We’re still neck deep in Stellaris this week, colonizing planets and laying claim to every inch of the galaxy we can get our hands on, but seven days is just enough time for some fans to wonder what kinds of mods are beginning to hit the web. Thankfully, there’s no shortage of Stellaris add-ons being created by the game’s community, with roughly 800 already listed on the Steam Workshop.
Rather than force you to dig through such an extensive list of user creations, we’ve rounded up descriptions and links to some of the best Stellaris mods currently available for download. There are probably still a few gems hiding in the Workshop, and/or on the way in the coming weeks, but this should be more than enough to get you started on your next Stellaris campaign.
40K: Twilight of the Imperium
Gamers probably won’t be surprised to hear there’s a Warhammer 40K mod in the works for Stellaris . They’re pretty common these days . But you might be surprised to learn the cosmetic portion of the overhaul mod is already ready for public consumption. The current build of 40K: Twilight of the Imperium includes all of Warhammer 40K ’s major and minor races, a Warhammer 40K -themed name list (for new planets), and new event images. The only downside to this mod is its lack of compatibility with Ironman Mode.
Designable Transports
For some players, the ability to customize your ships is one of Stellaris’ best features. Designable Transports was created for those fans, giving players the ability to upgrade the transport ships that carry your assault armies from one planet to the next. With Designable Transports, it’s possible to create shielded transport vessels or heavily-armored personnel carriers that can withstand more punishment than their standard-issue counterparts.
Easy Mode
For a game that wasn’t on all that many radars prior to launch, Stellaris shipped with surprisingly few shortcomings. But we can’t be the only ones who were a bit disappointed to see the game didn’t include any sort of Easy mode for new players to use while learning the ropes. Fortunately, a member of the game’s community already built a mod that introduces a new entry-level difficulty setting to Stellaris . The biggest change is the lack of upkeep costs, but there’s also a Very Easy edict (with various resource bonuses) that can be activated if you’re still struggling.
Extended Traits
As you may or may not have already discovered, genetic modification is one of the many potential ways your chosen species can get an advantage on the competition in Stellaris . Many of these traits are the sorts of things you’d expect in a game about interstellar colonization, like faster population growth or an ability to live in harsher conditions, and now Extended Traits gives players another 20 traits to alter their favorite species as needed.
Flag Creation
Any time a PC game includes some sort of creator, like the flag creator in Stellaris , community creations for that system are all but guaranteed. Rather than choose one of the dozens of flag creation mods already listed on the Steam Workshop, we’ve rounded up a few mods that should appeal to different segments of the Stellaris community.
Alpha Centauri Flags - New emblems inspired by Sid Meier’s Alpha Centauri
Expanded Colours - 120 new color options for the flag creator
Flags: Emblems & Backgrounds - New emblems and background color patterns for the flag creator
Hyrulian Flags - New emblems inspired by the Legend of Zelda franchise
National Emblem Pack - Dozens of emblems for the flag creator inspired by real empires and government organizations from throughout human history
Star Trek Emblems - New emblems for the flag creator lifted from the Star Trek universe
Halo UNSC Overhaul
As the name suggests, Halo UNSC Overhaul is a work-in-progress mod for Stellaris that will eventually include a full empire based on the United Nations Space Command from the Halo franchise. Right now, the mod doesn’t include much more than a custom species, with a UNSC flag, and name lists for outposts, planets, ships, stations, etc.
More Spaceport Modules
More Spaceport Modules gives players new options for customizing the spaceports on colonized planets. New options include larger solar panel networks, better hydroponic farms and advanced versions of the ship assembly yards included in the base game.
New Empires
Like the flag creator, Stellaris’ species customization suite has inspired the game’s community to create empires inspired by all corners of pop culture. We’ve collected some of our favorite below but don’t hesitate to add additional suggestions down in the comments section.
Asari - Adds the Asari Republics from Mass Effect
Cylon Empire - Adds the Cylons from Battlestar Galactica
Dalek Empire - Adds the Daleks from Doctor Who
Matriarchy Mod - Adds a human empire comprised entirely of women
Salarian Union - Adds the Salarian Union from Mass Effect
Targaryen Monarchy - Adds House Targaryen from A Song Of Ice And Fire
The Blorg - Adds the friend-seeking alien race played by Paradox during pre-launch Stellaris live streams
The Imperium of Rick and Morty - Adds an empire led by the titular characters from Cartoon Network’s Rick And Morty
New Portraits
You know the drill by now. Here’s a small set of portrait mods that give players new images to choose from when designing a custom species. Feel free to leave additional suggestions down in the comments section.
Hyperdimension Neptunia - 11 new species portraits and flag emblems inspired by the cult classic RPG series
New Humanoid Portraits - Adds nine new humanoid portraits to the existing set
Rainbow Space People -- Adds new humanoid portraits with blue, green, red and yellow skin tones
Sci-Fi Portraits - Species portraits inspired by iconic science-fction franchises like Alien vs. Predator , Doctor Who and Star Wars
Sloths in Space - 11 portraits for your custom sloth race, along with an emblem for the flag creator and a Sloth trait
Verenti's Stellaris Fixes
Steam user Verenti has compiled a series of small fixes and game tweaks, including the Designable Transports mod already mentioned in this post, all of which have received a stamp of approval from DayZ and Out Of Ammo creator Dean Hall. Rather than tilt the game in the player's favor, Verenti's fixes address some of Stellaris smaller problems, like fighter formation issues in large fleets and the game's poorly-balanced projectile weapons. Best of all, Verenti's Stellaris Fixes are each installed individually, so you only have to implement the changes you're interested in.
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