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The Protectorate
September 11, 2026 at 10:41 PM
Added the August 28 and September 1 balance passes, noted the disabled Predator mine upgrade, re-dated the stat figures and wikilinked all sixteen unit pages
The Protectorate is the human faction of ZeroSpace and the force you command throughout the Campaign. It represents humanity's military during the seventh phase of expansion into the Orion Sector, fielding advanced war technology, seasoned shock troopers, and specialist crew.
In play, the Protectorate leans toward a defensive, supportive style rather than early aggression and harassment. Its strength is staying power: well-defended positions, steady upgrades, and forces that grow tougher the longer they survive.
Ahead of Early Access, the Protectorate was the first faction to receive a studio-wide visual overhaul, giving its units a grittier, more realistic look.
Production and base structures come with a healing bot that automatically repairs and heals nearby friendly units.
Supply structures can be upgraded, including into turrets, so the economy and defense overlap.
Like all factions, Protectorate units gain veterancy, growing stronger the longer they stay alive.
Hero units lead Protectorate armies and provide ability support without overpowering the rest of the force.
Because the Campaign casts you as a Protectorate commander, this faction frames the whole single-player experience. You upgrade your Mothership, build relationships with your crew, and recruit an army under the Protectorate banner. The choices you make determine which of the sector's other Factions become allies or rivals.
The Protectorate is one of four base Factions in ZeroSpace and is playable across the Campaign, the Galactic War, and Skirmish. Its supportive identity makes it a natural starting point in Getting Started for players learning the systems behind Resources and Economy and Heroes and Commanders.
The Protectorate carry the motto "A Caelo Ad Terram" and are described by the studio as the military arm of humanity in the Orion Sector. For centuries they have been the stalwart defenders of humanity's ventures through the Orion Arm, guarding against enemies foreign and domestic of the United Earth Spheres. With humanity's galactic infrastructure teetering on the brink of collapse over a deficit of flux, they bring honed tactics and heavy firepower to bear.
Trait | Effect |
|---|---|
Combined Arms | Infantry, tanks, mechs and air power in one balanced, resilient force. |
Veterancy | Units grow more formidable with every battle they survive. |
Deep Strikes | Commandos hit behind enemy lines while mech divisions break the front. |
Commander | Rank |
|---|---|
Aster | Prefect, and the character the player commands through the Campaign |
Mera Arcadia | Legate |
Marv | A third playable hero, not listed among the commanders on the official faction page. Balance notes have adjusted his Companion Shield, and the community catalogue files the same hero under the Grell as well. |
The official faction page still shows a sample of the Protectorate roster, four units, and says the full list is coming later. The current build data covers the whole army: 16 units and 11 structures, read in September 2026. The four on the official page are the Titan, the Commando, the Strider and Sol Invictus, and balance updates during Early Access have named the Hauler, the Predator, the Griffin, the Ironwing and the Prospector alongside them. Costs are hexite and flux, and health figures are unmodified base values.
Each of the sixteen has its own page, reachable from the table below or from the index on Units. Costs are paid out of the two currencies described on Resources and Economy.
Unit | Role | Cost | Supply | Health and Armor |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Ranged infantry with a jetpack | 50 Hexite | 2 | 125, Light armor | |
Short range infantry with splash damage | 75 Hexite, 25 Flux | 3 | 275, Medium armor | |
Ranged infantry with an anti-heavy cannon | 75 Hexite, 75 Flux | 3 | 180, Light armor | |
Fast vehicle, ordered as a pair. Its mine upgrade was temporarily disabled on August 28, 2026 | 125 Hexite, 25 Flux for two | 3 each | 140, Light armor | |
Mech with a jetpack and a secondary anti-air weapon | 125 Hexite, 75 Flux | 5 | 425, Medium armor | |
Combat aircraft | 75 Hexite, 100 Flux | 5 | 175, Medium armor | |
Air transport that heals biological passengers and can land to heal nearby troops | 100 Hexite, 100 Flux | 4 | 500, Heavy armor | |
Long range artillery | 150 Hexite, 100 Flux | 6 | 300, Medium armor | |
Vehicle with a long range laser that builds damage the longer it fires | 100 Hexite, 150 Flux | 6 | 350, Medium armor | |
Aircraft that repairs friendly vehicles and casts EMP | 125 Hexite, 175 Flux | 6 | 200, Medium armor | |
Tank that stores thermal charge as it attacks, then discharges it as area damage | 175 Hexite, 125 Flux | 8 | 1,000, Heavy armor | |
Walker that loads infantry, extending their range and healing them | 225 Hexite, 225 Flux | 6 | 1,000, Heavy armor | |
Massive ultimate-tier walker with a timed life, called in from the top bar | Top bar ultimate | None | 3,000, Heavy armor | |
Flux harvester that can release a healing wave, respawning 60 seconds after it dies | 100 Hexite | None | 275, Medium armor | |
Light flying scout, capped at three | 25 Hexite | None | 75, no armor | |
Automated builder that raises every Protectorate structure | No listed cost | None | 25, Medium armor |
Production buildings also gate mercenary hiring: the Barracks opens tier 1 mercenaries, the Assembly Plant tier 2 and the War Foundry tier 3.
Structure | Role | Cost | Health |
|---|---|---|---|
Operating Tower | Mining outpost that raises extractors on a hexite patch, upgradeable with a turret | 400 Hexite | 2,500 |
Extractor | Hexite extractor, built by the Operating Tower | Built by the Operating Tower | 250 |
Supply Platform | Provides 12 supply and can be upgraded for extra utility, including a turret | 75 Hexite | 500 |
Barracks | Basic infantry production | 75 Hexite | 1,000 |
Research Lab | Research for Barracks units, and unlocks the Sentinel | 100 Hexite, 25 Flux | 1,000 |
Assembly Plant | Basic vehicle production | 100 Hexite, 50 Flux | 1,200 |
Skydock | Aircraft production | 100 Hexite, 50 Flux | 1,000 |
Mechanical Research Lab | Research for units built at the Assembly Plant and the Skydock | 100 Hexite, 25 Flux | 1,000 |
War Foundry | Advanced vehicle production | 125 Hexite, 100 Flux | 1,400 |
Light Turret | Defensive turret; Operating Towers and Supply Platforms both gain one when upgraded | No listed cost | 300 |
Airstrip | Ultimate-tier structure tied to the faction top bar | 100 Hexite | 1,000 |
Protectorate numbers move on a weekly cadence, so the figures above describe build ZS.c36778, current in September 2026, rather than fixed values. The changes behind them:
Date | Unit or Upgrade | Change |
|---|---|---|
August 11, 2026 | Commando | Magnetic Rifling range bonus cut from +4 to +3, and Eagle Tactics moved to the War Foundry |
August 11, 2026 | Griffin | Heal targets cut from 3 to 1, with healing raised from 12 to 22 per second |
August 11, 2026 | Titan | Damage raised from 7 to 8, and its bonus swapped from +100% against medium armor to +25% against light |
August 11, 2026 | Ironwing and Predator | Their bonuses against harvesters became +50% against medium armor when the harvester armor type was retired |
August 11, 2026 | Sentinel and Prospector | Move speed raised from 525 to 550 and from 450 to 500 |
August 14, 2026 | Commando | Eagle Tactics moved back to the Mechanical Research Lab after three days at the War Foundry |
August 14, 2026 | Hauler | Health raised from 400 to 500 |
August 14, 2026 | Predator | Reinforced Matrix shield cut from 75 to 50, and its cost from 150 to 125 |
August 14, 2026 | Titan | Antimatter Boosters anti-air range bonus cut from +4 to +3 |
August 19, 2026 | Hauler | The Transport ability now allows unloading while the transport is still flying |
August 28, 2026 | Titan | Anti air range cut from 15 to 14 and anti air damage from 24 to 20 a missile |
August 28, 2026 | Ironwing, Predator, Sentinel and Titan | Upgrades consolidated onto a single tier, each costing 125 flux with a 50 second research time, and the Predator mine upgrade temporarily disabled |
August 28, 2026 | Bastion | Overpressure Nozzle moved from tier 1 to tier 2 and Kinetic Mode from tier 2 to tier 1, with the tier 2 upgrade cut from 150 flux to 125 |
August 28, 2026 | Commando | Damage cut from 8 to 7 with the weapon cooldown shortened from 0.89 to 0.8 seconds, and the Eagle Tactics attack and move speed bonus cut from +50% to +40% |
August 28, 2026 | Juggernaut | Damage bonus moved from +100% against medium armor to +100% against heavy |
August 28, 2026 | Strider | Upgrades removed, with the Fortress Mode aura infantry damage bonus raised from 2 to 3 |
August 28, 2026 | Hauler | Can no longer load sieged units |
August 28, 2026 | Research Lab and Sensor Platform | Research Lab footprint raised from 3 tiles to 4, and Sensor Platform vision cut from 40 to 36 |
September 1, 2026 | Predator and Juggernaut | The Predator shield upgrade was fixed, and Juggernaut Heat Discharge now ends when the tank is hidden |
Campaign balance is tuned separately from versus play. On August 6, 2026 Artillery Platforms began requiring a Research Lab before they could be built, and the Juggernaut stopped dealing bonus damage to massive targets, both scoped to the campaign only.
