I’m pleased to announce that the third Episode of Stellaris: Season 08, the Grand Archive Story Pack, will be released alongside the Stellaris 3.14 ‘Circinus’ update on Tuesday, October 29th, 2024. This release completes the Stellaris: Season 08 Expansion Pass.
"The Grand Archive preserves and exhibits the most valuable artifacts we have collected throughout the galaxy..."
The galaxy is vast and filled with artifacts!
Grand Archive adds 151 specimens to the base game, but we have revisited all of the content ever created for Stellaris to add more. The overall total is over 240 unique specimens!
Collect them all and display the prize pieces in your own Grand Archive.
“This is no mere rock collection.”
“…Reserved within is also a dedicated Vivarium for live Space Fauna containment and observation.”
Contained within your Grand Archive, the Vivarium is a controlled environment where wild space fauna can be cared for and studied. Space fauna in captivity will grow faster and breed more easily than in the wild. These creatures can then be dissected for research, resources, or their genetic material.
With the development of the Controlled Mutations technology, Space Fauna can be customized to form a fleet which will grow and become stronger over time.
“These non-lethal projectiles can safely capture and transport Space Fauna to our Vivarium, where they can continue to reproduce new specimens of their kind.”
The void is full of life.
Two new forms of Space Fauna are coming in the Grand Archive Story Pack.
Cutholoids are ambush predators that lurk within asteroid belts, waiting for prey. “Culling and dissecting these creatures will allow the harvesting of their Genetic Material for cloning purposes as well as other resources.”
Voidworms are a more active parasitic threat with a full life cycle that can grow into a mid-game Crisis if their populations are left to breed.
"If this variant species were allowed to spread unchecked, it could upset the balance of the galactic ecosystem entirely."
“With the mysteries of the galaxy at our doorstep, there is everything left to learn.”
The Grand Archive Story Pack comes with two Civics, two Origins, and two new Tradition trees, each focusing on either different aspects of coexistence with Alien Fauna or the hunt for the hidden mysteries and treasures of the universe.
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.
Stellaris: Grand Archive includes:
Space Fauna capture, breeding, and modification systems
151 Specimens to collect and display across events from Grand Archive and the base game
Over 240 Specimens total including those distributed across other Stellaris content
15 new Relics
Two new Tradition trees
Archivism
Domestication
Two new Origins
Primal Calling
Treasure Hunters
Two new Civics
Beastmasters
Galactic Curators
Two new forms of spaceborne life
Cutholoids
Voidworms
A new possible mid-game crisis - the Voidworm Plague
Three new music tracks
Events, Anomalies, Archaeology Sites, Technologies, Galactic community resolutions, and more!
Note: The Grand Archive Story Pack also unlocks access to the Curator Order Enclave, which is also unlocked by Leviathans or Distant Stars.
Dev Diary Schedule
Sept 26 - Announcing Grand Archive
Oct 3 - Building a Grand Archive and Displaying Your Collection
Oct 10 - The Care and Feeding of Tiyanki
Oct 17 - New Life in the Galaxy
Oct 24 - 3.14 “Circinus” Preliminary Release Notes
The team has produced a bugfix and balance patch following our 3.13 + Cosmic Storms release September 10th.
3.13.1 is now available for download. Please find the patch notes below, identical to what was posted earlier by Eladrin.
3.13.1 Patch Notes
Balance
Added free pop to first blocker for planetscapers
Decreased Storm Creation costs and buffed Astrometeorology job
Stormriders and Subterranean get less devastation from storms
Scientist governors now also reduce devastation from storms
The Nexus Storm of 2211 will no longer happen. (Nexus Storms have been removed from the Early Game storm pool.)
Bugfix
A Fallen Empire cannot ask for a scientist that is exploring an Astral Rift
Added traits to hired marauder leaders
Added victory score to the two new precursor relics
All starting council positions are also filled without Galactic Paragons
Fixed a spelling error in the event Stormbound Sighted
Fixed empire designs with different randomized names sometimes preventing each other from spawning in galaxy generation.
Fixed machine name lists using ruler names for all non-envoy leaders.
Fixed randomly generated rulers not using regnal names when they should.
Fixed the concept tooltip for Storm Riders in the Storm Chasers origin tooltip
Fixed the handling of scientist heirs in the Stormfall event Cosmic Shapes
Fixes to Unique planets from Cosmic Storms:
Unique planets from Cosmic Storms can no longer spawn in the starting cluster of an empire
Reduced the size of the unique planets from Cosmic Storms
Fixing Rick the Cube tooltip in the additional content being misleading
Payload Padding technology now properly apply its effects
Removed Double Jobs for Gestalts on Ecumenopolis
Solar storm orbital resource modifiers now applying correctly
The Crimson Crawlers: Cooked Consumption planet modifier now has a yellow border
The Storm Touched trait is made available for individual machines
The Strip Mine Planet decision is only allowed once per planet
adAkkaria chain actually ends now when its over
Added a job weight to Storm Dancers so that pops actually want to work the job
Allow proper switching between corporate and non corporate planetscapers civic
Fixed descriptions for the special projects Stabilize the Collision and Harmonize the Collision
Fixed the secrets of the new precursors
Fixing resetlement cost modifiers not being capped by minimum economic modifier mult define
Made militarist empires with imperialist factions less likely to become vassals
Made the Irradiated Wasteland planet modifier produce +10% physics research
Planetscapers on Ocean Paradise will now get their blockers as promised
Removed the mention of sector automation from the planet designation tooltip
Saturated Filters can now be removed by the one who conquered the planet
Tempest Invocator storm placement will now be canceled if you lose the selected Scientist.
The Tempest Invocator's range is now centered on the selected Scientist's location.
Voidforged may not access Geo-Engineering Inc anymore
Fix to Initiate Storm replacing Sustain Storm if you have the Galactic Weather Control Ascension Perk
Several Tempest Invocator fixes
Stability
Changed cosmic storm spawn cooldown scale to prevent CTD
Fixed CTD in fleet manager when reinforcing fleets with ships without fleet size
Fixed CTD when in-game music player has no permission to write to playlist file
Modding
Added regnal_second_names_female and regnal_second_names_male to namelists.
Added use_regnal_name to effects that create leaders.
Fixed randomly generated empires in static galaxies having missing data if the player empire is randomly generated.
Removed ruler_names from namelists and added regnal_full_names. When generating regnal names, non-regnal full names will no longer be used if a regnal name is available, but if no regnal name is available, normal names will be used.
There is always a next patch in the works, so please keep the bug reports and feedback coming.
Today’s dev diary is going to be a relatively short one. The 3.13.1 ‘Vela’ patch is planned for next Tuesday, September 24th, and we have a set of preliminary release notes for you to look over.
The biggest change is probably the removal of Nexus storms from the early game pool.
The Vela cycle will be a very short one, since the 3.14 ‘Circinus’ update and Grand Archive is already bearing down on us.
Preliminary Release Notes
On to the release notes!
3.13.1 ‘Vela’ Preliminary Release Notes
Balance
Added free pop to first blocker for planetscapers
Decreased Storm Creation costs and buffed Astrometeorology job
Stormriders and Subterranean get less devastation from storms
Scientist governors now also reduce devastation from storms
The Nexus Storm of 2211 will no longer happen. (Nexus Storms have been removed from the Early Game storm pool.)
Bugfix
A Fallen Empire cannot ask for a scientist that is exploring an Astral Rift
Added traits to hired marauder leaders
Added victory score to the two new precursor relics
All starting council positions are also filled without Galactic Paragons
Fixed a spelling error in the event Stormbound Sighted
Fixed empire designs with different randomized names sometimes preventing each other from spawning in galaxy generation.
Fixed machine name lists using ruler names for all non-envoy leaders.
Fixed randomly generated rulers not using regnal names when they should.
Fixed the concept tooltip for Storm Riders in the Storm Chasers origin tooltip
Fixed the handling of scientist heirs in the Stormfall event Cosmic Shapes
Fixes to Unique planets from Cosmic Storms:
Unique planets from Cosmic Storms can no longer spawn in the starting cluster of an empire
Reduced the size of the unique planets from Cosmic Storms
Fixing Rick the Cube tooltip in the additional content being misleading
Payload Padding technology now properly apply its effects
Removed Double Jobs for Gestalts on Ecumenopolis
Solar storm orbital resource modifiers now applying correctly
The Crimson Crawlers: Cooked Consumption planet modifier now has a yellow border
The Storm Touched trait is made available for individual machines
The Strip Mine Planet decision is only allowed once per planet
adAkkaria chain actually ends now when its over
Added a job weight to Storm Dancers so that pops actually want to work the job
Allow proper switching between corporate and non corporate planetscapers civic
Fixed descriptions for the special projects Stabilize the Collision and Harmonize the Collision
Fixed the secrets of the new precursors
Fixing resetlement cost modifiers not being capped by minimum economic modifier mult define
Made militarist empires with imperialist factions less likely to become vassals
Made the Irradiated Wasteland planet modifier produce +10% physics research
Planetscapers on Ocean Paradise will now get their blockers as promised
Removed the mention of sector automation from the planet designation tooltip
Saturated Filters can now be removed by the one who conquered the planet
Tempest Invocator storm placement will now be canceled if you lose the selected Scientist.
The Tempest Invocator's range is now centered on the selected Scientist's location.
Voidforged may not access Geo-Engineering Inc anymore
Stability
Changed cosmic storm spawn cooldown scale to prevent CTD
Fixed CTD in fleet manager when reinforcing fleets with ships without fleet size
Fixed CTD when in-game music player has no permission to write to playlist file
Modding
Added regnal_second_names_female and regnal_second_names_male to namelists.
Added use_regnal_name to effects that create leaders.
Fixed randomly generated empires in static galaxies having missing data if the player empire is randomly generated.
Removed ruler_names from namelists and added regnal_full_names. When generating regnal names, non-regnal full names will no longer be used if a regnal name is available, but if no regnal name is available, normal names will be used.
Next Week
Next week’s dev diary will be at 18:00 instead of 13:00, and will have more new stuff than this one. :D
Gruntsatwork here, putting on my writing hat for today only, while Eladrin is on sick leave. While Dev Diaries are the domain of the Game Directors, we wanted to keep in close contact shortly after a release.
The Cosmic Storms Mechanical Expansion released 2 days ago and we have been collecting your feedback on our forums and every other form of social media we could find.
We will continue to do so over the next few days, working on fixes and improvements to Cosmic Storms, for example: Individualist Machines will get access to the Storm Touched trait so that they can use the Storm Devotion civic. Planetscapers will get a deposit on game start to clear for +1 Pop.
There are also a few balance considerations we are making that we figured would be nice to mention.
I’d like to get off Mr. Nexus Storm’s Wild Ride!
We teased them before as being incredibly destructive and as it turns out, they are! What we didn’t intend was for them to appear as often and as early as they do. Their chance to appear is significantly smaller than most other storms.
Unfortunately, with the number of players we have, even a small chance means a sizable number of you are getting messed up and with no chance of defending yourself to boot.
We are planning to adjust Nexus Storms in the following way:
No Nexus Storms in the early game (Mid-game and forward only).
We will increase their speed of traversal, exact number pending, to make sure they remain destructive but that you can take action once they have passed. They will still bring you close to 100% devastation on any given planet but they won’t then sit on the planet and keep it at 100% forever.
“A Storm is a Trial. It is Change. It is Tribulation. It is the Dawning of a New Age and the End of Yours.”
While we are quite happy with the effect of all the other storms, we are seeing your reports about some storms staying in the same space for most of their duration or in fact, long over their duration, stuck at 0 for years on end. Simply put, a storm shouldn’t stay in the same place for years. They are supposed to move on unless a player intervenes.
We are investigating this issue and hope to have a solution for you as soon as possible.
You call that a storm? That’s barely a stiff breeze!
Some of you have called out the loss of impact storms experience once everyone has the storm protection techs in place. The original purpose of keeping those protections strong was relatively simple - to ensure that by the time you reach the end-game, you can continue with your strategies and plans.
It is one thing to lose a 15 minute campaign, it is another to lose a 30 hour campaign because your build just got invalidated.
We are looking into adjusting at the very least the ship protections, as we think there is some potential for smart plays if those protections weren’t quite as potent as they currently are.
Next Week
Next week, Eladrin will be back, fingers crossed, to regale you with new information that mere Game Designers are not privy to.
In Cosmic Storms, the skies teem with eight new storm types filled with peril and promise. From Electric Storms harnessing the power of lightning to the formidable Nexus Storm, a galactic tempest of unparalleled magnitude, these natural phenomena challenge you to make skillful choices to steer your empire safely and profitably through the chaos.
Experience the majesty and menace of these cosmic forces through beautifully rendered art and immersive audio. Navigate the tempest, harness its power, and shape your empire’s destiny. The storms are coming. Are you prepared?
The Cosmic Storms Mechanical Expansion contains:
8 New Space Storms
Storm Chasers Origin
3 New Civics
Planetscapers
Astrometeorology
Storm Devotion
Galactic Weather Control Ascension Perk
Weather Forecasting Map Mode
Two new Precursor narratives, with two new Relics
Events, Anomalies, and Archaeology Sites
Storm-related technologies, Edicts, and Galactic community resolutions
How Storms Work
Storms will begin to spawn randomly a few years after the game starts. Spawning storms has a cooldown, and there is a limit to how many storms can spawn in a galaxy in the early, mid, and late game. These limits can be configured during galaxy setup. Storms spawned by players, events, and other mechanics will spawn regardless of galaxy settings.
When storms spawn, they will choose a target destination and dissipate after the time it would take to reach the destination has passed.
Storm Chasers Origin
Storm Chasers empires have always sought out the extremes. Born in a world ravaged by relentless storms, they are daredevils and thrill seekers who push themselves to the limit and beyond.
They start with access to the Storm Manipulation Technology and within a unique system with the correct conditions to unleash a space storm. Storm Chasers also get bonuses when a storm is active in their space and increased chances for storms to spawn and for cosmic storm technologies. Additionally, their leaders get the unique Storm Rider trait, whose effects increase when the leader is in an active space storm.
Planetscapers Civic
This society carefully crafted a perfect balance on their homeworld and is ready to tend even the most inhospitable environments. They gain maluses to resources, pop growth, and pop upkeep for each natural blocker on their worlds, but they gain significant bonuses to those things once the blockers on the planet are cleared.
Planetscapers also gain access to the Cultivated Worldscaping planetary decision, which increases a planet’s maximum districts, gives +75% resource districts, and adds cosmic storm protection, but decreases the habitability.
Astrometeorology Civic
Astrometeorologists focus on the science behind the cosmic storms. Starting with an Astrometeorology Observatory on their homeworld, this planet-unique structure slightly emphasizes physics research. It receives significant bonuses to its job output if there’s a storm or other environmental effect active in the system, with additional science bonuses added from the Prime Forecaster council position.
Storm Devotion Civic
Using a unique combination of ritual and technology, empires with the Storm Devotion civic start with the ability to build the Storm Summoning Center, whose Storm Dancers increase the system's attractiveness to space storms while also producing unity and amenities.
Their pops also gain the Storm Touched trait, which increases job output and decreases amenities usage while a space storm is active in the system.
Galactic Weather Control Ascension Perk
The Galactic Weather Control Ascension Perk requires the Advanced Storm Manipulation technology and one other ascension perk to be chosen. This ascension perk gives your science ships the ability to - with an investment in resources - spawn a storm in the system it’s in.
New Precursors
The adAkkaria Convention of Benevolence and The Inetian Traders are two new precursors coming in Cosmic Storms. Both are steeped in Storm Lore, with several archaeology sites and special projects to progress through as you uncover their secrets, giving you the opportunity to dig deeper into what sorts of empires would meddle with storms so devastating they are notable on the cosmic scale.
Alongside the customary bug fixes and improvements, the Custodian team has improved a few of the older features in the game. The Custodian team is a team of developers who are focused on improving older content in the game, as well as adding quality-of-life features and other improvements.
Changes to Planetary Resource Deposits
As part of our Custodian Update for the 3.13 “Vela” patch, we’ve made some changes to how planetary deposits for rare resources are handled.
The deposits that previously gave access to Crystal Mines, Gas Extraction Wells, and Mote Harvesting Traps buildings now instead increase the number of mining districts available on the planet and, after researching the technology to extract the relevant resource, add a small amount of resource production to miners on that planet.
Additionally, we’ve buffed the Betharian Power Plant to increase the energy produced by Technician Jobs.
Penal Colonies & Thrall Worlds
Much like how Resort Worlds were updated earlier this year, we have taken the time to revisit both Penal Colonies and Thrall Worlds.
Penal Colonies now reduce crime across your empire while giving access to unique Prison Industrial Districts. These allow you to employ worker strata pops to produce alloys and consumer goods.
Thrall Worlds, on the other hand, have taken inspiration from the countless examples across science fiction of elite battle thrall armies and give access to the Battle Thrall District. Armies trained on a Thrall World will start with additional XP, and Battle Thrall jobs will increase the damage your armies do.
The Cosmic Storms Mechanical Expansion and the free 3.13 “Vela” update are available now!
The Cosmic Storms Mechanical Expansion is nearly here, so today we’ve got preliminary release notes and some of the Custodian changes.
Cosmic Storms is going to be released next Tuesday, on September 10th.
Changes to Planetary Resource Deposits
As part of the Custodian changes in 3.13 ‘Vela’, we’ve made some changes to how some planetary deposits for rare resources are handled.
The deposits that previously gave access to Crystal Mines, Gas Extraction Wells and Mote Harvesting Traps buildings, now instead increase the number of mining districts available on the planet and, after researching the technology to extract the relevant resource, add a small amount of resource production to miners on that planet.
Additionally, we’ve buffed the Betharian Power Plant to increase the energy produced by Technician Jobs.
Penal Colonies & Thrall Worlds
Much like how Resort Worlds were updated earlier this year, we have taken the time to revisit both Penal Colonies and Thrall worlds.
Penal Colonies now both reduce crime across your empire while giving access to unique Prison Industrial Districts. These allow you to employ worker strata pops to produce alloys and consumer goods.
Thrall Worlds on the other hand have taken inspiration from the countless examples across science fiction of elite battle thrall armies and give access to the Battle Thrall District. Armies trained on a Thrall World will start with additional XP and Battle Thrall jobs will increase the damage your armies do.
Preliminary Release Notes
And now, on to the release notes.
Cosmic Storms Expansion Features
Eight dynamic new storm types:
Electric, Particle, Gravity, Magnetic, Radiant, Stardust, Shroud, and Nexus storms
New Origin: Storm Chasers
Three new Civics
Astrometeorology
Planetscapers
Storm Devotion
New Ascension Perk: Galactic Weather Control
Weather Forecast Map Mode
Two new Precursors
The adAkkaria Convention of Benevolence
The Inetian Traders
New Technologies and Buildings
New Planetary Deposits, Modifiers and Anomalies following Storm Aftermaths
New GalCom Resolutions and Edicts
New Events and Anomalies
3.13.0 Patch
Improvements
Update to Thrall Worlds, adding two new slave-focused districts, Battle Thrall Jobs, and improvements to tooltips and theme
Update to Prison Worlds - adding two new penal-focused districts, five new jobs, and improvements to tooltips and theme
Xenophobe ethics now swaps to providing pop assembly when appropriate
The location of empire-scope special projects will move to the new capital if the empire’s capital changes
Gestalt Empires are now allowed to decide on their land appropriation policy, and are no longer forced to populate every planet
Corvee System now gives -15% resettlement cost for Individualist Machines
Standardized volume of all advisor VO lines
War allies will be able to use wormholes, hyper relays, and gateways in each other's territory even if their borders are closed
Removed the galaxy-wide Space Storm introduced in 2.7 “Wells”
UI
Updated the megastructure selection UI
Improved tooltips in the megastructure selection UI
When selecting a location for Arc Furnace stage 1, the tooltip shows the number of deposit sites in the system
When selecting a location for a Habitat Central Complex, the tooltip shows orbital capacities in the system
Fixed tooltip not showing when selecting a location to build a megastructure
Map icons in galaxy and system view no longer truncate the resource amount when between 0 and 1
The tooltip that mentions if a civic is locked is now red instead of orange
Enabled mouse scrolling in the research completed window
Extended the minimum width of the "Veteran Level Reached!" window in case too few options are available to choose from
Fixed some overlapping UI in the Empire Creation screens
Fixed position of "Cross-platform play" checkbox on MS Store
Updated the Map Modes UI
The Players map mode is no longer available when observing in singleplayer
The Players and Trade Routes map mode buttons are now disabled instead of hidden when they're unavailable
Fixed Players mapmode not graying out AI empires in some cases
The Unions map mode is now a regular map mode instead of a toggle
Bugfix
Fixed the placeholder icon for the diplomatic message to request to join the galactic imperium
Made AI capable of building planetary shields
The Chthonian Planet, Extensive Moon System and Carbon World modifiers will now only add their mineral deposits to the planet the first time they are surveyed instead of every time they are surveyed
Corrected tooltip and loyalty effects for the Ministry of Acquisition
Individualistic Machine empires should no longer get an event intended for Organics
Fixed the Nanite Intercessor being present in ship previews in the empire creator
Fixed cyberpunk advisor lines for council agenda ready and council agenda available notifications
Fixed fleets' cloaking strength sometimes not updating when ships' cloaking strength changes due to modifiers
Fixed juggernauts not showing the fleet bombardment button
Election auto pausing and unpausing now functions like other event pop ups
Removed the double modifiers for Defense platforms from Ancient Shield Overcharger
Removed serviles from the can_think trigger due to unintended knock on effects
If an arc furnace is built around a potential Contingency Hub, when the planet becomes their hub, the arc furnace is correctly destroyed
Fixed uncovered deposits not being removed when an arc furnace is destroyed
Colossus special project will reward the original country that started the project instead of the current planet owner
Leaders who are researching an anomaly or project or on cooldown can be assigned to the council
Roccan Resistance and Free Peoples of the Fall genders changed from indeterminate to default
The species of planetary defense armies will get updated after species modification
AI empires will select ethics required by their origin
All starbase types now explode when destroyed instead of blinking out of existence
Fixed numerous instances, such as when establishing an embassy, where the game would load the countries home planet instead of their capital
Game should no longer crash when an empire you had a trade deal with is destroyed during a war
Various Out Of Sync fixes
War allies will be able to use each wormholes in each other's territory even if their borders are closed
Modding
Implemented "on_storm_encountered" on_action when a country is affected for the first time by a new storm
Added on_storm_entered_system on-action
Added on_storm_left_system on-action, for when a cosmic storm has left a solar system
Added support for generate_random_name = yes to the spawn_planet effect
Refactored Arcology industrial districts into Inline Scripts
Replaced all "has_authority" checks with scripted triggers making it easier to add new authorities
Added the awakening_not_allowed country flag that blocks fallen empires from awakening
Added the keep_deposit_on_terraform deposit flag to make sure deposits don't go missing when you terraform
Added "visible" trigger to map modes
Added "tutorial" member to map modes
Added is_infertile trigger
Added support for displaying comma and period as hotkeys in button tooltips
Added planet_crime_floor_add modifier that sets a minimum level of crime on a planet
Added fail trigger for special projects + documentation
Added 'mod_name_affix' to create_species effect
Added num_asteroid_belts trigger to check the number of asteroids in a system
Added game rules for founder_species_uses_growth_speed, founder_species_uses_organic_assembly and founder_species_uses_assembly
Added game rule to force visibility on fleets for a specific system
Next Week
With the release planned for next Tuesday, our next expected dev diary will be on September 19th.
Today, we’ll review the Origin and Civics of the Cosmic Storms Mechanical Expansion and provide some information about the new Precursors (without spoiling everything!)
Cosmic Storms is going to be released on September 10th.
Don’t make unnecessary journeys, don’t take risks on treacherous roads, and don’t swim in the sea! This is PDX_Ferry, braving the winds to deliver you a report on the new "Storm Chasers" Origin. For those who thrive on danger and yearn for the thrill of the unknown, this Origin was designed with you in mind.
Start your game as a civilization that has always sought out the extremes. Born on a world ravaged by relentless storms, the Storm Chasers are daredevils and thrill seekers who push themselves to the limits and beyond. They’ve grown strong and daring, turning their chaotic environment into a crucible of innovation and tenacity. But when every storm has been weathered, and every mountain has been climbed, where does an enterprising thrill-seeker turn next? The answer, of course, is the stars.
The screenshot above was taken from the new pre-scripted empire Yatunan Radicals, which starts with the Origin and a couple of storm-related Civics. While not driven to outmatch others in acts of bravery, hive minds, and machine intelligences may also want to test themselves with this Origin.
From the very beginning, your empire will be propelled into the thick of the DLC’s content, facing down cosmic phenomena that would make even the most seasoned explorers hesitate. Yet, with great risk comes the potential for great reward.
This Origin is designed to quickly get you into the think of the DLC's action. At game start, your Empire is thrown into the Stormfall situation:
With early access to storm manipulation technology and by starting in a system with unique conditions to kickstart a storm, the Storm Chasers have the first opportunity to unleash a storm. From there, the Origin's storyline includes a gauntlet of Challenges, and the chance to summon "the Big One." What's left of your civilization in the aftermath rests entirely in your hands (or tentacles!)
So be warned – this is not a path for the faint-hearted. The thrills your people have chased for centuries pale in comparison to the cosmic tempests that await you in the void. Will you harness these forces and lead your empire to greatness, or will you burn out in a blaze of glory? The choice, as always, is yours. Do You Know What Happens to a Blorg When It’s Hit by Lightning? Hello there xeno-freshmen, could we interest you in Astrometeorology 101?
As the first of the three new civics coming in Cosmic Storms, Astrometeorology focuses on the science behind the storms. It grants you a new building, the Astrometeorology Observatory, which in turn gives you Astrometeorologist jobs.
You can build one of those fine institutes per planet and their jobs are similar enough to normal researchers with a slight focus on physics. However, their true potential shows itself only when the Observatory can behold a storm from up close.
In addition, the council position further boosts the job output by up to 20%.
What, you prefer something more societal? Maybe have a look at our second new civic then.
The spiritualistic mirror to Astrometeorology, Storm Devotion gives you access to the Storm Summoning Theater, with its Storm Dancer jobs.
In addition, those devoted to Storms also bear this mark as a new species trait called “Storm Touched”, which further boost all pops while inside of a storm. As if that weren’t enough, the Council Position for Storm Devotion reduces the upkeep of all Storm Buildings.
Storms this, Storms that, is there anything for people who’d rather not see the word Storm plastered over all of their buildings?
Absolutely, let’s talk about Planetscapers.
Planetscapers are the complete opposite of Environmentalists. They want every planetary blocker gone, natural accidents have no place in their carefully planned garden utopias.
You yearn to make all these rugged, overgrown planets into something beautiful and pristine. For some, Mastery of Nature is enough, but your need requires something more drastic, something more impressive.
As you expand, every world with natural blockers that you colonize will allow you to quickly unlock more ways to remove those eyesores.
IT IS A CELEBRATION | PAIN | RAGE | GRIEF | FEAR
You get a Precursor and you get a precursor, everyone gets a precursor!
We have two new Precursors for you all to experience.
The adAkkaria Convention of Benevolence and The Inetian Traders, both steeped in Storm Lore, with several archaeology sites and special projects to progress through as you uncover their secrets, diggin’ deeper into what sorts of empires would meddle with storms so devastating they are notable on the cosmic scale.
So without giving out too many spoilers, from their names at least you know they were benevolent people and peaceful traders with little chance for tragedy.
Next Week
Next week we’ll have the preliminary release notes for the 3.13 ‘Vela’ update and Cosmic Storms! It’s almost here!
The Cosmic Storms Mechanical Expansion is going to make planetfall on September 10th. That’s not that far away, so today we’ll be going over the Storm mechanics and their aftermath effects.
Passing it over to Gruntsatworkto take over from here.
How Do Storms Spawn?
Hello everyone, without much preamble, lets dive right into the new storm mechanics.
Storms will randomly start to spawn a few years after gamestart.
Each Storm triggers a cooldown until the next natural storm can spawn (adjustable in Game Settings)
There is a limit to how many storms can spawn naturally in the early, mid and late-game (adjustable in Game Settings)
Those limits only apply to randomly spawned storms. Storms created by players, by event or mechanic, will always spawn regardless of any other settings
Upon being spawned, they will have a target system towards which they will move, dissipating upon reaching that goal or timing out
What Do They Do?
While the storms through the galaxy, they will have an effect on all systems within their influence. All Storms share 2 general effects:
Reduced chance for Emergency FTL jumps
+0.2 monthly devastation
In Addition, each of the 8 Storms has their own unique effects, here are the first 6:
While the first 6 storms are rather orthodox in their effects, the Shroud and Nexus storms are a bit special.
Shroud storms have a chance to change the systems within their influence immediately upon coming into contact, this can range from colonies, habitable and inhabitable planets, up to stars.
Nexus storms are special. They are rarer than any other storm and for a good reason, they are bad news. A Nexus storm is an opportunity… for everyone else. They wreak havoc across all worlds in their influence with a far greater intensity than the other, lesser, storms.
The Morning After
After a storm leaves a system, its ongoing effects are removed. However, given their cataclysmic impact, there are a few aftermaths to deal with.
Each Storm leaves behind their own unique Aftermath modifier, lasting for 3 years. Those aftermaths have an intensity between 1-3, with 3 being the strongest modifiers. (The effects themselves are the same, only intensity increases.)
In addition, when a storm leaves a system, there is also a chance it will leave behind new unique Planetary Features, Planetary Modifiers and Anomalies.
Some New Planetary Features:
Example of a New Modifier:
Examples of some New Anomalies:
Protecting Yourself
Some of those storms can get quite nasty and devastation is always worrisome, so how do you stop the storms from ravaging your planets?
We have introduced several new buildings and technologies to protect yourself or maybe squeeze a bit more use out of a storm.
Storm Attraction and Storm Repulsion are the two ways in which you can manipulate the paths in which storms move. Storm Attraction buildings and their repelling counterparts can be build on planets and starbases. Each has 1 upgrade level and grants you researcher jobs.
In Addition you can build the Storm Relief Center, to reduce some of the effects of the storms, while also buffing your base resource output while a storm is affecting your planet. Should you be able to convince the Galactic Community to pass a few storm related resolutions, those bonuses will become even more powerful.
With the Storm Relief Center you also have the option of “Hunkering Down”, a new planetary decision to reduce your devastation gain and reduce some of the storm's impact.
As you encounter cosmic storms, you will also get access to new technologies meant to reduce some of their negative effects on your economy and ships.
As your last line of defense, you can use your Planetary Shield Generators to reduce the devastation you gain from storms by -50%
All in all, a prepared player will have many options of avoiding the worst of the storms effects, while benefiting from the opportunities they offer, using them to tip the scales between themselves and their enemies.
The Weather Mapmode
Once you have researched the necessary technologies, you will be able to use the new Weather mapmode to get a good overview of both Storm Attraction/Repulsion as well as the paths already existing storms will take.
I’m sure knowing where a storm that grants cloaking to all ships within will move is something none of you will abuse.
Next Week
Next week we’ll be going over the Storm Chaser Origin, the new Civics, and the new Precursors.
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.
Note: Tooltips shown in the video were from a development branch that has already been updated, more info next week.
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.
... But Every Cloud Has a Silver Lining
Storms may pass through your planets with intriguing effects, leaving behind a changed landscape or unearthing long buried treasures.
"Burn Fast and Die Radically - That's Always Been Our Way"
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!
Embrace the Storms
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.
Uncover the Past
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
Dev Diary Schedule
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