Exploits are possibilities build in the game unintentionally, and can be used as some kind of cheating.

Remove Negative influences from an islandEdit

You can remove negative influences from an island by buying the island from the enemy by Hostile takeover. When you take over the island, all building will be destroyed including the negative influences. And you don't need a Clearance Device for removing the negative influences.

Notes: You require "Deep Ocean" for this exploit, and positive influences can be removed by this exploit too.

Demo underwater viewEdit

To be able to see underwater in the demo, click on one of the half submerged buildings on Thor Strindberg's island in mission two of chapter one, and press F1. You can now move around underwater with your arrow keys.

Research Money diplomacy exploitEdit

To earn large amounts of money extremely quickly, improve relations with Dr. Tori Bartok immediately until "Research Money" option is available. Then accept a risky investment with as much money possible (haven't tried the other options yet). You will receive extra (large) amounts of balance over the next 2 hours. The total money you are receiving as income from the deal provides more than the money invested. (Sometimes earned a few million from 10k deal although lost around 8k from it but then I got millions). Not really an exploit but a tip rather. (I'll put the date here just in case a patch in the future might not make this work: December 2011)

Technically, you can use this with all NPCs, but the worst person to invest with is Strindberg, when I gave him an Investment of 28,000, he only gave me 535$. Sokow is the second best NPC to do this with, but Bartok has the longest Invesment period, so she is the best.

Infinite Building MaterialsEdit

This exploit involves multiple saves and your ark. When you have obtained a fair amount (10+ or it's not worth it) of the material to clone, save your game and move the materials to your ark. Once it is in your ark reload the save you made and when you are back you will find the items are still in your ark. Works with the 1.02 patch and 2.0 patch.

Career PointsEdit

Just before you complete a world event, save it. Then complete the World Event, get the career points and reload the save you have made and complete it again, etc.

-No Longer Works-

Extra paymentEdit

Load a ship full with one type of good. Sell ONE stack to a NPC, and you will be paid for the other stacks as well, like you sold them two. Only works with full ship, so you will have to replenish the sold stack afterwards in order to repeat.

Note: at Jan. 2013, it does no longer work.

Black SmokerEdit

A black smoker's timer can be ended prematurely by using a Fine Chemicals module that can researched at the Laboratory. The metal deposit that appears will be random, but will become available immediately. The metal deposit is randomized when the item is used, not when the island is settled, allowing you to save before using a Fine Chemical and reload to get the desired deposit. Technically an exploit, this can make all the difference on black smokers which would expire before you can acquire the deposit specific chemical.

Does not apply for Deep Ocean, since the Black Smokers function differently. 

Trenchcoat's LicensesEdit

Items purchased at any other trader can be sold to Trenchcoat at a 20% profit. A small trade fleet constantly shuffling items to Trenchcoat's ship can rack up thousands of licenses in mere minutes.

Doing so will also increase influence with Trenchcoat reliably.

Control Module MayhemEdit

The Laboratory Control Module can be used to dramatically boost the production output of an island. This production boost has the huge advantage of not requiring any additional raw goods, extra cost, or island resources; the extra goods are effectively free. Very powerful and unique chains can be created; for example 2 control modules (+50%) will allow 4 Basalt Crushers to supply 6 Smelters, providing a total of 9 chains output while only consuming 4 crushers worth of basalt. The bonus applies to all facilities that produce a good, including mines which normally have no speed upgrades.

Note that even though a control module increases the yield per 'tick' of production, the time per 'tick' depends on placing farm patches. All farm fields are still required to maximize production. For example two vegetable farmhouses with one field each and 3 control modules (listed as 95% x 2) will still have the same output as a single farm house with 2 fields (listed as 115%), as only 2 fields are operating either way.

Things get more intense as ecobalance causes production to tick at a faster rate. A +75% speed boost from max ecobalance, producing +75% goods from 3x control modules will actually produce at 306% capacity, instead of the 250% listed on the building.

Ebashi Ship Discount/ReplenishmentEdit

When you take a Colossus and send it to Hiro Ebashi and then use the depth charge ability, you will damage the submarines he has for sale. The damaged subs will be offered at a slightly lower price. A second hit will destroy the submarines he has for sale and will be instantly replaced with new subs. You can use this to force Ebashi to offer Deep Sea Hunters since he usually only offers T38's. Hiro Ebashi's base is indestructible and using the depth charge on the ships he has for sale does not lower your reputation with him. But, however, you could sometimes get a small influence deduction with Tilda Jorgensen, if she is in the sector.

Unlimited fuelEdit

If you send back your planes to the airport, than ask them to go to another location immediately when they land on the airport, they will actually move so quickly that they continue to be on the ground. They are moving like normal planes, sounds like normal planes, but they don't run out of fuel.

This exploit had been removed from this article before, but this IS possible, at least when Patch 1.05 works.

As of Patch 2.0, this exploit no longer works, because Ubisoft has changed the warfare in the game which has also changed the way the aircrafts takes off and lands, which makes this exploit useless.

Indestructible NPCsEdit

If you destroy a Nuclear Power Plant belonging to a NPC, that NPC will become impossible to defeat because of the ruin this creates. This exploit can be avoided by avoiding destroying a nuclear power plant directely, with other words, destroy the depot thats supporting it so that its destroyed along with the other buildings supported by the depot once the depot is gone.

In Deep Ocean, it is also possible to remove the ruin with a Hostile Takeover, but that is a fairly expensive (and lenghty) option.

Double the fun!Edit

If you play the Power Games mission and defeat Keto and Hector, there is a slight chance of experiencing an exploit which makes it possible to add them to a session twice instead of just once. Like shown on the picture...

Note: This exploit only works if you choose the difficult continous game, where as Hector and Keto are pre-added to the session, than you may be able to add them one more time if you remove some of the original NPCs.

Commando Ship MayhemEdit

If you buy a command ship from your Ark, and then quickly (you only have a few seconds) move your Ark to a new  destination, the command ship will be "locked" inside the Ark. You can then buy one more command ship. If you are able to do this just right, you're able to buy endless of command ships from the Ark, but 3 is what that was attained during a test run of this exploit. Do however note, that the more commando ships you buy, the less time you will have to move the Ark to a new destination. This works with the 2.0 patch.

Also note that this exploit also works with the T38 Ocean Glider purchased from the Ark. So far, its proved that its possible to buy up to 4 ships at once, but it requires you to move the Ark very quickly.

'Cause I can't wait for the building achievement!Edit

If you build a building for which an achievement exists, like the Water Off! achievement for building multiple hydroelectric power plants, there is a kind of nasty exploit. If you demolish the depot supporting the building (the building must become neutral for this exploit to work), and then build a new depot so that it brings the building inside your influence area, thereby making it yours again, the building will count as a new building, therefore increasing the count on the building achievement for that building. This makes it very easy to obtain the building achievements, like Water Off!.

Piece of cakeEdit

In the final mission of the campaign you can buy hijackers from Thome to hijack F.A.T.H.E.R.'s ships. They will have a shield item with 15.000 hp and 50.000 regeneration, that means that it will recover to full capacity almost immediately. Just watch out that you don't EMP your own ships when you attack F.A.T.H.E.R.'s ark...

I need the goods!Edit

If you buy some Shipment deliveries from Trenchcoat (available when you have 30 influence points with him), set up some trade requests in a desired warehouse and than click the Delivery Service button in the upper right corner of the warehouse, your able to order to goods at ALL times during that session, even when Trenchcoat is not in the sector. This can be used as a significant advantage if you play against a human player and that player destroyes your production chain. You are pretty much able to order all kind of goods, but do however note; it will cost you to do so, but it will keep your population from leaving at least for a short time so that you have a chance of rebuilding the production chains that were lost.

Stay AWAY from my backup-island!Edit

If you first settle one island as your main island, and then settle an island right next to it and have the warehouses lined up with each other, you are actually completely free to have these 2 islands without any problems, if you do it right. Because if you have some +30% attack range upgrades for all military buildings on one of the islands (you can buy this upgrade from eg. Dr. Tori Bartok for a few houndred licenses) the attack range of your harbour turrets will become so large, that they can without any problem cover an extra island instead of just the one island they're built on. With 5 +30% upgrades (to have so many of them, you require the Deep Ocean Expansion, but the upgrade itself is available without the expansion), you are pretty much immune to any enemy attack if you build enough turrets. Do however note that it's difficult to pull off this exploit as there are only a few islands that are perfectly lined up with each other which makes them ideal for using this exploit.

For the main article about defences and strategies for defending an island, see Defences.

For the main article about Defence Turrets and how to fully take advantage of this exploit, see Harbor Defense Turret.

Change items sold for free Edit

Simply buy any items from the NPC you don't need and sell it right back to it. Then check back a while later and the NPC will have restocked new items in their place. Especially useful for expanding NPCs since the cost of changing it normally is shared across islands.

This can be combined with the Trenchcoat trick above to actually gain Licenses this way.