Elite Dangerous: Ascendancy introduced the long-awaited Powerplay 2.0 update, and the verdict is in: it rocks harder than the Mitterand Hollow does around New Africa. Ascendancy added a bunch of new toys, including the Mandalay, but right now there’s only one we want to (power)play with.
As soon as the update dropped, we challenged our community of distinguished Elite Dangerous players to explore, explain, and review the new Powerplay. What you’ll find below is the fruit of their labours, curated for your reading ease. It covers what Powerplay is, how it’s evolved, what’s new in Powerplay 2.0, how to choose the right Power for you, Merits, ranks, assignments, first steps, system states, top tips, and what players think of the changes.
Powerplay 2.0 Overview
What is Elite Dangerous Powerplay?
Powerplay is an ongoing war for interstellar control, fought between 12 powerful factions known as Powers. Each Power is led by a unique NPC leader vying for control of the game’s core systems (the Bubble). Participating players pledge themselves to a Power to help advance its leader’s strategic objectives as well as their territorial expansion and defence efforts. Aiding a Power grants players unique perks, cosmetics, credits, and other rewards, many of which are only active in their Power’s territories, further incentivising players to support their Power by expanding those territories. More than just a way to make extra rewards, Powerplay allows players to shape the galaxy of Elite Dangerous; it is their actions and choices that shift the balance of galactic power.
Prefer video? Here’s a quick and simple Powerplay explainer from Hunter:
A brief history of Elite Dangerous Powerplay
We’d like to momentarily pass the reins to Dydo, who went to infinity and beyond in their excellent contributions to this article.
“If you’re new to Elite Dangerous, you might be wondering what all the buzz is about regarding the latest update. On the other hand, you might be a seasoned player who took a break and has returned to check out the new ships and updates, now wondering: ‘wait, was there even a Powerplay 1.0?’
“We’ll break it all down shortly, but first, it’s important to note that the Powerplay system has been around since 2015. However, it never quite lived up to its potential, not because of its complexity but rather the challenge of creating a rewarding and immersive system that encouraged commanders to engage in the galaxy’s political activities. For many years, Powerplay was just a button on the galactic map that would colour-code the areas over which Powers held influence. I myself became a commander in 2017 and took a while to realise I was ignoring a whole game mechanic, and even then, I didn’t engage with it.
“But now, that seems to have finally changed. With the Ascendancy update, the system has been reworked, not only doing justice to its potential but also making it far more inviting for commanders who value immersion and political gameplay. The Elite storyline has always been exciting, and now, commanders of all ranks can actively participate. There are even rumours that Powers might be eliminated from the game if they lose their systems or through other events.
“What we do know for sure is that there are better rewards—financial, equipment-based, and Power-exclusive ones. It makes sense, for example, that your Power would cover the costs of your ship losses in battles to defend it, or if you're destroyed while mining in a controlled system. More than that, though, we’re being offered a new perspective on the territorial tug of war between Powers, which can now expand and must protect their territories more than ever.”
What’s new and changed in Elite Dangerous Powerplay 2.0?
On 31 October 2024, Frontier released Elite Dangerous: Ascendancy, transforming Powerplay into Powerplay 2.0. Here’s a brief summary of the most significant changes before we dive into more detail:
Pledges have been reset; all commanders who pledged to a Power in Powerplay 1.0 have been unpledged.
Powerplay modules are no longer exclusive to particular Powers. No matter the Power you pledge to, you’ll have access to all of them in time (including the shiny new Concord Cannon).
Two new leaders can be pledged to: Nakato Kaine and Jerome Archer.
Merits are now earned immediately and cumulatively; they no longer decay or expire.
Merits can be earned from a far broader range of activities; nearly every in-game activity can be beneficial to your pledged Power.
The ranking system has been revamped, offering more rewards for players loyal to their Power.
Systems can be in six states: Uncontrolled, Expansion, Contested, Exploited, Fortified, and Stronghold.
The Galaxy Map and control system has been totally reworked.
Visual enhancements have been made to stations, showing who’s in charge and which other Powers may have quiet support.
The Powers
The Powers fighting for control are not the same as major and minor factions, nor are they synonymous with Elite Dangerous’s three superpowers. However, most of them are allied to or divisions of those superpowers. USCSS explains:
“There are 12 Powers in total. Four of these are allied with the Empire, two are allied with the Federation, two are allied with the Alliance, and four are independent.”
MQC provides a complete list of the pledgeable Powers and their affiliations or lack thereof:
“Federation
Felicia Winters
Jerome Archer
Empire
Arissa Lavigny-Duval
Aisling Duval
Denton Patreus
Zemina Torval
Alliance
Edmund Mahon
Nakato Kaine
Independent
Pranav Antal
Archon Delaine
Yuri Grom
Li Yong-Rui”
Which Power should you pledge to in Powerplay 2.0?
Given that modules - previously the most common deciding pledge factor - are no longer Power-exclusive, USCSS argues that your choice should be at least in part ideological: “read about the ideology and rewards of each Power and from there, choose the one that best suits you.” They provide a Spanish-language video analysis (with English subtitles) of each of the Powers.
Many reading this will already be part of a faction or squadron sworn to one of the Superpowers and will want to stay aligned with them. For those unsworn who would like to base their choice on political values, XCezor provides a quick reminder of what the three Superpowers stand for:
“The Federation was in previous millennia known as the United States of America. They’re a democratic Superpower favouring expansionism, personal liberty, economic growth, and free-market capitalism. The Empire was once part of the Federation, but rebelled against their rule - instead favouring hierarchy, imperialism, loyalty, and duty. The Alliance is a group of independent systems that decided to unite in the name of self protection, protection of the weak, peace, and cooperation.”
As mentioned, there are no longer modules exclusive to those who’ve pledged to particular Powers and all standard rewards will eventually be offered to all pledged players, regardless of the Power they’re pledged to. But don’t let that fool you into thinking that the Powers’ in-game benefits are all the same; far from it!
The Powers have different objectives and priorities, and they each offer at least one independent activity perk to commanders who pledge to them. These perks only apply to actions performed in a system controlled by the respective Power. Dydo has laid out these perks below, and reminds commanders that they’re nothing to be scoffed at: “Just imagine: by allying with Nakato Kaine, for instance, that 50 million platinum mining run becomes 75 million!”
“Edmund Mahon: +50% trade bond on rare goods sales; +25% trade bond on sales
“Aisling Duval: +200% on search and rescue payouts
“Arissa Lavigny-Duval: -30% on weapon module cost
“Yuri Grom: +15% on exploration data sales; +15% trade bond on sales; -30% weapon module cost
“Pranav Antal: +30% organic data sales; +50% technology commodity profits
“Denton Patreus: +80% bounty payout; -90% rearm prices; -40% weapon module cost
“Li Yong-Rui: +100% exploration data sales; -100% rearm prices; -100% refuel prices; -100% reduced repair; +25% trade bond on sales.
“Jerome Archer: -30% weapon module cost
“Nakato Kaine: +50% on mining commodities profits; +150% in minor faction reputation gain; +120% on search and rescue payout
“Archon Delaine: +30% on black market profits
“Felicia Winters: +60% on food and medicine profits; +100% on minor faction reputation gain; +100% on salvage profits
“Zemina Torval: +45% on mining commodity profits; +50% on imperial slave commodity profits; +20% on trade bond sales
What’s more, while each Power eventually offers every Powerplay module and common reward, the order in which they offer them varies according to their objectives and personality. Here’s Dydo: “It’s no coincidence that Jerome Archer - who’s focused on bounty hunting - offers military modules first.”
Powerplay 2.0 is a long game. Acquiring the rewards of higher ranks takes time and loyalty. Look at each Power’s unique perks and the order in which they offer modules and rewards, then pledge according to your gameplay style, favoured activities, and priorities.
So in brief, how should you decide which Powerplay Power to join? Consider these four factors, summarised by MQC:
“The leader, background, ideology, and style that’s most appealing to you on a narrative or roleplaying level
“Your preference for the order of reward delivery, as well as the unique perks of each Power
“Your existing affiliations if you belong to a faction or squadron
“The areas of space in which you would like to be safe (affiliation with an opposing Power will cause NPCs and players to treat you aggressively)”
That’s a fair number of factors. Fortunately, RicardosGaming has submitted this fantastic Power breakdown video, which covers both politics and perks, helping you to answer that crucial question: which Power is right for you?
Then again, if you don’t want to think too hard, you could just follow Ilyssoll's advice: “If you don’t care about reward order, just pledge to your favourite!”
An in-depth PowerPlay 2.0 guide
Guide to Powerplay 2.0: Merits and ranks
Completing tasks associated with Powerplay 2.0 earns Merits, which are sometimes described as Powerplay’s currency. However, given their non-decaying, non-spendable nature, they’re better understood as loyalty points. It’s through the accumulation of Merits that players work their way up the ranks of their pledged Power to unlock more rewards, modules, cosmetics, and the occasional care package containing credits and engineering materials.
The previous Powerplay system had but a narrow set of tasks from which you could earn Merits, whereas Powerplay 2.0 has massively expanded the offering. Just going about your daily business will likely earn you Merits, though many more can be earned through Power Contacts (available at stations and ports) and weekly assignments (more on those in the next section).
Many ‘Power missions’ are standard everyday missions, like the delivery of goods, collection of escape pods, or destruction of NPCs. However, Ascendancy has added some more noteworthy and consequential activities. For example, in what LiquidMorkite describes as “an initiative to boost Odyssey’s activities”, there are now Merit-earning activities available at Odyssey settlements too, such as downloading and uploading data or collecting Powerplay commodities; some of these are illegal so turn off those settlement alarms. A second example would be ‘Power kills’ - destroying commanders of opposing Powers - which should encourage more Open Play, PvP, and other interactions with fellow players.
In their video introduction to Powerplay 2.0 below, XCezor provides some more examples of Merit-earning activities. Alternatively, LiquidMorkite recommends this spreadsheet created by CMDR DSS Lev, which explains exactly how many Merits you’ll earn per action.
Guide to Powerplay 2.0: assignments, leaderboards, and first steps
After pledging to your Power of choice (use the right-hand panel), you’ll gain access to the standard Merit-accruing activities described in the previous section, including a list of weekly assignments. While these weekly assignments are optional, you must complete five of them to be able to start ranking up. Here’s LiquidMorkite:
“The initial tasks are quite simple and will give you a glimpse into how many activities are now rewarded with Merits. For example: trading rare commodities, collecting pirate bounties, or hacking hologram ads at stations using recon limpets, the latter of which you can continue to hack after the assignment is complete, with Merits awarded based on the number of ads hacked.”
Here’s a neat video walkthrough from Slamscape explaining how to do your first five weekly assignments:
In addition to the weekly assignments tab, you’ll gain access to a leaderboards tab for your Power. At the end of each cycle, those near the top of the leaderboard will be awarded with a generous number of credits and those at the very top will have their portrait displayed as a badge of honour.
“Your role, as a humble pawn on the chessboard of galactic politics, is to assist in maintaining your Power’s influence and to be ‘unfriendly’ to the other Powers.” We realise we’ve covered a lot of ground in this article, so before we move onto the most complex element of Powerplay 2.0, we recommend this video, courtesy of Wotherspoon and featuring Beetlejude. It’s titled ‘A really bad introduction to Powerplay 2.0’, and on that we’ll have to agree to disagree. The accessible video takes players through the Powers, explains the map, walks through a few assignments, explains Power Contacts, and gives snappy overviews of how various parts of the Powerplay 2.0 system work from a pawn’s player’s perspective. Here’s their intro followed by the video:
“I hadn't tried Powerplay until 2.0 was released. In this video, I recount my actual first-day experiences, with didactic intent. I try to show the individual commander's version of Powerplay, and how it all works, from pledging to completing the first week's missions and earning the first Powerplay rank. There's a strategic, 3D chess aspect to Powerplay too, but that's for the advanced player. Perhaps there's another video waiting to be made…”
Guide to Powerplay 2.0: System states (and statuses)
Everything so far has been explained from the perspective of a player seeking to maximise their ranks and rewards. Now it’s time to zoom out and look at the bigger picture. How does Powerplay work on a galactic level? The activities you take to rank up and strengthen your Power can also help your Power expand and defend their territory if that’s where you complete them. Warning: this is where things start to get a little complicated.
First things first: you need to understand Powerplay’s ‘System States’. Powerplay systems can be in one of six states, which are displayed in the Galaxy Map:
Unoccupied: this system is not controlled by any Power.
Expansion: a Power is trying to expand into this system, but is yet to be successful
Contested: multiple Powers are vying for control of this system.
Exploited: this system has the lowest level of control by a Power.
Fortified: this system has a high level of control by a Power.
Stronghold: this system has the highest level of control by a Power. A stronghold carrier may appear, granting pledged commanders access to superior markets.
Those six system states are grouped into two broader categories: acquisition systems and reinforcement systems.
Unoccupied, Expansion, and Contested systems are classed as acquisition systems; no Power has ‘acquired’ them by seizing control. Exploited, Fortified, and Stronghold systems meanwhile, are classed as reinforcement systems (sometimes collectively called control systems); they are, to varying degrees, under the control of a particular Power.
Further labels on the UI - seen underneath the name of the Power’s leaders in the screenshot above - denote the current efforts of Powers vying for control in those systems: acquiring, reinforcing, and undermining.
Reinforcing means a Power is trying to hold onto a system. Undermining means that a non-controlling Power is weakening the influence of the controlling Power, making it vulnerable to takeover. Acquiring means that a non-controlling Power is looking to claim it for themselves.
So what happens to a system when a conflict is settled?
If it was previously classed as Exploited - remember: that indicates the weakest form of control - then control usually switches to the conflict’s victor. However, if an Exploited system isn’t within range of a Fortified or Stronghold system, it may instead revert to Unoccupied at the end of the weekly cycle.
If the system was classified as Fortified or Stronghold, the losing Power may still maintain control and the system will need to be undermined several more times by an opposing Power.
Once more, we’re going to hand over to Dydo to illustrate how all these pieces fit together:
“With these categories in mind, it’s easier to understand what each system type represents. In Unoccupied systems, no Powers are active, so they can still be targeted for expansion. If a Power meets the ‘Conflict Threshold’ and requisite ‘Control Score’, the system will shift to the Expansion state, meaning Powerplay activities must be carried out for that Power to establish stable control. This is what Aisling Duval is currently attempting in a system:
“As for the reinforcement systems, there’s Exploited, which - like Expansion systems - need to be within the ‘control bubble’ (20Ly) of a Fortified or Stronghold system. Control mechanics are essential when it comes to territorial disputes, determining the state of a system at the end of the weekly cycle. With stronger control, an Exploited system can become Fortified, enabling Power expansion into nearby systems. Likewise, stronger control can turn a Fortified system into a Stronghold system - the most secure system state.
“You can monitor this dynamic on the Powerplay panel of any system on the Galaxy Map, as shown in this example where Edmund Mahon is reinforcing an Exploited system but is losing; note the Control Score/Points difference as well as the bar with the yellow-bordered triangle representing the current stage of the dispute:
“As one might expect, Contested systems are where territorial disputes are most intense, as two Powers are vying for control over them via reinforcing and undermining. The system will become Exploited by the Power with the highest Control Score at the end of the weekly cycle. If you're looking for intense action, you'll most likely find it in a Contested system:
“Even Stronghold systems can be contested, with the goal of weakening the controlling Power and downgrading it to Fortified, for instance:
“In the example above, Jerome Archer is winning control. By the end of the cycle, the system should be even more solidly under his control. However, in some cases, this can actually weaken the state of the system, as in this example:"
It’s complicated, but you don’t need to have a firm grip on the 3D chess element of the gameplay to engage with it and enjoy it. And as you do engage, all of the above will become clearer.
Top tips for Elite Dangerous Powerplay 2.0
Now that we’ve explained how Powerplay 2.0 works, here are some top Powerplay tips from the best commanders in the galaxy:
“Join your Power’s Discord server to meet like-minded CMDRs and coordinate your actions to greater effect. You can find the Powers’ Discord channels via Inara.” - Randomgazz
“You don’t have to get involved; unpledged commanders suffer almost no drawbacks other than that you might get scanned and/or attacked in Stronghold systems. There are only about 40 Stronghold systems in the Bubble, and you should only be attacked if you attempt to enter a starport, which can be avoided with heat sinks or by activating silent running.” - Dydo
“If you’d like to be a part of Powerplay, but you still want to follow your normal schedule, you can. Just stick to your normal routine and you’ll likely earn Merits through your activities, though I’d advise you to go about your normal business in your pledged Power’s systems.” - LiquidMorkite
“My best suggestion is to head to your Powerplay HQ and get those Merits going. Once you’ve got the hang of it, take on some weekly assignments.” - Ilyssoll
“To get the most out of Powerplay and climb the ranks fast, I recommend you complete five assignments each week.” - USCSS
“Don’t start by rushing out to look for fast Merits. Explore, hunt bounties, mine, go about your business and let the Merits come to you. Later, you can work with your Power’s community to cooperate on more complex gameplay and tactics, like direct combat or redirecting commercial routes to your systems.” - CMDR Henckes
“Find what makes the most Merits for you and do that to unlock everything or simply do what you love and immerse yourself deeper into the lore.” - Purrell
“Participating in Powerplay should be seen as an opportunity to represent one of the game's figures, share their vision, and gain benefits, understanding the risks that come with such affiliation. Earning Merits for your Powerplay will be a gradual process that will occur with virtually any action you take in the game, so, as with all other mechanics present in Elite Dangerous, enjoy the journey and don't just think about the finish line.” - MQC
Elite Dangerous Powerplay 2.0 review: What do Elite Dangerous players make of the changes?
Overview of Powerplay 2.0: ✅
Introduction to the Powers: ✅
Choosing the best Power: ✅
The differences between Powerplay 1.0 and Powerplay 2.0: ✅
Powerplay 2.0 tutorials covering Merits, ranks, assignments, first steps, and system states: ✅
Top Powerplay tips: ✅
What Elite Dangerous players think of Powerplay 2.0:
“The stakes are higher and the choices more intricate.” - RicardosGaming
“Many of those who’ve played Elite for years thought of Powerplay as a boring grind and a gameplay loop that was hard to discover. This is way improved by Powerplay 2.0; everything matters in the new loop!” - CMDR Henckes
“It’s more engaging, and it encourages PvP and Open Play. It’s way more interesting than the old system, and it’s also long-term-loyalty-oriented.” - LiquidMorkite
“I like the new Powerplay 2.0 map a lot! The control display for each Power has become much clearer and more beautiful. What’s more, it has a system state filter that makes it much easier to find what you need!” JHenckes
“Powerplay 2.0 offers commanders a new way to interact with their environment and the factions present in the game. The new Powers have made it more interesting and less stagnant, with all new activities to get involved with when they’re out and about. Not having to switch Powers is a plus too.” - Purrell
“One of the most interesting parts is the weekly assignments and throwing systems into chaos to convert them to your side. Take advantage of the changes; they make Powerplay more interesting and rewarding.” - Ilyssoll
Maybe you want to earn some Powerplay Merits through mining, in which case check out our Elite Dangerous mining guide or better yet this total Elite Dangerous starter guide. Alternatively, for a reminder of why you’re putting so much effort into learning, watch these beautiful Elite Dangerous anniversary videos or listen to this Elite Dangerous ASMR. And as always, commanders, fly dangerously!
While never directly quoted, we’d also like to thank yan57436 for their contributions to this Elite Dangerous Powerplay 2.0 guide and review. Some text has been edited for brevity, clarity, or spelling, punctuation, and grammar. You can find the original wording here. Cover image credit: Frontier Developments and mrpsb as seen in our planetary showcase of Elite Dangerous screenshots. In-line images submitted by the contributors credited.
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