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

• 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.
• Learn the four structure types. Base (BA), Capital Vessel (CV), Small Vessel (SV) and Hover Vessel (HV). Each has its own blocks and rules.
• Every structure needs a Core. No core, no functioning devices.
• Power is life. Generators need fuel; solar can supplement. A powered base with oxygen and constructors is your first real milestone.
• Mine everything early. Iron, copper, silicon and cobalt are the backbone; rarer ores unlock better tech.
• Spend Unlock Points carefully. You earn them by leveling; the tech tree gates what you can build.
• Watch status effects. Temperature, radiation, food poisoning and parasites can kill you slowly. v1.18 reworked them and improved their icons.
• Use Workshop blueprints if building isn't your thing; spawning them still requires resources in survival.
• 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)

Version | Date | Highlights

v1.13 | August 2025 | Completely new galaxy, POI and mission overhaul, and the conclusion of the main story; needed a new save to get everything

v1.14 | November 2025 | Story fixes, economy balance, passenger seats that persist, and a Blueprint subscription limit raised to 500

v1.15 | February 2026 | Short Range Warp: jump close to a planet or moon in the same playfield (25-second cooldown for all scenarios and warp drives)

v1.16 | March 2026 | New Charged Combat Steel block; more POIs, vessels and enemies to make systems livelier

v1.17 | May 2026 | Warp Route Planner for plotting multi-jump routes; block limit in BlocksConfig.ecf raised to 8192 (code mods must offset item IDs)

v1.18 | Early July 2026 | Major status effect rework that minimizes overlapping or identical effects

v1.18.1 and 1.18.2 | July 2026 | First Steam and Epic achievements; new status effect icons

v1.19 | 4 August 2026 | 11th anniversary; limited-time Anniversary 2026 achievement; new achievements with up to 3 tiers; Pirate Treasure hunt

v1.19.1 and 1.19.2 | August 2026 | Anniversary achievement window extended; debug activation for starter planet missions

v1.19.5 | 23 September 2026 | 100+ new Arkenian Republic POIs and first "Trading Lines" in Testing Grounds

v1.19.6 | 24 September 2026 | Official servers show correctly in the browser

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)

Minimum | Recommended

OS | Windows 10/11 64-bit | Windows 10/11 64-bit

CPU | Dual-core 2.5 GHz | Quad-core 3 GHz

RAM | 10 GB | 16 GB

GPU | GTX 1050 / RX 550 (2 GB) | GTX 1660 Ti / Vega 56 (4 GB)

Storage | 10 GB | 15 GB

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

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

Survival Stats

Stat | Danger

Health | Death

Food | Starvation damage

Stamina | Can't sprint or work

Oxygen | Suffocation

Temperature | Heat stroke or hypothermia

Radiation | Radiation burn (fixed in v1.18 to trigger above 5 RAD)

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

Type | Where | Purpose

Base (BA) | Ground or space | Home, production, defense

Capital Vessel (CV) | Space and atmosphere | Mobile base, warp travel, heavy weapons

Small Vessel (SV) | Space and atmosphere | Fast fighter or transport

Hover Vessel (HV) | Planet surface | Ground transport and mining

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

Resource | Used for

Iron | Steel plates, basic blocks, ammo

Copper | Wiring, electronics

Silicon | Electronics, solar

Cobalt | Alloys and devices

Promethium | Fuel

Neodymium | Advanced devices

Pentaxid | Warp fuel

Sathium, Erestrum, Zascosium, Gold | Higher-tier parts and weapons

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

• Hover Vessel for crossing your starter planet and hauling ore.
• Small Vessel to reach orbit and nearby moons, mine asteroids, and scout POIs.
• Capital Vessel as a mobile base: constructors, storage, a medic station and a warp drive.
• 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