Summary
One of the largest, most complex, and most demanding 4x games out there,Stellarisis a sci-fi gamer’s dream. Granting players the ability to guide their own custom alien race’s exploration of and expansion through the universe, the game puts an unparalleled amount of control in the player’s hands.
Whether building a capitalist super-economy, using bloodless political manipulations to bring other empires to heel, forging a delicate network of peace treaties and trade agreements, or just obliterating everything in sight with huge fleets and orbital bombardments,Stellarisgives players many ways to play. One of the most important decisions a player can make occurs before anything really starts: selecting thebest Origin inStellarisfor one’s species.
Updated on Jul 07, 2025, by Ewan Selmes:Origins in Stellaris contribute massively to how a specific Empire plays out during its time in the game thanks to their unique bonuses or disadvantages. Some Origins offer unique advantages for combat or diplomacy, while others grant bonuses to tech or even uniquely sized homeworlds. But a strong part of the Origins are the stories they contain, an aspect which has been expanded in recent DLCs, story which often come with unique mechanics, events, and situations designed to provide even more richness and variety to a game of Stellaris.
21Riftworld
A Rift To Another Dimension On The Doorstep
Astral rifts have been a very enriching addition toStellaristhanks to itsAstral PlanesDLC, which also brings ahost of powerful relicsthat can only be exclusively obtained from these astral rifts. The DLC also enables the Riftworld origin, which is quite powerful thanks to its focus on astral rifts.
The origin’s bonuses towards astral rift exploration and appearance chances will enable a player to quickly obtain almost all the astral rifts in the game, provided that they expand sufficiently as well. Moreover, it also enables the player’s space empire to start with an astral rift right in their starting system and the means to explore it thanks to the free Astral Harvesting technology acquired right at the start. Having a head start over the astral rifts can reward the player massively, as long as they also prioritize it over other matters of their empire.
20Ocean Paradise
Start A Focus Towards Ocean Worlds
Aquatic species have been quite powerful thanks to the revamp towards Catalytic Processor civic, which enables all species to rapidly produce food to be used by alloys to create a sustainable economy to both host a powerful fleet and control the market. The Ocean Paradise origin takes it to the next level by guaranteeing a size 30 Ocean World in the starting home system, which can house a very powerful alloy capital production.
However, a downside to the origin would be the lock-in towards Ocean Worlds as a species, and others such as not having guaranteed habitable worlds. Fortunately, this can be circumvented easily by the empire’s strong economy with the size 30 Ocean World, as long as the player can plan around playing a tall build strategy to focus on the capital planet first. Overall, it is definitely a tricky yet rewarding origin, especially for veteran players ofStellariswho are looking to start with adisadvantage to challenge themselves.
19Prosperous Unification
Simple Origin With Huge Benefit
At first glance, Prosperous Unification will look simple enough as it only grants simple modifiers such as extra pops and bonus modifiers such as extra resources from Jobs and Happiness. However, those bonuses can be considered to be superior to others sinceStellarisputs a heavy emphasis on pops and resources, andan early boostwill always help.
The bonus pops and resources can catapult an empire’s progress to dominate the galaxy rapidly. Moreover, the origin offers no drawbacks to facilitate a flexible strategy for the player to focus on.
18Overtuned
High-Risk, High-Reward Strategy With Trait Focus
With the focus on pops as one of the most important resources in the game, having suitable traits to augment them further is always beneficial. This can be done by having the Overtuned origin as it allows the player to choose the powerful Overtuned traits that boost the species at the cost of Leaders dying quickly.
Although it can be detrimental, since leaders are now more important than ever, it also presents an opportunity for the player to try focusing on the pops instead. Moreover, the short leaders' lifespan can be solved in midgame after researching a plethora of technology andgaining powerful relicssuch as the Eternal Throne.
17Progenitor Hive
Impressive Turtling Origin For Hive Minds
The Progenitor Hive Origin is on the more complicated end of things, offering a mix of powerful bonuses as well as penalties, forcing the player to weigh their decision carefully. Offspring Leaders gain XP passively over time, and Offspring Nests take the place of Spawning Pools,improving the player’s drones and greatly strengthening their defensive capabilities.
The player also has the option to release Sectors as Subjects, something that a normal Hive Empire cannot do. The player’s ships suffer massive penalties to their Sublight Speed, Evasion, Fire Rate, and Accuracy, however, unless the player hasa special ship in the fleetor special building within the system. If the player does, they receive bonuses to those same stats.
16Imperial Fiefdom
Pave A Way To Usurp A Galactic Overlord
At first glance, choosing the Imperial Fiefdom Origin may seem like a strange decision, given that the player must begin the game subjugated by another, more powerful civilization. Beginning as the Vassal of an Advanced AI Empire. This Empire is not long for the world, however. In time, it will fall and the player will have the chance to become free.
If multiple civilizations have this Origin, they will all share the same Overlord,which is fun for roleplay purposes, even if it sometimes makes diplomacy messy. Having an Overlord allows the player to research, construct, and expand well into the mid-game without having to concern oneself too much with military matters since there’s a giant (admittedly possessive) Overlord empire that will be only too happy to jump in.
15Teachers Of The Shroud
An Early Pathway Towards Psionic Ascension
Another Origin brought to players by theOverlordDLC, the Teachers of the Shroud Origin causes the player’s civilization to start with the Latent Psionics Trait. It also grants the ability to construct a Shroud Beacon on a Starbase, and it causes the player to start the game in contact with the Shroudwalker Enclave, adding more fascinating mechanics toan already great sci-fi game.
Taking Teachers of the Shroud counts as taking the Mind Over Matter Ascension Perk, butit doesn’t fill up an Ascension slot as it normally would.This locks the player out of any Ascension Path other than Psionic Ascension, but it allows the player to complete Transcendence Ascension sooner than they would otherwise be able to. Effectively granting the player an additional Ascension Perk is a massive boon unique to Teachers of the Shroud, more than earning this Origin its place amongst the greats.
14Knights of the Toxic God
Strong Roleplay with Great Bonuses
The Knights of the Toxic God Origin has a strong focus on its own unique story which is played out through a unique situation and its events. Knights of the Toxic God is the most railroaded of theStellarisOrigins, featuring a complete story the unfolds in more or less the same way in every playthrough. But it offers some nice bonuses, and there are elements of player choice throughout, including how to end the event chain - and how the empire perceives it.
Knights of the Toxic God is the perfect Origin for players looking to roleplay religious space knights, as the entire Origin is themed around the so-called Toxic God. The bonuses gained throughout the Origin’s quest are pretty nice and can be varied depending on player choices. Knights of the Toxic God is a fun, thematic Origin well-suited to players looking for a good bit of roleplay.
13Necrophage
Rule Over The Galaxy As The Unique Necrophage
What makes an Origin the best is more than a matter of optimal numbers: lore, roleplaying, and the coolness factor merit consideration. The Necrophage Origin is great on all counts. Being able to pick and choose which species to absorb via the Necrophage purge type is an extremely valuable ability, bolstering the Founder species by allowing the player to keep those qualities that they find desirable whileassimilating undesirable speciesinto their alien master race.
The Necrophage Origin enables a unique playstyle that mixes the best of min-maxing, roleplay, and universal domination.
12Fear of the Dark
The Night Is Dark and Full of Terrors
On the face of it, Fear of the Dark is an Origin with a lot of downsides. It comes with some permanent debuffs and optional debuffs, while the bonuses it offers aren’t necessarily ones worth it. It does, however, grant a +30 Ship Build Speed and -15% Ship Build Cost modifier during the endgame crisis - both of which are pretty nice.
But this Origin is filled with flavor. Fear of the Dark starts players in a custom solar system with a pre-FTL civilization of the same species as the player occupying a small planet in the system. This pre-FTL species will provide the player with bonuses in exchange for negative modifiers over the course of the game - along with an extended event chain. During the mid-game, players can even opt to join with the pre-FTL species in becoming Fanatic Purifiers to unleash their fury upon an unsuspecting galaxy. This can be a good way of building up a Fanatic Purifier civ without the hassle and danger in the early years due to a lack of diplomacy options.
