This week we have finally released Stellaris: Console Edition for the Xbox! As the first Paradox Development Studio game on consoles, Stellaris: Console Edition offers deep strategy and compelling management gameplay for console players. But while exploring the entire galaxy may seem daunting at first, we’ve got your back with some tips and tricks to help get you started with your very own galactic empire.

Exploring and Surveying

Before you begin bartering goods with your favorite race of bird-like aliens, you have to know what’s out there beyond your own system. Stellaris starts you in a galaxy that is completely unexplored and, as an empire that has just discovered faster than light travel, your first steps into the stars should be one of exploration. You definitely want to look before you leap. There are two forms of exploration in Stellaris that you can choose from to suit your style.

Firstly, you can discover new worlds by, well, going there. Flying your ships to an unknown system will show you the planets within but the intel you can gather will be somewhat limited. In the early game, you can use your military fleets to do the initial flyby to get a sense of what is in the area around you quickly and help figure out where you stand in the galaxy. Using this tactic of sending military ships around your starting system to do a sweep for dangerous aliens helps avoid having your comparatively weaker civilian ships attacked by any unseen nefarious aliens in the area.

The second method is to science it up and survey the system for detailed intel. Assign a Science Ship that’s being occupied by one of your trusty Scientist to run a survey to figure out detailed information about each planetary body, an overview of mineable resources inside the system, and full details about any habitable worlds.

Bonus Tip! Building a second Science Ship from the get go means that you can survey unknown systems faster and have a better chance at unearthing exciting events and anomalies.

Empire Expansion

Now that you’ve scouted out your surroundings, it’s time to build out your empire. What does that take? Additional pylons? No, resources! In order to build mining and research stations for those sweet, sweet resources, they have to be with your empire’s border of influence. You can grow that influence by establishing Frontier Outposts in the space you want to expand into and that will create an additional bubble of your empire’s territory.

Sounds great! But this is Stellaris and there’s always a trade-off. These outposts cost a lot to maintain so you can’t be thwacking them up here and there, you need to employ a little bit of careful thought to get the best coverage with the fewest outposts as you start your early steps into expansion.

So there you go! You have developed a fledgling empire taking its first steps into interstellar travel. Now it’s up to you whether you want to be a authoritarian dictator or a peace-loving xenophile. The possibilities are endless and so is space. If you have any questions along your travels, we welcome you to reach out to our Stellaris community who have been playing amongst the stars for a while and are excited to have some new adventurers along. But don’t get discouraged if at first you don’t succeed, Stellaris is meant to be played multiple times and it’ll be different every time!

You can check out more tips and tricks on Quill18’s tutorial here

Find out more about Stellaris here: console.stellaris.com

See the rest of the story on Xbox Wire

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Source: Xbox Blog