Stellaris – Wide Build Tips

Useful Tips on How to Play Wide

The consequences of playing wide in general are the following:

1. Extra planetary management micro.
2. Empire size malus to tech/traditions.
3. More ground for fleets to cover for defensive combat.

For #1, an easy way to practice is by naming colonies based off of their primary function (e.g, Colony #1 is named Tech 1, Colony #2 is Generator 1, Colony #3 is Tech 2, etc).

For #2, grabbing APs like Imperial Perogative or tradition perks like Empire Size reduction from systems/planets can be very helpful (though keep in mind even at base as long as 1-in-5 planets are tech based, and you keep at least one Culture Worker building per planet, you’ll always get more tech than if you didn’t expand due to empire size concerns)

For #3, just make Hyper Relays, they are cheap and genuinely very useful for mid-game territory control.

Also, if you run out of room to expand, Make Habitats. Yes, the orbital system is really annoying.

But it’s very very useful even if just for FTL inhibitors at choke points or basic research building spam

I’m not gonna give any specific build recommends because at the heart of the game, all empires (except Virtual) play wide in some sense or another.