I'd argue of you like the diplomacy side of the game and want the galactic community to be more fleshed out, then this is important. It unlocks new and unique federation types and new resolutions in the galactic community. I didn't much care for this game until federations was released. If you like the idea of playing as robots in space, or furture Disney that took over the worlds governments, or a species that relies on infecting and taking over other pops, then these ones are important.įederations is my personal favorite. These dlc, especially synthetic dawn are fairly nice to have. Synthetic dawn, megacorp, and necroids introduces new empire types and portraits. This dlc was pretty controversial when it was first announced so take that as you will. Necroids unlocks new species portraits and new gameplay mechanics and empire types. They introduce new gameplay mechanics but mostly for mega corporations. They are literally corporations that supplanted the original governments roles. Megacorp introduces megacorporations as a playable empire type. If you want to play as a machine at game start, then this is a pick up. The DLC probably offers more stuff but the machine empires is the thing I remember most of all. Synthetic dawn introduces machine empires and I believe the machine fallen empire. If you like the early game for its surveying, exploration, and anomalies then these story packs are important. They offer some new gameplay mechanics but they are mostly there for lore reasons. Relics, distant stars, and leviathans are mostly for story and roleplay reasons. Other than those two, pick them up if you like the cosmetic appearances. Lithoid and necroids give new gameplay options unique to them.

The only exception is lithoids and necroids. Almost all of them is just cosmetic and offers nothing unique. It also unlocks hive minds.Īll of the the species packs are not neccesary. If you like to build massive super structures in space or ascend your pops beyond what is possible, then this is the dlc for you. They unlock new mega structures and ascension paths. The most important dlc for gameplay mechanics is utopia. But for the detailed reasons they will follow below the list:

Stellaris necroids