Exark Great Houses Guide - Four Houses and Playstyles

What Are Great Houses in Exark?

Great Houses are the factions you can lead in Exark. The official launch announcement confirms four playable Houses, each with a different identity and route to victory. Their starting ark, buildings, crew, and bonuses should be checked against the in-game House preview because those details can change between patches.

The Four Launch Great Houses

House	Official identity	What is confirmed	What to verify in-game
House Arioch	Ingenious	Diurnal Ark; gearwrights and artificers; multicast bonuses and permanent inventions	Starting buildings, exact bonuses, and the current best opening
House Mnesis	Industrious	A playable launch House with its own strategy	Ark name, starting package, and production bonuses
House-in-Exile	Symbiotic	A playable launch House with its own strategy	Ark, crew interactions, and the strongest route to victory
House Imperia	Necromantic	A playable launch House; the launch note mentioned placeholder art for some buildings	Current art, building effects, and crew/relic synergies

House Arioch: The Best Documented Starting Point

House Arioch is the safest recommendation for a first evidence-based guide because its official playtest notes describe its Diurnal Ark, precision engineering, gearwrights, artificers, multicast bonuses, and permanent inventions. The same notes say Arioch generally prefers a tall strategy: keep a smaller set of buildings and upgrade them rather than expanding everywhere.

How to Choose a House

1. Pick Arioch if you want the clearest documented production-and-upgrade learning path.
2. Pick Mnesis if you want to test the industrious identity and record its production interactions.
3. Pick House-in-Exile if you want to explore a symbiotic build and document its crew/building relationships.
4. Pick Imperia if you want the necromantic route; capture the current building art and effects before committing to a tier list.

Accuracy note: This page intentionally separates official House identities from in-game numbers. Do not treat an un-captured cost, bonus, or unlock condition as verified.