The X-universe is home to many species and factions.   Each race has unique ships and factories making it an important choice whether to befriend or fight any given race.   There are also corporations that have their own hidden reputation ranks which mirror those of their affiliated race.

Races

Argon

Allies: Boron

Neutral:

Enemies: Kha'ak, Paranid, Pirates,  Xenon, Yaki

Territories: Sectors surrounding Argon Prime, Light of Heart and between Nyana's Hideout and Belt of Agullar, also own Getsu Fune and Guiding Star

Comments: The distribution of territories and number of corporations affiliated with this race make it difficult to find a sector without some argon warships.   Argon shipyards are the only source of Phased Repeater Gun Forges, Cluster Flak Artillery Array Forges, Firestorm Torpedo Factories and Rimes Factories.   Unless the player sides with Beryll during the Shady Business missions, the Argon are also the only source of Space Fuel Distilleries.   Argon ships tend to be all rounders with a good balance of performance and cost.

AGI Task Force (ATF)

Allies: Terran

Neutral:

Enemies: Argon, Boron, Kha'ak, Pirates,  Xenon, Yaki

Territories: Althes, Megnir and Segaris

Comments:   Reputation is linked to that of the Terran race.   Like the Terran, ATF ships tend to be high cost, high performance with high shielding and firepower.   ATF ships cannot use Commonwealth weapons or missiles (except the Aamon Prototype).   Factories from this Race have unique shapes with player built factories looking completely different from NPC placed ones.   A major limiting factor for using Terran ships is the availability of Electro Magnetic Plasma Cannons.   Boarding the ATF Valhalla (M2+) is a diplomatic challenge that can make the ATF hostile.

Boron

Allies: Argon

Neutral:

Enemies: Kha'ak, Pirates, Split, Xenon, Yaki

Territories: Five clusters of sectors in the corners and middle of the X-universe map

Comments:   If fighting the Argon in the war zones be careful not to make enemies of the Boron as well.   The only source of Recon Drone Factories and ion weapon forges.   Boron ships have high speed and low cost in exchange for low shielding and weak laser generators.

Goner

Allies:

Neutral:

Enemies: Kha'ak, Pirates,  Xenon, Yaki

Territories: Elysium of Light and Harmony of Perpetuity

Comments:   In X3: Albion Prelude the Goner stations offer no missions making the gaining of reputation difficult.   Elysium of Light is used to spawn the argon fleets that push in the war zone sectors making the sector very dangerous if your Argon reputation is lower than your Terran reputation.

Kha'ak

Allies: None

Neutral: None

Enemies: Everybody

Territories: None

Comments: A rare sight in X3: Albion Prelude.   Kha'ak M3-M5 ships will rarely spawn (usually around the Light of Heart sectors) but never in large numbers.   Claimable Kha'ak fighers can also spawn along with Secret Containers.   Although Kha'ak ships can be reverse engineered and built in the Player Headquarters, there is no way to obtain weapons to equip them with.

Paranid

Allies: Split

Neutral: Teladi

Enemies: Argon

Territories: Sectors spanning Emperor's Mines to Preacher's Refuge, sectors around Third Redemption and Friar's Retreat and Cathedral of Xaar

Comments:   Paranid ships have low speed and a high cost but have high shielding and firepower.   The Paranid are the only source of Phased Shockwave Generator Forges, Tractor Beam Factories and Hornet Missile Factories.

Pirates

Allies: Yaki

Neutral: Teladi (some)

Enemies: Argon, ATF, Boron, Goners, Kha'ak, Paranid, Split, Terran, Xenon

Territories: Sectors between Elena's Fortune and Aladna Hill, Sectors surrounding Third Redemption, Sectors south of Merchant Haven, Vestibule of Creation, Void of Opportunity, Lasting Vengeance and Veil of Delusion 

Comments:   There are actually two pirate factions with independent reputations.   Pirate reputation will not show up under the My Pilot Status menu and stations do not alter the announcement when docked.   If a player is friendly with the Pirates newly spawned pirate ships from pirate owned stations will start as hostile and revert to friendly when out of sector.   When pirate ships enter a new sector they will become hostile and revert back to friendly again shortly if out of sector.   Pirates have no shipyard so all pirate only ships need to be capped.   In X3: Albion Prelude there are enough military patrols that pirates never pose a threat outside the sectors south of Merchant Haven even if the player is hostile towards them.   Pirate ships tend to be high damage, high speed but low shielding.   Pirate bases and factories are the primary consumers of illegal wares.

Split

Allies: Paranid

Neutral: Teladi

Enemies: Argon, Boron

Territories: Sectors surrounding Family Pride, Wretched Skies, Ghinn's Escape, Contorted Dominion and Zyarth's Stand

Comments: Split ships are high damage, high speed and low cost but have low durability.   Many split ships are used by players because they can be obtained early in the game or pack significant firepower with the agility to use it.   Split shipyards are the only way to obtain Tornado Missile Factories, Disintegrator Rifles Fabs, Ion Shard Railgun Forges, Mass Driver Forges and Pulsed Beam Emitter Forges.

Teladi

Allies:

Neutral: Argon, Boron, Goners, Paranid, Pirates, Split

Enemies: Kha'ak, Pirates, Xenon, Yaki

Territories: Sector clusters bordering Family Whi and Xenon Sector 347, sectors arround Bright Profit, Bad Debt, Ministry of Finance and CEO's Wellspring

Comments: Teladi ships tend to have a low speed but high cargo hold.   Sentinel variants of Teladi ships tend to have stats of a low end ship of the class above making them very powerful.   Being friends with the Teladi gives access to Energy Bolt Chaingun and Gauss Cannon forges and ammunion factories along with Teladianium Foundries, Drone Production Facilities (Freight Drones), Typhoon Missile Factories and Flak Artillery Array Forges.   Unless the player sides with Beryll during the Shady Business missions, the Teladi are also the only source of Bliss Place (Space Weed) stations.

Terran

Allies: ATF

Neutral:

Enemies: Argon, Pirates,  Xenon, Yaki

Territories: The Sol and Aldrin systems

Comments: Reputation is linked to that of the ATF race.   Like the ATF, Terran ships tend to be high cost, high performance with high shielding and firepower.   Terran ships cannot use Commonwealth weapons or missiles (except the Aamon Prototype).   Factories from this Race have unique shapes with player built factories looking completely different from NPC placed ones.   A major limiting factor for using Terran ships is the availability of Electro Magnetic Plasma Cannons.   The Terran Springblossom (M6) is a popular ship for players to fly in due to the good balance of shielding, speed and cargo capacity making it ideal for random missions.

Xenon

Allies: None

Neutral: None

Enemies: Everybody

Territories: Xenon Sectors by Nopileos' Memorial, Scale Plate Green, Black Hole Sun, Menelaus' Paradise and between Grand Exchange and Segaris

Comments: This faction is impossible to get to like you.   Xenon M6s, M7s, M2s and M1s will frequently raid nearby sectors followed by a fighter escort.   Occasionally fighter only migrations will occur usually via Grand Exchange and Thyn's Abyss.   Xenon will only invade Segaris if the Xenon Hub is used to make a shortcut between Xenon Sector and the northern Xenon Sectors.   Xenon fighter have a high morale making bailing rare.   Xenon M6 and capital ships have a high innate boarding resistance making casualty free boarding operations with less than the maximum number of marines marines impossible and even with the maximum number there is a high chance of fatalities.   Capped Xenon ships usually have a very low production cost/time in the Player Headquarters making them good ships for mass production. 

Yaki

Allies: Pirates

Neutral:

Enemies: Argon, ATF, Boron, Goner, Kha'ak, Paranid, Split, Teladi, Terran, Xenon

Territories: The three sectors south of Savage Spur which is west of the Paranid Prime cluster of systems

Comments: Yaki raiders will be found attacking ships and stations throughout the northern Split sectors and neighbouring Teladi sectors.   Yaki also occasionally spawn in Harmony of Perpetuity (Goner sector).   Yaki ships will often spawn as hostiles for the Defend Station missions.   The ships sold by the Yaki shipyard in Senator's Badlands have a high price and low durability combined with below average damage output.   Players will often make enemies of the Yaki due to the abundance of weak TL and M1 class ships present in Yaki sectors that can be used for boarding practice to train the Fighting skill of marines/mercenaries.   If the player sides with Beryll during the Shady Business missions the Yaki shipyard becomes the only source of Incendiary Bomb Launcher and Plasma Burst Generator forges.   Yaki reputation will not show up under the My Pilot Status menu but can be guessed from the announcements when docking at a Yaki station.   Yaki pilots use the same avatars as Pirates.

Corporations

Unlike X3: Terran Conflict most corporations offer no effect on gameplay other than the unique range of wares offered at their headquarters

Atreus

Affiliation: Boron

Base of operations: Queen's Harbour

Comments: Sells Jumpdrives.

Beryll

Affiliation: Yaki

Base of operations: Albion Alpha

Comments: Only owns a research station but plays an important role in the Shady Business missions.   Sells Supply Command Software for those hostile with the Argon.

Duke's Dangerous Materials (Duke's)

Affiliation: Pirates

Base of operations: Lasting Vengence

Comments: Has a large Paranid and Pirate fleet guarding the headquarters.   Players who are enemy with the Pirates can often find Mercury TS freighter ships belonging to this corporation which can be a good source of salvageable goods and early TS traders.   The headquarters is the only source of the Software Signature Scrambler equipment which is a must have for using the System Override Software.

Industritech

Affiliation: Terran

Base of operations: Saturn Research Station (Saturn)

Comments: The only corporation to show up in the My Pilot Status menu in X3: Albion Prelude.   This is the focus of the Corporation Troubles missions.   Although this corporation has no headquarters to call home (what would have been the headquarters gets given as a reward for completing the missions) all missions affecting reputation are given out from Saturn Research Station.

Jonferco

Affiliation: Argon

Base of operations: Belt of Agullar

Comments: Plays an important role in the Shady Business missions

Nividium Mining & Manufacturing Corporation (NMMC)

Affiliation: Teladi

Base of operations: PTNI Headquarters

Comments: Buys Nividium.

OTAS

Affiliation: Argon

Base of operations: Legend's Home

Comments: Has a shipyard with a unique range.   The headquarters sells the Jumpdrive and Docking Computer equipment.   The Boreas (M2), Solano (M4+) and Sirokos (M7M) are excellent ships.

Plutarch

Affiliation: Teladi

Base of operations: Albion Delta

Comments: Buys Nividium.

Strongarms

Affiliation: Split

Base of operations: Thyn's Excavation

Comments: Plays an important role in the Shady Business missions.   Only place that buys Terran EMP Rifles outside of the Sol sectors.

Terracorp

Affiliation: Argon

Base of operations: Home of Light

Comments: The headquarters sells the Transporter Device, Jumpdrive, Best Buys Locator, Best Sells Locator and Trade Command Software MK3 equipment along with Salvage Insurance.   This makes the headquarters very convenient to equip new ships.