Summary
- Psionics unlocks powerful psionic abilities with positive bonuses but can be inconsistent due to randomness.
- Subterfuge is geared towards militaristic approaches, focusing on espionage and operations for aggressive empires.
- Harmony provides empire management benefits for stability, growth, and efficient resource usage for individualist empires.
In 4X games, the player must Explore, Expand, Exploit, and Exterminate, and there are almost always multiple ways to do so. Some prefer diplomacy, others swift and decisive military action. There are planets to survey and economies to dominate, and with so many ways to proceed, it's as easy to sabotage one's own plans as it is to flourish.
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In Stellaris, an Origin determines the background of a species and empire, but which ones are the best in the game?
Stellaris is one of the deepest and most complicated 4X games around. When anarchist bird-people, market-controlling robots, and Imperialist lizards under the protection of a giant space dragon are all playable options, it's clear there are a lot of important choices to make. The choice of Tradition is one of the most important in the game, as these culture-wide philosophies will guide the player's strategic decisions in countless ways. Here are the best Traditions in Stellaris.
Updated March 22, 2025 by Rhenn Taguiam: As the “Phoenix Update” of Stellaris 4.0 teases quality of life changes, performance upgrades, and improved pacing, fans of the space-faring 4X title might be more than eager to re-explore the hit Paradox title and aim to once again dominate the galaxy. However, both newcomers and gameplay savants might realize that Stellaris deals with more than just selecting an archetype to represent the player’s chosen species, but also Traditions to add variety to the overall gameplay.
Among must-pick Traditions for players of Stellaris include boosting overall manpower through Psionics, emphasizing a stealth-focused militaristic approach, a version of unity among individualists, and maximizing the efficiency of machines.
1 Psionics
Transform An Empire Into Overproductive Psions
- Adoption Bonus: +Latent Psionic Trait, Unlocks the Psionic Supremacy agenda, adds Telepathy Research (if Teachers of the Shroud)
- Finisher Bonus: -10% Edict Upkeep, -20% Shroud Delve Cooldown, Can confirm an established Covenant
As an Ascension Tradition, Psionics is not only available via the Utopia DLC but also the Psionic Theory Tradition alongside the Mind Over Matter Ascension Perk or being of the Teachers of the Shroud Origin. The Tradition’s focus on unlocking the psionic potential of their Population can grant them not just the Latent Psionic Trait but also massive bonuses - such as stat boosts when players unlock the Psi Corps building and the orbital ring building.
Unfortunately, Psionics is often a hit-or-miss due to the game’s rather random nature. Should players manage to maximize the way Psionics work in their favor, they can transform this into an ace in the hole that can help them dominate the match.
2 Subterfuge
A More Specialized Tradition Perfect For Militaristic Approaches
- Adoption Bonus: +1 Codebreaking, x5 Chance for Cloaking and Detection Technologies, Unlocks Uncover Secrets agenda (with Galactic Paragons)
- Finisher Bonus: 50% Infiltration Level refund for successful Operations, +1 Cloaking Strength (with First Contact)
Despite being only available with the Nemesis DLC, Subterfuge is quite an interesting Tradition to consider for players who want to add a bit of subtlety to their overall gameplay. Benefits include a direct bonus to Codebreaking, Encryption, Evasion, Tracking, and even Infiltration. When used correctly, empires with Subterfuge should be able to jump the gun on enemies and even secure important objectives without being too overt.
However, it’s important to take note that Subterfuge is overall more of a militaristic Tradition - benefiting empires who prefer an aggressive approach to their expansion.
3 Harmony
Get More Out Of Empire Management
- Adoption Bonus: -10% Pop Upkeep, Unlocks Inner Stability Agenda (with Galactic Paragons)
- Finisher Bonus: +25% Planetary Ascension Effect, Can create Holy Covenant federations (with Federations)
With Stellaris empires tending to expand across entire star systems, players not only have to manage every planet under their jurisdiction but also their empire at large. This is where Harmony - unlike Synchronicity for Gestalt Consciousness empires - comes in. For Individualist empires, Harmony can provide different ways of making empires less chaotic over time, be it making Leaders more useful, lessening effects of Population to the empire, promoting overall stability, and even boosting Planetary Ascension effects.
However, despite its benefits, Harmony isn’t a pick-first Tradition. Rather, it’s more effective as a Tradition to further boost a player’s existing pick - especially since its benefits can give players a bit more juice to play with in the mid-game to the endgame.
4 Versatility
Perfect To Boost Efficacy Of Machine Intelligence Empires
- Adoption Bonus: -10% Replicator Upkeep, Unlocks Self-Maintenance Agenda (with Galactic Paragons)
- Finisher Bonus: +1 Energy Upkeep from Replicators, +10% Mechanical Pop Assembly Speed, +2 Amenities from Maintenance Drones
One of the more unique faction types in Stellaris are Machine Intelligence empires - essentially organizations built on the backbone of manufactured machines instead of ordinary lifeforms. Due to their unique nature, Machine Intelligence empires tend to focus more on increasing the rate of producing machines and maximizing their efficiency - something reflected in Traditions that affect the overall “usage” of planets.
Whereas “organic” empires use Adaptability, Machine Intelligence empires use Versatility - a Tradition that provides Machine Intelligence players with a bit more resource management capabilities. With Versatility, empires get overall lesser Amenities usage while getting more Amenities from Maintenance Drones on top of faster Mechanical Population Assembly and even reduced Job Upkeep.
5 Adaptability
Acquire In The Face Of Housing Issues
- Adoption Bonus: -10% Pop Housing Usage, Unlocks the Conquer Nature Agenda if Galactic Paragons
- Finisher Bonus: Capital Designations give +5% Output to all Jobs, Resource Designations give +10% Output to their Jobs, Specialist Designations give +5% to their Jobs, Other Designations receive different effects
Players who are playing an interplanetary strategy title like Stellaris know that their supremacy lies not just in how they conquer other planets but in how they maximize using each planet that falls under their purview. This is especially emphasized by Adaptability which allows players to maximize the resource output they get from the planets they have. While the skill tree is split into different components, diving deeper into Adaptability lets players explore various ways they can save on costs.
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In the context of other Traditions, Adaptability can't shine on its own - especially since its rather weak bonuses aren't on par with other similar Traditions that can provide buffs to specific aspects of Adaptability. However, this Tradition is still useful in specific situations, such as when players have Housing woes or if they want to relocate their Pops.
6 Aptitude
Focus On Improving Leaders
- Adoption Bonus: +1 Leader Trait, unlocks Leadership Conditioning Agenda
- Finisher Bonus: +1 Leadership Capacity for each Class
Leaders are an important kind of personnel in Stellaris gameplay, especially since they provide civilizations the means to expand into different roles with their bonuses and unique skills. Acquiring this Tradition immediately gives players an additional Leader trait and unlocks the Leadership Condition Agenda, although some might consider its deeper traits more interesting to have. For instance, players may eventually branch out into Leaders costing less, having more Leaders joining them, or adding an extra starting Trait.
Despite its rather strong bonuses to Leaders, some consider Leadership more of a late-game buff to a player's strategy instead of being among their primary options. For instance, the additional Experience gain down the line isn't as substantial to merit an entire Tradition. Leader upkeep isn't as important as players don't have a lot of reasons to shuffle them throughout their playthrough. While being able to reduce the maximum number of Negative Traits can be beneficial, it should be stacked with other effects to make an impact. The best opening to use Aptitude would be upon the acquisition of a lot of Leaders or the expansion of the Council - that way, players have room to play with a lot of Agendas.
7 Genetics
More Flavor Than Anything Else
- Adoption Bonus: Unlocks Clone Vats, unlocks Genetic Pursuit
- Finisher Bonus: -33% Clone Vats upkeep, can now research Botanical Transgenesis (Plantoids), Silicate Transgenesis (Lithoids), Leviathan Transgenesis (Leviathans, Aquatics, Distant Stars, Ancient Relics)
Having an actual civilization comprised of clones is what makes the Clone Army interesting in Stellaris gameplay, and Genetics is a vital Tradition for players who want to make it succeed. At its core, Genetics allows players to tinker with the Species Tree to add or remove parts of the genetic makeup of their current species - in turn resulting in wildly different characteristics that can affect their performance in the game.
Compared to other Traditions, choosing Genetics feels more like an aesthetic choice than anything else. Being able to fiddle around with the Species Trees can give results to wildly different perks. However, the most interesting with Genetics is its synergy with the Clone Army origin, as the increased output from Clone Vats will now sync with Genetics being able to introduce massive Pop Growth.
8 Domination
Subjugate The Neighbors And Make Them Grateful For It
- Adoption Bonus: Gain a 5% bonus on Worker and Slave output, reduce Slave political power by 25%, and unlock the Civil Exclusion Council Agenda
- Finisher Bonus: Empire Size from Pops is reduced by 10% & able to form a Hegemony type Federation
Playing as a hostile empire that wishes to only subjugate and control instead of straight up slaughtering everything can be tricky, especially when integrating the population of the defeated enemies. Domination Tradition immensely helps as it increases Worker and Slave output while also reducing Slaves' political power, rendering them insignificant in terms of the political landscape within the empire.
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Moreover, the Tradition Tree allows the player to have their empire's diplomatic position to be more aggressive against other empires in their vicinity and absorb the neighbors into their own empires, as the Finisher Bonus of the tree reduces Empire Size from Pops Size by quite a respectable amount, which is 10%. By subjugating the neighbors, an empire with the Domination Tradition Tree will be able to divert its attention towards stronger opponents, such as the deadly Endgame Crises.
9 Enmity
Oppose The Entire Galaxy And Gain Benefits From It
- Adoption Bonus: Gain a 3% bonus on Pop Growth/Assembly per neighboring rivals and unlock the Second Strike Council Agenda
- Finisher Bonus: Gain 1 Envoy & able to have the Antagonistic diplomatic stance
Although having many Rivals does not necessarily mean that an empire is innately hostile, as it can also result from being surrounded by empires with different ideologies, having the Enmity Tradition Tree allows an empire to greatly benefit from those rivals, as they will passively reward the empire for having many rivals, as long as they are in a neighboring border.
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This can be useful for empires that incidentally are surrounded by empires with differing ideologies or innately hostile empires, such as Devouring Swarms and Determined Exterminators. By having this Tradition Tree, an empire will be able to keep up with its enemies by increasing growth, increasing its potential power should the rivalries escalate to war in the near future.
10 Mercantile
Peacefully Grow By Trading With The Galaxy
- Adoption Bonus: Gain 5 Trade Protection, 1 Collection Range, and unlock the Open Market Council Agenda
- Finisher Bonus: Gain a 10% bonus on Trade Value & able to form a Trade League-type Federation
Peacefully co-existing with other neighboring empires is usually more beneficial than having to go to war against them, and that is made possible with the adoption of the Mercantile Tradition Tree. Mercantile grants the player various bonuses for trading, such as increasing their trade values and cutting Galactic Market Fees, which can be astronomical in the late game.
Moreover, having a huge trade value will usually make an empire more positively regarded by the whole Galactic Community, as they will want to have Commercial Pacts to have a steady energy credit generation without costing anything. An empire that will benefit massively from this Tradition Tree would be the Megacorp, as they value Trade Value above anything else, as long as they are not a Criminal Heritage civic-adopting empire.