I just picked this up last weekend, along with the utopia and synthetic dawn dlc. I’ve dinked around with it for a few hours and it seems pretty good, although lacking some of the QoL improvements I’ve gotten used to with CK3 and Vic3. I’ve just been playing vanilla to kind of get the basics before turning on any DLC.
So before reading the 6000 post thread, anything I should know or resources I should look at? Is starting without DLC the right move? Is there other DLC that’s considered indispensable?
I would recommend playing with DLCs on. I think you’re getting most of the complexity already in the core game, so disabling them is just cutting you off from content you would otherwise have.
I would recommend taking a look at the wiki which gives a nice brief summary of what each DLC does and see which ones sound most appealing. It’s been too long that I can’t keep straight what went into base game updates that accompanied the expansion vs expansion-specific content. In general, they have done a pretty good job of adding new mechanics for everyone and putting content in the DLCs.
While they’re not critical in any way, I feel species packs are great modular content if playing that specific type of race sounds fun. Plantoids, Lithoids, Toxoids, Aquatics, etc., all with some unique origins and mechanics to set them apart a bit. I’ve enjoyed them.
I’ve found them to be good addons if someone already enjoys the game and just wants more options to play with. So best saved for a later purchase unless you really want to play space dolphins or space undead.
Agreed. Part of the joy of Stellaris is just seeing all the weird stuff. You don’t have to engage with it all–and you can’t in one run–but there’s no harm in having them on.
This is a little bit different because if you don’t play as a species from a species pack, then you’ve functionally disabled the DLC (even if you technically haven’t). Perhaps you’ll run into an AI species with special mechanics but honestly you wouldn’t notice the difference. Again, no reason to actually disable them, but if you haven’t purchased them, don’t bother until you know you want to try one of the species out.
This. If you already own it, there’s no point in disabling it. Most of the complexity is in the base game updates, with DLC adding content or some additional options to those mechanics.
Thanks for the input everybody. Looks like he recommends most (if not all) of the expansion packs, some of the story packs, and species packs as necessary. I’ll try to put some time in this weekend, but then I’m likely to go on a DLC spree. I’m a sucker for having to play the “complete” game.
Edit: now that I look at it, he recommended all of the x-packs and all of the story packs. So not much of a list really.
I think he’s mostly ordering them in how to prioritize them as opposed to which ones to buy/avoid.
In general, expansions add new mechanics to the game and are the meatier of the DLCs. Story packs tend to be about additional content rather than mechanics (more events, adding space creatures and space Mongols to the game, etc.), and species packs are self-describing.
Utopia is often considered one of the must have but you already have that one thankfully. My recommendation would be to play a game or two with what you have and then skim the wiki bullet points for each to see which jumps out at you. MegaCorp adds the ability to build trade empires (think Merchant Republics from CK2), if that sounds appealing then grab it. If you want to expand and paint the map, you can deprioritize it.
Each expansion in one line:
Utopia: Ascension perks to customize your civ, space habitats and giant megastructures. Apocalypse: War focused expansion with planet-destroying weaponry. MegaCorp: Trade empires, criminal empires (space mafia!), and galactic televangelists. Federations: Diplomacy focus that expands on alliances and adds a galactic UN. Nemesis: Stellaris has end-game crises, this allows you to be the crisis. Overlord: Expands on overlord/vassal mechanics, a gameplay style that was pretty lacking compared to other PDS games.
If I want to play against space undead or other DLC races, do I need to own the DLC to have a chance they appear? More potential enemy variety seems is always good.
That’s a good question. I’m not sure how that works! If I had to take a guess I would thing they’re excluded, since you can tag-switch what empire you’re playing using the console. But maybe they have methods in place to prevent that and they are in the game.
In terms of facing them as opponents,I don’t think you’ll notice any major differences. Being an aquatic race gives you some new options in how you build an economy and some other perks but viewed from the outside they won’t be wildly different than a race of interstellar mollusks or bird dudes. The biggest differences come from things like being a Devouring Swarm or Fanatic Purifiers and that sort of thing, but that isn’t part of any species pack.
All in all, I think 95%+ of the impact of a species pack is when you’re playing it as opposed to playing against it, so I wouldn’t worry too much about them unless you have interest in trying them out yourself. Bigger bang for your buck will be found in expansions and story pack content.
Yeah, you need the DLC. There are freebie species portrait packs on the workshop which may give you kinda what you want from an aesthetic POV, but they won’t have any of the species specific mechanics the devs started adding in.
Is there a way to see a list of my colonized planets to compare them easily? Sort of like the expansion planner, but for planets I already own. The planets and sectors tab only lists sectors, but not planets, unless i’m missing something obvious.
Man, I am so bad at this game. I’ve got almost 200 hours, and I still can’t consistently get past mid-game, or even to mid-game. Any tips? I’ve watched all the usual YouTube’s. I can usually get my economy up, but something is lagging behind, and usually it’s research and/or military.
The early game is challenging for me still, especially if an Advanced AI is next to me. Depending on how you want to play (and what dlc you have), it might be good to become a vassal to a powerful AI, you can be protected; if you take one of the politics perks you can get favors to redo you vassalage to your favor.
Maybe take supremacy 2nd or 3rd to get more military. Do you use your envoys to improve relations, try to make a friend early.
