• We have updated our Community Code of Conduct. Please read through the new rules for the forum that are an integral part of Paradox Interactive’s User Agreement.
Showing developer posts only. Show all posts in this thread.

Atmaz

Private
Abrakam Staff
Oct 22, 2023
24
639
Hello!

Gary from Abrakam Entertainment here.

Last week we talked about what Astral Rifts were, how they were formed, and what you could find in them. We also briefly mentioned something nebulous about a new resource called Astral Threads and what you can do with them. We call these, simply enough, Astral Actions.

Let's dig a little deeper.


Astral Threads​


Conceptually, Astral Thread is the material that binds the boundaries between dimensions. In areas where these boundaries are weakest, these filaments of existence unravel to the point at which they become tangible objects that can be harvested. This unique resource can be put to various uses should you possess the proper technologies and level of attunement to the Astral Planes.

You'll first be able to gather Astral Threads when you encounter an Astral Scar, which you'll remember from our last post are minor tears in space-time present at map-generation. As when discovering other rare resources such as Dark Matter or Rare Crystals, you'll be prompted to begin researching a new technology: Astral Harvesting.

Astral Harvesting technology

This means you can begin gathering this material before you ever set foot inside of a Rift. But what can you do with it?

Discovery Tab​


Discoveries tab

First, let's cover where you can find the Astral Actions.

We have taken this opportunity to create a new category on the sidebar: Discoveries. This category now contains all Relics and Astral Actions you have acquired. This means, of course, that Relics and Minor Artifact actions have been removed from the Society Management Category. With the addition of Astral Actions, more Relics, and a particular action that can manipulate Relics, this made practical sense to do.

Another extra feature we've added here is that you can now click Minor Artifacts or Astral Threads in the topbar dropdown to move immediately to this category - similar to how you can click the other resources to open the Galactic Market.

Astral Actions​


Astral Actions

Generally, these are various empire-wide effects that you can activate by spending Astral Threads. Some actions are repeatable on a cooldown, while others have a limited amount of uses. All actions generally have something to do with manipulating space-time or interacting with other dimensions.

When you first look here, you won't have many actions you can do at all. You'll need to attune yourself to the Planes in order to master their use. In other words, the more Astral Rifts you explore, the more actions you will unlock. After exploring 5 Astral Rifts, you will have unlocked all possible actions. Generally, the higher the attunement level required, the more powerful the action.

Thread Count​


Thread storage

Initially, you will start at an Astral Thread cap of 500. This seems quite low, but increasing this cap comes naturally with increasing your level of attunement. With each Rift explored, you'll bump the cap up by 250. There is also a special structure called the Astral Siphon you can unlock which can increase the cap even further.

Many actions will increase in cost as you use them, so you'll need to be sure to increase your cap if you intend on using these routinely.

Let's show a few examples.

Astral Splitting​


Astral Splitting

Astral Splitting will be one of the first actions available to you. Every 10 years, if you have the available space, you can utilize Astral Threads to tear at the space-time within your own borders and open a new Rift. Astral Rifts cannot open if one already exists in an adjacent system, so keep that in mind.

This is an example of an action that has both a limited number of uses, and an increasing cost. All 'limited use' actions are organized on the bottom row of the Astral Action tab.

This action is useful if you haven't gotten very lucky in your explorations and found as many natural Rifts as you'd hoped.

Dimensional Lock​


Dimensional Lock

Here we have an example of a more powerful action with unlimited uses.

The Dimensional Lock allows you, for the first time in Stellaris, to prevent movement across wormholes and other bypasses. This will last for 10 years, and only those with whom you have Open Border agreements can pass through. Have a vulnerable back door into the heart of your empire? This might be worth taking advantage of.

Note: This won't work on the Shroud Tunnel in the Shroudwalker enclave, or the main L-Gate in its cluster. It can only block links between two exact points in space, not nexus points. To be clear, it will still work on Shroud Tunnels created from beacons, and normal L-Gates.

Hyper Relay Insight​


There are a few actions that give bonuses to features from the Overlord expansion, specifically for Hyper Relays and Quantum Catapults.

Hyper Relay Insight


If you have not yet researched Hyper Relay technology, Hyper Relay Insight will give you a boost to get started in doing so.

Once researched, this action will become something entirely new: Flash Forging Hyper Relays

Flash Forge Hyper Relays​


Flash Forge Hyper Relay

This action is unique in that it is the only one that costs another resource in addition to Astral Threads. At double the normal Influence cost, you'll be able to instantly place a Hyper Relay anywhere you like. If you ever find yourself in a situation where building your space highway becomes a priority, this should help out considerably. Like Dimensional Locks, this action is infinitely repeatable with a cooldown.

What else can you do?​


We're only detailing a few of the actions available to you and saving the rest to be discovered. Some you may have guessed already by their icons, and some you may have not.

Next week, we'll talk about the new Origin and Civics we're introducing with Astral Planes.

Thanks for reading. See you then!
 
  • 90Like
  • 12
  • 10Love
  • 9
  • 1
Reactions:
I wonder if the AI can take advantage of these mechanics or if they will just... not use them, ever.
Indeed, the AI knows how to use them, and each action has weighting applied to them depending on the situation. For example, they will more likely spend their threads on a Dimensional Lock if they are Militarists, and even more likely if they are currently at war. They'd be more likely to use Astral Splitting if they have available Scientists.

It says dimensional locks only work for empires you have open borders to, so if I'm at war with another empire and we both have L-Gates, does that mean dimensional lock won't do anything?
Just to be clear, those empires with which you have Open Borders agreement with can pass through. Everyone else cannot. Those at war with you will not be allowed through.

Question: Do the Astral actions vary depending on the Rifts you discovered? or are those twelve always the same?
Always the same, with a few extra thrown in there if you have Overlord.

Do the spawned rifts from AAs have potential relics in them? If so, can multiple empires have multiple copies of the same relic?
They could have a Relic, but once any Empire obtains a Relic from a Rift, no one else can explore that Rift again. So no, multiple empires cannot get the same Relic.

What becomes of the Overlord-related actions for those of us who don't have Overlord?
They simply don't appear in the Astral Actions menu.

Is that the unlocking order? Green being the base actions and then 5 steps of attunement mentioned, for 5 rifts explored.
Therefore summoning astral fleets is the last unlock alongside the strange neuron/star thing.
Yes! Good intuition there. And that neuron/star thing is called Planar Mastery.

Can the Astral Tears exploited only once or can it be exploited multiple times by the same empire or by the different empires? Are the astral actions unlocks determined by the number of tears exploited or by how many you control?
They can be explored only once by anyone. Actions are unlocked by number explored, not controlled.
 
  • 17
  • 5Like
Reactions:
Will we be able to add new Astral Actions to the game via Modding? This seems like a really useful template for other features to be added in by mods.

It shouldn't be very difficult. At least, we didn't try to make it so. Everything is done in a scripting fashion that you should be familiar with. You'll eventually run out of space in the UX for new actions and will need to make some adjustments there.

Edit: Note that since there are no Astral Threads in the base game, Astral Actions need to respect DLC restrictions.
 
  • 12
  • 4Like
Reactions:
But there's only 30 different rifts, if Rifts start spawning after mid-game and any empire can summon plus 4, couldn't there be a moment no more rifts can be summoned by an empire late to the party who is within their own 4 activations cap but above the 30 galaxy cap?
Or is the 30 different rifts cap per empire and not per galaxy, and then you find a rift another empire created but with nothing in it?

Indeed it is per empire, with the exception of Relic rifts becoming removed from the pool once a Relic has been recovered by anybody.

Technically speaking: An empire could generate a Rift with Astral Splitting, never explore it, lose the system to another empire, then that empire could explore it. But once a Rift object is explored by anyone, it can never be explored again.
 
  • 13
  • 1Like
Reactions:
So if I'm reading this right, it sounds like one aspect rifts share with archeology sites, is that you have to control the system with one in it before you can do anything with it.

Does it also following the same rule, where someone else can pick up where the former owner left off, if a system with a rift changes has or does the new owner have to start from square one or possible even an entirely new point?

Touched on this in the last thread, but this question comes up a lot so it bears repeating:

You can only explore Rifts within your borders. Doing so is a very delicate operation, and you need complete influence over the area to initiate it undisturbed.

Once you are exploring though, your Scientist is locked in to the adventure until it is over (as opposed to Dig Sites). Your science ship is linked to the other dimension and will be unable to be interfered with until it is over, even if you lose control of the system during exploration. It also means that no one else can enter the same Rift once anyone begins exploration of one.
 
  • 18
  • 1Like
Reactions: