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Stellaris Dev Diary #246 - Announcing Overlord

Hi everyone!

A few weeks ago in Dev Diary 243, I told you that the Expansion Team would have something to share "Soon™".

Soon™ is now.


Overlord, the next major expansion to Stellaris, will be arriving alongside the Stellaris 3.4 “Cepheus” Update. Click here to wishlist.

The Brightest Star Must Guide Them​

Overlord’s thematic focus is on exerting your will across the galaxy, the projection of power, and the expansion of civilization under your glorious banner. The other galactic powers can choose to submit willingly or by force, but they will submit.

In Federations, we expanded diplomacy between equals with the federations themselves and the politics of the Galactic Community. Nemesis included more hostile forms of diplomacy with espionage operations, and some empires declaring themselves more equal than others with the Custodians and the Galactic Imperium.

In Overlord, we will explore diplomacy between empires that are explicitly not equal.

New Ways to Rule​

Vassalization mechanics will undergo significant changes.

A major goal in this revision was to make subjugation a more valuable and viable system with benefits for both sides, rather than being a delayed “Game Over” as you wait for Integration should you be subjugated.

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We’ll go into detail about the changes in how vassalization contracts will work next week, along with how contract negotiations function between Overlord and Subject.

Later, we’ll describe the three Specialist Vassals and their place in the galaxy, as well as Overlord Holdings.

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New Beginnings and Friends​

Five new Origins will arrive in Overlord (including one for Hive Empires).

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We’ll also have some new Enclaves for you to encounter.

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All Roads Lead to Deneb IIb​

Governing a galaxy spanning empire is challenging, and threats can come from any direction. If you cannot take and defend what is rightfully yours, was it ever yours to begin with?

A new megastructure will allow you to counter such threats as well as help you take what you deserve.

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Other new constructions will allow you to elevate civilization to new heights...

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...and exert your influence to build a network tying the galaxy together, with your capital as the center, of course.

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Realize Your Grand Design​

Will you be a benevolent Overlord that brings prosperity to the galaxy, or an oppressive tyrant exploiting your vassals? Or will you instead serve and become part of something greater?

The choice is yours.

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Haha I had lost hope for specialized vassals! this is great!
Hopefully more types of vassals can be unlocked by different civics/ethics.
 
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Hey, that' looks like the Orbital Arcology from Gigastructures.
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Would these changes to vassals also apply to those that start with the Scion origin? It would be interesting for your Fallen Empire patron to do other things than give random gifts, and maybe (sometimes) come to aid you in a fight.

At the moment, a Fallen Empire beating your enemies doesn't erase their claims on you, keeping the Fallen Empire angry and you drawn into another war later. They also won't really save you from getting attacked early in the game, since it seems they only randomly intervene despite building up negative opinion from those trying to take you over. For the treasured vassal of a great and powerful ancient empire, it feels a little underwhelming sometimes.
 
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Wow, diplomacy is getting a lot of love! I actually think this is a good idea; diplomacy is really one of the weakest parts of most 4X games, and Stellaris also has a pretty under-developed diplomatic game, even after 2 DLCs (not counting HoI4, but then a wargame isn't exactly the kind Stellaris should be trying to compete against). Hopefully this will make Stellaris stand out amongst the competition.

Also, I loved vassal swarms/influence ideas in EU4, so it's nice to see that some version of that playstyle is becoming feasible again.
 
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Another expansion that isn't the much desired internal politics one. Oh well, maybe next time.

This seems like mostly incremental changes to existing systems, which I don't particularly mind, but I would have preferred to see something truly new, like a stellar engine that can move systems around and change hyperlanes, rather than just "better gateways", "better vassals", etc.

As long as no existing systems are removed/made worse I'm still gonna buy this though. More origins is always cool as well.
 
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I am not all that excited, Stellaris desperately needs deeper mechanics which allow for more playstyles than conquer anything.
I guess vassals could be described as doing that but I had hoped for bigger changes to the core gameplay. But I guess the game is too old for such experiments.
But who knows what else is part of the DLC. The information here and on Steam is a little sparse.
 
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It wasn't what I would expect as a major expansion, one about internal management was far more important for me.

That being said, vassal is something that needed a bit more love, and I'm curious about what you can do with that theme as a DLC!

Those megastructures look very cool
 
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