ATCHED
Stellaris
Stellaris
4.5.2|Oct 1, 2026
View on Steam↗

Stellaris Dev Diary #434 - 4.5.2 'Cygnus' Tentative Patch Notes

3/5 Moderate

PREVIEWArmor upkeep costs are halved to match shields, and Nomadic Knights gain the ability to detoxify worlds using Arkships.

Share:

Key Changes

  • 1Armor upkeep costs reduced by 50% to match shield costs
  • 2Nomadic Knights can now detoxify worlds using Arkships
  • 3Fixed infinite combat loops caused by ships drifting out of range
  • 4Revolting colonies now join their external backers instead of becoming independent
  • 5Mauler base speed reduced from 160 to 140
  • 6Pilot Project bonuses restricted to Cyborg Pops only
  • 7Franchising Civic now ignores several requirements for Subjugation
  • 8Fixed starbases failing to defend themselves in long battles
  • 9Reduced late-game micro-freezes caused by Nomad AI
  • 10Added specific weapon and defense preference policies for Arkships and Waystations

All Changes

🛸Nomadic Empires(8)

  • newNomadic Knights of the Toxic God: Nomadic Knights of the Toxic God can now use Arkships to Detoxify Toxic Terraforming Candidates after taming or slaying the Toxic God.
  • changeLogistic Ships: Logistic Ships now display Waystations in the Megastructure Build Menu for consistency with Arkships.
  • newArkships: Added Weapon Preferences (Arkships) policy to set point defense and Military Arkship Armaments.
  • newWaystations: Added Defense Preferences (Waystations) policy for nomadic empires.
  • changeNomadic Knights of the Toxic God: Nomadic Knights can now settle in the Toxic God system and retain the Order's Keep and Knights on the new homeworld.
  • fixProsperous Unification: Fixed Prosperous Unification not providing additional districts for Nomadic empires.
  • fixNomadic Synthetic Fertility: Nomadic Synthetic Fertility no longer incorrectly starts with a size 20 Arkship.
  • fixArkships: Fixed several issues regarding disabled Nomad Arkships being re-enabled prematurely or remaining disabled after war.

⚖️Balance(10)

  • buffArmor: Armor upkeep costs for energy and alloys reduced to match shields of the same tier, down from double.
  • nerfMaulers: Mauler base speed reduced from 160 to 140, making them comparable to frigates rather than corvettes.
  • buffFranchising Civic: Franchising Civic can now ignore Opinion, Trust, and Embassy requirements when proposing Subjugation.
  • nerfPilot Project: Pilot Project bonuses now only apply to Cyborg Pops.
  • changePilot Project: Pilot Project bonuses adjusted to +15% for Elites, +7.5% for Specialists, +10% for Workers, and +5% overall.
  • changeOperational Reserves: Conserve approach for Operational Reserves now gives -50% Specialist Job Efficiency instead of -50% output for Bureaucrats and Researchers.
  • changeFire Cult: Fire Cult now grants Job Efficiency to Fire Dancers instead of Unity, scaling with Pop Group habitability.
  • nerfExperiment Engineers: Experiment Engineers research production reduced from 2 to 1 of each type; upkeep halved to match.
  • nerfTelepaths: Telepaths under the Whisperers in the Void Covenant now provide 1 research per rank, down from 1.5.
  • changeCradle of Souls: Covenant with the Cradle of Souls now gives Unity from Psionic Pops for Gestalt empires.

⚙️Gameplay Systems(6)

  • changeDefense Platforms: Split defense platforms into their own weapon and defense preference policies.
  • changePolicies: Starting Fleet Doctrine, Weapon Preferences, and Defense Preferences are now randomized based on empire defaults.
  • changePlanetary Revolt: Colonies that revolt with external backing now join the backing empire instead of becoming independent.
  • changePlanetary Revolt: Rebels who break away now claim nearby empty systems automatically.
  • buffAquatic Trait: Aquatic species can now use the Wet Climate Mods planet preference from the Cybernetics path.
  • buffHydrocentric: Hydrocentric Ascension Perk is now available to Aquatic species using Wet Climate Mods.

🐞Bug Fixes(12)

  • fixCombat: Fixed fleets staying locked in battle forever when ships drifted out of weapon range.
  • fixStarbases: Fixed starbases and stations failing to defend themselves during long battles; they now recover on save load.
  • fixMega Bombard: Large Mega Bombard mutation now has correct range and fires properly in combat.
  • fixBioships: Bioship living metal armor now correctly mirrors regular living metal armor stats, including hardening and regeneration.
  • fixCrystallinus Diffuser: Crystallinus Diffuser triumph now only boosts non-robotic pops and grants +50% Job Efficiency.
  • fixHive Fallen Empire: Fixed Hive Fallen Empires installing psionic circuitry into organic or lithoid pops.
  • fixImperious Architecture: Fixed Imperious Architecture not functioning correctly.
  • fixAstral Rifts: Fixed Astral Rifts re-opening after AI exploration and AI receiving double event rewards.
  • fixEspionage: Fixed Espionage operations granting double rewards when set to 'Commence When Ready'.
  • fixFleets: Resolved issues where fleets would vanish and reappear when their capital was occupied or inhibited.
  • fixExperimental Testing: Fixed high Councilor levels incorrectly adding Pops instead of removing them during Experimental Testing.
  • fixUI Tooltips: Fixed various tooltip errors for Fire Cult, Psionic Authority, Cybernetic Creed, and Covenants.

🚀Performance & Stability(4)

  • fixPerformance: Reduced late-game micro-freezes associated with Nomad AI empires.
  • fixStability: Fixed a crash occurring when loading saves with unrecognized asteroid belt types.
  • fixStability: Fixed a startup crash caused by missing or empty language lists.
  • fixMultiplayer: Fixed a multiplayer desync caused by language-specific grammatical forms in names.

🖥️UI/UX(4)

  • changeUI: Marauder and Fallen Empire flags are now distinct from normal empire flags during Game Setup.
  • changeShroud: The Shroud tab no longer opens automatically after breaching the Shroud.
  • changeUI: Military and Research policy windows now sort alphabetically for consistency.
  • newUI: Right-click menu now shows disabled fleet actions with tooltips explaining the reason (cost, cooldown, etc.).

Summary

The 4.5.2 'Cygnus' update focuses on significant balance adjustments to ship components and extensive polish for the Nomadic empire playstyle. Key highlights include a major reduction in armor energy and alloy upkeep, a new detoxification feature for the Knights of the Toxic God, and critical fixes for infinite combat loops and planetary revolt logic.

← OlderStellaris 4.5 "Cygnus" now available!Sep 22, 2026

More from Stellaris

View all patches →