Ascension Perk Elimination

[Cry_Havok]

Interstellar Dominion: 25 (-2)
Technological Ascendancy: 14
Voidborne: 9
Master Builders: 9
Galactic Wonders: 15
Synthetic Ascension (The Flesh is Weak + Synthetic Evolution): 16
Psionic Ascension (Mind over Matter + Transcendence): 9 (+1)

Voting Down interstellar dominion because on personal experience I tend to have much more early game mineral trouble than influence. The early game economy still hasn't clicked for me, so of the above it's the only one I haven't used.

On Ascentions, Psi vs Synth

Psi: Pros: Great leaders, Amazing Tech, Tile benefits, Patrons (mixed bag), No Diplomacy penalties, protects from some of the worse effects of the contingency, Good for all Victory Conditions and Empire Types
Cons: Too Much RNG, can spawn annoying spiritualist faction, Requires farming Society with a maniacal scientist if not spiritualist

Synth: Pros: Great leaders (not as good as Psi), Great Tile Benefits (Better than Psi), good at half the tree (going cyborg only)
Cons: Diplomacy Penalties (minor as cyborgs, significant as full synths), useless for Spiritualist Empires

So, both have: Great Leaders (but Psi is better), Tile Benefits (Syths better than psi, but psi better than Cyborgs)

But look at them side by side, Psi is universally useful, and even if you just ignore the shroud you still have amazing leaders and good pops on a perk tree that every empire can use.

 

[John Rusher]

Interstellar Dominion: 25 (-2)
Technological Ascendancy: 14
Voidborne: 9
Master Builders: 9
Galactic Wonders: 15
Synthetic Ascension (The Flesh is Weak + Synthetic Evolution): 16
Psionic Ascension (Mind over Matter + Transcendence): 9 (+1)

Voting Down interstellar dominion because on personal experience I tend to have much more early game mineral trouble than influence. The early game economy still hasn't clicked for me, so of the above it's the only one I haven't used.

On Ascentions, Psi vs Synth

Psi: Pros: Great leaders, Amazing Tech, Tile benefits, Patrons (mixed bag), No Diplomacy penalties, protects from some of the worse effects of the contingency, Good for all Victory Conditions and Empire Types
Cons: Too Much RNG, can spawn annoying spiritualist faction, Requires farming Society with a maniacal scientist if not spiritualist

Synth: Pros: Great leaders (not as good as Psi), Great Tile Benefits (Better than Psi), good at half the tree (going cyborg only)
Cons: Diplomacy Penalties (minor as cyborgs, significant as full synths), useless for Spiritualist Empires

So, both have: Great Leaders (but Psi is better), Tile Benefits (Syths better than psi, but psi better than Cyborgs)

But look at them side by side, Psi is universally useful, and even if you just ignore the shroud you still have amazing leaders and good pops on a perk tree that every empire can use.

I agree, but I still pick synth ascension as more reliable.

 

[James Fire]

Expansion is overrated, since technology is king,

Too bad your whole argument is based on a false premise.

 

[wingren013]

Interstellar Dominion: 25
Technological Ascendancy: 12 (-2)
Voidborne: 9
Master Builders: 10 (+1)
Galactic Wonders: 15
Synthetic Ascension (The Flesh is Weak + Synthetic Evolution): 16
Psionic Ascension (Mind over Matter + Transcendence): 9

Technological Ascendancy is trash that only made it this far because people are so wedded to the idea that tech brings victory. Master Builders isn't the best perk here, but I think it should survive longer than galactic wonders for its synergy with habitats (which are pretty useful for pacifist empires or in times you find your expansion stalled due to truces or AI federations or whatever)

OK ok guys, but why interstellar dominion is so loved?
I mean it's not a good perk, you can get the same thing from repeatable technologies.

Influence is the most import resource in Stellaris. Planets are the second and territory is the third. Interstellar dominion gives you more of all three.

Expansion is overrated, since technology is king,

Lol no.

Getting a technology lead is more important than expanding in itself.

Okay this is ridiculous. The side with 50% more energy and minerals will soundly defeat the side with 100% more research (not to mention expanding can help your research)

 

[Methone]

Interstellar Dominion: 26(+1)
Technological Ascendancy: 10(-2)
Voidborne: 9
Master Builders: 10
Galactic Wonders: 15
Synthetic Ascension (The Flesh is Weak + Synthetic Evolution): 16
Psionic Ascension (Mind over Matter + Transcendence): 9

Interstellar Dominion is just so much better than Ascendancy in every way. Even if it didn't have the Claim cost reduction it'd still blow TA out of the water. Influence is so, so vital in the game; Outposts costing 20% less is always going to be a better first pick than 10% faster tech, ESPECIALLY since that 10% faster tech is additive.

 

[bunkerman]

Interstellar Dominion: 26
Technological Ascendancy: 8(-2)
Voidborne: 10 (+1)
Master Builders: 10
Galactic Wonders: 15
Synthetic Ascension (The Flesh is Weak + Synthetic Evolution): 16
Psionic Ascension (Mind over Matter + Transcendence): 9

TA is good but at this point its the worst one left
voidborne is a must in low habitable galaxies and helpful in mid to high habitability galaxies definitely more useful than TA in most cases

 

[AlanC9]

Influence is the most import resource in Stellaris. Planets are the second and territory is the third. Interstellar dominion gives you more of all three.

Leaving minerals ..... 4th?

By the time I'm influence-bound instead of mineral-bound, the game's usually well under control. How do the rest of you find it goes?

 

[Ur-Quan Lord 13]

Leaving minerals ..... 4th?

By the time I'm influence-bound instead of mineral-bound, the game's usually well under control. How do the rest of you find it goes?

First you get the influence, then you get the territory, then you get the minerals.

Seriously though, I spend all my influence to pump up my mineral income.

For a short while, my minerals are low, but then my mineral income quickly outpaces my influence's ability to grab new places to build.

If you have more influence than minerals, it's because you already haven't expanded enough

 

[bunkerman]

@AlanC9 personally i find myself influence bound instead of mineral bound within the first 10 years

 

[Shermanator]

Pointless speculation on 2.2 civics:
Nihilistic Acquisition will likely be a lot more useful, as many have pointed out, due to the new pop system.
The Megacorp one that has to do with branch offices will likely depend on galaxy size, and how easy it is to amass a lot of branch offices in the first place.
I think Voidborne will likely be even better, and Ecumenopois' will likely be powerful as both will be highly efficient when it comes to your administrative cap.
Imperial Perogetive will likely be very useful, possibly one of the best for wide empires.
Not sure how good xenocompability will be, it's essentially genetic engineering but you have no control over it. Probably a mid-low tier perk.
World Shaper may be a bit more desire, Wiz said Gaia world are getting buffed, and hability seems like it will be more important.
Concentrated worlds could be better? I do know the way holy worlds work is changing a little bit.
I think Hive Worlds and Machine worlds will rank higher, but we will see.

 

[Derp]

glad to see TA is finally getting the shellacking it deserves

Interstellar Dominion: 27 (+1)
Technological Ascendancy: 6(-2)
Voidborne: 10
Master Builders: 10
Galactic Wonders: 15
Synthetic Ascension (The Flesh is Weak + Synthetic Evolution): 16
Psionic Ascension (Mind over Matter + Transcendence): 9

ascensions and megastructures might be more powerful in isolation but ID is giving you bonuses for most of the game, and early and mid game advantages contribute more in the long run.

TA is weak because tech is unreliable and largely incremental. if tech was less random and had more big game changers like Civ games do, it might rate higher, but that's not the reality.

 

[Pointyearedgit]

Pointless speculation on 2.2 civics:
Nihilistic Acquisition will likely be a lot more useful, as many have pointed out, due to the new pop system.
The Megacorp one that has to do with branch offices will likely depend on galaxy size, and how easy it is to amass a lot of branch offices in the first place.
I think Voidborne will likely be even better, and Ecumenopois' will likely be powerful as both will be highly efficient when it comes to your administrative cap.
Imperial Perogetive will likely be very useful, possibly one of the best for wide empires.
Not sure how good xenocompability will be, it's essentially genetic engineering but you have no control over it. Probably a mid-low tier perk.
World Shaper may be a bit more desire, Wiz said Gaia world are getting buffed, and hability seems like it will be more important.
Concentrated worlds could be better? I do know the way holy worlds work is changing a little bit.
I think Hive Worlds and Machine worlds will rank higher, but we will see.

I've got thoughts, but I'll pointlessly speculate after the the eliminations are over

 

[Atreides]

Well Psionics survived through the night, we will see if it is still here tomorrow.
I did not expect ID to be the run away winner of this.

Interstellar Dominion: 27
Technological Ascendancy: 6
Voidborne: 10
Master Builders: 10
Galactic Wonders: 15
Synthetic Ascension (The Flesh is Weak + Synthetic Evolution): 14 (-2)
Psionic Ascension (Mind over Matter + Transcendence): 10 (+1)

 

[John Rusher]

glad to see TA is finally getting the shellacking it deserves

Interstellar Dominion: 27 (+1)
Technological Ascendancy: 6(-2)
Voidborne: 10
Master Builders: 10
Galactic Wonders: 15
Synthetic Ascension (The Flesh is Weak + Synthetic Evolution): 16
Psionic Ascension (Mind over Matter + Transcendence): 9

ascensions and megastructures might be more powerful in isolation but ID is giving you bonuses for most of the game, and early and mid game advantages contribute more in the long run.

TA is weak because tech is unreliable and largely incremental. if tech was less random and had more big game changers like Civ games do, it might rate higher, but that's not the reality.

I already stated why interstellar dominion is simply bad but let me rephrase it :
It doesn't make you able to expand much more than you want, only a little. Each five systems you CAN get one additional system. Same for war of conquest. However, if you compare it with VOIDBORNE for example, it is just bad. Voidborne, gives you MANY times more, since the habitats give you 12 resource sites per habitat, and you can build as many habitats as you have planets in the system - and often you can have 8 or more planets in just a single system.

And let's compare it with just getting one more system for every five systems you claimed - assuming here, that you were not blocked from expanding by AI. For 1000 star systems, you have at best 1 in 5 systems with habitable planets. Propably less. So as you can see, this additional system, is less likely to give you a habitable planet, than voidborne does. In fact I see voidborn is quite overpowered right now, since you don't need planets anymore, to build ships, you just need starports.

Now, let's compare it with Ascensions - they give you bonuses to resources - one gives you bonus +10% to reasarch on planets and to scientists, other gives you +20% to all resources on all planets. This means they increase your productivity, more than you could get from just getting few more systems.

Even technological ascendancy, which increases tech output by 10% is better here. Same goes for master builders and galactic wonders in my opinion.

Interstellar dominion, simply gives you A CHANCE to get a bit more income sometimes. But it doesn't give you a strong bonus, simply discount on expansion, that may mean nothing in the long and short term. It is entirely luck based if it will be usefull at all.

Well Psionics survived through the night, we will see if it is still here tomorrow.
I did not expect ID to be the run away winner of this.

Interstellar Dominion: 27
Technological Ascendancy: 6
Voidborne: 10
Master Builders: 10
Galactic Wonders: 15
Synthetic Ascension (The Flesh is Weak + Synthetic Evolution): 14 (-2)
Psionic Ascension (Mind over Matter + Transcendence): 10 (+1)

I started writing before you posted so :
Interstellar Dominion: 25 (-2)
Technological Ascendancy: 6
Voidborne: 10
Master Builders: 10
Galactic Wonders: 15
Synthetic Ascension (The Flesh is Weak + Synthetic Evolution): 15 (+1)
Psionic Ascension (Mind over Matter + Transcendence): 10

Dude : Let's make a truce, I think both ascensions are better than all the others, so let's try eliminating other perks. Synth and Psionic ascensions are perks that you will always choose either of. If you are mechanist you will pick synth, if you are religious you will pick psionic, simply because it is good.

 

[Little Red]

Interstellar Dominion: 23 (-2)
Technological Ascendancy: 6
Voidborne: 10
Master Builders: 10
Galactic Wonders: 15
Synthetic Ascension (The Flesh is Weak + Synthetic Evolution): 15
Psionic Ascension (Mind over Matter + Transcendence): 11 (+1)

Interstellar Dominion might be nice but it becomes irrelevant in the long term. This is especially true if you decide to go with Colossi. Psionics are still cool.

 

[C.N.]

Interstellar Dominion: 24 (+1)
Technological Ascendancy: 4 (-2)
Voidborne: 10
Master Builders: 10
Galactic Wonders: 15
Synthetic Ascension (The Flesh is Weak + Synthetic Evolution): 15
Psionic Ascension (Mind over Matter + Transcendence): 11

 

[Pointyearedgit]

Interstellar Dominion: 26 (+1)
Technological Ascendancy: 4 (-2)
Voidborne: 10
Master Builders: 10
Galactic Wonders: 15
Synthetic Ascension (The Flesh is Weak + Synthetic Evolution): 14
Psionic Ascension (Mind over Matter + Transcendence): 11

Should Read:

Interstellar Dominion: 24 (+1)
Technological Ascendancy: 4 (-2)
Voidborne: 10
Master Builders: 10
Galactic Wonders: 15
Synthetic Ascension (The Flesh is Weak + Synthetic Evolution): 15
Psionic Ascension (Mind over Matter + Transcendence): 11

The above posters have been a little mixed up

 

[John Rusher]

Interstellar dominion is simply a CHANCE for expansion early, that doesn't assure you will get any good resources, while all other picks here, are strong bonuses that will always be active for whole game, and give you increase in productivity. 20% more systems doesn't = 20% more resources. And it's not even 20% more systems, it is a chance that you can get 20% more systems, if you're lucky. You will get much less 100% of the time.

 

[C.N.]

Should Read:

...

The above posters have been a little mixed up

Thanks, I was just trying to figure it out. Edited my post once already. Three people posting at about the same time messed things up.

 

[Badesumofu]

Interstellar Dominion might be nice but it becomes irrelevant in the long term. This is especially true if you decide to go with Colossi. Psionics are still cool.

That is so wrong! The benefit that you get from getting those extra systems earlier on lasts for the entire game.