- For a complete list of all heroes, see Hero List. For a complete list of all hero abilities, see Hero Abilities.
Hissho Leader
Heroes are powerful characters that provide great bonuses to your planetary Systems and Fleets. Heroes must be recruited and then attached to a fleet or system. While active, Heroes will gain XP, allowing them to access Abilities that improve their bonuses each time they level up to max level 20 (25 in Disharmony).
Every Hero has two Classes out of the five total (Commander, Corporate, Adventurer, Pilot and Administrator), which determine the Hero's starting attributes and their access to special abilities. The five attributes (Melee, Offense, Defense, Labor and Wit) give bonuses to FIDS 
production or combat actions. Heroes accumulate XP every turn they are attached to a Fleet or System and even more when they engage in battle. Every time the Hero levels up, you can unlock one Ability for that Hero.
There is a limit on how many Heroes can be used by an empire at any time, the so called "Academy Cap", which can be increased by researching the tier 7 technology Futuristic Game Theory (+2 Academy Cap) and tier 9 technology Perfect Forecasting (+3 Academy Cap) on the Diplomacy & Trading Technology Tree. There is a Dust 
cost to recruit a Hero as well as a upkeep that must be paid each turn.
Recruitment and Expelling
Heroes are recruited out of a Recruitment Pool, that initially consists of 3 randomly chosen Heroes for the faction. Every 50 turns, another Hero is added to that pool. This interval can be influenced by Research.
The cost for recruiting Heroes depends on the number of Heroes you already have in your service.
| No. Heroes | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hiring Cost ()
|
20 | 80 | 140 | 200 | 260 | 320 | 380 | 440 | 500 | 560 | 620 |
The upkeep cost of Heroes is equal to twice their level. When you fire ("expel") a Hero, they become available to every Empire still in the game (this implies that the initial Hero pool is not shared between the different Empires).
Experience
Heroes can gain experience and level up. Each level gives 1 ability point, which can be spent to unlock Abilities. XP requirements are as follows:
| Level | Total XP | XP from previous |
| 1 | 0 | - |
| 2 | 10 | 10 |
| 3 | 20 | 10 |
| 4 | 40 | 20 |
| 5 | 80 | 40 |
| 6 | 120 | 40 |
| 7 | 160 | 40 |
| 8 | 200 | 40 |
| 9 | 250 | 50 |
| 10 | 300 | 50 |
| 11 | 360 | 60 |
| 12 | 420 | 60 |
| 13 | 500 | 80 |
| 14 | 600 | 100 |
| 15 | 700 | 100 |
| 16 | 800 | 100 |
| 17 | 900 | 100 |
| 18 | 1000 | 100 |
| 19 | 1100 | 100 |
| 20 | 1200 | 100 |
The XML suggests the following values for XP gain; however, there appear to be some hidden modifiers:
| Source | XP |
|---|---|
| Assigned (per turn) | 1 |
| Completed construction | 1 |
| Won battle | 20 |
| Drew battle | 10 |
| Lost battle | 5 |
| Injured enemy Hero | 20 |
In reality, Battles vary greatly in the number of XP they award, and depend on the ships destroyed. In addition, the construction XP bonus is related to the resource cost of the improvement. An exploitation gives 3 XP, for example.
Stats
There are 5 different stats that give bonuses to the Star System or Fleet the Hero is assigned to. All stat bonuses are per point (for example, a Hero with a Labor of 5 would give bonuses of +10% Food 
and a +10% Industry 
).
| Labor | |
| Wit | |
| Melee |
|
| Offense |
|
| Defense |
|
Abilities
Main Article: Abilities
Abilities are traits of Heroes that change the attributes for a hero, allowing the hero to benefit the system or fleet they are located in.
Injury
A Hero attached to a Fleet who is defeated in Combat becomes injured. A Hero attached to a Star System is injured when the system is lost. Injured Heroes can not be used until they are healed. You can pay to heal the Hero. This cost is reduced each turn. The cost will decrease to 0, and you can start using the hero again.
Some effects reduce the cost to heal your Heroes, including the Hero Ability Hardy Constitution, as well as your racial picks.
Cloning
Horatio - Administrator Commander Hero
One of the traits of Horatio is "Cloning", which gives the ability to copy an existing Hero. The copy has the same Abilities, attributes and the same XP as the original. It is possible to clone a clone but clones count towards your Academy Cap. The cost for cloning is the same as for hiring a Hero.
Hero Capacity (Academy Points Cap)
There is a limit to the number of heroes you have under you command at any given point in time. As you research further into the tech trees additional heroes can be hired from the academy.
| Technology Unlocks (research cost) | Hero Limit | Turns / New Hero | XP Bonuses |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starting | 3 | 50 | 0 |
| Improved Fleet Management (300) | -5 turns | +20% | |
| Imaginary Game Theory (7,500) | +2 | -10 turns | |
| Maximized Exploitation (14,000) | -5 turns | +50% | |
| Perfect Forecasting (25,000) | +3 | -10 turns |