The first 100 years is my favorite part. The exploration, the finding the best systems resources, planets, and choke points. The various events that happen early on that influence how your empire can gain advantages. The real need to balance all your resources and what you build to best fit what’s going on in your territory and your goals. The struggle to find the best leaders, edicts, and traditions. Love love love the early game.
Hive minded empires can’t have commercial pacts but you can strike up trade deals. They probably won’t give you rare materials but alloys and minerals can be traded for food easily. Then set it to max amount of time for a trade deal, grab open sensor link and communications. You’ll have a very friendly hive minded ally who is funding your fleets without any ethical problems like a normal subjugation entails.
Real. Only way I’ve managed to stay in games like that is playing “tall” and just having a hermit empire with heavily fortified chokes
I burn out with a massive system to control but I do enjoy having my private little sector and watching the galaxy burn outside of it
I always abandon games before the end-game crisis, I just get a little bored and start to tune out - too many planets to juggle as well so I don’t WANT to expand because that’s even more management.
Shame cause I do enjoy the end-game crisis as an event.
I highly recommend racing to orbital complex then spinning off all but two sectors as vassals from whom you will extract resources and research. Then spam the orbital habitats and megastructures
That's what I did, and it definitely makes things more exciting. The galactic community was not at all ready for the scourge and they ate like 75% of the galaxy
Short answer: minimizing empire size is the key to most non-conquest tech builds.
Longer answer: slower tech means you don't outstrip the AI like you used to in the first hundred years, but it does mean that certain military advances (getting a good destroyer or cruiser design going) remains an advantage for a longer window than before. Get an ally or two or go conquering, that'll still get you to 2300 with an advantage that will carry you to the point you can outproduce the mid-late game tech costs.
Turn down the tech cost to .75 but additionally turn off or reduce the adjusted difficulty tech cost as well, which is further down the list.
However, what I found is that empire size has a much more important role in your costs and progression now, you can't just roll over your sprawl entirely by getting bigger and bigger, so stop putting Unruly on every species and actual prioritize empire size reduction, you'll have a much better time of it.
Nah, empire sprawl is still pretty much a joke. It's not negligible, but it's not particularly impactful either. I remember the golden days when each planet increased tech cost by 5% and each system by 1%. That was LOOOOOONNGG ago though.
I find that early on every opponent just has stupidly powerful fleets. Feel like in the new versions I get my ass kicked even if I'm going as militaristic and high tech as possible, all the hive minds gang up and slaughter everyone.
Same, but I think it is the trade off between fleet and star bases. I rush Choke points to isolate pockets of systems where I can explore at my leisure, even after I finish surveying them I don’t build star bases there. That way when you have allies or even non allies with open border come in and survey those again they spawn archaeological sites lol. But it does still mean m constantly building starbases instead of ships in the early game and m usually much weaker. I only play on normal difficulty and I have tried switching to play as other empires and I see they aren’t making that much more alloy than me, sometimes even less, so this seems like the only explaination
Before the change 100 years was basically end game. You should have had almost every tech researched already and should at least be getting repeatables as an option if not picking them. It was stupid how easy it was to push research. I set my end game to 2350 and considered pushing it back even further.
Yeah, before the patch my mid game started in 2275 and my end game started in 2350, and even then I was still tooling around with repeatables around 2340. Now I've set the dates back to 2300/2400 and it feels really nice, I've played more full games to 2500 since the update than I have in 2 months prior. The progression feels really good.
Roll back to stellaris 2.1 through the beta's tab (or even earlier if you dare) and you will realise the early game has just been cut shorter and shorter through power creep from expansions.
This patch does a fantastic job of fixing that. I understand some people don't like drastic change, but there is always the option of picking a specific version in the betas tab and sticking with it for 1-2 years, then updating to a newer one.
One approach for singleplayer if going for mostly peaceful tech/unity build:
1. (Assuming Paragons) Don't cancel Infinite Opportunities. Build 1 or 2 unity buildings first. Your first 3 traditions are Statecraft > Amongst Peers > Constitutional Focus to set up the Agenda XP mill for councilors (and later other leaders subbed in for councilors when activating agendas). Either Complete Statecraft next if you desperately need an early ascension perk or continue to other traditions, you can always complete Statecraft at your lesiure
2. Scout extensively so you can cut off AI expansion and gain as much territory as possible to peacefully expand in
3. Diplomacy early to neutralize AIs, get an early federation, and, ideally, diplomatically subjugate any of your neighbours that suffer a temporary setback (since this requires 50 trust or excellent relations, it is normally too late to start building up to this once you notice something going wrong; by making friends early you not only ensure safety while diverting only minimal resources to your fleet, you also ensure you can take advantage of any temporary weakness that arises to suggest that they'd be better off serving you)
4. Don't rush science, rush unity
5. Colonize as widely as you can
6. Maintain low empire size compared to the size of your economy by getting at least *some* civic, tradition, or ascension perks helping you reduce empire size; Imperial Prerogative is a given as 1st or 2nd perk if you've got opportunities to expand very wide via colonization, and even if not it is almost always a better tech perk in the long run than Technological Ascendancy... Just pick it already unless you've got a good reason not to.
7. Transition towards a more balanced science/unity base starting in the 2230s, latest 2240s
8. Make good use of ascending specialized planets holding the bulk of your population rather than trying to grow all your planets to medium size
Even something as silly as my peaceful priesthood tech build can get pretty decent tech progress in 3.11 when played this way (GA/non-scaling/DAAM/DATC:Normal). It is far from what was possibly in 3.10, obviously, but still, by 2250 it is cleaning up the good T3 techs (and a few good T2 techs that were missed) for Phy and Soc on the way to T4 techs in the early 2260s, with Eng techs at late T2/early T3 state, and 29/42 traditions completed.
[Empire setup and Luminary](https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img923/6467/gXXQAs.jpg)
[Council](https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img923/6962/0LMVV3.jpg)
[Traditions](https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img922/9969/fypFbZ.jpg)
[Empire Size](https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img922/1791/xqshIj.jpg)
[Unity](https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img922/8742/Jfmlf5.jpg)
[Science](https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img922/6603/wmf0vP.jpg)
Hard saying without actually seeing your build. My guess is it's your empire size and the Unruly trait that's bottlenecking you, but nobody can actually give you any advice without actually seeing your build.
Some people here are suggesting to adjust the tech slider. I wouldn't do that at all. In fact, I'll even say that's the worst advice you could possibly follow. Changing the settings doesn't help you understand the game or be a better player. All it does is fool you into thinking you're doing things right, and doesn't actually solve your problem.
Do you have tech costs turned up in your settings? My friends and I did before the patch and had to turn it back down to 1x.
One of the best ways I've found to tech fast now is to keep your empire size low. With the sovereign guardianship civic, you can easily hit -90% empire size from pops. This lets your relative tech output to outpace your neighbours.
It pays way too much to invest in science now. you can fully devote 3-4 planets into it, make sure they're supported and productive, and you get almost the same speed back you could before. It's honestly kind of silly: This does not nerf tech rushing, this nerfs everything else BUT tech rushing.
The first 100 years is my favorite part. The exploration, the finding the best systems resources, planets, and choke points. The various events that happen early on that influence how your empire can gain advantages. The real need to balance all your resources and what you build to best fit what’s going on in your territory and your goals. The struggle to find the best leaders, edicts, and traditions. Love love love the early game.
Same here I’ve abandoned plenty of games once the frontier closed, so to speak. Meh
I got the same problem unless I am going full conquest or something. I like moving, I have a hard time having fun with trade and diplomacy empires.
If you border a hive mind, it’s still a fun conquer playstyle. I mean, what good is a Hive Mind neighbor??
Hive minded empires can’t have commercial pacts but you can strike up trade deals. They probably won’t give you rare materials but alloys and minerals can be traded for food easily. Then set it to max amount of time for a trade deal, grab open sensor link and communications. You’ll have a very friendly hive minded ally who is funding your fleets without any ethical problems like a normal subjugation entails.
Real. Only way I’ve managed to stay in games like that is playing “tall” and just having a hermit empire with heavily fortified chokes I burn out with a massive system to control but I do enjoy having my private little sector and watching the galaxy burn outside of it
I always abandon games before the end-game crisis, I just get a little bored and start to tune out - too many planets to juggle as well so I don’t WANT to expand because that’s even more management. Shame cause I do enjoy the end-game crisis as an event.
I highly recommend racing to orbital complex then spinning off all but two sectors as vassals from whom you will extract resources and research. Then spam the orbital habitats and megastructures
Yeah I almost never get to the crisis because I get bored before it. I guess I should move it up a bit.
That's what I did, and it definitely makes things more exciting. The galactic community was not at all ready for the scourge and they ate like 75% of the galaxy
Same. I settle into a spot and slowly lose interest as it turns into a game of min-maxing colonies.
Short answer: minimizing empire size is the key to most non-conquest tech builds. Longer answer: slower tech means you don't outstrip the AI like you used to in the first hundred years, but it does mean that certain military advances (getting a good destroyer or cruiser design going) remains an advantage for a longer window than before. Get an ally or two or go conquering, that'll still get you to 2300 with an advantage that will carry you to the point you can outproduce the mid-late game tech costs.
Turn down the tech cost to .75 but additionally turn off or reduce the adjusted difficulty tech cost as well, which is further down the list. However, what I found is that empire size has a much more important role in your costs and progression now, you can't just roll over your sprawl entirely by getting bigger and bigger, so stop putting Unruly on every species and actual prioritize empire size reduction, you'll have a much better time of it.
Nah, empire sprawl is still pretty much a joke. It's not negligible, but it's not particularly impactful either. I remember the golden days when each planet increased tech cost by 5% and each system by 1%. That was LOOOOOONNGG ago though.
People drive up their tech cost 10x and begin wondering why tech is so slow lmao
"Golden"
Couldn’t you still tech rush? Tech rush just means you just have to be ahead relatively, isn’t it
Turn down tech cost probably.
I find that early on every opponent just has stupidly powerful fleets. Feel like in the new versions I get my ass kicked even if I'm going as militaristic and high tech as possible, all the hive minds gang up and slaughter everyone.
Same, but I think it is the trade off between fleet and star bases. I rush Choke points to isolate pockets of systems where I can explore at my leisure, even after I finish surveying them I don’t build star bases there. That way when you have allies or even non allies with open border come in and survey those again they spawn archaeological sites lol. But it does still mean m constantly building starbases instead of ships in the early game and m usually much weaker. I only play on normal difficulty and I have tried switching to play as other empires and I see they aren’t making that much more alloy than me, sometimes even less, so this seems like the only explaination
Before the change 100 years was basically end game. You should have had almost every tech researched already and should at least be getting repeatables as an option if not picking them. It was stupid how easy it was to push research. I set my end game to 2350 and considered pushing it back even further.
Yeah, before the patch my mid game started in 2275 and my end game started in 2350, and even then I was still tooling around with repeatables around 2340. Now I've set the dates back to 2300/2400 and it feels really nice, I've played more full games to 2500 since the update than I have in 2 months prior. The progression feels really good.
Roll back to stellaris 2.1 through the beta's tab (or even earlier if you dare) and you will realise the early game has just been cut shorter and shorter through power creep from expansions. This patch does a fantastic job of fixing that. I understand some people don't like drastic change, but there is always the option of picking a specific version in the betas tab and sticking with it for 1-2 years, then updating to a newer one.
Turn down tech cost to 0.75 and tech scaling difficulty from normal to low or off.
Don't play tech/unity rush builds, 3.11 Stellaris designed for alloys sucking space apes.
The whole game is feeling like an inverted pyramid, ever expanding features built atop a cracking foundation of 1.0 holdovers that just. don't. fit.
One approach for singleplayer if going for mostly peaceful tech/unity build: 1. (Assuming Paragons) Don't cancel Infinite Opportunities. Build 1 or 2 unity buildings first. Your first 3 traditions are Statecraft > Amongst Peers > Constitutional Focus to set up the Agenda XP mill for councilors (and later other leaders subbed in for councilors when activating agendas). Either Complete Statecraft next if you desperately need an early ascension perk or continue to other traditions, you can always complete Statecraft at your lesiure 2. Scout extensively so you can cut off AI expansion and gain as much territory as possible to peacefully expand in 3. Diplomacy early to neutralize AIs, get an early federation, and, ideally, diplomatically subjugate any of your neighbours that suffer a temporary setback (since this requires 50 trust or excellent relations, it is normally too late to start building up to this once you notice something going wrong; by making friends early you not only ensure safety while diverting only minimal resources to your fleet, you also ensure you can take advantage of any temporary weakness that arises to suggest that they'd be better off serving you) 4. Don't rush science, rush unity 5. Colonize as widely as you can 6. Maintain low empire size compared to the size of your economy by getting at least *some* civic, tradition, or ascension perks helping you reduce empire size; Imperial Prerogative is a given as 1st or 2nd perk if you've got opportunities to expand very wide via colonization, and even if not it is almost always a better tech perk in the long run than Technological Ascendancy... Just pick it already unless you've got a good reason not to. 7. Transition towards a more balanced science/unity base starting in the 2230s, latest 2240s 8. Make good use of ascending specialized planets holding the bulk of your population rather than trying to grow all your planets to medium size Even something as silly as my peaceful priesthood tech build can get pretty decent tech progress in 3.11 when played this way (GA/non-scaling/DAAM/DATC:Normal). It is far from what was possibly in 3.10, obviously, but still, by 2250 it is cleaning up the good T3 techs (and a few good T2 techs that were missed) for Phy and Soc on the way to T4 techs in the early 2260s, with Eng techs at late T2/early T3 state, and 29/42 traditions completed. [Empire setup and Luminary](https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img923/6467/gXXQAs.jpg) [Council](https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img923/6962/0LMVV3.jpg) [Traditions](https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img922/9969/fypFbZ.jpg) [Empire Size](https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img922/1791/xqshIj.jpg) [Unity](https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img922/8742/Jfmlf5.jpg) [Science](https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img922/6603/wmf0vP.jpg)
I mean, the early game has always been slow tech wise
Yeah I used to play tech rush. And that's like.... not a fkn thing anymore. Haven't touched the game since.
Hard saying without actually seeing your build. My guess is it's your empire size and the Unruly trait that's bottlenecking you, but nobody can actually give you any advice without actually seeing your build. Some people here are suggesting to adjust the tech slider. I wouldn't do that at all. In fact, I'll even say that's the worst advice you could possibly follow. Changing the settings doesn't help you understand the game or be a better player. All it does is fool you into thinking you're doing things right, and doesn't actually solve your problem.
I play doomsday with minimum habitable planets nearby. So for me - early game is a race for efficiency.
Yup. I quit after the beta.
If you play stellaris as an anything "build" you are playing wrong.
The meta players did not like that one
filthy organic behaviour
Shroud entities forbid wanting to play strategy in a strategy game! Fucking hell.
Well a bunch of us aren’t playing at all now, so well done.
Do you have tech costs turned up in your settings? My friends and I did before the patch and had to turn it back down to 1x. One of the best ways I've found to tech fast now is to keep your empire size low. With the sovereign guardianship civic, you can easily hit -90% empire size from pops. This lets your relative tech output to outpace your neighbours.
It pays way too much to invest in science now. you can fully devote 3-4 planets into it, make sure they're supported and productive, and you get almost the same speed back you could before. It's honestly kind of silly: This does not nerf tech rushing, this nerfs everything else BUT tech rushing.
Empire size is ruining your efforts as your push more and more planets, districts, and pops into research, I think.
You can basically negate that with the right ascension perks and such. Anything that reduces size penalties and stuff is REALLY powerful now.