Cybernetics vs Synths?

[TERRANATURA]

I'm doing a void born materialist mega corp run & I can't decide if I wanna aim for a synth empire or if I want to stop at Cybernetics & have Synth slaves.

What are the pros & con's of either?

Why would I choose one over the other?

Googling random forum questions didn't bear great results 😭

[CrUsHeR]

Staying cyborg has no advantages at all. And there are reasons why completing Synth ascension takes about twice as long as the others, requiring a "dangerous" endgame tech.

1) Synths are the most productive species, with 100% habitability on every colony type

2) Synths have not only the best pop assembly speed, but can combine it with organic pop growth from migration pacts

3) Synth population is around >80% Materialist, so taking over whatever ethic pops does quickly turn them friendly after assimilation

4) Ascended Synths are also immune to the Contingency's Ghost Signal (your former robots are not, though)

[Spirit]

who need synths when you can go full psionic , that renders you completely immune to contingency infiltration

[Катя Мяу <3]

If you are worried about pop growth or the Contigency, just go hiveminds.

[Wraith]

go both.
While your synthetically ascending have a colony ship colonize a planet (make sure it takes longer to colonize then the ascension to finish, wait if you have to)
As soon as you finish the ascension all your pops will be synth.
When your colonization finish however the colony will be cyborgs before they ascended.
Congrats you now got both cyborg and ascended pops.

[mss73055]

Contingency is not guaranteed even if you got the hazardous techs. The gamble between Contingency and Unbidden usually picks War of Heaven :) Fully developed Synths are far less susceptible to Contingency than machines.

I like the endgame management of Synth xenophiles. Pops rush to your empire and are converted into this one species with amazing traits. Cyborgs are a nice stepping stone, especially if you mix in the few genetic traits and latent psionics of your neighbours. But who wants to manage a fractured population with dozens of species?

The Materialist faction is easy to please no matter your background. You can be fanatic whatever, have every pop Materialist and be happy with it. And have 100% habitability even if you pull stunts like Cornucopia.

[Leoscar]

Originally posted by CrUsHeR:

Staying cyborg has no advantages at all. And there are reasons why completing Synth ascension takes about twice as long as the others, requiring a "dangerous" endgame tech.

1) Synths are the most productive species, with 100% habitability on every colony type

2) Synths have not only the best pop assembly speed, but can combine it with organic pop growth from migration pacts

3) Synth population is around >80% Materialist, so taking over whatever ethic pops does quickly turn them friendly after assimilation

4) Ascended Synths are also immune to the Contingency's Ghost Signal (your former robots are not, though)

5.You can assimilate any organic pop into synths and therefore greatly reduce species micromanagement.

[CrUsHeR]

Originally posted by Spirit:

who need synths when you can go full psionic , that renders you completely immune to contingency infiltration

TBH psionic isn't even half as good as synthetic. Just by the performance from the bonuses and mechanics. And this goes hand in hand with the ethics, where spiritualists only get Unity while materialists get Research. Faster research unlocks everything else faster, so this quickly snowballs into materialists getting several decades ahead.

And there is another really stupid thing for psionics - you cannot assimilate cyborgs to become psionic. Though the materialists in their cyborg phase can assimilate psionic pops. Any psionic cyborg leaders also keep their psychic trait after ascending their species into synths.