Console:Intelligence

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Please help with verifying or updating older sections of this article. At least some were last verified for version 3.0.

This article is for the console version of Stellaris only.

Intelligence, and espionage, are two important factors in gaining the upper hand over other empires. While an empire can only be defeated militarily, espionage can be used to significantly weaken it or gain substantial advantages over it.

Intel

 Intel is a value between 0 and 100 that represents how much information an empire has about another empire. Every 10 points of intel will raise at least one Intel Level, unlocking additional information about an empire.

Intel	Intel Level
	Government	Diplomacy	Economy	Technology	Military
0-9
10-19
20-29
30-39
40-49
50-59
60-69
70-79
80-89
90-99
100

Intel level

Intel level is gained either by increasing infiltration or temporarily via intel reports. It is spread across 5 categories and reveals the following information:

Level	Category
	Government	Diplomacy	Economy	Technology	Military
Low	Authority Ethics Capital Location Ruler	Casus Belli Relative Power Rivalries Federation Names	Low Intel on Colonies Relative Economic Power	Relative Technological Power Number of Researched Technologies	Casus Belli Relative Fleet Power Location of Starbases
Medium	Civics Origin Governors	Opinion Breakdown Diplomatic Pacts	Low Intel on Systems Medium Intel on Colonies Location of Civilian Ships		Location of Military Fleets
High	Empire Sprawl		Medium Intel on Systems High Intel on Colonies Current Orders of Civilian Ships		Military Fleets Details
Full			High Intel on Systems Full Intel on Colonies		Current Orders of Military Fleets

If an Intel Level falls its information will no longer be updated but will remain available and marked as Stale.

Intel cap

Intel cap is determined by Base intel, diplomatic pacts, trust and infiltration, whichever is the highest. If Current Intel is below the Intel Cap it will increase by +12 per year. If Current Intel is above the Intel Cap it will decrease by −1 per year. Intel Cap from Trust is equal to half the Trust amount while Intel Cap from Infiltration is equal to the Infiltration Level. Intel Cap from Diplomatic Pacts is the following:

Intel Cap	Source
10	First Contact
20	Commercial Pact  Guarantee Independence  Non-Aggression Pact
30	Migration Treaty  Research Agreement Both Galactic Community members
40	Defensive Pact  Federation Associate  Hegemony federation
45	Galactic Custodian
50	Martial Alliance federation  Research Cooperative federation  Trade League federation
60	Galactic Union federation
65	Galactic emperor

Each level of Federation Centralization also adds +10 to the Intel cap provided by the Federation type.

Base intel

Base intel grants a minimum on intel cap towards every empire. It starts at 10 and can be increased by +10 by each of the following:

•  Colonial Bureaucracy technology
•  Galactic Bureaucracy technology
• Bureau of Espionage edict
• Observation Instinct edict
• Covert Analysis Algorithm edict
•  Transcendence ascension perk
• Every Sentry Array megastructure stage

Spy networks

Spy networks are created by assigning an  envoy to establish one on a target empire via the Diplomacy or Espionage menu. Creating a spy network allows an empire to launch various Operations once they have sufficient infiltration level. Infiltration level grows over time as long as a spy network exists, especially if the infiltrated empire struggles with  empire sprawl. If a Spy Network is removed infiltration level falls by −1 each month.

Infiltration Level is initially limited at 50 but can be increased by various factors.

Operations

Operations are targeted events that can be triggered within a specific empire. To run an operation an empire must have an envoy assigned to the spy network. All operations have an  infiltration and  energy cost as well as an an ongoing  energy upkeep until they are completed. The difficulty of an operation is affected by the infiltrating empire's codebreaking against the infiltrated empire's encryption. If problems arise during an operation, the spymaster for that network will contact you to make a decision. Progressing an operation functions similarly to the archeology mechanic. Most operations will reduce the spy network's infiltration level upon completion. All operations except for Gather Information require the  Nemesis DLC.

Operations	Operation category	Intel category	Phases	Base difficulty	Infiltration	Base cost	Base upkeep	Requirements	Objective
Gather Information	Subterfuge	None	1	4	10	200	−4	None	Gain intel and maximum infiltration level on the targeted empire.
Spark Diplomatic Incident	Manipulation	Diplomacy	3	5	25	300	−5	Gestalt Consciousness target  Fanatic Purifiers target	Causes diplomatic embarrassment involving an envoy of the targeted empire.
Prepare Sleeper Cells	Subterfuge	Government	2	6	30	450	−6	None	Ceases activity within this spy network, allowing its spymaster to be reassigned whilst also preventing its infiltration level from decaying.
Acquire Asset	Subterfuge	Government	3	5	30	450	−6	None	Gain an asset for use within this spy network.
Extort Favors	Manipulation	Diplomacy	3	6	35	600	−7	Genocidal Genocidal target	Gain at least one favor from the targeted empire.
Smear Campaign	Manipulation	Diplomacy	3	7	35	600	−7	None	Lower relations between the targeted empire and another empire.
Steal Technology	Subterfuge	Technology	3	8	40	800	−8	None	Gain a random unknown technology, or else an amount of research.
Sabotage Starbase	Sabotage	Military	3	9	45	1000	−9	Starbase level above Outpost	Destroy a random module or building on a particular starbase. Will not affect Shipyard modules.
Arm Privateers	Provocation	Economy	3	10	60	1800	−12	None	Cause a fleet of hostile privateers to appear within targeted empire's space.
Crisis Beacon	Provocation	Technology	3	12	80	3200	−16	Crisis	Lure a crisis fleet towards the targeted empire's capital.
Imperium: Weaken Imperial Authority	Subterfuge	Technology	3	7	35	600	−7	Member of the galactic imperium Galactic emperor target	Lowers imperial authority.
Imperium: Target Seditionists	Subterfuge	Technology	3	7	35	600	−7	Galactic emperor Undermine imperial authority target	Weaken attempts by the targeted empire to lower imperial authority.
Imperium: Spark Rebellion	Subterfuge	Technology	5	11	70	2500	−14	Member of the galactic imperium Galactic emperor target Imperial authority below 50	Form a rebellion and declare war against the Galactic Imperium. This operation will be terminated if imperial authority is above 80 when a phase concludes.

Assets

Assets are characters gained from the Acquire Asset operation that can be assigned to improve the skill of any operation. Each asset will grant +4 skill bonus per category that matches with the operation. At the end of an operation you might have the option to sacrifice an asset for a greater reward. Each asset also increases the maximum level your spy network can reach by +5.

If an asset is assigned to a Gather Information operation it gives it a 50% chance that the intel gained matches the asset's intel category.

Operation category	Intel category	Individualist asset	Hive Mind asset	Machine Intelligence asset
Subterfuge	Diplomacy	Clerk	Ephapse Relay	Engagement Protocol
Subterfuge	Economy	Economist	Labor Drone	Logistics System
Subterfuge	Government	Bureaucrat	Synapse Drone	Coordination System
Subterfuge	Military	Junior Officer	Warrior Drone	War Algorithm
Subterfuge	Technology	Scientist	Research Drone	Research Database
Manipulation	Diplomacy	Newscaster	Pheromone Emitter
Manipulation	Economy	Pop Icon	Resource Distribution Node
Manipulation	Government	Agitator	Behavioral Regulator
Manipulation	Military	Veteran	Subspace Tendril
Manipulation	Technology	Academic	Cortex Node
Sabotage	Diplomacy	Attache		Dispatch Uplink
Sabotage	Economy	Laborer		Resource Pylon
Sabotage	Government	Criminal Underling		Command Relay
Sabotage	Military	Arms Smuggler		Weapons Platform
Sabotage	Technology	Hacker		Memory Cache

Internal organs

Internal organs are a unique type of asset that can only be obtained by vivisection during first contact. Unlike other assets it has a bonus to two operation categories, namely  Subterfuge and  Manipulation.

References

Game concepts