Any recommended DLC for a first ever playthrough?

[FEEP]

Just wondering before I start because I know it's not on sale on steam but on fanatical and green man gaming almost all the DLC is 50-60% off any recommendations?

I personally thought megacorp and apocalypse were cool but I know there's some that are recommended that just make certain systems work better like galactic paragons? I'm not sure.

Mainly looking at gameplay of course. I don't really care too much for any race/species/story packs unless there's some that are really good or something like that

[Geoff]

Originally posted by FEEP:

I personally thought megacorp and apocalypse were cool but I know there's some that are recommended that just make certain systems work better like galactic paragons? I'm not sure.

Megacorp is solid in my opinion, but it's a "love-it-or-hate-it" release and doesn't pay its highest dividends until you've mastered the game a bit. I'd recommend it, not necessarily as a first purchase.

I'm not a fan of Paragons, but I think you're right that it's pretty integral to the current gameplay experience. "Utopia" is highly rated and generally considered a "must-have" for satisfying gameplay. "Federations" has a lot of staple features in it, also. "Apocalypse" is probably worth it for the titans, definitely worth it if you want to play the galactic bad guy. "Overlord" is pretty critical for an enjoyable late game, since it adds a bunch of the megastructures.

[FEEP]

Originally posted by Geoff:

Originally posted by FEEP:

I personally thought megacorp and apocalypse were cool but I know there's some that are recommended that just make certain systems work better like galactic paragons? I'm not sure.

Megacorp is solid in my opinion, but it's a "love-it-or-hate-it" release and doesn't pay its highest dividends until you've mastered the game a bit. I'd recommend it, not necessarily as a first purchase.

I'm not a fan of Paragons, but I think you're right that it's pretty integral to the current gameplay experience. "Utopia" is highly related and generally considered a "must-have" for satisfying gameplay. "Federations" has a lot of staple features in it, also. "Apocalypse" is probably worth it for the titans, definitely worth it if you want to play the galactic bad guy. "Overlord" is pretty critical for an enjoyable late game, since it adds a bunch of the megastructures.

Hmmm okay solid answer thanks. Probably hold off on megacorp then and look into Utopia and Federations. I do enjoy my late game so Overlord too. Will overlord let me build a dyson sphere? or a dyson swarm. I know apocalypse will let me destroy planets

Edit: Never mind I see Utopia adds that lol

[Geoff]

Originally posted by FEEP:

Hmmm okay solid answer thanks. Probably hold off on megacorp then and look into Utopia and Federations. I do enjoy my late game so Overlord too. Will overlord let me build a dyson sphere? or a dyson swarm. I know apocalypse will let me destroy planets

I'm pretty sure Dyson Spheres were introduced with Utopia. Hopefully someone will correct me if I'm wrong on that. The Dyson Swarm is from the more recent "Machine Age" DLC, which also seemed to be well-received by players.

[Sabaithal]

Utopia and Leviathan are the only "mandatory" ones in my mind. The rest just depend on what you want.

Honestly a lot of them are stuff you figure out later on. Like, do you want to play as a machine nation? Go for the Synthetic dawn DLC. Or if cyborgs are your thing, Machine age. Want more exploration related stuff, Distant stars and/or Ancient Relics. Want titans and planet crackers, Apocalypse. Want to roleplay the empire from star wars, Overlord. Want to make Space America, Megacorp.

Go for Cosmic storms if you just want to watch the galaxy burn (or be a massive troll).

And buy the cube species pack if you feel like throwing money away (Seriously, why does that one exist).

[CrUsHeR]

DLC requirements are a total maze.

Example a Dyson Sphere requires the Utopia DLC, but the matching Matter Decompressor requires the Megacorp DLC.

Buildings Habitats requires no DLC, building Ring Worlds requires Utopia, but - surprise! - the matching Empire Origins to start with these requires the Federations DLC.


TBH if you can afford it, just grab some all-in-one bundle with all DLCs which aren't species or story packs. Would save you some headaches, and i think the game is historically worth it. One of my most played games of all time.

[Unimportant]

It's fine to just buy what interest you the most.

[Surumon]

The one I think is absolutely critical is Utopia since most of what I think of when I hear science fiction got cut from the original release of Stellaris and stuffed into Utopia. Also, the sound track is a solid investment for $5 since it is already ~6.5 hours of music and grows with each new DLC.

Also: If you have not bought anything from Fanatical yet, I have a scratch card code for 10% off you are welcome to. I think it works with the current sales.

[TheOrangeBox]

Originally posted by FEEP:

I personally thought megacorp and apocalypse were cool but I know there's some that are recommended that just make certain systems work better like galactic paragons? I'm not sure.

Paragons just changes stats to leaders, it adds nothing to the main game - literally is a 20kb text files DLC.

Utopia and Federation are the critical expansions to the game. Synthetic Dawn Story Pack allows you to start the game as a Machine Empire which is what the recent Machine Age DLC is also offering.

[FEEP]

Thanks I gotta say I'm addicted. None of paradoxes games have hit me like this one. I definitely will be grabbing some DLC

[sweng]

If you cant get many dlc at once, i will recommend utopia and paragon first. Then after some playthrough, you buy more dlc depend on what you think the game is lacking/things you want to have more in game (mid game/late game events, relic, technology, new resources, megastructure, ascension path, game mechanism, origin).

[sweng]

Originally posted by sweng:

If you cant get many dlc at once, i will recommend utopia and paragon first. Then after some playthrough, you buy more dlc depend on what you think the game is lacking/things you want to have more in game (mid game/late game events, relic, technology, new resources, megastructure, ascension path, game mechanism, origin).

Paragon dlc give allow you to select trait for leaders so that your leader's trait can be very organize. It also give you a special council position and at least one agenda for each tradition adopted. Paragon dlc is mainly focus in leaders and council. It is really good dlc for manage the empire.

Utopia is simply great. It like you need it to actually start playing.

[steven1mac]

Utopia and Federations, perhaps synthetic dawn and distant stars. I can't say much past that since I stopped updating the game once Paragons came out.

[Geoff]

Originally posted by steven1mac:

Utopia and Federations, perhaps synthetic dawn and distant stars. I can't say much past that since I stopped updating the game once Paragons came out.

Distant Stars is really good content. It's technically more story and flavor than expansion of game mechanics, but once you add it into the mix, it's hard to imagine the game without it. To a lesser extent, the same is true for Ancient Relics and Leviathans.

[CrUsHeR]

Buildings Habitats requires no DLC, building Ring Worlds requires Utopia, but - surprise! - the matching Empire Origins to start with these requires the Federations DLC.

Even more confusion - Building an Ecumenopolis requires the Megacorp DLC, but the matching Remnants origin requires both Federations and Ancient Relics...

[DragonNoz]

what would be best starting playthrough? making my own or going with a default empire's origin? I'm curious, genuinely, because there's a LOT of stuff to go through, even on consoles.