Have you recently started up a new Empire in Stellaris, playing a spiritualist or fanatic spiritualist society, and are considering your first Ascension perk pick? Consecrated Worlds is a little bit enigmatic, as it isn’t entirely obvious how the perk works and how the bonuses apply. Find out in this article how it exactly works and whether it is worth it to pick the perk.

Consecrated Worlds

First of all, in case you stumbled upon the perk and are simply wondering how to get it. You need to either have the spiritualist, or fanatic spiritualist ethic. The text, once you can pick it up reads like this:

The galaxy is home to many holy places, some more obvious than others. As mortals, we will struggle to divine the true nature of the universe.

Effects:
Unlocks Decision: Consecrate World
Consecrating uninhabited planets (up to 3) increases Spiritualist Ethics Attraction and Empire-Wide Amenities as well as Unity Generation, scaling to the spiritual significance of the worlds consecrated.

So as the text suggests, you unlock a planetary decision to consecrate a world. Additionally, you get the decision to revoke Consecrated World (thus removing the modifier again). Both decisions will cost you 500 unity and you can have a maximum of 3 Consecrated Worlds. These decisions only work on planets in your own territory. It cannot be applied to habitats, ringworlds, or stars (and similar types like black holes, neutron stars, etc.), but it does not matter whether the planet is habitable or not.

Once you consecrate a planet, it can have 4 tiers based on the planet type and a little bit of luck:

• Profane World (Tier 1)
• Respected World (Tier 2)
• Venerated World (Tier 3)
• Holy World (Tier 4)

• AI worlds, machine worlds, city worlds, and hive worlds have a 100% chance of being Tier 1.
• Gas giants, shielded worlds, tomb worlds, and asteroids have an 80% chance of being Tier 1 and a 20% chance of being Tier 2.
• The remaining uninhabitable planets have a 10% chance of being tier 1, 70% chance of being tier and 20% chance of being tier 3.
• All inhabitable worlds, however, have a 50% chance of being Tier 2, a 40% chance of being tier 3, and a 10% chance of being tier 3.
• The only exception is Gaia worlds, which have a 100% chance of being Tier 4.

The other effect you gain from picking Consecrated Worlds is a Consecrated Modifier on your empire. Each Tier point that you get, rewards you a point towards the modifier, which means it can range from 1 (one Tier 1 planet) to 12 (3 Tier 4 planets).

The modifiers bonus looks like this:

The effects are as follows:

• Tier 1: 2% bonus unity and spiritualist attraction, 1% bonus amenities.
• Tier 2: 4% bonus unity and spiritualist attraction, 2% bonus amenities.
• Tier 3: 6% bonus unity and spiritualist attraction, 3% bonus amenities.
• Tier 4: 8% bonus unity and spiritualist attraction, 4% bonus amenities.
• Tier 5: 10% bonus unity and spiritualist attraction, 5% bonus amenities.
• Tier 6: 12% bonus unity and spiritualist attraction, 6% bonus amenities.
• Tier 7: 14% bonus unity and spiritualist attraction, 7% bonus amenities.
• Tier 8: 16% bonus unity and spiritualist attraction, 8% bonus amenities.
• Tier 9: 18% bonus unity and spiritualist attraction, 9% bonus amenities.
• Tier 10: 20% bonus unity and spiritualist attraction, 10% bonus amenities.
• Tier 11: 22% bonus unity and spiritualist attraction, 12% bonus amenities.
• Tier 12: 25% bonus unity and spiritualist attraction, 15% bonus amenities.

Important: Consecrate World only works on a planet that has not been colonized. If you colonize a planet that has been consecrated, it will lose its status (without any warning).

Another important bonus is, that you can consecrate the holy worlds of Spiritualist Fallen Empires (Holy Guardian), which also gives you a +30 opinion bonus with them.

Is Consecrated Worlds good?

This is a complicated question answered with an unsatisfying “it depends”. It can be a good trait but it is very circumstantial. The consensus for experienced Stellaris players is, that it can be good if you start out next to a Spiritualist Fallen Empire, because of the ability to consecrate their worlds. In all other cases, it can still be a worthy pick but will often be overshadowed by One Vision, which gives similar rewards but is not dependent on luck or finding good planets.

The main problem is that you cannot colonize the planets that you consecrate, yet get the best rewards from consecrating habitable planets. Particularly Gaia planets are the best target to consecrate, yet are also the best targets for your colonies. A solid strategy is to pick the perk, and then just pick out a couple of uninhabitable planets to get the bonus from there. However, it is questionable if it’s worth it with the low-tier bonuses (as explained above).

Another problem is, that it is very luck dependent. You need at least 3 venerated worlds (Tier 3) to be better than One Vision. While it is possible to achieve that with uninhabitable planets, the chance is exceptionally low. You could theoretically achieve this with save-scumming, but even then it would be quite the hassle and akin to cheating.

Generally, Consecrated Worlds is either a first pick or one of the later picks (like 4th or 5th) pick. In the late game, you will be able to find habitable worlds or even Gaia worlds to consecrate without wanting to colonize them. Also, the chance that you find a suitable Fallen Empire also rises as the game progresses.

One use case that is not gameplay-dependent is the roleplay aspect. If you are into roleplaying your empires, Consecrated Worlds is a really nice touch. The planets also shine brightly if they become holy worlds, making them look extra, well, holy. You could carefully pick out the best planets for your empire to worship, give them proper names, etc.

Conclusion

While not the strongest Ascension Perk pick in pure gameplay terms, Consecrated Worlds still is pretty good and perhaps better than it is often deemed by fellow Stellaris players. The past few patches of Stellaris have increased the effect and value of amenities, while decreasing influence value, which makes the rewards of Consecrated Worlds even better. The best recommendation is to pick Consecrated Worlds if you are next to a Spiritualist Fallen Empire, or if you have an abundance of habitable planets that you do not necessarily want to colonize. If those two scenarios are not the case, I would advise waiting with picking the perk until a later stage in the game.