i'm having trouble deciding between the biomorphosis options

[RingworldUtopia]

just started my first game with the DLC but i'm already experiencing decision paralysis well ahead of the ascension lol. i see that purity grants +6 trait points, which is what i used to get from bio ascension. but i also see mutagenic's habitability option being very awesome, and the extra clone vats from cloning seem pretty cool too. how did you go about making your choices? also, which is best as base, and what are good flexible picks if perhaps you think i can mix and match to fit my desires?

i have bioships, ocean paradise planet, anglers. i have civic education and i think i will turn my alloy costs into food for my 3rd civic.

 

[Abdulijubjub]

Pick what you want:

• More freedom with traits and an amazing authority (Purity)
• A bit more automodding and ability to cross phenotype traits (Mutation)
• Lots and lots of pops (Cloning)

Worth noting that you can pick any of the flexible traditions you like even if you go with another path, so long as you choose at least one of your chosen path. And the 2nd pick is mostly a free choice (since the loadbearing part is the efficiency from genomic research/medical centers, and all get that).

So you could go e.g. Mutation, Purity, Mutation, and choose the Purity authority, to get a strong authority, full control over non-phenotype traits, Leviathan traits, and mutagenic habitability.

But honestly, they're all fine. If you want a specific Phenotype trait combo, go with Mutation. If you want to do a civilian (pops without jobs) or max conquest (planets without pops to fill them) build, go with Cloning. Otherwise, Purity is really strong, especially the oligarchy and dictatorship version (though sadly the democracy seems a bit weak, since egalitarians will have plenty of happiness anyway).

 

[AnCi420]

I almost always go pure purity with my authorian imperium (god, was that a good time the first time I discovered that you can go from Paragon to Emperor ), but mutation is a strong second depending on my play style. Still need to try cloning with a civilian heavy approach, haven't crunched the numbers yet but sounds fun.

The only downside of Biogenesis is that I can't go psionic anymore... and veil of the shroud will probably make it even more awesome soon

 

[balmung60]

just started my first game with the DLC but i'm already experiencing decision paralysis well ahead of the ascension lol. i see that purity grants +6 trait points, which is what i used to get from bio ascension. but i also see mutagenic's habitability option being very awesome, and the extra clone vats from cloning seem pretty cool too. how did you go about making your choices? also, which is best as base, and what are good flexible picks if perhaps you think i can mix and match to fit my desires?

i have bioships, ocean paradise planet, anglers. i have civic education and i think i will turn my alloy costs into food for my 3rd civic.

Here's the cool thing: you don't have to pick because so long as you pick at least it in one of the three phases, you can take that as your overall ascension while getting specific flexible traditions, and Mutagenic Habitability is one of those, so you can get the habitability thing and you can also get the +6 trait points and ability to remove positive traits, which is vital so you can actually upgrade from say Rapid Breeders to Fertile

 

[Zarganthrax]

honestly, rn, especially with origins such as ocean paradise and the idillyc bloom civic (the one that gives you a gaia seeder), the best option is to go for the mutagenic path, as the extra habitability makes it possible to reach 200 habitability easily, as well as granting your pops a second auto--modding trait who gives an extra 15% output (it stacks btw)
the cloning path is only good if you commit almost entierly to it (you can get a special cloning authority that makes your leader practically immortal). the purity ascension seems to be more if you're playing with mods that add extra traits and you want to get creative.

 

[Abdulijubjub]

honestly, rn, especially with origins such as ocean paradise and the idillyc bloom civic (the one that gives you a gaia seeder), the best option is to go for the mutagenic path, as the extra habitability makes it possible to reach 200 habitability easily,

Mutagenic Habitability, the flexible tradition, gives you that without actually taking the mutation tree. And because you've picked one mutation tradition, you also get +5% habitability per genomic researcher (which basically puts you at 200% on any ideal planet, right away).

What mutation gives you is that +15% efficiency (which is more like +10% efficiency unless you have absolutely perfect specialization per strata, on your planets), and the phenotype fiddling.

 

[HFY]

Mutagenic Habitability, the flexible tradition, gives you that without actually taking the mutation tree. And because you've picked one mutation tradition, you also get +5% habitability per genomic researcher (which basically puts you at 200% on any ideal planet, right away).

Awesome, my next run was all about seeing if World Shapers is worth taking -- sounds like it absolutely will be.

 

[RingworldUtopia]

I probably should have mentioned I'm not going authoritarian, I'm building a utopia. So it sounds like I should take Mutagenic Habitability, but go with cloning as my main path, for this playthrough.

I did restart cause I made some mistakes. And while I was thinking about my new start, I remembered starlit citadel! So I'm doing that for now, with sovereign guardianship citizen service. And my third civic will be civic education. Once I get the ascension, I will then add shelled and seasonal dormancy for my utopian abundant civilians, but I am also aquatic so I will be doubling down on job efficiency and habitability on wet worlds quite a bit.

 

[HFY]

I probably should have mentioned I'm not going authoritarian, I'm building a utopia. So it sounds like I should take Mutagenic Habitability, but go with cloning as my main path, for this playthrough.

Mutation Democracy is also good.

Not as meta as -15% sprawl from pops, but better than a lot of other authorities.

 

[RingworldUtopia]

Mutation Democracy is also good.

Not as meta as -15% sprawl from pops, but better than a lot of other authorities.

and is that authority something i can't get if the main tradition is cloning?

 

[HFY]

and is that authority something i can't get if the main tradition is cloning?

Yeah you get ONE of the authority columns when you Ascend:

Government - Stellaris Wiki

stellaris.paradoxwikis.com

You can have either Clone Democracy or Mutant Democracy or Pure Democracy, based on which of the three Traditions you picked. You also get access to all the other authorities in the column but they're irrelevant if you want to be a Democracy.

 

[RingworldUtopia]

wait so if I go cloning I can't get advanced traits?

 

[balmung60]

You still get them, you just don't get a discount like purity does and you can't remove positive traits that conflict with those advanced traits and also you have fewer points to spend

 

[Abdulijubjub]

You still get them, you just don't get a discount like purity does and you can't remove positive traits that conflict with those advanced traits and also you have fewer points to spend

Cloning can remove all growth traits (though what counts as "growth" is a bit inconsistent), and Mutation can remove all phenotype traits.

There are some weird corner cases, like Egg Laying (which counts as both growth and phenotype, so all genetic ascensions can remove it).

 

[DarkHelmet110985]

Here's a breakdown of the Pro's/Con's of each path:

Overtuned Origin grants 1 bonus pick and reduces AP cost on Biomorphosis by 1.
Clone Army Origin must take Cloning
Evolutionary Predators Origin must take Mutation
Wilderness Origin must take Purity

Cloning:
Clone Vat Assembly doubled(1.5 -> 3), limit of Clone Vats increased to 4 via Cloning finisher(cap based on Tier of Capital Building). Requires 3 extra Build slots for those Clone Vats though.
Maximum of 8 Trait Points/7 Picks
Cannot add Negative Traits
Cannot remove Overtuned Traits
Cannot remove Positive Traits*
*Can remove Growth Traits via Somatic Synthesization Tradition. These include Rapid Breeders, Incubators, Existential Iteroparity, Egg Laying(Growth Phenotype Trait, hence special case), Fertile, Exotic Metabolism and Vat Grown(which can be freely added removed since cost is 0). Can also remove Vocational Traits via Targeted Gene Expressions Tech. These include Agrarian, Industrious, Ingenious, Intelligent, Charismatic, Thrifty and Traditional. Can also remove Pre-Spaient Traits with Epigenetic Triggers Tech.

Mutation:
Auto-modding is the easiest
Adaptive Mutation Trait yields Pops that are the most efficient for the job and result in 15% Efficiency boost, including Alloys/CG. This stacks with other Traits like Erudite or Natural Machinist
Maximum of 8 Trait Points/9 Picks
Can remove virtually any Trait you want save for Overtuned Traits(may be wrong here but I'm pretty sure I'm correct)
Can add virtually any Trait you want, including Phenotype Traits of any species

Purity:
Maximum of 10 Trait Points/7 Picks
Can remove any Organic Trait in the game, including Overtuned
Can add virtually any Trait in the game save for Phenotype(must match species subset).
Advanced Trait cost(excluding Exotic Metabolism) reduced by 1.
Creates a Genetic Purity Score. Score is based on sum total of Positive Traits(before their cost is reduced) + Overtuned Traits and subtracts sum total of Negative Traits. Any traits obtained via Orbital Speed Demon event count towards this at 1 point each. Purity Score is used for Advanced Government Authorities.

Each Flexible Tradition choice results in Empire Modifiers being applied. Up to two bonuses are granted from each path. Each path yields the following:

Cloning: +1 Assembly per 100 Genomic Researchers. +300 Amenities per 100 Genomic Researchers
Mutation: +10% Habitability from Genomic Research Lab. +100 Pops Auto-modded per month.
Purity: +10% Pop Growth per 100 Genomic Researchers. -1 Maximum Negative Leader Traits

As for Flexible Traditions...

Tier 1: Best one is Environmental Integration or Mutation. Mutagenic Habitability is just too good to pass on in my opinion. Having the Habitability cap raised from 100% to 200% can result in +25% Job Efficiency, -25% Housing usage and -25% Amenity usage. If you take Adaptability Tradition and optimize your Planets(ex: Gaia/Ecumenopolis), then your floor will be 160%(140% on Relic Worlds). It does not mean that the other two options are bad. Purity's choice is a great option if you're looking to maximize your Leaders while if you're aiming for insane Pop Growth, then Cloning's Genomic Growth cannot be beat.

Tier 2: Purity's Heightened Abilities is best option here and honestly the default pick due to -10% Empire Size from Pops. If the other options granted Empire Size reductions too, then we might have some competition.

Tier 3: Choice really comes down to Cloning(Biochemical Composure) or Mutation(Nucleotide Isolation). Purity's choice is so bad that I don't like to even mention it. The only reason I would even take Purity here is if you really wanted the Empire Modifier(-1 Negative Leader Trait) or you wanted to take Purity Tradition path and hadn't taken a Purity Flexible Tradition. Anyways, of the two reasonable options, either one works. Cloning grants Backup Clone Trait to all existing and future Leaders. The Trait is a cheat death trait(which means it'll reincarnate them) but while they have it, they get +2 Effective Leader Skill. This means better Dig Site skill, Astral Rift skill and better Councilor perks(including Agenda Speed). Yet if they die, they gain a malus trait that can only really be mitigated via Purity's option on Tier 1 and Cloning Authorities(Democratic being the best).

As for Mutation, this is the **ONLY** way to gain Nucleotide and Leviathan Traits. Nucleotide Traits are obtained from the Orbital Speed Demon event and have been significantly buffed. Leviathan Traits can only be added if you've killed the prerequisite Leviathan. If you don't have any Leviathan's to kill, then this Tradition is kind of weak.

Recommended Flexible Path: Mutation -> Purity -> Cloning

 

[HFY]

As for Mutation, this is the **ONLY** way to gain Nucleotide

Just as a technical point, there's now a choice in the Speed Demon anomaly to try to get all three on your main species (50% chance you succeed, 50% chance you get nothing).

Recommended Flexible Path: Mutation -> Purity -> Cloning

This is an excellent recommendation.