Stellaris: Federations - The Galactic Community, Explained (2024)

Stellaris presents players with multiple ways of achieving galactic domination, one of the most common and direct being warfare.However, withthe Galactic Community, rival Empires can be forced into submission without any declaration of war. Introduced as part of Federations andexpanded in theNemesisDLC, the Galactic Community completely changes the way diplomacy is conducted.

The Galactic Community is a governing body where each member empire can vote on laws that affect all other member empires. The option to form it comes when at least 70 percent of the Galaxy's Empires have established communications with one another. If at least three Empires agree, the Community will be created.However, if there are less than three Empires present in the galaxy including your own, the Community can never be formed.

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Players can view the Community by clicking on a new UI tab to the right that shows a summary of members, the Senate floor and a list of resolutions. The Senate is where resolutions are proposed and voted, which goes through two recurring phases. The first are recesses, where nothing is voted on for 720 days; then, there are sessions, where resolutionsarevoted on.This lasts for 1440 days. Resolutions fall under eight categories including Galactic Commerce, Industrial Development, The Greater Good, Ecological Protection, Unchained Knowledge, Divinity of Life, Mutual Defense and Rules of War.

Diplomatic weight measures of how influential an empire is within the Senate and determines its power when supporting or opposing resolutions. Diplomatic weight is gained from Fleet Power, Economy, Technology and Pops. However, many of these resolutions oppose each other in terms of goals and effects, including either increasing or decreasing the amount of diplomatic weight an Empire has.

A great way to ensure your resolutionsare passed is tocall in favors from other Empires, whichwill increase your own diplomatic weight for the current vote. Multiple favors can be called in at once, but each costs 10 Influence. It's best to gain as many favors as possible from Empires by asking for them in trade deals. You can also assign Envoys to the Community to increase diplomatic weight.

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Galactic priorities are resolutions that create a Galactic Focus, an objective that, when accomplished, will grant every member 100 Influence. Forming the Galactic Market is one of the first Resolutions that should be passed, as it increases every member's resource storage capacity by 10,000. Later in the game however, these priorities will focus on Crisis forces that threaten the galaxy, with the goal of defeating them. In the event of a War in Heaven between twoor more Awakened Empires, the Community can vote to ban becoming asubject to one or both.

Sanctions are resolutions that apply negative modifiers to Empires that are in breach of Galactic Law or have been denounced. The last two levels for each Sanction can only be proposed by members of the Galactic Council. All Sanctions require only 25 Influence to propose. Galactic Law represents actions that are forbidden within the Galactic Community. Initially, nothing is forbidden within the Community, but passed resolutions can ban certain actions.

The Galactic Council can be created by passing the "Form Galactic Council" resolution, which requires the Galactic Community to be at least 20 years old. Council members are chosen based on the highest diplomatic weight among Community members. If an Empire is given a seat on the Council, their diplomatic weight will be increased by 20 percent. It starts with three seats, but can be expanded to include up to five members or reduced to just one. Reforms that can be proposed include increasing the powers of the Council. One example isVeto Power which, for 300 Influence, can preventing any proposed resolution from being proposed again for 15 years.

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Those with the Nemesis expansion willfind thata Council member'spowers can be greatly expanded if they'vebecome a Custodian. Meant to act as a way of effectively opposing Crisis forces, Council members can nominate themselves as a Custodian meant to safeguard the galaxy and lead the charge against those who would threaten all. While such a resolution can be put forth at any time, unless there is a legitimate Crisis event occurring such as a Great Khan, the Grey Tempest or any one of the Endgame Crisis forces, it will typically have little to no support by any Empire.

The powers of a Custodian are considerable. They gain an increase of five influence every month, a 30 percent increase to diplomatic weight, -50 percent to veto and emergency measure cooldown, the ability to end any session prematurely after half its time has passed, change the galactic focus without need for a resolution andtheoption to permanently freeze any resolution they want. They can also propose a number of new resolutions unique to them including several Custodian reforms and galactic institutions.

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However, an Empire can initially only be Custodian for a period of 30 years. Empires can either honor that term limit and give up the position willingly, extend the term or remove term limits entirely. This last decision can lead to an even more radical decision that cements your Empire as ruler of the entire galaxy. If a Custodian can successfully remove term limits, they'll have the option to Proclaim the Galactic Imperium, which transforms the Community into an Imperium -- making the Custodian into the Galactic Emperor.

In addition to retaining all the perks the Custodian enjoyed, the Emperor can't be attacked by Imperium members, can travel through all respective borders and has increased intel on all of them. The Emperor can also propose unique resolutions, such as the Imperial Council, Foreign Relations, Imperial Reforms and Imperial Institutions. However, the Emperor can only retain this power so long as their subject Empires remain loyal and Imperial Authority is kept at high levels. If this Authority falls low enough, members can begin plotting a rebellion to overthrow of the Imperium and restore the Community, making it a risky proposition.

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