编辑“新手指南”（章节）

== 挑选星系建造哨站 ==
Planets differ mainly by habitability and size and which of these two should be your primary focus depends on the Empire you are planing on playing. Habitability is important if you are going for a high happiness build (as lower habitability gives a happiness penalty) or if you want rapid population growth. Size is important because it determines the maximum number of districts a colony can support. Having a large number of planets (regardless of habitability and sizes) can be useful for gathering minerals and energy credits to fuel fleets.

Other things worth considering:
#'''Planetary features''' - Planets have random features that determine the number of Districts it can support. You should focus on colonizing planets that can support a large number of Districts most needed by your empire in the short term, or long term. Certain planets can also have rare features that are a great boon.
#'''Planetary modifiers''' - There are over 20 planetary modifiers for some planets, visible as big circles on top of planetary surface screen. They impact yields (for example "Mineral rich" increases extracted mineral yields by 25%) or population in positive or negative way. Some of them are fairly minor, but others have a huge impact.
#'''Blockers''' - Almost all uninhabited planets have some Blockers. Blockers are "natural obstacles" randomly generated on tiles and preventing them from being colonized, developed and exploited. They vary from toxic swamps to volcanoes, and each Blocker type has a corresponding technology which can be used to clear it - for a cost in minerals and energy. In the early game, when you have neither proper technology nor resources enabling you to remove Blockers, you should avoid colonizing planets very densely covered in them, as you won't be able to properly develop them for a long time. However, by mid to late game, Blockers become more and more insignificant obstacles and you shouldn't worry about them.
#'''Political location of a planet''' - If you build outposts in systems too close to alien empires, they may be very distressed of you suddenly expanding your imperial borders close to them, and declare you a rival or even declare a war. There is a negative "Border friction" modifier in diplomacy when two empires aggressively expand near each other. You should be very careful about colonizing planets near to Fallen Empires borders, especially if they are Xenophobic - and keep an eye out for Gaia Worlds marked by the Holy Guardians, as well. That said, sometimes proximity is a benefit rather than a drawback: one can easily "hem in" an empire to cut off their expansion.

Later in the game, choosing what planet to colonize isn't that big of a challenge as you will presumably have enough spare resources and technology to cope with any natural obstacles and shortages. However, early game prioritization of good planets is very important. Consider these three potential colony planets:
# A large planet with 3/4 of its features covered by Blockers.
# A planet possessing an irradiated modifier which makes pops grow very slowly and unhappily.
# A modestly sized planet that also has decent resources and tiles mostly free from obstacles.

Under these circumstances, you should consider colonizing number 3. However, the right choice isn't always that obvious. 

For example, option 1 has more room for growth, which is important, as this is going to be your first colony, and thus probably be the largest (aside from your homeworld, of course). Additionally, as long as enough of each district is available to get you through the early game without being hindered, you'll be able to delay clearing the blockers until you can easily afford it.

=== 开采资源 ===
{{main|经济}}
资源在 Stellaris 中分为三类：
*[[经济#基础资源|基础资源]]
*[[经济#战略资源|战略资源]]
*[[经济#本土资源|本土资源]]

Basic resources are global assets shared throughout the empire and can be viewed at the top of the screen at any time. With the exception of research, all resources have an upper limit on how much the empire can have stockpiled of that resource at a time. The amount of resource will be displayed in {{yellow|yellow}} if it is at capacity, and any further gains to that resource are usually forfeit until the level comes down. A resource will be displayed in {{red|red}} if there is a deficit. There are numerous resources in the game, below are the more common:
*{{iconify|Energy credits}} are the currency of choice in the galaxy and are used to recruit [[Leader]]s, operate buildings, maintain ships, establish colonies, clear out tile blockers, negotiate deals and more. Energy production can be increased by constructing [[District#Generator_District|Generator Districts]] on planets and setting up [[Construction#Mining_Stations|mining stations]] in space.
*{{iconify|Minerals}} are used primarily to build things - [[Armies]], [[Buildings]], Districts, mining and research stations, and a lot of other things that the empire needs to grow and prosper are paid for in minerals. The empire can also use them as bargaining chips in trade deals and to maintain [[Consumer_goods|standards of living]] for its pops. Minerals can be obtained by building [[District#Mining_District|Mining Districts]] and Mining stations.
*{{iconify|Food}} is used to feed [[population]]s and maintain population growth across the empire. Food surpluses can be used to accelerate population growth, while an exhausted food bank will cause shortage and starvation, resulting in extremely harmful effects to the empire's populace overall. Food can be produced in [[District#Agriculture_District|Agriculture Districts]], grown in [[Buildings#Food|hydroponic farms]], and to a limited degree, made on Starbases by installing a Hydroponics Bay building on the starbase. 
*{{iconify|Consumer goods}} is an advanced resource that represents the various gadgets, luxuries, and goods necessary to give your pops a good life and to perform intellectual jobs such as research. Consumer goods are used to maintain the Living Standards of a population, generate Amenities and perform complex jobs like Research. Only non-{{iconify|Gestalt consciousness|21px}} (except {{iconify|Rogue Servitor|21px}}) empires have access to consumer goods. Consumer goods are made by Industrial Districts, which can have their consumer goods output boosted by building [[Buildings#Consumer_goods|Consumer Goods Buildings]], and Ecumenopolis planets have more specialised Industrial Arcology districts allowing for producing massive amounts of them.
*{{iconify|Alloys}} are advanced resources with a military application, which an empire needs to construct Ships and Starbases. Alloys are used for constructing Starbases, Spacefaring Ships, Robot pops, and various Megastructures, and is constantly drained as an upkeep cost of ships and certain jobs. Since they are essential for an empire to survive and expand in space, keep a large stockpile and steady production is strongly advised. Alloys are manufactured by Industrial Districts, which can have their Alloys output boosted by building [[Buildings#Alloys|Alloy Buildings]], and Ecumenopolis planets have more specialised Foundry Arcology districts allowing for producuing massive amounts of them. Alloys can also occasionally be found in deep space in limited quantities and extracted by a Mining Station.
*{{iconify|Influence}} is a currency representing the political power of the central government, and in its most basic sense is used to get the empire's citizens to do things. Building outposts, endorsing political candidates in elections, enacting [[edicts]] and [[decisions]], various diplomatic actions and reforming the empire's [[government]] are all done with influence. Influence gain per month can be increased by declaring rivalries, researching Technologies, acquiring certain Traditions and establishing [[Subject Empire#Protectorate|Protectorates]], among others, while block amounts of influence can be acquired by finishing events, investigating anomalies, achieving particular war goals, and fulfilling mandates of {{iconify|democratic}} leaders.
*{{iconify|Unity}} represents the cultural progress of the empire as a whole, and is spent on acquiring empire [[Traditions]]. Unity is generated at a flat rate with [[Buildings#Colony_Capital|capital buildings]] and [[Buildings#Unity|monuments]], but production can also be scaled with certain ethics, civics, and [[Buildings#Unique|unique buildings]]. When unity reaches capacity, the empire gets to select a tradition to adopt, with the unity requirement going up for each subsequent tradition. With the [[Utopia]] DLC, this eventually leads to the empire acquiring [[Ascension Perks]] that ultimately define its endgame goals and potential ultimate fate (if going down one of the three ascension paths).
*The three branches of [[Technology|research]] - {{iconify|Physics}}, {{iconify|Society}}, and {{iconify|Engineering}} - are each separate resources that are used to research technology for the empire. Raw science output can be increased by constructing [[Buildings#Research|science labs]] and [[Construction#Research_Stations|research stations]], and sometimes blocks of research can be earned as rewards for analyzing anomalies, scanning debris, and completing projects. 
Additionally, there are multiple Advanced Strategic Resources that can be found, mined, or produced in some way or another.  

In addition to these basic resources, there are also various {{iconify|strategic resources}} scattered across the galaxy. After researching the technology to identify and locate these resources, empires may acquire them to receive valuable bonuses. Standard strategic resources, such as {{iconify|Rare crystals}} and {{Iconify|Volatile Motes}}, are needed for operating advanced technology. Local strategic resources, such as {{iconify|Betharian stone}}, are specific only to the planet the resource is on. Typically, this allows the planet to construct a special building utilizing the resource, providing multiple benefits to the planet's output and/or its pops. 

{{iconify|Energy}}, {{iconify|minerals}}, {{iconify|strategic resources}} and all three types of research can be found on uncolonizable celestial bodies and (besides rare {{iconify|strategic resources}}) be produced by pops on colonizable ones. Resources on uncolonizable objects can be harvested through mining stations (for energy credits and minerals) or research stations (for research). Mining stations are required to mine Energy / Minerals. After building and deploying a mining station, the color of the resource value will turn from white to {{green|green}}, indicating that the resource is being extracted.

When it comes to producing resources planet-side, this is accomplished by building an appropriate district or constructing a building. Every District and Building generates Jobs which, once filled by an eligible pop, will produce resources. The amount of districts as well as the number of different district types a planet can support depends on what planetary features and modifiers the planet has. One planet might have planetary modifiers that give it the ability to support a large amount of Generator Districts while another planet might have the potential to become a very lucrative Mining Planet. See the [[Planetary management]] article for more details.

Most of the player's early game decisions will be limited by the number of resources they have and can produce. A player's citizens on your planets are referred to as "Pops" (i.e. Population units) and are most important in determining the output of your planet(s). Players should prioritize growing Pops and expanding in the early game to maximize Pops thus maximizing resources gathered and gained. Additionally, in the early game, players should make smart decisions as to where to expand their borders with Starbases /outposts, in such a way that will add a net positive to their empire. Additionally, players looking to build tall (i.e. fewer colonies with more pops across them) might consider prioritizing research and unity, as the upkeep of leaders and the cost of technologies and traditions begins to scale up once the player's empire has gone above the "Administrative Capacity."

Systems containing {{green|3+}} {{iconify|minerals}} and/or {{iconify|energy}} deposits should be prioritized when it comes to placing mining stations, due to their relative cost compared to base level mining and generator districts on planets. Stations are productive immediately, while jobs need to be filled with Pops, so this is an extra consideration when deciding where to spend precious early game minerals.

Once the basic needs of the empire are met, the next goal for the player is to increase their overall production across all basic resources. Some players will find this task is easily handled by specializing their planets in one or two specific resources each. Since {{iconify|food}} is shared across all the empire's planets, the demand for it is often handled by building agriculture districts or building food-related buildings in an available building slot. {{iconify|Energy}} and {{iconify|minerals}} can be improved in much the same way, building and installing Generator Districts/Mining Districts or installing buildings that give Technician/Miner jobs or improve output in various ways. Various technologies can improve the overall output of any resource so players are encouraged to research these when needed. 

Players should strive to keep their research incomes as balanced as possible across all three fields to ensure no tech research lags behind the others unless the player has a specific goal or playstyle in mind. To achieve this goal, players will construct research labs on planets that will create researcher jobs for pops. Later in the game, the player may decide to specialize in one of the fields to rush appealing technologies for their empire, but for the early and midgame, a balanced load across all fields will keep options open for the late game.

{{iconify|Unity}} generation can be maximized by ensuring the appropriate buildings are on each planet in the empire and that there are plenty of pops working Jobs that generate Unity. This will help counteract the higher costs for leader, research, and traditions incurred for going above the Administrative Capacity. Capital buildings, Unity buildings, and a number of unique planetary modifiers all can create jobs that create unity for the empire. Finally, {{iconify|influence}} is not generated by planets at all, but monthly income can be increased by researching specific techs (usually Society), rivalling other empires, and keeping [[faction]]s happy. Factions form from the pops of their empire and will grant influence based on the faction's approval rating of your government. Approval rating can be improved by satisfying the issues of a faction. Note that mutually exclusive issues among competing factions will force you into siding with one faction over another. Consider your goals and circumstances when setting out to curry the approval and influence of a faction.

=== 消灭敌人 ===
{{main|太空战|舰船设计器}}
Regardless of what the player's ultimate plan is for a game, it is vital that they maintain a capable fleet of combat ships to be able to both attack and defend against foreign aggression. Even in the early stages of the game, the player's empire may find itself under attack from space pirates or hostile aliens; thus having a respectable military presence is of vital importance throughout the campaign.

There are seven types of ships in the game (from smallest to largest): Corvettes, Destroyers, Cruisers, Battleships, Titans, Colossi, and Juggernaut. Each empire starts the game with the blueprints for Corvettes as well as a fleet of three Corvettes, along with a starbase with a Shipyard module for constructing more of them. Researching the appropriate {{iconify|Engineering}} technologies will unlock blueprints for building ever-larger ships; Destroyers, Cruisers, Battleships, and Titans in that order. Colossi, on the other hand, are unlocked via a special Ascension Perk and the associated Special Project. The Ship Designer menu (F9 by default) allows players to custom-build each classification of ships using techs they have unlocked over the course of the game. Each classification of ship takes up 1, 2, 4, 8 and 16 {{iconify|naval capacity}} respectively, as well as the same amount of {{iconify|fleet command limit}}.

Every empire will have a "Naval Capacity." This number is a soft cap and represents the total empire-wide naval size that a player can have without incurring increased upkeep costs on its ships. Naval Capacity can be expanded through research, traditions, or building the appropriate Naval Capacity increasing buildings on a player's starbases and planets. Military Fleets have a "fleet command limit" which represents the size and complexity an admiral is capable of commanding. It is a hard cap on the number of ships able to be organized in one fleet and can be increased through traditions, technologies, and the {{iconify|Distinguished Admiralty}} civic. Large fleet sizes benefit from easier deployments and lower overhead, as fewer admirals are needed to command the navy, but can also lead to reduced flexibility when deploying single, massive armadas to meet multiple threats across distant reaches of the galaxy. Sometimes, several smaller fleets operating well under the maximum command limit may be advantageous. Consider your strategic and tactical needs carefully when organizing your navy.

In addition to military spaceships, the empire can also militarize its starbases by installing the appropriate Buildings and Modules on them as well as building Defense Platforms to defend the starbase from attacks. A fully fortified starbase with a full complement of Defense Platforms can command enough military power to rival even entire fleets; backing it up with a fleet of your own can create an almost unbreakable defense. 

For each ship design, the player must first decide on which [[Ship_designer#Sections|section]](s) to use for the ship's hull. Each section provides a number of weapon slots, used for attacking enemy ships, and utility slots, used for defensive systems and power. These slots typically come in one of four sizes - {{icon|slot s}}mall, {{icon|slot m}}edium, {{icon| slot l}}arge, and e{{icon| slot xl}}tra large - although there are also some special types of slots used for {{icon|slot pd}}oint-defense modules, {{icon|slot h}}angars for drones and other strike craft, {{icon|slot a}}uxiliary systems, {{icon|slot g}}uided weapons like missiles and torpedoes, {{icon|slot t}}itan weapons to put on Titan-sized ships, and {{icon|slot wd}}orld destroyer weapons for Colossi. Each ship contains space for five subsystems - one each for an FTL module, combat computer, thrusters, a reactor, and sensors. Defense Platforms do not have FTL drives or Thrusters.

Each ship runs on Power, supplied to it by the ship's reactor and the reactor boosters in the auxiliary slots. Almost every module that is not armor or a reactor drains the ship's total available Power, which must be at least 0 in order for the design to be usable. In general, components in larger slots deal more damage, have longer ranges, and/or absorb more damage, but also consume more Power, cost more {{iconify|alloys}} to build, and are less accurate. Players will often build ships with small weapons to fight smaller ships (since small weapons are harder to avoid) and large weapons to fight larger ships.

The are three main weapon types in Stellaris and they are specialized in their own ways, with each one having its own set of strengths and weaknesses:

*Energy weapons (lasers, lances, plasma throwers) have the best armor penetration modifiers out of all the weapon types and are very accurate, but have a somewhat limited short range and, with the exception of disruptors, deal reduced damage to shielded targets.
*Kinetic weapons (mass drivers, artillery, autocannons) are excellent at destroying shields and have a good range, but are somewhat inaccurate and deal reduced damage against armor.
*Explosive weapons (missiles, torpedoes, rockets) are 100% accurate and track enemy ships, meaning their damage is unavoidable and they can roll for higher damage than other weapon types, but they must travel to hit their target and can be shot down by strike craft, flak, and point-defense, negating their damage completely if that happens.

There are also four defensive statistics associated with each ship:

*Evasion shows the probability that the ship avoids all damage from a single shot of an enemy weapon.
*Shields act as the first line of defense on the ship. They can absorb a limited amount of damage before they deactivate for recharging.
*Armor acts as the second line of defense on the ship and protects the ship's hull from any incoming damage that made it past the shields. It is usually sturdier than shields but cannot normally be repaired without docking the ship at a level 2 starbase or higher.
*Hull points are the last layer of defense a ship has and signifies the amount of damage dealt to the ship itself. If the hull points reach 0, the ship will be destroyed no matter what. Hull points also cannot be normally repaired without docking the ship at a level 2 starbase or higher.

If the builds of the enemy ships are known, it is fairly simple to construct and adapt ship designs to hard counter them. For example, if the enemy is using ship designs of battleships with a lot of armor and explosive weapons, then an equivalently powerful fleet of destroyers with point-defense modules and energy weapons will probably make short work of them.

When viewing a fleet in-game, players can see the fleet's estimated power, as well as its composition below it (with one diamond representing corvettes, two for destroyers, and so on). It is important to remember that the fleet's power is an ''estimation'' of their strength only; a less "powerful" fleet equipped appropriately is entirely capable of contending with more powerful fleets in battle.

Selecting a fleet - whether it be directly or through the Outliner - will bring up a detailed view of all ships within it, and allow the player to issue commands, as they might do with civilian ships. While learning the basics of fleet logistics is not too difficult, some of the more important tasks for the player to be familiar with include splitting and merging, repairing, upgrading, and reinforcing.

=== 研究 ===
{{main|科技}}
Technologies in Stellaris are divided into three different branches of study: {{iconify|Physics}}, {{iconify|Society}} and {{iconify|Engineering}}. Each branch is headed by a scientist and each one can work on technology research in tandem with the other two branches. Each technology has a field associated with it as well, indicated by the colored icon beneath the technology's numerical progress. If a scientist has a trait whose icon matches the technology's, then that tech research is boosted by 15%, as it is in the scientist's field of expertise. The screen also provides useful information regarding what is unlocked by each technology, research speed modifiers for each branch, and a timer projecting how much more time is needed until research is complete.

Rather than a conventional tech tree, Stellaris uses a deck-of-cards system for determining what technologies are available for research. When selecting a new technology to research, the game randomly selects three technologies the player has met the prerequisites for, and the player may pick any one of them as their new project. The number of techs presented at any given time can be increased by certain techs and Civics (e.g. {{iconify|Self-Aware Logic|18px}} or [[File:Tradition_discovery_science_division.png|24px]]Science Division Discovery tradition). If a player is unsure of what they have researched in the past, the Researched button at the top of the Technology window will list all of the techs the player has completed research on.

There are five major categories of technology in Stellaris, beyond the typical separations by branch.

* {{tech|start|Starting technologies}} are technologies that the empire begins the game with, and includes base-level buildings, ship components, spaceports, and ships.
* {{tech|acquire|Acquired technologies}} are technologies the empire has some understanding of from events or debris analysis but needs to continue research on to fully comprehend it. Acquired techs are surrounded by an orange border and are listed below the standard deal of technologies given to the player when they select a new project.
* {{tech|rare|Rare technologies}} are given a purple banner and are very uncommon compared to other technologies available to the player at the time.
* {{tech|danger|Dangerous technologies}} are given a red banner and are projects that could bring about an endgame crisis (more about that later).
* {{tech|repeat|Repeatable technologies}} are given a golden border around the tech's picture and are technologies that can be researched multiple times by an empire for a flat bonus to something each time it is completed at the cost of them becoming more expensive every time.

When researching technology, it is important for the player to balance efficiency with usefulness. While some players may be excited to research a high-end tech earlier than usual, the extreme amount of time it could take means it may be wiser to pass on the opportunity and research some easier, cheaper, more short-term useful techs for the empire instead.

Some special projects in the galaxy may also require one of the empire's research scientists to break from their normal duties and research something else. A common example is the empire's {{iconify|Society}} leader investigating an alien species. During this time, research points for that branch will instead go towards the special project instead of the standard technology research.

Finally, players should not worry themselves with maintaining perfect uptime when it comes to ensuring research scientists are always researching something. If a branch is not actively researching anything, then any points accumulated for that branch are placed in a pool instead of going to waste. When that branch has a new project, those pooled points are gradually credited towards that project, accelerating its progress. This system allows players to manage their research without needing to pause the game every time a project is completed.

=== 传统 ===
{{main|传统}}
As the player empire gains {{iconify|unity}} throughout the game, they will be regularly prompted to select a tradition to adopt for their empire. The tradition tree is divided into thirteen different branches, each of which contains a subtree of five traditions. An empire may only select up to seven tradition branches, and some traditions may be restricted under certain conditions. Adopting a single branch and all of the traditions within it rewards the player with a finisher bonus on top of the adopted tradition, as well as an Ascension Perk slot.

Traditions are typically adopted to define and/or reinforce an empire's playstyle - ''e.g.'' a {{iconify|Fanatic Pacifist}} empire will probably not take too many traditions from the Supremacy tree. In the early stages of the game, however, there is a myriad of good options available to the player, regardless of where they plan to take their empire later on. Some traditions may have altered effects under certain conditions, e.g. {{iconify|Void Dwellers}} will have some minor changes to accommodate for their habitats.

* Expansion traditions aim to get cheaper starbases and new colonies fully operational in less time than usual, meaning that the first few traditions will appeal to most empires in the early game, including those looking to build tall as opposed to wide. This is generally one of the best traditions to start with.
* Discovery traditions all help to bolster the empire's science division, and To Boldly Go is an excellent choice for those who enjoy exploring and taking advantage of anomalies in the systems they survey. Afterwards, Planetary Survey Corps will provide a nice boost to early game research as the empire continues to survey systems.
* Domination traditions are focused on various aspects of planetary management (Governor and Ruler level cap) and playing tall. It doubles down on Authoritarian effects of Influence (finisher), worker/slave output (Vassal Acculturation), and reduced crime (Fleet Levies) to help with unrest.
* Prosperity traditions seek to strengthen the empire's economy. Adopting this branch decreases the construction and upkeep cost of districts & buildings, improves specialist jobs, and increases the effects of all city districts.
* Harmony traditions seek to improve the empire's population as a whole and can be used to offset any negative traits or penalties the empire's founder species suffer from. The tree's adoption bonus and Mind and Body are both excellent counterbalances to the {{iconify|Solitary}} and {{iconify|Fleeting}} traits respectively.
* Adaptability traditions seek to enhance the empire's utilization of planets, such as {{icon|food}} food output, {{icon|habitability}} habitability, and {{icon|building}} building slots.
* Mercantile traditions are focused on improving an empire's {{iconify|trade value}}, and can unlock access to [[Policies#Trade Policy|trade policies]].
* Diplomacy traditions aim to make cooperation with other empires easier, enabling the formation of [[federation]]s and increasing available {{icon|envoy}} envoys.
* Supremacy traditions primarily focus on the empire's military strength and is very useful for aggressive and militaristic empires intent on conquering large swathes of territory from other empires and establishing galactic hegemony through military might. However, even defensive-minded empires with no aspirations for conquest can still benefit from the these traditions, including the {{iconify|Policy}} War Doctrines policies it unlocks.
* Unyielding traditions conversely bolster the empire's defenses, increasing the capacity and effectiveness of {{icon|starbase}} starbases, while Bulwark of Harmony can be helpful for fighting in defensive wars.
* Subterfuge traditions improve an empire's espionage and counter-espionage capabilities.
* Synchronicity traditions are exclusively available to {{iconify|gestalt consciousness}} empires to better optimize their drones and leaders, reducing their upkeep, as well as increasing {{icon|edict}} edict capacity and {{icon|stability}} stability.
* Versatility traditions are exclusively available to {{iconify|Machine Intelligence}} empires to enhance the efficiency of their network, including some diplomatic bonuses.

=== 领袖 ===
{{main|领袖}}
[[File:UI leaders.png|thumb|The Leader Screen]]

Leading an empire to interstellar glory is not a one-person job. Empires must assemble their top minds, commanders, and politicians to work together to stand a chance in becoming the ultimate force in the galaxy.
 
All leaders have a skill level, ranging from 1 to 5 by default, which signifies how experienced the leader is in their role. Certain traits, civics, technologies, traditions, and ascension perks can increase this skill level cap all the way to 10. As they perform their duties, leaders will gradually accrue experience points, ultimately resulting in them gaining a skill level. Leaders also have individual traits (both positive and negative) that determine their aptitudes and abilities. New traits can be gained from events and through leveling up.

The Leader screen lists all the non-ruler leaders in the player's empire. To recruit a leader, empires must spend {{iconify|energy}} to add them to the roster. When recruiting a leader, the player may select from one of three candidates (the size of this pool can be increased through civics and technology). After recruiting a leader, they are added to the empire's leader roster and marked as "Available." The player must then assign them to a relevant position in the empire for them to start doing their job. A faction can have as many leaders as they want, so long as they can support the upkeep. 

There are five types of leaders in Stellaris:

*The empire's [[Leader#Ruler|ruler]] oversees all of the empire's operations, and are regularly changed out depending on the empire's authority structure. Although there is no way for rulers to gain experience, civics like {{iconify|Philosopher King}} can grant them extra levels. Each level provides an empire-wide {{iconify|influence}} discount to edicts and a boost to {{iconify|unity}} per month.
*[[Leader#Governor|Governors]] are in charge of sectors, managing their citizens, enacting planetwide edicts, and providing various bonuses to the sector overall. Governors put on a core world will be the governor of all core worlds. Experienced governors quell unrest on the planet, as well as clear blockers and construct buildings faster with every skill level. Civics like {{iconify|Aristocratic Elite}} can grant them more skill levels.
*[[Leader#Scientist|Scientists]] conduct research for the empire, command science ships, and execute special projects. Higher-level scientists conduct research faster and can investigate anomalies more quickly. Traits like {{iconify|Natural Physicists}}, {{iconify|Natural Sociologists}}, {{iconify|Natural Engineers}} and {{iconify|Intelligent}} synergize well with high level scientists, acting as a multiplying force for the enhanced researchers working under them.
*[[Leader#Admiral|Admirals]] command the empire's fleets, granting the ships they manage boosts based on their level and traits.
*[[Leader#General|Generals]] lead the empire's armies, boosting them based on their level and traits.