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Stellaris
Stellaris
4.4.4|Jun 18, 2026
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Stellaris 4.4.4 "Pegasus" Open Beta (3bc0) now available!

3/5 Moderate

BETASignificant habitability buffs for Arkships and a rework of Nomad strategic-resource harvesting alongside critical multiplayer stability fixes.

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Key Changes

  • 1Arkship colonies now receive a massive +40% habitability bonus from their planet class
  • 2Nomad strategic-resource harvesting reworked to provide a +50% yield bonus from technology
  • 3Multiplayer stability improved with host-side save reloading during resyncs and OOS fixes
  • 4Baol Life Seeding decision expanded to work on artificial worlds and structures
  • 5AI logic updated to abandon unreachable or long-standing contracts after 20 years
  • 6Doomsday origin embarkation now grants a +60% habitability modifier to Arkships
  • 7Arkship and Logistic ships now prioritize high-value planets for automated harvesting
  • 8Nomads DLC multiplayer compatibility restored for non-DLC owners joining DLC hosts
  • 9Eager Explorers and similar civics now correctly labeled as 'Challenging' in UI
  • 10Fixed Governor and scripted modifiers (like Byzantine Bureaucracy) failing to apply to Arkships

All Changes

🛸Nomadic Empires(11)

  • buffArkship: Arkship colonies now gain +40% habitability from their planet class.
  • changeNomadic Empires: Strategic-resource harvesting reworked: researching mining tech now grants +50% yield instead of removing a penalty.
  • buffDoomsday: Doomsday modifier for successfully embarking now grants +60% habitability.
  • changeArkship: Arkship and Logistic ships now target higher-value planets first when issued system-wide harvest/strip mine orders.
  • buffFleets: Fleets will now continue repairing and upgrading while following a moving Arkship within a system.
  • buffAssault Armies: Becoming nomadic now embarks assault armies on the planet instead of destroying them.
  • changeArkship: Arkship Living Space Module now grants habitability but costs Exotic Gases.
  • buffOffspring Ship: Increased offspring ship limits.
  • nerfForever Cruise: Added a Passenger Satisfaction penalty for abandoning Forever Cruise contracts.
  • buffWaystation: Tribute Vault and Pirate Hideout waystation modules now add resources to the waystation's stockpile.
  • fixArkship: Idle Arkships and Logistic ships now notify the player upon completing stockpile collection.

⚙️Gameplay Systems(6)

  • newBaol Life Seeding: The Baol Life Seeding decision can now be enacted on artificial worlds and structures, granting a unique deposit.
  • changeDeep Sleep: Deep Sleep civics can no longer be combined with the Synthetic Fertility origin.
  • nerfKnight Paladin: Reduced the size bonus damage from the Vanguard and Knight Paladin subclasses.
  • fixScience Ship: Automated science ships now stay automated and resume work when new tasks appear instead of cancelling.
  • buffShips: Following ships now start charging FTL drives without waiting for the target to complete its jump.
  • buffMaintenance Optimization: Maintenance Optimization Tradition now grants Amenities bonuses for Calculator Jobs and Hive equivalents.

🤖AI Behavior(4)

  • changeAI: AI will now consider abandoning contracts after 20 years or if they become unreachable.
  • changeAI: Improved randomization of nomadic empires in galaxy generation to prevent them from dominating advanced AI slots.
  • fixAI: Fixed AI counting existing armies twice when calculating build requirements.
  • fixAI: Fixed AI not selecting hostile or domineering attitudes if either country is nomadic.

🖥️UI/UX(4)

  • changeCivics: Eager Explorers, Privatized Exploration, Stargazers, and Exploration Protocols are now marked as 'Challenging Civics'.
  • newUI: Added a Logistics Hub indicator to the galaxy map.
  • changeUI: The diplomacy window now dynamically resizes width based on selected options.
  • changeUI: Changed icon for 'Resources Stolen' alert to be more noticeable.

🛠️Stability & Performance(4)

  • fixMultiplayer: Hosts will now reload the save during a resync to reduce the amount of Out of Sync (OOS) errors.
  • fixMultiplayer: Fixed a SHELD_HEALTH OOS error occurring on hotjoin.
  • fixStability: Fixed a crash occurring during AI contract evaluation.
  • fixPerformance: Improved performance of the empire creation UI.

🐛Bug Fixes(7)

  • fixMultiplayer: Fixed Nomads DLC multiplayer compatibility allowing non-owners to play when the host owns the DLC.
  • fixArkship: Fixed Governor modifiers not applying to Arkships.
  • fixArkship: Fixed Total Wars between Nomads not properly moving Arkships between owners.
  • fixContracts: Fixed Stellar Ignition Contract being impossible to complete.
  • fixArkship: Fixed Arkship afterburners not upgrading to tier 2 upon researching Advanced Afterburners.
  • fixArkship: Fixed numerous scripted modifiers (e.g., Byzantine Bureaucracy) not granting bonuses to Arkships.
  • fixGeneral: Over 40 additional minor bug fixes covering event triggers, localization, and UI glitches.

Summary

The 4.4.4 'Pegasus' Open Beta focuses on refining the Nomads DLC experience based on community feedback. Key highlights include a major habitability pass for Arkship colonies, improved AI logic for contracts, and several 'Out of Sync' (OOS) fixes to improve multiplayer stability. Players can opt-in via the 'stellaris_test' branch on Steam.

← OlderStellaris Dev Diary #425 - Nomads Roam the Galaxy, What's Next?Jun 18, 2026

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