The Fourth Wall: The Dominion, the Galactic Empire

The Dominion is a vicious empire that will stop at nothing to achieve its staunch goal of complete galactic conquest. This is simply because the Eldan told them to do it. The Cassians were gifted advanced technology and a race of protectors, the Mechari, to guide them on a heavy burden placed on them. “Become the rulers of the galaxy, it’s your destiny.” That was the message, and they heard it loud and clear.

The entirety that is Wildstar is focused around this mission. Without it, we would not be on Nexus, there would be no Exiles and there would certainly be no Dominion. Let’s dive right into this Galactic Empire and its vast collective of races.

Similar to the Exiles, it is important to make one defining fact about the Dominion clear: They rule the galaxy. There are no ifs, ands, or buts about it. The Dominion have squashed the human rebellion to the fringes of space, they have turned Grismara into a ravenous wasteland with their blockade, and Arboria is likely still on fire and being drained of resources as we speak. The only exception to this is Gnox, which has been left alone for over 600 years and I’m almost positive is consistently monitored. Anyone who opposes the Dominion will be torched, their planet ripped to shreds, and their names simply a small scorch mark on the pages of history.

The discovery of Nexus is the Dominion’s magnum opus. The world of their Gods has been discovered and it’s theirs for the taking. The Exiles have proven a menacing threat, but their main causes for concern seem to be within the instability of their own power structure, which is evident within the first few leveling zones. The Dominion, as I said in the last article, cannot apply their usual strategy to Nexus. They cannot burn the entire thing to the ground (though they have in Exile heavy zones). This is practically the promised land. They have staked claim to the entire planet and all the technology on it. Their main goal now is to find out what happened the Eldan, reunite with them, and continue their ultimate destiny.

Though the Dominion seems to have some very curious and suspicious going-ons. Emperor Myrcalus’s existence is questionable. At the end of the Dominion starting zone, the ICI inform you that he has not been seen in person for fifty years or so. The Draken seem to have no interest on Nexus but that of the Dominion Dominance and murder-deathing a variety of new enemies. The Chua are hungry for technology and explosions, and the Mechari, well, they seem to have their own agenda.

While the Exiles prime mission on Nexus is based solely on survival, the Dominion’s is based on destiny. Sure, the Cassians are the ones holding that destiny, but the other races of the Dominion can share in that glory, so long as they are helpful. But let’s dig right into the Dominion Races and what you need to keep in mind.

Cassians

The Cassians have two main social groups within them. There are the Highborn and the Lowborn. The Highborn, are just that, the high and mighty rulers of the Dominion. Most houses of the Highborn claim to have Eldan lineage. The Lowborn are those without Eldan roots. They do the lower class jobs like front lines soldiers and farming. The caste system is alive and well in Cassian culture and it’s the reasons that the Humans of the Exiles are no longer part of the Dominion. The majority of them were Lowborn, tired of the Highborn’s pompous and self righteous attitude. While the game likes to explore the politics, all the Cassians agree on one thing: Nexus is their people’s Destiny.

Things to keep in mind when playing a Cassian:

• The Cassians are related to their counterparts in the Exiles. Nothing about this has changed.
• Cassians are a very proper people, even some of their Lowborn consider themselves superior.
• The Highborn have various associated “Houses.” While we do not know what all these Greater Houses of Luminai are, to be associated with one usually means a short hop to high positions of power and quick entrance into privileged groups.
• There are still Lowborn that do not agree with the tactics of the Dominion and are rebelling against them. While they may not be attempting to leave the Dominion, they simply wish to be treated fairly and equally to others.
• The Vigilant Church is an important aspect of Cassian Culture and offers major opportunities to Highborn, while keeping Lowborn far lower on the totem poll.
• They are still squishy Humans, regardless of their ancestry.

Mechari

Robots? In my RP? Yes please! I adore the Mechari immensely. The Mechari are a robotic race built by the Eldan whose main purpose is to guide the Cassians and the Dominion down its path of galactic rule. They have been both mentor, servant, and partner to the Cassians during their time together. They are not part of some sort of “Hive-mind” and there are many Mechari that are do menial tasks. However, their origins, while we know they lie with the Eldan and Nexus, are still a mystery and the Mechari like it that way. The Imperial Corps of Intelligence, or ICI, is run by some of the most ancient Mechari and focus on gathering information, keeping information, and rooting out those not loyal to the Dominion. As seen in the very beginning of the game, they are ruthless integrators and weed out any hint of disobedience from within the faction. Perhaps the greatest part of the Mechari is their interaction with the Cassians. The Mechari consider themselves superior to the Cassians. They were created directly by the Eldan, thus making them the closest thing to the Eldan’s children that exist. The Cassians, however, consider the Mechari to be the servants of the Cassians, reminding them frequently of this. There is a constant, amazing, tension that grinds between the overarching smiles of the two races and it is extremely enjoyable to watch. What the Mechari’s angle is overall is still unclear, but rest assured, they know far more than they are letting on.

Things to consider when playing a Mechari:

• The Mechari still sleep, eat, drink, feel pain and make whoopie like any other race, regardless of their mechanical bodies. This was done to humanize the Mechari to the other races, as to not be intimated.
• The “Millennials” are very old Mechari, that have been around for over a thousand years. Mechari simply require routine maintenance to maintain their bodies.
• The Crystals on their head and eyes is made from a rare substance called Exanite and is basically their brain. This substance is made from all six primal energies. White-colored Exanite means that it is completely balanced, while any change in color means that there is more of one element than another. An example would be a blue crystal means the Exanite has more primal water. These differences do not seem to change their personalities.
• While it’s stated that the Mechari have no sense of humor, what humor they seem to have is very dry and a tad demented.
• Their body shapes were determined by the Eldan to what they found most aesthetically pleasing. Thus the male Mechari are very broad and female Mechari are very curvy and waspy.

Draken

The Draken are the warriors of the Dominion. They have become their own personal army. After the failure that was converting the Granok into the Dominion, the Mechari turned to the Draken. The race was practically built to fight and their entire culture is built around honor and the blood of battle. The Dominion Emperor at the time decided to challenge the Draken leader to a winner-take-all match. The Emperor won and the Draken have been at the Dominion’s command ever since. To be honest, the whole situation is kind of a win-win for the Draken. They like to kill things and fight in epic battles, and they get that. Constantly. The Dominion fuels their need for fighting and Draken serve them extremely well. They thirst for blood and challenge anyone that looks them the wrong way.

Things to keep in mind when playing a Draken:

• The Draken have a rich culture of Old Gods. While the entire Dominion is expected to follow the Church’s way, the Draken still worship their ancient gods (Such as Shezka, the Goddess of Strength or Hazak, the God of Loyalty).
• Mikros, the Draken Homeworld, is tidally locked around a red-giant. Thus, the desert and harsh climates do not bother them in the least.
• Male Draken are usually warriors, while the Female Draken are usually Stalkers. This is based on their body shape and natural disposition. This is not to say one cannot be the other, it is just more common this way.
• The Draken have rich traditions in hunting in the wilds. Both with the Great Hunt and the Huntresses.
• Draken employ Bloodshamans. Which is slightly terrifying.

Chua

As the intro video said, the Chua are the Dominion’s dirty little secret. The Chua are insanity and genius all wrapped into one bite-sized fuzz ball. The Dominion gifted Eldan technology to the Chua, to accelerate their progress. At the time, they were a nature-based race, similar to the Aurin. Within 100 years their home world was drained dry of all its natural resources. The Chua soaked up the technology so fast and produced such amazing products, the Dominion would’ve been fools to not invite them to join. Not to mention the Chua needed resources, desperately. With their knack for innovation and explosions, the Dominion found a helpful, though slightly terrifying, ally. There is honestly not too much else. They are sadistic, demented tricksters with a knack for technology. Space hamsters!

Things to keep in mind while playing Chua:

• Chua have little regard for life itself and seem to only care about their own entertainment and the advancement of their own scientific progress.
• The Chua have no gender that is noticeable by other races. While they all look the same, there are certainly a male and a female sex, though only Chua are able to tell. 
• Chua practically worship science, but it is not known if they have any other religion besides this.
• The Chua were always tricksters. When the Mechari gifted them Eldan Technology, they handed them a bug that instantly exploded in their face as thanks.
• Most Chua live in “Collectives” which is their social circle/family. While they are not all usually related, they are all working toward similar goals and are expected to protect them at all cost.
• Competitiveness is a natural instinct to the Chua.

There is so much more about the Dominion that I would love to go on about. Things you will find out while playing and my own crazy head-theories about them, but the Dominion have a great social dynamic with each other and the tension between all the races could not be more rough. If you have not played a Dominion character, I highly suggest rolling at least one, just to experience some of the early questing zones on Nexus, probably some of my favorites and great examples of their entire culture. Where the game takes this empire is going to be VERY interesting and I cannot wait to see what happens next.

With the Strain Ultra-drop around the corner, next week we’ll be discussing how consistent content pages from Carbine will affect the Roleplaying community. Until next time!