is it possible to win as a small (tall) empire?

[jasta85]

So, just got into Stellaris in the last week and am having a great time, got my first victory which was pretty standard conquer as much as I could. For my next playthrough I wanted to try as a megacorp, and be the guy in the shadows stealing everyone's stuff. Ideally I would stick to a very small sector but make it uber powerful.

The problem is, looking at victory conditions, they seem to revolve around having more of everything (planets, people, relics etc) and I'm probably not going to get that by staying small. I'm guessing I could stay small for like 90% of the game and then make a giant land grab at the very end but that's not really want I want to do.

So, I'm just wondering if there is a feasible way to win as a very small faction with maybe like 2-3 planets in a small area?

[Orion Invictus]

I think that's too few planets (maybe go for 5, or build some habitats), but it's definitely theoretically possible.

[Radene]

"Victory" is kinda redundant in this game (and I really wish it'd be just taken out, or at least accompanied by big red text saying THIS MEANS NOTHING); just play the style you wanna play, and end the game when you feel like you're done.

[Malaficus Shaikan]

Its general accepted that the win is whenever you achieved your personal goals but for the ingame point system.
Sure.
Just get an a massive economy, fleet, megastructures, conquer any empire that has a bigger score then you and release whem into smaller vassals.
You dont need to be the biggest just the strongest.
And ensure no large empire's can rise will help a lot.

[HappySack]

I do it all the time with my criminal syndicate empire, the plus side is that even if the crisis is too strong to fight I just let it kill everyone else while I only defend my own territory.

Granted it only works because of the Void Dweller origin.

[vkobe]

yeah if you can build level 5 Aetherophasic

[Pervy]

Originally posted by Radene:

"Victory" is kinda redundant in this game (and I really wish it'd be just taken out, or at least accompanied by big red text saying THIS MEANS NOTHING); just play the style you wanna play, and end the game when you feel like you're done.

It didt use to be a thing, and you can just turn it off.
Victory is relevent for the achievement.

[jasta85]

sorry, not familiar with some of the stuff you guys are talking about, but glad it is possible. How do you make vassals of people you beat in wars? I think I remember seeing an option for vassals in the diplomacy screen but it needed a really high level of diplomacy to get it and I don't know how that would happen when you're at war with someone.

looking up what aetherophasic is.

[Salooki]

It's definitely possible and it isn't that different to a wide empire. If you're dedicated enough and have an empire built properly you shouldn't have any issues.

[Pervy]

Originally posted by jasta85:

sorry, not familiar with some of the stuff you guys are talking about, but glad it is possible. How do you make vassals of people you beat in wars? I think I remember seeing an option for vassals in the diplomacy screen but it needed a really high level of diplomacy to get it and I don't know how that would happen when you're at war with someone.

looking up what aetherophasic is.

When you go to war, pick the wargoal vassel, insted of claims.
Thats how.

[Cinnamoon_dragon]

I would say no. You are constantly falling behind other empires in everything, you do not have enough resources, population, diplomatic weight, cannot build a stronger fleet.

[Razorblade]

Yes, you could win a score victory with nothing more than your home planet, if you so choose.

The most obvious solution is to have vassals. Vassals provide 50% of their victory score to their Overlord. As well, if they are Tributary or Subsidiary vassals, they'll contribute large amounts of resources to your economy score.

The less obvious answer is to crush all opposition. Other empires can't have a higher score than you if they don't exist. This is best pulled off with Colossus (planet-killer) ships from the Apocalypse expansion if you're not interested in keeping those planets.

A vanilla solution would be to instead change your War Philosophy policy to Liberation Wars, and declare an Ideology war against any powerful opponents. If you end an Ideology war with a Status Quo peace, any fully occupied systems will join a newly founded (very weak) empire with your Ethics, meaning you can use such wars to tear your enemies' empires apart and ruin their score.

There are some other strategies you can employ to boost your score as well, but having vassals and ensuring your rivals are weak should be more than enough to win with as few planets as you want.