Planet modifiers

Version

This article has been verified for the current PC version (3.0) of the game.

Celestial body

Classification

Colonization

Terraforming

Planetary features

Planet modifiers

Each planet has a small chance of containing a modifier that will affect the colony should the world be colonized. They may be positive, negative or mixed, identified by the color of the modifier's border.

Random anomalies can generate a great variety of planet modifiers but those usually do not have any effects.

Random modifiers

These modifiers can appear at random on any planet outside an empire's home system. Some of them can be removed if the planet in terraformed.

	Modifier	Effects	Spawn chance	Removed by terraforming	Description
	Bleak	−5% Habitability −10% Food from Jobs −2 Max Agriculture Districts	x0 if Tropical x0 if  Lush	Yes	Life struggles to survive here, and while some clings to a tenacious existence it is anemic and sickly.
	Poor Quality Minerals	−25% Minerals from Jobs −3 Max Mining Districts	x4 if  Low Gravity x0 if  Carbon World	No	It is unknown if this planet simply formed this way, or if some unknown race once stripped it of its more valuable resources. However, we do know that the minerals present on this planet are of unusally poor quality.
	Tidal Locked	−30% Max Districts	x3 if moon	No	This world is tidally locked around its star, meaning that one side always has daylight while the other is locked in eternal darkness. If life exists here, it is likely limited to the twilight regions where the two sides meet.
	Weak Magnetic Field	−5% Habitability −5% Pop Growth speed	x2 if  Low Gravity x0 if  Strong Magnetic Field	No	Although habitable, this world has a weak or non-existent magnetic field that offers little protection against cosmic radiation.
	Hazardous Weather	−10% Habitability −5% Happiness +20% Energy from Jobs +4 Max Generator Districts		Yes	This world suffers from unstable weather patterns, with violent storms frequently appearing out of nowhere to wreak havoc on the surface.
	Hostile Fauna	−10% Habitability −5% Happiness +20% Society From Jobs	x2 if  Lush x2 if  High Gravity x2 if  Titanic Life	Yes	This world has evolved extremely Hostile Fauna, and the surface is rife with lethal predators waiting to ambush their next meal. Their biology offers great research opportunities, however.
	High Gravity	+10% Building cost +10% District cost −5% Habitability +2 Max Districts	x2 if  Planet Size > 19 x0 if  Planet Size < 12 x0 if  Low Gravity	No	This planet is unusually dense and so has uncomfortably high gravity.
	Low Gravity	−10% Building cost −5% Habitability	x0.5 if  Planet Size >19 x0 if  High Gravity	No	This planet has an unusually low density and therefore much lower gravity than most planets of comparable size.
	Wild Storms	−5% Habitability −5% Happiness +20% Physics from Jobs		Yes	Spectacular electrical storms wrack this planet's atmosphere on a semi-regular basis.
	Atmospheric Aphrodisiac	+5% Habitability +10% Pop Growth speed −20% Government ethics attraction		Tomb World Machine World Hive world	Something in the air of this planet seems to put people in the mood to reproduce.
	Carbon World	+15% Minerals from Jobs	x0 if not Barren	No	This world has been formed mostly out of carbon, and contains little oxygen.
	Exceptional Quality Minerals	+25% Minerals from Jobs +8 Max Mining Districts	x8 if  High Gravity x0 if  Carbon World	No	The exceptional quality of the minerals in this planet's crust provides a truly staggering opportunity for mining.
	Extensive Moon System	+10% Minerals from Jobs +1 Max Mining Districts	x0 if not Gas Giant x0 if no moons	No	This gas giant has an unusually large amount of natural satellites. Hundreds of small moons and moonlets orbit the planet.
	High Quality Minerals	+15% Minerals from Jobs +4 Max Mining Districts	x4 if  High Gravity x0 if  Carbon World	No	An abundance of high quality minerals in this planet's crust makes mining here a lucrative business.
	Lush	+10% Habitability +20% Food from Jobs +4 Max Agriculture Districts	x3 if Gaia x2 if  Low Gravity x0 if  Bleak	Tomb World Machine World Hive world	Life thrives here, the fauna is plentiful and the flora grows rapidly.
	Natural Beauty	+5% Happiness +25% Migration Pull	x3 if Gaia	Tomb World Machine World Hive world	The scenery on this planet is simply beautiful, anyone living on this planet will be constantly finding new wonders to behold.
	Terraforming Candidate	Can be terraformed	Barren World anomaly Worlds made Barren by a crisis Always present on Mars	Yes	Though barren and devoid of life, this planet has water in frozen form and may once have been home to a thriving ecosystem. With the right technology, it could be terraformed into a habitable world.

Event triggering modifiers

The following random modifiers will cause an event roughly one year after the planet is colonized. The event can only trigger once per colony.

	Modifier	Effects	Spawn chance	Removed by terraforming	Event
	Irradiated	−10% Habitability −20% Biological Happiness −50% Food from Jobs −6 Max Agriculture Districts +2 Max Mining Districts		Yes	Colony gains one of the following: 20% chance Ancient Bombardment Craters planetary feature 20% chance Ancient Battlefield planetary feature 20% chance Irradiated Ruins planetary feature 40% chance Uncertain History modifier
	Unstable Tectonics	−10% Habitability −5% Happiness +20% Engineering from Jobs	x4 if  High Gravity	No	Colony gets -5%  Happiness for a year. There is a 66% chance for either the colony to gain a Deep Sinkhole blocker or for the empire to get 100-500  Minerals.
	Asteroid Impacts	−5% Habitability +5% Minerals from Jobs +2 Max Mining Districts		No	Colony gets -5%  Happiness for 5 years as well as either 20  Devastation or the Impact Crater planetary feature.
	Atmospheric Hallucinogen	+5% Biological and Lithoid Pop Happiness +10% Physics from Jobs −30% Government Ethics Attraction		Tomb World Machine World Hive world	Empire gains a special project. Finishing it removes the modifier and has a 25% chance to add the Filtered Atmospheric Hallucinogen modifier.
	Asteroid Belt	+10% Minerals from Jobs +3 Max Mining Districts	x0 if moon x2 if  Low Gravity	No	Colony gets +10%  Happiness for 5 years.
	Strong Magnetic Field	+5% Energy from Jobs +5% Physics from Jobs +2 Max Generator Districts	x2 if  High Gravity x0 if  Weak Magnetic Field	No	Colony gets either +20% or -10%  Research from Jobs for 5 years as well as a special project. Finishing the special project adds the Magnetic Miracle modifier.
	Titanic Life	+25% Society from Jobs	x8 if  High Gravity x0.5 if  Low Gravity x0 if  Hostile Fauna	No	Empire gains a special project. Finishing it will either allow the recruitment of Titanic Beast armies on the planet or have the colony invaded by 3 powerful armies. If the empire is Xenophobe or  Hive Mind it can choose to gain the Delicious Titans modifier instead of the special project.

Unique modifiers

Unique modifiers will always appear on certain predetermined planets and cannot be found anywhere else.

	Modifier	Effects	Planet	Description
	Holy World	−200 Opinion with Holy Guardians if colonized	Prophets Retreat Walled Garden Emerald Mausoleum Pristine Jewel	The planet is considered sacred by a nearby Fallen Empire. Colonizing it will anger them greatly.
	Wenkwort Gardens	+20% Culture Worker Output +10% Researcher Output	Wenkwort Artem	The ecologies of this world show signs of having been designed, fitting some arcane and romantic ideal.
	Paridayda	+10% Happiness +10% Unity from Jobs +20% Food from Jobs +25% Migration Pull	Paridayda	A paradiasaical world of unparalleled beauty.
	Sea of Consciousness	+25% Habitability +10% Research from jobs −25% Government ethics attraction −25% Planetary build speed	Size 24 Ocean	Though the nature of this planet's sea eludes us, it is somehow, unquestionably, alive. Thoughts, visions, and impulses like soft songs dance in the minds of organic beings who come into contact with it.

Homeworld modifiers

Homeworld modifiers can only be added to the capital world of an empire by Origins when the game starts.

	Modifier	Effects	Origin	Description
	Prosperous Unification	+15% Happiness +25% Amenities +10% Resources from Jobs	Prosperous Unification	Since Unification Day the economy has been booming!
	Colonial Spirit	+10% Happiness +15% Amenities +15% Resources from Jobs +10% Habitability	Lost Colony	Determined to forge a new life on the frontier, the forefathers of this colony had an astounding work ethic which became a time-honored tradition.
	Lithoid Crater	-50% Habitability	Calamitous Birth	This large crater is the result of a Lithoid-bearing meteorite slamming into the planet.

Doomsday

Empires that start with the  Doomsday origin start with a homeworld modifier that goes through 4 stages. Each stage lasts roughly 10 years and increases the effects of the previous stage.

Stage	Job output	Habitability	Stability	Immigration pull	Emigration push	Description
I	+30%	-30%	-10	-50%	+100	This planet is doomed. It is tectonically unstable and will eventually explode.
II	+60%	-50%	-15
III	+90%	-70%	-20
IV	+120%	-90%	-30

Event modifiers

Event modifiers can only be added by events.

	Modifier	Effects	Event	Description
	Subterranean Civilization	+10% Society from Jobs	Seismic Disturbances (Establish Communications Special Project)	A subterranean alien civilization on this world enjoys a good relationship with the colonists on the surface, and both parties frequently engage in trade and cultural exchanges.
	Subterranean Cities	+3 Max Districts	Seismic Disturbances (Preemptive Strike Special Project)	A indigenous subterranean civilization that once lived on this world has been exterminated, and colonists are now free to expand into their abandoned underground cities.
	Ancient Terraforming	+20% Pop Growth Speed	Abandoned Terraforming Equipment (Resume Process Special Project)	Ancient terraforming techniques have turned this world into a lush paradise.
	Abandoned Terraforming Project	−20% Food from Jobs −10% Happiness	Abandoned Terraforming Equipment (Dismantle Equipment Special Project)	This world was partially terraformed thousands of years ago, but the process was interrupted for unknown reasons. The result is a highly unstable climate system and biosphere.
	Magnetic Miracle	+20% Research from Jobs	Magnetic Miracle (Investigate the Magnetic Mystery Special Project)	Somehow the Magnetic Field of this planet is interfering with our computers, but rather than a simple disruption it is actually making them more efficient!
	Filtered Atmospheric Hallucinogen	+10% Happiness +10% Physics from Jobs	Crackdown (Hallucinogen Removal Special Project)	The air of this planet once contained a natural hallucinogen. Now, with the aid of massive filters, the effect has been diluted. This has reduced the benefits it once gave, but has also eliminated the negatives.
	Uncertain History	+10% Research from jobs −10% Happiness	What happened here? (40% chance)	The people of this planet are troubled by not knowing what caused the disaster which befell it long ago, and are driven to try to find out.
	Delicious Titans	+6 Max Agriculture Districts +30% Food from Jobs +1 Titan Hunter Job +1 Titan Hunter Job per 30 Pops	Titanic Life  Xenophobe or  Hive Mind option	Harvesting the Titanic life for research data has had an unexplained side benefit: They taste great!
	Surviving Infrastructure	−25% District Cost	Surviving Infrastructure	There is still a significant amount of infrastructure left on this world, built by its original inhabitants before they destroyed themselves in a nuclear war. This will aid in the construction of new buildings.
	Zen World	+3% Happiness -15% Upkeep from jobs	Interpretation Signal (Pure, Dry Landscaping special project)	Vast ripples appear in the regolith here. Whatever their origin, they exude a calming influence.
	Loop Temple Visitor Center	+5% Happiness	The Loop Temple: Time and Stone	Cheery, efficient staff guided tours past primordial sigils bright under floodlights and marked with helpful plaques.
	Loop Temple Pilgirms' Way	+10% Happiness	The Loop Temple: Time and Stone  Spiritualist option	Once again, the basalt arches whisper with the hushing of feet and the echo of prayers.
	Superflare Shielding	+10% Unity from Jobs	Superflare (Superflare Shielding special project)	This planet's populace is shielded from the harmful effects of it's sun's superflare activity.
	C.A.R.E. Interactive Interface	+10% Energy from Jobs	C.A.R.E. (Develop A Cure For The Ferrophage special project)	The ancient C.A.R.E. Interactive Interface is working at full capacity on this planet - with some modern improvements, of course.
	Colonial Remains	−25% Building cost −25% District cost	Colonizing Guaranteed Habitable Worlds ( Remnants Origin)	Some remnants of our former colony remain. Using them as a base will make it easier to re-colonize this planet.

Anomaly modifiers

Anomaly modifiers can only be added by random anomalies from the Distant Stars DLC. Anomalies from the base game can add modifiers as well but those do not have any effects.

	Modifier	Effects	Description
	Ancient Harvesters	+20% Food from Jobs	Ancient solar-powered harvesters assist in gathering the planet's crops
	Resonant Crystals	+33% Governing Ethics Attraction +10% Happiness	The resonant crystals that line this planet's tectonic crust resonate at a medically therapeutic frequency for our species.
	Soothing Magnetism	+50% Unity from Jobs	This planet's magnetosphere resonates at a frequency very conductive to our neural network.
	Watery Grave	+33% Society from Jobs	The ruins of an ancient arthropoid collective stretch from pole to pole on this planet, long-buried beneath its waves.
	Dead God	+200% Spiritualist Ethics Attraction	The corpse of some gargantuan alien creature keeps silent vigil in orbit over this planet.
	Predatory Plants	−10% Habitability +10% Society From Jobs	Vicious megaflora dominates this planet's landscape, creating opportunities for research, but also dangerous obstacles for any inhabitants.