FanXenophobe + ... I'm at a loss here

[Alblaka]

Basic and simple topic.
I'm trying to figure out how to design my next playthrough this evening. The theme is already clearly defined as 'slave heavy xenophage'. Kinda like 'Fanatical Purifier' but with lots of eating and lifestock instead of purging (which naturally implicates Genetic Ascension).

For that reason, Fanatic Xenophobe is the only logical choice (since simple Xenophobe is kinda like 'stay away xenos' but not 'DIE XENOS').

My issue now... what other ethic to pick?

• I can neither put a third point into Xenophobe, nor only use two point, due to the game's restrictions.
• Xenophile is locked out since it opposes Xenophobe.
• Militarist is technically an option, but that would be very close to Fanatical Purifier. And I already have a species that fills that niche and would dislike to have two species with the exact same ethics.
• Pacifist won't work, becasue I DO want to go to war.
• Spiritualist would fit thematically, but with all the bugs and controversy about malfunctioning Government Attraction, I would rather not risk suddenly having to deal with Xenophile Factions.
• Materialist could work, but I do not intend to go for Robots, because of Biologic Ascension (which will make organic pops much superior to droids, and I certainly won't allow Synths in my Xenophobe empire, because those trigger Xenophile attraction). And Materialists without robots is kinda half the ethic wasted (and obviously unhappy factions).
• Egalitarian would be an interesting choice, but is denied by the fact Egalitarian-Xenophobe is bugged and won't allow alien slaves.
• Authoritarian would fit thematically, but has the issue that it tries to force you into Imperialism, which is gimped by heirs having random ethics and possibly promotion xenophileheresy. And I'm not certain whether the 'Stratofied Society' oppinion modifier will be satisfied by having xeno slaves instead of Caste System (and I do not want to use Caste System for my primary species in first place, because that could lead to Egalitarism, with the bug issue mentioned above).

Anyone got advice here, I'm at a dead end...

 

[Sheriff Godwin Law]

Simple Xenophobe unlocks all the treats of fanatic xenophobia.

Militarist would be best, but since that wouldn't be satisfying I'm going to say Authoritarian.

Reduction in slave unrest should directly target the biggest source of internal aggravation and the Authoritarian faction will be the easiest to keep mollified.

 

[Sibericus]

You don't need to limit yourself within those playstyles, you can go authoritarian, as a dictatorship or oligarchy, or play materialist without going robots or technological ascension. It isn't optimal, but if you're going for a role-playing/fun build, you don't need to worry about min-maxing. I'd recommend militarist for you. The empire you described, sounds one step away from being fanatical purifiers.

 

[deadhand13]

Heresy you say? Sound like a spiritualist to me!

 

[Sheriff Godwin Law]

Well, I almost said Spiritualist too. Except the spiritualist faction will get all grumpy pants and whiny as soon as he picks biological ascension. Otherwise, their sweet unrest bonus would be even better than Authoritarian.

 

[Volapyk]

I would, for RP, go for Materialist, and play it as a race obsessed with understanding biology and genes instead of mechanical technology. The hapiness penalty can be circumvented by not outlawing AI and simply not build any.

 

[Alblaka]

The hapiness penalty can be circumvented by not outlawing AI and simply not build any.

I'm pretty certain that 'Robot Envy' would still apply here.
It's a modifier that (apparently, observation here, not code digging) occurs when you are Materialist, and there is another (Materialist?) empire nearby which has robots, whilst you don't. Apparently this as well gives a same-named happyness bonus to the empire which has the robots.

 

[Felius]

And I'm not certain whether the 'Stratofied Society' oppinion modifier will be satisfied by having xeno slaves instead of Caste System

It will, at least in 1.5.0. My Fanatical Spiritualist/Xenophobic Imperial Empire got a pretty large Authoritarian faction that got placated by getting some xeno slaves into the empire. Might even work with only residence, since that still keeps it stratified, if not quite as much as enslaving the aliens, but either way, it does work.

 

[Sheriff Godwin Law]

Well, the way to manage a materialist faction would be to air drop six droids onto some misable backwater, preferably a tomb world, and have them mine. This gets you the robot workers happiness bonus and afterwards you upgrade them to Synths and you side step Synth Envy. I'd never suggest this for a tall game, but if you're going to be a slave heavy xenophage, you're probably also going to be running wide. That should keep materialists on the mellow and get you a 5% research bonus.

In my opinion not as useful as Authoritarian, it feels kinda gamey to get around their faction demands like that, and it's a pretty significant tech investment. But it's certainly an option.

 

[Alblaka]

It will, at least in 1.5.0. My Fanatical Spiritualist/Xenophobic Imperial Empire got a pretty large Authoritarian faction that got placated by getting some xeno slaves into the empire. Might even work with only residence, since that still keeps it stratified, if not quite as much as enslaving the aliens, but either way, it does work.

That is a pretty good reason to go Authoritarian then.
Afaik staying with Dictatorship will circumvent the issue of heirs promoting random factions, and I can deal with a +-0% happyness (instead of the +5 from being fully imperial) I think.

Thanks for the confirmation (I would have loved to check the files for that, but don't have them at reach till later today).

 

[Volapyk]

I'm pretty certain that 'Robot Envy' would still apply here.
It's a modifier that (apparently, observation here, not code digging) occurs when you are Materialist, and there is another (Materialist?) empire nearby which has robots, whilst you don't. Apparently this as well gives a same-named happyness bonus to the empire which has the robots.

It is in the Stellaris\common\pop_faction_types\00_technologist.txt file.

There are the following issues and effects:

Robots are banned: -15 happiness
Have more than 5 robots: +5 hapiness (could potentionally let a few robots live somewhere for this bonus)
No normal empires are above equivalent in tech: +5/-5 hapiness.
3 research agreements: +5 hapiness
"Synth Envy", any known empire have mechanical or cybernetic pops while you don't: +5/-10 hapiness (so again you can leave a few robots alive somewhere and reap in extra hapiness)

 

[Cat_Fuzz]

I'd go for spiritualist - sure you could get gimped by bugs, but it could be nicely thematically consistent being that you are a where eating others is a religious custom. Now you are spaceborn you wish to spread this religion throughout the Galaxy, consuming all in your way.