Tempest Rising now has three playable armies, and they aren’t built around matching one another unit for unit. GDF, Dynasty and Veti each approach the battlefield differently, so learning the roster is less about memorizing names and more about understanding what each faction expects you to do with them. Exciting, right?
The big change is the Veti. The faction became fully playable on September 29, 2026, alongside The Veti’s Wrath. You don’t need the paid expansion to use Veti units in Multiplayer or Skirmish; the DLC is required for the new Veti campaign.
If you’re coming back to Tempest Rising after a break, this is the part of the roster you should pay the most attention to. Veti doesn’t play like a simple third skin for GDF or Dynasty, and several of their units were changed between the beta and full release.
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All Tempest Rising Units
The current rosters contain 25 GDF units, 24 Dynasty units and 23 Veti units and that gives Tempest Rising 72 units across those four main categories when harvesters, construction vehicles and specialists are included.
The factions are deliberately asymmetrical. Mobility and communications are quite important for GDF. Also don’t forget about intel and marking targets. Dynasty favors heavier firepower and Tempest-based mechanics. Veti goes in a completely different direction, using Enlightened as a resource for several unit abilities and support systems.
GDF Units
GDF is probably the easiest faction to understand at first glance, but there’s more going on than tanks and infantry moving around the map. A lot of its roster works around mobility, scouting, communications and marking targets before heavier units move in.
Its infantry covers the usual early-game jobs, from scouting and engineering to grenades and anti-armor support, while the vehicle side gradually adds more specialized tools. The Hunter Tank gives GDF a conventional frontline option, but things become more interesting once units such as the Shieldmaiden or Comms Rig enter the picture.
The same idea carries into the air. Peacekeepers and Quellers give you offensive options, while units such as the Drone Control Unit support the wider GDF system rather than simply adding another gun to the army. That’s what I find most noticeable about GDF: individual units often make more sense once they’re used as part of the faction’s wider Intel and Comms mechanics rather than judged on their own.
Tempest Dynasty Units
Dynasty feels much more direct. Its roster is built around maintaining pressure and bringing increasingly dangerous weapons onto the field as the match develops. Early infantry like Dynasty Guards and Missile Troopers are straightforward enough, but the faction quickly moves into heavier options such as the Boar Tank or Tempest Sphere.
Even some of its stranger units still fit that aggressive identity. The Porcupine gives Dynasty long-range pressure, while aircraft such as the Matchstick and Hammerhand let it keep that pressure going from above.
The important thing is that Dynasty doesn’t simply mirror GDF with different models. Its progression and Tempest-based mechanics change how parts of the army perform as you move through the tech tree, which makes its roster feel more focused on escalation.
Veti Units
Veti is where the current Tempest Rising unit roster gets much more interesting. Its six infantry units are Ambassador, Enlightened, Acolyte, Golem, Revenant and Seeker. Seekers and Acolytes are among the early units you can use to put together your first attack force.
The seven Veti vehicles are Subjugator, Warden, Luminary, Phantom Artillery, Gorgon, Dominance Arc and War Ender. They don’t line up neatly with GDF or Dynasty equivalents. Subjugators, for example, can create Enlightened from killed enemy infantry, while Phantom Artillery teleports demolition charges onto distant targets. Gorgon can teleport into attack range, and the enormous War Ender uses God’s Eye and Spike Barrage as its main weapons.
Veti’s aircraft are Caretaker, Messenger, Constellation, Thunderhead, and Vimana. Caretakers are especially important because they aren’t simply combat aircraft; they are tied directly into Veti expansion and construction. You can use them from the opening stage of a match to help establish new bases and Tempest harvesting sites.
The final part of the roster is its five specialists: Aegis, Ascended, Augur, Cultivator and Shepherd. These lean heavily into the faction’s stranger mechanics. Shepherd can convert enemy infantry into Enlightened, while Cultivator applies Tempest Charge and can summon damaging Tempest vines.
How Veti Units Progress During a Match
Veti’s unit progression is useful to understand because you don’t simply get access to all 23 units at once. Early on, units such as Seekers and Acolytes form the basic fighting force. Once the War Assembly and Celestial Gate are available, Wardens, Subjugators, Caretakers and Messengers become part of the normal army.
Higher tech levels eventually open the way to units such as Phantom Artillery, Gorgon, War Ender, Constellation, Thunderhead, Vimana and the specialist roster. I wouldn’t treat this as a strict “best unit” order, though. That would be a matter of skill and style of play.
Veti Units Changed for Full Release
If you played the Veti beta, don’t assume every unit works exactly as you remember. The September 29 release update changed a sizable part of the roster. Seeker received more health and movement speed, Messenger became cheaper and considerably faster and Thunderhead received increases to both health and movement speed. Warden, Luminary, Cultivator, Dominance Arc, Phantom Artillery, Gorgon and Vimana were also adjusted.
War Ender went the other way. Its attack area was reduced to make it less effective at deleting tightly grouped armies in one hit. Enlightened were also reclassified as Support units, while the automatic range used by units that call Enlightened into garrisons was doubled.
That makes older beta guides useful for understanding how Veti works, but I wouldn’t rely on their numbers. For current unit behavior, the full-release changes should take priority.
Are Veti Units Free in Tempest Rising?
Yes. Veti can be played in Multiplayer, Custom Games and Skirmish by anyone who owns the Tempest Rising base game. You only need to buy The Veti’s Wrath if you want the 11-mission Veti story campaign.
For me, that’s also the easiest way to think about the current Tempest Rising roster: GDF and Dynasty remain the original two armies, while Veti adds a genuinely different third playstyle rather than filling the same unit slots with new models.
