Stellaris player survives galactic plague by hiding behind impenetrable borders

Over the weekend, Stellaris player VocationalWoe shared an impressive playthrough where their isolationist hive mind empire, despised by the entire galaxy, became the sole survivor during a Prethoryn invasion. While other civilizations perished one after another, they fortified their borders and watched the apocalypse unfold from the sidelines.

Analyzing VocationalWoe's 1000-star run reveals a classic turtle meta that has evolved significantly since the latest console version updates. Back when I actively played Stellaris before version 4.0, I tested similar chokepoint strategies, and this particular setup is a masterclass in endgame management.

The published screenshot shows a cartwheel galaxy with 1000 stars, where white indicates systems captured by the Prethoryn Scourge – nearly the entire map is engulfed by this plague, except for a small enclave of the player's empire in one of the galaxy's arms.

From a tactical standpoint, the synergy between 250k citadels and gateways is the gold standard for wide empires. VocationalWoe explained the strategy: border systems have only one passage between the outside world and the empire. These systems house citadels with 220-250k fleet power, plus gateways for instant fleet teleportation. When a Scourge fleet reaches one of the border systems, all fleets with roughly 200k power each concentrate to eliminate the threat, then return to orbit around the gateways.

Although VocationalWoe plays on a cartwheel galaxy, this strategy works on any map type where you can create a single hyperlane entrance – a classic bottleneck. An important note is that on the console version (yes, people do play Stellaris on consoles), performance issues make stationary defense more viable than mobile fleet pursuit.

"This makes my empire impenetrable while the galaxy burns," the player stated. They noted activating all crises simultaneously, with the Prethoryn being just the first. However, if you've played Stellaris, you know subsequent crises won't spawn until the current one is destroyed. VocationalWoe confirmed they're already cleaning up the galaxy, but it proved more challenging – they must purge 76 infested worlds one by one using a colossus.

Even at the current stage, more powerful defenses will be required. Depending on difficulty level, up to 20 fleets with 200-250k power each may be needed for all three crises, plus mega-shipyards to produce dozens of battleships to replace losses. Border planets can also be converted into fortress worlds with orbital rings adding 30-50k to defense.

It's worth noting that the Stellaris community (including Russian-speaking players) often discusses hive mind isolationist ethics, but this run proves that ignoring the galaxy sometimes remains the only way to avoid FPS drops during the cleanup of dozens of planets.

A long process of galactic liberation lies ahead.