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Whispering State / Veiled Operations | Espionage-focused Civics

It is well expressed that Espionage has remained one of the most underwhelming mechanics in Stellaris since its release. This mod seeks to change that by adding both a standard and corporate civic that specialises an empire towards using Operations as its main weapon of both offence and defence. While the base game already has Spyware Directives for gestalt machines, I wanted a more transformative civic that changes the way you have to play to survive.

Whispering State: "This society rules not with armies, but with secrets. Power flows through hidden networks and unseen agents who shape the fates of nations while avoiding direct conflict."

Veiled Operations: "This megacorporation defeated its competitors through rumors, leaks and underhanded tactics rather than takeovers, granting its executives influence beyond price, and its rivals, only silence."

Effects:
+5 Operation skill
+4 Codebreaking
+4 Encryption
+2 Envoys
+75% Infiltration speed

Penalties:
-25% Naval Capacity
+15% Empire Size effect
+20% War Exhaustion gain
Cannot be removed after game start

Requirements:
Not Fanatic Purifiers
Not Barbaric Despoilers
Not Inward Perfection
Not Diplomatic Corps
Not Warrior Culture
Not Distinguished Admiralty
Not Sovereign Guardianship
Not Private Military Companies
Not Naval Contractors
Not Hard Reset
Not Clone Army
Not Knights of the Toxic God
Not Broken Shackles
Not Payback
Not Starlit Citadel

Councilor positions (Officials only) give +0.05 Influence per 100 Politicians (per skill level)
Grand Spymaster: "The Grand Spymaster ensures that the execution of covert operations ordered by the government are smooth, discreet and effective."
Director of Intelligence: "The Director of Intelligence oversees the secret research gathering on potential market rivals - and the sabotage of their profits too."

General tips / recommendations:

• Perhaps juxtaposingly, Xenophile is a good ethic choice due to the extra envoys, whilst pairing well with Megacorps because of the extra trade.
  
• While good Origins are usually good for all builds (just watch Montu's tierlist for those), Whispering State empires benefit from those that protect them from getting overrun by fleets in the early game, such as Here Be Dragons, Imperial Fiefdom, Common Ground, or Hegemony.
  
• Expand the council ASAP to get the Grand Spymaster / Director of Intelligence position so you don't run out of Influence to do Operations. When paired with the trait Charismatic (+20% amenities job efficiency), civics Shadow Council or Vaults of Knowledge (+1 effective councilor skill) and Oligarchy authority (+2 effective councilor skill), you can generate a respectable amount early on in the game.
  
• Taking Statecraft as a first tradition tree is probably the best due to being able to quickly level up leaders and getting the Shared Benefits tradition (both further increasing councilor skill). While Espionage is generally a weak pick, in this build it's foolish to ignore the benefits you can reap from its various modifiers. For the best use of this civic, Statecraft and Espionage should be among your first tradition picks.
  
• Concerning Ascension Perks that fit especially well, Enigmatic Engineering tends to fit the theme well, while Eternal Vigilance can be highly useful for self-defence in the midgame.
  
• Ascension path-wise, Psionics is the obvious choice due to its Empire Size Effect reduction and improvements to codebreaking/encryption.
  
• If you don't mind straying further from the vanilla experience, use mods such as Trade For Influence for alternative sources of Influence generation.
  
  Final comments:
  
• You need Nemesis to use CCO, so don't expect to get much out of this mod without that DLC. And obviously, you won't be able to use Veiled Operations if you don't own Megacorp.
  
• The icon in used as the thumbnail background was made by Sapphirephoenix1, in their awesome Subterfuge Mewing mod.
  
• Definitely NOT achievement compatible , but should have no compatibility issues with other mods.
  
• Report any bugs found in the comments and I will try my best to fix them.
  
• Enjoy :D