What Do You Regard As a Good Start?

[PaulMClem]

I have a habit of being fairly slow out of the blocks i.e in Civ I often fell behind early on in City count, but usually caught up in time to be ahead when it mattered. However, this isn't Civ and it would be useful to know what experienced Stellarists (did I just make that word up ) regard as a solid start to their games.

For example after, say, 10 years, what would you hope for in terms of:

• Area scouted/surveyed
• Colonised planets
• Military Strength i.e. fleet size
• Resource Production
• Diplomacy i.e. Trade/Relationships with other Empires etc

Any info/thoughts would as always be appreciated.

Cheers,

PaulC.

 

[Alblaka]

Usually the only criteria I have are:

• 10+ orbital minerals in the proximity of my home system
• no hostile, advanced AI 'directly' neighbouring

 

[Notho]

I recruit a second explorer right away to reveal as much as possible. I want about 20 or better mineral income, any positive energy is fine, and about 10 or more for each research. You should also have at least 9 corvettes for the pirate spawn if it hasen't happened before year 10. Oh and you should have one colony and be looking for a place for the second.

This is just me, I'm sure others have their own opinions.

 

[FrosT37]

Area scouted/surveyed

As much as possible. Your science ships should never be idle.

Colonised planets

First colony should be before the end of the first decade.

Military Strength i.e. fleet size

Depends of the start. I would say as much as economically sustainable.

Resource Production

Energy profit should be close to zero. Minerals profit should vary between +50 and +100 at the end of the first decade (depends of you starting position).

Diplomacy i.e. Trade/Relationships with other Empires etc

By the end of the first decade, I tend to get good relations with at least two nearby empires and get a defensive pact with one of them. I also tend to rival two nearby empires for the extra influence.

 

[PaulMClem]

Are Pirates seen in the same light as Civ Barbarians i.e. random aggressive's who attack anything which moves?

 

[PaulMClem]

Have to say I'm reassured by the first few replies. Sometimes when you watch YouTube you then look at your own game and wonder why you don't have 5 colonies as quickly. So far in my current game I have 2 colonies with a third planned, after around 10-12 years, so that seems ok.

 

[Emraldis]

Are Pirates seen in the same light as Civ Barbarians i.e. random aggressive's who attack anything which moves?

Kind of? They are way easier to deal with. If you've built up your fleet to ~250 fleet power before they show up, you can immediately destroy their fleet, and then destroy their station. (If you fail to destroy their station they will keep spawning, much like a barbarian camp) Once you destroy their station, they go away forever.

 

[FrosT37]

Have to say I'm reassured by the first few replies. Sometimes when you watch YouTube you then look at your own game and wonder why you don't have 5 colonies as quickly. So far in my current game I have 2 colonies with a third planned, after around 10-12 years, so that seems ok.

From my experience, rushing too many colonies will cripple your economy and make you lag behind in tech.

 

[scaper12123]

A good start for me is having a 19+ size world with several planets within my initial borders and close to the middle of the galactic radii. Even though it's literally at the very start, as long as I have those elements I can be sure I have enough to work with that I can get ahead very quickly.

 

[Scourgeclaw]

Depends on what your race is built for and how under-threat you are from nearby empires that really dictates how good of a position you are in early on. Honestly it's just something you get a feel for over time.

Typically the first thing I construct is a second science vessel
Afterwards, following exploration- your priority orbital constructions should be minerals, followed by a small amount of Society research stations (for the colony ship research node) Don't worry too much about energy this early on, unless you go into a defecit. Minerals and research at this stage are far more important. Sometime in the first 10 years, ordinarily pirate presences start to spawn in. Ordinarily I try to have at least 6 or 7 corvettes up and running beforehand but that doesn't always happen- it usually ends up being around 4 or 5. Either way, pirate vessels at this point (somehow) outclass yours in terms of tech for some logically undefinable reason- so you need superior numbers on your side. Don't worry too much about the pirate base- you can come back and handle that later- just deal with the fleets as they appear and try to minimize losses.

Also: if you're a Wormhole-based society, locate the pirate's system ASAP; once located, destroy the pirate's wormhole generator- effectively quarantining them into that system- and laugh as they are unable to do anything beyond tie down a random system. Return later when you have the military capacity to remove them as a threat.

From that point on, colonize as aggressively as possible, and try to have at least +35mineral income by the time year 20 comes around. Prioritize construction of Starbases around planets closer to borders you deem as hostile, but you really should try to make sure every planet has one as early as possible to avoid loss of worlds to early-wars. Use them as cover if war is unavoidable and try to keep losses as minimal as possible; every mineral you spend re-constructing a lost ship are minerals that could have been better spent upgrading your planets.

As for colonization: personally I try to grab as many worlds as I can to expand but the priority should be to secure as many colonizeable planets as possible- so if you find yourself near other empires, use frontier stations and prioritize colonization efforts that will box-in and limit the expansion of said other empires to allow yourself better room to maneuver in future. Your goal is as much to keep them weak as it is to make yourself strong.

Anyway, that's a rough primer as to how I run things as an aggressive-expansionist. Interpret as you will and good luck out in the black~

 

[Alblaka]

From my experience, rushing too many colonies will cripple your economy and make you lag behind in tech.

Can't agree with that.
Yes, a critical limiting factor is energy upkeep, as the -8 for colony ships is pretty significant. Albeit then again those are -8 for about 14 months, and it's not hard to stockpile 300ish energy by the time you can even build those. If you manage your energy reserves to avoid the dreaded 0 -X (which, yes, is crippling), more colony ships is usually better.
Tech lag is a thing, but in my oppinion barely matters. Having 1 colony more is a very powerful early power spike in terms of naval cap and minerals produced, and you won't find any AI on equal start that can outclass this advantage with tech. Of course Advanced Starts will murder you, but those can murder you just as well in any case.

 

[extrapancake]

I don't expect to be set up by the first 10 years but during that time ill be looking for two nicely located planets to colonize and build spaceports for relatively far from my borders, scouting for where my neighbors are, and building nonstop corvettes without concern about the fleet cap. I try to find and secure two tributaries as soon as possible to pay for my ship upkeep and more importantly keep neighbors away from defense pacts and guarantees for a while, and then by 20 years I usually have my 5 core planets ready to build up and target to work on vassalizing. Dont know if its the ideal strategy but thats my thinking, first deal with your neighbors and then you can have an economic and colonization boom.

 

[post_toastie]

I don't expect to be set up by the first 10 years but during that time ill be looking for two nicely located planets to colonize and build spaceports for relatively far from my borders, scouting for where my neighbors are, and building nonstop corvettes without concern about the fleet cap. I try to find and secure two tributaries as soon as possible to pay for my ship upkeep and more importantly keep neighbors away from defense pacts and guarantees for a while, and then by 20 years I usually have my 5 core planets ready to build up and target to work on vassalizing. Dont know if its the ideal strategy but thats my thinking, first deal with your neighbors and then you can have an economic and colonization boom.

Are you saying you have 5 core planets colonized at 20 years, or you know which 5 you want to colonize? If it is the former, I just realized how pathetic my games are.

 

[PaulMClem]

Are you saying you have 5 core planets colonized at 20 years, or you know which 5 you want to colonize? If it is the former, I just realized how pathetic my games are.

What with building your fleet, upgrading existing colony tiles, an extra Construction ship or two etc etc I think I'd struggle to have enough minerals to build 5 colony ships in amongst everything else. They are also relatively expensive as well as being a drain on energy. To have 5 planets colonised in 20 years is to me impressive progress.

 

[extrapancake]

Are you saying you have 5 core planets colonized at 20 years, or you know which 5 you want to colonize? If it is the former, I just realized how pathetic my games are.

well thats the goal for what I think of as a good start. If you can get two further away planets colonized quickly there are usually two within your starting borders free to take whenever you want so its an easy five. I dont invest into developing them much until later which frees up a surprising amount of resources for ships

Forgot to mention invading primitives is much cheaper than building colony ships and make for great mineral slave planets

 

[Seryss]

From my experience, rushing too many colonies will cripple your economy and make you lag behind in tech.

Lag behind in tech sure, but i don't know about cripple your economy. A colony ship at 345 minerals, and lets say 2 basic mines on + 2 minerals ( 90 minerals for 1 farm 2 mines and the mines produce + 3, and then 6 per month) will become profitable assuming an average of 2 years/pop, and 2 of your first 4 are for food production in
about 8 years (there is some downtime during the initial colonization). An outpost and 2 +3 mines costs 380 minerals, and becomes profitable in about 5.3 years, with each additional + 2 mine adding 3 years to that. In the very short term outposts slightly outperform rushing colonies but after a decade planets just increase in value far more.

Overall, tech just isn't that important in Stellaris. Starport upgrades, border expansion, govt. building upgrades, and mine/power plants (you can even get by without these) are the only things you need* to research. Your goal at the very start should be to out fleet and conquer your neighbors, and that never really changes throughout the course of the game - you do this by expansion, the faster the better.

More planets = bigger fleet = winning.

*Some people will say but what about weapons techs~ after tier 2 mass drivers - salvage them (you might have to do a little research to make up the difference but you don't have to go out of your way), then go and kill a FE before it wakes up, and your weapon tech is as good as it will ever have to be.

 

[PaulMClem]

building nonstop corvettes without concern about the fleet cap

I sort of did this unwittingly. I now have 25 corvettes with a cap of 15.

 

[krios41]

A good start for me is

• have at least 2 planets nearby of 80% habitability and at least 18 tiles.
• Not being boxed in by teh AI after 10 years

 

[Secret Master]

What do I regard as a good start?

:insert lawyer joke here:

 

[Slynx]

i were uploading a screen to show my friend...but then i've noticed this thread.
so i decided why not to share it here too?

Spoiler: pic

probably it was the best start this week.
___
jokes ahead:
1)i search for traders and curators. (in this order of importance)
2)i search for ringworld or any source of living metal (not exactly must have, but can help a lot)
3)i search for enigmatic fortress\infinity sphere\dreadnought\drake\horror (if any, in order of usefulness)
4)and probably in some games i look for specific tech in first few years (usually droids\synthetic ai, terramorph, fast plasma\artilery)

but the only time i had to restart was when i've started on hyperlanes and next to me were FE. cutting me from the other world entirely (and with closed borders). i've decided that 1 colonizeable planet is not enough to enjoy that game.