Stellaris News

Hello Stellaris community!

I’m PDS_Bojj, a content designer on Stellaris, and as someone with a deep love for storytelling, weird science, and moral quandaries wrapped in biotech horror, working on BioGenesis has been an absolute joy. This expansion dives deep (like deep deep) into what it means to reshape life, not just physically, but culturally, philosophically, and even politically.

In today’s diary, I’m thrilled to share a look at something we’ve been brewing in the gene-vats for a while now: Biomorphosis, our brand-new Genetic Ascension path, and all the squishy systems that come with it: situations, modular traditions, and yes, even genetically-themed Advanced Authorities! It’s evolution, but make it playable.

So whether you're here for the cloned bureaucrats, the flawless über-citizens, or the writhing mutation-hives of your dreams… Auntie Bojj has got you covered!

Let’s dive in!​
​
[h3]The Biomorphosis Situation​[/h3]

Biomorphosis: Why not jump-start the future of our species?

In BioGenesis, we’ve reimagined the Genetic Ascension path into something more dynamic, thematic, and, dare I say… organic. Welcome to Biomorphosis, a Situation that unfolds over three stages, each one a critical turning point in your species’ transformation.​

Your Situation Approach is a lot like yourself… It matters.

When you take the newly named Biomorphosis Ascension Perk, you will start on the path to shape the future of your civilization through a series of decisions that define how your species evolves. At the beginning of each stage, you’ll select one of three philosophical and technological approaches to guide your development:
​
Purity​
The body is a sacred vessel, and perfection lies in refinement, not deviation. This approach focuses on enhancing existing traits, optimizing your species’ current genetic code, and preserving essential identity. Expect events about ideological purity, resistance to corruption (internal and external), and perhaps a little eugenics drama if you’re feeling spicy.
​
Cloning​
Mass production meets organic precision. Cloning enables you to scale your population quickly and efficiently, but at what cost to individuality? This path explores questions of identity, resource management, and ethical dilemmas surrounding consciousness and copyhood. You might find your leaders arguing about the souls of your citizens... or the cost-benefit analysis of their replaceability.
​
Mutation​
Why perfect the old when you can become something new? Mutation embraces chaos, randomness, and radical adaptation. This is the path for those who believe in progress through transformation, no matter how monstrous. As your species warps and shifts, so too will your empire! Expect powerful new traits, disturbing events, and maybe even a few limbs where there weren’t any before.​

You can’t facilitate genome research without a Genomic Research Facility!
​
Each stage of Biomorphosis brings with it new narrative events and mechanical consequences, all tailored to your chosen approach. You can double down on a single path, or mix and match to create something truly unique; a mosaic of flesh, thought, and purpose. But don’t forget to build a Genomic Research Facility on one of your planets first, otherwise you won’t have the facilities to engage in genomic research!

So, whether you’re breeding perfect paragons, churning out clone armies, or embracing the squelching beauty of the unknowable genome, Biomorphosis offers you a chance to live your best post-Darwinian fantasy.​
​
[h3]Modular Tradition Trees[/h3]​
BioGenesis doesn’t just reshape your species, it reshapes how your empire thinks, acts, and dreams. Introducing the Modular Tradition Tree: a dynamic, partially customizable tradition system tailored to your Biomorphosis journey.​

M-U-T-A-T-I-O-N, YOU CAN CONTROL YOUR MUTATION!
​
As your empire progresses through the Biomorphosis Situation, the approach choices you make (Purity, Cloning, or Mutation) don’t just influence events, they also determine which Traditions you’ll gain access to in a new unique Genetic Ascension tree.

Each playthrough will feel different, because each tradition tree is built around a foundational path (again: either Purity, Cloning, or Mutation), augmented by select traditions from the other two, depending on your hybridization of choices across the three Biomorphosis stages.

At the end of the Biomorphosis situation, your empire unlocks a special ascension tradition tree. This tree is centered around your dominant approach (whichever of the three you selected the most during the situation). Additional picks in the tree will be drawn from the other approaches you dipped into, creating a hybrid structure.

So, if you’ve picked Mutation twice and Cloning once, you’ll get a Mutation-based tree with some synthetic reproductive flavor. Or, if for example, you go all in on Purity, you can expect a tradition tree as tight and controlled as your gene pool.

Each tradition within the tree reinforces the strengths and philosophies of its source:

Purity Traditions enhance species cohesion, trait optimization, and biological defense mechanisms.

Cloning Traditions focus on growth efficiency, leader replacement, and societal adaptation to mass-production living.

Mutation Traditions unlock exotic biology, unpredictable perks, and a flirtation with the unrecognizable.​
​
Question: Why did you do this?​
Answer: We wanted to create a system that reflects you. Not just your empire’s species, but the ideological journey you’ve taken. This modular design means you aren’t locked into one narrow vision of Genetic Ascension. It means you can experiment, mix paths, or triple-down on your biological ideals. Whether you’re crafting a society of elegant gene-purists or an unholy sprawl of ever-shifting abominations, the tradition tree will evolve with you.
​
[h3]Advanced Authorities​[/h3]
Once you’ve completed your unique Genetic Ascension tradition tree, your empire will be ready for its next evolutionary leap, not just biologically, but politically. BioGenesis introduces a new system of Advanced Authorities, tailored to the philosophy that shaped your Biomorphosis journey.​

Everyone is equal! Even if you have tentacles coming out of your head! But also… ew.
​
Whether you rule through mandate, decree, profit, consensus, or collective consciousness, your ascended society will transform into a more specialized and thematically rich version of its base authority, infused with either Purity, Cloning, or Mutation ideology.

These are not just cosmetic upgrades. Each Advanced Authority comes with unique modifiers, and governing mechanics, reflecting the bio-political ideals your empire has chosen to embody.​
​
Here are some examples of the new Advanced Authorities:​

• Cloning Democracy, or “Cordant Multiplicity”
  This government embraces cloning technology as a testament to equality and progress. Clones stand shoulder to shoulder with natural-born individuals, their voices equally valued. The will of the people is enriched by the diversity of every perspective, clone or not.
  
  
• Mutation Hive Mind, or “Adaptive Dominion”
  This Hive's hyper-adaptive drones form a dynamic and ever-evolving force, leveraging constant mutation to overcome environmental and tactical challenges. Each adaptation strengthens the collective, ensuring unparalleled versatility and resilience as the Hive mind thrives in any condition.
  
  
• Purity Dictatorship, or “Nucleic Judiciary”
  This government wields genetic and biometric data as tools of pre-emptive justice, scrutinizing every citizen's genetic code for criminal predispositions. By intervening before transgression, it ensures order through meticulous oversight. True justice is not reactive but preventive, safeguarding society by eliminating crime at the root.
  
  
• Cloning Megacorp, or “Replicating Horde”
  Advanced cloning technology drives the relentless production of genetically identical drones, each engineered for perfect efficiency and unity. Obeying the innate command to go forth and multiply, this hive intends to blot out the stars.
  
  
• Mutation Empire, or “Genomic Expansionist”
  Embracing the unpredictable power of random mutation, this empire taps into untold potential, fostering innovations and abilities that traditional methods could never achieve. In the race for dominance, the chaos of mutation becomes their greatest advantage, propelling them toward unrivaled supremacy.
  
  
• Purity Oligarchy, or “Eugenic Hierarchy”
  Absolute power must be entrusted to the genetically ordained elite, the purest and most capable stewards of this civilization's destiny. Beneath them, each citizen fulfills a predefined role, meticulously tailored to their inherited genetic potential. Contentment flows not from ambition, but from accepting one's designated purpose.
  

​
[h3]Tailored to Your Path[/h3]​
Each of the three Biomorphosis philosophies (Purity, Cloning, and Mutation) has its own flavor of Authority type. That’s 18 total Advanced Authorities, all designed to express a vision of what society has become in the aftermath of biological transcendence.

Choosing your Advanced Authority is a crowning moment. It’s a reflection of your empire’s journey from mere organic matter to a society reborn in gene-forged glory.

That’s all from me for now. Thanks so much for reading! May your biomass be bountiful, your cloning vats efficient, and your mutations... mostly non-lethal.

Stay curious, stay squishy,
PDS_Bojj

...​
[h3]A Clone Interlude​[/h3]
Hey, Alfray Stryke jumping in here as I’ve seen a lot of questions of “How does the Clone Army origin interact with BioGenesis??1!”

To start with, as a Clone Army origin you will be prevented from undertaking Biomorphosis until you’ve unlocked your genetic potential however, once you’ve done so you could even take the ascension perk as your first AP.​

How do you unlock your genetic potential, you ask? By completing either the Clone Fertility or Clone Potential special projects.



Clone Fertility makes your species capable of reproduction once more and allows you to undergo Biomorphosis with the complete freedom of any path you desire.
​
Clone Potential however means that your species remains as infertile clones and as such locks you to an upgraded version of the Cloning path if you undertake Biomorphosis. This upgraded Cloning path grants the following, in addition to the regular rewards:​

• The ability to genetically modify Clone Soldier species.​
  
• Regular Clone Vats, Genomic Research Facilities and Medical Buildings increase the number of Clone Soldiers sustained per planet.​
  
• Being able to apply the Clone Soldier trait to other species via Genetic Modification.​
  

[h3]Next Week​[/h3]
Next week we’ll be exploring Phenotype Traits and the Evolutionary Predators Origin.

See you then!​

by Eladrin

Today's update includes some major changes to the planet view, and some very, very basic gestalt functionality.

Planets now start with six building slots in their Urban District, with two Zones available to customize its output. Your homeworld will generally begin with an Industrial (Alloys + Consumer Goods) and an Archives (Unity + Research) Zone at game start. These changes have not been replicated to gestalts or special planets or starts yet.

We are planning one more Open Beta update (3.99.7) this Friday.

[h3]Stellaris 3.99.6 'Phoenix' Open Beta Release Notes[/h3]

Beta Features​

• Planets now have six building slots by default and two zones that can be used to specialize their urban districts.
  
  • Most empires no longer start with the early space age industry buildings or jobs
    
  • Known Issue: This has not been replicated to gestalts or special planets yet.
• Planet UI now shows last month's growth for each pop group.
  
• Added a mixed Research and Unity “Archives” Zone.
  

Fixes and Improvements​

• Adjusted rural job numbers
  
• Added urban zones to mining districts for Subterranean empires
  
• Clicking on a built Zone will now bring up the District Details panel
  
• By player request, the Build Queue side panel now automatically starts open when looking at your planets
  
• Prevent AI from cheating for zone building
  
• Industrial Zones now use the correct icon.
  
• Strata now show their population when collapsed.
  
• Timeline origin images are now properly masked
  
• Planetary Ascension area in the Management Tab now functions.
  
  • Add icon and style label for ascension tier in management tab
    
  • Add text with breakdown of the modifiers provided by planetary ascension
• Some Hive and Machine setup has been completed, they should be slightly functional now
  
  • Known Issue: Hives do not get Mining Drones from Mining Districts, so, uh… maybe go Void Hive?
    
  • Hive and Machine Worlds have had an initial pass
    
  • Machine Starting Conditions have had an initial pass

[h3]How Do I Opt Into the Beta?​[/h3]

1. Turn off your mods. They will almost certainly cause you to crash.
   
2. Go to your Steam library, right click on Stellaris -> Properties -> Betas -> select "stellaris_test - 3.99.6 Open Beta" branch in the Beta Participation dropdown.
   

All previous 3.99.* Open Beta branches will also remain available. If you are having issues accessing the latest version of the 3.99.* Open Beta, please see this forum post for troubleshooting.

For more information on the Open Beta, as well as the intentions and goals of releasing such an early, unpolished version, please see this dev diary.

This week's feedback survey looks at Trade, Logistics, and Notifications and Messaging.

This week's Open Beta feedback survey is available here!

by Eladrin

Today's update adds the Betharian Zone, a Mandarin voice advisor, and new stargazer color variants, with broad fixes throughout.

[h3]Stellaris 3.99.5 ‘Phoenix’ Open Beta update[/h3]

Beta Features

• Added the Betharian Zone.
  
• “Venerable Scientist" (Mandarin Language) Voice Advisor
  
• Added new color variants for stargazer portrait
  

Fixes and Improvements

• Unbroke all colonies.
  
• Fixed issues with Catalytic Processing civics.
  
• Fixed the zone planet modifiers not being applied if districts have multiples of the same zone type.
  
• Fixed the Chosen's habitats.
  
• Pirates are a little less gung-ho to form.
  
• Planetary deficits now cost trade instead of providing it.
  
• Increased the base rate of Auto-Migration.
  
• Pops will now automatically migrate to planets with 20% habitability or higher instead of 40% or higher.
  
• When the maximum number of auto-modded pops changes, the current number is now updated correctly.
  
• City Districts now change their name and descriptions based on their zone specializations.
  
• Compressed unity and added job swaps.
  
• City set graphics scale adjusted.
  
• Updated Empire Progression Rewards to always display which technology is unlocked.
  
• Allowed rural zones on ringworlds.
  
• Removed bonus production on tier 1 buildings, removed tier 1 buildings planet limit.
  
• Pop count, Housing, and Amenities on the planet view now use short notation (such as 13.4k rather than 13405).
  
• Replaced Upgrade buttons for districts with icons.
  
• Background graphics added for all districts.
  
• Added progress bars to the zones that are being built or replaced.
  
• District/Zone/Building Construction tooltips added.
  
• Changed how selected District is being highlighted.
  
• Highlight the selected zone slot when building new zones.
  
• Display old zone name, icon and building slots if the zone is being replaced.
  
• Display the icon and name of the zone being constructed.
  
• Rural district zones can now also be built by clicking anywhere within the empty zone slot.
  
• Further Timeline UI adjustments, fixing background masking.
  
• Added designation description in the colonization UI.
  
• Adjusted district numbers in the colonization UI to show the max amount of possible districts.
  
• Added functionality to deselect a selected colony designation.
  
• Rearranged and tweaked colony modifier displaying in the colonization UI.
  
• Added new databank icons.
  
• Added starting notification for selecting Empire Focus.
  
• Added planetary deficits to the Planetary view
  

[h3]How Do I Opt Into the Beta?​[/h3]

1. Turn off your mods. They will almost certainly cause you to crash.
   
2. Go to your Steam library, right click on Stellaris -> Properties -> Betas -> select "stellaris_test - 3.99.4 Open Beta" branch in the Beta Participation dropdown.
   

All previous 3.99.* Open Beta branches will also remain available. If you are having issues accessing the latest version of the 3.99.* Open Beta, please see this forum post for troubleshooting.

For more information on the Open Beta, as well as the intentions and goals of releasing such an early, unpolished version, please see this dev diary.

We also have a new feedback survey this week, which looks at first impressions of Precursor selection, Databank, Species Modification, and Game Pacing Adjustments.

This week's Open Beta feedback survey is available here!

by Alfray Stryke

Hello everybody! Welcome to our first BioGenesis development diary!

Today we will talk about ships. That are made of meat.

—

Several weeks ago, Eladrin mentioned that the ship designer changes originally planned for 4.0 "Phoenix" would not be included in the Open Beta, as they’re now needed for our upcoming Q2 DLC release. We’ve since seen a fair amount of speculation as to what we might have been cooking that’d require such changes… So please allow me to introduce our Biological Ships!

[h3]MEAT SHIPS! MEAT SHIPS! MEAT SHIPS[/h3]

In BioGenesis, we are adding two distinct Biological shipsets, with unique ship classes and technology.

Our goals in adding Biological Ships to Stellaris were to ensure that they are not only different in appearance from mechanical ships (and space fauna), but also in gameplay. Thus, the key mechanical differences are:

• When using Biological Ships, Corvettes, Frigates, Destroyers, Cruisers and Battleships are replaced with Maulers, Weavers, Harbingers, and Stingers, each of which have three growth stages.
  
• Biological Ships, including Starbases, Megastructures and Stations, have their primary construction resource converted from Alloys (or Minerals) into Food and their Energy upkeep likewise replaced with Food upkeep.
  
• Overwhelmingly, Biological Ship technologies fall in Society Research (Biology) instead of the familiar Engineering Research (Voidcraft).
  

And in classic Stellaris fashion, we’ve kept the flavor and narrative around Biological Ships intentionally vague, just enough to let you roleplay them however you like. Maybe they’re an extension of your Devouring Swarm, just another drone in space. Or maybe they’re advanced bio-machines, the pinnacle of your scientific achievement.

In order to use Biological Ships, you’ll need to select one of the shipsets during empire creation.

Different types of ships prompted our UX designer to give the Shipset selector a fresh coat of paint!

[h3]Growth Cycles[/h3]

Similar to Space Fauna from Grand Archive, Biological Ships have growth stages, but unlike Space Fauna, they do not naturally progress through these by aging. Instead, these ships have a unique component slot for supplementary organs that can be researched. Generally speaking, the Juvenile and Mature growth stages will likely be occupied by Growth Organs that allow the ships to progress to the next stage.



Alternatively, docking a fleet to a Starbase equipped with a Growth Chamber allows for additional growth, regardless of ship configuration.,



The accumulated growth progress for ships is shown in both the ship’s tooltip and the ship details window.





When Biological Ships are designed (either automatically or using the ship designer), all researched Growth Stages are configured as part of a single ship design. Once a Biological Ship has acquired sufficient Growth Progress, it will automatically change to using the next Growth Stage in its design. Alternatively, Biological Ships can be constructed at a shipyard at a later Growth Stage.

The three growth stages of the Weaver

Although all Growth Stages of Biological Ships use the same Fleet Command Limit for their ship class, later Growth Stages use more naval capacity, with the Mature stage using 1.5× and the Elder stage using 2× the Naval Capacity of the Juvenile stage.

[h3]MEAT SHIPS! MEAT SHIPS! MEAT SHIPS![/h3]

[h3]SHIPS MADE OF MEAT[/h3]
Maulers primarily focus on short-range combat with shield penetration and high damage to armor and shields. Equipped with melee-range mandible weapons and either short-range S-slot or PD-slot weapons, these ships will form the bulk of your navy in the early game. Their unique mandible weapons have similar damage scaling against starbases and larger ships as torpedoes.





The unique Organ components that Maulers have access to are the Corrosive Fluids and Metabolic Recycler (and their upgraded versions)





Weavers are support ships, making use of unique weapons to apply powerful buffs to their allies or debuffs to their enemies.



Weavers have unique access to an array of six support components, each with six tiers that belong in the PD-slot.





The unique Organ components that Weavers have access to are Symbiotic Amplifiers and Developmental Pheromones





Harbingers are carriers capable of deploying large amounts of strike craft and supporting them with point defense or long range missiles.





Strike craft for empires using Biological Ships are deployed in greater numbers per fighter wing, but have reduced hull points and armour instead of shields.



The unique Organ components that Harbingers have access to are Chitin Growth Regulators and the Incubation Matrix





Stingers are powerful late-game warships, equipped with multiple XL weapons or capable of unleashing heavy broadside barrages.





The unique Organ components that Stingers have access to are Exhaust Spiracles and Rangefinder Clusters.





As each of the different Growth Stages of each of the classes of Biological Ships can be built at a shipyard, we’ve taken the opportunity to implement collapsable headers when selecting which ships to build.

This works for mechanical ships and space fauna too!

Since Biological Ships have their own weapons, armour, shield and core components, we’ve gone through and ensured that the technologies use the appropriate icons depending on if you are using a Biological shipset or not.



[h3]Modding Notes[/h3]
As part of the work required to implement Biological Ships there have been a lot of changes to how ship components are scripted. Here’s some highlights:

• class_restriction, size_restriction and slot_restriction are deprecated in favour of using the possible and potential trigger blocks instead.
  
• Core Components now have an upgrade_path parameter, components that have the same upgrade path are shown on the same row.
  
• Ship components now support the show_tech_unlock_if = { } field, like buildings.
  
• New targeting parameters:
  
  • use_ship_main_target: if yes, overrides target_type and target_focus when ship's main target is within range, default no
    
  • target_type (target_enemies (default) / target_allies / target_controlled / target_own)
    
  • target_focus (single (default) / spread)
    
  • target_type: only valid if component_set has affects_target_type = yes
    
  • target_focus: only valid if component_set has affects_target_focus = yes
• New parameters for weapons:
  
  • on_hit: apply effects to target on hit. Scope = ship (target), from = ship (shooter)
    
  • hide_damage_values_from_tooltip = yes/no # If yes, it will hide Damage and Average Damage from weapon component tooltip (default = no)

[h3]PRIME CUTS FROM ART![/h3]

























[h3]Next Week[/h3]
Next week we’ll be looking at Ascension, Traditions, and Advanced Governments​. See you then!