The BEST Stellaris Build

[@Ep3o]

Got a better build? Let me know. The discord has a build submission too! discord.com/invite/ep3o-730815630726529065

[@tunencio7288]

Calamitous birht (lithoids obviusly) with mining guilds and memorialist, F authoritarian and militaristic, industrious and crystallization...the build is simple: expand like crazy and return to monkey to make some early vassals and make them to do your tech for you...a good old wide hegemony build but is fun because this empire is lithoids with good pop growth

[@b00bb0ss6]

invite invalid :(

[@Regunes]

Terravore on a tiny galaxy can embrace crisis mod and go to T5 in 40-60 year after game start if I recall right.

[@potato88872]

Partialy related to stellaris, there is a new april fools for the faust planet in the giga mod. Heard it's very enthraling.

[@bastange8856]

Trade deal isn't coming through. I guess Paradox was watching 😅

[@sparrow9663]

Everyone since Overlord came out: "Guys i have this new strongest origin!" Me: "Is it abusing imperial fiefdom again?" Everyone: "Its abusing imperial fiefdom again!"

[@bloodyto91]

Thank you for showcasing this. I feel honored a professional such as you that is so much better at this game has given this build a try. I quite enjoyed your video on the galactic doorstep origin where you get a Titan with a legendary paragon on year 20 and have been playing around with it !! Cheers from Bulgaria.

[@Ep3o]

[@deadboyo2773]

While i do like the voice over after the recording instead of during, i do recommend removing/rerecording the webcam

[@Ep3o]

The issue is that the video has the webcam baked in so there was no way of removing it unfortunately

[@deadboyo2773]

@@Ep3o fair enough

[@Ep3o]

@@deadboyo2773 appreciate the suggestion though

[@josjos2203]

@@Ep3o another suggestion would be to do the voice over and put a webcam of the voiceover

[@trixie2558]

Two overlapping Ep3os would be funny

[@fuchsmichael93]

Don´t sleep on Scholariums, they are better than ever since the Tech Nerf. Played yesterday and i was building as many Techworlds as i always do and before i knew it, they made more than 2/3 of my total Tech. Plus you can form a Research Agreement with them on Top, giving you even more Bonuses. Also take a Megacorp as Prospectorium if you dont play as one yourself. You wont need a Dysons Sphere anymore.

[@ericposey-vt5ej]

This build is actually a really fun roleplay build if you max out difficulties and go full HFY (humanity f yea). There are so many stories of earth being vassalized and the new owners realizing humans make great mercenaries and use them to fight thier wars, only for humans to get REALLY good at it and overthrow them empire. yea, ive been dicking around with this recently. FIrst as a sort of megachurch build, then I tried a parliament reform into coporate build (which resets your vassalage and is actually really harmful), then I realized just going mercenary materialist is just way better than anything else. I'll be straight, any tier list that doesnt have fiefdom (going bulwark) at the very top is just wrong. You get so many resources AND tech that its crazy.

[@isaacshultz8128]

Humans are space orcs

[@Belial234]

ironically as Humans we did that quite some time with more or less always the same outcome :D *looking at you Rome*

[@spikeX59]

I have found joy in the fact that the tech nerf has basically buffed diplomatic needs through friendships or vassalizing. Tall having more and more fun

[@MichZoll]

A little tip about the Imperial Fifdom: The other vassals are not random, but are determined depending on the size of the galaxy.

[@AndrewChumKaser]

Your new audio settings are much nicer and more clear. I like them.

[@Ep3o]

Nice, I’ve got insane listening to my own audio so no idea if it’s actually any better at this point. Thanks

[@Wormy_fren]

Oh yeah merc enclaves are really nice because they just give out so much stored research. Never thought to be a bulwark though. Usually just went prospectorium for the govenor traits since the bulwark traits dont help on the offensive.

[@Wormy_fren]

Also mercenary fleets that are stationed also suppress piracy passively. Meaning that you can also use them as an effective piracy killer early on In my runs with a build similar to this it takes forever for me to get the birth of space piracy event.

[@UnusualDomenic]

Honestly, a long form playthrough in this editing style would be cool to see

[@tunencio7288]

With 0.5 Tech/Unity cost ANY build is strong but I recon that Merc/militaristic megacorp is pretty fun to play...glad to see that the "meta builders" are trying/showing new things

[@nokta7373]

Love mercenary enclave spamming megacorp, some of my best games in almost 4000hs have been playing merc megacorp. Fun to RP and insanely strong when min-maxed.

[@triedtherest]

I have been messing around with very similar builds before this, but I didn't know about the Trade Deal you can do right at the start. Thanks for the tip.

[@El_Presidente_5337]

1k research was still a lot 40 years in, in the old versions, for me and my friends 😭

[@cjsouza72]

I tried this build earlier, but I went with criminal heritage and letters of marque, doing raids on anyone near my overlord. When the war kicked in, I had two mercenary fleets and used them to win the civil war for the overlord, but it was a whole mess and even the "win" was debatable, economy crashed three times and by the end even if the Overlord had survived and gained control of the vassals again, the whole thing was a border disaster. AT least the overlord could still pay the bills!

[@Hyiako]

I would say that for what I already experiencied, I would recommend you voicing over the original video, has you could with calm and on your own time, being diferent of just rushing the explanation on just playing and recording. I think it would be better if you could do some video's with voicing over and other with just straight recording. It would be fun :D Sorry if the English is bad, Im not really good writing english just reading and hearing :P I at least can say that, Im Brazilian and I enjoy your videos ❤

[@triploshadow]

One thing that might help, having your naval capacity filled even if you use 0 power ships like the empty destroyers generates power projection that gives you extra influence.

[@Kasaaz]

Megacorp, when played without this specific origin and build, kind of needs the massive sources of Science because of the huge penalties to Empire Size they have and the changes to costs with size.

[@ryorai5804]

Ive had it to where the other vassals will reform to megacorps later on when I play as a megacorp fiefdom lmao Don't know if its a mod or something but watch out, usually occurs after 5 years or so.

[@exodocian]

I’m so glad I was able to figure this out by myself

[@zedapro6783]

Me playing Gigastructure mod with over 15k research and still...... over 100 months

[@Osmotic]

Never thought of combining that build with fiefdom. That's a game changer

[@iRcoyote1]

I play like this, but I go Rogue Servitor and go Prospectorium. The mineral spawns really help you make alloys, which I sink into starbases after taking Unyielding. This helps me roll bigger starbases. I used to rush habitats before year 40, but with how they've been nerfed, my build is kinda meh now.

[@DragonKingSkye]

Cool video, though saying things will happen by a certain year ( X fleet power by Y year) while not running standard settings for Science might make people new to your channel that don't know about your settings feel cheated

[@Ep3o]

I actually think the fleet power will be reached regardless, it wasn’t really depended on tech due to spamming destroyer enclaves (which you get for just being a bulwark!) I get what you’re saying though. I think maybe including tech cost earlier may help that?

[@TheLemartes]

it has been patched, overlord does not want to trade, the second megacorp subject does not want to trade for credits, besides branch offices of the other mega corp are already setup on overlord's planets

[@Zefn4r]

My build finally reached YT hahaha ! I even go Criminal Heritage sometimes for more fun, but it's better as it.

[@theromanempire5327]

You look like a man worth trustworthy when it comes to this game. I'm giving you sub for more build guides :P

[@Samuel034]

WHEN DID THST RESTRICT SYSTEM WAS IMPLMENTED? IVE LOST SO MANY FLEETS OVER THR YEARS BECAUSE THEY INSIST IN GARBAGE PATHING AND ITS BEEN THERE ALL ALONG??!?!!!?

[@Ep3o]

It’s been there since I can remember hahahaha

[@jibrilherrcherofhorny4448]

Honestly i used it since ive seen it was added i think from Stellaris 2.0 just before alloy was added

[@DorkestDemise]

This is such a cool build! Might give it a try, or at least something similar. I'm not too much a fan of megacorps.

[@ObiwanNekody]

Of course a tech rush build is going to be the strongest when you double the rate at which you can acquire technology and put planets at .75.

[@cizod3403]

itd be good at any point in that case, everybody experiences the same costs, so the advantage would be the same across the board

[@WhiterunGaurd]

I dont have dlc so I usually just end up getting as many vassals as possible and getting them all to pay 45 percent research tax. And then I make them go to war to get more vassals.

[@HotMochaCake]

I am a simple man, I hear Phantom Hourglass' theme on your intro, I give a like.

[@smile-tl9in]

Matbe instead of tech rushing you could unity rush. Unity is not affected by bulwark penatly. Also you can quickly get the ascention perk that nullify influence penalties for branch offices. Alternatively you could be authoritarian for extra influence, xenophobe to make claiming space easyer or the nationalistic zeal ascention perk, for again make claiming systems easyer

[@AizaakThurston]

If you start with another megacorp just restart cuz they built holdings on the overlord on day 2...

[@bloodyto91]

You can get around that. It costs 1,000 energy for the MegaCorp vassal to build a branch. Just trade your food (or other resource) for that MegaCorp's energy once a year and they will not have enough to open up an office. That way you can expand first and still open up branch offices if you get bad RNG and have to rush for certain systems with planets or chokepoints. I'm the original reddit poster and have tested this up until year 5.

[@AizaakThurston]

@@bloodyto91 The weird part is that the tiny megacorp had branch offices on all 4 of the overlords planets pretty much right away

[@bloodyto91]

@@AizaakThurston I tested this (using observe command) and this seems to happen if you save and reload at the start of the game. It is because they can see the planets at the start even though intel is low. Next month they loose intel and cant build until reaching intel level 20. which happens in 20 months time. Also in this scenario the overlord spends his minerals, so the trade deal should be adjusted to 2.5k energy, food and 500 alloy, consumer goods. Honestly I'm open to suggestions how to go around this. When I played with this build 1 month ago that wasn't the case. Maybe save/load at month 2 ? The MegaCorp vassal was not be able to build on overlord planets in the first 20 months due to low intel.

[@aecides3203]

So it's not on par with this but in testing tech rush options I tried Overtuned Void hive with +30% on scientist output for all three sciences and 20% pop growth speed. Pros - You can tech rush like a madman, expand like a madman and still have not just a stable but quite a strong economy. Cons - Any leader without resilient will die the same year you recruit them. You basically have to accept that only leaders with resilient are worth recruiting at all and limit them accordingly until you get some traditions/techs or do some gene modding. This also makes running it as a non-hive just impossible - your council and leader would be constantly dead.

[@thebeav111]

Amenities in a hive are rarely if ever needed badly, if you wanted to take the ugly trait for a -2.

[@aecides3203]

@@thebeav111 That's good advice, thank you - I've never run overtuned before and essentially approached it with the mindset of "My ruler and council is safe as a hive, let's maximise pop output and just accept that leaders are for other builds". At one time this would have been hobbling yourself hugely, but now that leaders don't crap resources for your empire it's just a case of working out if you can get better boosts with or without leaders.

[@Mika-ph6ku]

Honestly if it weren't for the webcam in the footage I would not be able to tell the difference at all between your post commentary and normal recording. Clearly Stellaris is a game where live commentary is not needed.

[@AdrianGirouard]

You should keep doing the voice over

[@kiro4279]

Cool now i just have to get these dlcs!

[@nicxl3035]

Bro literally made this build. It’s OP

[@cryskamorningstar]

Bro i just learned you can restrict systems, ive been playing since this game came out and have lost so many fleets from careless auto pathing. Fml but thanks for traching me somthing bro

[@Sephiroth144]

Did anyone test to see if the Merc Enclaves do disappear/go independent if you lose the capacity by changing your civics?

[@ma3dhr0s44]

From reddit posts it seems you can keep them

[@Sephiroth144]

@@ma3dhr0s44 Neat; get everything to max them, get them maxed, change everything and grandfather them in... Oh. OH OH OH... Think I might have to do this my next run, then change to a Criminal Enterprise- make a full on pirate empire

[@AndrewSmith-ub6xs]

@@Sephiroth144 you have to start with crim heritage, cant reform into it

[@bloodyto91]

I'm the original reddit poster. The Mercenary Enclaves stay no matter what. Lowering your limit, reforming into another government type, adopting different civics doesn't matter. If other empires build their own enclaves and you conquer them you will now have even more.

[@Sephiroth144]

@@bloodyto91 Innnnnnnteresting...

[@berlindude75]

Don't these empty ship designs still stick when you found a new mercenary enclave based on a starter fleet of these empty designs? When you then hire their fleet to fight for you, you'll be in for a nasty surprise, no?

[@AvanClaer]

No the AI will build whatever it deems powerful based off the technology it knows. If you give them a fully stacked battleship fleet they'll just put whatever they want into it anyway. Their fleets are not very good from a design standpoint they're just huge.

[@bloodyto91]

It usually takes a couple of years for the Mercenary Enclaves to start upgrading the ships, but they will. They have their own hidden internal resources and gradually build and upgrade their ships.

[@phearedphantom]

Voice over of the voice over. Btw I think it's a goof idea how you need extra time to say something so you do it with a cutscene

[@phearedphantom]

I chose mercantile first so I don't have to worry about consumer goods and make ur 2nd planet a unity planet

[@regiliok]

kinda felt like ur voice over was on fast forward at 0.75 speed it was much better

[@Ep3o]

That’s just because I’m Welsh 🤣

[@regiliok]

@@Ep3o anyways i enjoyed the vid

[@isaacshultz8128]

Good musoc backgroumd ocsrina of time

[@xxxxPomaHxxxx]

Is it even possible to become the overlord of your overlord before it falls apart? Through the console I realized that this was the only way to prevent this.

[@sommmeguy]

Finding some design error is not the same as strategy. Figuring out how to maximize the advantages while minimizing your risk is. Thx for tips, but this approach would make me feel like i was gaming the game.

[@thebeav111]

Everyone knows the best build in Stellaris is the one that creates the most interesting story.

[@GMPOFloyd]

I tried an iteration of this build some time ago and it felt simply gross. I had the constant feeling that I was cheating xD

[@hypereschelon5760]

How are you able to choose from the selection of traits when your leader's level up? Was wondering about this back on your Machine Build video but wasn't sure if it was from a setting or DLC difference.

[@Ep3o]

It’s from the newest dlc!

[@hypereschelon5760]

@@Ep3othank you very much for the help.

[@gho5tspartan26yt]

4:06 wtf are those ship names 😂

[@Ep3o]

Patreon submissions haha

[@FacundoMartinez-sf1bq]

amazing

[@jozlynrezler4825]

Can you do something similar with a criminal syndicate?

[@johnclark3531]

Won't accept the day 1 trade deal...

[@camdanebbett-urquhart9443]

I think the latest update fixed that I do feel that was not a intended use of the game

[@MrPBuddyone]

@@camdanebbett-urquhart9443 yeah i tried it just now and the deal just disappears - does it make that build useless?

[@camdanebbett-urquhart9443]

I keep getting a game with megacorps and while I know that's not the worst thing i. The world I don't like being rushed into branch offices lol

[@mikailfournea9545]

One of my favorite things to do early game is find a pushy militarist/xenophobe neighbor, antagonize them, and then become their vassal. Oh no, you made me your vassal and the terms are harming my economy, whatever will I do?! *Fast forward 50 years after I became a bulwark and drained them dry* Feels good

[@TheNarrator6020]

What editing software do you use?

[@tyceusSaclain]

I have an issue where not even 10 days in other megacorps have already claimed the multiple branch office of the overlord, how is this happening?

[@winterthemuteson]

The empty destroyer thing didn't work for me. The enclaves didn't upgrade the modules on the ships so I had a bunch of fleets with 0 power.

[@bloodyto91]

It usually takes a couple of years for them to start doing that. They have their own hidden internal resources and gradually build and upgrade ships.

[@winterthemuteson]

@@bloodyto91by the time my overlord collapsed I had two enclaves, one with with no power and one at 3.2k

[@mattgriffiths2940]

no longer works as even 1 energy credit tips it over to -1000 trade acceptance now 😢

[@Dave-om6nd]

Still worked for me

[@TheNerdsLoft]

Same happened to me

[@NeedItForFacebook]

FULL PLAYTROUGH!

[@ravidninja]

What dlc is that letter of marque from coz it doesn't show for me, and i can never set up on my overload as they never accept my trade deal fast enough, how do i remedy this?

[@dlo009]

BTW Ep3o, what are the perks that your Humble Bundle link can give?

[@krazykaz1983OG]

Letters of Marque and Psychological Infertility aren't in the console build, any idea when they were added to PC? What update? Other than overlord added these?

[@agentAR67]

Letter of marque seems to be added by paragons

[@krazykaz1983OG]

@@agentAR67 thank you that's what I guessed

[@dlo009]

Well, could you repeat that but slowly. Newbee here. The build looks great but it's quite challenging to follow all the steps needed. 😶 Got a hard copy of the transcript. Thanks, let's see how this works.

[@rogaldorn9178]

I'm playing on Xbox and my Overlord simply doesn't want to trade anything. I've tried it on multiple saves and it doesn't work. Can you please explain what should I do in this case?

[@273.15foxgiven]

Why can I not get this to work? I managed to get the trade deal once but then I restarted and it won't work again. It either won't agree to the trade or it just doesn't do it at all. What am I doing wrong?

[@wolfe8035]

Nah the "best fleet" is having a relic that gives you nearly FREE fallen empire ships at the cost of 3k unity. I got 3 fleets worth 400k each rn. 😊

[@kinexxona06]

Resurrection

[@aaronmcpherson1297]

not really massive economy however, very stable thank you very much sir! maybe it snowballs who knows, personally a stable economy is still very nice, no copium so all good!

[@doubt3430]

can i just mention that your overlord capital was a fucking pulsar which is really just unfortunate

[@The1nimical]

The speed of everything is a bit tough to follow.. I don't like rewinding over and over...

[@GhostC4t404]

wow. who know joing a discord could be so invasive.

[@deadded5793]

Why did you kill Bubbles?!

[@markfreenick]

Its a low price to greatness

[@JanghanHong]

Nepo Baby Meta

[@khanstantinople]

yo commenters does this one still work

[@jeffreyculbert2093]

Wait… Since when has Grand Admiral been difficult to survive on, exactly? The AI is pathetically incompetent at maximum difficulty…

[@michaelwalker5609]

do you perhaps have any videos where you aren't talking in fast forward? It is so hard to keep up with you because you rush. Does anyone have suggestions for videos where they aren't in a hurry? I like the game but suck at it and would like to be able to follow along with out having to stop and rewind 40 times in the first 5 minutes.

[@adalbertojunior9836]

I am speed

[@FacundoMartinez-sf1bq]

me too

[@zmistsavage5261]

Some of this is not on ps5

[@gergelykocsis5657]

I can't wait to try this. The Honourable East India Company will bring peace and happiness for the whole Galaxy!

[@realityveil6151]

post commentary is way better.

[@summitsummit563]

So is letters or morque another pc mod? Because it isnt showing up for me on console. Seems like every single build in existence includes a pc mod. Why does console get no love lmao

[@connersaenz5722]

Paradox has forgottenabout consules players I switched to pc

[@summitsummit563]

@connersaenz5722 seems to be happening to every game I play at this point. I was pissed when they announced elite dangerous console wasn't getting anymore updates.

[@ForteZXA]

You get letters of marque to appear by having militarist ethics, it's not a pc mod

[@summitsummit563]

@@ForteZXA I think it's still pc only since pc is ahead on updates. Had the exact same build he had except morque wasn't appearing as a civic option.

[@ForteZXA]

@@summitsummit563 @summitsummit563 oh my god I knew consoles were behind on updates but I didn't know that it was this much behind jeeeez, I just did some googling & console is 3.5.3, pc is 3.12.5, and letters of marque according to my research was released with the galactic paragons dlc on 3.8 (gemini), i'm so sorry dude, but hey, my research also shows me that you guys are potentially getting the 3.9 update (idk how tho? Ig consoles skip versions because it's an annual update? Correct me if i'm wrong) with galactic paragons hopefully sometime this year

[@jameshaws9986]

"Massive economy" shows the most basic economy

[@luisphelipe914]

e

[@rosesareredbutzerglingssti9290]

You talk to fast. To people that don't speak or have difficult to understand talked English language (my case), it's impossible to understand what you are saying.

[@NoobEyeZone]

Set video speed to 0.75 :-) Problem solved :-D

[@rosesareredbutzerglingssti9290]

@@NoobEyeZone No thanks. I prefer to watch a video in normal speed where I can understand what is being said.

[@forsee2328]

@@rosesareredbutzerglingssti9290 You are definitely in the minority here, going slower would only annoy most viewers, so this channel might not be the best fit for you. On the other hand, it could improve your english if you put in some work

[@rosesareredbutzerglingssti9290]

@@forsee2328 *_I'm not "most viewers", you cement brain._* If people are dumb enough to waste time enjoying someone talking like a damn machinegun and don't understand a fig of what is being said, THAT IS THEIR OWN DAMN PROBLEM!

[@Dmitrisnikioff]

ugh facecam is gross