编辑“新手指南”

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If you are looking for a negative trait, {{iconify|Unruly}} is heavily recommended as you get 2 points at the expense of a negligible increase in empire sprawl. Alternatively, {{iconify|Deviants}} is also a viable choice, because there are many sources to increase your Governing Ethics Attraction to counter its effects.

{{iconify|Wasteful}} is also worth considering unless you are going to use the {{icon|policy}} '''Utopian Abundance''' living standard as an {{iconify|Egalitarian}} empire, since {{iconify|consumer goods}}, like Food, have little use beyond population upkeep and constructing colony ships, so it's not terribly costly to pay {{red|+10%}} more for an additional trait point. However, if you intend to focus heavily on technology, this may not be the best since your Research jobs will consume Consumer Goods, meaning Wasteful will necessitate more Artisan jobs to support your research output.

{{iconify|Strong}} is not a good choice because the performance of Offensive Armies is heavily dependent on the base stats of the [[Land warfare|army type]] and their number. There is also a vast source of Army Damage improvements, diluting the influence of Strong. When it comes to Defensive Armies, they can, however, be destroyed by Orbital Bombardments before the enemy armies invade the planet, making Strong moot in defensive needs. This leaves the {{green|+2.5%}} worker resource output, which is a tiny amount, even at one trait point. The {{iconify|Resilient}} trait suffers from the same fate as Strong, and is not recommended.

While {{iconify|Nonadaptive}} provides {{green|+2}} trait points and may look tempting, be warned: a {{red|-10%}} habitability causes the Food, consumer goods, and amenities usage to be increased by the same percentage and Resource Output and Pop Growth Speed to be decreased by half of the percentage on all of your planets (aside from your homeworld). Put simply, even planets within your species' preferred class become quite difficult to turn happy and productive if they are Nonadaptive. Like its Adaptive opposite, this penalty can be mitigated somewhat by using robot populations extensively on other planets.

You can customize the name, appearance, and ruler title of your first empire ruler. Different ruler and heir titles based on leader gender can be set. The ruler title can be changed in-game anytime by clicking the empire's name on the government window. A fallback ruler title can be suggested if you have picked a valid combination of Authorities and Civics. This configuration is purely cosmetic.

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Machine species is the only option to {{iconify|Machine Intelligence}} empires and cannot use other Authorities. They have a different set of Traits, but fewer trait points and trait picks than biological species.

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Lithoid species do not use {{iconify|food}}, instead they eat {{iconify|minerals}}. They have increased leader life span and habitability, but in return decreases pop growth speed and their leaders start older than usual (around 50-80 years old).

Their exclusive traits, namely {{iconify|Gaseous Byproducts}}, {{iconify|Scintillating Skin}} and {{iconify|Volatile Excretions}}, are however not so viable to spend your trait points. Comparing to the high upkeep cost consumption of {{iconify|strategic resources}} for advanced buildings, what these traits provide is miniscule. A medium-sized empire in the mid game may produce only 2-4 of these resources through these traits when dozens are required by your empire.

The name of your homeworld and home system is, obviously, purely cosmetic, so you can name them as you wish. Alternatively, you can roll a random name, which is drawn from your namelist.

City appearance is purely cosmetic and you can choose the one that looks the best to you.

[[Empire#Origins|Origins]] determine the circumstances behind your empire's rise to power, and affect certain conditions or events in the home system. Most simply alter the state of the home world and distribution of pops, but some even start with a pre-existing diplomatic arrangement with other empires. The default origin is {{iconify|Prosperous Unification}}, which gives the empire more starting population and a small bonus to their homeworld for the first 10 years of the game.

Other origins are ''not'' designed to be balanced with each other. There are powerful origins like {{iconify|Scion}} and challenging origins like {{iconify|Doomsday}} and {{iconify|Life-Seeded}}.

For the first playthrough, {{iconify|Prosperous Unification}} is always a good option, as its bonuses are simple and unobtrusive for the player empire. Alternatively, {{iconify|Lost Colony}}, which spawns a parent empire somewhere in the galaxy, can be used for the same reasons. {{iconify|Galactic Doorstep}} however is not recommended as a couple of its outcomes cause hostile fleets to spawn within the empire's home system.

{{iconify|Scion}} is a powerful origin for you to use if you have the option, and an excellent starting pick for new players as there are plenty of bonuses to get and very little to lose (aside from being the subject of one of the most powerful empires in the galaxy).

[[Government]] & [[Ethics]]: This page determines the empire's starting ethics set, government type, and civics, all of which impact gameplay immensely. Ethics determine the basic attitudes of the central government, which then determines the available types of authority. Authority determines the duration which a [[ruler]] (NPC leader) is permitted to lead the empire, and how the empire decides on a new ruler once they depart. Civics are the personal touches that differentiate otherwise similar empires, and the available choices are determined by the empire's ethics and authority. 

[[Ethics]] (also called ethos) are split into four dichotomy axes of thought and provide some bonuses or unlocking otherwise restricted options while also imposing new restrictions elsewhere. Each {{blue|moderate ethic}} costs 1 ethic point and it also has a {{yellow|fanatic variant}} that costs 2 ethic points with doubled bonuses and usually harsher restrictions. An empire must spend all 3 of its ethic points, meaning that an empire must have either three moderate ethics, or a fanatic ethic plus a moderate ethic. They affect both how the empire functions internally and also influence the diplomacy with AI empires in many cases as well. Empires with matching ethics are far more likely to succeed in mutual cooperation from initial contact (vis-a-vis Humans and Vulcans in Star Trek).

While the player may choose the ethics by their sheer power, it's also fine to choose entirely by role-play needs or the player's personal tastes.

The {{iconify|Egalitarian}}–{{iconify|Authoritarian}} dichotomy axis governs attitudes towards how power is distributed and its effect on average citizens, e.g. decentralization versus centralization.

* {{icon|Authoritarian}}{{icon|Fanatic Authoritarian}}Authoritarian empires that liberally enslave pops can benefit from many traits that increase {{iconify|Worker}} and {{iconify|Slave}} resource output, such as {{iconify|Industrious}}, {{iconify|Ingenious}}, {{iconify|Agrarian}}, and {{iconify|Strong}} or {{iconify|Very Strong}}. Civic choices that build on Authoritarian bonuses to Workers include {{iconify|Mining Guilds}} and {{iconify|Slaver Guilds}}.

The {{iconify|Xenophobe}}–{{iconify|Xenophile}} dichotomy axis governs attitudes towards alien species, spanning between isolationism/supremacism and proactive coexistence, i.e. purity versus diversity.

* Their restrictions are they cannot displace or purge aliens, nor can they outright reject alien refugees (though they can be limited to only species with full citizenship).

The {{iconify|Militarist}}-{{iconify|Pacifist}} dichotomy axis governs attitudes towards how the civilization views the concept of war, viewing it as either glorious military tradition or ruinous, unnecessary violence.

* However, they cannot use the {{icon|policy}} '''Unrestricted Wars''' War Philosophy, meaning that they cannot start wars as freely as other empires can.

The {{iconify|Materialist}}-{{iconify|Spiritualist}} dichotomy axis governs attitudes towards epistemology[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistemology]] and how the empire views the mind–body problem[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mind–body_problem]].

* The restriction is, they cannot use {{icon|policy}} '''Full Rights''' AI policy and utilizing Robotic Workers can enrage their factions.

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{{iconify|Gestalt Consciousness}} empires are not empires in the traditional sense; they are more like a single organism with a single intelligence comprised of the whole population. It is the essence of "the whole is greater than the sum of its parts."

* However, as a result of being a gestalt consciousness, there is no need for {{iconify|Consumer Goods}}, which may simplify the game. In the case of {{iconify|Machine Intelligence}} empires, they also do not have to worry about {{iconify|Food}}, simplifying resources down further into only {{iconify|Energy Credits}}, {{iconify|Minerals}}, and {{iconify|Alloys}}.

[[Government#Authority|Authority]] is the archetype of government that the empire exercises and defines how power is concentrated within the empire. Its primary purpose is to determine how often the leadership changes, i.e. how often a player can take advantage of a powerful ruler or must cope with a weak one.

There are 4 regular Authorities available and each comes to a different way to elect the next empire ruler. They have near to no difference in power level.

Note that having your empire ruler being the leader of a [[Faction]] drastically increases the empire-wide ethic attraction of the faction's ethic, which may be undesirable if it was an opposite ethic of your governing ethic.

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{{iconify|Hive Mind}} is a special authority that requires {{iconify|Gestalt Consciousness}} ethic. They have an immortal ruler which represents their central consciousness and will never hold elections. They cannot access Robots or Psionics but have drastically faster Pop Growth Speed. While not mentioned in the game, their [[Leaders]] are also younger than usual, which amounts to more years in service compared to other empires. They have a unique set of Civics that do not share with other Authorities.

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{{iconify|Machine Intelligence}} is a special authority that requires {{iconify|Gestalt Consciousness}} ethic and must be played with a Robotic species, which have unique traits. Like Hive Minds, they also have an immortal ruler which represents their central consciousness. Their leaders are also immortal (technically near-immortal, they have a 0.5% chance each month to die of various causes) because of the nature of Robots, but they also use more {{iconify|Energy}} to recruit new leaders, and instead of {{iconify|Food}} upkeep, they have {{iconify|Energy}} upkeep for their pops. In addition, pop growth costs {{iconify|Alloys}}. They have a unique set of Civics that do not share with other Authorities.

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{{iconify|Corporate}} is an authority that's almost identical to {{iconify|Oligarchic}}. They are focused on {{iconify|Trade Value}} and can access [[Planetary_management#Branch_Offices|Branch Offices]], which are established on other empire's planets for mutually beneficial effects. They also have a unique set of Civics.

[[Civics]] are the principles and ideas the empire's government was founded on, and provide bonuses that permit players to tailor their empires toward a preferred strategy. Possibilities range from general bonuses such as {{iconify|Idealistic Foundation}} for additional happiness, to specific bonuses such as {{iconify|Slaver Guilds}}, which increases the productivity of enslaved pops, to playstyle-altering ones like {{iconify|Inward Perfection}} and {{iconify|Agrarian Idyll}} which drastically change how the empire functions as a whole.

Like Ethics, Civics can be picked by their sheer power or purely by the role-play needs or personal tastes, while Civics with "{{yellow|Cannot do something}}" or "{{yellow|Cannot be added or removed after game start}}" entries usually result in a restrictive or advanced playstyle. It is recommended to pick Civics with easy-to-understand bonuses while learning how the various systems of the game work.

{{iconify|Mining Guilds}} is simple and doesn't have any requirements. It gives a decent bonus to the {{iconify|Minerals}} production, which is required for Districts, Buildings, and manufactured resources such as {{iconify|Alloys}} and {{iconify|consumer goods}}.

{{iconify|Diplomatic Corps}} is extremely useful when playing against AI empires, as it adds {{iconify|Envoy}} {{green|+2}}, which can usually offset most negative {{iconify|Opinion}} modifiers given enough time and gives you more leniency with First Contact missions and espionage.

The empire's name and adjective used by the in-game text. If the player's species name and government type have been decided on, the game will suggest names with those factors in mind.

Empire flags consist of a primary color, a secondary color, background design, and sigil. While all are purely cosmetic, the primary color also determines the color of the empire's territory in the Galaxy view, as well as model decorations such as engine trails.

Ship Appearance: The appearance of ships are again cosmetic and serves to finish the look of the empire. Some of the lighting effects on the ships are determined by the empire's primary color in the Flag section.

Ship design is handled in game, and as a general rule, specializing in only one type of ship weaponry is not particularly recommended. Diversifying the fleet's weaponry and defenses will allow it to effectively combat different builds of ships. Additional weapon types and upgrades are available for research and should be fully unlocked by the mid-game at the latest.

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Stellaris' ''interface'', also called ''graphical user interface'' (''GUI'' or simply ''UI''), serves to inform the player of all of the game's happenings and events. This section will briefly describe the interface and the more critical components of it. 

Along the bottom left lies the system name and a button to zoom out to the galaxy map if you are in a system, and a number of buttons used outside of the main gameplay loop, such as system settings, help, and chat for multiplayer games.

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Space is vast and mysterious, and it is only natural to want to explore it and discover its secrets. In Stellaris, players use [[Fleet#science_ship|science ships]] to accomplish this, and all players begin with one staffed by a [[Leader#Scientist|scientist]]. Although players can see the number of [[planets]] in any system they've uncovered as well as potentially habitable ones, it is the job of the science ship to survey [[celestial bodies]], identify exploitable resources and enable colonization, as well as to analyze any [[anomalies]] found during their surveys.

For players who enjoy exploring the galaxy and conducting research, To Boldly Go in the [[Traditions#Discovery_tree|Discovery traditions tree]] is an excellent early game choice for discovering and successfully analyzing anomalies.

As the player explores the galaxy, they will almost certainly uncover systems that are either rich in resources that unfortunately lie outside of their empire's borders or contain a habitable planet that the empire can colonize. Empires can neither extract resources from systems they do not control nor can they colonize planets in them, and therefore have to expand their territory and lay claim to said star systems in order to be able to extract resources or colonize planets in them. This is done by constructing a [[Starbase]] in the system. 

The [[Traditions#Expansion_tree|Prosperity tree]] on the other hand can be helpful for economy management as it contains traditions that reduce the construction and upkeep costs for ships, starbases, buildings and robots.

Colonizing a planet takes quite a bit of resources to do and all subsequent development even more so. Each planet in the galaxy has a specific climate determining the [[habitability]] of an empire's species and a size value anywhere between 10 and 25 which, along with planetary features, dictates the maximum number of districts it can support. Planets can also occasionally have modifiers on them that can affect the colonists and their productivity. 

Although on average only a third of the available planets will have high enough habitability as to not suffer large penalties in amenity and housing usage (least 60-70% habitability for the empire's main species), to maintain game-balance all empires in the galaxy start the game with a number of habitable planets near their borders. While this ensures that no empire gets doomed out of the gate with their spawn location, if multiple empires with similar homeworlds happen to spawn in the same cluster as each other, losing the opening "land grab" can severely hamper an empire's midgame performance (and conversely, stealing another empire's starting habitable worlds will make them much weaker). Scouting early and building the first outpost in a timely manner will usually suffice to keep players from losing out too much in this respect (unless, of course, they plan to take planets by force).

Planets differ mainly by habitability and size and which of these two should be your primary focus depends on the Empire you are planing on playing. Habitability is important if you are going for a high happiness build (as lower habitability gives a happiness penalty) or if you want rapid population growth. Size is important because it determines the maximum number of districts a colony can support. Having a large number of planets (regardless of habitability and sizes) can be useful for gathering minerals and energy credits to fuel fleets.

For example, option 1 has more room for growth, which is important, as this is going to be your first colony, and thus probably be the largest (aside from your homeworld, of course). Additionally, as long as enough of each district is available to get you through the early game without being hindered, you'll be able to delay clearing the blockers until you can easily afford it.

Basic resources are global assets shared throughout the empire and can be viewed at the top of the screen at any time. With the exception of research, all resources have an upper limit on how much the empire can have stockpiled of that resource at a time. The amount of resource will be displayed in {{yellow|yellow}} if it is at capacity, and any further gains to that resource are usually forfeit until the level comes down. A resource will be displayed in {{red|red}} if there is a deficit. There are numerous resources in the game, below are the more common:

{{iconify|Unity}} generation can be maximized by ensuring the appropriate buildings are on each planet in the empire and that there are plenty of pops working Jobs that generate Unity. This will help counteract the higher costs for leader, research, and traditions incurred for going above the Administrative Capacity. Capital buildings, Unity buildings, and a number of unique planetary modifiers all can create jobs that create unity for the empire. Finally, {{iconify|influence}} is not generated by planets at all, but monthly income can be increased by researching specific techs (usually Society), rivalling other empires, and keeping [[faction]]s happy. Factions form from the pops of their empire and will grant influence based on the faction's approval rating of your government. Approval rating can be improved by satisfying the issues of a faction. Note that mutually exclusive issues among competing factions will force you into siding with one faction over another. Consider your goals and circumstances when setting out to curry the approval and influence of a faction.

Regardless of what the player's ultimate plan is for a game, it is vital that they maintain a capable fleet of combat ships to be able to both attack and defend against foreign aggression. Even in the early stages of the game, the player's empire may find itself under attack from space pirates or hostile aliens; thus having a respectable military presence is of vital importance throughout the campaign.

Selecting a fleet - whether it be directly or through the Outliner - will bring up a detailed view of all ships within it, and allow the player to issue commands, as they might do with civilian ships. While learning the basics of fleet logistics is not too difficult, some of the more important tasks for the player to be familiar with include splitting and merging, repairing, upgrading, and reinforcing.

Technologies in Stellaris are divided into three different branches of study: {{iconify|Physics}}, {{iconify|Society}} and {{iconify|Engineering}}. Each branch is headed by a scientist and each one can work on technology research in tandem with the other two branches. Each technology has a field associated with it as well, indicated by the colored icon beneath the technology's numerical progress. If a scientist has a trait whose icon matches the technology's, then that tech research is boosted by 15%, as it is in the scientist's field of expertise. The screen also provides useful information regarding what is unlocked by each technology, research speed modifiers for each branch, and a timer projecting how much more time is needed until research is complete.

Finally, players should not worry themselves with maintaining perfect uptime when it comes to ensuring research scientists are always researching something. If a branch is not actively researching anything, then any points accumulated for that branch are placed in a pool instead of going to waste. When that branch has a new project, those pooled points are gradually credited towards that project, accelerating its progress. This system allows players to manage their research without needing to pause the game every time a project is completed.

As the player empire gains {{iconify|unity}} throughout the game, they will be regularly prompted to select a tradition to adopt for their empire. The tradition tree is divided into thirteen different branches, each of which contains a subtree of five traditions. An empire may only select up to seven tradition branches, and some traditions may be restricted under certain conditions. Adopting a single branch and all of the traditions within it rewards the player with a finisher bonus on top of the adopted tradition, as well as an Ascension Perk slot.

* Versatility traditions are exclusively available to {{iconify|Machine Intelligence}} empires to enhance the efficiency of their network, including some diplomatic bonuses.

[[File:UI leaders.png|thumb|The Leader Screen]]

*[[Leader#General|Generals]] lead the empire's armies, boosting them based on their level and traits.

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Once players are familiar with the different systems in Stellaris and how they interact with one another, it's time to begin thinking strategically and planning the empire's future. Creating and honing a strong early game routine will make games all the more enjoyable, knowing that the empire will be off to a good start economically, socially, and militarily. In this section, we discuss a few general guidelines new players should adhere to as they begin their journey into the stars.

*A reserve of 100 {{iconify|energy credits}}, 100 {{iconify|minerals}}, 200 {{iconify|food}}, 100 {{iconify|consumer goods}}, 100 {{iconify|alloys}},  100 {{iconify|influence}}, and 0 {{iconify|unity}}.

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During the start of the game, players are advised to send their science ships to survey their neighboring systems. As mentioned earlier in the guide, some celestial bodies contain deposits of resources such as {{iconify|minerals}} or {{iconify|energy}} credits and these deposits can only be harvested if it has been uncovered by science ships doing surveying missions and such deposits are within the empire’s [[Empire#Borders|border]]. Harvesting these resources would provide players with a better start and allows players to be able to construct ships and stations without much waiting.

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When the science ships are surveying celestial bodies, there is a chance for an anomaly to be encountered. The anomaly may be investigated by science ships and the outcome of the investigation is always a success, although the time it takes diminishes for a scientist with a higher skill level. A special project may appear once the investigation of the project is complete. Players may also be granted a relatively large amount of research points, minerals or energy credits. Many anomalies present a dilemma, whose outcomes can provide an even further rewards. The benefits of early exploration of neighboring systems means that it can be advantageous to create a second or third science ship early on.

Eventually, players will need to colonize other habitable planets to acquire resources for the means to expand their empire geographically and technologically. Colonization is done by sending colony ships to habitable planets that are surveyed and located in star systems with (at least) an outpost built. The colonization process requires a colony ship, there is an initial build cost (Energy/Alloys/Food) and beware the additional upkeep cost (8 energy per month) that lasts until the colony is established. Players are not required to research additional technologies to colonize planets with a different world type. However, there may be "Tile Blockers" such as Toxic Kelp or Dangerous Wildlife, that require technology to be researched in order to be cleared and access to the resources and districts underneath. The housing and amenities usage is increased by the difference between 100% and the planet's habitability (2x usage at 0% habitability, 1.5x at 50%, etc.). Usually, the game puts 2 habitable planets (matching world type - so base  80% habitability) near your starting system (unless Tomb/Gaia world) to help kickstart your campaign.

Your new planet will take time to settle.

At 40 pops (and 80 pops) the Administration Center can be upgraded further to unlock more advanced infrastructure and options.

A newly colonized planet will have a weak production as the population of the planet will be low, and thus the output will be low. A planet’s population will grow over time and the growth rate can be boosted with edicts, technology, decisions, and buildings. All pops must have a job or they will become unemployed, thus contributing to higher crime, lower stability, and increased usage of planetary resources. Jobs are created by creating generator/mining/agriculture districts and/or creating buildings in an available building slot that is unlocked at higher populations. With regards to generator/mining/agriculture districts, they produce the same number of jobs as housing whereas City districts produce more housing than jobs (5 housing, 1 job), so they are a suitable source of housing for pops that work buildings (though this is affected by Traditions, Ethics and Policies). It is recommended to grow a colony's population as quickly as possible all the while making sure the needs of the pops are met, such as employment, housing, and amenities. One strategy a player might use is resettling pops from the player's homeworld to the new colony to boost the initial population and open building slots. As with most things in Stellaris, this will give a boost but also comes with a price. Resettling costs energy credits to do and your homeworld can get a growth de-buff from the pops leaving. Additionally, a player should be sure that the new colony has the housing, jobs, and amenities to support the influx of new pops. The bottom line is this, more pops equals more production. Happy pops equals more production. Take care of your pops.

As with most space 4X games, keeping a strong military presence is vital as it will deter potential attacks. In Stellaris, this statement is true as players may encounter other space-faring empires that have hostile intent or space monsters which are hostile. Therefore, keeping a strong military presence allows for players to defend against attacks should they get themselves into war.

In addition to maintaining a powerful navy, one must also not forget about their planetary forces. Recruiting armies and stationing them on planets that need them as well as building up defensive infrastructure planetside can help bolster one's defensive capabilities noticeably.

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As science ships are out into the void exploring the stars, they will inevitably encounter alien life forms. The alien life forms that players can encounter are divided into 5 types:

*[[Spaceborne_aliens|Space Monsters]]

There are some exceptions to this. Fallen empires will contact players automatically if their ships venture into their territory. Pre-sentient species and Pre-FTL species are encountered by science ships which are surveying celestial bodies.

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After establishing communications, players may access the Diplomacy screen. From there, they will be able to:

Empires will have an opinion of you depending on your actions, governing ethics or civics, and espionage. Keeping in mind which empires may be more friendly towards you is a good first step.

After you or another empire has met 70% of the normal empires in the galaxy, you will be given the option of creating the Galactic Community, which will allow you to pass resolutions affecting all empires. Generally, voting weight is determined by your diplomatic weight (which can be boosted through Diplomatic Stance policies or {{iconify|envoy}}s), and many resolutions can be extremely beneficial or extremely detrimental to your empire depending on what you are playing as.

Even further, a Custodian may be voted in as the Galactic Emperor, giving them almost total control over the entire galaxy.

Besides the construction and employment of a strong military, empires can also improve its military power through the forming of federations. When an empire declares war upon a member of a federation, other members in the federation enter the war as well. However, if a member of a federation were to declare war, other members will be required to vote for whether the member can make the declaration of war (see [[Warfare#Federation Warfare|declarations of war]] for more details). There are five federation types each with unique benefits. There are {{iconify|Galactic Union}}s which has the benefit of having {{green|-50%}} cohesion loss from Ethics, {{iconify|Trade League}}s which allows members to use the Trade League trade policy, {{iconify|Martial Alliance}}s which give benefits to ship and army experience and build speed of ships, {{iconify|Research Cooperative}}s which gives a automatic research agreement between all members, and {{iconify|Hegemony}} which does not allow members to leave freely. Federation cohesion affects the experience gain of a federation, and experience allows you to level up your federation to increase centralization. Cohesion can be increased by assigning {{iconify|Envoy}}s to your federation.

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Once players reach the late stages of the game, they should have built an empire with a considerably strong fleet and a strong production of resources.  By this stage, players should be pursuing one of the many victory goals present in the game by default. However, the late stage of the game usually involves events that will affect the entire galaxy.

To win Stellaris the player must have the biggest victory score compared to all other empires, including [[fallen empires]].

As the name implies, an endgame [[crisis]] brings about catastrophic results which can affect the entire galaxy. There are several criteria necessary to trigger such events. Besides that, there can only be one endgame crisis in a single game. Some examples of such endgame crisis are listed below:

Additionally, an empire can choose an {{iconify|ascension perk}} in order to choose to become the crisis, allowing them to massively increase their power and eventually begin destroying the galaxy.

This event is considered special as it is not considered an endgame crisis. This event involves 2 Fallen Empires which have awoken due to reasons unknown and these two superpowers launch a great war against one another, dragging the normal empires into the war as well. However, this event is not guaranteed to occur and the host of the game must have the [[Leviathans]] DLC in order for it to happen.

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The Utopia DLC comes with several long-term goals starting in by the middle-game for players to work their empire towards. There are three (mutually-exclusive) species ascension paths, Engineered Evolution (Genetic Strengthening), Mind Over Matter (Psionic Awakening) and The Flesh is Weak (Cybernetic/Synthetic Transformation) as well as the ability to construct ever-larger mega-structures. These represent different destinies of the empire and what kind of mark they leave upon the galaxy's history.

Once an empire has completed the Psionic Ascension Path, interacting with the Shroud can give the opportunity to sign a covenant with the End of the Cycle in the Shroud. This is very rare, with only a 2% chance of occurring, but it will give huge boosts to resource production, research speed, and naval capacity for 50 years.  At the end of this period, the reckoning occurs. The player loses all their planets and they become uninhabitable forever. All ships will be destroyed and all pops and leaders will be killed. The player will gain control of a single new planet called Exile with a group of surviving pops and an entity called the "Reckoning" will spawn with a fleet power measuring in the millions.  It will kill everything in the galaxy saving the players for last. All empires will have a permanent -1000 opinion of the player for "Bringing the End" and "Doomed us all".

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