Stellaris: Everything You Need To Know About The Manifesti (2024)

The Manifesti are a recent addition with the Nemesis expansion and Philip K. Dick update for Stellaris. For some players, it's an amusing addition to the game and for others they’re a major force to be reckoned with, potentially even grinding empire building to a near halt.

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It's important to know what the Manifesti are and what their presence means for the player during their playthrough. If players are on the fence about whether the Manifesti should have a presence in their universe, here’s what you need to know to decide.

10 Rise Of The Manifesti

The Manifesti is a new faction that appears as a result of a world event chain called the Rise of the Manifesti. It is the only world event chain that leads to the creation of a new faction and gives players power over its rise or fall in this strategy game.

The first event in the chain will discuss a series of protests occurring on the chosen planet. Big “colorful assemblies” dealing with “frivolous issues”. This is the first indication players will have that the Manifesti are coming.

9 Very Rare, Can Only Happen Once

The odds of a the Rise of Manifesti world chain event happening are very rare. Every five years there’s a three percent chance it will occur. Once it happens it will never happen again, meaning the Manifesti will only appear once during any given playthrough.

There doesn’t seem to be anything that triggers this event other than random chance. If the player is wanting the Manifesti to appear they’ll simply need to be patient and keep playing.

8 Harmless Activists

On the surface the Manifesti appear to be harmless, albeit eccentric, activists. In the beginning they create strange art exhibits, invent new languages, create public displays, and advocate for bizarre issues. Its not clear if they genuinely believe in their causes or if it’s a hoax similar to the real world Society for Indecent to Naked Animals.

In the beginning they are relatively harmless with carnival protests and members speaking to each other in grunts. Even at the end of their lifecycle the Manifesti faction inspires an interest in the arts and motivates the public to attend museums and galleries.

7 Mischievous Manipulators

The other side of that coin is that the Manifesti can also be mischievous manipulators. To the public they’re harmless activists, but for anyone in power they’re essential cultural terrorists. They seem dead set on undermining authority structure of any kind, overthrowing any form of tradition, and will even hijack diplomatic efforts.

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Once again it’s unclear if this is the organization’s end goal or a side affect of their activism. It could be they’re looking to cause mischief not realizing the genuine harm and dystopian future it causes later on or at a macro level. It could also be a clever way to manipulate governments and intergalactic relations in a way that isn’t so obvious to the public.

6 Bizarre Causes

The Manifesti supports a number of bizarre causes that seemingly have no connection to each other or end design. One example is the push for Alluvio-Liberalism or the idea that water should be allowed to flow freely without human intervention. This typically triggers if the player has built a Noxious Swamp blocker or cleared a Garbage Patch blocker.

There’s also Personal Autonomy for Munitions, the notion that spaceships should be given sapience and allowed to decide for themselves where to be deployed. Other causes see a restriction in production of consumer goods, diplomacy being conducted via staring contests, and only hiring Scientists with the Carefree or Roamer trait.

5 Shutting Them Down Early Has Consequences

Some players may be inclined to squash the Manifesti as soon as they appear to prevent them from gaining power. For some empires this is probably a wise path, but it does have some consequences. To put it simply, the public loves the Manifesti.

If done as soon as they appear there shouldn’t be any consequences. But if the Manifesti have been given any opportunity to grow putting a stop to them results in a loss of influence. It should also be noted that waiting too long can cause the organization to be unstoppable.

4 Letting Them Have Their Fun Yields Some Benefits

See Also

Radical Cult - Stellaris Wiki

Of course letting them have their fun can also bring benefits to the empire. The public gets a kick out of their quirky antics and there are frequent happiness boosts associated with the Manifesti. There are also short term bumps in Monthly Society Research.

Letting the Manifesti grow to fruition and working with them can have some serious positives. Happiness will be roaring, Monthly Society Research sees significant boosts, and they can even inspire an entire ethics shift change. Of course the latter is only helpful if the player wants it, but this organization can go a long way to improving moral and shaping society.

3 Egalitarian In Nature

The Manifesti don’t readily portray themselves as political, but to the keen eye its obvious they’re Egalitarian in nature. By belittling government authorities, promoting controversial art, and sponsoring strange causes they are fighting for their own vision of equality.

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This is important to know because once matured as a faction they’ll cause society to do a major shift towards Egalitarian ethics. Many players are blindsided by this and its important to keep in mind if you don’t want your empire’s ethic to change.

2 Mere Annoyance For Authoritarian Governments

Authoritarian governments are the best equipped to squash the rise of the Manifesti. Ultimately the activists need attention and if denied it by the government will start floundering. An effective tactic is to put a stop to their actions and ignore their demands.

This causes the organization to die down and attempt a rebranding under a new name. Manifesti will turn into Manifesti Destiny, Manifesti Par-Tai, and so on. It is important to keep them under your thumb early and never let up the pressure.

1 Potentially Game Ending For Egalitarians

If the player is Egalitarian then the Manifesti can be a major problem if left unchecked, to the point of breaking a playthrough. They’ll quickly scoop up members until the majority of a planet’s population is aligned with them.

Their demands often wreak havoc on production and diplomacy making it a pain to cater to their demands. Ignoring their demands when they have a foothold results in a grinding halt to influence with rebellions becoming more and more common. If the Egalitarian player let the Manifesti have any power their only hope is to try and appease them in the hopes the organization eventually dissipates, assuming the player can last that long.

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