Tips for playing as the Borg?

[Demon of Razgriz]

Ok, so I know that technically DA's don't have to be the Borg, but since one of the Stellaris devs seems to be a Star Trek fan (seriously, we have Klingon and Vulcans as humanoid choices, among other pieces of evidence), I am going to call it that.

Anyway, I usually play a turtle isolationist (but not Xenophobic) empire who doesn't really get out much. I have tried playing as DA at the same difficulty and got my butt handed to me.

So, I was looking for any tips from people who are experienced at playing them or empires like them. Thanks.

[Markus Reese]

Assimilator. Focus industry and military might. Get your science from the other species. Start avancing and dont stop. Strong shipyard base to keep losses continually replaced. The longer you dwell, the more time they have to get ahead.

Since you are an assimilator, they will attack if stronger. An early push will give you a boost you need to stay competitive.

Stealing science again is something to plan. You would be surprized how well you can keep up/get ahead. Science was last ascension I finished.

[Hat8]

Originally posted by Demon_of_Razgriz:

Ok, so I know that technically DA's don't have to be the Borg, but since one of the Stellaris devs seems to be a Star Trek fan (seriously, we have Klingon and Vulcans as humanoid choices, among other pieces of evidence), I am going to call it that.

Anyway, I usually play a turtle isolationist (but not Xenophobic) empire who doesn't really get out much. I have tried playing as DA at the same difficulty and got my butt handed to me.

So, I was looking for any tips from people who are experienced at playing them or empires like them. Thanks.

I've just been expanding in every direction and fighting constant wars. Seems to be working just fine. First guy I met found himself at war after I ramped up military production a few years after our meeting.

[mcsproot]

It's been awhile since I played Assimilators and they've seen some changes since then, but I'll try.

I believe Assimilators gain some kind of bonus (Unity?) when they Assimilate new pops. This encourages an aggressive playstyle. Conquer new planets to assimilate new populations. The fact they have a Total War Casus Belli, meaning they don't have to bother with using the Claims system, supports this as well.

Assimilators also get a pretty hefty diplomacy penalty. There's a reason the Borg are not very popular with the other empires/factions in Star Trek. Would YOU want to be friends with someone whose only desire is to strip you of your free will? I believe it is -100 for most empires, -200 for Spiritualists. Materialists still get a bonus for you being a Machine Empire, but it hardly outweighs the penalty. 'I know they want to make me a part of their hive mind and leave me a mindless drone, but robots are cool I guess'.

As a result, pretty much everyone hates you. And since they all hate you, they will like each other and team up against you. If you don't play with Hyperlanes set to Max/Full, then try and identify some key chokepoint systems early on. That way if you end up getting ganged up on, you can shore up at your defensive stations and keep your core empire safe. Alternatively, rush to take out some early rivals and become a superpower that nobody wants to tangle with.

Diplomacy isn't impossible, unlike for Exterminators and other Genocidal empire types, but it is difficult. Pretty much the only way you're going to get allies is to have mutual rivals, as that is a fairly hefty diplomacy boost. Other Machine Empires and also Hive Minds are fairly indifferent to Assimilators, so they can also be potential allies.

One bonus Assimilators get is their Cyborg pops. This means you can save a lot of minerals early on by allowing your Cyborgs to reproduce in place of building more Robots. I don't know how much roleplay VS mix-maxing you put into your species traits, but you can make both your machines and starter cyborgs able to be good at different things. I usually make my cybrog species intelligent and natural engineers (they did create advanced robots relatively early as a civilisation after all) so they tend to be staffing my science labs. I also try and rush Machine Templates so I can make Robots that get a bonus for each resource tile, which in my opinion is one of the core strengths of Machine Empires: maximising tile output.

Your Cyborgs can also be leaders, and I believe they cost less energy than a Robot, but are limited by lifespan unlike Robots (though Robots can randomly die). On the flip side, the Cyborg trait does also give a substantial lifespan increase.

If you get the Synchronicity traditions early on, in place of the Paradise Dome you get another building. I forget the name and I think it gives +2 energy and +2 minerals as well as giving a bonus to all cyborg tile production on the planet.

I also believe that they allow Assimilators to get the basic Gene Modding technologies, so you can buff your Cyborgs slightly. You can also recruit armies from them (the Pop that is staffing a Stronghold, War Factory/Military Academy or Capital building is the one from which defensive armies are spawned), and I believe Assault Armies are much cheaper than Hunter Killer drone armies though I may be mistaken.

One disadvantage that Assimilators have is they cannot gain the ability to terraform Gaia Worlds or Machine Worlds, both of which give substantial tile resource boosts.

All in all, Assimilators aren't really set up for being isolationist in my opinion. They're set up to be aggressive, to expand and conquer in order to Assimilate. They make a nice middle ground between more peaceful empires such as Servitors and the genocidal ones like Exterminators. Unlike Exterminators, you can still use the services of Enclaves and Marauders.