The massive new Stellaris DLC, Astral Planes, which introduces entirely new realities with their own branching stories and consequences, finally has a release date. The Paradox space strategy sim is already enormous, but Astral Planes is set to expand the entire Stellaris universe with dozens of fantastical new worlds, providing additional research, technologies, quests, and consequences as you explore tears in spacetime.
Even after seven years, Stellaris remains one of the biggest and most impressive strategy games on PC. Created by Paradox, the studio behind Crusader Kings and publisher of Cities Skylines 2, the space sim is now set to become even larger and more ambitious, as the new Astral Planes Stellaris DLC gets a release date – and it’s coming sooner than we might have hoped.
With Astral Planes, strange tears in the fabric of space called Astral Scars will begin to appear. During the midgame, these eventually blossom into Astral Rifts, which you can study and research, and eventually explore using one of your scientists. Similar to archaeological sites, your scientists will steadily report back any findings and technological resources that they find inside the Rifts. But there’s a catch.
As your scientists explore the Rifts (there are more than 30 possible Rift sites in your Stellaris universe) you’ll be presented with choices on how to proceed. You might want to be cautious, and pick the research options that protect your precious explorers. Alternatively, you can be more daring, and risk the lives of your scientists in the hope of making an incredible new discovery. Every Rift serves as a branching, self-contained story, the outcome of which will depend entirely on your decisions.
There are eight new relics to be found within the Rifts, and the Stellaris Astral Planes expansion also features four new civics. Hyperspace Specialty puts you on the fast track to completing hyperlane research. Dimensional Worship lets you build shrines in any system containing an Astral Rift, whereas Dark Consortium gives you early access to dark matter technologies. Sovereign Guardianship, meanwhile, boosts your defensive abilities and war footing, increasing the armor of your starbase, soldier unity, and other combat-based stats.
And it’s all coming soon. The Stellaris Astral Planes release date is set for Thursday, November 16, and you can pre-order the expansion at a 10% discount right now.
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