
Employed leaders
Stellaris COMPLETE Leader Trait Tier List
A leader is a named character that leads a significant part of the Empire, as a Commander, Official or Scientist. Leaders can also be appointed to the council in addition to and concurrent with their regular assignments. Gestalt Consciousness empires use nodes rather than council leaders. The name of a leader can be changed at any time by clicking on it.
Each leader has an ethic, determined by the overall ethics of its species' pops. It can affect pop ethics the following ways:
- If the leader is assigned to the council the empire will gain +10% attraction towards the leader's ethic.
- If the leader is governing a sector every planet in it that doesn't have a planet governor will gain +25% attraction towards the leader's ethic.
- If the leader is governing a planet it will gain +50% attraction towards the leader's ethic.
Leaders tend to get traits related to their current assignment.
Leaders have a Maximum Negative Traits number of 4 at base.
Leader classes[]
![]() |
Please help with verifying or updating this section. It was last verified for version 3.10. |
Leaders are divided into 3 classes that determine their background, possible assignments, council positions, bonuses, experience sources and available traits.
If the Galactic Paragons DLC is enabled, each class can be further specialized into one of four veteran classes.
Gestalt Consciousness empires cannot use council-focused veteran classes as they use nodes instead.
Leader pool[]
New leaders are generally gained by recruiting them from the leader pool, which is replenished every 5 years. The leader pool starts with 3 leaders from each class, and the amount can be increased by various factors such as civics, traditions or ascension perks.
A leader can be recruited from the pool at the following cost of Unity:
![]() |
I | II | III | IV | V | VI | VII | VIII | IX | X |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Recruitment Cost | 100 | 170 | 350 | 625 | 1000 | 1475 | 2050 | 2725 | 3500 | 4500 |
Leaders cost a monthly upkeep of 2 Unity per level. Leader upkeep is modified by the following:
![]() |
Please help with verifying or updating this section. It was last verified for version 3.9. |
Source | Leader upkeep |
---|---|
![]() |
None |
![]() |
−50% |
![]() |
−50% |
![]() |
−25% |
![]() |
−25% |
![]() |
−20% |
![]() |
−20% |
![]() |
−20% |
![]() |
−20% |
![]() |
−10% |
![]() |
−10% |
![]() |
−10% |
![]() |
+50% |
Leaders can only be of species with Full Citizenship rights. The chance of getting a leader of a particular species is equal to the proportion of that species in the empire's eligible population.
Once recruited, leaders can be freely and instantly assigned to different posts with no cooldown (for example, moving a governor from one planet to another sector).
Leaders may be dismissed at any time, unless they are the empire ruler. Dismissal is irreversible.
Leader capacity[]
Each empire can support a limited number of leaders from each class, starting at 3 per class for most empires. Legendary Paragons and leaders with the Eager trait at levels 1-3 are not counted towards the capacity.
Exceeding the leader capacity increases the upkeep of all leaders of that class by 10% and reduces their experience gain by 8%.
Lifespan[]
Each leader has an age in years and has a base guaranteed lifespan of 80 years, which can be improved by certain species traits, leader traits, and technologies. Leaders appear in the leader pool with ages between 28 - 50 years (27 - 38 years for
Lithoids; 5 - 20 years if
Clone Army origin for biological pop leaders). Hovering over a leader's age will show the leader's guaranteed lifespan and current chance to die each month.
After passing their guaranteed lifespan, leaders have a chance of dying every month. The probability is 0.2% per year that has passed since their guaranteed lifespan. After 20 years past their guaranteed lifespan, this increases to 2% per month.
While Mechanical and
Machine leaders are immortal, they can still die by accident, regardless of their age. Every 10 years, there is a 5% chance that a random
Mechanical and
Machine leader will die.
Machine Intelligence empires can adopt the
Self-Preservation Protocols tradition to reduce the chance of accidents to 2.5%.
Leaders can also be killed the following ways:
Commanders have a 10% chance to die when a ship of the largest size in the fleet is destroyed and a 2% divided by number of units chance to die each time they lose an army[1]
Officials can be killed by events if a planet in their sector has the
Mob Rule planet modifier
Scientists can be killed by bad outcomes of
Archaeology Sites (~2.9% % chance, depends on the site)
The following modifiers affect Leader Lifespan:
![]() |
Please help with verifying or updating this section. It was last verified for version 3.9. |
Source | Leader lifespan (empire) |
---|---|
![]() |
Immortal |
![]() |
+50 |
![]() |
+30 |
![]() |
+20 |
![]() |
+20 |
![]() |
+20 |
![]() |
+20 |
![]() |
+20 |
![]() |
+10 |
![]() |
+10 |
![]() |
+10 |
![]() |
+10 |
![]() |
+10 |
![]() |
+10 |
![]() |
+10 |
Source | Leader lifespan (species) |
---|---|
![]() |
+80 |
![]() |
+80 |
![]() |
+50 |
![]() |
+50 |
![]() |
+50 |
![]() |
+40 |
![]() |
+30 |
![]() |
+25 |
![]() |
+20 |
![]() |
+10 |
![]() |
+10 |
![]() |
−10 |
![]() |
−10 |
![]() |
−10 |
![]() |
−10 |
![]() |
−10 |
![]() |
−10 |
![]() |
−10 |
![]() |
−10 |
![]() |
−10 |
![]() |
−10 |
![]() |
−10 |
![]() |
−30 |
![]() |
−30 |
![]() |
−30 |
![]() |
−40 |
Funeral[]
![]() |
Available only with the Galactic Paragons DLC enabled. |
When the empire ruler or a leader that has been present for at least 2 years and reached at least level 4 dies, there is a chance to have a funeral which gives the empire a modifier for 5 years. The chance increases with the leader's accomplishments and is guaranteed for the empire ruler. Empires have the following funeral options:
Funeral | Modifier | ![]() |
Requirements |
---|---|---|---|
A private procession will suffice. | 0 | ![]() ![]() | |
Let the masses mourn. | 400-8000 | ![]() ![]() | |
They deserve nothing of the sort. | 0 |
| |
Their story does not have to end here... | 0 |
| |
A small commemoration will suffice. | 0 | ![]() ![]() | |
Chant for their soul. | 0 | ![]() ![]() | |
Donate the body to science. | 0 | ![]() ![]() | |
Erect an appropriate memorial. | 200-4000 | ![]() ![]() | |
Keep it traditional. | 100-2000 | ![]() ![]() | |
Launch the deceased into space. | 100-2000 | ![]() ![]() | |
Plan a grand parade. Now. | 200-4000 | ![]() ![]() | |
Set up a foundation in their name. | 200-4000 | ![]() ![]() | |
Name a landmark in their honor. | 200-4000 | ![]() | |
We will endure. | 0 | ![]() | |
Death is no longer an obstacle. | 0 | ||
What do we do now?! | ![]() |
0 | ![]() |
References[]
- ↑ Thus with 50 units, it is 2%/50 chance that the general dies, dev comment
Exploration | Exploration • FTL • Anomaly • Archaeological site • Relics • Pre-FTL species • Fallen empire • Events • Spaceborne aliens • Enclaves • Guardians • Marauders • Caravaneers |
Celestial bodies | Celestial body • Colonization • Terraforming • Planetary features • Planet modifiers |
Species | Species • Traits • Population • Pop modification • Species rights • Ethics • Leader |
Governance | Empire • Origin • Government • Civics • Policies • Edicts • Factions • Technology • Traditions • Situations |
Economy | Resources • Planetary management • Districts • Buildings • Holdings • Jobs • Designation • Trade • Megastructures |
Diplomacy | Diplomacy • Relations • Galactic community • Federations • Subject empires • Intelligence • AI personalities |
Warfare | Warfare • Space warfare • Land warfare • Starbase • Ship • Ship designer • Crisis |
Others | The Shroud • L-Cluster • Unique systems • Preset empires • AI players • Easter eggs |