Caught in the Eye Stellaris Rare Event Explained [2023]

Vuk Radulovic
caught in the eye Stellaris event

You are all well aware that Stellaris is a game filled with strange events – some more annoying than others. Caught in the Eye is one of the events that many Stellaris players found to be particularly tricky and not so much information can be found online about this occurrence. We decided to check the event ourselves and analyze all the choices that you can make. Also, since several players complained that the event was bugged, we found out what the problem was and the solution to it. So, without further ado, let’s check out what Caught in the Eye Stellaris event is all about.

Caught in the Eye Event Analysis

This event occurs when researching anomalies on a gas-giant planet. It seems that the event is completely random, but it always happens while researching a gas giant anomaly. As you will see, the risks of bad outcomes are not that high, and the event itself has some good bonuses. We do advise you to just go for the anomaly research and not pay attention to the type of planet that you are researching. Once the event occurs, as you can see in the image below, your choice is to either save the ship or leave it on the planet.

Caught in the Eye stellaris event opening

Option 1: Rescue the science ship

If chose to rescue the ship, a special project named “Free the {shipname}” will be added. You will need to move another science ship to the location and then research the special project. Once it is completed, the effects will be the following:

  • The science ship and the scientists that were stuck will be rescued
  • The scientist will get the Expertise: Field Manipulation trait (+15% Field Manipulation research speed).
  • You will get a +770 Physics Research bonus.
  • The planet will get a +6 Energy planet output.

Bonuses that a player gets when finishing Caught in The Eye event by saving the ship in Stellaris game

As you can see, this is a nice set of bonuses that you get. Having an extra science ship, energy added to the planet, and a physics bonus is very useful in the early game. On another hand, if you are in mid-game, and the ship scientist already has some expertise, you might consider saving him just so that you can employ the scientist as your physics lead (since he will get the Field Manipulation research speed bonus). However, keep in mind that you will have to actually own the system if you want to exploit the energy credit bonus from the planet.

Option 2: Leave the science ship stuck on the planet

If the star system where the Caught in the Eye event occurred is near your empire, you might want to consider leaving the ship stuck on the planet. It seems like a bad solution but let’s take a closer look at what effects this decision will have:

  • The ship and the scientist on it will be lost.
  • The planet’s Energy output will be removed.
  • The planet will receive +7 Physics research output (you need to build a Research Station).

Although this might seem like a bad solution, one might argue that the science bonus is more important than Energy Credits, especially early on in the game. Of course, if you want to get this bonus, you will have to build a Research Station, which means that this solution is only viable if the star system is not too far. Losing a scientist is not ideal in the early stages of the game, but if you can build an outpost in the star system in which this planet is located, the +7 Physics Research you get for the loss will be worth it.

The Event Has a Known Bug

Several players complained that a bug occurred during the Caught in the Eye Stellaris event. We tested it out and found out that indeed, there is a small glitch that occurs. As you can see in the picture below, both ships are in place but you can’t right-click on the event to research it as the only option is “move”. If you look at the Situation Log, the research option will be grayed out and the requirement “has two science ships” is needed.

A glitch that occurs in Caught in the Eye event in stellaris

You don’t need two science ships as the one that is stuck already counts – just send another science ship to the spot. The fix is to move the science ship that came to rescue to the planet’s orbit and do the same thing with the stuck ship. They need to line up, like in the picture below. The glitch occurred for many players when they ordered the stuck ship to move somewhere – although it can’t move, the game sees the ship like it’s moving thus not being in the right spot for the Save the {shipname} special project to be completed. Also, you can’t start the project by right-clicking on the spot – you have to do it from the Situation Log like in the picture below.

To recap, follow these three steps to fix the Caught in the Eye bug:

  1. Move both science ships to the anomaly (planet orbit).
  2. Make sure both ships don’t have orders to move elsewhere.
  3. Go to the Situation Log and research the special project from there.

A fix to the bug in Caught in the Eye Stellaris event

Final Thoughts on Caught in the Eye Event

This is a short but fun event – it’s an interesting story and the bonuses that you get are pretty neat. Deciding whether you want to save the ship or leave it on the planet ultimately depends on your needs at that specific moment. The heated discussion on Reddit was of no use as players said that they made the decision based on what they needed at that time. One thing is for certain – you should save the ship if the star system where the Caught in the Eye event occurred is far from your empire – you have no use of the physics bonus on a planet that’s not in your empire.

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