Stellaris 4.5 'Cygnus' Open Beta Update 5 Refines Starbases, Factions, and Psionic Balance

Paradox has pushed a fifth update to the Stellaris 4.5 'Cygnus' open beta branch, authored by Eladrin and published under the handle PDX_ladydzra. The patch is comparatively broad, touching UI presentation, station design, faction politics, and psionic leader traits.

What changed

Starbases & stations

• Starbase, Orbital Ring, and Waystation weapon modules are now weapon-type-specific — covering lasers, mass drivers, swarmer missiles, particle launchers, psionic torpedoes, scourge missiles, and several strike-craft hangars — each gated by the matching weapon technology and automatically upgrading to the latest tier.
• The Starbase Weapon Preference policy gains Explosive and Strike Craft options; automated station designs build modules matching the chosen preference, or follow the fleet's Weapon Preference when set to Match Fleet.

Factions

• Overall pass to faction and ethic attractions, improving behaviour for small pop groups and concurrent factions.
• Promoting or suppressing a faction now affects its attraction.
• Factions sharing ethics can be promoted and suppressed independently.

Psionic & special empire balance

• The Cradle of Souls maximum-intensity aura surge no longer builds defence platforms; instead it distributes Trust, Favor chances, Loyalty (subjects), Cohesion (federation members), and a crime/deviancy-reducing "Cradle's Serenity" buff to the patron's colonies. The passive starbase fire-rate bonus is removed.
• The Instrument and Cradle Chosen psionic leader traits now grant applicable bonuses to Gestalt and Nomad empires rather than slave-workforce, faction, and friendly-territory bonuses those empire types could not use.
• Nomad empires can now benefit from Composer of Strands, Whisperers in the Void, and End of the Cycle Greatest Patron accords, with Arkship-appropriate rewards.

Other

• Flag emblems are now correctly centred within the Empire's Flag hexagon frame.
• Adaptive Evolution approach effects will display as active situation effects rather than only appearing in a tooltip.

Taken together, the patch meaningfully expands viable playstyles for Nomad and Gestalt empires while giving all players more granular control over automated station armament.