Stellaris For Beginners - Laying the Foundation for a Successful Game

Last time we looked at the basics of Stellaris, today we'll be looking at building the foundations of a strong empire. Come join me on a journey of Discovery, Warfare, First Contact with Aliens, a dash of Piracy, and a whole lot of quality of life.
ASpec's videos are based around the popular Grand Strategy Game; Stellaris as well as other fun science fiction properties. Delve into a galaxy that is both dark and full of secrets. This channel has tons of guide, overviews, musing and other content for you to enjoy in the semi-classic game review format. So stick around, grab a drink. Some of this content was heavily inspired by the likes of TheSpiffingBrit, RimmyDownUnder and GrayPlays. Other content is similar to that what you would find on let's play channels like The Yogscast.
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[@havacomment]

The best part about any major Stellaris update is a new beginners' series from Aspec!

[@LtShadowKitsune]

Piracy can't pop up in systems with starbases and given that your admiral gets exp for actually suppressing piracy. It would have made more sense to have your fleet patrol just patrol the Beynus and Bernard's Star systems.

[@Nick-jf7ku]

7+ years playing and i still learn stuff about the basics lol

[@RoyvanLierop]

Things that got me in my first play-throughs: You need armies to land to win a war, New sectors don't appear automatically and you need specific tech to rebuild megastructures.

[@cixelsyd40]

I tend to patrol less now once I found out you can build weapons on the starbases without having to turn them into starports.

[@Nostromo2144]

Still beginner...still here! ;)

[@wedgeantilles8575]

I played quite a lot of Stellaris games in the last years. But my last game was the first one I discovered the piracy on the traderoutes and how you could patrol. Until then I always thought of pirates as the event "a pirate fleet emerges somewhere and needs to be destroyed" And thank you for reminding the "check each new planet if there is a slum to get a free pop" - I tend to forget that and only realize a lot later when I start to run out of place and I start to remove blockers that I forgot the slum and vasted decades with one less pop than necessary. Since I only play on difficulty 5 or 6 that doesn't matter, but those kind of rookie mistakes "destroy" your game quite heavily. Great that you pointed those two things out that (IMO) are so easily forgotten. "Which technology should I take, which tradition to pick first" most players will know, there are a lot of Tier-lists out there. But pirates that steal your trade? Not so much. Oh, and I never realized you could automate the construction ships, I always did this manually. That will save a lot of effort, thanks for the info :)

[@devdog420]

Really appreciate this - always nice to see tutorial content for paradox games, especially one that’s been overhauled like 4 times 😂.

[@paulrhyan1979]

I just purchased the game [on sale] about a week ago. The game is very overwhelming and I almost put it down since 'free time' isn't something that I have an abundance of. Your videos are shortening my learning curve which is keeping my interest in the game alive. Thanks for all your work.

[@benpeters9851]

I learned by turning on minimal tutorials and doing like 3 playthroughs learning the tabs

[@RasputinReview]

If you find a game's learning curve is the barrier to starting, then 100% use tutorials, forums, youtube etc to shorten that learning curve. I watch these even after 100's of hours and i learn things i never realized

[@nickwhite571]

Hopefully you’ll keep this mini-series going. This has been really useful as a brand new player

[@qpqp2339]

picked up this game again, played a bit in 2019. there's lots i've forgotten and there's lots that's changed, so thank you very much! can't wait for some combat info because I never really learned much about that area

[@donnydont]

Good series! A lot has changed since I mainly played back at release, micro-managing pops and especially buildings per planet.. looking forward to more the next videos!

[@mastwellchirwa4499]

thanks for the video tutorials, always helpful, hoping you continue addressing all issues

[@jimhall583]

I found that managing my influence cost quite challenging in the mid game when playing as a friendly. Every diplomatic agreement costs a little but they add up fast and I have to make few until my growth is slowed down.

[@joakim482]

In the beginning I usually ONLY have a Non-agression agreement with the closest empires, until I manage to have a higher influence income and get a Research Agreement as well.. I don't even care about the other agreements, honestly.

[@aza7866]

I'd personally build a backlog of influence before making agreements. Declaring rivalries to distant empires can get you an easy extra 1.5 influence per month

[@kreol1q1q]

Oh, that was recommended quickly.

[@ScottBot726]

Wish you continued this series! This was very helpful

[@almo4788]

Thanks Aspec, been wanting to get back into Stellaris and this is helping alot.

[@riotintheair]

Oh come on. Take on that holy world! Become a cautionary tale for other empires to learn from!

[@JPEaglesandKatz]

Awesome video... You explain it well and fun to tag along... :) Played Stellaris when it first launched but nto since... So I've basically forgotten everything lol

[@Benblender]

Perfect timing for this, the game was just on sale on steam and I just started playing again and i'm guessing a lot of new players aswell!

[@Viviansen]

Love your tutorials ❤

[@ed2749]

Love ASpec and in particular because it’s like listening to Fozzy Bear giving strategic advice for an adult, complex gaming experience. Seriously, if the Muppets did gaming advice this is the channel. Frank Oz voice double! (PS can you do Yoda perhaps?) ;)

[@juancastellanosdearmas4177]

Greetings from Fiji!! We love your 2 videos for beginners, are you going to produce more? We would love to watch them. Thank you for your work, is helping us a lot!!

[@MikeLeonard]

Just started playing this game. There's... so... much.... Thanks for the vids!

[@mrjeffs0723]

Just got into stellaris love the videos !

[@MarcoOdW]

After a few tutorials. Your explanations are the best . So many mistakes made :P. Thanks a lot for this series. love it.

[@WiglyWorm]

Seeing now my pace has been too agressive stretching for long distance chokes rather than local ones. How does the doubling rate of the influence cost work? Is it doubled per skipped node? Can you do a recap and say "hey i've been talkin about how many months things take" and just walk us through the time compression? This game is in a weird state betwee RTS games which I understand and also Civilization which I understand, but the way it is combined is very unique and adds so much depth. This is the hardest 4 days I've waited for a next video. Looking forward to the next one soon.

[@g3ar75]

Is this series still ongoing? Am still looking for the next part, everything has been so clear so far

[@Alexamenus]

me too, no idea how combat works, guess ill get there when i get there :/

[@JBCreatieve]

very good informative video again 👍👍

[@matttheyak]

Fantastic follow up, many thanks from this novice!

[@SwordAndScabbard]

Just jumped into the game this week and am really looking forward to this series! One of the main questions I'm having early on is how important is it to keep your empire sprawl under 100? Is it generally a bad idea to go much above it or do the benefits of expansion outweigh the penalties?

[@MisterFoxton]

I've found it beneficial to go above 100 because the extra resources counteract the malus, but it gets pretty high at around 200-250.

[@joak-web]

Waiting for the next video!

[@Chappy520]

Found the next video i needed ! :)

[@erwinzyx]

Putting a single Hangar Bay on every starbase will essentially remove the threat of piracy, allowing your fleet to perform more important tasks.

[@wedgeantilles8575]

I'd like a video about spying operations / possibilities. Until now I have ignored the spying nearly completly - it just felt like it was too much effort to get into it for way too little benefit. I missed some mechanical stuff like automated construction ships and had had enough to do already, that's why I was always too lazy to explore the quite new spy stuff. So if you will put out a video about this feature, you'll at least have 1 upvote for it :D

[@orwaa9435]

New player - great stuff. Would you be able to provide links for more in depth reading/learning about some of the items discussed? Lots of stuff on the web - but not sure if it's relevant with all the upgrades and such. Using vanilla only.

[@mikelewis8474]

New player here. Started a few weeks ago. I was wondering when you recommend hiring Governors. I feel like I'm wasting leader spots on a lot of my starts. Thanks again. Looking forward to the next video.

[@Kompressor594]

Thank you!

[@adm1ralq]

25:12 That admiral definitely has a badass name

[@levyroth]

I want moreee videos please

[@sinistermephisto65]

Is it possible to get a summary at the end or a topic list at the beginning so I can prime my mind for understanding?

[@Shirolicious]

I like your video selection, unfortunately your still pretty early in your series so there is not alot to watch yet. But I will keep an eye on future videos. I am interested in buying and playing and I am looking at your game to see if its interesting or not.

[@Gerishnakov]

I appreciated the Lower Decks reference. Edit: Just noticed you say that districts will take 2 years to build when they actually take 240 days, or about 8 months. This means you are building things earlier than you need to.

[@qsp69]

Thanks!

[@A_Spec]

No problem!

[@TheSupremoLoser]

I've been playing stellaris for years and i still watch these because it's hard to keep up, is there any chance you can do one with all DLCs active?

[@scintilion]

There are a few features in Stellaris that seem glossed over, like the impact of treaties on Influence. I just picked up Overlord and Paragons looking forward to building Rings. But I didn't understand until later that Rings include Worlds and Orbitals. And after searching for info on Starbases, there seems to be much confusion over whether Orbital Rings count against the maximum Starbase Capacity. This lack of spelling out the details makes learning so much harder.

[@jesuscastillo7318]

Nice

[@totalshocc5547]

Noti gamg!!!

[@AndyMD1982]

Stellaris ist already from 2019, how fast the time runs^^. And still we have new players and new great updates. ;)

[@leihug]

Hey, will this series get a new video? mightily usefull as a new player

[@gallendugall8913]

I usually just panic and hit the ~ to bring up the command console.

[@gallendugall8913]

If you're not cheating can you really claim to have put forth a full effort?

[@Kaador]

I think that is good for new players.

[@imperatorrhino6155]

what mod are you using for the skyboxes in the systems?

[@gogogoff]

I am loving this series, new player and totally not understanding everything. What is governing ethics? And also I keep getting a pop-up saying I am in violation of galactic law banning slavery, but I set slavery to off.

[@jedipotater1388]

Do you plan on continuing this series?

[@MyNameIsXYlp]

A si mov you did there

[@Jonay1990]

and ideas as to why my hyperlanes aren't showing? the opacity is turned up

[@francescocolombo899]

2.46 talking about that, I always had a question that, unfortunately, I've never had the occasion to verify: if I start as a scion of a fanatic spiritualist fallen empire and I found one of them, can I colonize them or they scold me?

[@A_Spec]

Good question, I have no idea.

[@kvothe2144]

wheres the next video??

[@joofbing]

Are you making more?

[@JBCreatieve]

do you use automatic building on planets ??? ,if you choice energy world ,do they build energy buildings ,or what they build ??? ,maybe you can show in next video if you like.and i hope you show,what gaia worlds doing ,because its still mistery .

[@fede98k54]

Automatic management has been significantly improved, but I still don't trust it. You can test it yourself and see if you're happy with it. Gaia worlds are a special and very rare world type which grants 100% habitability, +10% happiness and +10% output from jobs to all organic pops (Carbon and silicon life, eg. Non robots)

[@tsoshadow]

Isn't a holy world a subjective view? If you haven't had first contact. how would humans know? feels like one of those things a first contact would declare war or make demands over as a discovery... I'm glad it was addressed this video... but now I have more questions...

[@littlebuddy9394]

I'd like to see a starting playthrough where all your neighbors are hostile, as that seems to happen to me all the time. Try to be the peaceful science types, or niceish megacorp but everyone just wants a fight.

[@Gerishnakov]

The game weights ethics opposed to yours more highly when generating your neighbour empires. The only way to really combat this behaviour is with a mod.

[@nicholasSewing]

more more more more more more more more more more more more more more

[@defconone1498]

Where is part 3 and the rest of the 3.8 tutorial? It's very confusing to navigate the videos.

[@JaswinderSingh-dm5fj]

can you explain what dose crisis in this game

[@arisandyjayadi2786]

how bout playing commonwealth of man?

[@Snoozerx]

I really don’t get leaders, so I can’t have governors or sector leaders or assist researchers for plans or multiple fleets ? I can fill few and leave all others vacant?? I have 20 planets and no governors and only three or four sector leaders? 90 % of all general admiral, governors and sector leaders are empty, and cannot be filled with a massive penalties that cripple your empire

[@swagadalic]

Please include chapters

[@xCr0nus]

Am I better off starting the game with DLC turned off as a beginner? I bought the package so I do have all the DLC though.

[@magmakojote1663]

I'd say turn them all on. You will probably get overwhelmed with the possibilities in empire creation but once you are in the game that doesn't matter too much. But I heard from people who like to start with no dlcs and add one with each new playthrough they start. I suppose that way you learn more about what each dlc actually offers and how they work.

[@A_Spec]

I'm more in the second camp. There's a few expansions I'd just add right away due to changes they make; Paragons and Utopia. The rest can be slowly added.

[@fictitiousnightmares]

15:27 So confused. You just said we don't want to go over our capacity of 3/3 and WHILE saying that you literally tell it to go build another starbase? Which is it? 17:22 And then, after it is built and we expand, we are STILL somehow at 3/3? I have no clue what just happened.

[@simsalabim7858]

Only upgraded bases count

[@tvorogmoloko7969]

Next episode when?

[@IOD_]

Basically EVE. If EVE confused you to the point of no return, this isn't going to likely be your cup of tea.

[@MrSladej]

Why wouldn’t gene clinics be a good tech to research in the early game?

[@dach829]

It it worth using a 20+ size planet as a mining world even if it only has 6 or so mining districts?

[@A_Spec]

You usually want more than that, but the modifiers here make it interesting and we can't be too picky.

[@fourlamb1]

I like aliens, all hail the xenophiles.

[@EJ_Red]

Time for you to report to the reeducation center

[@tristalia3113]

lets be xenophobic...

[@AoShinden]

It's really in this year

[@jamesbaxter5147]

Let’s find a nasty, slimy, ugly alien to fear

[@RK-ew6wv]

Let's find a nasty, slimy, ugly alien to fear

[@YKhit]

Ok call me stupid but, you sound like bittersteel, am i trippin that they are the same person?

[@kaseycollins1194]

Audio is very low aspec

[@antonycharnock2993]

Ugh! Is it me or is there a mouldy smell in here? PURGE THE HERETICAL XENO SCUM! Sorry...I'm in the middle of a WH40K playthrough. Great video. Would you always build districts first rather than unity buildings? Or can they wait till later in the game?

[@MyAccountNameSucks]

FIRST!!!

[@horsehay]

or were you.

[@suonvirakvichetra844]

I got confused with the new update! Can anyone tell me what is the different between sector governor and planet governor?!🥹

[@SawerMeatFactory]

Game keeps crashing/closing on ps5

[@G45H3R]

buy a PC