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Stellaris launches Utopia expansion and Banks update

6 April, 2017 - Exxoduss | 0 Comments

Stellaris launches Utopia expansion and Banks update

By Alice O'Connor on April 6th, 2017 at 2:49 pm.
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A place in the sun.

Today’s a big day for Stellaris [official site], as developers Paradox have launched its first proper expansion and a big game-changing patch. Headline features for the Utopia expansion include space habitats, dreadful new forms of enslaving and purging species, and ‘ascension perks’ to customise and shape species towards mechanical, biological, or psionic final forms. Update 1.5 (nicknamed Banks), meanwhile, reworks the government system, adds a civics system to make empires more unique, improves AI, fixes bugs, adds technologies, and changes plenty more. Exciting times in space.

As is often the case with Paradox expansions, Utopia bundles together a load of different parts under theme which kinda unifies them. Utopia does have some shiny utopian bits, like building Dyson spheres and habitat stations, and ascension paths that shape species beyond the puny forms our flesh is born in. It looks to be more about enabling unique empires, though, with very particular beliefs about who they should be and become and how they should treat other species.

Enslave species for livestock then decide to cast off your flesh and become shiny and chrome. Indoctrinate lower species then try to touch a higher plane of existence. Be a hive mind. You do you, maaan.

And as they often will with Paradox games, the update launching alongside the expansion brings important changes of its own. The Banks update sees the government system “completely reworked” and Civics added, which Paradox say allows for “far more customization when creating your empire’s government”. Factions have become movements with specific beliefs rather than simply rebels. Species rights can be set on a per-species basis. Bits of your ships, as well as their engine trails, now take on the colour of your flag. And… there’s so much more.

These patch notes have full details on both the free features of Banks and the paid ones of Utopia. It sounds like Stellaris now has a lot more options and intricacies in the empire you’ll become – and those you’ll face. Which is good.

version 1.5

31 March, 2017 - Exxoduss | 0 Comments

# Megastructures
* Habitat stations added to the game. Requires Voidborne ascension perk. Function like planets once built, but they have their own set of buildings
* Ring Worlds added to the game. Requires The Circle of Life ascension perk. Buildable in multiple stages around most stars and function like four size-25 Gaia planets, but consume all other planets in the system
* Dyson Sphere added to the game. Requires Galactic Wonders ascension perk. Buildable in multiple stages around certain stars
* Science Nexus added to the game. Requires Galactic Wonders ascension perk. Buildable in multiple stages around planets
* Sentry Array added to the game. Requires Galactic Wonders ascension perk. Buildable in multiple stages around planets

# Ascension Perks
* 20 ascension perks have been added to the game. An ascension perk slot is unlocked whenever a tradition category is finished. In addition, one ascension perk slot can be unlocked through technology
* Ascension perks have 3 major paths that are exclusive. One path focuses on psionics and establishing contact with The Shroud, a second path focuses on biological mastery and genetic modification, and the third path focuses on turning your species into fully synthetic androids

# Indoctrinate Natives
* Observation Stations have a new mission type that will attempt to change primitive civilizations' ethics, over time, to mirror your empire's

# Unique Civics
* Fanatic Purifiers is a civic that gives you significant military bonuses, but will automatically purge any alien Pops in your empire and make most diplomatic options unavailable
* Syncretic Evolution is a civic that allows you to start with a second, "workhorse" species on your homeworld
* Mechanists is a civic that allows you to start with a few robot Pops, and the technology to build more

# Hive Mind
* This special ethic prevents you from having any other ethics, but will also mean that none of your Pops will be affected by happiness. Pops with the Hive-Minded trait ethic may only live in Hive Mind empires, and will slowly die out if they find themselves in a non-Hive Mind empire

# Technology
* NEW: Ascension Theory technology added to the game
* NEW: Mega Engineering technology added to the game

# Traits
* Added 5 new traits exclusive to the Biological Ascension Path

# Components
* Psionic Shields component has been added to the game

# Buildings
* Habitat buildings added to the game