Summary
- Stellaris veterans can explore new challenges to reignite their passion for the game.
- Challenges like limited habitable worlds and restricted technology advances provide unique gameplay experiences.
- Race against advanced AI empires or face hostile genociding empires to test strategic skills.
Veteran players of Stellaris who have poured thousands of hours into the game may itch for something different in some of their later playthroughs due to either routine wins or abandoned saves thanks to some limitations, such as the game becoming unbearably heavy to load or a simple interest lost in the save. To reignite their passion for the game, some interesting challenges are on the table.
Stellaris: 21 Best Origins
In Stellaris, an Origin determines the background of a species and empire, but which ones are the best in the game?
These challenges range from inconveniences that necessitate a specific style of play, such as building tall, or even requiring them to play efficiently in order to prepare for the early apocalyptic scenario that the game might have.
7 Paradise Lost
Limited Habitable World To Expand
- 0.25x Habitable World
- No Guaranteed Habitable Worlds
Habitable Worlds are the spine of every successful stellar empire as they try to expand their territory and increase their resource acquisition by having colonies spread throughout the star system. This set of options will challenge players to try to improvise around a harsh galaxy that offers little to no habitable worlds.
Stellaris: 7 Best Unique Systems To Colonize
Among the many unique systems in Stellaris, these offer the best resources and most interesting gameplay opportunities.
With 0.25x Habitable Worlds, and no guaranteed worlds near their territory, an empire can be stuck with only one planet as they explore the galaxy. Although this limitation can be circumvented via Habitats and the Megastructure Ring World, there is no guarantee that an empire can last long enough to build those galactic-sized buildings.
6 With Stick And Stones
Explore The Vast Galaxy With Limited Technology Advances
- 5x Technology And Tradition Cost
Although the starting player's empire will be guaranteed to already have researched a faster-than-light travel option (with an exception should they choose a tricky origin that will disable such an option), this game's start modifier will prevent them from advancing both their technology and the useful Tradition tree further within the first five years as they will struggle with the increased Technology and Tradition costs.
Stellaris: 10 Best Rare Technologies To Rush, Ranked
Players should try to rush the following technologies in Stellaris as quickly as possible.
There are some ways to gain an advantage in this galaxy, such as prioritizing surveys and explorations as they could have a chance to instantly acquire a random technology, but it will also require the player to sacrifice an important aspect of their empire, such as either the economy or their military power.
5 The Answer To The Fermi Paradox
A Few Little Fish In The Galactic Pond
- Start With 2-3 AI Empires With No Fallen Empires And Marauders Enabled
- Pre-FTL Civilizations and Pre-Sapient Species: Off
- Caravaneers: Off
- Galaxy Size: Huge (1000 Stars)
- Difficulty: Grand Admiral
The Fermi Paradox begs the question: Why are there no other visible space-faring civilizations if the galaxy is as vast as it appears? With this game's modifier, it will answer that there are indeed some other space-faring empires, but only a select few, making the galaxy look vast and lonely.
Moreover, the disabled Pre-FTL Civilizations and Pre-Sapient Species will make the galaxy extremely barren as well. Although it can look easy at first glance, interaction with other empires is crucial in Stellaris, and a lack of neighbors can severely hinder an empire's progress throughout the galaxy.
4 Surviving The Great Filter
Bring A Disadvantaged Species To Glory
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Start a game using a species with these traits:
- Nonadaptive: -10% Habitability
- Slow Breeders: -10% Pop Growth Speed
- Venerable: +80 Years Leader Lifespan
- Resilient: +50% Defense Army Damage
- Communal: -10% Pop Housing Usage
Having a strong species with a combination of the best available traits is one of the most important things to look for when starting an empire in Stellaris. Players who like to challenge themselves can try these sets of traits to test their knowledge of the game and help the species to, at the very least, survival in the harsh galaxy.
Stellaris: 7 Best Trait Combos For Biological Empires
In Stellaris, fans who prefer leading Biological Empires to glory should find these trait combinations highly useful.
These sets of traits are quite a hindrance for the player as they will not be able to advance their empire as quickly as they want to. Nonadaptive and Slow Breeders almost guarantee the species to be limited in its choices of settling on other planets, while the positive traits are almost good for nothing, except for Venerable, which might save some unity in the long run for the player.
3 Behind On Kardashev Scale
Race Against Others That Started First
- All Other AI Empires Have An Advanced Start
- Difficulty: Grand Admiral, With No AI Scaling
Although entering a Space Age should be a momentous achievement for a space-faring empire, imagine when they find out that they are well behind in all aspects when compared to their neighbors. This set of options brings a new challenge as the player tries to expand their small borders while other systems might already be occupied by their neighbors.
In turn, this will narrow down the player's choices of systems, potentially missing out on certain anomalies and archaeological sites with numerous benefits. Moreover, there will also be a chance for them to have a hostile empire as a neighbor, making the start trickier than ever.
2 The Dark Forest
It Is Indeed Wiser To Stay Hidden
- All Other Empires Are Fanatical Purifiers, Determined Exterminators, And Devouring Swarm
- All Other AI Empires Have An Advanced Start
- AI Aggressiveness: High
If the galaxy is not harsh and unforgiving enough, then the addition of hostile empires all around the empire's borders should do the trick. By having customized empires with exclusively Fanatic Purifier, Determined Exterminators, and Devouring Swarm civics spawn in the galaxy, the player is guaranteed to be surrounded by hostile, genociding AI empires on all sides.
Stellaris: 7 Things To Do Against Fanatic Purifiers
Fanatic Purifiers can be fearsome opponents in Stellaris. Here's how to beat them.
However, tactical and veteran players can also use this to their advantage by simply turtling and building massive defensive borders around their capital system. They can try to wait until the hostile empires declare war against each other, and strike when all of their hostile fleets are already weakened by decades of war.
1 A Century Of Strife
Try To Beat The Odds As Doomsday Approaches Swiftly
- Mid-game Crisis starts at 2225
- Late-game Crisis starts at 2250
- Crisis Type: All
If a Crisis is not already hard enough to manage at around the 2300-2400 year mark, try having the crisis happening a century sooner, with the option of having all the Crises happening subsequently after each one has been eradicated. This option will bring the maximum possible challenge, as the player will be forced to both work together with other empires and have an extremely optimized early game to survive the upcoming onslaught around a century after the game starts.
Moreover, they will also potentially be overwhelmed first by the threat of the mid-game Crisis starting at around 2225, making it trickier for the player to prepare for the eventual endgame Crisis.
Stellaris
- Released
- May 9, 2016
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- Paradox Development Studio
- Platform(s)
- PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
- Genre(s)
- 4X, Grand Strategy
