Spaceborne aliens

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This article is for the PC version of Stellaris only.

Spaceborne aliens

Spaceborne aliens

Enclaves

Guardians

Marauders

Caravaneers

Spaceborne aliens range from non-sentient, space-dwelling creatures to gargantuan leviathans to alien enclaves, including the warlike marauders. Spaceborne aliens are likely be the first encounter for newly spacefaring species. Mechanically, each type of spaceborne alien is considered a special type of empire, though exempt from many of the game's usual rules. Spaceborne aliens have increased stats based on the difficulty settings.

Space fauna

Humanoid science ships encountering a pacified Space Amoeba Mother

Space creatures are entities which may not even classify as ships or life in the common meaning of the words. They generally inhabit a certain area of space and are seldom seen away from it. Upon First Contact completion a special project will be added to the situation log, which when completed will allow an empire to deal with them in three ways:

• Researching unlocks a special project for detailed research that will grant a choice between an empire modifier and possibly a creature technology.
• Hunting will grant a +33% damage bonus empire modifier towards that type of Space Creature, and resources rewards upon killing them. If the creatures cannot be pacified the option is available to all empires, otherwise it is only available to Militarist, Xenophobe and Genocidal empires.
• Pacify will unlock a special project that costs 5000  Physics research and allows an empire to turn the space creatures non-hostile and unlock the ability to research all special components the creatures use. Only 2 of the 5 Space Creatures can be pacified. This option is available to Pacifist or Xenophile Empires. If the Galactic Community is formed the Space Amoeba pacification modifier can be offered to all members by passing the Space Amoeba Protection Act Resolution.

If killed, space creatures will slowly respawn in their home system.

Space fauna table

Research option bonuses	Hunting	Pacifying	Type	Home System	Tactics
Ancient Mining Drones					Ancient Mining Drones use regular components. The Cutting Lasers can be salvaged. Ancient Destroyer Ancient Combat Drone Mining Drone C Class, Ancient Mining Drone Ore Grinder (Drone Base) 900 Hull Points 1,360 Armor 0 Shields 209 Speed 37.1% Evasion / 26 dmg / day 450 Hull Points 1,102 Armor 0 Shields 207 Speed 68.1% Evasion / 17.8 dmg / day 200 Hull Points 856 Armor 0 Shields 210 Speed 69.2% Evasion / 10.1 dmg / day 30,000 Hull Points 13,000 Armor 0 Shields Immobile Speed 0% Evasion / 142.7 dmg / day 2 Cutting Laser 2 Cutting Laser 1 Armor T1 3 Armor T1 Reactor T2 Thrusters T2 Sensor T1 1 Cutting Laser 2 Cutting Laser 1 Armor T1 2 Armor T1 Reactor T2 Thrusters T2 Sensor T1 2 Cutting Laser 1 Armor T1 1 Armor T1 Reactor T2 Thrusters T2 Sensor T1 2 Laser T5 3 Precision Drone 5 Armor T1 Reactor T2 Sensor T1
Cost: 2000 Engineering research +10% Mining Station Minerals			Can expand	Contains 2 normal mining stations and the Home Base Ore Grinder. Each station is guarded by two fleets, one purely destroyers and one made of drones. Destroying Home Base Ore Grinder grants 4000  Minerals and 500  Alloys. If the  Ancient Relics DLC is installed it also grants the Surveyor Relic.
Crystalline Entities					Ruby, Topaz, Sapphire, Emerald Crystal Quintessence Crystal Shard Crystal Shardlings Crystal Nidus 1,530 Hull Points 0 Armor 0 Shields 100 Speed 15.0% Evasion / 45.8 dmg / day 780 Hull Points 0 Armor 0 Shields 140 Speed 35.0% Evasion / 21.6 dmg / day 430 Hull Points 0 Armor 0 Shields 160 Speed 60.0% Evasion / 10.58 dmg / day 40,220 Hull Points 5,000 Armor 0 Shields Immobile Speed 0% Evasion / 107.3 dmg / day 1x Large Shard Thrower 4x Medium Shard Thrower 1x Medium Shard Thrower 4x Small Shard Thrower 3x Small Shard Thrower 12x Large Shard Thrower 2x Crystal-Infused Plating 1× Regenerative Hull Tissue Bio-Drive (Guardian) 2x Crystal-Forged Plating 1× Regenerative Hull Tissue Bio-Drive (Guardian) Defensively: Armor or shields - their shard weapons deal +50% damage against hull but have no other bonus Ruby, Topaz, Sapphire, and Emerald shard weapons differ only in color. There are variants for all slot sizes: Large Shard Thrower0 60-180 Damage 150% damage against Hull 5.70 day cooldown 75% Accuracy 5% Tracking 85 Range / 15.8 Medium Shard Thrower0 25-75 Damage 150% damage against Hull 5.00 day cooldown 75% Accuracy 30% Tracking 65 Range / 7.50 Small Shard Thrower0 10-30 Damage 150% damage against Hull 4.25 day cooldown 75% Accuracy 50% Tracking 45 Range / 3.52 Offensively: Plasma launchers, mining lasers, or lasers - Crystalline Entities have resilient and regenerating hulls, but no shields or armor Unique salvage: Crystal-Infused Plating from ships, Crystal-Forged Plating from Crystal Nidus, both are the only hull increasing components in the game.
Cost: 2000 Physics research +5% Energy from Jobs OR  Crystal-Infused Plating tech			Can expand	Contains Crystal Nidus, a large crystalline structure guarded by 4 elite fleets. The system can be safely explored and claimed if the crystalline entities have been pacified. As their home system has a pulsar, shields will be useless when attacking it.
Space Amoeba					Space Amoeba Mother Space Amoeba Total stats 2,000 Hull Points 1,500 Armor 0 Shields 100 Speed 15% Evasion / 60.4 dmg / day 300 Hull Points 100 Armor 0 Shields 100 Speed 65% Evasion / 9.68 dmg / day Loadout 3x Energy Siphon 1x Amoeba Flagella 3x Energy Siphon Utility 1× Regenerative Hull Tissue Bio-Drive (Guardian) Kill rewards Amoeba Flagella Defensively: Shields and point defense - their weapons deal +25% damage against armor and large amoeba launch strike craft Offensively: Energy weapons - Space Amoeba have natural armor and regenerate Unique salvage: Amoeba Flagella, strike craft almost as strong as Tier 2 Improved Strike Craft
Cost: 2000 Society research +5% Evasion OR  Regenerative Hull Tissue tech			Migratory	Always called Amor Alveo, its various celestial body deposits produce in total 8  Energy, 12  Minerals, 6  Society, 3  Exotic Gases, 3  Volatile Motes and 2  Rare Crystals.
Void Clouds (Subspace Ruptures)					Void Clouds VLUUR Total stats 4,000 Hull Points 0 Armor 10,000 Shields 80 Speed 65% Evasion / 179.6 dmg / day 4,000 Hull Points 0 Armor 40,000 Shields 40 Speed 65% Evasion / 921.8 dmg / day Loadout 8x Cloud Lightning 8x Cloud Lightning Utility Bio-Drive (Guardian) Bio-Drive (Guardian) Kill rewards Cloud Lightning (see bellow) Defensively: Crystal plated hulls if available - their weapons ignore both shields and armor. Their erratic damage can sometimes destroy Corvettes in one hit. Hardening of shields or armor would also work. Offensively: Disruptors, Torpedoes, and Autocannons - Void Clouds only have natural shields and hull. Unique salvage: Cloud Lightning, L weapons that ignore both shields and armor Note: Void Clouds have a hidden +200% to ship weapon damage modifier, and some amount of natural hull and shield regen. VLUUR has +300% to ship weapon damage modifier and +285% to ship fire rate.
Cost: 2000 Physics research +10% Physics from Jobs			Stationary	Always called Great Wound, it is a black hole cluster guarded by 3 Void Cloud fleets called Subspace Ruptures. The central black hole contains the largest Dark Matter deposit (10) in the galaxy. The system should be attacked with a highly superior force due to the effects of black holes on space battles. Void Clouds spawn in systems across the galaxy, but only one such system will have a black hole and a guaranteed Dark Matter deposit (size 3: 4.8% chance, 2: 19% chance, 1: 76% chance) on it.
Tiyanki Space Whales					Tiyanki fleets can consist of Cows, Bulls, Calves and Hatchlings. They are not hostile unless attacked. Regenerative Hull Tissue can be salvaged. Orek Vuul contains four Tiyanki Ox guards. Whale and Ox Bull and Cow Calf Hatchling Total stats 5,000 Hull Points 1,000 Armor 1,000 Shields 80 Speed 0% Evasion / 61.4 dmg / day 4,000 Hull Points 2,000 Armor 0 Shields 80 Speed 8% Evasion / 12.8 dmg / day 2,200 Hull Points 1,600 Armor 0 Shields 80 Speed 12% Evasion / 7.7 dmg / day 1,500 Hull Points 1,200 Armor 0 Shields 80 Speed 12% Evasion / 7.7 dmg / day Loadout 8x 5x 3x Energy Siphon Utility 1× Regenerative Hull Tissue Bio-Drive (Guardian) Bio-Propulsion (Guardian) Bio-Sensors (Guardian)0  Sensor range 2 Hyperlane detection range 4 Kill rewards (?) 500 Energy 50 Exotic Gases 250 Energy 25 Exotic Gases
Frequency Tuning tech		Already	Migratory	Always called Tiyana Vek, it contains 4 Gas Giants. Each one has a deposit of  6 society. The star itself always has a deposit of  6 physics. Have a secondary system always called Tiyun Ort, its various celestial body deposits produce 6  Physics and 3  Volatile Motes. The ice asteroid Zhaduva contains a level 3 anomaly that will add another deposit of 3  Society. The unique world Orek Vuul contains the archaeology site Tiyanki Grave Mound.

VLUUR

VLUUR is a powerful migrating Void Cloud that has around 32K fleet power and is armed with 8 Cloud Lighting weapons. For as long as VLUUR is in a system it will cause a storm that causes  −50% sublight speed and  −15% fire rate on ships. VLUUR moves to a new system every 4-7 years.

VLUUR is not hostile but can be attacked. It has powerful shields and high evasion, but low hull, and can be defeated deceptively easily with missile weapons. Defeating VLUUR grants  100 dark matter, and creates various deposits of  1-3 dark matter on up to 4 planets in the system it's defeated in.

Bemat Thalassocracy

The Bemat Thalassocracy is a hostile fleet that can appear after the end-game year is reached. It appears in a system owned by an empire that produces at least  180 trade value. The fleet is made up of the following ships:

40 corvettes	35 destroyers	34 cruisers
1 Kinetic T3 1 Plasma T1 1 Disruptor T1 2 Shield T2 1 Afterburners T2 1 Shield Capacitor Jump Drive Thrusters T4 Sensors T2 Reactor T5 Combat Computer T1	1 Plasma T3 1 Plasma T3 3 Laser T5 4 Shield T4 2 Armor T3 1 Shield Capacitor Jump Drive Thrusters T3 Sensors T2 Reactor T5 Combat Computer T2 (Line)	1 Missiles T5 2 Swarmer Missiles T1 2 Disruptor T2 2 Plasma T3 2 Kinetic T3 5 Shield T4 3 Armor T3 1 Auxiliary Fire Control 1 Nanite Repair System Jump Drive Thrusters T3 Sensors T2 Reactor T5 Combat Computer T2 (Artillery)

Nomads

The nomad fleet

Nomads are replaced by Caravaneers if the  MegaCorp DLC is enabled.

The Nomads, or Namarians as they call themselves, are a passive millennia old intergalactic race with no homeworld, forever traveling the void in their starships. Once they establish communications with an empire, the nomads help establish communications between any encountered empires that haven't discovered each other yet. They travel from system to system during their temporary stay in the galaxy, and eventually set sail for another galaxy. Events related to them can take place during their stay.

The date when and if the Nomads arrive is rolled at game start, with the following chances per human player:

• 20% chance to appear after 7,300 to 7,800 days (roughly 20.28 to 21.67 years)
• 25% chance to appear after 14,600 to 15,100 days (roughly 40.56 to 41.94 years)
• 25% chance to appear after 20,075 to 20,575 days (roughly 55.76 to 57.15 years)
• 30% chance to not trigger (they may still appear if another human player rolls them)

If more than one player triggers the Nomads, they spawn a single time on the earliest rolled date.

When they arrive, the Nomads spawn in a random non-hostile rim system that no regular empire has more than low intel on. Upon appearing, they decide the midpoint and endpoint systems of their journey.

• Midpoint: A random non-hostile system with a distance of 250 to 500 from their starting system. If no such system exists, they choose a system with a distance of 150 to 500, whether or not it's hostile.
• Endpoint: A random rim system with a distance of 400 to 1450 from their starting system. If no such system exists, they choose a system with a distance of 250 to 1450.

On their journey, Nomads perform an action on entering a system. Those actions depends on if the system has an owner and what their relationship with the owner is. If the system is owned by an empire they haven't contacted and isn't hostile to them, they start orbiting a random planet in the system until contact is established. The system owner is unable to decipher their communications, but contact is always established after 100 days. After contact is established, they send the owner a request. If they enter another system owned by the same empire, they roll for a request again. Each interaction has the following chances:

• 30% - Ask to leave some pops on an owned planet within the empire's borders. If the empire agrees, three  Egalitarian Namarian pops spawn on a random  Arid,  Desert, or  Savannah colony. A colony is 6 times as likely to be chosen if it has more than 0 free housing and 11 times as likely to be chosen if it has more than 1 free housing. Namarians are immortal and have the  Desert Preference,  Nomadic,  Venerable, and  Natural Engineers traits.
  • ×0 If the system owner does not have a colony on a Dry planet
  • ×0 If the system owner is a  Hive Mind
  • ×0.75 If they've already left pops with the system owner
  • ×1.5 If they haven't left pops with the system owner yet and the system owner is some degree of Xenophile, Egalitarian, or Spiritualist
  • ×0.3 If the system owner's slavery  policy is set to Allowed
• 30% - Ask for an uncolonized planet to colonize, forming a new empire. If the empire agrees, they gain  150 to 300 influence and a random uncolonized  Arid,  Desert,  Tropical,  Ocean, or  Gaia world within their borders becomes the capital of a new single-system Namarian empire. The new empire has  Democratic authority, the  Egalitarian,  Spiritualist, and  Xenophile ethics, random civics, and a decaying  +100 opinion modifier towards the empire. The new empire starts with 14  Egalitarian Namarian pops that have their climate preference trait changed to match their new planet, 1000  energy and  minerals, and  500 influence. Because they start with no other resources, no buildings, and no districts, this new empire immediately starts suffering from food and consumer goods deficits, housing shortages, and unemployment.
  • ×0 If the system owner doesn't control an uncolonized  Tundra,  Arid,  Desert,  Tropical,  Continental, or  Gaia world in an uninhabited system.
  • ×0 If the system owner is a  Hive Mind
  • ×0.5 If they've already colonized a planet from any empire
  • ×1.75 If they haven't colonized a planet yet and the system owner is some degree of Xenophile, Egalitarian, or Spiritualist
• 30% - Sell 5 or 15 Cruisers.
  • ×0 If the system owner already was offered ships
  • ×0.25 If the system owner is  Fanatic Militarist or  Fanatic Xenophobe
  • ×0.5 If they already sold ships to an empire
  • ×1.75 If they haven't sold ships to anyone yet and the system owner is some degree of Xenophile, Egalitarian, or Spiritualist
• 10% - Move on with no request.

If the system has no owner, isn't hostile, and isn't the mid- or endpoint of their journey, they perform a peaceful action with the following chances:

• 10% - Repair fleet and build new ships.
  • ×10 If under 3k Fleet Power
  • ×5 If under 5k Fleet Power
  • ×0 If over 10k Fleet Power or have built new ships within the last 120 days
• 80% - Pick a random planet and wait in orbit for 40–50 days. Afterwards, they have a 25% chance to move on and 75% chance to pick another planet in the system to orbit. They orbit a maximum of three planets this way before moving on.
  • ×0 If less than 1.5k Fleet Power
• 10% - Move on without doing anything.

While the Nomads are inherently peaceful, a fight can be picked in order to get access to their technology. Nomads are easy prey but their technology is just average by midgame, making this rarely useful. The nomad fleet consists of the following:

20 Protectors	3 Ark Ships
1 Laser T4 2 Point-Defense T2 2 Armor T3 1 Shields T3 Hyperdrive T3 Thrusters T3 Sensors T3 Reactor T4 Combat Computer T3 (Picket)	Hyperdrive T3 Thrusters T3 Sensors T3 Reactor T4

Enigmatic Cache

Enigmatic Cache

The Enigmatic Cache, or BALDOR as it calls itself, is a tubular entity that emerges from any Gateway or L-Gate once the mid-game year is reached, if any player empire is at peace, and sets course for the nearest empire that is not at war. Upon taking damage to its hull, it instantly teleports away to the closest system with a Gateway or L-Gate.

Once the Enigmatic Cache enters an empire's borders, it starts orbiting each one of the empire's colonies for a decade. As long as it orbits a colony, it gives it a  +30% research output modifier to the colony, but also  −10% happiness to any pops with the  Xenophobe ethic. The first time the Enigmatic Cache orbits an empire's colony, the empire receives the option of issuing a special project to study it or leave it alone and gain  50 influence. The special project costs  2500 engineering research and finishing it refunds  90-250 engineering research and grants an L-Gate insight, if the empire has discovered an L-Gate. Once all colonies have been scanned, the Enigmatic Cache sets course for the nearest empire and repeats the process.

Enigmatic Uplifting

After all colonies in the galaxy have been scanned, the Enigmatic Cache goes to the capital of a biological empire that did not attack it and requests to uplift the main species via a special project that takes 2 years. In multiplayer, the human player with the lowest  relative power is chosen, random if tied. In singleplayer, the player empire is always chosen.

Enigmatic Dreams

If main species doesn't have  Intelligent or  Quick Learners, 60 to 80 days into the project there is a 50% chance to be given the choice between aborting the uplift or adding the Fatigued modifier ( −30% resources from jobs) on 60 random non-robotic main species pops that have one of the following jobs:

Job	Gestalt Consciousness Job0
Unemployed
Researcher	Brain Drone /  Calculator
Metallurgist	Foundry Drone /  Fabricator
Artisan	Artisan Drone
Culture Worker
Chemist	Chemist Drone
Translucer	Translucer Drone
Gas Refiner	Gas Refiner Drone
Technician	Technician Drone
Miner	Mining Drone
	Agri-Drone
Crystal Miner	Crystal Mining Drone
Gas Extractor	Gas Extraction Drone
Mote Harvester	Mote Harvesting Drone

The modifier lasts until the uplift process is completed or aborted.

Alert

130 to 170 days into the project, the empire is notified that the Enigmatic Cache is deteriorating. 4 random non-robotic main species pops (with the same job restrictions as Enigmatic Dreams) gain the Vegetable modifier ( −80% resources from jobs) until the uplift is completed or aborted, and the player is offered the following options:

• Abort the uplift, causing the Enigmatic Cache to teleport away and never return.
• Ignore it. Once the project is complete, the 4 pops with the Vegetable modifier gain the  Unlifted trait ( −60% research), all other non-robotic main species pops gain the  Somewhat Uplifted trait ( +10% research), and all of them gain the PTSD modifier ( −20% happiness) for 10 years. The Enigmatic Cache remains in orbit above the capital and permanently gives its  research output modifier.
• Issue a special project to repair the Enigmatic Cache with a construction ship. Once the uplift is complete, if the repair project was finished, the main species gains the  Uplifted trait ( +10% researcher output and  +25% leader experience gain) and lose the  Slow Learners trait. The Enigmatic Cache also remains in orbit above the capital and permanently gives its  research output modifier. If any pops from the main species didn't have the  Intelligent or  Quick Learners trait, there's a 75% chance they gain the Ignorance is Bliss modifier ( −10% happiness) for 10 years.

Note: The traits do not give unique bonuses to leaders despite the tooltips saying they do.

References

Game concepts