Warfare

Version

This article is considered accurate for the current version (2.2) of the game.

This article is for the PC version of Stellaris only.

War

Warfare

Space warfare

Land warfare

As long as there is at least one empire present that is not Fanatic Pacifist empire, war is an almost inevitable aspect in any game and can be anything from a small border skirmish to a massive interstellar war of conquest.

Wars are how mid-game and end-game borders are usually drawn.

Casus Belli and Wargoals

In order for an empire to start a war, it needs a Casus Belli – a reason to declare war. Each Casus Belli grants access to at least one type of Wargoal, which represents the purpose of the war.

Casus Belli	Wargoals	Requirements	Surrender Acceptance	Surrender Effect	Status Quo Effect
Claim	Conquer	Existing claims on the target's systems	−10 per system −100 per colonized system	Loser cedes all systems with Claims to the winner, even if not occupied. All systems occupied by the loser are returned, regardless of Claims.	Each side keeps all systems they have occupied if they have claims on them.
Subjugation	Vassalize Make Tributary Make Subsidiary	Demand Vassal\Protectorate\Tribute\Subsidiary Status diplomatic action was refused	−100	Loser becomes a subject of the winner, along with all its vassals (if any). If the empire is part of a Federation, it will leave it.	All systems fully occupied by the attacker will be turned into a subject of the attacker.
Animosity	Humiliate	Rivalry	−50	Loser loses all of its Influence, gains -33% Monthly Influence Gain and -10% Happiness for 10 years. Winner gains 100 influence.	None
Ideology	Impose Ideology	War Philosophy policy set to Liberation Wars Neither empire is a Gestalt Consciousness	−100	Loser is forced to shift ethics towards those of the winner and will leave a Federation if it's part of one.	All systems fully occupied by the attacker will be turned into an empire with the attacker's ethics.
Subject	Independence	Can only be used against Overlords	0	If the subject wins it becomes independent but the former Overlord will gain Claims on the former subject's systems.	None
Despoliation	Plunder	Declaring empire has the Barbaric Despoilers civic	−25	Loser loses 500 Energy and 500 Minerals for every 3 planets they own, rounded up, and capped at 60 planets, for a maximum of 10,000 Minerals and Energy gained. Winner will then gain those resources even if the loser didn't have enough. Loser gets -20% reduced production for 10 years.	None
Expropriation	Expel Corporation	No commercial pact present The Corporate empire has at least one Branch Office on the other's planets.	−50	The Corporate empire closes all Branch Offices on the attacker's planets. Attacker gains 1000 Energy per Branch Office.	The Corporate empire closes all Branch Offices on the attacker's planets. Corporate empire gains 1000 Energy per Branch Office.
Hostile Takeover	Hostile Takeover	Both empires have Corporate authority Target has at least one Branch Office	−75	All Branch Offices are transferred to the victor. If part of a Federation Branch Offices on other members' planets are kept.	None
Colossus	Colossus	Declaring empire has a Colossus and a Rivalry against the target empire	−1000 (Total War)	If the attacker's Colossus is destroyed total war ends and the war reverts to a normal war.	None
Stop Colossus	Stop Colossus	Target empire has a Colossus	−1000 (Total War)	If the defender's Colossus is destroyed total war ends and the war reverts to a normal war.	None
Purification	Cleansing	Declaring empire has the Fanatic Purifiers or Determined Exterminator civic	−1000 (Total War)		None
Hunger	Absorption	Declaring empire has the Devouring Swarm
Sublimation	Assimilation	Declaring empire has the Driven Assimilator
Containment	End Threat	Target empire is genocidal or an Awakened Empire
Punishment	Humiliate Stop Atrocities Outlaw AI Cleanse Holy Worlds Decontaminate Border Territories	Only available to Fallen Empires with low opinion Either the Fallen Empire's demand was refused or they were rivaled	0	The refused demands are enforced. Defeated empire's leaders will be executed if not immortal.	None
Galatron Access Denied	Seize Galatron	Target empire has the Galatron modifier Target empire has Closed Borders	−40	Winner keeps (or acquires) the Galatron modifier	Defender opens borders towards the attacker
Event	War in Heaven Machine Uprising	Available to Fallen Empires and AI Rebellions via a Special Event	−1000 (Total War)		None

Once a war is declared, the targeted empire has a year to choose its Wargoals. However, certain wargoals will automatically cause the target to issue certain counter wargoals if chosen (As an example; The "Independence" wargoal will automatically cause the targeted empire to issue the "Remain Overlord" wargoal).

Casus Belli with −1000 surrender acceptance lead to a Total War. Total Wars do not require claims and occupied systems automatically change ownership during a Total War. Their new owner will be the participant with the highest claim count on it or the occupier if none of his allies claim this system. If an empire loses all its colonized systems during a Total War all its Starbases in uncolonized systems are removed, making the territory neutral again.

Claims

While Casus Belli and Wargoals represent the purpose of a war, claims represent territorial ambitions—the systems which will be controlled by the victor. Which systems can be claimed depends on an empire's War Philosophy policy, with the Unrestricted Warfare philosophy allowing for the claiming of any system not owned by a fellow Federation member. It is possible to claim the same system multiple times to gain a stronger claim on it, which can outbid the competing claims of allies when going to war together. In general, claims are expensive in the early game and become less so later on to allow for more decisive wars to be fought. Claims cannot be rescinded while at war.

Claims cost influence, the base cost being 50, modified by the following:

• +25 per hyperlane distance from owned territory
• +25 if the system has at least a lvl 1 Starbase (i.e. not just an Outpost)
• +25 if the system is colonized
• +100% during offensive war
• –10% Expansionist Overtures agenda
• –10% Interstellar Campaigns technology
• –10% Galactic Campaigns technology
• –10% Nationalistic Zeal civic
• –10% Militarist
• –20% Fanatic Militarist
• –20% Interstellar Dominion ascension perk
• –20% Rivalry

During defensive wars, claims can be made for any system by the defender, regardless of the War Philosophy policy. Any system lost by any side during a conquest war or total war will give the former owner a claim on it.

Winning war with any non-conquest wargoals will always enforce all claims made by the winning side empires first, regardless of whether these systems were occupied. So for example, winning war with subjugation wargoal against other empire(s) will make it (and any of its allies) lose all systems that have claims on them, including ones made by the now-overlord empire, and only then become a vassal, with territory reduced like that and free claims of strength 10 on all lost systems.

Federation Warfare

The Federation is the more serious counterpart of the Defensive pact and the inviting attackers mechanic. While it does offer a unique amount of defensive cooperation, builds trust and allows military cooperation using the federation fleet, establishing a conquest strategy can be made very difficult because of the need for unanimous consent of the members to declare war, and each member's expectation of a fair share of spoils from each war. The empire that wishes to declare war can ask the other federation members for their war goals by using the "Suggest Demands" button. However, AI empires will be very hesitant to declare war on empires that are much stronger than them or have very powerful allies. In that case, the "Suggest Demands" button will not give any results.

One exception to this are wars of liberation or to a lesser extent vassalization: usually AI will agree to a liberation war even if all the war goals are assigned to the player. The resulting splinter empire could then be vassalized and later integrated by the player.

In case a federation member is attacked, all allies automatically join the war as defenders without need for a further declaration of war. In this case, the member being attacked has a free hand in choosing federation war goals, which might be all in its own favor.

For empires that are not members of a given federation, Federation Association Status functions as a Non-Aggression Pact with all members of the respective federation. The AI is very unlikely to cancel Association Status once trust has been built on both sides. This can usually be broken by rivaling or insulting the non-member party, until it cancels the agreement on its own. Therefore, care should be taken with granting Association Status to empires that the player may want to attack in the future.

War Exhaustion

War Exhaustion goes from 0% to 100%, and measures the total weariness and attrition suffered by all empires on one side in a war. War Exhaustion goes up from suffering losses during Space and Ground Warfare, destruction of planets (either from Colossus weapons or Armageddon Bombardment), and a passive accumulation over time called Attrition. When a side's War Exhaustion hits 100% they can be forced into a Status Quo peace after 24 months. The speed at which War Exhaustion accumulates is influenced by factors such as ethics, traditions, technology and the amount of claims being pressed - an empire that is fighting to hold onto a handful of border systems will tire faster in a a costly conflict than one whose very independence is being threatened. War Exhaustion also means that an Empire that is losing a war can still fight to minimize their territorial losses by inflicting high War Exhaustion on the enemy.

War Exhaust Gain can be reduced by the following:

Source	Reduction
Media Conglomerate civic	-5%
Nationalistic Zeal civic	-10%
Interstellar Campaigns technology	-10%
Galactic Campaigns technology	-10%
Gestalt Consciousness	-20%

Ending Wars

Wars can end in two ways: With the surrender of either side or with a negotiated Status Quo peace.

Surrender means that the victor's Wargoal is enforced, and any claims the winning side has on the losing side are automatically ceded regardless of occupation status. All wars except those of independence have a negative surrender acceptance, which are countered by factors such as Relative Navy Strength (up to +50), War Exhaustion (up to +100) and Occupation Percentage (up to +100). If an empire and all of its allies (if any) has lost control of all of its systems and/or planets during the war, then a surrender will occur automatically.

Status Quo means that the war has reached a point where neither side is able to score a decisive victory against the other or all wargoals have been achieved decisively before any major battles took place, and both sides agree to cease hostilities and settle for whatever gains or losses they have acquired/suffered. Under a Status Quo peace, all fully occupied systems claimed by a belligerent empire are ceded to the belligerent with the strongest Claim. In the case of a tie, whoever has the oldest claim on the system is considered the stronger claimant. Since AI won't surrender to a Total War, they can end only in Status Quo. Status Quo can be enforced by any side as soon as 24 months passed since the opposing side reached 100% War Exhaustion and if both sides reach 100% War Exhaustion the Status Quo is enforced automatically after 24 months.

Game concepts