General information about science in Stellaris Stellaris guide, tips
Last update: 14 March 2019
Unlocking new technologies in Stellaris is a basis of growth and success in any field. It is important to constantly research new technologies and monitor their progress.
Research in Stellaris is divided into two tasks:
1. Checking new systems, examining anomalies and completing quests related to situation log.
2. New technology development in following institutes: physics, sociology, engineering.
Each task has similar wage and you must effectively manage each of them. In case of working on new technologies it is easier since you must only select a proper scientist and from time to time give him new tasks. It's different in case of other actions. You must recruit research shits, then recruit scientists to them and give them clear orders related to examining a specific system or object marked by the situation log.
It is worth mentioning that each scientist can have up to five experience levels. For each level he receives a 2% research speed boost.
Exploring galaxy
Exploring new systems
Exploration of new systems is one of the basic actions which you will perform regularly since the beginning of the game. A detailed walkthrough for exploration can be found in first chapters of this guide. Remember that you can check how well you examined a system in the map of the galaxy. From map you can also give orders related to exploring a specific system.
Names of systems which were already explored by you will be marked on the galaxy map with white color. In their case the grade of information about a system is high. If a system was bypassed, you haven't reached it or stopped the research halfway through the information gathering, then the name of the system will be displayed in gray color. You should return there with an expedition in order to fully learn about the potential of a new territory and utilize it in future.
At the beginning of the game the most important thing is to place research and mining stations on planets that are rich in resources. Later in the game you will send expeditions in order to find strategic resources and planet that are suitable to be inhabited.
Additional modifiers related to scientific discoveries, policy and the scientists can impact the speed of exploration of new systems. For these actions you should have three research crews. Select a scientist with a modifier that speeds-up the exploration of new worlds for the first one. For the second one, select a modifier which reduces the chance of failure when examining an anomaly. The final crew should be led by a scientist who can quickly gather experience. Thanks to such set you will quickly explore new areas of galaxy and you won't have trouble with completing missions from situation log.
Examining anomaly
It might happen that a group of scientists encounter an anomaly while exploring new systems. An anomaly can be very profitable. After encountering an anomaly you can immediately start examining it or come back to it later in the game with a different crew or after gaining experience from different fields of science. Each anomaly has a specific risk level which you will know before deciding to start the research. A crew led by someone who has a reduction of chance for failure during research is very useful in that case.
An anomaly "blocks" a specific orb. Until it is examined the object on which it was detected is not considered as fully discovered. Because of that you might have trouble with building a mining station or you might not be able to inhabit the planet. It is a good idea to have a scientist who can examine the anomaly with lower risk.
Examine objects are frequently a source of a one-time resource bonus. Sometimes anomaly can give you partial data about research, reducing the cost and time of a research.
Situation log
Tasks available via the situation log will appear during the whole game, creating the story plot of the game. By using the situation log you can gain detailed information about research like: time needed for completing a research, potential profits, and related science division.
The panel allows marking locations of various task parts. In this situation you will notice a marker on the galaxy map which will look like the one on the above picture. The marker will keep pulsing so you shouldn't miss it. You can use the panel anytime you want to stop following an object and the marker will disappear. If the time assigned to the project ends, the marker and the entry in the log will disappear as well.
Tasks give by the situation log have frequently specific requirements. For example, only a scientist who has at least a specific experience level can start the research. For completing these tasks you usually activate additional sequences and gain rewards - resources or reduction of cost of some technologies.
Scientific discoveries
Development of new technologies is done in three main fields: physics, sociology and engineering. Each field has separate sections which will be described further in the guide. On the above picture the most important aspect of the development panel is marked - the speed of discovering new technologies. It is a parameter that is impacted by the scientist and science condition of the empire.
After moving your mouse on the area shown on the picture you will see an additional field in which all variables that impact the current modifier are shown. Research speed is impacted by:
- Scientist level - from +2% to +10%
- Modifiers provided by buildings - up to +10%
- Modifiers provided by previous discoveries - up to +20%
- Modifiers provided by political system - up to +10%
- Modifiers provided by imperial edicts - up to +30%
Additionally, check scientist's predispositions while recruiting him to a specific section. If the scientist is experienced in a specific field that frequently appears in the research, then you can speed up the research by additional 10%. If you need a scientist and none specializes in the field you are interested in, then hire a scientist who specializes in different field and temporarily don't assign him anywhere.
Remember to recruit by using the empire tab (F2). This will guarantee that after hiring a scientist he won't be automatically assigned to a unit to which you didn't wanted to assign him. Thanks to the meter that shows the limit of empire leaders you can recruit many scientists that are experienced in specific fields and you can assign them to units after the current scientists die. Remember that hired scientists will get old and if you don't assign them to a unit for too long, they can die before a slot for them becomes available.
The second important matter in case of research is the cost. Each research has a base cost which increases as the number of population increases. Each population increases the price by 1.81%. You should make sure to develop the most important technology research before your empire becomes too large. It will not only impact matters related to resources, but research time as well. Each science facility provides you with monthly research money. If you have surplus of the "resource", then research time will scale to the size of the surplus and to the lack of funds. You should have a limited number of planets, especially early in the game when each month can leave your empire far behind the rivals.