Quick Start for Stellaris

To describe your first few steps in early game

1. Setup Research

Keep the game paused, while you do this

• Always research build colony ship first (you may get this for free in later versions of the game)
  
• Intially you will be short of energy credits - thus research either solar power or power plants
  
• Choose Free Thought policy under Government - it gets research going
  
• Look for things to upgrade your combat ships e.g. better weapons, thrusters, shields or senors - helpful when the pirates or cultist attacks early game - usually after yiou have colonised your second planet, you will about 150-200 point
  
• Check your scientist bonus match their allocation research location or ship
  
• I usually build a science vessel as soon as possible and recruit an extra scientist, choose carefully for a good trait i.e. +5 or +10 Research

2. Consider your Home Planet

• Increase food production first, this will help grow your population, and gain other benefits.
• Make sure your food surplus is always postive.
  
• Later, increase your energy credits and minerals, concentrate on any 2+ bonus first

3. Surveying and Expanision

• Get your survey ship to survey home system first
  
• Build a second survey ship and add a scientist it
  
• Use Your Military Fleet to explore the unexplored areas first (before your survey ship), and find where there are enemies and habitable planets - set the fleet to evasive, until it is stronger
  
• Give your fleet a Admiral
  
• Start your military looking at the further out systems first
  
• When you do have a colony ship consider either a good planet with much expansion space on it i.e. larger, or a good space to mark your terrority (your borders will fill the gaps in mid game)
  
• Build your empire with a back e.g. the edge of screen or possible inner if you are using a donut to limit the number of borders you can be attacked on, later

4. Research Projects/Anomalies

This can give you a quick boost up in terms of resources or research, however they use your research slot back at home as well as your ship, in one of three categories. Thus slowing down other research. Secondly they have greater risk of failure when your scientists are less experienced. Thus my suggestion would be wait until one of your scientists on the survey ship has at least level 3 or 4 before researching Anomalies - reduce your risk of failure, but also allowing your build out the basic research you need to suceed as empire.

Now the exception is when you start destroying enemy vessels, these time out, dispate into space. This research can be useful.

[A Flying Squirrel]

much good very wow

[A Flying Squirrel]

good

[Roenie]

Thanks, Yaljin. Short and sweet indeed. There's still a lot of blanks that the in-game tutorial doesn't cover, but if you covered them all this would've been 300 pages.

[Poobah Gorg]

I loved this guide. It was short and sweet, and filled in the blanks that the game's tutorials do not even seem to gloss on. It also didn't overwhelm me with information like so many of the guides do.

[DrTran]

You got past "Gretings"? Good for you!

[HeyIt'sRaven]

what was that?
You lost me at my given name

[m@lore]

Gretings; my given name is Richard Harison and the facility we have entered is a retail establishment that specializes in unredemed gods, which is the legal property of yours truly. I currently employ my paternal parental unit, alias, "Elderly Male," and the ofspring of oneself, whose given name is Corey Harrison, yet has assumed the identity, "Large Hos." Each individual item curently posesed by my ne retail establishment beholds a lengthy narative and of course, this being a legal retail establishment, can be acqulred for reasonable compensation. I have ben the legal facilitator of this established haberdashery since the year MCMXCV, and in those XXI years, I have been gradualy lnformed that; thy shal, at no time in the past, future, or present, be aware of by means of observation or inqulry, any details whatsoever of the material gods that wil proceed past the aperture of my structure where goods are acquired and distributed simultaneously.