Every copy of Stellaris on PC now includes Utopia, Synthetic Dawn and the Humanoids Species Pack, and that changes which of the paid DLC are actually worth your money.

For a normal single-player game on patch 4.5.2, I would buy Galactic Paragons and The Machine Age first. If you do not own the game yet, Galactic Paragons is cheapest through the Anniversary Edition, which adds it and two smaller packs for $10 more than the base game. After those two, MegaCorp, Federations and BioGenesis are the next expansions to get, in whatever order fits how you play. Ancient Relics, Distant Stars and the Toxoids Species Pack are cheap additions at $9.99 each that you will get a lot out of. Utopia, the old first purchase, is not something you need to buy any more, because the base game has included it since patch 4.3.6. As for skips, Cosmic Storms is the main DLC to leave in the store.

This tier list is for the PC version on Steam and covers every paid gameplay DLC released so far, which comes to 12 expansions, 5 story packs and 6 species packs. Cosmetic portrait packs change nothing about how the game plays and only get one line at the end of the species packs. This list covers the PC version only, because Stellaris Console Edition is sold and updated separately.

For each DLC below, the list of what it adds is based on the 4.5.2 game files, and each price is the US list price on Steam in November 2026, taken on a day when no sale was running.

Contents

• Do you need any DLC to enjoy Stellaris?
• Stellaris DLC tier list (4.5)
• Which DLC our top builds and origins need
• What to buy first
• Willpower and 4.6 on November 23
• DLC questions
• Conclusion

Do you need any DLC to enjoy Stellaris?

You do not. The base game costs $49.99 on Steam, and since patch 4.3.6 (May 11, 2026) it contains everything that used to be sold as Utopia, Synthetic Dawn and the Humanoids Species Pack. You will have habitats, the classic megastructures such as the Dyson Sphere and the Ring World, the ascension paths, Hive Minds, Machine Intelligence empires and the Clone Army origin without buying anything else, and the 4.5.2 game files no longer check for any of those three packs.

Several systems that you might expect behind a DLC also have a base version. You can form a basic federation without Federations, run basic espionage operations without Nemesis, ascend psionically as a regular empire without Shadows of the Shroud and excavate dig sites without Ancient Relics. What the DLC do is add more to each of those systems: more federation types, more spy operations, a bigger psionic tree and a lot more dig sites.

In multiplayer, the host’s DLC counts for everyone in the game. If the host owns and has enabled Federations, every player can pick Federations origins and use its features without owning it. It also works the other way around, because a DLC the host disables in the launcher is gone for everyone in that game. A few portraits are the exception, as only players who own the pack themselves can pick them.

AI empires play with the host’s DLC as well. They can start with most DLC origins when the host has the pack, although a handful, such as Shroud-Forged and Overtuned, are never picked for randomly generated AI empires. They can also research Titans, build megastructures such as Hyper Relays and run espionage operations against you. Buying a DLC therefore changes what your neighbours can do as well as your own options.

Stellaris DLC tier list (4.5)

Every DLC here is rated on four things: how much of what it switches on you are going to use in a normal game, how many of our own S and A tier origins, civics and traits need it, what it costs, and where current players rank it. S means buy it first, A is a strong buy, B is good for the playstyle it serves, C is a sale or niche purchase and D is a skip. Where a DLC is clearly better or worse for one kind of empire, its entry gives that second rating as well. A star marks the packs that few players have ranked in 4.x, and for those the rating leans mostly on what the pack adds and on our own tier lists.

Expansions

Galactic Paragons (S) changes how your leaders grow, and leaders are part of every game you will ever play. With it, you will pick each new trait when a leader levels up, choose a veteran class at level 4 and get destiny traits at high levels. Without it, your leaders will still gain traits as they level, but the game will pick them for you from a smaller pool, and even the tutorial line that tells you to choose a leader’s trait will only appear when you own the DLC. It also adds the Statecraft and Aptitude tradition trees, 30 council agendas, 12 civics and the Under One Rule origin, and at $14.99 it costs less than most expansions, or only $10 extra if you buy the game as the Anniversary Edition. Its weak spot is gestalts. Under One Rule and most of the council depth are built for regular empires, which makes it B for gestalt-only players, although hive minds and machines still get both trees, four gestalt civics and the trait picks.

The Machine Age (S) is the expansion to buy if you own the base game and want only one. It adds the Arc Furnace and the Dyson Swarm, the Cosmogenesis crisis path, the Cetana end-game crisis and individualist machine empires, meaning a machine species with a normal government. You will also get the Modularity, Nanotech and Virtuality trees and the Virtual form for Synthetic ascension. Two of our six S-tier origins need it (Cybernetic Creed and Synthetic Fertility), as do the Augmentation Bazaars civic, the Engineering Core trait and 3 of our 10 builds, and at 75% it has the best Steam score of any expansion you can still buy. Bear in mind that Machine Intelligence empires and Synthetic ascension itself are base game, which means you can play robots without it. At $24.99, it also sits among the most expensive packs on this list.

MegaCorp (A) gives you the Corporate authority, and with it every corporate civic, plus the Arcology Project perk that turns your planets into Ecumenopolises. It also brings the Caravaneers and four megastructures, namely the Matter Decompressor, Strategic Coordination Center, Mega Art Installation and Interstellar Assembly. Without it, you will never see those megastructure techs, and their ruined versions will not spawn in your galaxy either. No DLC is needed by more of our S and A civics (10 of 34, including Merchant Guilds, Byzantine Bureaucracy and the corporate Worker Cooperative), and Arcology Project is one of the five ascension perks we rate as Strong. That makes it S for corporate and Ecumenopolis players, while an empire that never runs a megacorp or builds an Ecumenopolis will leave a good part of it unused.

Federations (A) is a strong pick, although the base game already lets you form a basic federation. The DLC adds the five specialised federation types (Trade League, Research Cooperative, Martial Alliance, Hegemony and Holy Covenant), federation laws including the 4.5 laws for free research agreements and commercial pacts, the Politics tradition tree, the Juggernaut and the Mega Shipyard. It also has more origins than any other DLC, nine in total, including Void Dwellers, Shattered Ring, Hegemon and Common Ground, and three of them (Void Dwellers, Common Ground and Hegemon) are A-tier origins for us. The A-tier Remnants origin works with either Federations or Ancient Relics. It is S for diplomacy and federation players. If you mostly conquer your neighbours, though, you are going to use far less of it, and only the Shattered Ring setup in our builds guide needs it.

BioGenesis (A) is the expansion for biological ascension. The genetic path itself is base game, and BioGenesis turns it into the Cloning, Mutation and Purity trees, reworks gene modding and species rights, and adds the Behemoth Fury crisis path. You will also get bioships, meaning Maulers, Weavers, Harbingers and Stingers that grow over time, together with 3 origins, 10 civics and 16 species traits. Seven of our S and A picks need it, among them the Wilderness origin, the Civil Education and Crowdsourcing civics and Rooted, our S-tier negative trait, and it is S for biological ascension. The weak spots are the $24.99 price and the bio-titan, which also needs Apocalypse.

Overlord (B) is the DLC for Hyper Relays, Orbital Rings and the Quantum Catapult, and for specialist subjects, which are Bulwark, Scholarium and Prospectorium vassals, plus the holdings you build on your subjects’ planets. Without Overlord, none of those techs will ever appear, and our hyper relays guide has the details on how the relay network works. It also adds six origins, including the S-tier Teachers of the Shroud and the A-tier Imperial Fiefdom, plus the Lord of War perk. Rings and relays are things you will probably build in most games, and it is A for vassal players, but for everyone else Federations and MegaCorp should come first.

Shadows of the Shroud (B) upgrades a path the base game already has. Psionic ascension (Mind Over Matter), the Psionics tradition tree, Covenants with the Shroud entities and the End of the Cycle all stay in the base game, while the DLC replaces the Psionics tree with a bigger version and adds 3 origins, 19 civics and new psionic buildings, techs and ship parts. It is also what lets hive minds and machine empires take the psionic path, and our S-tier Shroud-Forged origin, the A-tier Endbringers origin and the Experimental Sentencing civic all depend on it. That makes it A for psionic players and gestalts, while an empire that never goes near the Shroud will use very little of it.

Nomads (B) adds nomadic empires that live on arkships, the waystation and Wayline Pact network, and the Stellar Cannon megastructure for settled empires. It also turns Defender of the Galaxy into a full path with Paladin ships, while without Nomads you will keep the classic Defender of the Galaxy ascension perk, and our ascension perks guide explains how both versions work. Of its 4 origins, the S-tier Heirs of the Khan and the A-tier The Sacred Path are on our lists, as are the Recursive Learners and Terraphobic traits. It is A for nomad players. Most of the content will only matter if you actually play a nomadic empire. Nomads came out in June 2026 and few players have ranked it in 4.x yet, which is why this rating rests mostly on what the pack switches on and on our own tier lists.

Nemesis (C) is the end-game DLC. With it, you can become the crisis yourself with the Galactic Nemesis perk, or get elected Galactic Custodian and later proclaim the Galactic Imperium. It also adds the Subterfuge tradition tree plus ten more espionage operations, such as Steal Technology and Sabotage Starbase Facility, to the basic espionage of the base game. That being said, it adds no origin and none of our S or A picks use it, which keeps it at C for most players, while it is B if you want to become the crisis.

Apocalypse (C) is the titan DLC. Titans, the Colossus with its planet killers, the Ion Cannon defense platform and the Marauder empires all need it, and the Great Khan rises from those Marauders. The Juggernaut is not part of Apocalypse, as it comes with Federations, and if you want a titan in your fleet, our titan build will show you how to fit one. It is B for war and fleet players, but nothing on our S and A lists depends on it, its Fortification tree also comes with Overlord, and for $19.99 it feels thin next to the newer expansions.

Astral Planes (C) adds astral rifts to explore, the Riftworld origin, 12 civics, 4 species traits and 3 patron callings. Only one of our A-tier civics needs it, the corporate Dimensional Enterprise, and at $19.99 it is a sale purchase unless civics such as Sovereign Guardianship are what you are after.

Cosmic Storms (D) adds cosmic storms to the galaxy with eight galaxy-setup sliders to control them, the Storm Chasers origin, 10 civics and the Galactic Weather Control perk, and it has the lowest Steam score of any DLC at 24%. Of our picks, only the hive civic Cultivation Drones needs it. If you own it and don’t like storms, set the three Storm Chance sliders and Storm Devastation to 0 in galaxy setup. That will keep random storms from showing up while the civics and techs stay in the game. You can also simply disable the DLC in the launcher.

Story packs

Story packs cost $9.99 to $14.99 and mostly add things you will find on the map. Grand Archive and First Contact also bring a few origins and civics for the empire creator.

Ancient Relics Story Pack (A) is the reason most of the dig sites in your galaxy exist. Dig sites appear in every game, but Ancient Relics adds 33 extra dig-site types, the Minor Artifacts resource, archaeo-tech weapons and armor, the Archaeo-Engineers perk and the Baol and Zroni precursors. Without it, you will mostly see the smaller base and precursor sets. It also opens the A-tier Remnants origin, which Federations gives you as well, and for $9.99 you get content you are going to run into in every galaxy you start.

Distant Stars Story Pack (A) adds almost nothing you pick and a lot you find. Some of its special star systems and anomalies will turn up in every galaxy you start, and they make the exploration phase of a game more interesting. It also adds the Nanite Transmuter building, which turns nanites into rare resources. None of our picks depend on it, but at $9.99 it is probably among the best-value packs in the game for anyone who enjoys exploring.

Leviathans Story Pack (B) adds guardians and enclaves to the galaxy and the event chains that come with them, but apart from five extra species portraits, nothing you pick in the empire creator. Bought by itself it is B. It is A as part of the Anniversary Edition, since there you get it together with Galactic Paragons for very little extra.

Grand Archive Story Pack (B) gives you a museum to fill with specimens from across the galaxy. The specimens come from events, and many of those events belong to other DLC such as Distant Stars and Ancient Relics, which means the more DLC you own, the more you will find to collect. It also lets you capture and breed space fauna such as crystals, whales and voidworms and use them as ships, which is a different system from the bioships of BioGenesis. Additionally, you will get the Archivism and Domestication trees, the Treasure Hunters and Primal Calling origins and 8 civics, including our A-tier Beastmasters.

First Contact Story Pack (C) gives your ships cloaking, and it also has three origins (Payback, Broken Shackles and Fear of the Dark), 4 exploration civics and espionage against pre-FTL species. Cloaking is a niche tool, and none of our S or A picks need this pack.

Species packs

Species packs cost $9.99 to $12.99. Each one brings portraits plus a small amount of gameplay, and for most of them that gameplay comes down to one or two strong origins or civics.

Toxoids Species Pack (A) is the best species pack for our builds. For $9.99 it holds the S-tier Knights of the Toxic God origin and the A-tier Overtuned origin, plus 10 civics, the Detox perk and 19 traits. The strongest build in our builds guide starts from Knights of the Toxic God, and two of our builds need this pack.

Aquatics Species Pack (B) adds three origins (Ocean Paradise, Here Be Dragons and Subaquatic Machines), 4 civics, the Hydrocentric perk and the Aquatic and Waterproof traits. Our A-tier Anglers civic and the Wilderness hive build use it, it has the best Steam score of any gameplay DLC at 85%, and it comes inside the Anniversary Edition.

Necroids Species Pack (C) brings the Necrophage origin, 8 civics and the Mechromancy perk. Three of our S and A civics come with it (Memorialists, Death Cult and the hive civic Cordyceptic Drones), and since Death Cult needs Spiritualist ethics, it is B for spiritualist players.

Plantoids Species Pack (C) comes with the Fruitful Partnership origin, 6 civics and 6 traits. You mostly buy it for Catalytic Processing, one of our S-tier civics, and its corporate version Catalytic Recyclers, which is why it is B for Catalytic Processing builds.

Infernals Species Pack (C) adds the Red Giant and Cosmic Dawn origins, 11 civics, the Galactic Hyperthermia crisis perk and Volcanic Worlds. Red Giant is an A-tier origin for us and Fire Cult and Galvanic Symbiosis are A-tier civics, but at $12.99 it is worth waiting for a sale unless you are after volcanic worlds, in which case it is B for volcanic-world play.

Lithoids Species Pack (D) gives you the Lithoid species class with its traits, the Calamitous Birth origin and 2 civics. Nothing on our S and A lists needs it, and you won’t miss it unless you really want to play rock people.

Necroids, Plantoids, Infernals and Lithoids rarely come up in current player rankings, and their ratings rest mostly on what each pack switches on and on our own tier lists. The cosmetic portraits (Rick the Cube, Stargazer and Vipra the Vapor) add no gameplay at all, and on Steam you can only buy them as part of the Ultimate bundle or Season 10.

Which DLC our top builds and origins need

A good way to see which DLC really matter is to look at what the strongest options in the game need. For this section, every S and A tier pick on our origin, civic and trait tier lists was matched against the DLC it needs in 4.5.2, and so were the builds in our builds guide.

Origins are where you will feel the DLC the most. Of the 18 S and A tier origins in our origin tier list, 16 need a DLC, and only Clone Army and Resource Consolidation are base game. Civics depend on DLC a little bit less. Of the 34 S and A civics on our civics list, 12 need no DLC, while 10 of them need MegaCorp, mostly through the Corporate authority. Traits matter least, since 14 of the 20 S and A rows in our trait tier list are base game.

At the other end, Nemesis is not needed by a single one of our picks or builds, and neither are First Contact, Distant Stars, Leviathans or Lithoids. Apocalypse only matters there as one of two ways to get the Fortification tree for our settled Knights build, the other being Overlord.

Galactic Paragons is missing from that chart. Not one S or A origin, civic or trait needs it. Even so, several of the builds in our builds guide take its Statecraft and Aptitude traditions early. Galactic Paragons is about leaders and traditions, which every empire uses, and that is why it sits in S without any of our S or A picks behind it.

The builds also show how quickly DLC add up. The beginner build runs without any DLC, the nomadic Knights of the Toxic God build rests on Toxoids and Nomads, and the Cybernetic Creed megacorp needs four: MegaCorp, The Machine Age, BioGenesis and Astral Planes. If you have a favourite build in mind, make sure to check its DLC before you buy anything else, because that list is going to be more useful to you than any general ranking.

Synthetic and machine ascension need a closer look. For machine empires, Synthetic Age is base game, but the Modularity, Nanotech and Virtuality trees you pick after it come with The Machine Age, which is one reason our Rogue Servitor build lists that DLC. For organic empires, the Virtual form of Synthetic ascension comes from the Digitization situation, and that situation only starts if you own The Machine Age. Without it, Synthetic Evolution will still turn your pops into robots, but you will get the classic synthetic ascension with no choice between a physical and a virtual form. If you take the Shattered Ring setup from our builds guide into the Virtual form, you will need The Machine Age as well as Federations.

What to buy first

For a new player buying on Steam, this is the order I would go in:

1. The Anniversary Edition instead of the plain base game. It costs $59.99, which is $10 more than the base game, and adds Galactic Paragons, the Leviathans Story Pack and the Aquatics Species Pack ($34.97 if you bought the three separately). You will find it on the Stellaris store page. If you already own the base game, buy Galactic Paragons by itself instead.
2. The Machine Age, which is my pick for the best single expansion right now.
3. Ancient Relics, Distant Stars and Toxoids at $9.99 each. The first two will add more things to find in every galaxy, and Toxoids holds two of our best origins.
4. MegaCorp, Federations and BioGenesis, starting with the one that fits how you play. The playstyle notes below will help you pick.
5. Shadows of the Shroud, Overlord or Nomads if your playstyle calls for them, meaning psionics or gestalts, relays and vassals, or a nomadic empire.
6. Everything else on sale, with Cosmic Storms last.

If you would rather get almost everything at once, the Ultimate bundle costs $285.20 on Steam (27% off $390.77) and contains the base game plus every DLC up to Infernals, but not Nomads and not Willpower. Steam lowers the bundle price by what you own. For reference, buying all 23 released DLC one by one at list price will cost you $365.77. You do not need most of them.

Season 10 costs $49.49 and includes Nomads and Willpower, which cost $49.98 if you buy them separately, plus three smaller items: the Vipra the Vapor portrait and two Scenario Packs that Paradox moved to update 4.7, planned for early 2027. Buy it if you want both expansions, and if you only want one of them, simply buy that one by itself.

If you play gestalts

Hive minds and machine empires change the order a little bit. Galactic Paragons will drop to a later buy for them, because Under One Rule and most of the council depth are built for regular empires, although you will still get the Statecraft and Aptitude trees, four gestalt civics (Neural Vaults, Autonomous Drones, Experience Cache and Sovereign Circuits) and the leader trait picks. Shadows of the Shroud will move up instead, since it is the only way for hive minds and machines to take the psionic path.

For machine players, The Machine Age will stay near the top for the Virtuality tree, the Arc Furnace and the Dyson Swarm, even though Machine Intelligence empires and the S-tier Rogue Servitor civic are base game. Several of our best gestalt civics also sit in other DLC: Astro-Mining Drones needs MegaCorp, Cordyceptic Drones needs Necroids and Galvanic Symbiosis needs Infernals.

If you play wide and go to war

Overlord will move up for a big empire with subjects, and it is A for vassal players. Apocalypse is B for war and fleet players thanks to Titans, the Colossus and the Marauders, and Nemesis is B if you want to end the game as the crisis yourself. BioGenesis gives you bioships as a different kind of fleet, and Federations adds the Juggernaut. If you want to keep it cheap, our settled Knights build for wide conquest needs only Toxoids, plus either Apocalypse or Overlord for the Fortification tree.

If you play tall or diplomatic

Federations is S for diplomacy and federation players, with its five federation types, the federation laws and the Politics tree, and our builds guide uses its Shattered Ring origin for a low-sprawl empire. MegaCorp is S for corporate and Ecumenopolis players, because Arcology Project turns your planets into Ecumenopolises. Habitats are base game now, and our habitats guide explains how they work if you want more room without taking more systems.

If you want to try everything first

Take one month of the Expansion Subscription before you buy anything else. On Steam it costs $9.99 for one month, $19.99 for three or $29.99 for six, and it covers every expansion, story pack and species pack plus future content. A month or three is the cheapest way to try every DLC on this list, and afterwards you will know exactly which ones you want to buy. Beware that the subscription renews automatically on Steam until you cancel it.

Willpower and 4.6 on November 23

As of 3 November 2026, the next expansion is Willpower. It will be released on Monday, November 23, together with update 4.6 “Corona Borealis”, and you can already pre-order it on Steam for $24.99 or get it as part of Season 10.

Paradox has announced Ideologies, Galactic Halls (megastructures you can relocate, with chamber modules), the Force of Will ambition, three origins (Golden Generation, Lost Makers and Great Mosaic), five new Fanatic civics and eight Ideological Paragons. Lost Makers is for Machine Intelligence empires only, and Great Mosaic gives you an extra civic. None of this is in the 4.5.2 game files yet, and I am not going to put a tier on an expansion that is not out. This list will be updated when it releases.

DLC questions

What is the best Stellaris DLC to get first?

Galactic Paragons, ideally through the Anniversary Edition, which adds it for $10 over the base game. If you have the base game and want only one expansion, I would pick The Machine Age.

Is Utopia still worth buying?

You cannot buy it any more, and you do not need to. Since patch 4.3.6 (May 11, 2026), Utopia, Synthetic Dawn and the Humanoids Species Pack are part of the base game on PC, and that includes habitats, the ascension paths and Hive Minds.

Are any Stellaris DLCs a waste of money?

Cosmic Storms is the DLC I would skip, Lithoids only makes sense if you want to play lithoids, and the cosmetic portraits add no gameplay. Nemesis, Apocalypse, Astral Planes and First Contact are not a waste, but they are sale purchases for a specific playstyle.

Do my friends need the same DLC in multiplayer?

Only the host needs to own it. The host’s DLC will count for everyone in the game as long as the host has it enabled, and only a few portraits depend on each player owning the pack.

Does the AI use DLC content?

Yes, when the host has the DLC. AI empires will research Titans, can take Colossus Project (purifiers and exterminators far more often than others), build megastructures such as Hyper Relays and run espionage operations against you. With Nomads, galaxy setup also has a slider for how many AI empires start as nomads, and patch 4.5 improved the nomad AI to make it a stronger opponent.

Is the Expansion Subscription worth it?

For trying things out, yes. One month costs $9.99 and covers every expansion, story pack and species pack, which is enough to find out which DLC you would miss. If you know you will keep playing for years, buying the packs you use (or the Ultimate bundle at $285.20, which leaves out Nomads) means you own them for good.

Which DLC do I need for bioships, titans or megastructures?

Bioships come with BioGenesis, while the space fauna you can tame with Grand Archive are a separate system. Titans and the Colossus need Apocalypse. Habitats and the classic megastructures are base game, and the main DLC ones are spread out: four from MegaCorp, Hyper Relays, Orbital Rings and the Quantum Catapult from Overlord, the Dyson Swarm and Arc Furnace from The Machine Age, the Mega Shipyard from Federations and the Stellar Cannon from Nomads.

Conclusion

If you only want to spend a little, I would start with the Anniversary Edition (or Galactic Paragons, if you already own the game) and The Machine Age, because those two will change more of your games than any other pair of purchases. After that, let the empires you enjoy playing decide what comes next, and leave Cosmic Storms for last.