Are vassals suposed to be terrible?

[Indres]

Hello

So I vassalized 5 empires that were around the united nations of man (Or whatever the earth pre created empire is called) and declared war on them. This was pretty early game and each had a 2K fleet each, but none of them bothered to actually invade the sizeable enemy, they just camped at their home planet, which forced me to do all the work, One of the most fun things for me in this game is to just ally others and force them into war and watch them fight.

Might it have something to do with the fact that I didnt liberate them before demanding to vassal them, so they had different ethics, thus 400- affection? Does affection have anything to say about their willingnes to fight?

As for right now, I see no point of taking vassals instead of either cedeing planets or inviting to federation.

 

[Seon]

Vassals tended to be pretty useful for me, more useful than "allies" anyways. In any case, I think disloyal vassals tend to be less enthusiastic about warring. Take them as tributaries instead.

 

[General Retreat]

By default the option to have allied fleets follow yours is disabled. Turn it on and all your vassal's fleets will converge on yours and lend a hand. This can be found by selecting the fleet you want to be followed. The follow button is three triangles at the top of the screen that look a bit like a triforce.

In my games vassals are usually pretty good at going out and proactively raiding, but getting them to follow you is the best way to leverage their strength against a stronger enemy.

 

[Pavane]

If you keep you vassals small then that will be their contribution. Try giving them some conquests as Wargoals so that they can bulk up. I've seen vassal fleets in the order of 6 - 8k.

 

[nrader]

Yes, they are bad. Anything vassal could provide you can usually get by conquering planets without worrying about independence rebellions or integration cost.

 

[General Retreat]

Yes, they are bad. Anything vassal could provide you can usually get by conquering planets without worrying about independence rebellions or integration cost.

There are other perks to vassals. Acting as a buffer to absorb border tension for starters. Plus there are extra perks from the relevant tradition tree now.

 

[nrader]

There are other perks to vassals. Acting as a buffer to absorb border tension for starters. Plus there are extra perks from the relevant tradition tree now.

Who needs diplomacy with AI's when by the 30-40 year after the start you could be twice or more stronger than your neighbours?

 

[Drakonn]

By default the option to have allied fleets follow yours is disabled. Turn it on and all your vassal's fleets will converge on yours and lend a hand. This can be found by selecting the fleet you want to be followed. The follow button is three triangles at the top of the screen that look a bit like a triforce.

In my games vassals are usually pretty good at going out and proactively raiding, but getting them to follow you is the best way to leverage their strength against a stronger enemy.

Still had a slight problem with this myself as my vassal refused to help me out. Even when one of his planets was invaded and his fleet was more than a match for the enemy. Granted, maybe this was because he had the Disloyal and is a Fanatic Purifier I put under the boot a while ago...yea, he's actually getting bigger than me now so he's got to go soon.