Allegiance Academy

Faction - Bios

Bios

Originally spawned by GigaCorp genetic engineering projects, the BIOS are physically and mentally advanced, perfectly designed to withstand the rigors of life in space. After the death of their leader - GigaCorp founder Emmet Longstreet - the BIOS have launched a shadowy crusade against "stale gene" humanity, with the goal of dragging the human race into an evolutionary watershed.

The Bios are a mysterious faction that is rarely sighted. Their soldiers are genetically engineered for space travel and activity, and their ships are designed to allow them to perform without being detected. The Bios have particularly strong sensors, and particularly stealthy ships. They were created by GigaCorp.

Research takes a long time when completed by the Bios. Achieving perfection is never easy but leads to great results. As such, the Bios have a very long research time: 10 minutes. However, because of their advanced research techniques, everything costs half as much as it usually does for others. Therefore, a technique often employed by Bios commanders is partial investment. Also, their technology stations are always advanced. They have no Garrisons, only Starbases. No Shipyards, only Drydocks. This makes more technology available at the beginning of a game and saves them a lot of time and money.

When the Bios build a technological station, they have to, like the others, research the different ships that the station may provide. However, because such research takes a very long time, they always have in database the information necessary to build light versions of the different crafts. As such, when building an expansion complex, for example, they have to wait 10 minutes before interceptors can possibly be available. However, they can use the light interceptor, a weaker but nonetheless useful version. Note that the Bios start games with fighters as well as scouts, so this measure does not apply for supremacy centers. Note that the Bios' enemies are wise to attempt to destroy them or cripple them early in games. Bios only get stronger with time, and at their technological peak are the strongest of all.

The Bios hate to be detected. They prefer to remain in the shadows. As such, their ships have particularly low base signatures, and their engineers have equipped every single small and medium class ship with a heavy cloaking device that can make all of their ships virtually invisible for a few seconds, giving them enough time to flee from their enemy or to prepare for a deadly strike. Since they are designed to have particularly low signatures in the first place, they are very hard to detect, and their stealth crafts are particularly lethal compared to those of other factions.

In fear of seeing their pilots captured and thoroughly analyzed by the enemy, Bios engineers have beaten all others in eject pod safety. Although compromising on pod velocity and station versatility, all pods are equipped with a ripcording device. This outstanding measure entirely eliminates the problem of pod rescue, and makes a home teleport receiver a very worthwhile investment, and a very important target for enemies of the Bios. However, Bios pods may only dock at stations with docking bays.

The Bios economy is average. Although their technology stations are slightly more expensive, they save a lot in all kinds of research because of the half price and because all stations are already upgraded. Also, because of the long research times, they don't have pressing needs of income for different ships, and so they can dedicate large funds to expanding with outposts and teleport receivers. Their miners were devised to be stealthier, but are not especially difficult to locate. The Bios are however fairly advanced in He3 refining, and so have at least their own refinery stations to accelerate the work of miners, unlike the Coalition or the Federation.

View screenshots of this factions unique Ships & Stations

The following "Faction Perk" post was written by Shizoku, with minor edits.

Bios

Faction Perks

Inexpensive miners (3000 each)
Has a strong ship turn rate (1.2) and strong turn torque (1.3)
Quick build times (60 seconds) for OPs / Teleports / Refineries / Tech bases
Low mass ships
Has a 1.25 modifier for shield regeneration, which is good for low Sig approaches.
Has a 1.25 modifier for station hull and shield repair
Free enhanced carrier (SY flag dependent)
Low signature (1.15)
Excellent Sensors (1.15)
Rescue pods (20 second) that can teleport home, making a home rip a necessity
Heavy cloak can be mounted on almost all ships
Fighters can carry prox mines and minepacks
Minepack 1 comes with a Supremacy
Less expensive tech costs
Advanced tech bases come standard

Faction Weakness

Weak ship shield (.9)
10 minute research times, which now can be partial invested by the commander with the new FAZ release.
Expensive tech bases
Weaker Hull (.9)
Heavy cloak, which comes standard in most ships, slows down accel and creates a sluggish feel. TIP: Drop it from cargo to gain acceleration and maneuverability.
Weak station hull (.9) and shield (.9)

Ideal Settings

The lower the better. Bios tech is very cheap and doesn't require large amounts of money to keep the research going. You may need to forgo getting certain Garrison tech in order to get a tech. But the low money settings will hurt the enemy more than it hurts you.

Faction Strategies

Supremacy/Garrison - Bios have one of the best fighters in the game due to hitbox size and gunmount locations. They also have one of the best Heavy Bombers due to having Heavy Cloak. They can be used by a skilled pilot almost like a Stealth Bomber. Always get Heavy Cloak 2, as Bios it will help any tech path. The quicker you can get a Supremacy, the better off you will be. Most commanders have the habit of investing too much money into garrison tech. Get Adv. Scouts, Bombers, TP1 (for Sup at least) and Heavy Cloak 2.
If your opponent has gone the Tactical path, start Enhanced Miners. Yes, the tech doesn't seem to cost much, but it adds up quickly. Before you know it, you are getting a Tech at the 20+ minute mark. Which means by the time you get MK 2 tech, the opponent could almost have two MK 3 Techs. Heavy Bombers with XRM AB's can sneak into a sector and potentially kill the base without ever getting eyed (using asteroids to shield them from being spotted). Bios TP2 is awesome due to the low Sig scouts being able to sneak into anywhere, combined with being able to rip in cloaked bombers Bios is all about timing and stealth, than overpowering an opponent. Thus making it a bit more tricky to command.
TP 1 Rush - A nearly extinct strategy, but by the 10 minute mark, with a properly placed TP 1 probe (behind a rock), you can rip in a fully Nanned bombing run straight into the enemies home.
Tactical - Like most TAC's, Bios is extremely weak at the beginning so it is rarely used as a primary tech. Use of Gunships does make it easier to defend, but the purchase of GS often will tie up a large amount of players when they should be out killing miners. Most often, Bios Tactical is used for an end tactic for Supremacy. Bios' AB3 Stealth Bombers are up there with Rix's SB's for best in the game.
Expansion - This tech is defendant on what the team picks up. Due to the larger hitbox and poor gunmounts of the Bios Ints, defending can be difficult with MG1, I usually only go Bios EXP if the team finds MG2. Although their Heavy Int's are not bad, they can't compete with GT, IC, and Rix's Ints. The redeeming factor to Bios EXP, is their incredible HTT's. The Bios HTT can carry Heavy Cloak enabling it to sneak up to the enemy base and get eyed around 1-1.5k if used properly.