Diplomacy

Version

This article has been verified for the current PC version (3.2) of the game.

Diplomacy

Diplomacy

Relations

Federation

Diplomacy between plantoids and arthropoids

Diplomacy in Stellaris draws on the model of previous Paradox games and offers an alternative to warmongering.

Diplomatic actions

Many diplomatic actions have a 10-year cooldown once chosen. Some of these are unilateral while others need to be accepted by both sides which becomes a matter of acceptance. Most diplomatic actions require certain Relations or an envoy being sent to improve or harm Relations.

Maintaining any form of lasting treaty generates Trust, which increases  Opinion. The maximum amount of Trust obtainable is limited by the most valuable treaty between both parties. Finishing the Diplomacy tradition tree grants +50 trust cap. Trust decays if there is no new income.

	Action	Effects					Relations	Requirements
	Improve Relations	Sends an  Envoy to increase  Opinion up to +100	0	0	50	0	Any	Not Harming Relations
	Build Spy Network	Sends an  Envoy to build a Spy Network	0	0	50	0	Any	No Spy Network
	Harm Relations	Sends an  Envoy to lower  Opinion up to -100	0	0	50	0	Any	Not Improving Relations
	Declare War	Enters the Wargoals menu to declare a war	−50	0	50	0	Any	No Truce, pact, or federation with target No branch offices on target's planets
	Make Claims	Switches to the Claims interface.	0	0	0	0	Any
	Offer Trade Deal	Allows the negotiation of a one-time or timed duration deal	0	0	50	0	Any
	Declare Rivalry	Closes borders and grants the Animosity Casus Belli	−100	0	50	+0.5	Terrible Tense	Relative Power is not Pathetic or Overwhelming Limit of Rivalries is 3, and cannot be increased
	End Rivalry	Removes the Animosity Casus Belli	0	0	50	0	Any	At least 10 years passed since the Rivalry was declared
	Guarantee Independence	The guaranteeing empire will come to the target empire's defense if attacked. Recipient must accept the offer first. If canceled, the guarantor will have a truce towards the recipient, but closed borders may still be in effect.	+10	+0.25	50	−0.5	Neutral Positive Excellent	Both empires are independent The independence of up to 3 empires can be guaranteed
	Support Independence	The supporting empire will join the war against the overlord if the subject starts a war for independence. The supporting empire's power will be added to the relative power of subjects opinion modifier between the subject and the overlord.	+10	+0.25	50	0	Any	Target is a subject
	Close/Open Borders	Controls border access. The initial stance is determined by the Initial Border Status policy.	−20	0	50	0	Any	No Truce or Rivalry Not available between overlords and subjects
	Invite to Federation / Form Federation	Invites the target empire to form a federation or join an existing one.	+50	+1	100	−2	Excellent	The Federation tradition or in an existing federation Both empires at peace
	Ask to join Federation	Requests to join an already existing Federation.	+50	+1	100	−2	Excellent	Existing Federation and requestor both at peace
	Kick from Federation	Starts a vote to kick the member from the Federation	0	0	50	0	Any	Member of the same Federation, at peace
	Ask to leave Federation	Requests to leave the Federation. Refusing grants the Secession Casus Belli and a decaying −45  Opinion.	0	0	50	0	Any	Hegemony Federation (at peace) Target is the Federation president
	Association Status	The empire and the Federation will not be able to declare war upon each other.	+10	+0.50	100	0	Positive Excellent	The majority of federation members must agree to granting or removing the status but the associate member can cancel it at any time
	Demand Vassal/Protectorate/Subsidiary Status	Asks the empire to become your Vassal/Protectorate/Subsidiary. Refusing grants the Subjugation Casus Belli.	+25	+0.25	50	0	Any	Superior or Overwhelming Relative Power Both empires are at peace
	Demand Tribute	Asks the empire to become your Tributary. Refusing grants the Subjugation Casus Belli.	+25	+0.25	50	0	Any	Superior or Overwhelming Relative Power Both empires are at peace
	Ask to be their Vassal/Protectorate/Subsidiary	Turns your empire into a Vassal/Protectorate/Subsidiary. Request is only accepted by empires holding a Protective or Domineering attitude, which both require inferior relative power.	0	0	50	0	Any	Requestor and superior empire both at peace
	Offer Tribute	Turns your empire into a Tributary. Request is only accepted by empires holding a Protective or Domineering attitude, which both require inferior relative power.	0	0	50	0	Any	Requestor and superior empire both at peace
	Release Subject	Used to avoid risking wars of independence if the relative power of subjects becomes too great. Sets a 10-year truce	0	0	50	0	Any
	Integrate Subject	Integrates a Vassal or Protectorate into the overlord empire.	0	0	50	Variable	Any	Sufficient  Influence
	Request to become A subject	Become a subject of an Awakened Empire. Awakened Empires holding an Imperious attitude will agree while those holding a Belligerent attitude will prefer a more aggressive subjugation.	0	0	0	0	Any	Target is an Awakened Empire Requestor (but not necessarily AE) at peace
	Insult	Decaying −200  Opinion Modifier	0	0	50	0	Terrible Tense
	Add to/Kick from Imperial Council	Decides who is member of the Imperial Council.	0	0	50	0	Any	100  influence Galactic Emperor Target is a member of the Galactic Imperium

Agreements

Agreements are mutually-beneficial diplomatic actions that when offered by an empire the other must accept for them to take effect. Agreements can be ended at any time by either empire but will bring a temporary  Opinion malus. Defensive Pacts can only be made or broken when neither empire is at war with anyone.

Agreement	Effects	Min Relations	Truce when ended	Opinion if ended
Embassy	Envoys improve relations 3 time faster Diplomatic pacts give 20 more  Intel	Neutral		0	+0.75	100	0	0
Non-Aggression Pact	Neither empire can declare war upon each other	Neutral		-50	+0.50	75	20	-0.25
Research Agreement	+25%  Research Speed for technologies discovered by the other empire	Positive		-25	+0.10	50	30	-0.25
Commercial Pact	Both empires will gain the economic bonuses of 10% of each other's  Trade Value	Positive		-25	+0.25	50	20	-0.25
Migration Treaty	Pops can migrate between the empires and both empire can use each other's Pops in colony ships	Positive		-15	+0.25	50	30	-0.25
Defensive Pact	If either empire is attacked the other will join the war as a defender Both empires gain +20  Opinion towards each other	Excellent		-100	+0.75	100	40	-1

Acceptance

The acceptance of diplomatic agreements by computer empires is determined by multiple factors.

Agreement	Friendly Attitude	Receptive / Cordial / Protective Attitude	Neutral / Wary Attitude	Overwhelming Relative Power	Superior Relative Power	Shared Rival	Opinion	Distance	Other factors
Embassy	+100	+40	-25	+20	+10	+30 per Rival	+5 per 10 Opinion	-0.5 per hyperlane
Non-Aggression Pact	+100	+20	0	+100	+50	+50 per Rival	+2 per 10 Opinion	-1 per hyperlane	-30 per existing Non-Aggression Pact
Commercial Pact	+100	+20	0	0	0	0	+4 per 10 Opinion	-1 per hyperlane	+1 per given Trade Value -30 per existing Commercial Pact
Research Agreement	+100	+20	0	0	0	0	+4 per 10 Opinion	-1 per hyperlane	+1 per tech either empire doesn't have -30 per existing Research Agreement
Migration Treaty	+10	0	0	0	0	0	+5 per 10 Opinion	-1 per hyperlane	+10 Loyal Attitude
Defensive Pact	+50	+20	-50	+20	+10	+30 per Rival	+2 per 10 Opinion	-1 per hyperlane	+30 per shared Defensive Pact -50 per existing Defensive Pact
Federation	+30	0	-50	+20	+10	+10 per Rival	+1 per 10 Opinion	-1 per hyperlane	+100 Federation Associate +30 Crisis -50 Different War Philosophy policy
Subject Demand	+20	0	-50	+100	+50	0	0	-5 per hyperlane	-1 per 4 owned Pops

Personality

The most specific factor that determines an empire's acceptance rate is its AI personality.

AI personality	NAP	Defensive Pact	Research Agreement	Commercial Pact	Migration Treaty	Galactic Union	Trade League	Martial Alliance	Research Cooperative	Hegemony
Decadent Hierarchy	+20	−10	0	0	−100	−30	−30	−30	−30	−10
Democratic Crusaders	0	+20	0	0	0	+10	0	+10	0	−50
Erudite Explorers	+5	+5	+50	+10	0	0	0	0	+10	0
Evangelizing Zealots	0	0	−20	−20	0	−20	−20	−10	−20	−20
Federation Builders	+25	+25	+15	+15	+10	+20	+10	+10	+10	+10
Harmonious Collective	+20	0	+10	+10	−10	0	0	0	0	0
Hegemonic Imperialists	−10	+10	−10	−10	−50	−20	−20	−10	−20	0
Honorbound Warriors	−100	+20	0	−20	0	−10	−20	0	−20	−10
Migratory Flock	+20	0	+20	+20	+100	+20	+20	+10	+20	+10
Peaceful Traders	+20	0	+10	+20	+20	+10	+20	−10	+10	+10
Ruthless Capitalists	−10	0	+10	+20	0	−10	+10	−10	−10	−10
Slaving Despots	−20	0	0	0	−100	−10	−10	−10	−10	0
Spiritual Seekers	+20	+10	+10	+10	+20	+10	+10	+10	+10	+10
Xenophobic Isolationists	+20	−20	−20	−20	−100	−50	−50	−50	−50	−50
Fanatical Befrienders	+50	+50	+50	+50	+50	+50	+30	+30	+30	+30
Fanatical Purifiers	0	0	0	0	0
Hive Mind	−10	−10	0			−50	−100	−30	−50	−50
Machine Intelligence	0	0	0			−30	−100	−20	−20	−30
Rogue Servitors	0	0	0			0	0	0	0	+10
Driven Assimilators	0	0	0			−50	−50	−50	−50	−50
Determined Exterminators	0	0	0
Crisis Aspirant	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Envoys

Envoys are minor leaders and can be assigned to various diplomatic tasks. Once an envoy is assigned to a task it cannot be reassigned again for a year. Envoys can be assigned to the following tasks:

• Improve Relations with another empire, which grants +1  opinion per month to and from the target empire (up to +100) and removes the relation requirement for positive diplomatic actions
• Harm Relations with another empire, which grants −1  opinion per month to and from the target empire (up to −100) and removes the Relation requirement for negative diplomatic actions
• Assign to the Federation, which grants by +1  cohesion per month to the federation
• Assign to the Galactic Community, which grants +10%  diplomatic weight
• Assign to a first contact and they will discover the aliens for you

Envoy Capacity can be modified by the following:

Source	Available envoys
Inward Perfection civic	−1
Xenophile ethic	+1
Fanatic Xenophile ethic	+2
Diplomatic Corps civic	+2
Galactic Sovereign / Corporate Sovereign civic	+1
Empath civic	+2
Public Relations Specialists civic	+2
The Federation tradition	+1
Diplomatic Grants edict	+1
Bureau of Espionage edict	+1
Enhanced Surveillance edict	+1

Source	Available envoys
Embassy Complex building	+1
Grand Embassy Complex building	+2
Galactic Union president (level 2)	+1
Hegemony president (level 2)	+1
Trade League president (level 2)	+1
Martial Alliance president (level 3)	+1
Research Cooperative president (level 4)	+1
Interstellar Assembly stage II	+1
Interstellar Assembly stage IV	+2
Shared Destiny ascension perk	+2

Favors

Favors can be traded via diplomatic trade or obtained through events and have two purposes. First, an empire can call upon Favors to add another empire's Diplomatic Weight to theirs (10%per favor) when voting Resolutions in the Galactic Community as long as they don't already vote identically. This does not decrease the other empire's diplomatic weight for the vote. Second, Favors increase the acceptance rate of certain diplomatic agreements or federation laws by +5 for each Favor. An empire can owe another empire up to 10 Favors.

Multiple empires can call upon Favors from the same target empire.

Attitude

Each empire will have a specific attitude towards other empires dictated by their AI personality, diplomatic interactions and the relative power of both empires.

Attitude	Trade & Pacts	Prefer peace	Other Effects	Requirements	Description
Neutral			none		This Empire does not consider us relevant to their interests.
Wary			none	inferior relative power and shared border	This Empire maintains a cautious attitude towards us.
Receptive			more inclined to accept diplomatic pacts	diplomatic AI personalities	This Empire is interested in closer relations with us.
Cordial			more inclined to accept diplomatic pacts	high opinion	This Empire is amenable to peaceful coexistence and trading with us.
Friendly			more inclined to accept diplomatic pacts and join a federation	high opinion and successful past diplomacy	This Empire views us as a friend and may be willing to form an alliance with us.
Protective			more inclined to accept diplomatic pacts and may ask you to become their subject	high opinion and superior relative power	This Empire believes that we are weak and need their protection.
Suspicious			none	low opinion	This Empire views us with suspicion and mistrust.
Rival			none	rival with low opinion	This Empire views us as their rival.
Hostile			none	very low opinion	This Empire views us as their enemy. They are likely to attack us if they think they can win.
Domineering			only uses the Subjugation Casus Belli	low opinion and Subjugator AI	This Empire believes that we would make a fine vassal.
Threatened			none	high threat rating	This Empire views us as a threatening menace.
Overlord			none	overlord	This Empire is our overlord.
Loyal			none	subject with positive opinion	This subject is loyal to us.
Disloyal			considers the relative power of other subjects as well	subject with negative opinion	This subject resents its subservience to us.
Dismissive			none	Fallen Empire	This Fallen Empire considers us largely beneath their notice.
Patronizing			may bestow gifts	Fallen Empire with high opinion	This Fallen Empire views us as errant children in need of their guidance. They may deign to bestow gifts of technology, resources or ships on us.
Angry			will send a demand which will grant them Casus Belli if refused	Fallen Empire with low opinion	We have angered this Fallen Empire with our actions, and they may declare war to punish us.
Arrogant			no effect	distant Awakened Empire	This Awakened Empire views us with dismissive arrogance.
Imperious			will ask you to become their subject	nearby Awakened Empire	This Awakened Empire views us as a future subject. They are likely to demand we surrender our independence.
Belligerent			none	Awakened Empire with low opinion	This Awakened Empire views us as a target of conquest. They are likely to attack us.
Custodial			accepts joining a Federation	Guardian Awakened Empires	This Awakened Empire believes that it needs to protect us from the crisis currently threatening the galaxy. They are likely to attempt to ally us.
Enigmatic			opinion is hidden and has no impact	Ancient Caretakers	This Fallen Empire is an ancient artificial intelligence that behaves in a strange and unpredictable manner. We do not know what to expect from it.
Berserk			attacks any empire nearby	Malfunctioning Custodians	This Awakened Empire is an ancient artificial intelligence that has gone berserk. It is likely to attack anything and anyone around it.

Genocidal Diplomacy

Empires with the  Fanatic Purifiers civic can only engage in diplomacy with empires of the same primary species. Note that this other empire will still have −1000  Opinion towards Fanatic Purifier, unless it is also a Fanatic Purifier (in which case they have +200  Opinion towards each other).

Empires with the  Determined Exterminator civic can only engage in diplomacy with empires with  Machine Intelligence authority or the Synthetic Evolution Ascension Perk.

Empires with the  Devouring Swarm or Terravore civics cannot engage in diplomacy at all, not even with identical empires.

References

Game concepts