycle of the empire plan.
For example, a city settled or conquered immediately after a new empire plan will gain all the benefits of the plan without increasing its influence cost. Conversely, in the worst case, gaining a city immediately before an empire plan can greatly increase the plan's cost, but the city won't have generated any influence to pay for itself. This can lead to a situation where gaining a new city at the wrong time causes the entire empire to lose a major bonus (for example, 33% building cost reduction).
There are a few powerful tactics for maximising the effect of the empire plan while minimising its influence cost:
- In the early game, especially prior to getting the Glory of Empire, it is possible to raze small, undeveloped cities every 10 or 20 turns in order to optimise the Empire Plan as well as luxury resource boosters. These temporary cities can be assigned to generate Dust, Science, and Influence, thus helping the development of the rest of the empire.
- In mid to late era II, once the Glory of Empire and the powerful level 2 empire plan bonuses to building cost and buyout reduction have been unlocked, then one can settle cities permanently with the empire plan serving as a huge bonus to (empire-wide) city development.
- In war, not all conquered cities are equally valuable. Newly conquered cities tend to have very low Approval, which penalises Food and Industry, but // are unaffected. So, for similar reasons as above, one can assign less valuable cities to generate //, then trade these cities back to the opponent in a peace settlement right before the new empire plan. This allows one to gain major benefits from the city without suffering the associated costs and is an especially valuable tactic when playing against higher difficulty levels of AI, who will often give many resources and technologies in exchange for those cities.