Stellaris Leviathans DLC & Heinlein Patch Due Oct 20th
Do not touch the sphere
Strange and giant space nasties are coming to Stellaris [official site] in the Leviathans paid expansion, which Paradox today announced will launch on October 20th. Players will get to fight a space dragon for its horde, encounter a mysterious sphere, meet something which lives inside a sun, and so on - the usual stuff.
Just as important - perhaps more so? - is the free update hitting the 4X strategy game alongside the expansion. Codenamed Heinlein (after the sci-fi author, as is Paradox's way), it will add or overhaul features from auto-explore to sector governors.
Leviathans will introduce giant new weird things to space. They range from a simple (hah!) space dragon you can try to duff to steal its hoard (a planet, obvs) to a silent metal sphere hovering near a black hole. These 'Guardians' include spacelife, ancient technology, and... who even knows, presenting both problems and opportunities. Probably don't go riling up spacespheres - that's a lesson I've learned from Iain M. Banks's Excession.
Leviathans will also bring Enclaves - independent outposts of traders or mercenaries - along with the 'War in Heaven' eventy story bit. That'll see two Fallen Empires kicking off and having a go at each other, which of course presents several opportunities.
The Leviathans Story Pack will cost $9.99.
As for the Heinlein update launching alongside it, here are the big features
- A convenient Auto-Explore feature.
- Rally points for your freshly-assembled Navy.
- The Expansion Planner Interface.
- An overhaul of Strategic Resources.
- Clearer specialization/role for ship types.
- More options for customizing new galaxies.
- New smarter Sector Governors.
If you want to see more of Heinlein, check out this development livestream from September, which shows the update and Leviathans:
Oh, and check out this beautiful space baby, one of several "cute" species portraits coming with Leviathans making cute noises:
You are a little lamb, spacefriend.