Despots in Stellaris: How to Enslave Alien Species

Paradox has built in a huge variety of ways for you to build and run a space empire in the grand strategy game Stellaris. You can create an altruistic utopia where no one ever suffers, but you can also play very wide and build the ultimate slave empire. In this guide we teach you, in Stellaris, how to enslave alien species.

First and foremost, not every government can enslave. You’ll have to have very specific types of Ethics and Civics right from the get go if you plan on building an empire that allows you to enslave captive species. Additionally, primitive creatures and pre-sapient species cannot be enslaved. However, in the case of pre-sapient lifeforms, after uplifting they can be set to an enslaved status.

One final note before we dive in: You must be in complete control of the planet you want to enslave. You can’t occupy the space above the planet, you need to have a colony on the surface of the world. A true claim of ownership is a must before you can proceed.

Required Ethics and Civics

To enslave, there are a couple of pre-requisites you’ll have to complete. These mostly come in the form of Civics and Ethics. Unsurprisingly, only the most vicious of empires have the capacity or will to enslave another species, and these are reflected in the ethics and civics of the empire.

For Ethics, you’ll need to make sure your empire practices Authoritarianism (or Fanatic Authoritarianism), Xenophobic (or Fanatic Xenophobic), or Gestalt Consciousness. Without some combination of these Ethics types at play, you will not have the capabilities to enslave another race.

For Civics, make sure you take on one or both of Slaver Guilds and Indentured Assets. These Civics are what give you the power to actually enslave the native population of a planet under your control.

How to Enslave

If the population of a planet is sentient, you have met the Ethics and Civics prerequisites, can make a claim of ownership on the planet, and are willing to subjugate an entire civilization, you’re ready to enslave.

To do so, click the planet you want to enslave. From the Planet menu, navigate to the Surface tab. That will bring up the list of peoples currently living on the planet. Select the group you want to enslave. That will bring up a new window. Below the image of the Pop, there is an Enslave button. Click it, and the future of servitude for that group of people is locked in.

There are perks and drawbacks of enslavement, mostly dealing with resource generation and technological advancement. Make sure you know what you’re getting into before you go down this route.

Though the actual process of enslaving an entire species is not much more than a button click in Stellaris, consider the suffering the people will endure under your control. If you do decide to play wide like this, be sure to check out some of our other guides while you’re at it!