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.
  • Halls of Torment Ability Tier List

    Halls of Torment Ability Tier List

    The Halls of Torment ability tier list is probably one of the most looked-up things online for players of this roguelike. Abilities are the ones that determine how well your run will go and whether or not you’ll last till the end. Strategizing around them, picking the right ones at the right time, and choosing…

  • Halls of Torment All Characters Guide

    Halls of Torment All Characters Guide

    Halls of Torment has 11 characters (classes) so far and each is unique in its own way giving you a new gameplay angle when you use him. We say that this is the number of characters so far because the developer team has added new characters since the game’s first beta release so we can’t…

  • Halls of Torment Beginner’s Guide And Tips

    Halls of Torment Beginner’s Guide And Tips

    Even though Halls of Torment is a classic roguelike that reminds us a bit of Vampire Survivors, there are things that are quite unique to this game and can make beginners feel confused. Basic stats, abilities, and characters are well explained but some perks still remain unclear until you spend a couple of dozen hours…

  • 5 Best Rougelike Games for Mobile [2025 Edition]

    5 Best Rougelike Games for Mobile [2025 Edition]

    It’s not news that smartphones are taking over when it comes to the gaming industry and no matter how much old-school gamers don’t like this fact, more and more people are joining in the gaming world through the lens of their pocket-sized computers. Roguelike games for mobile have been picking up more and more attention…

  • 5 Roguelike Games Like Brotato [2025 Alternatives]

    5 Roguelike Games Like Brotato [2025 Alternatives]

    We will explore some games like Brotato that can scratch that roguelike feeling many of us yearn for. Brotato has captured the hearts and brains of many casual gamers but what happens once you try out all the best Brotato builds and unlock all the best Brotato weapons and want to seek a similar adventure?…

  • Quilboar Tribe in Hearthstone Battlegrounds Season 9

    Quilboar Tribe in Hearthstone Battlegrounds Season 9

    We are all aware of how weird and prone to changes Quilboar comps in Hearthstone Battlegrounds are at the moment. In this guide, we will analyze every Quilboar minion and give tips on what you can do to utilize this tribe most effectively. Keep in mind that in Season 9 Quilboars are one of those…

  • Demon Tribe in Hearthstone Battlegrounds Season 9

    Demon Tribe in Hearthstone Battlegrounds Season 9

    One of the most interesting tribes in Season 9 are Demons. Although not must have changed when it comes to their mechanics, it is still fun to see how they fit into the new meta. In this article, we will describe all Demon tribe minions in Hearthstone Battlegrounds; for more info on tactics, check out…

  • Elemental Tribe in Hearthstone Battlegrounds Season 9

    Elemental Tribe in Hearthstone Battlegrounds Season 9

    Welcome to this short Hearthstone Elemental tribe quick minion guide. We will try to be brief here as we have already covered Hearthstone Battlegrounds meta builds and elemental comps in our guide. In this article, you will find all Elemental minions explained and tips for each of them. As you all know, the usage of…

  • Pirate Tribe In Hearthstone Battlegrounds Season 9

    Pirate Tribe In Hearthstone Battlegrounds Season 9

    In this article, we will go over all the Pirate minions in Hearthstone Battlegrounds and explain how they fit in making a good Pirate composition. For the full guide on the actual Battlegrounds gameplay, visit our Hearthstone Strategy Guide for in-depth information. We will be only focusing on Pirate individually to create a different approach…

  • Mech Tribe In Hearthstone Battlegrounds Season 9

    Mech Tribe In Hearthstone Battlegrounds Season 9

    In this guide, we will cover all the Mech minions and how they go in the overall mech comp. We will go into detail for each minion and explain a bit about how they interact with other mechs, as well as how powerful they are in the current meta. There won’t be any specific builds…