[Updateable Guide] Useful Anomalies for All You Savescumming Scallywags! (2024)

First let me say all credit goes to Second Lieutenant Simoom who created the original guide. I’m reposting for update purposes. With the release of Stellaris on console, there will be a renewed interest in content.

(Everything below is original and or updated)

Okay, so I am not writing this just for fellow savescumme*rs; anyone can potentially benefit from this knowledge... but considering that anomalies are completely random, it probably benefits you most if you do at least some savescumming.

As a hopeless savescumme*r, I've have just about familiarized myself with all the anomalies in Stellaris. When I find time I will help update the Anomalies/Events section in the Stellaris wiki with a thorough list of anomalies & event chains, but for now I would like to present an abridged list of anomalies I find most useful (feel free to add to it if I omitted anything).

• Asteroids: Generally-speaking, asteroids are the BEST source of extremely good anomalies (so if you are only doing selective anomaly savescumming, use the time on asteroids). This is because a lot of the useless, crappy-reward anomalies ("Weak Signal", "On the Surface", "Solar Sailor", "Distress Signal", etc.) that trigger on other celestial body types do not spawn on asteroids. Additionally, a large number of anomaly types for asteroids generate high level research modifiers (which is the most desirable).
  • "Dustbowl" - This level 1 anomaly is deceptively pedestrian in appearance, but it is one of the BEST anomalies in the game. It has two possible outcomes: "Alien Drag Racing" (crappier result), which adds +6 Engineering to the asteroid, or "Fender Bender" (best result), which adds a whopping +9 Engineering to the asteroid (!!!). (New?) - Abandon Thrusting result gives you Ion Thruster technology.
  • "Radiating Asteroid" - A rare level 4 anomaly that only becomes available once you researched Satramene extraction. It adds +5 Physics research AND a Dark Matter strategic resource to the asteroid.
  • "Mystical" - A rare level 4 anomaly that results in the special project "The Tree" (trivia - this is in reference to the sci-fi fantasy film, The Fountain). Finishing the special project allows you to give a special elixir to your leaders (+25 year life) or your population (+5 happiness). WARNING: Researching this anomaly will spawn a hostile Space Amoeba (as in a small fleet) so make sure you have a combat fleet ready and waiting while your science ship does its work.
  • "Odd Readings" - This anomaly has two outcomes, "Corpse in Space" (crappier result - you find a coffin and must decide to open it or let it drift along), and "Adrift" (best result - you find a derelict alien ship). If you triggered "Adrift", choose to research the special project (with a construction ship) and you will then have the option to strip the alien ship's engines, which adds the "Enhanced Ship Speed" empire modifier (+15% Evasion, +15% Sublight Speed).
  • "Asteroid Waves" - A deceptively powerful level 1 anomaly. You find a primitive "brain" inside the asteroid and are presented with the choice to either study it from the surface, or excavate it and send it to the home world for research. Do NOT choose to excavate it! Doing so will always result in the lifeform dying (which generates a small amount of research points and +1000 energy, but unless you are hurting for energy, why bother?) Choosing to study the lifeform from the surface will add a +3 Engineering +3 Society modifier to the asteroid (that's +6 research points total, which is very good!)
  • "Mineral Cluster" - A level 2 anomaly that has 4 possible outcomes, 3 of which are capable of adding a trait to the scientist researching the anomaly: "Careless Pawing" (only available if your scientist doesn't have Meticulous, Carefree, or Careful traits) adds up to 1000 minerals to your storage, and depending on your choice, can grant your scientists the Careful or Carefree trait. "Crystal Codex" generates a special project that will grant you a small amount of society research and add the Statecraft trait to your scientist. "Illicit Communications" is another possible outcome, and it adds the Voidcraft trait to your scientist. The last possible outcome is "The Prince", which involves you finding & translating an alien book - the reward for it is somewhat mediocre (adds a temporary positive opinion modifier to a random AI empire), so I don't usually bother with that one.
• Toxic Planets: Toxic planets are the next-best after asteroids for powerful anomalies, as there are multiple potentially very good outcomes.
  • "Toxic Construction" - A rare level 4 anomaly that adds a +9 Society modifier to the planet. WARNING: Your scientist MUST HAVE the Meticulous trait for the good result (+9 Society) to occur (otherwise you get +6 Mineral instead).
  • "Toxicity" - A deceptively powerful level 2 anomaly. It adds a +6 Engineering modifier to the planet, adds the Rocketry Expertise trait to your scientist, AND grants you the exclusive empire edict, "Improved Energy Initiative" (+5 Happiness, +10% Research Speed for Materials & Industry).
  • "Posion-Coated" - A deceptively powerful level 1 anomaly. It results in a special project that costs 100 energy, and adds a whopping +9 Minerals modifier to the planet.
  • "Signs of Former Habitation" - A level 1 anomaly that has two possible outcomes: "Nuclear Devestation" (adds +2 Engineering, +2 Society modifier) and "Runaway Greenhouse Effect" (adds +2 Physics, +2 Society modifier).
    
  • "A Feel for Steel" - A level 1 anomaly that has two possible outcomes: "Ship Graveyard" (crappier result, adds +3 Mineral modifier) and "Teachings of Warriors" special project (best outcome). If you get the latter, research it to unlock the "Master's Teachings: Warring States" edict (+10% Naval Capacity, -15% Army Upkeep)
• Barren Planets (Hot): Barren planets are somewhat messy for savescumming, as they have a huge list of useless anomalies. But there are some good ones...
  • "Looking Down" - A powerful level 3 anomaly with two possible outcomes, both are good depending on your needs: "Unusual Techtonics" adds a massive +6 Physics, +3 Engineering modifier to the planet. "Alien Barracks" generates a special project that, if researched, adds the Military Theory trait to your scientist. [Warning - If you are a Pacifist (maybe Fanatic Pacifist) you will not get the trait Military Theory]
  • "Winking" - A rare level 3 anomaly that offers you a choice if researched: Studying the planet's natural processes will add a +6 Physics modifier to the planet. You also have the option to spend 200 energy to perform a "Tactical Terraform" on the planet that, if successful, instantly transforms the barren planet into a habitable one. It's advised to either visually gauge the planet to make sure it's a sizable one (or, if you want to be very sure, decompress the game file and look up the planet's exact size). If you can terraform it into a size 20+ planet, go with the terraformation option instead.
  • "Peculiar Crater" - This anomaly is actually possible on asteroids and cold barren planets as well, but it seems to be more common on hot barren planets so I'll just introduce it here. If researched, it adds +5 Engineering and the Living Metal strategic resource to the planet, as well as the research option for Living Metal (and if you already have that research option unlocked, it adds 25% progress to the research!)
  • "Atmospheric Anomaly" - A level 2 anomaly possible on both types of barren planets, it results in the "Shadow Play" modifier which adds +6 Society research to the planet.
• Barren Planets (Cold): Cold barren planets share the possibility for "Peculiar Crater" and "Atmospheric Anomaly" as hot barren planets, but do not have the possibility for "Looking Down" and "Winking". It also has all the possible useless anomalies as hot barren planets, which make them somewhat annoying for savescumming... But it does have one cool anomaly up its sleeves.
  • "Cold, Hard Potential" - One of the most useful anomalies in the game, this level 2 anomaly can only be triggered on cold barren planets and frozen planets. It has 4 potential outcomes (NOTE: this can also be triggered by Frozen Worlds):
    • "Explosions in the Sky" - Adds a temporary survey & anomaly research speed boost to your empire (120 months). This is generally the least desirable outcome.
      
    • "Strength from Small Places" - You find an interesting bacteria that you can choose to put toward military research or energy production. Putting it toward military will grant a set percentage of shield research (not recommended), whereas putting it toward energy generation will add an unique empire modifier, "Enhanced Solar Power", which adds +5 energy output empire-wide.
    • "Teachings of Explorers" - One of the must-have outcomes, it issues a special project that once researched, grants the "Master's Teachings: Philosophical Mindset" edict (+10% Research Speed to Society).
    • "Diamond in the Rough" - Pretty much the only outcome you want once you have obtained the previous two. This outcome offers you two choices:
      • Promote the Protege Scientist: You gain a new scientist leader. The new scientist is GUARANTEED to have the "Spark of Genius" as the first trait (+10% Research Speed), with a second trait being random. If savescumming, you can spam reload the dialogue box until you create a powerful combination (such as Spark of Genius + Maniacal or Sentient AI Assistant). Oh, and the planet gets a +5 Physics modifier. [Note: Check my reply regarding this outcome to “witness the full power of this fully operational battle” savescum]
      • Keep the Protege on Board: The science ship you used to research the anomaly gains a unique (temporary - lasts 7200 days) modifier that adds +10% Anomaly Discovery Chance, -20% Anomaly Fail Risk, and +20% Anomaly Research Speed (the tooltip for the dialogue box only lists the anomaly research bonus, which is incorrect; the exact code segment for the modifier is as follows:
        Code:
        protege_onboard = {
        ship_anomaly_research_speed_mult = 0.20
        ship_anomaly_fail_risk = -0.20
        ship_anomaly_generation_chance_mult = 0.10
        }
• Frozen Planet: Frozen planets shares all the useless anomalies as barren planets, but it has two good potential anomalies: "Cold, Hard Potential" (also possible on cold barren planets), and "Life Signs".
  • "Life Signs" - There's a possible anomaly called "Life Signs" for most of the celestial body classes (barren, frozen, toxic, asteroids, and gas giants). Most of them adds a +3 Society modifier (except for the barren one, which adds +3 Mineral and is therefore the crappiest), but the Frozen planet's Life Signs anomaly is unique: It contains two phases. The first phase involves researching the anomaly itself, which adds +3 Society to the planet, as expected - but then it prompts you about a special project called "Mount Deep Sea Expedition". Successfully completing this special project generates two possible outcomes: The crappier outcome grants +200 experience points to your scientist. The better outcome grants the experience, plus a large amount of Engineering research points, AND adds +5 Engineering +Living Metal modifier to the planet!
• Gas Giants: Gas giants don't really have anything amazing. There are a small handful of anomalies that add +3 of a science type, +3 minerals, or +3 energy to a gas giant. The only really note-worthy anomaly in the Gas Giants category is "Gas Giant Signal".
  • "Gas Giant Signal" - Chances are you have come across this one already; it's a level 3 anomaly in which you make contact with an alien species who wishes to migrate to a new home world. You end up ferrying them around multiple times throughout the course of the event chain, and each time they add a +6 Society modifier to the gas giant they migrate to.
• Habitable Worlds: Habitable worlds in general have their own set of anomalies (different from barren planets & asteroids). Most of them have to do with adding or modifying tile resources or discovering a pre-sentient species. But there are some notable anomalies to discover:
  • "What Hums in the Night" (Any Type) - This level 3 anomaly has a chance to occur on any habitable planet. It has two possible outcomes: The first outcome adds 20% progress to your next-tier Biology Lab research. The second outcome adds an Alien Toy Factory to the planet's surface (tile location is random, savescum if you need it on a specific tile). The Toy Factory adds a whopping +6 Engineering +3 Society to the tile.
  • "Spotty Greenery"(Topical/Ocean/Continental) - This level 2 anomaly has two outcomes: "Cornucopia" (crappier outcome, adds a +3 food tile to the planet), and "Ancient Automata" (best outcome, adds a Autonomous Fabricator to the planet). The Autonomous Fabricator is the same kind of mineral production facility used by Fallen Empires, and generates a whopping +12 Minerals.
    
  • "Nutritious Fruit" (Tropical) - A level 2 anomaly that only triggers on Tropical worlds, it adds the "Nutritious Fruit" modifier to the planet which causes +10% Happiness and +20% Growth Speed.
  • "Among the Vines & Trees" (Tropical) - A level 2 anomaly that adds the "Migrating Forest" modifier to the planet. This adds a single, un-removable blocker tile which has the adjacency effect of +2 Society research.
  • "Arid and Abandoned" (Arid) - A level 3 anomaly in which you find an abandoned alien sensor array on the planet. You have the option to scrap it for +1000 minerals or repairing it - choose the repair option to unlock the edict "Extensive Sensor Searches" (+25% planet sensor range) as well as adding a +200% sensor range modifier to the planet itself.
  • "Buried in the Sand" (Desert) - A level 2 anomaly that has two possible outcomes (both useful); the first outcome involves the discovery of an ancient sentient AI, which you can repurpose to be an Admiral for your fleet. The AI Admiral is unique in that it starts off with an age of 1 (so it will stick around for a long long time, though not immune to death through old age) as well as two traits already slotted ("Aggressive" and "Fleet Logistician"). This means it can potentially have more total traits than normal Admirals (by earning them through command and leveling). The second outcome creates a special project "Teachings of Settlers", which unlocks the "Master's Teachings: The Greater Good" edit (-10% Building Cost, +10% Building Speed).
  • "Planetary Scars"(Continental/Tropical/Tundra) - Level 2 anomaly. Creates a special project that allows you to reverse engineer the super weapon of an extinct alien species. There's a high chance of getting lesser outcomes (+200 leader experience), but if you succeed (about 25% chance), you will get one of the following: Particle Lance (if you have laser starting weapon), Kinetic Artillery (if you have kinetic), or Swarmer Missiles (if you have missiles).

If we're doing a new thread since @Simoom isn't around the forums often to update the old thread: @Lord Fearlys, you should just be editing the main post instead of posting new posts so people coming here to can just look in one place instead of having to skim many posts.

I'll once again throw out the pastebin doc I periodically update with my personal anomaly notes. https://pastebin.com/Lmuh0YJe

So just updated the asteroid anomaly

the result I got was called Abandon Thrusting which awarded me with Ion Thruster technology. Which is better, +9 engineering or instant tech?

Depends on how easy it is for you to harvest that +9. It'd probably take 20 years of harvesting it to get the amount of research production out of it to match a free tech, and that's ignoring the energy cost of maintaining the station. Still, on a scale of 500 years 20 isn't hugely significant. Ideally, you'd get both. Still, I'd go for the free tech.

Unfortunately, in 2.2 the +9 bonus was reduced to a +3. The +6 outcome is now the better of the two. @Lord Fearlys, I take it you're a console player?

WealthyAardvark said:

Depends on how easy it is for you to harvest that +9. It'd probably take 20 years of harvesting it to get the amount of research production out of it to match a free tech, and that's ignoring the energy cost of maintaining the station. Still, on a scale of 500 years 20 isn't hugely significant. Ideally, you'd get both. Still, I'd go for the free tech.

Unfortunately, in 2.2 the +9 bonus was reduced to a +3. The +6 outcome is now the better of the two. @Lord Fearlys, I take it you're a console player?

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Yes Aardvark I am, Xbox One X. The game is awesomesauce, can’t wait for Utopia.

Lord Fearlys said:

Yes Aardvark I am, Xbox One X. The game is awesomesauce, can’t wait for Utopia.

Click to expand...

There is an entire subforum dedicated to the console edition, you may want to repost this thread there.