Fun Builds

[Cicilka]

I've been really bored with this game, not even all the new content was enough to spark enough interest in me. Does anyone have a fun, unexpected build to suggest? Currently I'm stuck trying a Clone Army + Warrior Culture build that is both efficient and good for roleplaying, but nothing seems good enough.

[GONDAL]

A build I've found to be rather fun is pacifist megacorp with only 3-4 planets. You can become very powerful and get dyson sphere+ levels of energy credits through trade alone. On the run I did this build I had 3 planets, two of which were turned into trade stacked ecumenopoli and 1 of which was a food production gaia world. Build is also fun for roleplay because the focus is more on relationships as you will, naturally, be physically weaker than everyone else (provided the AI got good RNG with its IQ).

[Jagothegamer]

Xenophobic Megacorp with any 1 fanatic or 2 other ethics of your choice. Go with the civic that gives you more envoys (Forget what the megacorp version is called) and one other civic of your choice (You can go with franchising as a fluff civic if you wish though). Call your empire the xeno burger start with syncretic evolution origin and as soon as the game starts set their slavery type to livestock. Go for Nihilistic Acquisition Ascension perk and when you form commercial pacts with other empires, always build Fast Food chains and enjoy feeding the galaxy's xenos to the rest of the galaxy.

[Theutus]

Play Inward Perfection and try to trick the AI into declaring war so you can conquer them.

[manniepants]

I did a tree of life hive mind with catalytic processing, and photosynthetic budding plantoid pops. Tree of life gives extra agri districts so goes well with catalytic processing photosynthesis reduces food upkeep leaving more for alloys. Goes well with budding for even more pop growth. Good for a peaceful run. A race of happy space trees

[Karina]

Try adding a bit of roleplay to make new objectives and restrictions for yourself. Examples i came up with-

1) Builders of Way.

Fanatic Spiritualist, no pacifist, no xenophile. On a pilgramage - must reach opposite side of a galaxy by claiming systems IN A STRAIGHT LINE (as much as the map will allow it). Everything else irrelevant. FE in a way - force them to move, no excuses. Once you reached opposite side - you won the game.

2) GCI 2732b

Genocidal insane AI. Must declare war on EVERY empire that you meet.

3) Survivalists

Inwards perfection civic, maximum difficulty, maximum ai agression, maximum crisis strength, earliest crisis date. Pre create genocidal empires of every type and gurantee their spawning for this run. Try to stay undetected for as long as possible by expanding very little. DO NOT contact aliens. Bunker up, build bastions everywhere and prepare for inevitalbe End.

4) Space Venice

Megacorp, can only control your home system.

5) Dark Ones

Fanatic Purifiers + Exalted Priesthood, Voidborn. Can only claim black hole systems.

[Markus Reese]

I actually had a fun one that turned out to be a bit OP.

Xenophage syncretic lithoids.

Xenophages can have a lot of fun. Lithoid one was OP because when you cannibalize lithoids, you get minerals, and they eat minerals. From the start, I had set up the syncretic to be livestock. I ended up with a massive juggernaut of industry where every single planet was an ecumenopolis. But been a couple updates since I played them so not sure if can still do that.

Many different ways to play. But phages with livestock syncretes right off start is hilarious fun.

One other one I really enjoyed and was quite memorable was my Qlorvinserans. A very tech focused/tall play species Tech and stations and ringworlds. Mass producing wonders. Much fun.

One of my earliest and memorable ones, going back to early days was the Agrarian Idyll Inward Perfection species of the Hadadeshi. Really have to change the approach to play with that.

Lastly? One of my longest running through the game after the Hadadeshi, constantly being kept up to date and the original in my list? The Korinth Authority. Bandit Kingdom. Fanatic Authortarian. Barbaric despoiler and slavers. Sounds pretty straight forward, but the way to play it in the roleplay sets it apart. Vassals and protectorates, raiding to get slave pops for slave worlds and really runaway with play.

I once played a similar with feudal society, but that mechanic has changed a fair bit. Stil fun though to play tall, conquering other empires to supply yourself.

[RawCode]

try trading only megacorp

by trading only i mean that you do not make any mining\farming\energy districts at all.

not ever single one, ofc you will start with few, it's okay early, but after like 2220 make sure that you do not have ever single one.
convert all worlds into ecumenopolises when available.

extra points if you start as normal organics with doomsday

extra points if you start xenophile+egalitian and instantly toggle utopian living standart as default one

[Karina]

Doomsday Voidborn - start on a Doomsday world and transition to a habitat only empire.

[lubed_assassin]

gimmick builds, like radioactive xenophobic necroids... get jovrian pox.. an pray for a self mod to tombworld adapt. zero upkeep pops. (except some minor consumer goods)

[flintfakeer]

Agrarian idyll + catalytic processing
(third civic recommended functional architecture/Masterful crafters)

Agrarian idyll + slaver guilds
(first tradition Nihilistic acquisition)

Take reanimator and go guardian hunting.

Inward perfection + Exhalted priesthood
(rush traditions and either switch from pacifist to militarist &/OR go psionic non-imperial and switch civics through the chosen one event. Just switching to militarist is fine as you already got most of the benefit from inward anyway)

Pacifist xenophile imperium with Feudal Society civic
(the idea is that everyone will beg you to rule over them)

Try a run where you get multiple level ten leaders. The bonuses are purdy goood.

Lithoid/mechanical xenophobic authoritarians using livestock to power catalystic processing and bioreactors is fun.

In general, I find it fun to try and max out a modifier. I currently have a game where my main species has more than 200% additional army damage. What about getting 10,000 trade value in your empire? How low can pop consumer upkeep go? How high can pop growth go?

As a general rule I think this game plays better at 600 stars or less. Ever since I reduced the galaxy size, I have had more fun.

[Karina]

Originally posted by flintfakeer:

Agrarian idyll + catalytic processing
(third civic recommended functional architecture/Masterful crafters)

Agrarian idyll + slaver guilds
(first tradition Nihilistic acquisition)

Take reanimator and go guardian hunting.

Inward perfection + Exhalted priesthood
(rush traditions and either switch from pacifist to militarist &/OR go psionic non-imperial and switch civics through the chosen one event. Just switching to militarist is fine as you already got most of the benefit from inward anyway)

Pacifist xenophile imperium with Feudal Society civic
(the idea is that everyone will beg you to rule over them)

Try a run where you get multiple level ten leaders. The bonuses are purdy goood.

Lithoid/mechanical xenophobic authoritarians using livestock to power catalystic processing and bioreactors is fun.

In general, I find it fun to try and max out a modifier. I currently have a game where my main species has more than 200% additional army damage. What about getting 10,000 trade value in your empire? How low can pop consumer upkeep go? How high can pop growth go?

As a general rule I think this game plays better at 600 stars or less. Ever since I reduced the galaxy size, I have had more fun.

You cant take agrariran idyl with slavers.

[flintfakeer]

Originally posted by Esteban Failsmore:

You cant take agrariran idyl with slavers.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2635027161

Agrarian idyll requires Pacifist/Fanatic Pacifist and you can't have these origins:
Post-Apocalyptic
Remnants
Shattered Ring
Void Dwellers

Slaver guilds require you to be Authoritarian/Fanatic Authoritarian.

[RawCode]

playing pacifist is very bad stuff, probably viable in MP, when you join federation with other player to ignore war declaration restrictions, but in SP pacifism is outright garbage and fun build on it's own.

[Danny]

Pacifists is very strong for megacorps, as they can build up their branch offices for extra stuff.

[yuzhonglu]

Pacifism is fine so long as you switch out of it eventually.