Stellaris Feral Overload event explained [2023]

Vuk Radulovic

Every so often, certain events in Stellaris can cause a lot of confusion and frustration. The Feral Overload chain of events leading up to the Savage Spores event is one of those – many players were utterly frustrated by the event outcome, and the information online is sparse. This is why we decided to test the event chain and see for ourselves what all the fuss is about. Without further ado, let’s see what are the choices, rewards, and possible outcomes when it comes to the Feral Overload event chain in Stellaris.

Feral Behavior Begins on a Colony World

Stellaris game printscreen: Feral Behivor - Start of Feral Overload chain of events leading to Savage Spores
Pritnscreen: Feral Behavior event, Stellaris

First of all, you should know that the Feral Overload chain of events can happen only once per game and only in a colony world, 3 years after it was settled. Once it does, a message will appear stating that, well, your citizen’s behavior is being wild lately.

All that lust and aggression will actually give you a nice bonus of +20% Pop Growth Speed which is rather cool although it is followed by a +10% Crime and -10% Happiness as well. This Loud Minority modifier won’t last long though – in just 40 days the violence will rise.

Feral Overload Escalates – Violence Turns to Madness

Printscreen: Violance on the Rise - 2nd event in Feral Overload chain of events
Printscreen: Violence on the Rise event, Stellaris

As the event continues, a player can only sit back and watch the feral behavior on an affected planet escalating. In 2nd part of this chain of events, the Rowdy Bunch modifier will be added, giving you a huge bonus to Pop Growth Speed of 35%, as well as +25 Crime and -25% Happiness. Your only option is to state that “This is getting out of hand“. This is not the end, as the events will spiral from bad to worse in just over a month.

If you are in grave need of your pops and have more than just a few of them on an affected planet, now is the moment in which you should consider resettling the population for a safer world. It’s not a perfect solution as this will cost you, but if Feral Overload happens early in the game, this is the right course of action in order to save the population.

Printscreen: This is madness - rooting out the problem special project available in Feral Overload chain of events
Printscreen: This is Madness event, Stellaris

Finally, your colony starts to break down due to all the violence happening. As soon this happens, a +50 Devastation modifier will be added to the planet and 1-10 of your pops will die. A special project named “Rooting Out the Problem” will be available, and you should research it as soon as possible. It won’t take long – depending on the stage of the game and how good your Society Research is, you should be able to finish it in just a couple of months or maybe even sooner.

Savage Spores – Live or Let Die?

Printscreen: Savage Spores Stellaris event triggered
Printscreen: Savage Spores Event, Stellaris

As the investigation finishes, the culprit of the violence is revealed –  mushrooms appear to have spread throughout the planet’s caves. In the Savage Spores Stellaris event, the fungi release the spores that awaken primal urges within your citizens.

This is the breaking point in the event, as you have two options: you can either choose to kill the Savage spores or let them live and utilize them. Both choices have their pros and cons so you should choose carefully based on what your needs in terms of resources are.

Let the Savage Spores Live and Utilize the Cave Mushrooms

Printscreen: Cloud and Strife resolution if you chose to let Savage Spores live in Stellaris
Printscreen: Cloud and Strife event, Stellaris

If you want to show mercy to the spores, you will be rewarded greatly. The Lesser Evil modifier will be added – and compared to the other option of killing the spores, this modifier really justifies its name. Although you get -5% Happiness on the planet, +20% Pop Growth Speed is awesome, especially early and mid-game. Not only that, but the planet gets a Spore Vents modifier that grants +2 Gas Planet Engineer jobs instantly, and for every 20 pops additional engineer jobs will be available.

Having extra gas is always a good thing and this choice will allow your planet to grow faster and extract huge amounts of gas. The happiness debuff is easily overcome by various means so it is a small price to pay for all the bonuses that you get.

Burn the Spores to the Ground!

Printscreen from Stellaris: Savage spores stellaris event resolution - Cleansing Flames
Printscreen: The Cleansing Flame event, Stellaris

If you however choose to take vengeance on the spores, the Cave Shroom Veins modifier will be added and previous debuffs will be removed. Basically, this modifier will allow you to hire extra miners and mine more efficiently. It seems that this option is only good if you have already set up the colony to be an extreme mining world. Trading pop growth bonuses and gas engineer jobs for miner jobs don’t seem like a good exchange.

Final Thoughts on Savage Spores Stellaris Event

The Feral Overload event chain is a fun one for sure – and obviously, in the case of the Savage Spores Stellaris event, the right course of action is not to fight them – utilizing the cave mushrooms will grant you several bonuses, as we discussed. Knowing what to do in certain events is important but we all know that Stellaris is ultimately a war game – so check out how to optimize your fleet by utilizing our updated Stellaris ship design guide.

On a side note, this is not the first time we see spores causing erratic behavior among humans in pop culture. Many TV shows like The 100 and The Last of Us have this theme as well as several video games like Halo 3 or Resident Evil. It seems that both show directors and the game developers were impressed by these tiny organisms – we just hope you managed to get your colony straight after the nasty fungal infestation.

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