Intended first game, early game strategy?

[Korashy]

Step 1: Find Xenos
Step 2: Start Purging Xenos
Repeat until all systems are surveyed.

For real though, I think a big part will depend on the roll of the dice. What tech cards you get, whether to delay teching to do research project or situation log things instead, how close you are to other species (making sure you don't get boxed in), what FTL type you have, etc. Besides the basic find planet -> colonize planet, find resource -> mine resource, there isn't really much else you can strategize for.

 

[Sinister2202]

I'd say the most important things are finding anomalies (doing them is optional since some will be hard to research) and locate other aliens as soon as possible. Learn your surroundings. If you can locate primitive races at a very early point in the game, it could be good too if you are intervening and uplifting type. It feels as though keeping "your" primitive friends close to your borders while uplifting them is highly important, so no one else can snatch them away.

 

[Knotz]

Well, first off I'm gonna keep restarting until I wind up with a starting position or planet I like. Or both. For instance, I like that the Blorg's home planet is the moon of a gas giant. That's pretty dope to me. But I also kinda wanna be located in on of the galactic arms. I wanna expand and exploit my starting system pretty fully before I start colonizing other worlds. Part of wants to wait for an alien civ to contact me but that might not be the best idea since I'm planning to play on the biggest map with lower than default number of empires so I'll probably move out and at least claim space with those outposts. I also want to keep my population relatively low so I can get that shweet shweet research bonus for as long as possible before expanding. I'll also be uplifting all of the primitives, after they have been observed and possibly probed for all interesting data. I dunno yet whether I wanna uplift them or infiltrate them, that might vary depending on how far they are technologically. Not gonna create alliances or form federations, might join if asked.

 

[Voidlord]

My first game will be Humans.
Traits: Slow Breeders, Enduring, Quick Learners and Strong.
Ethos: Fanatic Materialist, Miltarist.
Government: Indirect Democracy
Nation: Imperial Earth Federation
Travel: Warp Drive
Weapon: NUKES
I will them as a expansionistic nation that views all othe Nations as having an inferior Culture so they need the Guidance of a Superior Nation. So rapid expansion with colonies, vassalising nations that are amenable to it then intergrating them in time, those that don't get to meet my navy in battle. Primitives will either be watched or invaded if they are useful in too primitive or Covertly infiltrated if the are advanced enough

 

[kgaa]

I think that my early game will be focused on the science ship stuff. Also it seems like a good idea to claim lots of space for your own race (which means colonizing instead of conquering worlds) because you want to have a large stable core for your future empire. I'm not too keen on the whole alien genocide thing, but I'll probably start with xenophobe ethos anyway, so guess I'll have to look into that. I was planning to begin with wormholes but the more limited early exploration concerns me a bit, so I might go with warp.

Thinking more long-term, I want to roleplay as an isolationist spiritual empire.

 

[Panpiper]

Well, first off I'm gonna keep restarting until I wind up with a starting position or planet I like. Or both.

I tend to do the same, frequently spending as much as an hour restarting till I've got something I like. I expect however with Stellaris, the systems themselves will be pretty similar. I am expecting to probably focus most of my restart intentions on the planet tiles and their configuration.

 

[Ziffallo]

My space mushroom will need BS to thrive. So I will be looking to invade Sol.

 

[Sir-Rogers]

Well, technology becomes more expensive with more planets you have, so there is some downside to just expand all the time and have a bunch of underdeveloped colonies giving very little in return and making your science go bye-bye.

Wait .. what? Was this confirmed by the devs somewhere?

Technology costs increase with each colonized planet ?!

 

[allan79]

Wait .. what? Was this confirmed by the devs somewhere?

Technology costs increase with each colonized planet ?!

No, by size of population.

 

[nhsk]

Well first I will explore, then I will expand, then I will exploit and exterminate.

 

[Oscot]

Well, first off I'm gonna keep restarting until I wind up with a starting position or planet I like. Or both.

I tend to do the same, frequently spending as much as an hour restarting till I've got something I like.

There are people who actually do this?!
I feel like a man stumbling upon a creature he thought was a campfire ghost-n-ghoul story.

 

[Knotz]

There are people who actually do this?!
I feel like a man stumbling upon a creature he thought was a campfire ghost-n-ghoul story.

My time to spend, no? Some spend theirs restarting games, others use theirs to be condescending to strangers on the internet. ~shrug~

 

[Sir-Rogers]

No, by size of population.

Where was this stated? Do we know how much it increases per pop?

 

[Voidlord]

Where was this stated? Do we know how much it increases per pop?

Dev diary on research I believe

 

[Jorgen_CAB]

Where was this stated? Do we know how much it increases per pop?

2% per pop above 10 pop is the numbers stated several times on the forums.

 

[Latheloi]

Going to be sending out starting corvettes to investigate neighbouring systems.
Build second science ship, build construction ship.
Mix exploiting all resources in system with building more corvettes.
Aim for surplus in both energy and minerals.
Build a third science ship once I have enough influence for another scientist. Focus science ships on survey duties.
Build a colony ship once tech is researched on the basis that I will have found a suitable second planet by the time it is built.
Build a second construction ship to get ready to secure valuable planets with outposts; keep one construction ship free of orders/balance their building so one is always close to finishing when the other is just starting, in order to rush an outpost in the vicinity before first contact is made with other empires.
Try and secure broad boarders, giving preference to a smaller/slightly less habitable planet which will spread me further for colonising, and protecting really suitable and big planets with frontier outposts.

In other words, try and juggle a lot of theorycrafted stuff based on limited information, in order to try and get an "optimal" start. Will probably being playing pacifist, so aiming at trying to get a big chunk of space without having to fight for it. Mayhaps I will play a warmongering scourge first, so I can screw things up and then just smash face to take more territory.

 

[Chaos_TLW]

Where was this stated? Do we know how much it increases per pop?

The math was worked out on the wiki and it appears to be an increase of 2% in cost for every pop above 10.

EDIT: ninja'd by the swedish

 

[Sir-Rogers]

2% per pop above 10 pop is the numbers stated several times on the forums.

Thank you Jorgen, wow that is actually quite an increase, given that you will be putting lots of pops on food,minerals and energy for growth and maintenance, this should lead to rather quickly increasing science costs.

 

[Blummenfaust]

I wonder if zerg rushing another race before they can expand to much is viable for military slavers. You would have to rush first contact and military ships but the payoff is a planet further ahead in development than any colony you might have made in the same time.

 

[Latheloi]

I wonder if zerg rushing another race before they can expand to much is viable for military slavers. You would have to rush first contact and military ships but the payoff is a planet further ahead in development than any colony you might have made in the same time.

Probably not, given how strong the starting spaceports are in relation to starting fleets. It took the Blorg a fair amount of time until they were ready to smash the lizard friends, and that was with them really focusing on building fleet up to do it. (and it was easier than expected because of a building bug or something)