Paradox have today launched the new Season 09 Expansion Pass, which initially launches with the Stargazer Species Portrait. There's stuff that's actually interesting to come though, but you have to wait until May 5th.
I think the base game is quite cheap and there are a handfull of dlcs that are really meaningful, which you still don't need. Also the base game has gotten updates for at least 5 years now so i think it's fair. And it works good on Linux.
Edit: It's from 2016, so no wonder there a lot's of dlcs. The base game has gotten overhauls in the meantime.
Take the following with a boulder of salt as I haven't even finished a single campaign yet, but:
I've found it a lot slower than even most of the 4X games I've played. It seems much more story- and exploration-focused than Master of Orion or anything like Starcraft; there are a great many cool things to find on the map. Diplomacy is your main path to victory, military conquest seems almost discouraged. To actually conquer worlds you invade, you have to assert a claim beforehand. Simply flooding the system with troops and ships and killing everything that isn't your empire doesn't work for some reason.
It was fine, but I don't think I really understand it. If you're after recommendations, though, do you like The Expanse? You might like Starsector, if yes and you haven't played it.
Diplomacy is your main path to victory, military conquest seems almost discouraged. To actually conquer worlds you invade, you have to assert a claim beforehand. Simply flooding the system with troops and ships and killing everything that isn't your empire doesn't work for some reason.
Because it's fucking epic and amazing fun! A true gem. Buy the DLCs when Steam Sales come up and it's actually not all that expensive, given AAA games are hitting £80 at new these days, getting a game that's been extensively fleshed out with DLC for around the same on sale is a bargain, and the game play runs incredibly deeply. It is one big management tapestry, optimisation of your planets, your sectors, your systems, your leadership, your scientists, your fleets etc etc etc - there are so many ways to play it. It's fucking amazing and the music kicks ass.
Stellaris is a trip, don’t buy it expecting Mario. The fun is in adapting to random events and where you start. I’m biased but my fave thing to do is to enslave empires that eff me over early game by bio engineering their population to be sapient livestock. The game is awesome but it’s deep. Be prepared to lose.
It looks like a strategy game but actually isn't. The strategy part just isn't developed enough. It's a story and RPG style game with a strong focus on economy management. The game discourages strategy by telling you how strong an army is (as a number) and giving you no tactical option. Meaning higher numbers will always win.
The (new) DLCs are mostly very bad and short so the game as a whole is in a strange state where you can play a good game with missing features without DLC or you play a bad game with lots of features that is very expensive with all the DLC.
I kinda hope that the game dies soon because the frequent game breaking updates and optional (and disadvantages) DLC makes modding annoying even though there are extremely fun mods, even better than the DLC.
I find no discouragement of strategy in the game. Higher numbers don't always win, unless they're sufficiently high enough. I can design a fleet with weapon and armor/shield focuses to counter theirs, as well as choosing the engagement style (via the combat computer modes in the ship designer) to counter theirs.
If I don't want to strategize I can simply wait longer for a bigger fleet and newer tech, but if I want to take on enemies larger than me, especially early game, I have to take the time to strategize.