The Stellaris Endbringers turn 4X norms on their head and embrace your downfall

I've got to give Paradox Interactive's Stellaris team credit for their recent commitment to being weird. The previous expansion, Biogenesis, introduced the most unique and interesting origin we've ever seen in Wilderness, which let you play as a sentient planet. Now, for Shadows of the Shroud, the developer has once again delivered. The Endbringers are described as "a challenging and doomed" faction, bound by a cosmic force that's drawing them towards an inevitable and ultimately inescapable fate. Fight it, embrace it, spread it - but know that it's always coming.

If you played the Stellaris Utopia DLC, you might already be familiar with End of the Cycle, an eldritch patron related to the Shroud that's capable of unleashing a cataclysmic reckoning upon the galaxy. Typically, the best 4X games are a gradual build towards prosperity and progression, but sometimes it can be refreshing to turn things completely on their head and usher in a new age of calamity. This is where the Endbringers come in; their nearest neighboring planet has already fallen to the Shroud, and they've been claimed by the End.

As such, there's no choice of ascension paths to be made - the decision to pursue Psionic Ascension "was already made for you long ago." Their Psi-Corps are replaced by the Chamber of Silence, where you can listen to the voice of the End in clarity. Slowly, you'll comprehend how you might embrace it, master the Shroud, and be remade in a new form "better and more powerful than we ever imagined we could be."

The standard Shroud interface is replaced by a ticking clock that counts down to the reckoning, but how it plays out can change. Through the cycle, you'll gain various covenant powers. Some can allow you to stall for time, but you can't break away entirely: "While the End is patient, it is relentless," Paradox explains. Manage to blanket enough of the galaxy in the Aura of the End, and you'll be rewarded with eternal rest in a "perfected universe." Fail, and the reckoning will consume you.

Naturally, this situation can be a little stressful on your pops. You'll have to manage escalating paranoia, which will continue to grow up to a maximum of 50% over time. On the other hand, you can employ the new 'Entropy Drinkers' civics to drain life energy from your populace and siphon it into your leaders to empower them. Who needs pop growth when your ruling class is able to become mighty enough to enact your will (or, rather, the will of the End) without equal?

Paradox's latest blog also digs into the new proxy wars, which let you incite conflict between other civilizations if you have sufficient trust or infiltration rating with one of them. You'll want to consider invoking a casus belli that fits their own inherent desires, "so they seek to achieve their war goals rather than accepting a status quo early." If you're making use of secret societies, you'll have earlier access to this newfound way to influence galactic politics.

The Stellaris Shadows of the Shroud DLC launches Monday September 22, priced at $19.99 / £16.75. It's also available with the Season 9 expansion pass, which costs $44.99 / £37.99. You can check the latest developer diary for a closer look at some of the modifiers and other events you'll encounter as the Endbringers. "The End of the Cycle is not a crisis. It's an opportunity. An opportunity to end all things."

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Which of the new factions are you most tempted by? Let us know in the PCGamesN community Discord server. Perhaps you'd rather fight and contain the psionic threat of the Shroud as the Mindwardens, or maybe you're eager to test out the Shroud-Forged fusion of gestalt machine hivemind and cosmic manipulation.