Empyrion - Galactic Survival: Complete Survival Guide

A start-to-spaceflight guide for Empyrion - Galactic Survival: surviving your first planet, building bases and vessels, power and fuel, the tech tree, factions, warp travel, and what's new in the 1.19 updates.

Researched September 2026 — current as of v1.19.6 (Build 5188, 24 September 2026) following the v1.19.5 update. Live games change; check the linked sources if something differs.

Quick Start

1. Survive the first 20 minutes. You start with limited oxygen, food and tools. Grab loot from your starting area, find food and plants, and build shelter quickly.
2. Learn the four structure types. Base (BA), Capital Vessel (CV), Small Vessel (SV) and Hover Vessel (HV). Each has its own blocks and rules.
3. Every structure needs a Core. No core, no functioning devices.
4. Power is life. Generators need fuel; solar can supplement. A powered base with oxygen and constructors is your first real milestone.
5. Mine everything early. Iron, copper, silicon and cobalt are the backbone; rarer ores unlock better tech.
6. Spend Unlock Points carefully. You earn them by leveling; the tech tree gates what you can build.
7. Watch status effects. Temperature, radiation, food poisoning and parasites can kill you slowly. v1.18 reworked them and improved their icons.
8. Use Workshop blueprints if building isn't your thing; spawning them still requires resources in survival.
9. Try the "Testing Grounds" scenario only if you want the newest content; it's where Eleon tests changes like the new Arkenian POIs and Trading Lines.

Game Status (2026)

Empyrion entered Early Access on 5 August 2015, left it on 5 August 2020, and is still updated by Eleon Game Studios. A free weekend ran in July 2026. The only paid DLC listed on Steam is Dark Faction.

Returning after a long break? If your last save predates v1.13, start fresh: that update replaced the galaxy, POIs and missions and finished the main story, and Eleon said a new save was needed to get all of it.

PC requirements (Steam page)

The Steam page says an SSD is highly recommended. Supported languages are English, German, French, Russian, Italian, Brazilian Portuguese, Simplified Chinese and Greek.

Scenarios and Starting

• Default Random is the standard survival scenario.
• Testing Grounds is a separate scenario where new content lands first (for example the v1.19.5 Arkenian POIs). You can only test those changes by starting a new game in it.
• The paid Dark Faction DLC adds its own scenario content.
• Community custom scenarios from the Workshop can overhaul the whole game.
• Creative mode drops food, resources and enemies so you can just build; it's the best place to design and test a blueprint before paying for it in survival.

When you start, choose a starter planet. Temperate worlds are the gentlest; desert, snow and other extreme worlds add temperature and hazard pressure. Starter planet missions are available through the PDA (the in-game mission and help log). As of v1.19.2 there is a debug option to activate all five starter planet missions in the PDA under Solo Missions, then Help & Feedback Debug Options.

Your First Day

1. Loot your starting area and the escape pod for supplies.
2. Gather plants and food. Forage fruit and berries and hunt small creatures. Cook when you can.
3. Watch oxygen. Refill with oxygen bottles or at oxygen stations; some planets have breathable air.
4. Craft the basic tools you are given access to (a drill or multi-tool and a portable constructor).
5. Mine iron, copper, silicon and cobalt from surface deposits.
6. Place a Base. Build a Core, walls, a generator with fuel, a fuel tank, a constructor and oxygen supply.
7. Farm food with growing plots inside the base.
8. Add defenses (turrets) if you are near hostile structures.

Survival Stats

The v1.18 rework reduced overlapping and identical status effects, and the PDA's Empyriopedia explains each affliction. Power bars and energy bars no longer cause frequent indigestion (v1.18.1).

Structures

Rules:

• Every structure needs a Core, a power source and fuel.
• Vessels need thrusters in every direction you want to move, plus RCS for turning.
• CVs are the standard vessel for warp travel between star systems; check your tech tree for which warp devices your version offers.
• Blocks have a CPU and mass cost; check limits before stacking devices.

Power and Fuel

• Generators run on fuel stored in fuel tanks.
• Fuel is crafted from Promethium ore; energy cells and larger fuel cells are more efficient.
• Solar panels with capacitors supplement bases.
• Always keep spare fuel in your vessels. Running dry in space is a common death.

Crafting and Production

• Portable Constructor (early), then larger constructors in bases and CVs.
• Food Processor for meals.
• Deconstructor to recycle blocks.
• The factory block builds vessels and structures from saved or Workshop blueprints (resources still required in survival).
• Constructors queue jobs; bigger constructors work faster and can make more advanced items.

Resources

Rarer ores appear on specific planet types, moons and asteroid fields. Orbital asteroids are often rich; bring an SV or CV with drills.

Leveling and the Tech Tree

• Most activities give XP; leveling grants Unlock Points.
• Spend them on the tech tree to unlock devices and blocks.
• Priority: power and oxygen devices, better constructor, an SV core and thrusters for leaving the planet, then CV parts and a warp drive.

Factions and Threats

The galaxy features many NPC factions, including the Polaris, Zirax, Talon and Kriel, the Arkenian Republic (which got 100+ new POIs in v1.19.5 Testing Grounds), pirates and traders, plus the factions added by the paid Dark Faction DLC. Your standing with each faction decides who shoots on sight; check the faction screen before approaching a POI.

• The Zirax are the classic hostile faction with drone patrols and bases.
• Traders buy and sell goods; the v1.19.5 Trading Lines make trader stock match each station's theme, so trade routes become predictable.
• Hostile POIs (points of interest) hold loot and cores. Destroying or capturing enemy cores is a major source of loot and XP.

Pirate Treasure (v1.19)

A treasure hunt added in v1.19: watch the landscape and your map for hidden beacons, then use a detector to locate buried treasure. Rewards include three new posters, among other loot.

Travel

• SVs handle planet-to-orbit and short hops.
• CVs with a warp drive and Pentaxid fuel jump between systems.
• Plan longer journeys on the galaxy map and check your Pentaxid supply against the number of jumps before you leave.
• Short Range Warp (v1.15) lets you jump close to a planet or moon in the same playfield, with a 25-second cooldown.
• Warp Route Planner (v1.17) helps you plan routes through the galaxy instead of working out each jump by hand; use it to sanity-check a long trip before you commit your Pentaxid.

A sensible travel progression

1. Hover Vessel for crossing your starter planet and hauling ore.
2. Small Vessel to reach orbit and nearby moons, mine asteroids, and scout POIs.
3. Capital Vessel as a mobile base: constructors, storage, a medic station and a warp drive.
4. Warp out only after you've stocked Pentaxid for the return trip.

Multiplayer

• Official servers are marked in the multiplayer browser; v1.19.6 fixed them not always showing as official.
• PvE areas are safe; PvP planets carry real risk.
• Factions and alliances let groups share structures.
• On official EU and NA servers, some epic items (CPU cores, upgrade kits) moved from traders to POI loot in v1.18.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Leaving the Core exposed. Lose it and you lose the structure's functions.
• Running out of fuel on a vessel.
• Building a CV before you can fuel it.
• Ignoring CPU and mass limits.
• Attacking big Zirax bases early.
• Not reading status effect icons.
• Mixing custom scenario saves with vanilla expectations.

Advanced Tips

• Use Workshop blueprints as templates, then customize with ReplaceBlocks-style tools and the texture copy function.
• Build armored bunkers around your base core and generators.
• Stock spare Pentaxid before deep exploration.
• Scout with an SV first, then bring the CV.
• Track rare ore locations on the system map for later mining runs.
• Use the forums (empyriononline.com) to give feedback on experimental features.

FAQ

Is Empyrion still updated? Yes. v1.19.5 landed on 23 September 2026 with a hotfix (v1.19.6) the next day.

What's the difference between CV and SV? Capital Vessels are large and can warp between systems; Small Vessels are fast and more limited.

How do I warp to another system? Build a CV with a warp drive, stock Pentaxid fuel, and plan the jump on the galaxy map.

Where do I find rare ores? On specific planet types, moons and asteroid fields; use the system map and scanners.

What is Testing Grounds? A separate scenario where Eleon tests new content before it reaches Default Random. Start a new game to try it.

Are there Steam achievements? Yes, since v1.18.1 (July 2026), with more added and tiered in v1.19.

Do I need a new save for the latest content? For v1.13's new galaxy and story ending, yes. For the v1.19.5 Arkenian POIs and Trading Lines, you must start a new game in the Testing Grounds scenario.

Is there a building-only mode? Yes. Creative mode removes food, resource and enemy pressure so you can just build.

What PC do I need? Steam lists 10 GB of RAM and a GTX 1050 / RX 550 as the minimum, with 16 GB recommended and an SSD highly recommended.

Sources

• Empyrion - Galactic Survival on Steam
• Empyrion Steam news (v1.18–v1.19.6 changelogs)
• Steam News API feed for Empyrion
• Empyrion official forums
• Empyrion - Galactic Survival on Wikipedia