In this Stellaris origins tier list, we will explore some of the most powerful origins. Any of these origins can be very effective if used correctly. Furthermore, don’t write off other origins since in Stellaris you can make almost anything work.
Note: If you’re new to the game, we suggest you check out our Stellaris review so you can a grip on the overall experience.
S Tier
Imperial Fiefdom
Credit: Paradox Interactive
Let’s start with our favorite one, the Imperial Fiefdom. The reason why we like this origin is that it’s really strong in some builds and it makes the game quite unique. You start off as a vassal of a big empire and by that, you have a choice of what type of vassal will you be. We usually recommend this build while playing megacorp cause you get a fleet at the beginning and you have access to other empires from the start of the game.
This is especially good since the empire that you are the subject to starts off with a Gaia world. This means that you can open a very effective branch in that world and have a huge boost from the start almost. Be aware, after a while, your overlord will collapse into smaller ones, and all chaos will ensue. Combining the usefulness, fun, and variety that this origin brings, this one makes it to the top of our Stellaris origins tier list. We consider this as “Stellaris Best Origin” considering everything from scenario variety, power, and overall fun.
Teachers of the Shroud
Credit: Paradox Interactive
One of the newer origins. We find this one very interesting and actually straightforward. You start off having the Mind Over Matter researched and your species will have the Latent Psionic trait that will give you a lot of different bonuses from the start. Furthermore, your Mind Over Matter origin doesn’t take up your ascension perk slot.
This is really important since, in the late game, you essentially get one free ascension slot when everything is filled up. You have all the groundwork into becoming close with the shroud and awaken your whole empire. The reason this is called “Stellaris most OP origin” is that you will have a path of ascension carved out for you and you reap all the benefits from it.
Clone Army
Credit: Paradox Interactive
This origin comes only if you have a Humanoid DLC. Basically, you start off with 2 Ancient Clone Vat buildings. You build more and have 5 in total. Furthermore, your admiral will have the Clone Army trait, and your spices will have the clone soldier trait. On top of that, your Ancient Clone Vat buildings will assemble your biological pops. If it’s one thing we know about Stellaris, is that you always need to have more pops and they are the key to a good empire.
With a lot of pops comes massive output of resources and it will give you a head start early in the game. We find that the most interesting thing about this origin is the archeological site that you get in your homeworld. It will start a chain event that will lead you to two choices, clone ascendency, and clone descendancy. Each provides specific bonuses and both are good paths.
Scion
Credit: Paradox Interactive
This one is interesting since you start as a vassal of a fallen empire. This empire will be Fanatic Spiritualist or Fanatic Materialist. You will have an access to them via a wormhole that leads to their home galaxy. You will get a fleet from them every 20 years and a resource boost from time to time. Furthermore, if you are losing a war with some empire, the Fallen Empire will come and help you.
This means that you will have a formidable ally from the start that will help you in a lot of ways. This origin is one of the best but we don’t recommend it since it’s pretty boring. You get to play with fewer risks and it takes away some factors that make the game fun. There isn’t any other special reason why we put this in our Stellaris origins tier list besides that it’s very powerful.
A Tier
Necrophage
Credit: Paradox Interactive
We don’t recommend this origin if you are remotely new to the game. When we first tried Necrophage, it was a bit too much to grasp. The concept is relatively simple. You have the “overlords” of society and the servants. You sacrifice servants and make new rulers out of them every x year. This all is done in a special building called the Chamber Of Elevation. The overlords have bonus attributes and are worth much more than the regular population.
Sounds simple, but complicated in practice. You can make some crazy builds with this origin but we just remember you will have to play it a few times in order to get a hang of it. You will start with two habitable worlds that have primitive civilizations. This means that in those worlds you can’t have more than 8 pops. They added this since Necrophage before was overpowered, but it still made it into our Stellaris origins tier list because they didn’t nerf it enough.
Progenitor Hive
Credit: Paradox Interactive
This one is a very fun origin and is one of our favorites to play. It can be only played if you are Hive-Minded. You have offspring leaders who inherit traits from previous leaders. Instead of Spawning Pools that normal hiveminds have, you will have Offspring Nests which will give you a good defensive army. You can also release Sectors as Subjects.
The biggest change is to your fleet. It will have -50% evasion, 50% fire rate, -50% accuracy, and -50% sublight speed. However, this can be mitigated as long as you have some Offspring Ships in the fleet or have an Offspring Outlook Starbase building. To cut it short, you will have a more powerful fleet if you play it correctly.
Resource Consolidation
Credit: Paradox Interactive
If you are playing as a Machine Empire, you can’t go wrong with this origin. Your homeworld starts as a Machine World. You have a few blockers to clear and optimize your planet. Most importantly, all of your building slots are unlocked which saves a lot of headaches.
You have a few catches: blockers on the world, and no other useful planets in your home galaxy, which doesn’t affect you that much. Think of this origin as like Life-Seeded and Prosperous Unification. We recognize that Ocean Paradise, Life-Seeded, Resources Considilation, and Prosperous Unification can all be the same tier to our Stellaris origins tier list. It’s just practical and good in any situation.
Life-Seeded
Credit: Paradox Interactive
Your starting planet is a Gaia world. It is size 30, which is huge and you can play “tall” with this one. Meaning that if you focus on a few planets, you will be good to go since your homeworld has plenty of space for a lot of pops. Your homeworld has some features like Bubbling Swap, Crystalline Caverns, and Dust Caverns which give Gas Extraction Wells, Crystal Mines, and Mote Harvesting Traps, respectively.
This origin is generally considered safe to pick and a good allrounder for a tall build and a home planet on steroids. Similar to this, Ocean Paradise origin does what Life-Seeded does but in a different way. Your homeworld is size 30 and an Ocean World with other types of bonuses. These are all powerful bonuses and the reason why we put this one in our Stellaris origins tier list.
B Tier
Here Be Dragons
Credit: Paradox Interactive
Dragons in space…who doesn’t want that. We don’t think this origin is very strong, but it can be good in the right hands. Furthermore, it is really fun since you have your “pet” dragon in your local galaxy and you get to take care of him. The dragon will protect your homeworld from invaders and there are a few options in regard to what can you do with that dragon.
With the right steps, you can research the dragon and make your own. Combine them in your army and you have a very strong midgame fleet. All in all, one of the most fun origins in our Stellaris origins tier list.
Calamitous Birth
Credit: Paradox Interactive
This one is not that powerful but it is really fun and unique. Your civilization starts off as a comet that struck a planet. You get some modifiers on the planet that clear up the mess you made and by doing so you get pops for it. Furthermore, your colonizer ships will essentially act like comets and you will colonize the worlds this way.
Your colonizer ships will build x2 times faster than normal ones. Each new planet you mess up and colonize will have the “ruined” modifier. Once you clear the ruins for a bit of resource, you will get a pop on that planet.
This is pretty fun if you combine it with a Devouring Swarm civic. Now you have a civilization that is clashing into planets and devouring everything. If you choose Lithiods, you have a cool roleplay. Only one rule applies in calamitous birth Stellaris gameplay: Be a rock, make rock, and eat rock.
Remanents
Credit: Paradox Interactive
Your world will be a Relic World. It will have 5 ruined blockers that can be removed for artists and bonus technologies. Moreover, your guaranteed habitable planets will have the Colonial Remains modifier which gives you -25% building and district cost.
This gives you the boost of having your first two colonies much more powerful and grow much faster than the normal rate. It gives a pretty good start and it’s pretty good for a tech rush, but it is still maybe underwhelming compared to some other S-Tiers in our Stellaris origins tier list that give you a better head start.
Prosperous Unification
Credit: Paradox Interactive
This origin is plain and simple. You get 4 pops and 2 districts more at the beginning of the game. Additionally, you get a modifier for happiness and a resource boost that lasts about 20 years. This is just very good since you have a good head start, especially compared to some other origins that are useless until later. If you are a beginner and don’t want to dabble too much with all the things in our Stellaris origins tier list, pick prosperous unification as it can work with anything.
That concludes our Stellaris tier list. We suggest you try all of these and explore new builds with them. They can be pretty fun and game-changing.
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