Stellaris Ascension Perks Tier List [2023] (2023)

Prepare to plunge headfirst into the bewildering cosmos of Stellaris with our all-encompassing guide to the Stellaris Ascension Perks Tier List. This list ranks the game’s available Ascension Perks from most potent to weaklings that should be avoided like a black hole. Each Perk’s strategic value, usability, and overall gameplay impact are meticulously evaluated to offer players a comprehensive understanding of which to pursue and which to leave to the cosmic dust.

Key Highlights

• There’s a total of 30 Ascension Perks in Stellaris Ultimate Bundle.
• S-Tier marks the ultimate choice of Perks in Stellaris.
• A-Tier contains one of the most powerful perks in the game.
• B-Tier consists of average but distinguished perks.
• C-Tier consists of perks that are below average and not very much useful.
• D-Tier in this Stellaris Ascension Perks Tier List has the worst perks in the game.

Stellaris Ascension Perks Tier List

S Tier

Starting from the best perks in the game, S Tier perks in Stellaris Ascension Perks Tier List are the ultimate best choices for the players. These perks have the capability of single-handedly influencing all aspects of the gameplay.

Colossus Project

Destroy entire planets with the World Cracker ship and utilize Titans to benefit your fleet with the Colossus Project Ascension perk.

Pros:

• Provides access to the World Cracker ship
• Titans can enhance your fleet’s power
• Helps mitigate endgame lag
• reduce the number of pops causing the lag

Cons:

• Requires significant investment of resources and time
• May not be suitable for players who prefer a more peaceful playstyle
• Destroying planets can have negative consequences on diplomacy and ethics

Defender Of The Galaxy

Provides a 50% damage boost against endgame crises and an opinion boost from all empires.

Pros:

• Provides a significant 50% damage boost against endgame crises
• Grants an opinion boost from all empires

Cons:

• Not particularly useful if the endgame crisis is not close
• Does not provide any direct benefit to your empire’s power or expansion

Become The Crisis

This ascension perk in Stellaris Ascension Perks Tier List allows you to unlock a game path where you become the ultimate villain and build a machine to wipe out the entire galaxy.

Pros:

• Unlocks a different game path
• Allows you to become the primary antagonist of the game
• Allows you to build a machine that can wipe out the entire galaxy

Cons:

• Becoming a crisis may make it difficult to form alliances
• Your empire will become a target for other empires
• Other empires may form alliances against you
• not be suitable for a diplomatic playstyle

Mind Over Matter

Unlocks the Psionic Ascension Path, allowing you to gain powerful psionic abilities and bonuses throughout the game.

Pros:

• Provides job bonuses, leader perks, and access to the shroud
• Grants psionic jump drives, which are faster than standard jump drives
• Gives the option to choose a “chosen one” leader who is immortal
• Offers reliable bonuses that follow you through the game

Cons:

• Once you choose this path, you cannot switch to another Ascension Path
• The benefits may not be as immediately impactful as some other perks

Technological Ascendancy

Top choice for players looking to advance their technological capabilities.

Pros:

• 10% boost to research speed
• +50% chance of finding rare technologies
• Great for early-game tech progression

Cons:

• May not be as beneficial for players pursuing a specific strategy or build.

One Vision

One Vision provides a solid early-game boost with 10% monthly unity, -10% pop amenities usage, and +50% governing ethics attraction.

Pros:

• Useful throughout all stages of the game
• Helps stabilize factions and prevent faction problems

Cons:

• May not be as powerful as other late-game ascension perks
• Requires early investment in unity buildings and traditions to maximize its benefits
• Does not provide a significant military or economic boost

Executive Vigor

Get an instant boost to your Edict fund with +100 Edict capacity, giving you the option to have multiple Edicts active at once in the early game.

Pros:

• +100 Edict fund is a powerful boost in the early game
• Can allow you to have 2-3 edicts constantly active, providing various bonuses

Cons:

• Can fall off and be underwhelming in the later stages of the game

Universal Transactions

A must-pick for MegaCorp players, Universal Transactions offers reduced branch office costs and free commercial pacts.

Pros:

• Early game resource savings due to reduced branch office costs
• Ability to quickly make commercial pacts with other empires without spending influence
• Useful for Xenophile MegaCorps

Cons:

• Only applicable for MegaCorp players,
• Limited usefulness for other empire types
• Limited benefits beyond reduced branch office costs and free commercial pacts

A Tier

These perks may be better, but they can change the game altogether. A Tier List in Stellaris Ascension Perks Tier List contains bonuses that can give tough competition to others.

Arcology Project

Arcology Project allows construction of a superplanet, perfect for a tall build strategy.

Pros:

• Enables the construction of an ecumenopolis
• Helps expand empire without having to acquire additional planets
• Provides significant benefits if correctly set up
• Increased resource production
• Reduced housing and amenities needs

Cons:

• Requires significant investment of resources to build
• It Can take a long time to construct and develop
• May not be as helpful for broad build strategies

Galactic Wonders

Unlock the ability to construct massive sci-fi megastructures with the Galatic Wonders perk.

Pros:

• Access to Ring Worlds for expanding your empire’s population and job opportunities
• Dyson Spheres provide a massive energy output and look impressive
• Matter Decompressors provide a large mineral output
• Impressive and unique structures to add to your empire

Cons:

• Requires significant investment of time and resources
• May not be a top priority if you focus on other aspects of your empire’s development.
• Some of the benefits may not be immediately useful

Galactic Contender

One of the more situational perks, Galactic Contender provides bonuses in diplomatic weight and damage against specific enemies.

Pros:

• +20% Diplomatic weight
• +33% damage to The Gate-builders
• +33% damage to Awakened and Fallen empires

Cons:

• Situational usefulness
• Limited impact on gameplay outside of specific scenarios

Master Builders

Master Builders perk provides a significant boost to Megastructure build speed and capacity.

Pros:

• +50% Megastructure build speed allows for faster construction
• +1 to build capacity enables you to build multiple megastructures simultaneously
• Can be a game changer in the late game
• Help prepare for endgame crises.

Cons:

• Benefits players focusing on building megastructures
• It does not provide any immediate benefits
• requires investment to take advantage of the boost

The Flesh is Weak

The Flesh is Weak is a Cybernetic Ascension Path that unlocks bonuses for turning your population into cyborgs.

Pros:

• +20% habitability and +40 years leader lifespan with Integrated Cybernetics technology
• Around +15% bonus output from cyborgs
• Can help overwhelm other empires sooner

Cons:

• Once you pick this perk, you are locked into the Cybernetic Ascension Path
• The starting cybernetic bonuses may not be that impressive

Shared Destiny

Shared Destiny is a must-pick for Overlords in Stellaris.

Pros:

• Provides +2 envoys helping improve relationships with other empires
• No loyalty loss from subjects, making it easier to maintain control over them
• Ideal for empires with many subjects

Cons:

• Only useful for empires with subjects, so not beneficial for all playstyles

B Tier

Falling under the A Tier Perks in Stellaris Ascension Perks Tier List, these perks are the average perks in Stellaris. A lot can be achieved if these perks are put into use properly.

Terraforming

This perk allows you to adjust worlds to fit your civilization types, such as Machine World for machines or Hive World for hive minds.

Pros:

• Provides flexibility in customizing your worlds to your empire’s needs
• Can be a powerful tool in expanding your empire’s resources and capabilities
• Allows you to create specialized worlds for specific purposes

Cons:

• Requires significant resources and time investment to terraform planets
• Some terraforming options may not be as useful
• May not be a top priority perk for military-focused economies

Interstellar Dominion

Interstellar Dominion reduces the influence cost of building starbases and making claims.

Pros:

• Reduces the influence cost of building starbases and making claims by 20%.
• Helpful for empires needing to preserve influence for other purposes
• Useful for expansion-focused playstyles

Cons:

• Not useful for empires that don’t rely on building starbases
• There may be other perks that provide more significant benefits

Nihilistic Acquisition

Nihilistic Acquisition unlocks the raiding bombardment stance, allowing you to abduct enemy pops and transfer them to your planet.

Pros:

• Can yield a lot of pops by bombarding enemy planets
• A way to quickly increase your population size
• Can be used strategically to weaken enemy empires

Cons:

• Situational and may not be helpful in every game
• Can damage your relationship with other empires and lead to negative consequences
• Requires a specific playstyle and may not be suitable for all players

Engineered Evolution

Engineered Evolution allows for creating of specialized clones and tailoring species traits to maximize population growth.

Pros:

• Allows for customized species traits and pop assembly.
• Can lead to high population growth, making for a mighty empire
• Offers a unique and fun gameplay experience

Cons:

• Restricted to the Biological Ascension Path.
• It Can be time-consuming and micromanage-heavy to create and manage specialized clones
• May not be as impactful in combat as other perks

Voidborn

Boosts habitat habitability and building slots for an empire that relies on habitats for expansion.

Pros:

• provides a significant boost to habitat habitability and building slots
• can be particularly useful for empires that lack habitable worlds
• Allows for further upgrades to habitats
• Combined with the Voidborne, it gives high outputs of research

Cons:

• Not useful for empires focusing on colonizing planets instead of habitats
• Other perks may offer more immediate benefits in terms of military or economic power

C Tier

Here are the below-average perks of this Stellaris Ascension Perks Tier list. These are not very special, but they can still do some good things when used correctly.

Xeno-Compatability

Allows players to cross-breed multiple species but can cause lag in the mid-late game.

Pros:

• Allows customizing species and experimenting with cross-breeding
• Leads to exciting and diverse populations

Cons:

• Can cause significant lag in the mid-late game
• Increased number of species
• The benefits are not as immediately impactful as other ascension perks
• Not recommended for players with lower-end systems

Synthetic Evolution

Synthetic Evolution allows for the creation of highly efficient synthetic populations.

Pros:

• Strong resource output potential
• Significant bonuses to all pops after upgrading to the synthetic form
• Bonuses for workers, scientists, fire rate, etc
• Allows for customization and optimization of synthetic populations

Cons:

• Requires unlocking Synthetics technology
• Other ascension paths may steamroll before getting the main bonuses
• Doesn’t allow to choose other paths once selected

Mastery of Nature

Mastery of Nature enables easier clearing of planetary blockers

Pros:

• Allows for quicker development of planets with many blockers
• Can save resources that would have been spent on clearing blockers

Cons:

• Only valid for empires with many blockers to clear

Galactic Force

Galactic Force Projection temporarily boosts your naval capacity and fleet command limit

Pros:

• Provides a temporary boost to naval capacity and fleet command limit
• Can be helpful to if helpful a quick boost to your fleet

Cons:

• The bonus is only temporary and won’t have a long-term impact
• Takes up an ascension perk slot for a more powerful perk

Grasp Of The Void

“Grasp Of The Void” expands your starbase capacity, giving you more options for defending and repairing your empire.

Pros:

• Increases your starbase capacity by 2
• Allows you to defend choke points and critical systems better
• Provides faster rebuilding and repairing of your starbases.

Cons:

• It does not provide any direct combat bonuses
• Not a good choice for military expansion

Lord Of War

Lord Of War provides diplomatic weight bonuses based on fleet power.

Pros:

• Useful in federations and voting scenarios
• Can complement a strategy focused on building a large and powerful fleet

Cons:

• Very situational and not valid for all playstyles
• Takes up an ascension perk slot

D Tier

Now is the turn for the worst perks in our Stellaris Ascension Perks Tier List. They may need to be more helpful, but the pros of these perks will state all the possible benefits you’ll get from them.

Imperial Prerogative

50% empire size from colonies

Pros:

• Can be helpful for small empires with 5-10 colonies struggling for resources

Cons:

• Very short-lived perk that won’t benefit you in the long run
• Not recommended for larger empires or those with plenty of resources.

Transcendent Learning

Allows leader level cap increase and increased experience gain

Pros:

• Increases the level cap of leaders by 2
• Leaders gain 50% more experience

Cons:

• Not as impactful as other perks in terms of overall game strategy
• Better suited for players who want to role-play with influential leaders

Eternal Vigilance

Increases starbase defense capabilities.

Pros:

• Can be helpful if you heavily rely on starbase defenses for chokepoints
• Can make it harder for enemies to invade your empire

Cons:

• Generally not an optimal playstyle in the current state of the game
• Upgrading starbase defenses can be expensive and time-consuming

Enigmatic Engineering

It allows you to research enigmatic tech but could be more impressive

Pros:

• Allows you to research enigmatic tech

Cons:

• +2 Encryption doesn’t provide much benefit
• The ships not leaving space debris is situational and not very helpful

Detox

It provides a chance to transform a toxic world into a usable one

Pros:

• Can make previously unusable planets habitable

Cons:

• Situational and only affects a small number of planets
• Takes up an ascension perk slot that could be used for more impactful perks

Tier List Criteria

With each completed tradition tree, players will unlock a coveted slot for an ascension perk. These slots are limited, and choosing the right bonus for your empire can mean the difference between dominance and obscurity. Players can choose paths from an endless collection, so thinking carefully before going on a particular route is essential.

This tier list has been divided into five standard tiers (S to D) for ranking the perks. Selection of each bonus at any level will be justified by comparing their advantages and disadvantages.

Conclusion

Stellaris is not a static game; it is ever-evolving, and every DLC release adds more complexity. As a result, the number of ways you can customize and strengthen your empire with different ascension perks continues to grow, leading to more complex and challenging decisions for players. This tier list will help players understand the game better and take their empire to the next level, whether seasoned or just starting. For more details on Stellaris DLC, checkout this Link.

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