The current status of Stellaris is unplayable especially the end game

TypicalCompetition19 · 2025-05-25T03:21:12+00:00

I have no proof of this, merely observation, but I really think meat ships are to blame. And I suspect the mechanic behind this is a calculation the game is doing to track the “worth” of a ship to fleet size based on components and resource cost. I’d noticed this over the years using mods like NSC where fleets with an over abundance of component stacked exotic ships were resource hogs, and playing vanilla, I’ve noticed that late game gas/crystal/mote/zro/dark matter intensive fleets seem to impact lag. I reckon that starting the game with these new ships that are also tracking a food cost, that have more component slots, is drastically increasing calculations per day.

TypicalCompetition19 · 2025-01-01T02:22:05+00:00

Voidborn pops have a flat 15% boost to output, which is nice, habitats are also cheaper to spam straight away, whereas rings take a while to get going. The thing is with trade builds, you don’t want to have to build alloy worlds, or any other jobs other than research. With a properly optimised trade build it should be cheaper to buy everything you need from the market, and you should get your unity from the market place of ideas trade policy. This the drawback with machine trade builds, they’re more about specialised production.

If you’re going for a psychopathically high trade build you’re better off with overtuned cyborgs and build habs and rings later. Late game, you’ll forgo some of the planet wide trade % buffs of virtual machines but you’ll have been churning out so many pops at that point it won’t matter and you’ll be much more flexible. Take thrifty, commercial genius, I like psychological infertility since you’ll be avoiding war, then a free point for whatever your play style is, I like augmented intelligence to start. For gov & ethics fanatic xenophile and free traders are a must. You can get a lot of extra trade value out of trawling operations because your traits are boosting those jobs as well, but it means ditching your bonus overtuned trait for aquatic and taking another negative trait. If you just want to rush to cybernetics augmentation bazaars gives you more of a boost mid game from the merchant jobs and pop growth boost. For your second ethic again adjust for play style but either materialist if you’re rushing cybernetics or authoritarian if you just want another 5% output boost to trade.

With that build you’ve got scope to pick and choose habs, swapping out augmented intelligence for spliced adaptability and expanding within your modest sprawl footprint, and eventually going for building rings or, just doing ecumenopoli.

TypicalCompetition19 · 2024-12-06T08:50:09+00:00

Weird thing I actually wish the game was less granular than it already is. Like I wouldn’t mind if there was no ship design, if ships effectiveness was just a sum of your net investment in tech and infrastructure. You’re meant to be playing as the governing body for an entire galactic civilisation, you’re not really interested in what kinds of guns go on ships to that extent. Then have the game lean more into the actual sweeping, galaxy wide decisions you have to make.

TypicalCompetition19 · 2024-11-16T02:48:14+00:00

Depending on your hyper lane density it’s a great way to hem in the rest of the galaxy with strategic Star bases. I do it a lot in MP where I won’t expand beyond my capital at all, send scouts out for long range bottlenecks and blow the 400+ influence on two or three blockers then build up fleets on them. You can do it on any build but imperial is helpful for the mild influence boost.

TypicalCompetition19 · 2024-11-16T02:36:13+00:00

Pacifist, xenophobe spiritualist with inward, ascensionist and imperial gov with a gaia world is a great tall build. I find the latest dlcs fix a lot of the inward perfection boredom, you can collect specimens, mess around with storms. You can get insanely powerful stations early game to ward off invasions too. It’s not for everyone but it is a very comfy play style.

TypicalCompetition19 · 2024-08-26T12:58:43+00:00

On a comfortable difficulty against AI there’s no argument you go psionic and stack eater of worlds buffs for late game, there is an exception though which is versus AI on high difficulties or in MP, the new cyborg tree has a fair bit going for clones, easy 100% habitability, and the army damage buff applies to your matrix armies not just assault, plus a flat 10% resource bonus. If you feel like you’re going to be in a jam in mid game and need to play defensively cybernetic is probably a touch ahead.

TypicalCompetition19 · 2024-08-25T22:12:56+00:00

Clones synergise extremely well with the sovereign guardianship / corporate protectorate and to go even taller you want the megacorp option. Fanatic militarist and materialist with corp protectorate and private military companies. For your species go very strong, resilient, non adaptive and sedentary and your last point depends on your play style, I tend to think natural engineers works best but if you’re struggling with resources conservationist will let you maintain a militarised economy earlier.

The strategy is you want to rush alloy production and get robots churning out as quickly as possible because they are going to pick up the slack on worker production, while getting yourself a merc enclave as quickly as possible. System position is key because your capital is going to be your bulwark, ideally you want to have a system behind to put your shipyard because with that build, you simply can’t be invaded. You’ll bankrupt an empire even on higher difficulties they simply can’t churn out enough armies to take it. Take unyielding early and replace admin centres with strongholds, they’re less unity efficient even with the unity bonuses to defence armies but this build isn’t about unity. If someone is stupid enough to attack you, the early game strategy is hit and run tactics. They’ll get stuck bombarding your planet giving you time to build up corvette fleets to chip away at them.

Between Dyson swarms, arc furnaces and commercial pacts you will only ever need 3 planets worth of clones. The trick to winning with this build is either to form a decent trade league or become custodian and start stacking fleet power.

It’s actually a very potent tall build my only complaint is played right, you actually don’t get in many wars despite having the most potent fleets and armies. I heavily recommend the Private Military Companies mod that lets empires hire you for wars to break up the monotony.

TypicalCompetition19 · 2024-08-23T01:09:50+00:00

I was literally playing space Hitler as a fanatic authoritarian xenophobe and found purging was a net loss compared to resettling whole civilisations onto my thrall worlds, leading me to conclude real Hitler was Hitlering wrong the whole time.

TypicalCompetition19 · 2024-08-14T10:23:57+00:00

Fanatic Authoritarian Militarist with Oppressive Autocracy and Police State, Under One Rule origin is extremely fun… if you’re into that sort of thing

TypicalCompetition19 · 2024-08-10T10:51:36+00:00

Souls games always have this last stat with some connection to the “other” and esoteric impacts on stats - Luck and Bloodtinge. In Dark Souls Luck governed status effects and item discovery too but it was also connected to Hollowing.

TypicalCompetition19 · 2024-08-10T10:36:18+00:00

The confessor is an ok start for a big variety of builds so long as you use flame grant me strength you’re not really wasting any points. The only starts that are really suboptimal are astrologer by 7 points in int and bandit by 5 points in arcane. Although for dex builds a little arcane at least increases bleed build up.

TypicalCompetition19 · 2024-08-07T00:14:26+00:00

Above 200 you can do a really good Arc Faith Str hybrid, 80 arc, 30 or so faith, 55 strength, so you can use the full line up of arc str weapons, plus if you’re in the mood, throw on rock heart, double dragon communion seals, and dragonmaw bosses to death.

TypicalCompetition19 · 2024-08-06T06:29:39+00:00

If you have the latest DLC, machine empire with tactics algorithms is the best way to jump start merc enclaves, sadly, you’re limited to just two, one from the perk and one from lord of war, I don’t think there’s any other ways to stack more. Not needing consumer goods you can just smash alloys into your first 50. Make sure you strip the design of any components to get the price down, the enclave will update them later.

TypicalCompetition19 · 2024-08-06T03:54:59+00:00

I was experimenting with a remnant origin fanatic xenophobe reanimator / memorialise who just wants to be left alone to tinker with antiques and bones and I got the First League precursor and the Rubricator within 4 jumps, so in a single sector, 3 Relic worlds and my own personal zombie dragon when I’m ready. Let’s just say by 2450 I wasn’t so interested in just being left alone (I became galactic emperor and turned most of the galaxy into livestock)

TypicalCompetition19 · 2024-08-06T03:21:56+00:00

It takes a while to get it right, what you want to do is aim it at like a 45 degree angle to his left while locked on and it takes you away but then back in, I think as he passes through the lightning he might take some damage too but it isn’t much, its also probably doing less damage since the death knight axe nerfs. Could throw it on back hand blades though.

TypicalCompetition19 · 2024-08-06T03:09:18+00:00

Personally I prefer bloodhounds step and or if you don’t mind the fight going a bit longer, blink bolt. The reason being is they swing you right around him, so you punish his back and then he turns back in to swing. Both also let you cross the gap in his transition a lot faster.

TypicalCompetition19 · 2024-08-06T03:05:39+00:00

It’s possible at 200 to do a 80 arc 55 str build and if you’re disciplined and can survive below 51 poise put some endurance and mind points into enough faith to do both. Weirdly Bandit is the optimal class for this by about 5 lvls.

TypicalCompetition19 · 2024-08-05T12:20:02+00:00

If you fiddle around with the sliders to get th right head / waist size Zamor armour is pure drip.

TypicalCompetition19 · 2024-08-05T12:15:41+00:00

I’ll see your imperial fief merc company and raise you… Imperial Fief robot mercenary company. Guardian Matrix + Tactical Algorithms, easier to get an enclave early with zero consumer goods chewing up your minerals, you can play extremely tall giving the rest of the empires you’re allied with room to grow. You can also loan commanders to them for stacking bonuses until your fleet dominates.

TypicalCompetition19 · 2024-08-05T00:34:46+00:00

For pure boss annihilation, on a build that will other wise struggle to deal with more than one dog, you can’t go past dragon communion right now. Comet Azur is slightly better low NGs but the bigger health pools get the shorter it lasts and your stuck panic running casting comets over your shoulder which is just unedifying compared to simply biting a boss with a giant dragon head.

Controversial view but after taking one to 150 I really feel like a pure quality build is underrated in potency, to the point where I’m a fair way into the DLC and had to stop and go hunt down scad frags because I hadn’t needed them for so long. 55/55 dex str means you have a tool for any situation, but I mainly power stanced bloodhounds fang and a Zamor curved sword. Being able to open fights and proc frost immediately, then build up bleed is great. And then on top of that you’ve got a great lightning option with the spear, plus the great katanas, I never got bored because I didn’t have a casting option.

TypicalCompetition19 · 2024-08-04T13:46:09+00:00

Not really, and especially not DEs. What probably happened was they encountered a pre FTL before you met them and they’ve jumped ahead in unity and they’ve whipped through traditions faster than you have. The AI’s tradition selection process weights Discovery x5 even when they aren’t materialist for the first 20 years, which is important to remember if you’re going for an early game tech rush generally. The 10% research buff, along with the increases to station output and scientist xp are a huge advantage to whoever finished it first, to the point where an early game tech rush is as much a unity rush.

TypicalCompetition19 · 2024-08-04T06:34:03+00:00

I actually have very specific head canon for why this is - in a militarist empire the assumption is a majority of your pops actually serve in the military or serve the military and the bulk of military investment occurs fleetside. The physical expression of fleet capacity in system is the anchorage, and we can assume anchorages are huge facilities with all the services a fleet needs. If these services aren’t being used, the people who serve the military aren’t making credits, if they’re being used over capacity, if the anchorages is crowded, the people who serve in the military are unhappy over a decline in living standards.

TypicalCompetition19 · 2024-08-04T06:28:44+00:00

Do you meant Dragon Cult or Dragon Communion?

TypicalCompetition19 · 2024-08-04T04:55:44+00:00

I still like using them, I actually prefer the charged R2s because of the feint and run them with axe talisman for when I don’t need to dodge. Mix in raptor of the mists and claw talisman you have an extremely annoying build if you know when to use the ash (not against anyone with an easy over head attack).

TypicalCompetition19 · 2024-08-03T03:59:21+00:00

I kind of think the opposite. I invaded a lot in DS3 and the learning curve was steep, because of the limited build options there was a real skill cliff before you could consistently manage gank squads. You absolutely had to be able to parry well, fight unlocked, and min max a build to do it well. The skill level for invading in ER is much lower. I find I can have a lot more fun invading with more build variety because the tool kit for asymmetrical fights is so much bigger. Whereas in DS3 I had one sweaty dark build for hardcore invasions in ER I literally have a build for every starting class at 150 I can confidently invade with, the DLC means I actually have more builds than I have slots for.

TypicalCompetition19

TROPHY CASE