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

4/5 Significant

Stellaris v4.3 'Cetus' introduces new Naval Capacity sliders, significant balance buffs to efficiency buildings, and the 'Utopian Abundance' initiative moving three major DLCs into the base game.

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Key Changes

  • 1Utopia, Synthetic Dawn, and Humanoids DLCs will be integrated into the base game for free on May 11th.
  • 2New Naval Capacity and Command Limit sliders added to Advanced Galaxy Settings (x0.5 to x5.0).
  • 3Fixed a major bug where Starbases were receiving double armor, making them significantly weaker post-patch.
  • 4Efficiency buildings (Slave Processing, Metallurgical Labs, etc.) buffed from 5% to 10% bonus.
  • 5Space Fauna components received massive buffs, scaling to 80% of Bio-ship power.
  • 6Planetary Automation has been fully restored and now correctly builds districts and non-job buildings.
  • 7Naval Capacity upkeep penalties are now correctly applied when exceeding the cap.
  • 8Empire Size penalties for Wilderness and Sovereign Guardianship civics have been significantly reduced.
  • 9AI economic plans and urban district logic improved to better handle the 4.3 ruleset.
  • 10Fixed a critical bug where the Resume button could corrupt incompatible save files.

All Changes

⚙️Gameplay Systems(7)

  • newGalaxy Settings: Added Naval Capacity and Command Limit sliders to Advanced Galaxy Settings (x0.5 to x5.0).
  • newBase Game: Utopia, Synthetic Dawn, and Humanoid Species Pack DLCs will be added to the base game for all players on May 11th.
  • changeStellaris: Base game price will increase by $10 starting May 11th due to DLC integration.
  • buffFleets: Fleets now engage targets further from the center of the system, particularly stationary targets at the edge.
  • fixPlanetary Automation: Planetary Automation now reliably builds districts and non-job buildings like Mineral Processing Plants.
  • changePlanetary Automation: Reduced the civilian population threshold to trigger Automation checks to 50.
  • changeGalactic Archivism: Galactic Archivism technology popup removed; tech weight now increases based on specimens and Curator deals.

⚖️Balance(16)

  • buffBuildings: Increased efficiency bonuses from 5% to 10% for Slave Processing, Administrative Complexes, and Metallurgical Research Labs.
  • buffSpace Fauna: Space Fauna components scaled to 80% of Bio-ship components with added damage reduction to Crystalline Plating.
  • nerfAchievements: Grand Fleet achievement requirement increased from 120 to 500 fleet size.
  • buffWilderness: Halved the Empire Size penalty from colonies for Wilderness.
  • buffSovereign Guardianship: Reduced Empire Size penalty from colonies for Sovereign Guardianship civics by 25%.
  • buffRitualistic Implants: Ritualistic Implants now provide a bonus to Artisan Job Efficiency.
  • changeLearning Algorithm: Cyborg Learning Algorithm now grants +1 effective leader skill level instead of +1 councilor level.
  • changeVaults of Knowledge: Vaults of Knowledge now grants +1 leader trait pick; Memory Vaults building reworked to grant Unity per Destiny trait.
  • nerfPlanned Polymorphism: Planned Polymorphism bonus reduced from 15% to 10%.
  • changeJobs: Standardized Naval Cap (4) and upkeep (1 alloy) for Soldiers, Battle Thralls, and Warrior Drones.
  • buffThrall World: Thrall World modifier now reduces Alloy Upkeep of Soldier Jobs by 25%.
  • buffLavafalls: Lavafalls planetary modifier alloy production increased from 0.02 to 0.2 per 100 thermoforger.
  • buffLuminary Trait: Under One Rule Luminary trait lifespan bonus increased from +40 to +60.
  • nerfVoidworms: Weakened Voidworms on Civilian and Cadet difficulty levels.
  • buffSiege Computers: Sapient, Autonomous, and Precognitive Siege Computers now grant +80% Damage vs. Starbases and Bombardment Damage.
  • nerfShields: Tier 0 shields no longer grant an army bonus.

🤖AI Behavior(5)

  • changeAI: Updated AI economic plans and budgets to align with 4.3 ruleset.
  • changeAI: Improved AI decision-making regarding Urban Districts and resource-specific planetary features.
  • fixAI: Fixed AI behavior where it would infinitely build and destroy Strongholds on the same planet.
  • changeAI: Adjusted AI Unity budgets to prevent excessive hoarding for Shroud blockers.
  • fixVoidworms: Voidworms now eventually stop bombarding planets and can use Experimental Subspace Navigation to return home.

🐛Bug Fixes(7)

  • fixStarbases: Fixed a bug where Starbases received double armor and shared it with defense platforms (effective nerf).
  • fixNaval Capacity: Fixed Naval Capacity upkeep penalties not applying when exceeding limits.
  • fixLauncher: Fixed Resume button on launcher loading incompatible saves and potentially corrupting them.
  • fixPermanent Employment: Fixed Permanent Employment civic producing zombie pops stuck in Specialist or Elite tiers with no jobs.
  • fixSynaptic Lathe: Fixed Synaptic Lathe turning into a broken planet after destruction by a Star Eater.
  • fixPlanet Smelter: Fixed Planet Smelter component lacking cooldown or charging time.
  • fixAI: Fixed AI empires being unable to build Bioships due to missing shipyard conditions.

🚀Performance & Stability(3)

  • fixStability: Fixed a crash (CTD) related to modifier name generation and OOS logs.
  • fixStability: Fixed a particle system crash caused by incorrect data stride usage.
  • fixStability: Fixed a crash in diplomatic relation distance calculations.

Summary

The 4.3 'Cetus' update has officially launched, followed by a series of hotfixes (4.3.1, 4.3.2) and a major preliminary update (4.3.3) currently in testing. Key highlights include a complete overhaul of how Naval Capacity and Command Limits can be scaled in galaxy settings, a massive buff to Space Fauna components, and a fix for a long-standing bug that gave Starbases double armor. Additionally, Paradox announced that the Utopia, Synthetic Dawn, and Humanoids DLCs will be integrated into the base game for all players starting May 11th.

← OlderStellaris 4.3.2 patch released (checksum 171a)Mar 24, 2026

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