Managing a vast empire spanning across the vast galaxy can be quite stressful and hard to do in Stellaris, especially when the borders are surrounded by either hostile empires, hungry energy-absorbing Leviathan, or extradimensional invaders. Moreover, players will also often encounter anomalies while trying to expand their empires.
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Some of these anomalies have varying backstory as well. Ranging from deep, contemplative pieces of story that may have a player changing ethics due to its repercussions, to a certain anomaly that could give an empire a chance to worship a monstrous dimensional being. Fortunately, players will encounter anomalies that are quite humorous and interesting as well, although the consequences may not be as funny as the story suggests.
10 Glancing Hit
A Ship Randomly Hit From An Unknown Source
- Gains bonus engineering research points
It is not every day that a ship mysteriously gets shot at by a random munition from an unknown origin. It can also lead to some dangerous ideas about how it was a warning shot from a particularly peaceful empire that was planning an invasion. Turns out, the reality is just more mundane and mind-boggling.
The glancing hit was revealed to be several randomly passing by mass driver rounds, with an origin of nearly billions of years old. Moreover, the origin of the rounds came from a neighboring galaxy, continuing a journey from a missed target after untold millennia. Nobody thought that it would coincidentally hit a space-faring empire's ship.
9 Important To Someone Else
Return The Pioneer 11, Or Simply Launch It Into The Sun
- Gain some influences
Avid admirers of both Stellaris and the vast galaxy must be familiar with Pioneer 11, a United States of America spacecraft that has been journeying into the void for some time now, powered by the decay of nuclear power. In real life, this particular spacecraft also has a cargo of a golden plaque that contains many things, such as coordinates of the Earth.
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In-game, the player can also encounter the same spacecraft and the plaque with several options on what to do with it. Xenophile empires can use the information to discover the Sol system, while a particularly Xenophobic empire can simply jettison the plaque into the sun to make a statement and gain a small amount of influence.
8 Runaway Greenhouse Effect
What Would Happen When Global Warming Goes Wild
- Gain 2 society and physics research points in a Toxic World
A planet that tries to ignore the effect of global warming has a horrible end as it is engulfed in a toxic atmosphere, eventually becoming a Toxic World. Such an occurrence is portrayed in Stellaris' in-game event called the Runaway Greenhouse Effect. An anomaly could happen in a random toxic world in one of the many systems in the galaxy.
Interestingly, the flavor text also depicts that the event happened during the civilization's late stages of the Industrial Age. Moreover, the anomaly will spawn two bonus society and physics research points modifiers on the planet, should a scientific outpost be built there.
7 Social Experiment
When A Species-Scale Social Experiment Goes Wrong
- Gains bonus society research points
Usually, a social experiment only happens on a small scale, such as in a neighborhood or on a small sample size of the community, to either gain information or simply have an interesting interaction within the experiment. However, it turns out that enacting it in an aerostat colony can have a horrible result.
The in-game anomaly Social Experiment details how a social experiment that was conducted centuries ago in the habitat results in the colonists massacring each other for some reason. Perhaps a cautionary tale for an empire that wishes to hold a Big Brother TV show in space.
6 The Guest
Accommodate The Many-Tentacled One For The Jaunt
- Gain a leader, The Many-Tentacled One, for a time
Both a confusing and confused tentacled monstrosity can sometimes spontaneously appear in an empire, named The Many-Tentacled One. A particularly bloodthirsty and morbidly curious empire can choose to vivisect the poor confused guest to gain a meager amount of society research points. However, there is always a better option.
Simply letting the tentacled one stay in the empire will net many interesting events and boost technology acquisition. A phenomenon named 'Jaunt' can be attempted to be learned by the empire's scientists, which ends fruitlessly. In the end, the leader will simply disappear, but it will also leave a bountiful gift, albeit decades later.
5 Mharin Kharin
When A Planet Tries To Seduce A Species
- Gain a boost on a newly colonized planet for a period of time
Usually, colonizing a planet would be a pretty straightforward process as the colonists try to adjust to their new planet and contribute to the empire's cause. However, sometimes a planet can end up releasing pheromones to seduce the colonists, granting them various boosts which will end horrifically.
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If ignored, the floral species named 'Mharin Kharin' will ultimately release a deadly neurotoxin, killing the entire population of the colony and making the planet uninhabitable in the process. The anomaly becomes a reminder that sometimes an event can come with a catch.
4 Rise Of The Manifesti
Peaceful Anarchist With Quirky Traits
- Gain +10% Monthly society research and +100% Ethics shift change for a period of time
A player that wishes to have order in their empire will have a problem in their hands once they encounter an event chain that begins with 'Carnival Protestors'. Eventually, this anomaly chain will lead to the rise of a faction named Manifesti, which promotes insults to prominent political figures inside the empire and economic activities.
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If the faction is let loose, it will eventually form into a unique faction named 'The Manifesti', which focuses on the hedonistic traditions of a species. However, eventually, the faction will dissolve on its own when its approval rate falls below 35%.
3 Lost Amoeba
How A Young Amoeba Can Be A Powerful Mascot Of An Empire
- Gain a lost amoeba into the fleet
An empire's spaceship can sometimes be followed by a young Space Amoeba after researching an anomaly in a gas giant. In the early stages of the event, the player can either let the young amoeba follow the ship around or simply dissect it for a small number of society research points and advancement into the Regenerative Hull Tissue.
However, if the player lets the young amoeba into the safety of their empire, they can eventually name it and let the young amoeba grow inside the relative safety of the empire. Eventually, the amoeba will grow into a humongous amoeba when it reaches the point of a century in age. The amoeba will also be powerful enough to lead a fleet in the place of a battleship.
2 Stay Calm
Nobody Knows Why The Towel Is That Important
- Grants a towel to the scientist researching the anomaly
After finishing research on an anomaly in a Desert World, a scientist will have a chance to return to the science ship unharmed with a curious object in their hand, which is a towel. The science ship crews will comment on its quirk, and the leading scientist will gain a specific increase of 42% in Survey Speed.
Turns out it is a homage to The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams, a comedy science fiction series by Douglas Adams. This can also be seen in the specific amount of increased survey speed by the towel. Perhaps the towel is an important object, making the bearer not panic and stay calm during space explorations.
1 Improbable Orbit
The Impossibility Of A Ceramic Orbiting A Star
- Grants a small amount of influence, or,
- Grants +15% Research speed for 20 years
During anomaly research in a random star of a system, a scientist can find a ceramic pot orbiting a star of an unknown origin, leading to an increased curiosity between the scientists of an empire and a particularly long-timed event. A player can try assigning a scientist to research the true meaning of the ceramic.
The scientist can either find a secret decoded message that leads to a huge increase in research speed for the empire or simply become frustrated by the ceramic. Either way, it is a curious little improbable ceramic that is orbiting a star.
