I don't understand Influence

[Rick]

I read the Wikis on the subject but they kind of talk in a circle and even they say influence is poorly understood. Reputation is pretty straight forward and has tangable benefits but what does influence do for you and how can you use it/benefit from it?

[xPEDx]

http://elite-dangerous.wikia.com/wiki/Influence

[Rick]

I have been there, it say nothing useful

[xPEDx]

The most influence owns the system.

[Eddo]

Influence is faction's hold on the system.
Reputation is your "reputation" with faction.

Influence have very little meaning to plaers unless you are roleplaying as a member of a minor faction or for whatever reason want to flip the government of the system.

[malorob]

Originally posted by xPEDx:

The most influence owns the system.

cool so if i have lots of influence i own the system lol

[xPEDx]

Originally posted by malorob:

Originally posted by xPEDx:

The most influence owns the system.

cool so if i have lots of influence i own the system lol

lol , no, The faction with the influence dose .:P

[Eddo]

Originally posted by xPEDx:

The most influence owns the system.

Not exactly. The system with the biggest station generally is the one who owns the system. But it tends to be the case yes but not necessarily.

Like Kamitra for instance, it is owned by Kamitra Empire Pact but is only the 3rd most infuential faction there right now.

EDIT: I stand to be corrected, Empire Pact had shot up in influence

[xPEDx]

Originally posted by Eddo:

Originally posted by xPEDx:

The most influence owns the system.

Not exactly. The system with the biggest station generally is the one who owns the system. But it tends to be the case yes but not necessarily.

Like Kamitra for instance, it is owned by Kamitra Empire Pact but is only the 3rd most infuential faction there right now.

I can see why he's comfused.

[Eddo]

Originally posted by xPEDx:

Originally posted by Eddo:

Not exactly. The system with the biggest station generally is the one who owns the system. But it tends to be the case yes but not necessarily.

Like Kamitra for instance, it is owned by Kamitra Empire Pact but is only the 3rd most infuential faction there right now.

I can see why he's comfused.

Indeed.

Just look at this system:
https://eddb.io/system/factions/19144

Now my original post makes more sense,

[AISTHESIS]

Ohers will have a better answer but it is early so here is some info.
Go to the station menu and look under galnet.
You will see local factions and how much influence thay have in the system.

You can also read local news about the factions.
So there is 100% influence for a system.
Faction A has 80% influence so they control the system.
Faction b has 15% influence and faction c has 5%
If you work for C they will gain influence.
Now there is only 100% so if C gets to 10% then others must loose percent.
Lets say A is 80% B is 10% and C is 10%
B and C now go to war (or have a vote) for possition.

When you see missions they show how much influence the mission will have with + or +++.
When factions go to war they use money and may go into famine or outbreak.
You can then donate money or deliver food and medicine.
Everything effects everything, it is a very detailed system.
When factions are busy fighting and low on funds other factions from other systems may start to send pirates or try to assassinate leaders and may try to move into the system. You will see 'go kill pirate missions' and in other systems you will see 'go attack missions'.

If you want to play with influence go to a system with less than 50,000 population as you will change things quicker.

The faction that has the most influence owns the system. When you sell goods on the market or sell data that will give the owning faction influence. If you are trying to raise influence for a faction that is not in control do not sell things in the market or sell data because that will raise the wrong faction.

[Agony_Aunt]

Basically within a system all factions combined have an influence of 100%. There can never be more or less than 100% influence in total.

The more influence a faction has, the more... well, influence they have. Erm... ok, kind of short version, the faction with the most influence controls the system.

There is a bit more to it than that, for leadership to happen an election or war with another faction has to trigger and the winning faction takes control of the system. This can affect local laws and things like which goods are prohibited and whether a black market exists.

Wars/Elections can be blocked though, so its possible for the faction with the most influence not to be in control.

You can also trigger a war for control if your faction's influence goes over something like 60 or 70%.

Wars/elections are also how stations change ownership.

What they probably mean on the wiki is its not fully understood a lot of the mechanics behind how influence changes work.

That's probably quite out of date though. A lot of information has been unearthed by players over the years on some of the hidden mechanics.

If you fancy some reading: https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php/193064-A-Guide-to-Minor-Factions-and-the-Background-Sim

[Agony_Aunt]

Originally posted by Eddo:

Originally posted by xPEDx:

I can see why he's comfused.

Indeed.

Just look at this system:
https://eddb.io/system/factions/19144

Now my original post makes more sense,

Classic case of a controlling faction having a blocking state when someone overtook them in influence. Those with the highest influence now have 2 options. Push for increased influence to trigger a fight for control that way or lower their influence to the same as the controlling faction to trigger it.

[xPEDx]

Hm , some good insight here , :)

[Eddo]

Originally posted by Agony_Aunt:

Originally posted by Eddo:

Indeed.

Just look at this system:
https://eddb.io/system/factions/19144

Now my original post makes more sense,

Classic case of a controlling faction having a blocking state when someone overtook them in influence. Those with the highest influence now have 2 options. Push for increased influence to trigger a fight for control that way or lower their influence to the same as the controlling faction to trigger it.

Yes, that is such a pain. And this is also the case for other stations in the system as well. You need to raise the faction who owns the other station while simultaneously don't lower yourself enough for another faction to fight for your own station. So there was some hilarity for a while in my minor faction where we were desperately doing missions for a faction so we can get the station off them.

[Rick]

this is helpful but I still have a couple more questions....I get that, as a rule, the faction with the most influence controls the major station and the system. What I still don't get is that I have an influence number with each faction. What does that mean to me and how does raising or lowering that number me and the faction?