Summary
As a grand strategy game,Stellariscan be somewhat overwhelming for many players, newcomers, and returning veterans alike, especially for its empire and species customization options. With all the downloadable contents obtained, players can choose a combination from more than 80 traits for their species, with many species having their own specified traits to choose from as well.
With the myriads of traits to choose from, players will need to balance their choices to be able to optimize the choice of traits within the 2 initial points available.Stellarisplayers can pick positive traits with the initial points and add more to them by picking negative traits to accommodate the more positive traits for an optimal combination of traits.
Updated Jun 22, 2025 by Evan Arnoldi:With the continuing updates that the game receives from its developer thanks to their newest downloadable content and high community engagement, Stellaris is now able to be played with far more build variance than before, and players can apply these builds to the species of their own design to cater their gameplay and roleplaying choices.
These builds use a specific combination of traits that enable them to survive and control the galaxy, should the player be able to efficiently harness the build’s strength without being too careless against the hostile empires that will strike at the first glance of weakness.
15Incubators Science Rush
Flexible Science Rush With Rapid Pops Growth
In tradition with all other 4X games, Pops or Citizens are always the number one resource in the game, as they are essentially the lifeblood of a space empire. Without an adequate number of Pops, an empire can expect itself to be left behind by its other more powerful neighbors, which can eventually invade and take over. Fortunately, the Incubators Science Rush prevents such things from happening, as it combines the rapid growth of Pops and Technology.
The presence of the Incubators trait allows any newly settled planet to grow rapidly, making way for any Science job from the Research Lab to be worked on quickly without waiting too long. Moreover, the excess Traits Picks allow flexible modification by players to add more beneficial traits in the long run, as long as they manage to survive the early phases of the game.
14Intelligent Aquatic
Combining The Meta Aquatic Build With Science Rush
Recently, the Aquatic trait has been receiving extra attention because they can utilize their dependency on Ocean Worlds into a very efficient and productive Species with the extra Worker output. By combining the trait with the Science-boosting ones, such as Intelligent and Natural Sociologists will enable players to rapidlyascend the technological treewithout any real obstacles.
Moreover, the increase in Society research will allow the player to quickly research gene technologies to omit the negative traits that might hinder the species' progress in the long run. As long as the player can maneuver their safety and address any resource shortage that might come with a technological focus, the species will be destined to rule the galaxy.
13Buddingly Strong
Making Use Of Budding With Very Strong Modifiers
Although it can be used rarely in both multiplayer and single-player games due to its unpopularity, Budding can be made viable with the right combination of traits, such as being accompanied by the Very Strong trait. The trait allows workers to be extremely productive by increasing their resource output, which can fund any population boom, which is a consequence of the Budding trait.
Moreover, by having the minuscule negative trait modifier in Unruly and Sedentary, a species with this specific combination will be able to enjoy both productive and rapidly growing pops, enabling them to prosper in the galaxy. Also, the Very Strong trait enables an empire to have extremely tough armies that can take over planets in one single swoop without having to build numerous armies.
12Overtuned Hyper Rapid Pop Growth
Expand The Empire Population To Consolidate Power
Having a lot of population is always a plus to have for a space empire that tries to survive the galaxy in a game ofStellaris, especiallyduring the early game, when pops are scarce and there are a lot of jobs that need pops to work on to provide resources. Having rapidly growing pops that can easily outcompete other species in the galaxy is made possible with the help of the Overtuned traits.
Although it requires the Overtuned origin, the total combination increases the growth of pop to a total of 40%, easily able to outgrow all other species in the galaxy. The negative aspect of Overtuned traits of having reduced leaders' lifespan is easily beset by the Enduring trait, and the rest of the negative traits are easily manageable by the hyper-growth of the empire’s species.
11Rapidly Growing, Yet Solitary Physics Researchers
Quick Growing Population Supported By Focus On Physics Technologies
With the mixture of Rapid Breeders and Natural Physicists traits, players can cultivate a space civilization capable of taking the galaxy rapidly without sacrificing any focus on science research. The bonus Physics research helps the player to keep up with other civilizations while expanding.
However, the drawbacks of Solitary might require the player to sacrifice one to two slots in their planets to increase housing for their pops. The drawback should not necessarily be huge, given that the player can capitalize on the huge amount of pops in their civilization.
10Deviant, But Industrious And Strong
Strong Species That Can Land Strong Armies Supported By Great Economy
InStellaris, waging war needs to be carefully measured since it will cost a lot of resources, effort, and time to verify a campaign goes smoothly. With theStrongandIndustrioustrait, players will be able to wage war effortlessly without putting too much strain on their economy.
However, the added negative traits ofDeviantsmight limit their choice of governments, as choosing the wrong one could fracture the political landscape of their civilizations.
9Charismatic And Traditional, Yet Sedentary
Flexible Choices Of Combination To Support Other Focuses
With the added amenities fromCharismatic, players can focus their resources on another field to build their civilization, such as research and preparation for war against other space-faring civilizations. The added unity fromTraditionalalso boosts their empire to another level.
The pickedSedentarynegative trait could prove to be too much if the player decides to open their borders for others to gain pops from immigration, should they choose to go down that path.
8Overtuned Hyper Technology Rush
A Focused Build On Technology While Sacrificing Leaders' Efficiency
Sometimes, rushing the technology tree to have the best weapons available for theoptimal ship designcan be tricky, since it requires the empire to sacrifice other resources such as energy credits, minerals, and even alloys, as they will need to focus on Research Labs. However, the Overtuned origin allows a hyper-focused technology rush to achieve the strongest ship components in the early years.
The combination of traits made possible by the Overtuned origin allows the player to achieve +30% research output from the jobs. Moreover, the bonuses also have Leaders becoming more available and strong with the reduced maximum negative traits. Unfortunately, even with the Enduring trait, the combination will reduce the Leaders' lifespan by 10 years, making it necessary for the empire to focus on Leaders' lifespan improving technology to keep them in service without dying too early.
7Intelligent & Conservationist Engineers, But Nonadaptive
Technology Rush With Minimum Resource Usage For The Scientists
Rushing technology has never been easier with the addition of bothIntelligentandNatural Engineersas the picked traits. Both traits boost the research speed of the civilization, making it easy to gain an advantage against other civilizations and look forother dangerous enemies in space.
Conservationistsalso keep consumer goods consumption low for the player to be able to focus on bringing Researchers jobs on their planets.
6Filthy Rich, Yet Wasteful
Best Economic Combination, Flexible For Every Species
Getting rich quickly could mean a huge early advantage against other space-faring civilizations with bothThriftyandIngenious. Both traits boost a civilization’s economy in space, making them able to fully utilize the Galactic Market forresources while also boosting their empire.
The negative modifier fromWastefulcan be mitigated easily with the overabundance of energy credits that they gain per month with the previous positive traits.
