Inward Perfection -- what's their big project?

[HFY]

Inward Perfection has been around for a while, but I've never seen a satisfying explanation for what they're supposed to be perfecting inwardly.

Planetary Ascension could have been their thing, but that's boosted by a Federation instead (which is their kryptonite)

So, what are these isolationists supposed to be doing in all that space they claimed?

 

[The5lacker]

I mean they gain bonus Unity, so you can focus on that and Ascension if you want.

The project is, in general, whatever your third Ethic is. Materialists are looking to improve themselves, Spiritualists are looking to meditate on the nature of the universe, etc. etc. Just because you're an Isolationist doesn't mean you don't need space, and supplies. You find meaning in the work, whatever that work is. My own personal Inward Perfection empire is a Technocratic Oligarchy, basically looking to achieve technological supremacy over the galaxy so the vermin can't bother them. Very big fans of the addition of Cloaking, and the benefits layered onto Subturfuge and Enigmatic Engineering, which I already took for flavor reasons.

 

[ZomgK3tchup]

Thematically, they're supposed to be Imperial China.

This is sorta represented by their bonuses: unity, edict fund, and pop growth, i.e., they're supposed to be a large culturally homogonous empire with a strong central government and zero interest in the affairs of the greater galaxy.

And that's it, really.

There's not much going on with this civic other than being a reference to EU4's implementation of Imperial China + being pacifist's big civic.

 

[The5lacker]

There's not much going on with this civic other than being a reference to EU4's implementation of Imperial China + being pacifist's big civic.

This is blatant Agrarian Idyll erasure.

 

[SharkWolf]

This is blatant Agrarian Idyll erasure.

Haha so true. I used to play almost exclusively tall pacifist (until I decided Xenophile was better for tall play...) and agrarian Idyll was probably my favorite civic for years.

 

[Less2]

With all the power creep in civics/traits/origins Inward Perfection could definitely use a bit of a buff in order to still stand out, given all the downsides it has. There's a lot of other builds who laugh at those numbers it has while having next to no drawbacks. It's not like Pacifists are in danger of taking over the galaxy if they get buffed too hard.

 

[Ikael]

I always envisioned Inwards Perfectionists as the quintessential precursor civilization, building megastructures and huge works of engineering and technological prowess that would be seen with reverence and awe by the lesser empires, which would worship their culture and ways of doing things.

Unfortunately, megastructures appear way too late in the game (they are a "win more" type of thing), the options to develop your planets are extremely limited, and there is nothing that would properly simulate cultural influence. So I got unity and planetary ascensions to simulate their harmonious society, and that's pretty much it :/

 

[Verx90]

for how you play IP , it usualy is just the egg of something bigger . problem is that you lose a civ .

so with the new shiny civ over the years, it lost interest and utility .


considering the heavy limitations , it should get a bonus close to some "weak" TW factions like assimilators ...

more than anything , it seems to be a "strong unity " civic, but since you can't realy use it with fanatic spiritualist , it can't focus much on it .



they could get some more spicy .

i would go in the direction of getting 10% of theyr unity production as edicts found , influence on closed borders , use envoys to increase a planet stability, and special interaction with primitives ( mainly about when they reach FTL) ... and i would make them start with cloack tecnology , but this would touch on a different DLC .

 

[Lorenerd11]

Inward Perfection has been around for a while, but I've never seen a satisfying explanation for what they're supposed to be perfecting inwardly.

Planetary Ascension could have been their thing, but that's boosted by a Federation instead (which is their kryptonite)

So, what are these isolationists supposed to be doing in all that space they claimed?

I think giving Inward Perfection bonuses to planetary ascension could be a good idea.

 

[GuardianGI]

Maybe give them the ability to ascend planets at the start of the game or after unlocking the first ascension + huge unity discount to ascending.

 

[user192823]

They inwardly perfect themselves until their psionic chosen one comes, in order to pick crisis perk and destroy the galaxy, of course.

 

[mial42]

I've suggested they get buffs to planetary ascension, which is a perfect thematic fit for them. Simplest buffs would be the Holy Covenant buffs, but I think it should be possible to add other effects to planetary ascension, in which case the sky is the limit.

 

[klopkr]

I think a go it alone ascension bonus for them would be cool.

Planetary ascension is already kinda under utilized and too niche and I think this would be a totally nice bonus.

It's like the prosperty mechanics of EU4.

 

[ZomgK3tchup]

I did an Inward Perfection game inspired by this thread:

- Overlord has been an indirect nerf to this civic. Being locked out of most vassal types is a huge malus that’s not compensated for.

- Isolationist and your general lack of envoys makes the Galactic Community annoying to navigate. The AI loves to pass resolutions related to mercenaries and ones that reduce naval capacity. You can opt not to join the GC, but you’re missing out on a lot of buffs that aren’t compensated for.

- The game got awkward at end-game because the objectively better choice was to take the Custodianship and steer the galaxy to victory. This isn’t an issue on normal difficulties, but if you’re playing with a higher crisis difficulty, you’re gimping yourself by ignoring all these free Custodian and GC bonuses.

Overall, I agree with what other people have said: there’s a huge downside to this civic and almost no meaningful upsides. I could have skipped out on the GC, the League of Non-Aligned Powers, and the Custodianship, but I would have felt like I was purposefully nerfing myself.

At it exists currently, it feels like a roleplay-heavy civic: you’d only play it the way it’s “meant” to be played for roleplaying purposes. Otherwise, the best thing to do with this civic is to switch out of it.