Hello Stellaris Community! The Stellaris team is pleased to announce that were running a 3.3 Open Beta until February 3rd. This open beta contains the unity rework (among other things). Were looking for your feedback on how this rework feels, including balancing issues. Please note: this Open Beta is a work in progress and is currently missing localisations in non-English languages. The full release version will be fully translated. If you find a bug in the 3.3 Open Beta, please report it here. Please leave your feedback in the Feedback thread on the Official Forums.

What does the unity rework change?

All means of increasing Administrative Capacity have been removed. It is still possible to reduce Empire Sprawl generated by various sources, and this will help differentiate gameplay between empire types. It will no longer be possible to completely mitigate Sprawl penalties. Empire Sprawl penalties and generation values have been changed significantly. Autochthon Memorials (and similar buildings) now increase planetary Unity production and themselves produce Unity based on the number of Ascension Perks the Empire has taken. Being monuments, they no longer require workers. The Edicts Cap system has been removed. Toggled Edicts will have monthly Unity Upkeep which is modified by Empire Sprawl. Each empire has an Edicts Fund which subsidizes Edict Upkeep, reducing the amount you have to pay each month to maintain them. Things that previously increased Edict Capacity now generally increase the Edicts Fund, but some civics, techs, and ascension perks have received other thematic modifications. Several systems that used to cost Influence are now paid in Unity.

• Planetary Decisions that were formerly paid in Influence. Prices have been adjusted.
• Resettlement of pops. Abandoning colonies still costs Influence.
• Manipulation of internal Factions. Factions themselves will now produce Unity instead of Influence.

Since Factions are no longer producing Influence, a small amount of Influence is now generated by your fleet, based on Power Projection - a comparison of your fleet size and Empire Sprawl. Leaders now cost Unity to hire rather than Energy. They also have a small amount of Unity Upkeep. We understand that this increases the relative costs of choosing to hire several scientists at the start of the game for exploration purposes, or when cycling leader traits, as you are now choosing between Traditions and Leaders. Most Megastructures now cost Unity rather than Influence, with the exception of any related to travel (such as Gateways) or that provide living space (such as Habitats and Ring Worlds). Authority bonuses have (unsurprisingly) undergone some changes again, as several of them related to systems that no longer exist or operate differently now. The generic Administrator job is being renamed to Politicians, with Administrator being the category term for Bureaucrats, Priests, and other unifying jobs that guide your Empire. The Bureaucratic Colony Designation will also be renamed to better apply to any of these jobs. Some Civics that previously granted Unity bonuses from jobs have had their Unity bonuses removed and some (like Technocracy) have had new effects added in their place.

Planetary Ascension Tiers

Tied to unlocking Ascension Perks, Planetary Ascension Tiers are a way of improving your core worlds by spending Unity. In normal empires, they represent the active will of the people supporting your government and giving a little extra to do things the way theyve always been done. In machine and hive empires, its more the well-oiled machinery of the world gaining efficiency or drone instincts becoming better honed with endless practice. In either case, an Ascended planet does whatever it focuses on better. Once youve unlocked three Ascension Perks (you do not need to actually spend them for this feature), you can Ascend the Planet to Ascension Tier 1. This increases all of the effects of the Planets Designation by 25% - whether it be Technician Output from a Generator World or Trade Value on a Commercial Ring World. Each additional Ascension Perk you unlock increases the maximum Ascension Tier by 1, with an extra 4 tiers unlocked once you unlock all of the Perk slots. This lets you Ascend a planet up to ten times, for a maximum bonus of 250% of the base Planetary Designation effects. Ascending a Planet costs Unity, and this cost is heavily affected by both Sprawl and the total number of Ascension Tiers you have across your entire Empire. Since it currently costs the same amount of Unity to raise your first planet to Ascension Tier 2 as it would to raise two planets to Ascension Tier 1, youll have to pick and choose which planets you want to improve, likely focusing on your most productive core worlds. Currently, Planetary Ascension Tiers are only lost if a planet permanently changes owners (not merely from temporary occupation).

We want your feedback!

We are looking for constructive feedback on the 3.3 Open Beta! Please only leave feedback on games played entirely on the 3.3 open beta branch, with no mods. To opt-in to the 3.3 Open Beta, right-click Stellaris, go to Properties, Betas tab and choose "stellaris_test" from the drop-down. Please leave your feedback in the feedback thread on the Stellaris Forums!