Hello Stellaris: Console Edition Community!
We’re now only a few days away from the release of Overlord on Console Edition! I know a lot of you have been excited for this day for a long time, and we’d like to thank you for your patience while we work on this update, but we’re finally ready to get Overlord and the 3.3/3.4 updates into your living rooms, and can’t wait to see what you’ll do with it!
Overlord isn’t coming alone, however! Overlord also includes the 3.3 Libra and 3.4 Cepheus free updates as well – we covered most of these features in development diaries already, but for those of you who missed them: our own Community Ambassador LadyDz recently did a YouTube video outlining the free features coming alongside the Overlord patch on March 8th! We also have a video from Ceti, outlining the paid features coming in Overlord!
Overlord Paid Features Video
Overlord Free Features Video
New Megastructures
Overlord is all about projecting power and enforcing your will on the galaxy, and the three new megastructures will make it much easier to generate power and then project that power across the galaxy map.
The Quantum Catapult
“There comes a time in every overlord’s reign when a faraway crisis suddenly requires your attention. Things are going on halfway across the galaxy, a rival in the way has closed borders to you, and the Galactic Community is debating something about Tiyanki. Again.
A true galactic overlord has to be able to project their power at will, and doesn’t let these little things stop them from enacting their plans.” - Eladrin, Stellaris Game Director
A fully upgraded Quantum Catapult’s range is significantly longer than a Jump Drive, and will be able to threaten nearly anywhere, even in a large galaxy. The farther your target is from the Quantum Catapult, the wider the scatter radius.
Higher tiers of Quantum Catapult are both more accurate and have a longer maximum range.
After pressing the new Launch Fleet button in the Fleet Menu, you will be able to choose a target star on the map, the width of the reticle shows the scatter radius.
This can be especially useful to jump over Empires with closed borders, or during a surprise attack on a neighbor, or even reinforcing distant allies during a crisis.
Hyper Relays
Hyper Relays are built by construction ships, outside the gravity well of the star and when built in chains of systems, allow for travel from Hyper Relay to Hyper Relay along the chain. A well built Hyper Relay Network will allow fast travel across your empire, allowing you to defend even larger swathes of the galaxy than before.
Hyper Relays are a tier 2 technology that requires Hyperlane Breach Points and access to Rare Crystals in order to roll. Once you have seen this technology in operation, it will appear much more frequently.
Hyper Relay connected systems are shown on the galaxy map and Construction Ships can build them directly from the galaxy map.
Having your Capital connected to the Hyper Relay network also gives three edicts that cost special resources to maintain, but grant bonuses to colonized planets in the system.
Connecting your Capital to the Capital of a specialty vassal will also grant further bonuses, with each specialty giving its Overlord benefits.
Orbital Rings
The final megastructure coming in Overlord is the Orbital Ring. Built around colonized planets, Orbital Rings can act as a second starbase for Bastion or shipyard systems, or can buff the planet directly allowing further specialization of your planets.
Many of the Orbital Ring modules are Planetary versions of the starbase modules, with the exception of the Habitation module. The habitation module adds a district slot to the planet below, at the cost of influence and some alloys.
Having a conveniently placed ring around your planet does grant certain advantages. Like the ability to build specialized buildings to vastly increase the productivity of the planet it is around.
Many standard starbase buildings can also be placed on an Orbital Ring - though some are now limited to one per system.
Orbital Rings fill the same “orbital slot” as habitats, so you’ll have to decide which of the two you want over your worlds, and they can only be built around colonized habitable planets.
New Origins
Overlord also includes 5 new Origins, we’ll go through each of them briefly, without going too in-depth, because we don't want to spoil anything for you folks!
Subterranean
Your species evolved to build its cities underground, whether to escape would-be predators, or seeking easier access to resources. It also gets a unique portrait background.
The Subterranean Origin starts with uncapped Mining Districts – similar to how City or Industrial Districts work – uncapped Districts can be built up to the planet size, and do not rely on planetary features for their deposits. Subterranean Mining Districts also provide extra housing and every 3 Mining Districts will unlock a building slot. Building cities underground also has the benefit of plenty of natural armor, reducing orbital bombardment damage significantly.
Subterranean species will also have the Cave Dweller trait applied. Cave Dweller reduces Biological Pop Growth Speed and increases Empire Size from Pops, in exchange Cave Dwellers will produce extra Minerals and have a species minimum habitability of +50%. Subterranean also cannot be chosen by Machine Intelligences.
Slingshot to the Stars
Your ancestors since time immemorial have seen the night sky occasionally light up with shooting stars, but only recently have your scientists discovered the cause of those shooting stars – an ancient structure called a Quantum Catapult.
The Quantum Catapult will start off ruined and takes the place of one of your guaranteed habitable worlds. The Quantum Catapult also has a unique dig site that may allow you to learn more about its creators. Since the structure was only very recently ruined, your scientists should be able to restore it to working order fairly easily.
Teachers of the Shroud
Long before your first steps out into the stars, your civilization was in contact with and shaped by a Shoudwalker coven. In order to choose Teachers of the Shroud you will need to be some degree of Spiritualist, and must not be a Fanatic Purifier.
Teachers of the Shroud is unique in that it gives you a jumpstart on Psionic Ascension, if you choose Teachers of the Shroud you will not need to choose the Mind over Matter ascension perk, in order to psionically ascend – at the start of the game all of your pops will already be Latent Psionics.
Additionally, you will start in contact with a Shroudwalker enclave and they will allow you to build a Shroud Beacon from the start of the game – be careful where you choose to build it, however, as it cannot be relocated once a place has been chosen for it. This Shroud Beacon allows your ships to take a shortcut through the Shroud, and leads to the Shroudwalker Enclave’s homesystem. Travel through the Shroud is guaranteed to be safe, and rumors of crews suffering ill effects from Shroud travel are surely exaggerations and hearsay.
Imperial Fiefdom
In Imperial Fiefdom you start as an empire that, after leaving your solar system for the first time, your species’ greatest triumph turned into immediate demands for your subjugation from an advanced empire. Imperial Fiefdom cannot be chosen with the Inward Perfection, Fanatic Purified, Devouring Swarm, Driven Assimilator or Determined Exterminator civics.
At the start of the game, you will be approached by your Overlord and given a choice – choose one of three Specialty Subject types. Imperial Fiefdom is a great Origin for those looking to relax and feel safe in the warm embrace of their Overlord, for a time.
If multiple players in multiplayer choose Imperial Fiefdom, they will all start as subjects of the same Overlord.
Progenitor Hive (also requires Utopia)
This hivemind has gained evolutionary advantage though having semi-independent leaders. All of a Progenitor Hive’s leaders will gain passive XP every month, resulting in some very powerful leaders. Progenitor Hive is only available for Hive Minds.
Progenitor Hives build Offspring Nests instead of Spawning Pools. Offspring Nests give a powerful Defensive Army, as well as giving bonuses to menial drones on the planet. Progenitor Hives can also build Offspring Nests as holdings on Subject worlds, and can release sectors as subjects as long as they do not have the Devouring Swarm civic.
Progenitors Hives can build special starbase buildings and ships to house their Offspring Leaders, which give powerful bonuses to their ships in combat. Progenitor ships are, unfortunately, very inefficient without their Offspring leaders around and their ships get significant debuffs without an Offspring ship present.
That’s it for this week, thanks for reading! Remember Overlord is releasing for Stellaris: Console Edition next Wednesday (March 8th), we hope to see you then!
We’re now only a few days away from the release of Overlord on Console Edition! I know a lot of you have been excited for this day for a long time, and we’d like to thank you for your patience while we work on this update, but we’re finally ready to get Overlord and the 3.3/3.4 updates into your living rooms, and can’t wait to see what you’ll do with it!
Overlord isn’t coming alone, however! Overlord also includes the 3.3 Libra and 3.4 Cepheus free updates as well – we covered most of these features in development diaries already, but for those of you who missed them: our own Community Ambassador LadyDz recently did a YouTube video outlining the free features coming alongside the Overlord patch on March 8th! We also have a video from Ceti, outlining the paid features coming in Overlord!
New Megastructures
Overlord is all about projecting power and enforcing your will on the galaxy, and the three new megastructures will make it much easier to generate power and then project that power across the galaxy map.
The Quantum Catapult
“There comes a time in every overlord’s reign when a faraway crisis suddenly requires your attention. Things are going on halfway across the galaxy, a rival in the way has closed borders to you, and the Galactic Community is debating something about Tiyanki. Again.
A true galactic overlord has to be able to project their power at will, and doesn’t let these little things stop them from enacting their plans.” - Eladrin, Stellaris Game Director
A fully upgraded Quantum Catapult’s range is significantly longer than a Jump Drive, and will be able to threaten nearly anywhere, even in a large galaxy. The farther your target is from the Quantum Catapult, the wider the scatter radius.
Higher tiers of Quantum Catapult are both more accurate and have a longer maximum range.
After pressing the new Launch Fleet button in the Fleet Menu, you will be able to choose a target star on the map, the width of the reticle shows the scatter radius.
This can be especially useful to jump over Empires with closed borders, or during a surprise attack on a neighbor, or even reinforcing distant allies during a crisis.
Hyper Relays
Hyper Relays are built by construction ships, outside the gravity well of the star and when built in chains of systems, allow for travel from Hyper Relay to Hyper Relay along the chain. A well built Hyper Relay Network will allow fast travel across your empire, allowing you to defend even larger swathes of the galaxy than before.
Hyper Relays are a tier 2 technology that requires Hyperlane Breach Points and access to Rare Crystals in order to roll. Once you have seen this technology in operation, it will appear much more frequently.
Hyper Relay connected systems are shown on the galaxy map and Construction Ships can build them directly from the galaxy map.
Having your Capital connected to the Hyper Relay network also gives three edicts that cost special resources to maintain, but grant bonuses to colonized planets in the system.
Connecting your Capital to the Capital of a specialty vassal will also grant further bonuses, with each specialty giving its Overlord benefits.
Orbital Rings
The final megastructure coming in Overlord is the Orbital Ring. Built around colonized planets, Orbital Rings can act as a second starbase for Bastion or shipyard systems, or can buff the planet directly allowing further specialization of your planets.
Many of the Orbital Ring modules are Planetary versions of the starbase modules, with the exception of the Habitation module. The habitation module adds a district slot to the planet below, at the cost of influence and some alloys.
Having a conveniently placed ring around your planet does grant certain advantages. Like the ability to build specialized buildings to vastly increase the productivity of the planet it is around.
Many standard starbase buildings can also be placed on an Orbital Ring - though some are now limited to one per system.
Orbital Rings fill the same “orbital slot” as habitats, so you’ll have to decide which of the two you want over your worlds, and they can only be built around colonized habitable planets.
New Origins
Overlord also includes 5 new Origins, we’ll go through each of them briefly, without going too in-depth, because we don't want to spoil anything for you folks!
Subterranean
Your species evolved to build its cities underground, whether to escape would-be predators, or seeking easier access to resources. It also gets a unique portrait background.
The Subterranean Origin starts with uncapped Mining Districts – similar to how City or Industrial Districts work – uncapped Districts can be built up to the planet size, and do not rely on planetary features for their deposits. Subterranean Mining Districts also provide extra housing and every 3 Mining Districts will unlock a building slot. Building cities underground also has the benefit of plenty of natural armor, reducing orbital bombardment damage significantly.
Subterranean species will also have the Cave Dweller trait applied. Cave Dweller reduces Biological Pop Growth Speed and increases Empire Size from Pops, in exchange Cave Dwellers will produce extra Minerals and have a species minimum habitability of +50%. Subterranean also cannot be chosen by Machine Intelligences.
Slingshot to the Stars
Your ancestors since time immemorial have seen the night sky occasionally light up with shooting stars, but only recently have your scientists discovered the cause of those shooting stars – an ancient structure called a Quantum Catapult.
The Quantum Catapult will start off ruined and takes the place of one of your guaranteed habitable worlds. The Quantum Catapult also has a unique dig site that may allow you to learn more about its creators. Since the structure was only very recently ruined, your scientists should be able to restore it to working order fairly easily.
Teachers of the Shroud
Long before your first steps out into the stars, your civilization was in contact with and shaped by a Shoudwalker coven. In order to choose Teachers of the Shroud you will need to be some degree of Spiritualist, and must not be a Fanatic Purifier.
Teachers of the Shroud is unique in that it gives you a jumpstart on Psionic Ascension, if you choose Teachers of the Shroud you will not need to choose the Mind over Matter ascension perk, in order to psionically ascend – at the start of the game all of your pops will already be Latent Psionics.
Additionally, you will start in contact with a Shroudwalker enclave and they will allow you to build a Shroud Beacon from the start of the game – be careful where you choose to build it, however, as it cannot be relocated once a place has been chosen for it. This Shroud Beacon allows your ships to take a shortcut through the Shroud, and leads to the Shroudwalker Enclave’s homesystem. Travel through the Shroud is guaranteed to be safe, and rumors of crews suffering ill effects from Shroud travel are surely exaggerations and hearsay.
Imperial Fiefdom
In Imperial Fiefdom you start as an empire that, after leaving your solar system for the first time, your species’ greatest triumph turned into immediate demands for your subjugation from an advanced empire. Imperial Fiefdom cannot be chosen with the Inward Perfection, Fanatic Purified, Devouring Swarm, Driven Assimilator or Determined Exterminator civics.
At the start of the game, you will be approached by your Overlord and given a choice – choose one of three Specialty Subject types. Imperial Fiefdom is a great Origin for those looking to relax and feel safe in the warm embrace of their Overlord, for a time.
If multiple players in multiplayer choose Imperial Fiefdom, they will all start as subjects of the same Overlord.
Progenitor Hive (also requires Utopia)
This hivemind has gained evolutionary advantage though having semi-independent leaders. All of a Progenitor Hive’s leaders will gain passive XP every month, resulting in some very powerful leaders. Progenitor Hive is only available for Hive Minds.
Progenitor Hives build Offspring Nests instead of Spawning Pools. Offspring Nests give a powerful Defensive Army, as well as giving bonuses to menial drones on the planet. Progenitor Hives can also build Offspring Nests as holdings on Subject worlds, and can release sectors as subjects as long as they do not have the Devouring Swarm civic.
Progenitors Hives can build special starbase buildings and ships to house their Offspring Leaders, which give powerful bonuses to their ships in combat. Progenitor ships are, unfortunately, very inefficient without their Offspring leaders around and their ships get significant debuffs without an Offspring ship present.
That’s it for this week, thanks for reading! Remember Overlord is releasing for Stellaris: Console Edition next Wednesday (March 8th), we hope to see you then!
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