Stellaris Gateway Network Tutorial

Vuk Radulovic
Stellaris Gateway is considered to be FTL Megastructure, along with Hyper Relay. Unlike Hyper Relays, Gateways don’t just increase your travel speed, they allow you to instantly travel from point A to point B in the Galaxy, given that you have Gateways in both locations. So you know, they work like a wormhole in Interstellar, minus the time dilation and Gargantua on the other side. As you might assume, Gateways give you an enormous strategic advantage so we decided to analyze the technology that is required for Gateways, how to build, and how to utilize these things most effectively.

Gateway Technology

a type of a gateway in stellaris
Image credits: Paradox Interactive, Stellaris

In order to build a Gateway, you will need to finish several steps regarding technology research. First, you will need go to down the physics Particles tech tree path and grab Hyperlane Breach Points (tier 2) as well as Hyperspace Slipstreams (tier 3). After getting to the tier 4 tech tree part, you need to research two technologies in order to build gateways: Gateway Activation and Gateway Construction. Since it’s a rare tech, in order to get Gateway Activation tech you need to fulfill one of the following requirements:

  • Find a disabled gateway (can be anywhere in the Galaxy)
  • Find an L-gate (these ones are around black holes)
  • Be in any kind of relationship with an Empire that has already researched Gateway Activation technology

One of these three is a must requirement in order to get a Gateway Activation tech. However, there are other things that you can do to increase your chances of getting the tech once you fulfilled one of the three base conditions. The following will increase your chances of getting the Gateway Activation technology:

  • Physics research leader being Particles Expert with Grasp the Void and/or Technology Ascendancy Ascension perk
  • Having Discovery Tradition
  • Having Federation Perk: Scientific Inspiration
  • Controlling a star system with an L-gate or Disabled Gateway

Once you have researched Gateway Activation tech you will be able to reactivate Disabled Gateways in your star systems. However, these will be rare and scattered across the galaxy so what you want to do is to research Gateway Construction in order to build Gateways in strategic places. Furthermore, since Gateways are megastructures in Stellaris, you will also need Mega-Engineering tech. Note that if your game has rolled no Gateways in the Galaxy at the beginning, you won’t be able to build any no matter what you do since the initial requirements for the Gateway technology won’t be accessible to you.

Stellaris Gateway Construction

gateway construction ship
Image credits: Paradox Interactive, Stellaris

Once you got the right technological research as we described in the previous paragraph, you can actually start building Gateways. What you need to do is select a construction ship, select Megastructures, and click on Gateway Construction Site. You can place it at the far end of any star system you control, providing that you have enough resources for its build cost. It will take 3 years to get that built and once it’s done, you can select the construction site and upgrade it into a Gateway. It is important to note that as soon as you reactivate the first gateway, another gateway somewhere in the Galaxy will reactivate as well and for an initial part of your Gateway system.

Tips on Where to Build Gateways

nexus type gateway
Image credits: Paradox Interactive, Stellaris

So there you have it, once you built your first one, it’s time to carefully analyze your empire and see what strategic places you want to utilize to put your Gateways in. The first thing that you should know, you won’t create a potential backdoor entrance for an enemy fleet by building Gateways. The thing is, only you can use the Gateways in your empire – and other empires that have open borders policy with you. Consequently, if you close the borders or are at war with an empire, your enemy won’t be able to use the Gateways even if they occupy a star system with one in it.
 
The second important thing to understand is that Gateways are, like most Stellaris Megastructures, pretty pricy so you probably won’t be able to build dozens of them. Be sure to put one near your home system and others in places where you think an enemy fleet might move. Try to predict which places you can’t access easily and put Gateways there. This is extremely important when it comes to dealing with End-Game Crisis since the speed of your fleet is of the essence.

Less-known Benefits of Having Gateways in Your Empire

gateway type
Image credits: Paradox Interactive, Stellaris

Besides the obvious strategic advantage that Gateways offer, let’s take a look at other things that you get once you set up your gateway network.

The first major benefit are changes in how Claims work – normally you are not able to claim distant star systems without paying a high influence cost. With Gateways, you can claim a system of an empire that has open borders with you, and has built a Gateway, as if the system is adjacent to your borders. This means that you will only be paying the basic influence price for distant systems. Note that this only works as long as the empire has open borders policy with you so if you start claiming too many of their systems, they will probably close the borders.

The second major benefit is the boost that your trade roots and trade collection systems get. What you need to do first is to scan your empire and see where are the sectors in which trade routes are not connected due to the lack of improved Starbases. You can build a Gateway there and the trade route will connect to a Starbase closest to another Gateway providing it has enough trade collection range. This can greatly enhance your trade value as you can connect entire sectors of star systems with distant Starbases.

Final thoughts on Stellaris Gateway Megastructures

two gateways connected
Image credits: Paradox Interactive, Stellaris

Gateways pose a great strategic advantage for any empire and if you can spare the resources, you should definitely build them. Their main purpose is to transport your fleet fast from one point to another but be sure to utilize other benefits concerning trade value and Claim changes as well. You can also check our Stellaris ship design guide in order to maximize your fleet power before you get into a Gateway and hurl your fleet across the galaxy.
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