Basics
Number 1: You can only colonize within your own territory.
Number 2: Don't be afraid to go over fleet size max to win wars. You can downsize after you win.
Number 3: You HAVE to conquer every star system AND colonies in those star systems that you claim in order to force a surrender (technically if you get the score high enough you might be able to get away with not conquering ALL of them, but it's less likely). Otherwise you will settle out with a white peace.
Number 4: You can tell which systems you have fully conquered by seeing a 'X' like marking on that star system. If it's a system in enemy territory that has your empire's markings but doesn't have an X like shape, it means there's still planets you need to conquer with armies.
Number 5: On that note, make some armies before you start the war, and only send them in when you have secured the star system and can make sure no other ships can take them out! (they die very very easily to ships)
Number 6: Influence is REALLY IMPORTANT. It is just as essential as energy credits or minerals.
Number 7: Get variety of weapons on your ships.
Number 8: Purging all the pop from a planet uncolonizes it. Oops.
Number 9: Explore the galaxy! Building a second science ship immediately and recruiting a new scientist is a smart way to start the game.
Number 10: You don't have to modifiy your entire species with bio upgrades/mech points
Number 11: The little number at the top of a planet's overview screen is it's size, which is how many districts you can build.
Number 12: Enslaving lesser species can make other civs mad. Be aware.
Number 13: Federations do help. But they are not to be relied on by the AI. Your AI ally is not as competent of a commander as you are. Do not trust it to save your ass.
Number 14: Keep your fleet docked at a station with a crew quarters when not at war.
Number 15: Get lots of science all the time no matter your play style
Number 16: The bigger ship usually wins. You can google meta ship designs, but a huge fleet of nothing but battleships is hard to beat.
Number 17: Make sure you have a mixture of weapons on your ships. Half railguns, half lasers, is the most basic combo out there and is really strong.
Number 18: The endgame crisis is not to be taken lightly. It is a crisis of great magnitude.
Number 19: Do not have touching borders with a militant isolationist fallen empire, or any fallen empire really...
Number 20: Marauder clans can turn into Khanates that will be very tough to beat. Be ready for that.
Number 21: A 'skull' icon on a ship means its worth about 20-30k fleet power. If you don't feel confident you can beat it, inspect it and see what armor/weapons it uses. Then you can build a ship to counter it.
Number 22: building a ton of districts/buildings 'in advance' can really screw up your planet (building a single district early on a ringworld will usually do this), remember to disable them until they're needed if you do so.
(accuracy varies depending on what's built, open job slots, etc)
Number 23: go to ship designer at the start of the game, click your corvette design, uncheck autocomplete designs
I'll add more as I learn :D
Leave your own tips for me to add in the comments. I'll add almost any posted.
Source: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2062735543
More Stellaris guilds
- All Guilds
- Newbie Tutorial for War (VIdeo)
- Stellaris Guide 853
- How to make toast
- Stellaris
- Stellaris Guide 840
- Stellaris Guide 831
- [META]
- Stellaris Guide 820
- Stellaris: Space Warfare Explained