Sins of a Solar Empire II: Harbinger is Available Now

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Sins of a Solar Empire II: Harbinger Arrives with the Deadly Eidolon Faction

After 20 years of intrigue, the great enemy of the Vasari is revealed, ushering in new gameplay mechanics, ships, structures and more.

Get the Harbinger Expansion | Get Sins II

The Eidolon

Fighting for planets, trade routes, culture, or wealth is not the Eidolon way. Working behind the scenes, the Eidolon spread corruption wherever they go. Their technology shrouds entire worlds to fuel their advance, and they strike from the shadows with cloaked fleets, forcing every other empire to fight for survival on unfamiliar terms.

Expansion Features

The Eidolon rewrite the rules of galactic conquest with systems built around corruption, secrecy, and control:

  • Planetary Transformation: The Eidolon spread corruption across the galaxy. As populations fall under their influence, planets gain corruption over time. Once a world has fully fallen, it can be shrouded, greatly expanding the upgrades that planet can support.

  • Unit Corruption: Corruption empowers Eidolon units in combat but also weakens them. As a ship gains corruption, its hull dwindles while its offensive power increases. Enemy forces can become infected, giving the Eidolon another advantage.

  • Null Weapons: Eidolon weapons are far more advanced than the other factions and can negate shields and spread corruption against enemies.

  • Cloaked Ships: New cloaking and detection systems let the Eidolon appear and vanish at will, enabling hit-and-run tactics that reward patience and punish anyone caught off guard.

  • Psionic Abilities: The Eidolon possess psionic abilities that allow them to seize control of lesser beings and drive Vasari ships into madness, firing on friend and foe alike.

  • Phase Echoes: Sometimes the dead don't die. Eidolon units infused with corruption may refuse to die and carry on the onslaught.

Free Version 2.0 Update

Every Sins of a Solar Empire II owner also gets the free v2.0 base-game update today. Highlights include:

  • Quality of Life UX Improvements: Updated Unity quick bar system that can expand and be pinned, visible weapon ranges on defense structures, a redesigned market window with price fluctuation tracking and price history, and improved tooltips.

  • Updated Mod UI: Redesigned modding UI with easier browsing, mod playlists, auto-download prompts for missing mods, and new filtering options.

  • Updated Graphics Settings: New planetary shaders with more natural lighting and weather effects, improved threading to prevent crashes on systems with low texture memory, and auto-detection of optimal graphics settings.

Sins of a Solar Empire II: Harbinger is available on Steam, Epic Games Store, and direct through Stardock with a launch discount price of $23.99 through September 14 at 1:00 PM ET. The expansion is also included as part of the Premium Edition for $99.99 or as part of the Sins of a Solar Empire II: Content Pass for $59.99.

Learn more at https://www.sinsofasolarempire2.com

Stardock Sins of a Solar Empire Sins of a Solar Empire News
1,620 views 2 replies
Reply #1 from Stardock Forums Top

Congratulations to the Stardock team and all developers involved for continuing the saga! I've been playing since I bought the original Sins of a Solar Empire off the shelf across multiple computers and thousands of hours. Welcome home mysterious Eidolon! I hope we get to see more story and campaign missions to flush out the narrative (past, present, and future)!

Reply #2 from Stardock Forums Top

RAelDRAke is right about the campaign missions, and I would put it more strongly. What is described here is a faction built out of dread. Corruption that spreads, worlds that get shrouded, ships that will not stay dead, psionics that turn Vasari crews on each other. That is atmosphere, and atmosphere is the thing a skirmish lobby is worst at holding.

My worry before reading this was that revealing the great enemy would spend a mystery the series has carried since long before Rebellion. Having read the feature list, I think they were aware of it. An enemy that corrupts rather than conquers is not the usual fourth faction with a different hull set.

Whether it survives contact with players is another matter. In a lobby everyone has read the same page I have just read, and nothing on that page stays unfamiliar past the third match. Vasari ships going mad is a story beat once and a tell to play around afterwards. That is where missions would earn their keep.

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