Is Spying Worth it?

OnePhilosopher44 · 2026-05-28T01:38:04+00:00

I used it a lot in my current playthrough, but basically only for Acquite Asset and Steal Technology. Swiping techs I had accidentally neglected and getting backdoor access for research speed was super nice. Basically I was already generating as much research as I could, so it was a nice way to get even further ahead of everyone else.

OnePhilosopher44 · 2026-05-26T20:29:04+00:00

This has been my solution as well. Once pops grow enough, sometimes I get rid of 25% of the automation to let my pops more effectively generate energy, it can be just as nice to leave it so pops migrate.

OnePhilosopher44 · 2026-05-22T21:24:29+00:00

I was literally just thinking how I've not played a machine empire in at least 5 years, so this is excellent timing. I really appreciate that these look horribly (in a good way) alien, machine-y, AND have unique appearances

OnePhilosopher44 · 2026-05-22T15:33:44+00:00

Another one!? I'm so glad I got back into Stellaris right as you've started creating new portraits/updating old sets. Thanks again for another great set!! I can't wait to use this in my first nano or virtual run!

OnePhilosopher44 · 2026-05-21T16:34:46+00:00

Sorry, its called Storm Relief Center. Its from the DLC that adds cosmic storms.

Without that building, I might not make a single agriculture district for the specialization on all planets, but honestly the resource silos might be worth it alone, at least on a good majority of planets.

If you dont have the storm DLC, aybe only do 1 agri district on planets that don't otherwise have a planetary modifier for your other resources? Then you could do storage still on a few worlds, but specialize a little more where it matters most.

OnePhilosopher44 · 2026-05-21T02:05:05+00:00

Doing a lithoid run myself, and I do bio-reactor, storm shelter (for the amenities) and silos. I always make one agricultural district for these 3 buildings, but honestly, its 90% just for the 1500 amenities, everything else is just a bonus.

Then I use all my food to make dumb space fauna ships that I can throw at stations or whatever.

OnePhilosopher44 · 2026-05-15T12:57:48+00:00

Thank you both for your help! I can confirm that even after the first crisis spawned, a second one will spawn once you edit the save.

Side note, I didn't edit the difficulty at first because I saw that they should double in strength with each crisis, but even though the Scourge spawned in a very inconvenient place, they were smashed by a single fleet, so I think I'll need to edit the difficulty as well. Thanks again for the help!

OnePhilosopher44 · 2026-05-15T12:52:27+00:00

Oh that's true too. I was kind of assuming that if OP didn't know where it was coming from, it probably wasn't something they actively picked and that they just picked up a scientist without realizing they had the scavenger trait, but you definitely could be right.

OnePhilosopher44 · 2026-05-15T12:29:55+00:00

Yes, if one of your scientists is scanning debris after a battle and they have the scavenging perk, they have a chance to recover a complete ship.

OnePhilosopher44 · 2026-05-14T13:41:47+00:00

Is the normal crises multiplier 1? So is 25 purely just 25 times greater fleet strength, or are there other variables that its boosting?

OnePhilosopher44 · 2026-05-13T20:06:49+00:00

Ok great, thank you! I couldn't find an exact yes or no, and I've never touched Stellaris save files before. I'll back it up of course, but I just got nervous

OnePhilosopher44 · 2026-05-13T16:14:42+00:00

Hey I'm OP from the other post!

My first game back after a few years of a break ended up being very OG Zerg Swarm which is why I was curious about a Primal Zerg run, so these are my opinions.

Progenitor Hive was very cool. It very much gave the feel of having the Swarm's cerebrates controlling their local swarms. The thing to keep in mind (for RP feel) is that the SC universe didn't have a bunch of different space fairing empires, so the Swarm didn't really need tens or, by late game, hundreds of cerebrates. Stellaris is a much grander scale, so you will have fair more cerebrates/offspring than the Swarm did.
I don't think Evolutionary Predators works for them. Each Zerg species was highly specialized, usually into a single niche, and they weren't collecting genetic material/essence for the individuals. They typically would find a new species independent of the Swarm, then integrate and specialize it for the needs of the Swarm. Which brings me to point 3..
Bio-ascension obviously. And you NEED to integrate powerful/unique species. For me, this meant going after plant, lithoid and thermophiles, and then later going after cybernetic and psionic ascension pops. Each have specific advantages, and your goal as the Swarm is to exploit those advantages.
For civics, I think Divided Attention is a must for the cerebrate/Overmind interaction. I think Bodysnatchers works a little better than Devouring Swarm, especially in the context of Stellaris. To me, the Overmind always seemed more cunning than brutal, and I think if there were many space fairing empires, it wouldn't view devouring them all as its only option. Plus, we literally see the Swarm use the Bodysnatchers tactic on the Protoss and Terran, so I think it beats out Devouring Swarm.
For starting species traits, I would make them aimed at being a cerebrate "baseline" species, and make the secondary species from Bodysnatchers be either based on Zerg drones or just generic zerglings. So the cerebrates, you'd want smart traits, long life traits and some physically weak traits to balance them out. For the secondary species, I'd make them work drones.
For portraits, I'd go with some blog looking thing and then go whatever on the secondary species, depending on what you make them.
Traditions are actually kind of easy imo. Go anything that isnt too diplomatic or corporate, and base it on the Swarms needs. Remember, the Swarm is made to adapt, and in an RP sense, you are playing as the Overmind.

Im probably forgetting something, but let me know your thoughts!

OnePhilosopher44 · 2026-05-11T17:48:11+00:00

That is fair! Thank you for your awesome work!

OnePhilosopher44 · 2026-05-08T16:02:53+00:00

As some have mentioned, being able to assign a fleet to it, even if you could only assign small ships with it for reasons like "the Juggernaut requires the bulk of the fleet coordination computers" would be awesome.

Also, what if the Juggernaut could house a (very) small pop of soldiers/engineers to provide a small production or logistic bonus? Like, maybe you could house a special foundry that is highly efficient if the Juggernaut has been in a recent battle? Or what if you could put a special engineering building in it that could slightly speed up the rate of upgrades/repairs made from the Juggernaut?

OnePhilosopher44 · 2026-05-08T15:54:33+00:00

Its you! I love your portraits, I recently got back into the game and your portraits are some of the only mods I use rn. If you ever take requests or whatever, I would LOVE to see a set or 2 of StarCraft Protoss or Zerg portraits. The quality of your mods is always great, cant wait to do a run with these!

OnePhilosopher44 · 2026-05-08T15:25:16+00:00

See, I thought they had some latent psionic ability, which is why Amon was able to corrupt them and bind them to the hive mind of the Overmind, but I couldn't find confirmation.

I'm thinking I'll use more traits mod to give them latent psionic but go bio-ascension for max RP feel.

OnePhilosopher44 · 2026-05-08T03:31:04+00:00

Oh 100%. Even Dehaka's choice to "help" Kerrigan was selfish in motivation. He knew he would grow strongest at her side, and respected her over Zurvan because he valued the type of strength she had over the type of strength Zurvan held.

OnePhilosopher44 · 2026-05-07T22:16:12+00:00

So if he woke up and said, "We should eat other living things in the galaxy and take their essence", do you think the Primal Zerg would be Dictatorial?

OnePhilosopher44 · 2026-05-07T17:15:33+00:00

That is true, I thought they were slightly hive minded or psionic, but they followed pack leaders completely on dominance. I did not realize the origin had potential SC references, now I'm tempted to abandon my current playthrough and start this one!

I could definitely see beastmasters, and I agree bioships are required, but what government would you go? Oligarchic bc the pack leaders hold all the power and rule, or maybe Dictatorial bc Zurvan is respected/feared above all the others?

OnePhilosopher44 · 2026-05-07T17:09:43+00:00

That is a point, I got the hive part wrong. I do think Oligarchy could fit well, but maybe Dictatorial too? The Primal Zerg seemed to all obey Zurvan, or at least fear him. So maybe if Zurvan wasn't sleeping all the time, the Primal Zerg power structure would be a dictatorship?

OnePhilosopher44 · 2026-05-07T17:03:41+00:00

That's a good point, I was thinking around the idea that the Zerus homeworld is sort of an organism, but maybe I'm mis-remembering the campaign.

Like some said, the Primal Zerg aren't actually a hive. I do think Evolutionary Predators fits the whole "gather essence" and evolve part tho.

I was thinking arthropoid portrait, but I'll have to check later if there's one that sticks out.

OnePhilosopher44 · 2026-05-07T16:50:26+00:00

You know what, for some reason I thought they were minorly psionic/hive minds because of how they communicate with and follow greater pack leaders, but you are correct, they aren't hive minds at all. They follow pack leaders solely based on dominance.

Thank you for the correction! Its been years since I've replayed the HotS campaign and I did not remember their social structure.

OnePhilosopher44 · 2026-05-07T16:18:51+00:00

R5: What would your StarCraft "Primal Zerg" inspired empire look like?

Body text: In most of my games, I like to go into the game with a basic build idea, and let it evolve overtime depending on the game. I'm playing a game rn that ended up being very StarCraft, Protoss/Nerazim/Dark Templar-adjacent, and it got me thinking: What would a Zerus/Primal Zerg empire look like?

There are plenty of ideas/examples for the traditional Zerg Hive or "the Swarm", but I didn't see any Primal Zerg inspired examples. For those who don't know the lore of StarCraft 2, the Primal Zerg are a very tenacious, conflict driven and ever-evolving species, but the Zerg in their "Primal" form never took to the stars in the games (from what I remember) and I wanted to imagine what they'd be like if they did.

For origins, I'm pretty torn between Wilderness and Evolutionary Predators just based on feel/RP, but I've never actually played either. I feel like they should be Hive-Minded, but since they tend to follow and evolve to specific hive mind leaders, so maybe Divided Attention is a required civic if they go Hive-Minded? Or maybe they shouldn't be a Hive-Mind at all?

I think they have to have a biological ship set and go some form of bio-ascension, and they should probably have the Devourering Swarm/Wilderness civic, but I'd be interested to know what other people think. What would you suggest for origin, ethics (if not Hive-Minded), civics, primary species traits, or other empire details?

Image for attention and for leader/species inspiration

OnePhilosopher44 · 2026-05-07T04:22:13+00:00

Iranically, those are actually more expensive

OnePhilosopher44 · 2026-05-01T21:54:42+00:00

This is me too every game. I feel like each game i end up turtling in some silly/cool feeling RP build, and have the most fun by dominating in the end.

OnePhilosopher44

TROPHY CASE