Stellaris News

Space 4X strategy game Stellaris launched in 2016, but Paradox can't stop adding to the universe. Last time I checked in, it was school trips to other dimensions. Now, it's Cosmic Storms. Due for release alongside the Stellaris 3.13 Vela update on September 10th, these are a paid "mechanical expansion" (priced at a rather chunky £11, $13 or €13, and available as part of the current season pass) that builds upon the game's existing Space Storms, "providing a deeper experience with strategically meaningful gameplay and beautiful upgraded visuals". Wash that down with new civics, precursor narratives, anomalies, archaeology sites, techs, edicts, a new Ascension perk, and new galactic community resolutions.

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[h2]A phenomenon is sweeping across the galaxy.[/h2]



I’m excited to announce that Episode 2 of Stellaris: Season 08, the Cosmic Storms mechanical expansion, will be released alongside the Stellaris 3.13 ‘Vela’ update on September 10th, 2024.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
Note: Tooltips shown in the video were from a development branch that has already been updated, more info next week.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2863060/Stellaris_Cosmic_Storms/

[h2]Dark Clouds Gather ...[/h2]

For some time we have been unsatisfied with the Space Storm that currently exists in Stellaris. Cosmic Storms gave us the opportunity to revamp the system entirely, providing a deeper experience with strategically meaningful gameplay and beautiful upgraded visuals.

With this expansion, eight new storms with varying positive and negative effects are set to spiral across the galaxy.

We’ve also added a new weather map mode for forecasting these storms and predicting their motion, with technologies and buildings to attract, repel, or with an Ascension Perk, even create storms.



[h2]... But Every Cloud Has a Silver Lining[/h2]

Storms may pass through your planets with intriguing effects, leaving behind a changed landscape or unearthing long buried treasures.



[h2]"Burn Fast and Die Radically - That's Always Been Our Way"[/h2]

What's life without the rush?

Other empires may obsess about heinous things like economy and population. The Storm Chasers have long since mastered the challenges of their homeworld. The time has come to blast off screaming into the void.

At last, a whole new opportunity to shred the limits of experience!



[h2]Embrace the Storms[/h2]

Prepare your empires to weather the cosmic tempests with three new Civics, each offering unique strategies to harness the power of the elements.

The Corporate, Hive Mind, or Machine Intelligence versions of these Civics require access to their Authorities - MegaCorp, Utopia, and either Synthetic Dawn or The Machine Age, respectively.



[h2]Uncover the Past[/h2]

Embark on a journey through the annals of time with two new Precursor Event Chains, each offering a glimpse into the ancient history of the Stellaris universe. These chains weave tales of civilizations long lost to the cosmic winds, with untold secrets buried beneath the stars.



Stellaris: Cosmic Storms includes:

• Cosmic Storms that ravage the galaxy
  
• Storm Chaser Origin
  
• Civics
  
  • Planetscapers
    
  • Astrometeorology
    
  • Storm Devotion
• Two new Precursor narratives, with two new Relics
  
• Events, Anomalies, and Archaeology Sites
  
• Storm-related technologies, Edicts, Galactic community resolutions, and an Ascension Perk

[h3]Dev Diary Schedule[/h3]

• Aug 15 - Announcing Cosmic Storms
  
• Aug 22 - The Storms and their Aftermaths
  
• Aug 29 - Storm Chaser Origin, Civics, and Precursors
  
• Sept 5 - 3.13 "Vela" and Cosmic Storms Release Notes

Cosmic Storms can be purchased as part of the Stellaris: Season 08 Expansion Pass, or as a standalone purchase for $12.99 (regional pricing may vary). It is also included as part of the Stellaris Expansion Subscription


Pre-Purchase Stellaris: Cosmic Storms alone, or with a discount as part of Stellaris: Season 08!

Hello everyone!

Welcome to another mod highlight! This will be the final mod highlight of the summer, and we will be returning to our regularly scheduled dev diaries on Thursday!

This mod highlight is all about new technologies, and all of the mods add new techs to expand on vanilla mechanics.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
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[h3]Extra Ship Components NEXT​[/h3]
By NHunter

Written by NHunter​

Extra Ship Components aims to provide an extended and expanded technology tree that features upgraded versions of all vanilla weapon and utility components, as well new technology branches such as extra-large autocannons and missiles, and new kinetic and energy weapons. In addition to that, entirely-new types of weapons are introduced:

• Psionic weapons that allows one to unleash the full might of their empire's most powers psionics,
  
• Biological and Crystalline weapons based on spacebourne creatures, showcasing the empire's mastery over genetic engineering,
  
• Gravitic and Chrono-spatial weapons that utilize fundamental forces of nature to great and devastating effects,
  
• Nanite weapons with the power of very hungry synthetic life
  
• Special components obtainable only by defeating great leviathans to serve as a proof of an empire's might.
  

And with optional add ons, one can also change and improve the loadouts of FE fleets, giving them more power and thematic weapon sets, as well as unique components, some of which can be reverse engineered. Leviathans, Endgame Crises, Gray Goo and Curator Enclaves also receive a glow-up with improved ship designs to serve as a better challenge to the player.

[h3]Sparble's Stellar Hyper Constructs​[/h3]
By Sparble

Written by Sparble​

Hyperconstructs expands Stellaris' Megastructure features by adding 27 different new Megastructures to the game along with plenty of other content surrounding these. These structures currently reach from the relatively small Tier A ones, such as Shellworlds, to Tier G ones, which only the most advanced civilizations would be able to build.

At last, Hyperconstructs has integrated fully dedicated support for mods like Planetary Diversity and Gigastructural Engineering & More in the form of compatibility overrides, additional Gigastructure stages, and other effects.

More content is planned in the future, with an ever-growing list of megastructure ideas, event chains, and more, so stay tuned!

Features:

• Plenty New Megastructures
  
• New Planet & Star Classes
  
• New Become-The-Crisis Route
  
• New Endgame Crisis
  
• New Strategic Resources
  
• New Origins
  
• New Events
  
• New Technologies, Ship Components, Traits & Bombardment Stances
  
• New Jobs along with Districts & Buildings
  
• Dedicated Gigastructures + Planetary Diversity Support
  

Inspiration:
A huge inspiration for some of the megastructures have been Isaac Arthur's videos on Youtube. He has a great series of megastructure concepts and other space related stuff, and the initial idea for adding Shellworlds and the Stellar Hoop came from his videos.

Another initial inspiration for Hyperconstructs was that when Nemesis was released I liked the (back then) newly added player crisis mechanic, but wanted to stay ingame after ascension. This is how I came up with the idea of the Dimensional Tearer, allowing players to ascend into a higher plane of existence, but still being able to stay ingame after their ascension to mess with reality as they like.

Huge thanks to the Stellaris Community as they really helped me over time with my modding questions; I most likely wouldn't have advanced that much into modding without their help!

[h3]Nanite Expansion Continued​[/h3]
By Sunconure11

Written by Sunconure11​

Exploring hypothetical technologies in scales from the Micro to the Atto and everything between, the mod offers a plethora of new options for empires, many of which are derived from the sci-fi encyclopedia at Orion's Arm. All heavily integrate Nanites and make them an essential component of cutting edge empires. Three variations of the ascension perk to start your nanotechnology journey have been included; one for Organic Empires, one for Synths, and one for Machine empires.

Features:

• 40+ new technologies
  
• 5 new ship components
  
• two new buildings
  
• two new megastructures
  
• one of which is a giant AI entity who’s “personality” you get to influence
  
• a series of upgradable planet modifiers
  
• a new planet bombardment stance
  
• three new armies with a unique icon
  
• a set of traits for Synths and Machines equivalent to the Brain Slug for Organics
  
• And more!
  

[h3]Dawn Of Ascension[/h3]​
By Daniellm

Written by Daniellm​

Dawn Of Ascension is a Vanilla+ mod that expands on the mid to end game content of Stellaris. It adds multiple event chains to learn the secrets of dark matter power, including infiltrating a Fallen Empire's Master Archive, digging up old abandoned Precursor shipyards or even putting your best scientists at the major task of inventing it yourself!

The major feature of the mod is "the ascension project" , a long situation where you invent a bunch of dark matter related technologies, and even go beyond what the fallen empires did before you, however... the ancient guardians will not sit idle and watch the primitive empires do the ascension project.

Are you ready for the next step in your technological evolution?

Features:

• 3 new event chains to gain Dark Matter Power
  
• new civics allowing everything from putting dark matter cores into your machine worlds, to having scion wargoals so everyone fights to unite the galaxy under your banner
  
• The ascension project, a long project allowing you to go beyond those that came before you.
  
• New ascendant shipset
  
• 3 tiers of FE+ automated industries
  
• New ships allowing you to match the power level of FE ships and beyond
  
• 2 New tech tiers for components
  
• Custom weapon effects for all weapons
  
• Doa is made with mod compatibility in mind and should be compatible with everything!
  
• 2 different ascension mechanics depending on what mods you have installed
  

That’s it for this Mod Highlight! Hope you’ve found some new mods to discover, and new things to learn out in the galaxy.

Thanks for reading!