How To

Stellaris: How to Declare War on Overlord

HomeHow ToStellaris: How to Declare War on Overlord
Updated Read Time 2 min

If you’ve been a vassal of an Overlord, you can choose to declare war in order to break free from its rule. If you win, you will then become an independent subject.

Game Hub

Stellaris Guide Hub

More guides, locations, fixes, reviews, and updates for Stellaris.

Open Stellaris Hub
Stellaris11 articles

Warfare is a recurring theme in Stellaris. In fact, as long as there’s an empire that’s not a Fanatic Pacifist, war will inevitably break out. In the case of a vassal and an Overlord, you can declare war if you want to break free from its rule and act as an independent subject.

Let’s find out how you can do this.

How to Declare War on Overlord in Stellaris

If you have been a vassal for an Overlord for quite some time and want to break free, then you have to option to Request Independence via the Diplomacy screen. However, if you haven’t been with the Overlord for long, then your request for independence won’t be granted.

Specifically, you’ll need high Acceptance for the request to be granted, and since there’s a base reduction of 50 Acceptance, that’s just not possible.

More From This Game

Keep exploring Stellaris

Open game hub

It’s in this case that you’ll have the option to declare war. To start a war, you’ll need a Casus Belli, and in this case, that would be Independence. To declare it, you need to be a subject of an Overlord and should not be in a federation of the same Overlord.

Outcomes of a War

After you have declared war on your Overlord, the outcome of the war can go either way:

  • Surrender – This means that the wargoal of the winning side is secured, and if you lose, you’ll remain as a vassal of the said Overlord.
  • Status Quo – This means that the war has come to a point where the battle is at a stalemate or all wargoals have already been achieved even before a major battle takes place. Also, both sides will have to agree to stop the war.

In the event that you win the war, you’ll then become independent and your Overlord will lose all claims on your systems.

ALSO READ: Stellaris Overlord: Beginner’s Tips Vassals and Overlords

Reader feedback

Did this guide help?

Choose one option. You can change your vote later, but only one vote counts for this article.

Written by

Mario

Senior Game Guide Writer

Mario is editor, and senior gaming writer at GamesFuze, with more than a decade of hands-on experience playing, testing from large-scale RPGs and live-service titles to indie releases. His work is built on direct gameplay rather than second-hand sources, with a strong focus on walkthroughs, progression systems, in-game mechanics, and optimization strategies.

More articles by Mario
Next guide to read

Stellaris: Best Weapons and Defenses Tier List

There are a handful of weapons and defenses in Stellaris, but only a few of them can be truly called the best…

Read next
Guides