Playing Stellaris Pay-to-Win on the Cheap

**Introduction**

Let's face it, Stellaris Galaxy Command is NOT the PC/Console version some of us play or have played. It themed like it, and even has the same system names as in the real game; but rest assured that this is just a city builder game in space. I have some written here some helpful tips that I wish I had known starting out on the mobile game so that you don't have to search endlessly online and yield no real results. I hope they help.

**Daily Missions**

Daily Missions are pretty self-explanatory. However, don't be tempted to spend the GCC (credits to purchase things in-game) unless you REALLY need to. There are caveats such as waiting until there are active events running as you play (such as Trial of Heroes etc., that I will get into here shortly). The point is, do what you can where it won't end up costing you resources/time/money such as collecting energy/gas/gel. The rewards for doing these missions are okay, but nothing that you should be using speed-ups for. Remember speed-ups is how they get you to spend real money.

**Waiting for Events**

Now I get it, you want to be the best in a game. BUT, if you have patience you can make the game work for you. Leader Promotions are great BUT, never promote your leaders until the Event called Trial of Heroes begins. By waiting, you will be able to get the bonuses attributed to that event such as ship modifications and GCC/Energy credits. Sure you'll have that annoying blue diamond looking at you until the event starts, but don't give in. Game Bear just wants your hard-earned money. Don't be a sucker. Make them change their business model by tightening your wallet.

Pirates. Don't hunt pirates until you are 1) In an alliance. 2) Can do the Alliance Challenge "Clear Sector" that has pirate fleets of 5k strength. and 3) The event Pirate Hunter is active on your Event tab. The rewards for pirates on their own is a joke, so waiting until the Pirate Hunter Event is active will make it more worth your while and the 5k Fleet size will cut down on the repair time for your fleets that get damaged. There are stronger missions that spawn, but steer clear of them as one 50k-beyond fleet will have you waiting literal days to repair unless you use speed-ups.

Mighty Fleets. If you must build ships, try to hold off until the Mighty Fleets event is active. You will get decent rewards if do. Now I know, "But my station is in a riot because it says I need more ships!", but to be honest; the station will be in perpetual "riot" because the system for this is obviously broken. It's a trick by Game Bear to lead you down that "Use Speed-Ups! They help!" path so you will end up tempted to open the wallet.

**Special Events**

Special events happen every few days. Some are better than others, but they all have one thing in common. They have some task that requires you to blow through resources such as GCC to get their "prizes". Don't do this. It isn't worth it. Below are some of the notable Special Events I've run across.

**War In Heaven**. Two factions of NPCs are quarrelling about something. Join a side and steal their resources. Meaning: Use your fleets, and get them damaged for some tickets. Anytime you are asked to utilize your fleets in battle, be wary and really think about the cost vs. the benefit. Again, Game Bear WANTS you to waste speed-ups to repair so you'll start looking at that wallet.

**Leviathan**. Some race outside of the galaxy has things you want (ships, rewards etc). All you have to do is yet again, use your ships and pray that the repair times are not days long. It's a scam. Don't bother.

**Space Race**. A Special Event that requires you to use "Universal Speed-Ups" in a race against other players. Do not give in to this nonsense. Use your Speed-Ups sparingly as you can. They won't change their business model unless they aren't making money.

**Caravanners**. This one is actually pretty decent IF you don't spend GCC, and abide by the pirate rules above. There is a list of tasks that they want you to do such as trade X amount of times. Each task you complete gives you X amount of "tokens" to open a reliquary. Reliquaries are 40 points to open each, but have decent drops. There is a trick to this Special Event though. A lot of people don't realize that the points you earn carry over to the next time the event spawns. If you just save all of the points for one or two of the Caravanner events, you will be able to accrue enough points to get the Cruisers and Battleship that occur when you open over 95 reliquaries. Hold off for them as those ships are pretty decent spec-wise.

**Checkers**. Similar to the Caravanner event, you play "Checkers" after you have accrued enough points to play. Like the other event, it's best to just save up the points for the next time it comes around to get the better rewards.

**Weekly Missions**

Weekly missions reset at the start of each week. Some of the rewards are decent BUT, some will have you spending more resources than you should. Ignore those. Only do the following: Log-in 7 days, Gain 600 activity points for daily missions, Build 70 ships (when Mighty Fleets is active), and Detect 20 Fissures (which occurs at the start of a new day).

**The Store**

Everything in the store is a waste of real money. Period. With patience and discipline, you won't even need it. The only thing worth buying from the store is the Bonus package. It includes a leader, GCC, and plenty of speed-ups for $5 USD. If you are really smart, you will download the Google Rewards App that pays you for doing survey questions. Do a few surveys, and you are awarded Google Play credit. Use that Google Play credit to get the Bonus package, and you are good to go. The weekly card for Probe Supplies is also $5 USD, and overall isn't a bad deal if you've accrued enough Google Play credit after buying the Bonus package (it only appears the one time). Everything else? Garbage. If Game Bear had any sense, they would put decent things to buy in their store rather than speed-ups or GCC.