Starting a Stellaris game for the first time, you most likely think the point of the game is to conquer the galaxy.
As you head into the late game, you’ll realize you were misguided. All the progress you’ve made up until that point has only one real objective: to defend the galaxy against a foreign power of unimaginable might.
Still, not all crises are created the same.
Just as different empires have different ships and strategies, so do the entities behind the crises – and this can make a big difference in how hard they are to overcome.
5. The Lag
Let’s address the elephant in the room before moving on with the ranking.
The late-game lag in Stellaris is a big issue, and it’s easily the hardest’ crisis’ you’ll have to deal with.
It doesn’t matter how weak or strong you or your enemies are if every in-game day takes 10 seconds to play out and you can barely move your units.
Of all the crises, this is the one that’s more likely to make you quit the game without finishing.
Some of your best options to counter this are mods like Production Revolution, playing on a smaller galaxy, or just playing as a genocidal empire and culling the AI’s numbers.
4. Galactic Nemesis
Since the Nemesis update, a player or an AI empire can become the end-game crisis by unlocking a specific ascension perk.
This crisis could be catastrophic if a human player becomes the crisis in a multiplayer game, as this route has many benefits and buffs that only add up over time.
On the other hand, an AI player becoming the crisis isn’t half as troublesome. The AI isn’t especially good at war, and it generally takes them ages to actually get the perk.
Moreover, AI empires that choose this path are usually a military problem before getting the perk.
Just be proactive about subduing your enemies, and you should be fine.
3. Contingency
Sentient creatures rarely have the foresight to accurately predict what their creations will cause – often leading to unintended disaster.
The Contingency was developed by the ancient Ren Miruu to avoid a “Class-30 Singularity Event” from occurring and potentially wiping out all life in the universe.
Regrettably, it thinks all life in the Galaxy could trigger the event, so it goes on the offensive.
Countering this crisis is the easiest because there are clear objectives to destroy. In addition, the Contingency’s forces spawn spread out across the galaxy, so other players are forced to take them seriously and help you overcome the crisis.
If you’re still struggling, worry not.
The Cybrex will eventually spawn to lend you a hand!
2. Prethoryn Scourge
A somewhat harder foe is the Prethoryn Scourge, a ravenous hive mind that arrives from the galaxy’s edges to feast on its inhabitants’ delicious meat.
The Scourge’s difficulty comes mainly from its powerful ships and their fast infestation of inhabited planets. They’re also pretty good at entrenching themselves in choke points.
Your best option against the Prethoryn is to starve them by bombarding their border planets and not letting them expand. They snowball rather quickly, so you need to act fast.
Unlike the Contingency, whose ships are well-rounded, the Scourge’s ships are protected from Kinetic weaponry. Make sure you put some lasers on those ships!
If all else fails, the Sentinels will pop up to bolster your forces.
1. The Unbidden
Just based on my experience, the Unbidden is easily the worst crisis in the game.
These extra-dimensional beings of pure energy are much more unpredictable than the other crises, opening portals to bring in their forces at random spots all across the galaxy. There’s also no warning before they arrive, making it impossible to prepare.
Like other crises, a third party will spawn to “help” you deal with the crisis – except this time, it’s just different factions of the same extra-dimensional beings, and they’re just as aggressive against you as they are toward each other.
As if that wasn’t enough, the Dimensional Anchors you must destroy to end the crisis are not marked on the map.
Instead you have to go through every system looking for them yourself.
Nelson Chitty is a Venezuelan expat living in Argentina. He’s a writer and translator passionate about history and foreign cultures. His ideal weekend is spent between leisurely playing games of Civilization VI and looking for the next seinen anime to marathon.
