The Four Empires are New Eden's four great powers - the Amarr Empire, the Caldari State, the Gallente Federation, and the Minmatar Republic. In EVE Vanguard they sit behind the action as political backdrop rather than a squad you fight, and these powers shape much of what the Warclones carry, from weapon designs to faction rivalries.
None of these powers deploys openly against the Vanguard. All four stay officially neutral toward the Warclone insurgency, yet each keeps a close watch on where the movement is heading. The stakes center on Avalon, the wandering Warclone flotilla, and the question of which corner of New Eden it will one day call home.
Amarr and the Templar legacy
The Amarr Empire holds the deepest tie to the Warclones of any of the Four Empires. Amarr research produced the Templar program, the origin of the technologically immortal soldier - an infomorph whose consciousness rides in neural implants and transfers between expendable bodies after death. That lineage runs straight into the modern Warclone you play across every deployment. Of the four, Amarr is the one whose science set the extraction war in motion, even though the Empire never meant for its Templars to slip free and fight for a settlement of their own.
You can see the imprint on the battlefield. Several weapons in the alpha wear faction-flavored names drawn from the empires - Amarr laser and beam designs, Minmatar ballistic hardware - a reminder that empire arsenals seeded the gear Warclones now field. Check the weapons list for the current lineup.
Four powers, one frontier
Beyond Amarr, the Four Empires split into three more powers, each with its own read on the Vanguard. The Caldari State is the corporate, militarized power of New Eden. The Gallente Federation is its liberal, democratic rival. The Minmatar Republic is the tribal nation forged out of a fight against slavery. Together with Amarr they make up the empires that have shaped New Eden's politics for centuries before a single Warclone dropped onto a hostile planet.
For all their differences, the three watch the same thing Amarr does: a new force of immortal soldiers operating outside every empire's law. These powers hold no shared policy on the Vanguard, and that gap is exactly where players and in-game events push the story forward.
Neutral on paper, competing in practice
Officially, the Four Empires stay out of the Warclone war. None claims the Vanguard, and none openly declares against it. Underneath that neutrality, the empires compete - quietly - over where Avalon finally settles. The flotilla has to take refuge somewhere in New Eden, and every one of the Four Empires would rather that somewhere fall inside its own sphere than a rival's.
There is no fixed answer to that question. The destination of Avalon is player-driven: EVE Online capsuleers earn Vanguard Tokens and spend them in their empire's space to tilt the outcome, while Warclone contracts feed the same wider conflict. In that sense the Four Empires act less like static lore and more like a scoreboard the community fills in over time.
Where the Warclones stand
The Warclones sever from the Deathless Circle, the coalition that first developed their tech, and strike out on their own - which is why the Four Empires matter to your side of the fight. A free Vanguard answers to no empire, so each power treats the movement as both a threat and an opportunity. Wherever Avalon puts down roots, one of the Four Empires stands to gain a heavily armed, technologically immortal neighbor - and none of them wants that neighbor to belong to someone else.
Frequently asked questions
Who are the Four Empires in EVE Vanguard?
They are New Eden's four great powers: the Amarr Empire, the Caldari State, the Gallente Federation, and the Minmatar Republic. In Vanguard they act as political backdrop - neutral superpowers whose history, arsenals, and ambitions shape the Warclone war rather than a faction you directly battle.
Do the Four Empires fight the Warclones directly?
No. All four stay officially neutral toward the Vanguard and do not deploy against you in the alpha. Their real contest is over where Avalon, the Warclone flotilla, will settle - an outcome that players and EVE Online capsuleers help decide through Vanguard Tokens and contracts.