Stellaris: How Do Planetary Invasions Work?
While most of Stellaris' combat takes place between fleets of advanced starships, an inhabited system cannot be secured by an attacking empire until its planets are occupied. This requires a planetary invasion, sending millions of ground troops to seize control of the world. A well-executed invasion can easily occupy a planet, while a bad one is an expensive mistake.
Related: The Best Mods For Stellaris, Ranked
Whether your troops are humanoid, robotic, insectoid, or any of the many species types available in Stellaris, having a grasp of the ground combat system will help keep them alive. Read on to become a space-age Sun Tzu!
Before sending in your ground troops, most planets will need to be softened up with an orbital bombardment. This is done by moving one or more fleets to orbit the target planet. The ships will continuously degrade the planet's defenses over time as long as they remain in orbit and are not interrupted by combat. Larger fleets deal more damage, up to a maximum fleet size of 200. Fleets larger than 200 do not gain any additional bonuses to bombardment.
The effects of an orbital bombardment campaign are determined by the fleet's stance, which can be selected in the fleet's window. By default, fleets use Selective Bombardment, dealing less damage to defending armies but avoiding needless civilian casualties.
Damage to a planet's infrastructure is measured in Devastation, which is expressed as a percentage from zero to a hundred. Each point of Devastation reduces most of the planet's benefits, including Housing, Amenities, and resource production, by one percent. Once Devastation reaches twenty-five percent, orbital bombardment will begin to kill pops each month.
"Normal damage" and "normal Devastation
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