Every Stellaris DLC RANKED - A DLC TIER LIST!

[@TheRedKing]

If you want to pick up Stellaris and/or the DLCs you can do so via this link: www.humblebundle.com/store/stellaris?partner=redking

[@MontuPlays]

So Galactic Paragons is on the council but it is not granted the rank of 'Must-have'. It's ironic...

[@TheRedKing]

This is an outrage!

[@biofoot7874]

Have you ever heard the tragedy of Darth Paragon the Wise?

[@rufussinijas]

​@@biofoot7874 It's a dichotomy!

[@02091992able]

Have one of them apparently, she is immortal. She is a scientist and my head of research. She is something like 700 years old. My cybernetic leaders live for something like 250 years old.

[@upi556]

The best dlc you can have to play stellaris is your imagination because when you play with rp or imagine how your planets really working it becomes incredible story

[@TheRedKing]

It is certainly about the story, not the game

[@NuggetWorkshop]

My imagination tells me to genocide xenos when one of them pops on my capital. Rock "people" living together in harmony with my Snails, not on my watch

[@n.v.9000]

Same goes for any Paradox game. For me CK3 is the best one for making a story. I also like to write and I write a start and background of first character before I start a new game. But RNG decides the rest, plus my input and decisions I make. I do tend to chose decisions based on characters personality, not what is best for the game. Once I see personality of heirs, I make a based background for them also. Once one lifetime is done I can write a full story for that character. I have to say that G.R.R.M has nothing on killing the main characters comparing it to CK3 RNG.

[@St4rTr3v1Ut10n]

Right? Before Nemesis, the way to "be the emperor" was to have the only Permanent Council Seat. Or you'd imagine yourself being a crisis by building up insane naval power and crushing everyone. It's all in the RP, although having more "official" tools to play with is always nice. It's literally like playing with action figures as a kid, and maybe you didn't have the exact character you wanted, so you pretended the one you had was the one you wanted.

[@galvendorondo]

So called “RPers” the very second they get Disruptors

[@mahiwaga0]

The last time I was this early, the fallen emipres had yet to fall.

[@Sewersyrup]

Iam happy that Stellaris devs got this huge win with Machine Age, must be a great morale boost, I also hope this helps Paradox understand better what people expect from future DLC. And it makes me kinda hyped for the next big Xpac next year, will it be this huge? I sure hope so.

[@TheRedKing]

Also very happy with how good Machine Age is, lovely to see a happy community :)

[@RRRR-jr1gp]

I'm honestly already hyped for the 10 years anniversary expansion lol

[@gabe1920]

What we expect is an invasion rework

[@RRRR-jr1gp]

@@gabe1920 why? Invasions are fine. If you want ground combat play HoI or civ IMO

[@gabe1920]

@@RRRR-jr1gp I didn't say I want ground combat, that would be a nightmare. I want to design my armies the way I can design fleets, or have a way to influence a planet's pops to join our army. There are a ton of features that can be added to armies

[@SmugLookingBarrel]

I didn't realize how jarring it would be to hear you, the RP guy, the person who starts all of his broadcasts with "My Lords" to directly reference things like Steam and the Price points of the DLC. That said, as someone who's just getting into Stellaris and wondering about the DLC, this list is incredibly helpful.

[@commissarkordoshky219]

Thank you for giving a tier list with time stamps. I hope I don't offend you when I say I skipped right to the Machine age, as I have seen many tier lists you made before and didn't expect anything too groundbreaking to happen. :)

[@TheRedKing]

No need to apologise, you get the info you need :)

[@biofoot7874]

It would be truly awesome to see a history of Stellaris at 1.0 launch to what it is now! I still remember when you got to pick the method of FTL your empire had

[@TheRedKing]

oo this is a good idea!!

[@biofoot7874]

@TheRedKing I know I would love to it! And thanks for the content you post! Awesome work!

[@Sephiroth144]

@@TheRedKing Could make a fun "multiversal lore" story- My Lords, we've come across a breach in reality that shows us different histories of our empire, if different scientific routes to the stars were taken..."

[@volairen]

I'm embarrassed to say this as a youtuber who makes stellaris content, I did not realize i got clone army when i downloaded humanoids. So i thought the pack sucked, simply because i did not like the portraits that much, which is what i bought it for. Thanks for the education.

[@mithatbilgi8199]

Normally I just conquer all the primitives too but I realized if you keep them around and do aggressive research and all that, only invading after it looks like they might reach the stars or nuke each other (not regular civil wars, let them fight each other for max research benefits), it gives insane and relatively cheap research options. you get tons of envoys, and a whole bag of various that includes empire pop size admin reduction, research speed bonus, damage increase, operation speed and ease, max districts, time MIA reduction, and satisfying insults, which gives you 50 influence for insulting someone every 5 years. you might not think individually much of it but it adds up quite a bit

[@GenJoseGhost]

The worm feels forgotten. Why did you forget the one that loves us?

[@TheRedKing]

I cannot believe I missed Horizon Signal!! It's not on the Stellaris additional content page!!

[@GenJoseGhost]

@@TheRedKing well, the worm forgives and will always love you.

[@markgregory9343]

Fellow Galactic Citizens, forgive me if my information proves to be incorrect; but after my searching in the shroud, I believe that the so called "horizon signal" was incorporated into our shared simulation for free, as of the Kennedy update.

[@JaJDoo]

stellaris tier lists are a genre on their own now

[@TheRedKing]

True!

[@fumarc4501]

Appreciate your feedback on these. There’s only really two dlc I haven’t compulsively acquired. Astral Plane and Galactic Paragons. This helped me decide which one to add. Thank you. I’m also a big fan of Leviathans and Synthetic Dawn. Might get the Machine Age next.

[@MichaelLuigi-d7f]

Thank you for making this list as it helped me decide which DLC’s to get as I’m new and it is a little overwhelming, Great Content Too!

[@TheRedKing]

You're very welcome - hope you enjoy whichever you purchased!!

[@Ugnutz]

My favorite part of the Knights of the Toxic god start is the Doom event line where you send a knight into the hell dimension and it can go bad and you lose a planet to a Demon Incursion

[@adalbertojunior9836]

I have all dlc and i am here watching ^^

[@TheRedKing]

ahh thank you, hope you enjoy!

[@Drak2005]

As am I.

[@anthonygorman94]

I just started playing on steam, from console. While I conceptually know about all of these, the amount is intimidating for me. This tier list will help me develop my collection to catch up to the rest of the game! Right now I’m subscribing to the DLC service they have, but I intend to eventually buy them all, thanks for this !

[@TheRedKing]

You're welcome, the sub is certainly handy for new players lets you experience it all and choose what you like/dislike - i'd 100% keep an eye out for sales, most of the DLC drops to 50% off or sometimes 70% off.

[@melj3476]

Thank you very much for the overview :) I just bought Stellaris on sale and as there are so many DLC packs, videos like this are a great help :D

[@TheRedKing]

You're welcome, hope you enjoy the game!

[@nilious]

I hope that after this grand Machine DLC, we will finally get a Hive Mind focused DLC. Our Ravenous Swarms have been starving for way too long! For the Swarm!

[@TheRedKing]

Have to bribe Iggy to make super swarms

[@ВиталийКотиков-т5э]

Gestalts (and machines in general) straight got the second dedicated dlc already.

[@nilious]

Yeah, but I mean Biological Hive Minds. We only get bread crumbs, while Machines are feasting as they have had 2 dedicated DLC for themselves.

[@kazwright1233]

Thank you very much for your work in creating this video.

[@TheRedKing]

You're most welcome, hope it helped!

[@block_01_]

5:45 I rarely play with humans I think I only did it once or twice 15:30 ah rest in peace my once beloved overpowered tech rush origin (I don’t blame the devs for nerfing it as it was a bit OP but it was fun)

[@RegiusEques]

I agree overall to my surprise. I find that for me specific things in a dlc will elevate it massively. Overlord is a really good but not a must have purely for the Orbital Rings. Really gives me that specific space fantasy I am looking for. I almost exclusively play humans for some reason but Machine Age is a must have because it fleshes out the machines in my galaxy considerably more and the kilostructures both fill a role I have wanted for years. Also playing as a machine is considerably more fun for me now and admittedly I did not fully expect the the ascension paths to be so drastically unique but I absolutely love them so far. Course I have not fully experienced everything by a good bit but what I have is top tier.

[@braize6279]

Very good tier list. And I'll go ahead and reinforce everything said about Utopia. For anyone who is looking at Stellaris as a new player, Utopia is on a tier of it's own. This one is absolutely must have. Be sure that you pick up Utopia when you purchase the main game. If you enjoy Stellaris, and want more, then you can basically follow this spot on tier list in the video.

[@02091992able]

Machine Age has an excellent soundtrack as well. The patch that came with its release changed how strategic resource deposits are handled on planets. Instead of having to build a building to harvest it. Your miners operating mining districts will produce it saving a build slot or a few in some cases for other more impactful structures.

[@TheRedKing]

Very true!

[@corrinvondrachen1097]

"50% of all Stellaris games are humans"...gods those people must be fucking boring. I can't imagine running majority of my games as some different flavor of human that much.

[@Cheshire5174]

I know, right? I almost never do Humans I also almost never do Arthropoids, for a completely different reason; if I let myself play them, I'll never play anything else (coincidentally, the same reason I don't play Warlocks in D&D)

[@kongzillatoho4558]

I always play as aliens

[@guairefernandezamil4084]

Ever since First Contact i have played almost exclusively the broken shackles origin, it is just so fun being able to colonize basically everything, and it lends itself to multiple angles of roleplay.

[@02091992able]

I believe Utopia was accompanied by a patch that did away with the old tile management system that use to be present on planets. Each tile used to have resource values on them that you would build structures on to harvest and place pops on it that would harvest the resource and boost it if they were specialized in it. A size 20 planet had 20 tiles. This system was replaced with the system of districts with the planet size being the fact in determining the number of districts you can build on the planet. The system the game uses now.

[@flavius2884]

Machine Age is a must have because you can become a freaking FALLEN EMPIRE! Do you know how much I wanted to be a fallen empire?

[@zingodoom]

I have to say, I *do* love the content Leviathans adds - but it really shows the era of Stellaris's development that it came from. Most of the titular leviathans themselves have been powercrept to essentially useless. The curators are very nice flavour to have, and the artisans are still very useful to run into, though the traders are also very limited in use. War in Heaven is.... kind of just there? And even in a large galaxy with 5 FEs, it only has roughly a 50% chance of triggering, if I recall right I think it was ASpec who made a video on how much Leviathans changes the game through the lens of modern Stellaris. Since its introduction, the game has filled up with so much stuff, and there isn't really a *need* to fill up the empty space of the galaxy anymore since the free patches, even without any other DLC, have done a considerable amount for that. So for that reason, and again, I really do enjoy it and value having it in my game, but I have to disagree with your ranking and say that I'd personally put it in the "only if you want" tier

[@vitalol7747]

I am a big fan of the Paradox revenue model, with streamlined new content. Devs get a regular revenue flow, and players get new stuff constantly - win-win

[@ArsenAl-zorK]

It is intimidating to see so much DLC when you're new to the game but when you think about it, it makes sense. I agree with you there are definite upsides to the model, among all that it really extends the lifetime of the game itself. My only gripe is that alot of it is overpriced.

[@vitalol7747]

@ArsenAl-zorK True, as a new player, it can be overwhelming. When i was introduced to stellaris, there were already like 10 dlcs costing an arm and a leg together (without a sale, i hate waiting for a sale). This is a trade-off where newer players suffer in the short term, while everyone benefits in a long-term term. A solution would be to put older dlcs on a perma sale (idk, maybe they are already changing prices with time, wasn't paying attention). But as a long-time player, it's super cool to get drops of new content regularly, it always invigorates me to come back to the game, get a new modpack and start a new campaign (i never finish them, cause late game gets kinda repetitive, but that's a separate topic)

[@mr.gilbert5412]

Synthetic Dawn is one of my favourites!

[@igorgorczynski6339]

Apocalypse is must have for every xenophobe

[@dragandragovic8989]

I honestly got to admit i watch your videos 2 times, once during the day and at night for asmr when ever you upload on a track for 6 months now 😂

[@TheRedKing]

Aha, happy to hear it :)

[@ditmarvanbelle1061]

LOL! "My Lords..." why did it take me this long to realize you were addressing the viewers as your lords, not my ingame councelors?

[@TheRedKing]

Ahhha well, it's normally reserved for only Stellaris videos, and since most of them are in character... i guess it works for both :)

[@AspenBrightsoul]

Top teir catagory Acknowledged. Termination: Rescheduled.

[@poetryoftruth-j2g]

I love synthetic dawn the first time I used it I became a galactic superpower

[@whodis4097]

I just did the math. If you were to get all of the "must have" dlcs minus machine age, it would cost $45 with the current sale. If I added the machine age, it would be $70... On a Steam sale... This is stupid.

[@TheRedKing]

It can get expensive! Could always try the sub out and see what you like/dislike go from there

[@ChipHazard316]

Still better than the sims 4 situation lol. They literally have a dlc to do laundry… LAUNDRY! WTF? 🤣

[@westcoastdean]

Super good stuff! Thanks so much!

[@TheRedKing]

My pleasure!

[@xbox70333]

Love your videos bro, you should cover more universes than stellaris, theres lots, like gunbuster!

[@brandonwalker5011]

You get the council mechanic without paragons but you need it to choose traits on leader level up.

[@Ugnutz]

You get most of the mechanics from the DLCs if you dont buy them but just the frameworks like the nemesis one you can still do espionage just very barebones version.

[@lamename2010]

First Contact adding cloaking allows my xenophobe empire to bypass borders at will. As such I consider it quite strong. Better yet, it allows me to slowly leapfrog through dangerous systems, like those having the enigmatic fortress or other leviathans, without suffering huge penalties due to warping there. All the while building starbases all over.

[@Aci_yt]

People actually use humanoid portraits? I find those to be the most boring ones 😅

[@TheRedKing]

I guess lots of RP tropes come people want to play as are humanoids; probably expand your selection the longer you play

[@02091992able]

"the learned say what mine is mine, what yours is also mine".

[@patleaf2432]

how do you feel about the value of the subscription? Im a new player with only the freelc's and liking the game a lot. Like crusader kings in space with more to do.

[@TheRedKing]

I think for a brand new player it can be a real boon. For $10 you can try out all the DLCs see what you like and dislike and make a purchase choice from there. It was imo a really good idea to implement it, and gives players choice about how they want to buy/engage with the content

[@Admiral-General_Aladeen]

It would be nice if the DLC were free 6-8 years after they released. That would give people that joined much later instantly some extra content. At least Utopia should be part of the base game in my opinion.

[@Darkn3ssF4ll]

Subscription is calling

[@alexkatc59]

@@Darkn3ssF4ll To buy DLC every two month is better in long perspective than to buy subscription. OF COURSE IF YOU WOULD PLAY REGULARLY.

[@Darlf_Sevil]

66% cut. Like evry frew month

[@Sephiroth144]

@@alexkatc59 Even if you don't but have a decent data back up regimen, it pans out better...

[@slavichusk1153]

Yeah, they should do what HOI4 did and integrate some of the oldest DLC's into the base game,

[@cmdrtianyilin8107]

I don't know if I'm spoiled or not, I never thought of buying specific DLC. I just went to steam and got the entire thing, not thinking about my wallet. But again, I play Star Citizen too, so my wallet might be used to being abused like that.

[@Cerylion]

What I like is that the Custodian Team is improving the DLCs that are no logner worth their price. Like how Plantoids and Humanoids used to be nothing more than new species portraits and Lithoids was the first Specis Pack that tried to be something more. But now they offer more than just a fewportraits. Astral Planes is a sad one for me. I vey much like the Astral Rifts, but Astral Actions I feel make the game worse rather than better. I feel Astral Actions should have been locked behind an Ascension Perk. Overlord gives something quite significant IIRC: the Hyper Relays. While I am sure some enjoy the risks of having your fleet far away from action and logistics that come with it, others really want those Galactic Highways before they manage to research and build up the Gateways. Not sure it would make it deserve a higher spot, but certainly an important element.

[@St4rTr3v1Ut10n]

As someone who got all the DLC at very reduced prices, price was no object and I got everything; and having played a lot with all the DLC, and mods that slow my game down to a crawl by midgame, I suggest disabling species packs I don't play as (they still appear in-game), and maybe Astral Planes. The actions are fun, and the stories are cool, but the rifts appear so sporadically, and it's not guaranteed you'll get all the Astral Actions. You end up with a non-tradeable resource you can only use once in a while, it's not great.

[@El_Presidente_5337]

All my homies always forget the Free Distant Horizons DLC 😔✊️

[@TheRedKing]

I know! It's not on the stellaris additional content page, and I missed it on steam! My bad..

[@danielmajor3777]

A timestamp is missing for "Apocalypse" at 16:33

[@TheRedKing]

Thank you, fixed it!!

[@blanksilver3851]

YOU should have mentioned about Lithoid DLC some of Lithoids Species Trait such as the shedding of rare minerals is locked behind the Plantoid DLC which made me really angry about since we have an Lithoid DLC and they put it in the Plantoid Pack which i had not owned because i dont want to play as Plants. Hope you see this since this.

[@troymcguffey8801]

I am but a humble servant my lord, but I wish the mighty Microsoft corporation would put a sale on the DLCs on the Xbox as well so that we may also partake in these wonderful endeavors.

[@TheRedKing]

Ah I wish I had control over that! 24/7 sale !

[@comradebadgers1818]

I've been wanting to do a kingdom type playthrough what have been some fun ones people have done so what I'm looking for is Species Civics Traits Ethics And all the other stuff I know I'm forgetting the names for basically making a brand new empire and then finally why it was enjoyable to play or why it was a challenge

[@dragonhorde9866]

oh good a trusterd subscribed yutbuer tier list :)

[@BeardedPavi]

Can you do one for the Consoles? Cause we are quite behind on dlc, so it would be nice to see what you think.

[@TheRedKing]

I think my answers would remain basically the same tbh, although you are behind you are semi lucky as PC players find all the bugs before it gets to you

[@BARBARBINKLE]

Was recently a 80% sale and I got all of them for like $100 😁

[@Joeythedungeonmaster]

To other players of machine age: what do you think of the arc furnace megastructure? I feel it's a powerful structure, and combined with the cyberex mining hub, and the mining drones civic, the megastrucuture is OP

[@TheRedKing]

I personally love, it - the kilo's are good additions to the game, more so as they come in so much earlier than megas.

[@thainemartin5766]

I haven't upgraded it yet, working on establishing economy, but just the description makes it seen OP. Especially if you throw it in a system with like a dozen or more planets 👏🏻

[@BenjaminHunkins]

For someone who hasn't played the game - can you explain the portraits? As in, you could bump into these species while playing, but they wouldn't have a portrait if the DLC wasn't installed?

[@TheRedKing]

Yes and no, some portaits are tied to DLCs, some arn't. I *think* the AI can use any portrait irrespective of whether you have the DLC or not... think ...

[@crawxerplay6949]

Oh my Lord

[@Cody_Ferreira_46]

Nice ranking

[@TheRedKing]

Thanks!

[@breadtoast1036]

8000 hrs never got war in heaven to happen no matter how many fallen empires and settings i change

[@TheRedKing]

That is highly unlucky!

[@breadtoast1036]

@@TheRedKing very, its sad, id love to experience that event personally but it isnt meant to be, thank you for the lore you are best stellaris lore channel i could ever find

[@xjuncewski]

If you were a Smurf you would be the blue king

[@TheRedKing]

or Gargamel!

[@dragonslayerbond]

Started playing stellaris again and I have 0 DLC and holy moly the amount of stuff locked is crazy. 90% of your starting choices are locked and it just feels like a scam. Game is still fun but they make you feel bad for not having the dlc.

[@02091992able]

I have played Stellaris for years and never have once seen a War in Heaven.

[@renaldoawes2210]

Putting First Contact and Astral Planes ahead of Nemesis and Apoc....

[@TheRedKing]

Did you listen to the reasons why?

[@renaldoawes2210]

@@TheRedKing Yes. I can't imagine playing a stellaris game without Nemesis. But I could 100% live without some mid story pack like Astral planes that only really added a meh mid game crisis and some very skippable story elements surrounding it. Nemesis gave you the ultimate goal of literally ruling the galaxy, which has so more sandbox potential because of how vague your reasons for dominance can be. Seeing enemy AI turn into threats to the galaxy gave the game some interesting conclusions instead of your typical "Scourge arrived win and new game" ending. I've had end games that were these massive 5 way wars between the factions and the only reason that happened is because of what nemesis brought to the table. Meanwhile astral planes is the same thing every single time and is nothing more than a means to acquire a few nifty resources since the story is unintriguing. DLCs like Nemesis give you the means to do what you want. Astral planes is more of a box you fit yourself into. One is open ended the other is straight forward. Nemesis takes advantage of your imagination, while Astral planes is like reading a book. A boring book.

[@TheRedKing]

@@renaldoawes2210 and that's why its in the "only if you want it category" because we don't all want to play the same thing :)

[@Maxmash-q3d]

In my opinion, the best DLC is megacorp

[@TheRedKing]

That's fair, but tell us why

[@Maxmash-q3d]

@@TheRedKing I like playing as a megacorp that’s it

[@TheRedKing]

@@Maxmash-q3d Fair enough!!

[@Tortuosit]

Sigh, Paradox, it's always making me think about money and it's never easy. They're probably doing something right. "Ok, a great discount, should I buy? Awww, hard decision. Just have to sell my firstborn son... difficult..."

[@romanpechorin4798]

Still don't understand why people think its boring to play rock people. That's such a reference to Futurama, I mean it's so sarcastically fun concept, so why not

[@Darlf_Sevil]

War in heaven is not part of apocalips ?

[@crawxerplay6949]

no, it's from Leviathans

[@Darlf_Sevil]

@@crawxerplay6949 I was living a lie...

[@Darlf_Sevil]

Utopia shoud have Must must have otion xd

[@Emanon...]

Best DLCs? Mods!

[@DarthDaddy-cg6ro]

Thanks.

[@rhysplant8392]

Am and always will be a plantoid.

[@Oatmeal9819]

I've never been this early

[@TheRedKing]

Today is a good day :)

[@DarkCrimson25]

Nice ^^

[@TheRedKing]

[@comedyshortsgamer5688]

My lords 🗣️🗣️🔥🔥🔥

[@TheRedKing]

[@laurentiumiu751]

Utopia is the only Expansion or DLC I have deactivated on my game. Also, I use NO mods! For putting Utopia anywhere exept the Trash, I gave the video a #dislike ! And I was reffering to the Utopia Expansion, not the Update, the Update was good. But just immagine: 400 or 600 stars in the galaxy, you control about 50, that means there absolutely will be 350 to 550 new habitats in the galaxy, maybe 950 on 1000 star map! And with the "Existing Megastructure" Bug of Habitat Orbitals, when combined with Arc Furnaces makes it utterly horrible! Orbitasl should be mining stations, not Megastructures, but this is my wishful thinking. Nonetheless, Utopia as an Expansion belongs in the trash, not anywhere else, henceforth my #dislike !

[@TheRedKing]

Ahh I feel this is a very "hot take" Lauren :) I don't agree, but that's ok! Other than my opinion on Utopia I hope you enjoyed the video.

[@Sephiroth144]

"Apocalypse, which incidentally, has -probably- the best Stellaris trailer of all time..." I solemnly swear to devote my life and ability in the defense of the United Nations of Earth, to defend the constitution of man, and to further the universal rights of all sentient life, from the depths of the Pacific, to the edge of the galaxy, for as long as I shall live.

[@TheRedKing]

It's so good right? I do enjoy the part 2 to Nemesis as well, but Apoc is top tier in tralier quality!

[@dracish123456789]

Astral planes is the only DLC I consider fully turning off.

[@user-hm9iv6od4s]

Как я описываю длс first contact: 500 рублей за 0 контента

[@GlizzyGoblin757]

this video wasnt great, it seems like your scared to insult the bad dlc

[@TheRedKing]

There is no bad DLC; some don't offer as much as others, but which one you prefer is just opinion. Humanoids is no good to someone that wants to play as a DE etc

[@niemand4479]

noice vid

[@TheRedKing]

Thanks!!

[@Toxickys]

Megacorp is one of the worst dlc-s swap with Apocalypse or Nemesis and Humanoids the worst species/ship pack lol Aquatics and Necroids are the 2 best

[@TheRedKing]

Ahh hard disagree :)