A lot of food is good while you are still trying to fill a planet with pops. Asgard has a lot of food, is generating a substantial amount of energy credit, and a mediocre amount of minerals. Here we can see my five core worlds in a early game. These worlds matter most, you’ll likely colonize them first, and should be the most beneficial planets you own. The heart of this guide is managing your core worlds. You want nuance and federations? Be a xenophile pacifist. Oh, you could befriend, vassalize and absorb to reach the threshold of owned colonized planets, but the way modifiers are set now, you are much more likely to struggle to get a meaningful alliance, to vassalize neighbors without doing it through conflict, and in general playing nice doesn’t seem to pay off nearly as well as carrying a big stick. Right now, Stellaris is not a game you can win diplomatically, at least not nearly as easily as militarily. Namely conquer everyone and everything and be better prepared to do so. Research and Military strength are good fits to my play style. I have yet to go through a game where sedentary caused me problems, as it deals with migration and resettlement and they are two mechanics I never use. I tend to play fanatic militarist/militarist and materialist. Whatever you choose for ethos and traits will obviously impact your playstyle, but lets run under the assumption that you will adapt this guide to suit your species particular niches. This guide is less about setting up your species than it is about managment of your empire.

Quick guide how to play stellaris