Scientists in our galaxy suspect dark matter accounts for 85 percent of all matter in the universe. In the far future of Stellaris, mastery of how to get your hands on this dark matter will serve you well.
Dark matter is a special strategic resource. This means that it is only found and harvested. Empires cannot make their own special resources. Finding these resources is half the battle, and to begin harvesting dark matter early, you will have to get lucky and find some.
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Well, that was true until the release of the Nemesis DLC. Players who seek the total destruction of the galaxy have their own special way of harvesting dark matter. However you choose to obtain dark matter, this guide will teach you everything you need to know to get it.
You can harvest dark matter in Stellaris from black holes by building mining stations or black hole observatories on Starbases that orbit a black hole. If your empire has become the crisis, you can use Star-Eater ships to destroy stars for dark matter.
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How to Get Dark Matter in Stellaris
Getting hold of dark matter is a little bit of a lottery. There are a couple of steps you have to go through before you can even think about harvesting it.
A lot of it involves research. The rest is getting lucky and finding a deposit of dark matter.
The technology you want to research is “Dark Matter Drawing.” This tech will only become available after unlocking tachyon sensors. This is a stage four tech, making it an end-game acquisition.
The other problem is it will only appear as an option if you have a dark matter deposit within your empire’s borders.
The tech may also appear if you have encountered another empire that already has it. But if you don’t have any deposits within your borders, well, the technology is redundant.
Once you have the tech, you are free to begin harvesting all the dark matter you have access to.
Mining for Dark Matter
There are two ways to mine dark matter in the game right now. Both will need the technology discussed earlier; dark matter drawing.
Dark matter drawing will let mining stations harvest dark matter deposits, and your black hole observatories will be able to extract dark matter too.
The mining station has the potential to be the most lucrative of the two. Any black hole you discover has a chance of containing a dark matter deposit.
After constructing a mining station around the deposit, all empire mining bonuses apply. Depending on how good your empire is at mining, you have the potential to gain a lot of dark matter with this option.
The black hole observatory is a star base building. Dark matter deposits are rare, but an observatory can be built on any star base that orbits any black hole.
Black hole observatories will provide one dark matter resource per tick. There is no way to increase this amount in the game at the moment. Not only that, these observatories provide extra physics research, which is a nice incentive.
The observant amongst you have probably already thought to yourselves, could I build both of these around one black hole? The answer is yes, and you should too.
Dark matter is valuable, and the more you have, the greater the payout.
Destroying Stars for Their Dark Matter
If you have decided to make your empire become the end-game crisis, you unlock an entirely new dark matter harvesting system.
This system will eventually lead to the complete destruction of the galaxy, but that is none of my business.
After deciding to become the crisis, you unlock a brand-new and unique ship called star eaters. These ships live up to their name. Their sole purpose is to destroy stars and consume all the dark matter that is inside.
You have likely already guessed this, but the rest of the galaxy is not going to enjoy your empire going around, destroying stars like some hoodlum.
Deciding to become the crisis will mean violence, so be sure you are ready to defend your new dark matter extractors.
The amount of dark matter you get for destroying a star depends on the galaxy size you selected before starting the game. The amount of dark matter is as follows:
- Tiny – 3000 dark matter
- Small – 2500 dark matter
- Medium – 2000 dark matter
- Large – 1500 dark matter
- Huge – 1000 dark matter
What is Dark Matter Used For
Dark matter is the currency for some very powerful components for your fleets.
The ship components are; dark matter shields, dark matter thrusters, and dark matter reactors.
These upgrades are no joke and are the kind of upgrades you need to be taking on fallen empires or the end-game crisis.
If you are the crisis, dark matter is gathered to upgrade your unique megastructure. The megastructure is called the Aetherophasic Engine, and when completed, will destroy the galaxy and all life within it.
On the upside, your empire will win the game by completing this project.
This is everything you need to know about how to get dark matter in Stellaris.
If you have any questions or comments on this guide, please let us know in the comments section below. As always, have fun hoarding dark matter in Stellaris.
