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Stellaris
Stellaris
4.3.3|Mar 31, 2026
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Stellaris 4.3.3 patch released (checksum 456f)

2/5 Minor

New Naval Capacity and Command Limit sliders added to galaxy settings alongside a major fix for Starbase armor and significant buffs to building efficiency.

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Key Changes

  • 1Added Naval Capacity and Command Limit sliders (x0.5 to x5.0) to Galaxy Settings.
  • 2Fixed a bug where Starbases received double armor, significantly reducing their defensive power.
  • 3Planetary Automation overhauled to reliably build districts and non-job buildings.
  • 4Building efficiency bonuses for Slave Processing, Admin Complexes, and Research Labs doubled from 5% to 10%.
  • 5Fixed AI fleet logic to prevent ships from suiciding into much stronger forces.
  • 6Naval Capacity penalties for ship upkeep are now correctly applied when exceeding limits.
  • 7Thought Pre-emption edict fixed to correctly reduce job upkeep.
  • 8Siege Computers now grant a massive +80% damage bonus against Starbases.
  • 9Fixed several crashes to desktop related to particle systems and asset logging.
  • 10Space Fauna components received significant buffs to hull and damage reduction.

All Changes

🌌Galaxy Settings(2)

  • newGalaxy Settings: Added Naval Capacity and Command Limit sliders to Advanced Galaxy Settings ranging from x0.5 to x5.0.
  • changeGalaxy Settings: Naval Capacity and Command Limit sliders are multiplicative with all other modifiers but do not change the hard caps of 9999 and 1000 respectively.

🏗️Buildings & Economy(12)

  • buffSlave Processing Facility: Slave Processing Facility efficiency bonus increased from 5% to 10%.
  • buffOrbital Slave Processing Hub: Orbital Slave Processing Hub efficiency bonus increased from 5% to 10%.
  • buffAdministrative Complex: Administrative Complex (and variants) efficiency bonus increased from 5% to 10%.
  • buffData-Driven Theorem Facility: Data-Driven Theorem Facility efficiency bonus increased from 5% to 10%.
  • buffDistributed Design Center: Distributed Design Center efficiency bonus increased from 5% to 10%.
  • buffMetallurgical Research Lab: Metallurgical Research Lab efficiency bonus increased from 5% to 10%.
  • changeMemory Vaults: Memory Vaults building no longer provides unity, but instead grants +1% Monthly Unity per Destiny trait.
  • changeMemory Vaults: Memory Vaults energy upkeep now scales with Destiny traits.
  • buffLavafalls: Lavafalls planetary modifier alloy production increased from 0.02 to 0.2 alloys per 100 thermoforger.
  • changeSoldier Jobs: Soldiers, Battle Thralls, and Warrior Drones now provide 4 Naval Cap for 1 alloy upkeep.
  • buffThrall World: Thrall World modifier now reduces Alloy Upkeep of Soldier Jobs by 25%.
  • changeEvaluator: Evaluator job added to the list of Influential Jobs.

👤Leaders & Traits(4)

  • changeLearning Algorithm: Cyborg version of Learning Algorithm now grants +1 effective leader skill level instead of +1 councilor level.
  • buffVaults of Knowledge: Vaults of Knowledge now grants +1 leader trait pick.
  • nerfPlanned Polymorphism: Planned Polymorphism bonus reduced from 15% to 10%.
  • buffLuminary: Luminary trait lifespan bonus increased from +40 to +60.

⚔️Combat & Space Fauna(8)

  • nerfStarbases: Fixed bug where Starbases received double armor; stations may now appear significantly weaker.
  • buffSpace Fauna: Space Fauna defensive components scaled to 80% of Bio-ship components.
  • buffCrystalline Plating: Space Fauna Crystalline Plating now includes damage reduction and increased hull modifiers.
  • buffSpace Fauna: Space Fauna XL variant hull and damage reduction increased.
  • nerfVoidworms: Voidworms weakened on Civilian and Cadet difficulty.
  • nerfFrenzied Voidworms: Removed some mutations from Frenzied Voidworms on all difficulties.
  • buffSiege Computers: Sapient, Autonomous, and Precognitive Siege Computers now grant +80% Damage vs. Starbases and Bombardment Damage.
  • nerfNaval Capacity: Fixed bug where exceeding Naval Capacity failed to apply ship upkeep penalties.

🤖AI Behavior(6)

  • fixAI Fleets: Fixed AI tendency to send fleets into much stronger enemy forces.
  • fixAI Economy: Improved AI weighting for Urban Districts and awareness of specific resource-producing planetary features.
  • fixAI Buildings: Fixed AI loop where it would infinitely build and destroy Strongholds on the same planet.
  • fixAI Combat: Swarm and Siege ships now correctly maintain close-range combat instead of breaking off attack runs.
  • fixAI Combat: Ships no longer disengage from targets just because the enemy flagship repositioned.
  • fixAI Economy: Adjusted AI Unity budgets to prevent excessive hoarding for Shroud blockers.

🐛Bug Fixes(12)

  • fixPlanetary Automation: Planetary Automation now reliably builds districts and non-job buildings; trigger threshold reduced to 50 civilians.
  • fixVirtual Trait: Fixed housing reduction from virtual trait not applying to individualist machines.
  • fixImperious Architecture: Fixed Imperious Architecture not providing bonuses to Reassembled Ship Shelters or Hive Capitals.
  • fixTelepathy: Fixed inverted trigger on Telepathy technology.
  • fixSpecialist Training: Specialist Training tradition now properly functions for Gestalt empires.
  • fixWhite Hell Anomaly: White Hell anomaly now correctly adds a physics deposit.
  • fixSynaptic Lathe: Synaptic Lathe no longer turns into a broken planet when destroyed by a Star Eater.
  • fixPlanet Smelter: Planet Smelter component now has a cooldown and charging time.
  • buffThought Pre-emption: Thought Pre-emption edict now correctly reduces job upkeep instead of increasing it.
  • fixPermanent Employment: Fixed Permanent Employment civic producing zombie pops stuck in invalid specialist/elite jobs.
  • buffGuardian Matrix: Guardian Matrix now receives the Colony Empire Size penalty reduction.
  • nerfShields: Tier 0 shields no longer grant an army bonus.

⚙️Performance & Stability(4)

  • fixStability: Fixed a division by zero error in the particle system that caused crashes to desktop.
  • fixStability: Fixed a threading issue with modifier names causing rare synchronization errors.
  • fixMultiplayer: Fixed an Out-of-Sync (OOS) error occurring when using picket computers during combat.
  • fixStability: Fixed crash to desktop caused by faulty logging of corrupted assets.

Summary

The 4.3.3 'Cetus' update focuses on player customization and critical bug fixes. Players can now scale Naval Capacity and Command Limits via new galaxy generation sliders. Significant balance passes have been made to building efficiencies, doubling the bonuses for several key structures. A major bug fix addresses Starbase armor calculation, which will result in noticeably weaker defensive stations for those who were benefiting from the previous double-armor bug. Additionally, the AI has received numerous logic improvements regarding fleet movement, economic planning, and planetary automation.

← OlderStellaris Dev Diary #413 - 4.3 ‘Cetus’ Has Released, What’s Next?Mar 26, 2026

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