MegaCorp has a very unique place style and it’s one of my favorite builds in Stellaris. In this guide, we will break down the basic stuff you need in order to make MegaCorp work and go through all the mechanics that play well with it regarding Ascension Perks, Traditions, strategies, resource management, and more.
This Megacorp guide is up-to-date for the latest Machine Age DLC
Moreover, we will explore some builds that are a viable way to play a Megacorp, of course, these bills aren’t really set in stone, but they are fun and they worked for me very well, I highly encourage you to explore alternatives because that’s the whole point of Solaris, but nevertheless, I laid out some of my own ones that I think work and explained in detail why they do work. That said let’s dive deep into MegaCorp and how to play it.
Branch Offices and Commercial Pacts
Branch Offices and Commercial Pacts are your bread and butter. This is where most of your Energy comes from and it is the main commodity of Megacorps. You will need to befriend empires as much as possible. To build Branch Offices, you need to have a Commercial Pact with a target empire. That means Envoys and building relationships are a must for your economy.
As soon as you become “Friends”, form a Commercial Pact and start building Branch Offices on the planets with the most population. Keep in mind that the farther the planet is from your systems, the more Influence it costs to establish an Office Branch. This shouldn’t be the “bottleneck” since you probably won’t spend too much Influence on claiming territories or systems. Moreover, make sure you have a somewhat decent fleet, it costs Alloy upkeep, but you will get a ton of that much-needed Influence from it.
War and Fleet Management As Megacorp
Generally speaking, Megacorp is very suboptimal for waging wars. The only case this is viable is when you are waging wars to subjugate enemies and then build Branch Offices that way. Other than that, war is very problematic with Megacorp. The biggest reason for this is that you need good relationships to establish Commercial Pacts, and the “+50% Empire Size From Planets” Megacorp debuff isn’t doing you any favors, and “Cannot go to war, you need to close all Branch Offices with this empire first” mechanic is a big problem. All in all, it isn’t something you should be doing as a central strategy.
That said, you can choose some isolated, small Empires and wage war with them. Typically, the bigger the Empire, the more difficult is to wage war since you will want to establish Office Branches in all of those planets. On top of that, there will be most likely some Overlord/Subject shenanigans and smaller empires tend to be intertwined with the big boys. All of that is to say the following – don’t rely on war. The biggest reason you would want war is if you need an extra big planet, and the target empire is small and isolated, war is very useful then.
Regardless, having a very strong fleet is highly recommended. You will get a lot of Influence from it, a resource crucial for establishing Office Branches, as well as “Diplomatic Weight From Fleet Power”. The upkeep from ships is a bit annoying, but having it stationed with Crew Quarters (lower upkeep) is fine considering how many resources you will be output as a Megacorp. A giant fleet is a must, and just because you have decent resources doesn’t mean you can’t instantly lose the game from some random Empire that wants to wipe you out.
Megacorp Politics Strategy
Playing with politics comes naturally with Megacorp. You will probably have a lot of befriended empires, a strong economy, a strong fleet (this all gets you Diplomatic Weight), and you should have a lot of Envoys. This is all crucial in the general sense. The first thing you should focus on when it comes to Politics is forming a Trade Federation. You will get a special Trade League Policy that splits your Trade Value into Energy, Consumer Goods, and most importantly Unity.
This is very powerful in the midgame and for you to get those Traditions and Ascension Perks as soon as possible. When it comes to dominating the Galactic Council, my suggestion would be to build a very strong fleet and rely on “Diplomatic Weight from Fleet Power”. This will further your Influence, make people scared of you, and most likely prevent a lot of unwanted wars.
Playing a Tall Build as a Megacorp
In most cases, you will be playing a tall build. That means a few Planets, with a “conservative” approach to expanding. Remember, Megacorps have “+50% Empire size from Planets”, that includes Habitats too! Look for securing 3-4 worlds in the beginning phases of the game, because you will probably be stuck with them for a long time. Just don’t take random Systems because they cost a lot of Influence and you will need them for Office Branches. In reality, you don’t really have leeway to play wide and should stick to a few big planets if possible.
Best Traditions and Ascension Perks For Megacorps
Traditions For Megacorp
Right off the bat, Mercantile Tradition is a must-pick, since it provides you with a lot of Trade protection, range, and value, as well as lowering market fees, which you will need. Moreover, the Marketplace of Ideas policy is very good. Discovery is nice and should be considered only in the starting game if you want to survey systems for planets asap. Other good ones are Diplomacy (for building relationships), Harmony (for general empire function), Aptitude (for Leader benefits), and probably Politics because you will be playing that diplomacy/attrition game. I’ve also picked Statecraft because it’s okay, Supremacy because you will eventually need it for some kind of war, and Psionics because…well Psionics are just as good as always.
Ascension Perks For Megacorp
Taking the classics like One Vision/Technological Ascendancy is still a very good choice, but the priority should be Universal Transactions. Later on, it really depends on what type of strategy you are going for. Cosmogenesis is hilariously overpowered with Fallen Empire buildings and Riddle Escort and Enigma Battlecruiser ships.
Going for a “Cosmogenesis victory” is pretty good since you will have almost infinite energy to just spam-buy slaves. Ecumenopolis is amazing since you will be stuck with only a few worlds. Obviously, Synethic Ascendency/Psionics work well. The usual mid/late game classics like Defender of the Galaxy and Galatic Custodian for Endgame Crisis and Fallen Empires are still very beneficial. Ecumenopolis is also amazing for Megacorp since you will be probably building extremely tall and not have a lot of planets.
Megacorp Resource Management
Resources won’t be a problem, but it’s good to know how to optimize the output. You will have a lot of Energy output, and trading Energy for other resources will be a must. I suggest you set up a monthly trade option because that way you will pay the least market fee compared to randomly spamming a lot of trades at once. Market Fee is really important here and the best way to avoid it is to try to get your capital to be the “Marketplace Capitol” in the Galactic Council.
Megacorp Build Examples
Imperial Fiefdom Megacorp – My Main Strat
The main idea here is to get a good head start because of your neighbor empires. Since you are a Megacorp, the most annoying thing in the early game is that you can’t have Branch Offices because it takes so long to establish first contact with a few empires. Imperial Fiefdom fixes this and lets you build Branch Offices in your Overlord’s Civilization, as well as his Vassals. One important thing to mention is that your Overlord is very powerful and thus his main Capital Planet is extremely good for a starting Branch Office, it will give you a lot of Energy.
On top of that, you will have a choice on what type of Overlord you want him to be, just take “Bulwark”. It will give you 10 Destroyers from the start, and that will boost up your much-needed Influence to build Branch Offices as soon as possible, as well as have that much-needed protection and starting fleet. With Imperial Fiefdom origin, you will have to limit your exploration a lot, since you will be surrounded. Just build tall and take a few key systems, there is absolutely no need for you to spend your Unity on Scientists and Influence on expanding systems, they are both precious resources that you need for Mercantile Tradition rush and Branch Office building (costs a lot of Influence).
One extremely important thing to note is that after several decades, all the Imperial Fiefdom Empires will collapse into smaller ones. This makes the game much more dynamic in the mid-game, but your goal pretty much remains the same – amass fleet, establish Office Branches, further your Political agendas, and pretty much ignore everyone. This Origin is my favorite because it really makes the Megacorp powerful from the start, and makes the game more interesting in the mid-game.
Angular Megacorp – Alternative
My other choice is going for the Oceans Paradise Origin and Trawling Operations and Brand Loyalty (you can choose Catalytic Processing, but I love buffs on Office Branches). It works pretty well because you start with a very big planet. It secures you the means for going tall and not running out of planets. Furthermore, the combination of Anglers, Farms, and later on, Bioreactors will produce a lot of extra resources (Food, Trade Value, Energy, etc). With the combination of Office Branches, Commercial Pacts, and Capital Planet output, you will have plenty of resources.
One thing you should be wary of is Technology. After a couple of decades, you will want to build a dedicated Tech World because that is the only thing you will be lacking. Your Capital Planet will probably be “burdened” with a bunch of random useful buildings and a variety of resource output, as it should be. The Tech World needs to be fully focused on the Science output. All in all, this build is not something extremely different or edgy, it’s just a good “tall build” start with some extras. Also, if you want to role-play as fish Megacorp, this is the way to do it.
Other Build Ideas For Megacorps
As we already mentioned, there are a lot of ways to play MegaCorp, and origins like Ringworld, Overtuned, and Oceans Paradise are just some ideas that can be incorporated into builds. Just know that you will be playing tall, with low war-wagging, and a very good economy, so keep that in mind when you have a new build idea.
Some other fun niche Megacorp build ideas:
Criminal Syndicate Megacorp – Criminal Syndicate Civic (Criminal Heritage + Ruthless Competition) is a very unique way of playing. The main difference is that instead of regular Office Branches, you will get Office Branches that cause crime and disruption on the target planet. The main purpose is to make your and your opponent’s game miserable. It works well in multiplayer, but it’s kinda weird playing against AI and hindering both of your games. You basically get less trade value, and they get lower output from their planets because of crime and instability.
Militaristic – Since Megacorps aren’t really militaristic and have a hard time waging war, one way to get around that is to go for “Subjugation wars”. This means that the goal of the war is to subjugate your enemies, then build Offices Branches in their empire, and you will need to do that before establishing Branch Offices. It’s kind of a niche way of playing, but it can work.
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