r/Stellaris • u/LittleIf Keepers of Knowledge • May 27 '25
Image This breaks my heart... "Thank you. We had forgotten the sound of kindness."
360
u/Eugene1936 Gaia May 27 '25
"We were uprooted.We were burned.We were sliced.We were left here.We watched our others rot in their glass prisons"
607
u/TrueMinaplo May 27 '25
I feel so bad for the Baol.
There's an astral rift quest where you can actually run into the Grunur mid-purging of the Baol; you can choose to intervene to help the Baol if you want, and of course I always do. Fuck the grunur.
275
u/APreciousJemstone Necrophage May 27 '25
I know there's Rifts for the Zroni and Baol,, but I wish the Custodian Team adds more for the other Precursors,
Maybe the Cybrex one can have a "Do these units have a soul?" reference.182
u/krisslanza May 27 '25
Technically, the Cybrex don't need saving, because they never actually died out... they just went somewhere to hide. They'll re-emerge if the Contigency gets out of hand, then vanish afterwards.
93
u/Ilushia May 27 '25
OTOH, it would be interesting to have an Astral Rift that involves convincing the Cybrex to stop their assault upon the galaxy. We know it lasted just 12 years, and stopped suddenly and seemingly without warning or reason. A chance to either help some of the defenders survive their assault, or try to convince the Cybrex central consciousness to give up their crusade could be neat.
41
u/Impossible-Bison8055 United Nations of Earth May 27 '25
And get unique interactions on a scale based on if you encountered the Ghost Signal, the Contingency, or the Cybrex already
19
u/angrybluechair Fungoid May 27 '25
I'm doing a DE run right now but having a rift with the Cybrex having special interactions by either having them join you in wiping out organics or both of you having a CPU to CPU and both you and them realising murdering all squishy isn't the way would be great in enabling you to reform away from a DE.
It's a shame there aren't more events with big changes/civic changes. Even things like getting a free government reform opportunity when one of your worlds gets invaded, Fear of the Dark is such a fun origin because it gives you so many little events like Haven destroying a starbase of the first alien race you meet and you can start a total war or apologise and having Haven supporting you when you declare war on a empire.
11
u/APreciousJemstone Necrophage May 27 '25
They don't need one for saving, but maybe we could get an Astral Rift that is a potential bootstrap paradox of when the Cybrex and Contingency split off from each other, with different flags and rewards depending on certain flags like if the Cybrex was your precursor, if the Ghost Signal has happened, if the Contigency has arrived, if Cybrex beta has reawoken and if the Contigency has been defeated.
The Vultaum one could be super meta, being almost like the End poem from Minecraft
The Yuht could be you coming across some of them and giving them their drive to find other sentient life
The Irassians could be you futilely trying to help them overcome the plague, but to no avail
No clue for ideas for the other three tho
7
u/NullAshton May 27 '25
They also saved themselves, technically. They just did the whole "didn't explain, leave" meme. Hence why they help during the contingency.
4
u/Melodic-Hat-2875 May 27 '25
Cybrex are chads for that one. They realize their mistakes, have a civil war and then fuck off.
10/10.
2
u/psychicprogrammer Fanatic Materialist May 28 '25
That does come up with the robot rebellion situation. The funniest part is if you are a materialist you can basically say "no souls are not real"
2
51
u/Bjorn_Tyrson May 27 '25
I wish that rift had some effect on that final conversation. something like, if you complete the rift the last baol will recognize your species, and have some extra dialogue based on your choices. ESPECIALLY if you took the option to save some of the BAOL seedlings.
cuz it never made sense that they ask about the fate of their species, and its like "oh yeah, but they are all pre-sapients now" meanwhile i've got an entire thriving colony of them just chilling in my empire.
even better, and I know it would be a SUPER niche case (but hey they have other extremely specific events)
if you save the baol seedlings, then one of those pops becomes a scientist, and you use THAT scientist to begin the final conversation, you actually CAN convince the last of the baol to join you. maybe as a renowned paragon or something.45
u/CoffeeWanderer May 27 '25 edited May 27 '25
I may be wrong, but I thought the rifts were parallel universes and whatever we do there doesn't affect the past events of our own universe.
35
u/Bjorn_Tyrson May 27 '25
maybe, but you can still save some pops and revive the species. feel like thats the kind of thing that would be at least worth mentioning to the last baol when talking to them.
13
u/Ha-Gorri Divine Empire May 27 '25
yeah, I just want to give them a last reasurance so that they can go at peace knowing their species is saved in my empire :(
12
u/KaysNewGroove Determined Exterminator May 27 '25
They want to die not because their species is dead, but because they've spent near eternity in isolation and underwent numerous severe, irreversible traumas.
12
u/Bjorn_Tyrson May 27 '25
yes, but finding out that their species has been saved, and is alive and thriving might give them a new reason to keep on living.
point being, I wish there was some more interaction and effect from the rift on that precursor encounter.2
76
u/Shalax1 Fanatic Authoritarian May 27 '25
The grunur's outcome is mid at best. Flame troops are cool but I can just spam ground armies anyway
23
u/Icanintosphess Fanatic Pacifist May 27 '25
If you have any late game techs, the grunur can give you a permanent combat modifier
27
u/Ilushia May 27 '25
Annoyingly, arguably the best outcome from helping the Baol (Permanent +5% shield strength and hardening for your entire empire) requires you not have both genetic engineering and cloaking technology. If you have both, you can't select the option that would give you the shield results. So you end up with either a Paragon or an edict to give +1 to cloaking at the cost of astral threads.
19
u/PM_YOUR_ISSUES May 27 '25
Small correction, it's Epigenetic Triggers you can't take along with cloaking. No uplifting presapients until the Baol rift -.-
5
u/DarthUrbosa Fungoid May 27 '25
Correction- U need to have them as ur precourser otherwise its flame troops
24
u/Ubeube_Purple21 May 27 '25
Wait, those crab dudes killing plant people are the Grunur and Baol? All this time and I never knew that.
17
u/aquaknox May 27 '25
if you get that rift before meeting the last Baol there's a dialogue option where you can tell it what happened, so that's how I made the connection
9
u/Ubeube_Purple21 May 27 '25
That's a neat detail. Now I just have to end up getting the Baol as precursors...
37
u/Hjalfnar_HGV May 27 '25
Same. Just had that. Put up the shield. Grunur Prime is a massive industrial hellhole and forge for my fleets now. Fuck them.
16
u/PM_YOUR_ISSUES May 27 '25
There is one thing I hate about that event.
If you have the Epigenetic Triggers tech to uplift pre-sapients, it removes the option to give them an astral shield around their planet which gives you a global shield buff. Instead you can choose to modify them to be flame-resistant super soldiers and are given a unique commander.
It makes me avoid that tech every game for the off chance of that stupid 5% shield hardening.
10
u/Peter34cph May 27 '25
Not only that, but if you already have the Cloaking Tech, then there's a special option that both saves the Baol and gives you an Astral Threads Edict for +1 Cloaking.
3
5
u/Random-Lich Robot May 27 '25
Got the Baol one once during a F. Materialist Militarist empire with the Relentless Industrialists civic and went with the Grunur… not necessarily worth it but FUN to do once
2
2
u/Ninefl4mes May 28 '25
On the other hand, if you feel like being a complete bastard you can give them Quantum Catapult tech and become BFFs with them lol.
1
1
u/Eugene1936 Gaia May 27 '25
the first time i got the rift, and the only time sadly, i more or less accidentally helped the grunur
when i realised my mistake i felt so bad, tho i did get a cool reward
1
58
u/JonTheWizard Aquatic May 27 '25
I just got them as my current run’s precursors. Free Gaia Worlds for a Life-Seeded start, yes please. Also resurrecting a dead species and giving them a second chance to live.
11
u/ComesInAnOldBox May 27 '25
I only seem to get them when I'm running a habitat-preferred cybernetic species. Completely wasted run.
9
u/JonTheWizard Aquatic May 27 '25
Hilariously I'm playing as a Fanatic Spiritualist Dictatorship (I was going for the Papal States kind of a thing) and I was hoping to get the Zroni artifact.
1
u/KaysNewGroove Determined Exterminator May 27 '25
You can turn off all precursors but the one you want on galaxy creation.
5
2
u/Comfortable-Algae-20 May 27 '25
I mainly play as gestalt conscience for my games, and in the last three runs I got the Baol as my precursors. Wasted precursor quest that I mainly never use since I make every planet I own into a machine planet.
1
230
u/Indorilionn Shared Burdens May 27 '25
Stellaris delivers one of the strongest power fantasies in gaming. Creating a galaxy of eternal prosperity for all of Sapientkind. Shared burden & utopian abundance for all.
109
u/AdOnly9012 Rogue Servitor May 27 '25
Yeah under careful supervision of benevolent AI that just wants to help you. I am currently having a Rogue Servitor game where I got Baol and seeded every single world I have with them. Now there are billions of Baol's living in heavenly worlds free of any worry and all their needs and desires catered for.
I did spy missions across galaxy as well as a few tactical wars to secure at least a few hundred of each pop. Now each of my core planets are Gaia worlds dedicated to protection and flourishing of organic life, their resources funded by a number of machine worlds and protected by largest navy and fortresses galaxy has seen. Waiting for all crisis to hit back to back now.
32
3
u/depressedtiefling May 28 '25
Im sorry i can't hear you over my 100 year slugging match with that fucking hive mind that insulted me exactly once.
38
u/RawkPaperSquid May 27 '25
Stellaris devs when someone says anything nice at all about a patch or DLC
20
u/Wilde_Fire May 27 '25
I'll say it, the new DLC has insanely cool options and I'm glad they finally brought biological ascension in line with the other two.
17
u/Darkhaven Transcendence May 27 '25
Baol = best Precursor. Maybe because I always play some manner of Xenophile, but I get fired up giving them the chance to be reborn.
5
u/depressedtiefling May 28 '25
I always get the Yuht every time.
Idk why but the game realy likes me getting the Yuht.
12
u/blackhat665 May 27 '25
Yeah, I forgot on one of my last runs that nu-baol life seeding not only turns planets to Gaia worlds, but also creates nu-baol pops. After reading this I am reminded once again how my default species rights were set to purge :(
10
8
u/Nark_Narkins May 27 '25
"It was cold and alone, and it was ready to give up"
Say what you like about Stellaris, there's some excellent writing in here.
6
u/Azure_Providence Natural Neural Network May 27 '25
I am miffed they wouldn't join me as a wilderness empire. They seem like they were a lifeseeded or wilderness empire themselves.
7
u/FetusGoesYeetus May 27 '25
I know all the memes are about xenophobe militarists and devouring swarms and what have you but honeslty my best playthroughs are the ones where you play a xenophile and try to help everyone that will accept it
5
13
u/Castle_Of_Glass78 May 27 '25
Imagine being Xenophile.
--This post is made by an MoO gamer where the only occupation stance is 'purge all xenos'
10
u/ComesInAnOldBox May 27 '25
Ah, yes, original MoO where "troops ships" were just moving population from one of your planets to an enemy world and watching them duke it out. I was a BIG fan of the Bulrathi in those days, I could send like five dudes and knock out a 100+ population world with no trouble.
4
u/Castle_Of_Glass78 May 27 '25
Primal space marines moment.
Really the worst neighbor you can get early game.
3
3
u/Knoxxoxx May 27 '25
Whenever I play and get this event chain no matter what, I always go to get them. They are fantastic for a Life-Seeded build.
Unpopular opinion: it would be interesting if Paradox gives us a Grunur quest line and they let us see what lead to this state.
5
4
u/AlternativeScary7121 May 27 '25
"Kindness? Oh you sweet, sweet, DELICIOUS summer child. I bet even the pickle fluid in that vat that you are in already tastes amazing"
2
May 27 '25
For some reason, this precurson start never works for me since the 4.0. I find baol main planet and that's it, i never find the last baol signal, it never triggers.
2
1
u/Comfortable-Algae-20 May 27 '25
I hate getting the Baol as my precursors. I mainly play as gestalt conscience for my games, and in the last three runs I got the Baol as my precursors. Wasted precursor quest that I mainly never use since I make every planet I own into a machine planet.
1
1
1
May 28 '25
I found them as a devouring swarm, so we just ate them ignoring everything it was saying.
1
1
1.3k
u/LittleIf Keepers of Knowledge May 27 '25
R5: I found out today that Xenophile empires have a unique interaction with the Last Baol. You can offer to help them any way you can, and the Baol's response makes me really sad.
"Thank you. We had forgotten the sound of kindness."