The choice of traditions in Stellaris depends largely on your playstyle, the type of empire you’re leading, and your overall strategy. Each tradition tree offers unique bonuses and benefits, catering to different aspects of your empire. There isn’t a universally “best” set of traditions, as the effectiveness of each tradition tree depends on your specific goals. However, here are some commonly regarded strong tradition trees and why they are valuable:
1. Expansion:
- Why it’s good: Expansion traditions allow you to quickly expand your empire by providing reduced colony development cost, increased colony development speed, and additional colony ships. This tree is excellent for empires aiming to colonize numerous planets and establish a wide territory.
2. Discovery:
- Why it’s good: Discovery traditions focus on improving research output, survey speed, and anomaly discovery chance. If you prioritize technology and scientific advancement, this tree provides significant boosts to your empire’s overall research capabilities.
3. Prosperity:
- Why it’s good: Prosperity traditions focus on economic growth, providing bonuses to energy credits, mineral production, and reduced building costs. If you want a strong economy to support your expanding empire, Prosperity is a solid choice.
4. Supremacy:
- Why it’s good: Supremacy traditions enhance your military capabilities, offering bonuses to fleet command limit, ship build speed, and army damage. If you plan to engage in aggressive expansion or face potential threats, investing in military traditions is essential.
5. Harmony:
- Why it’s good: Harmony traditions focus on unity output, leader lifespan, and governing ethics attraction. This tree is excellent for maintaining social stability, managing ethics divergence, and promoting unity-based strategies, such as adopting powerful ascension perks more quickly.
6. Diplomacy (Federations DLC):
- Why it’s good: Diplomacy traditions enhance your ability to form and sustain federations, providing bonuses to federation naval capacity, diplomatic weight, and improving relations with other empires. If you prefer a diplomatic or cooperative playstyle, Diplomacy traditions are invaluable.
7. Adaptability (Nemesis DLC):
- Why it’s good: Adaptability traditions offer versatility and adaptability to different playstyles. They include bonuses to administrative capacity, pop growth speed, and amenities, making them suitable for empires focusing on internal stability and population growth.
The best traditions for you depend on your empire’s specific needs and your overall strategy. Consider your playstyle, long-term goals, and the challenges presented by the galaxy when choosing traditions to adopt. Adapt your choices based on your empire’s strengths and weaknesses as the game progresses.