Stellaris News

written by Iggy

Hello everyone, Iggy here with a surprise dev diary! I am a Content Designer who has worked as a Custodian for the past year or so, bringing you content like Permanent Employment and the Leviathan Parades.

I know Eladrin said no more diaries until after summer… But he is not around to stop me!

I couldn’t wait to present the initial relic balance changes and to give all of you lovely folks a chance to voice your feedback. Summer is historically a time of experimentation when it comes to Paradox, and why not experiment with how we gather feedback?

So let’s get started with some of my biggest bugbears regarding how the relics currently work, what I have done to address the issues, and why.

[h2]Crisis Relics[/h2]

The relics you get from defeating the various crises in the game are pretty tame - compared to all other relics, they are actually quite balanced. That is not good enough. These are your final reward for defeating the most powerful foe in the galaxy! Let’s give you a bit of a victory lap and have some fun with this.

As you can see, you no longer will gain a measly 30 Society Research. Instead, a massive 50% modifier to all society techs is in your future.

[h2]Precursor Relics[/h2]

Another issue that has plagued Stellaris for quite some time is the viability of your starting precursor. While we are not giving you the ability to choose which precursor you spawn with, I wanted to make each relic at least somewhat useful for most empires. Here, I also felt the need for some slight adjustments to the Cybrex and the Baol, as both are a bit too powerful in the early game, without removing their usefulness in the late game.

The Baol Decision now has an activation time, but you also gain hive Nu-Baol pops if you are a hivemind. If the 10% resource output wasn’t enough there is also a reason to keep using the relic on existing Gaia worlds to get a special form of Gaia Habitability on your organic pops.

The Cybrex War Forge might start out slower, but as the game progresses you’lll notice that it becomes more powerful than ever before, capable of processing additional minerals after each use.

What this rebalance also allows us to do is to make some relics slightly less annoying to use. At the top of my list, we have the Javorian Pox Sample — memed about being the worst relic in the game. Having to activate a relic and then go in and micro every fleet only for the bombardment stance to fall off a few years later made it a real frustrating relic to use as well.

Now we will always be ready to spread some plague.

[h2]Event Relics[/h2]

Finally, we got some event relics that vary from powerful to forgettable. Here the main goal was to spice up the use of relics that might not have benefits for every playstyles. Blade of the Huntress is gaining diplomatic weight as your envoy swings it around the galactic community floor; the Omnicodex can now produce hivemind pops if you are one yourself.

You can find all currently planned changes below, these are of course subject to change:

[h2]Precursor Relics:[/h2]

Javorian Pox:
Current:

• Passive: +20 Leader Lifespan
  
• Active: Javorian Pox Orbital Bombardment stance
  

Changed:

• Passive: Bombardment Stance and +20 Leader Lifespan
  
• Active: 50% increased biology research
  

The Last Baol:
Current:

• Active instantly creates a Gaia world
  

Changed:

• The active decision takes 5 years to create a Gaia world
  
• If the decision is activated on a Gaia World, all organic pops on the world get an empowered Gaia World Habitability preference granting them +5% resource output on Gaia Worlds.
  
• The Nu-Baol will be hivemind if you are a hivemind
  

Yuht Cryo Core:
Current:

• Passive: +1 pop on every new colony
  

Changed:

• Passive: +1 pop on every new colony, +20% energy weapon fire rate
  

Psionic Archive:
Current:

• Passive:
  
• -50% Shroud Cooldown
  
• Better Shroud odds
  
• Active:
  
• Event granting numerous boons, including a 500 experience boost which becomes quite lacking in the late game.
  

Changed:

• Passive:
  
• -50% Shroud Cooldown
  
• Better Shroud odds
  
• Unlocks an edict granting leader XP, longevity, and accident prevention for a zro upkeep.
  
• +5 Ruler Max Level
  
• Active: The knowledge option now always levels your ruler up a level instead of granting a flat xp bonus.
  

Cybrex Warforge:
Current:

• Passive: 5% More alloys, and allowing the building of the most powerful buildable army in the game.
  
• Active: Spend 10000 minerals and gain 5000 alloys.
  

Changed:

• Passive: Allows the building of the most powerful buildable army in the game.
  
• Active: Spend 2000 minerals and gain 1000 alloys. Effect Increases by 2000 minerals and 1000 alloys each time it’s activated up to a cap of 20,000 alloys.
  

Vultaum Reality Perforator:
Current:

• Active: Grants one of 4 random buffs lasting for 1 year.
  

Changed:

• Active: Grants one of 4 random buffs lasting for 1 - 5 years.
  

[h2]Event Relics:[/h2]

Blade of the Huntress:
Current:

• Passive: +25% Army Morale +2 Planet Sensor Range
  
• Active: +25% Sublight Speed for 10 years
  

Changed:

• Passive: +25% Army Morale 20% more diplo weight
  
• Active: +25% Sublight Speed for 10 years
  

Omnicodex:
Current:

• Active: Adds 3 pops of a random species
  

Changed:

• Active: Adds 3 pops of a random species, if you are a hivemind they are also hive-minded.
  

Ether Drake Trophy:
Current:

• Active: 10% more happiness
  

Changed:

• Active: 10% more happiness and 10 stability to every planet.
  

The Surveyor:
Current:

• Active: Can grant 3-5 rare resources among other deposits.
  

Changed:

• Active: Can grant 1-3 rare resource deposits. Nothing else changed.
  

Note: The Surveyor has half the cooldown and only costs energy to activate. It’s still an excellent peacetime relic.

[h2]Crisis Relics:[/h2]

Extradimensional Warlock:
Current:

• Passive: +15% Sublight Speed
  
• Active: +100% more jumpdrive range
  

Changed:

• Passive: +30% Sublight speed, +20% weapon range
  
• Active:
  
• +100% more jumpdrive range
  
• -50% jump cooldown reduction
  
• +75% more accuracy and range on your Quantum Catapult
  

Prethoryn Brood-Queen:
Current:

• Passive: +30 society research
  
• Active: Spawns a small fleet
  

Changed:

• Passive: +50% society research
  
• Active: Spawns a sizeable fleet
  

Isolated Contingency Core:
Current:

• Passive: +100% Pop Assembly Speed
  

Changed:

• Passive:
  
• +100% Pop Assembly Speed
  
• Allows the construction of 2 of each megastructure instead of 1.
  

[h2]Unchanged:[/h2]

Khan's Throne

• Felt like it had a solid theme already with a solid bonus.
  

Head of Zarqlan

• Has both an early game and a late-game bonus as well as superb flavor.
  

Miniature Galaxy

• Research is always top tier and random should stay random.
  

The Defragmentor

• Allows you to convert unity into energy. The passive not having any benefit to a spiritualist empire does feel kinda bad. Might look into it.
  

Scales of the Worm

• There is no way we can ever make this relic comparable to the bonus you get for embracing the Worm. It would have to be the strongest relic on this list.
  

The Rubricator

• One of two ways to get a repeatable source of Minor Artifacts, very powerful.
  

The Galatron

• Is the Galatron
  

Now I want to hear from you! Are you terrified of what I did to the Yuht Cryo Core? Annoyed that I skipped the Miniature galaxy? Still not feeling like activating the Pox Sample? Please feel free to analyze and make tier lists. Hopefully, after this next patch, every relic will be a bit more attractive!

Hi all,

Another hotfix has arrived, containing a select few fixes primarily for improving multiplayer stability.

Please find the patch notes below.

STELLARIS 3.4.5 "CEPHEUS" PATCH NOTES
[expand]
#################################################################
######################### VERSION 3.4.5 ##########################
#################################################################

Megacorps should no longer create rival Megacorps after winning an Impose Ideology war.
Fixed War Names sometimes being empty on the war pin tooltip.
Fixed Out of Sync upon hotjoining as an Overlord.
Fixed Out of Sync after triggering a revolt.
[/expand]

Please note that save file compatibility between versions is not guaranteed.

If you have an important 3.4.4 game going, please back up the save file before trying to load the save in 3.4.5. You can roll back to a prior version by right-clicking on Stellaris in your library -> Properties -> Betas -> choose the 3.4.4 from the drop-down.

If you experience crashing or other issues on 3.4.5, first disable all mods and start a new save. If the issue persists, please report it on the Bug Report forums.

If, like me, you've always wanted to see a more strategic, zoomed-out take on the Mass Effect setting, you're in luck: the Binary Helix mod group (cheekily named for a genetic engineering corporation in Mass Effect) is creating the Beyond the Relays project for Stellaris—a total conversion of the space strategy sim to the Mass Effect setting...
Read more.

Get 75% off Stellaris and Stellaris: Galaxy Edition, as well as up to 50% off selected DLCs, including 33% off the Necroids Species Pack, and 20% off Nemesis!

Just getting started? Jump start your interstellar empire, with the Stellaris: Starter Pack at 60% off! Or complete your collection (and only pay for the DLC you don't own) with the Stellaris: Ultimate Bundle at 50% off!

Get it here: https://pdxint.at/3n9kSGf

Already picked up the game, and wondering where to begin? Well, MaxTheCatfish has you covered, with the Top 10 Tips to get started in Stellaris:

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

To keep up on the latest News and Announcements, follow us on Steam, and join the Stellaris Community with the links below:

Website: http://stellaris.com
YouTube: http://youtube.com/c/stellarisofficial
Discord: http://discord.gg/stellarisofficial
Twitter: http://twitter.com/StellarisGame
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/StellarisGame
Forums: https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/forums/stellaris.900/

Hi all!

We're happy to announce the release of the 3.4.4 patch. Please find the final patch notes below.

It's another herculean effort from the team that we hope you will enjoy!

"STELLARIS 3.4.4 "CEPHEUS" PATCH NOTES
[expand]
#################################################################
######################### VERSION 3.4.4 ##########################​
#################################################################

[h3]Improvements[/h3]

• Automated Exploration and Automated Research are now available from the start of the game rather than being tech-locked.
  
• Construction ships now have an Automated Construction mode, which will automatically build Research and Mining Stations over appropriate deposits. (It will not automatically build Observation Stations, Hyper Relays, or other constructions.)
  
• Imperial Fiefdom changes
  
• The Imperial Fiefdom overlord is now barred from terms that allow it to join offensive wars of their subjects.
  
• Every member of the empire that does not start with the overlord nearby will start with a small overlord colony/outpost in the vicinity.
  
• The overlord's empire will be connected by 'Derelict Gateways' that the overlord can use, but which become ruined once the civil war starts
  
• Changed it so players can remain loyal to the overlord when the civil war begins, if they so wish. The AI will always go independent.
  
• Added Hydroponics Station designation for habitats. This designation removes 2 housing from Habitation Districts in exchange for adding 1 farmer jobs.
  
• Planetary automation will now seek to clear blockers as soon as there is any need. It now uses the same formula as the indicator on the outliner: i.e. if it is limiting the number of districts OR if there are buildings that could be built by clearing the blockers OR if planet growth speed is reduced (previous behaviour was to only check the first of those).
  
• Made some clarifications for the Shroudwalkers, so it is clearer what asset you are getting from them and how the planet modifier works.
  
• Criminal pops no longer reduce the efficiency of criminal syndicate branch offices.
  
• Added Quantum Catapult event art.
  
• added Hyper Relay event art image.
  
• New Overlord music track will now play in the main menu
  
• Empires created by releasing sectors or from status quo peace deals now have some starting resources to not immediately suffer deficits.
  
• Clarified that Subjugation War Terms only apply to Vassals and Subsidiaries.
  
• The tooltips for Resource Contribution terms now inform you that they block trade deals for the resources involved.
  
• The Reemployment Center holding now shows when the next zombie will be created.
  
• Spawning Pools and Progenitor Nests are now under the Pop Assembly building category.
  
• Added subjugation agreement caps of +1,000 / -10,000.
  
• Refined the Teachers of the Shroud requirements tooltip.
  
• Clarified that Progenitor Hives can only release sectors if they do not have the devouring swarm civic.
  
• Players will now be notified when their Overlord has built Holdings on their planet
  
• Starbase Transit Hubs now also fulfill the necessary requirement for slaves or non-sapient robots to automatically migrate from planets in the system.
  
• The dividend event now specifies which enclave is paying its dues.
  
• AI logic for voting on Free Migration has been adjusted to more strictly align with Xenophile/Xenophobe ethics.
  
• AI 10 year voting cooldown extended to now apply to other diplo actions like declaring war.
  
• Clarified the tooltip for the Strip Mine decision.
  
• Added a setting to Galaxy Setup that permits the disabling of L-Gates.
  
• Planetary Automation will now build pre-emptively if there are 0 jobs available on a planet or if there is an unemployed pop that can work a job from the suggested building. This should solve both the case where we shouldn't make specialist jobs for slaves but also allows us to preemptively build more jobs to allow for auto migration.
  
• Added an Upgrade module to the Planetary Automation such that players can now enable/disable automatically upgrading buildings on their planets.
  
• Vassal loyalty tooltip in subjugation view now includes full breakdown information.
  
• Subjects are now informed that they have a -50% penalty to diplomatic weight.
  
• Namelists Hive Mind 1 and Hive Mind 2 now feature names unique to each ship size (Corvette, Destroyer, etc.).
  
• If you don't use Consumer Goods and conquer a planet with factories on it, they will be removed.
  

[h3]Balance[/h3]

• Ships now gain 5 exp per day in battle instead of 1.
  
• Doubled the base unity output of telepaths.
  
• Unified effects for Citadel of Faith, Auto-Curating Vault and equivalent buildings.
  
• The Shroudwalkers have learned their lesson, and will no longer teach any Fanatic Purifiers about the Shroud. The Fanatic Purifiers will have to look for another origin now.
  
• Bulwark Battlewright aura now provides 0.25% hull regen per day.
  
• Bulwark Watch network effect no longer spawns too many armies. Instead it increases planetary stability by 5.
  
• Being an overlord now imparts a -1000 penalty when attempting to subjugate other overlords diplomatically.
  
• The Ministry of Science and Vigil Command now have an empire limit of 1.
  
• The upkeep of Overlord Beholder jobs now scale with the tier of the Bulwark subject (and thus the increase in the defensive platform cap).
  
• Reworked the Ministry of Science holding. It no longer provides increased research speed for the overlord depending on the number of science ships in orbit of the subject's planet. Instead it now gives subject researchers (or calculators or brain drones) research output for the overlord, with an appropriate increase in upkeep.
  
• The Orbital Assembly Complex now increases the effects of modules built on the planet's orbital ring.
  
• Habitation Modules provide +0.5 building slots.
  
• Orbital Shipyards gain +1 Shipyard capacity.
  
• Orbital Anchorages provide +2 Naval Capacity.
  
• Planetary Defense Guns and Batteries support +1 Defensive Platforms.
  
• Halved the hull and armor regen provided by Regenerative Hull Tissue, Nanite Repair System, Nanobot Cloud, Mercenaries, and Devouring Swarm. This will also affect the regeneration of leviathans and other entities that make use of these ship components.
  
• Retrofitting ships will no longer pay out the resources left over after the retrofit costs have been applied.
  
• Effects that granted modifiers to ship upgrade costs have been replaced with other modifiers. It should no longer be possible to be in a situation where it is cheaper to build empty ships and then upgrade them than to build the intended design right away.
  
• Significantly reduced the amount of time it takes to build Ion Cannons.
  
• Reduced weighting for clerks as pops seemed to really want to work as them instead of miners.
  
• Merc dividends no longer give ships when the patron is near or above their naval cap.
  
• Moved bonus resource storage for silos from tech_global_production_strategy to tech_construction_templates.
  
• If you declare a force ideology war on an empire, all non-gestalt overlords and subjects that are called into the war will also be subject to the force ideology effect.
  
• The Traditionalist faction in empires with the Teachers of the Shroud origin now approves of following the teachings of the Shroudwalkers.
  

[h3]Bugfixes[/h3]

• Fixed the notification message for forced approval of a negotiated agreement (due to lack of influence) saying the proposal was declined. Note that this fix is only applied to the english localization and will be applied in other languages in a future patch.
  
• Fixed ETA not being displayed in the fleet view.
  
• Progenitor Hives can now lease fleets without them being debuffed.
  
• AI will now no longer stop all colonisation during lategame crises. (Its instruction to not attempt to colonise and instead focus on war now expires in the midgame)
  
• The Khan should no longer be hostile to mercenaries.
  
• The Khan no longer counts as a Satrapy and thus can invade planets.
  
• Admirals no longer abandon their post on leased fleets.
  
• Planetary automation will no longer seek to build gene clinics if you are a synthetically-ascended empire.
  
• Fixed issue where planetary automation would upgrade Necrophage Centers of Elevation (which is often undesirable as it may lead to you running out of necrophytes)
  
• Newly colonized planets will now have their planet automation turned on if they are in an automated sector.
  
• You can no longer build an orbital ring around a planet with a destroyed orbital ring.
  
• When an orbital ring is destroyed, the planet owner now gains ownership of the ruined ring immediately.
  
• The Salvagers no longer introduce themselves to void dwelling empires as soon as they finish researching any technology.
  
• Mercenary fleet contracts can now be terminated after vassal has been integrated.
  
• Added missing localization for Imperial Fiefdom opinion modifiers.
  
• Traditions will now be properly transferred to vassals created from sectors
  
• Fixed "Proceed" button in the vassal agreement terms renegotiation menu sometimes being inactive when it shouldn’t.
  
• Fixed template with an unnamed flag causing issues when loading affected game saves from previous versions.
  
• Fixed modifying a species (via the species modification interface) applying default species rights instead of the rights of the species you were modifying (particularly painful if default rights were assimilation)
  
• Fixed possibility to set gender specific ruler titles, for example King and Queen.
  
• Fixed some issues with display of leader names.
  
• Corrected “Message in the Canopy” archaeology site outcome options.
  
• You can no longer declare wars of vassalisation against Inward Perfectionists.
  
• Fixed relay network modifiers being removed after specialist vassal levels up.
  
• You cannot use a secret fealty wargoal if you are at war with the overlord of the empire that has sworn fealty to you.
  
• Expel Corporation wars now close branch offices on your planets and those of your subjects belonging to the targeted MegaCorp.
  
• The Manifesti faction now use their faction icon.
  
• Pacifier colossus weapon can now target machine and hive worlds.
  
• The Traditionalist faction in empires with the Teachers of the Shroud origin now approves of following the teachings of the Shroudwalkers.
  
• Changed Subjugation War Terms to no longer apply invalid terms for Subsidiaries (such as integration allowed).
  
• Become the Crisis Bring into the Fold wargoal now respects your subjugation policy.
  
• Become the Crisis Bring into the Fold wargoal now causes subjugated empires to become subsidiaries if the BtC empire is a megacorp.
  
• Empires that are Brought into the Fold by a Scion now correctly convert to the Scion preset (as do their subjects).
  
• Subjects that bounce between vassal/subsidiary and protectorate states should now correctly gain the protectorate bonuses whenever they become a protectorate.
  
• Subsidiaries created via subjugation war now inherit the base subsidiary agreement restrictions.
  
• Fixed slave armies not being trainable.
  
• Splitting Imperial Fiefdom Overlord can no longer cause systems with shared ownership of planets.
  
• Hive-minds that reform into having the Memorialist civic no longer need to restart the game to build galactic memorials.
  
• Implemented the Subterranean Nation modifier directly into the origin so any empire that inherits the origin will gain the modifiers.
  
• Subterranean/Mantle Dwellers now correctly have the Cave Dweller trait.
  
• Fixed Terravores claiming that they could build Organic Sanctuary holdings.
  
• The tooltip for Habitat Administration buildings now lists the effects of colonist jobs for Void Dwellers.
  
• The job description of colonists now states that they can provide minerals instead of food.
  
• Fixed megacorps creating more megacorps from wars in some cases where the origins of the newly created empires weren't set correctly.
  
• Signs of the Locus now checks for the correct diplomatic stance. In addition, it now checks your border policy as well.
  
• Strongholds no longer benefit from Resistance is Frugal
  
• Borderless Authority and Personal Oversight correctly increase the number of subject holdings overlords can build.
  
• Fixed "Shroud Stench" planetary modifier lacking an icon
  
• Updated tooltip for how to unlock branch office buildings.
  
• Resized and moved the upgrade button for orbital rings.
  
• Fixed a tooltip in the Situations interface showing erroneous information ("outcome in -65 months") if the Situation was ticking down
  
• Fixed some issues with the setup of the starting Ring World in advanced AI empires
  
• Fixed Gestalt Empire Governors Skill tooltips saying Crime instead of Deviancy
  
• Fixed incorrect description string variable in the "Atmospheric Nanobot Dispersal"
  
• Fixed Emergency Election button showing two Unity symbols
  
• Mercenary armies now properly spawn at the client capital.
  
• Pressing ESC during mercenary diplomacy should now bring you back to the main menu or close the diplomacy window.
  
• Tactical advice against the gray tempest is only available when the gray tempest is triggered, not just when the L Cluster is opened.
  
• Patrons can no longer recall fleets that they themselves are hiring.
  
• Mercenary admirals now have suitable loc for their profession.
  
• Fixed some cases where our tooltip system would unnecessarily generate "all of the following must be true" (when there was only one condition)
  
• Fixed incomplete information about what Telepaths do when looking at buildings that provide them
  
• Mercenary Enclaves are no longer listed as Honorbound Warriors in the contacts list.
  
• Fixed incorrect tooltip when scrapping robots during the alloy deficit situation
  
• You can no longer force ideology on gestalt empires by declaring war on their subjects.
  
• Fixed issue with some of the modifiers of modules not applying to the Starbase.
  
• Fixed Insidious Ophidians event chain accidentally removing the "Poor Quality Minerals" permanent planetary modifier.
  
• Fixed a case where specialist subjects leveling up could end up disabling relay network effects.
  
• The Spiritualist Fallen Empire has figured out what Star Eaters are and will now Awaken if you use one to blow up one of their holy worlds.
  
• Fixed new districts sometimes not appearing after the Superfluous Terraforming Equipment event.
  
• It is no longer possible for Overlords to transfer more science than they generate to their subjects.
  
• Fixed not being able to order ship construction in Mega Shipyards after they had been conquered.
  
• Fixed broken tooltip for destroyed orbital rings.
  
• Medium Crystal Plating no longer displays the tooltip for the Bulwark Battlewright.
  
• Mercenary Captains no longer display unlocalized text.
  
• Fixed the tooltip for the tier 3 orbital ring requesting the wrong capital building.
  
• Fixed the message response icon on diplomatic notifications blocking click input on the lower half of the notification.
  
• The No Holding text in the agreements tab is now yellow instead of placeholder pink.
  
• Fixed missing prescripted empire leader names.
  
• Fixed ship building buttons in Mega Shipyard view being cut off
  

[h3]Game Stability related fixes and changes:[/h3]

• Fixed multiplayer out of sync caused by FLEET_ORDERS
  
• Fixed crash occurring when viewing a system destroyed by a star eater that contained a quantum catapult and simultaneously opening the load menu.
  
• Fixed crash due to invalid-read CQuantumCatapultFleetOrderButton::IsValid
  
• Fixed crash due to invalid-write CPlanet::RepairSavegameClearInvalidAndNullDeposits
  
• Fixed crash from having a subject with 0 empire size.
  

[h3]Modding[/h3]

• Overlord Holding buildings and Branch Office buildings now support empire_limit = { }
  
• Added is_human_species scripted trigger if you want additional portraits to be considered humans.
  
• Added on_fleet_lease_started/ended on_actions for more friendly mod compatibility.
  
• Fixed load order issues with check_modifier_value.
  
• Fixed localize_with_value_key and min_mult in scripted modifiers.
  
• Added GetOriginName localisation command (to clarify an error log).
  
• Added "has_subject = " trigger to go with has_overlord.
  
• Greatly improved scope error logging for event targets and script values.
  
• Added on_starbase_disabled on action and stopped firing on_starbase_destroyed when a starbase is only disabled.
  

[/expand]

Please note that save file compatibility between versions is not guaranteed.

If you have an important 3.4.3 game going, please back up the save file before trying to load the save in 3.4.4. You can roll back to a prior version by right-clicking on Stellaris in your library -> Properties -> Betas -> choose the 3.4.3 from the drop-down.

If you experience crashing or other issues on 3.4.4, first disable all mods and start a new save. If the issue persists, please report it on the Bug Report forums.