The Hyper Relay Megastructure in Stellaris acts as a galactic highway, enabling players to expedite travel across their vast empires.
A notable addition to Stellaris from the recent Overlord DLC is the Hyper Relay Megastructure. By constructing a chain of Hyper Relays, players can establish a Faster-Than-Light (FTL) super-highway spanning their empire, allowing ships to traverse the galaxy in months rather than years.
To construct Hyper Relays, players must first discover and research the corresponding technology. The Hyper Relays technology becomes available after players have successfully researched Hyperlane Breach Points, although the selection of tech options in Stellaris is semi-random. Players can enhance the likelihood of encountering Hyper Relays as a Physics Research option by meeting specific criteria:
- Obtaining the Technological Ascendancy or Grasp the Void Ascension Perks.
- Possessing a copy of an existing or ruined Hyper Relay within their borders, acquired through conquest or events.
- Membership in a Federation with another Empire that possesses Hyper Relays.
- Adopting the Technocracy Civic.
- Completing the Expansion Tradition tree.
Fulfilling one or more of these criteria, combined with a strong Physics Research score, increases the chances of obtaining the Hyper Relays technology early in the game.
Once the correct technology is researched, players can use a Construction Ship to construct a Hyper Relay in any of their systems. Building a single Hyper Relay has no immediate effect; players need to construct a minimum of two Hyper Relays in adjacent systems for them to be functional. A chain of adjacent Hyper Relays allows fleets and ships to move swiftly from one end of the chain to the other, bypassing the time they would typically spend traveling between Hyperlanes at sublight speed.
On the galaxy map, existing Hyper Relay connections are depicted as thicker and brighter Hyperlane lines between two connected systems. If the Hyper Relay network belongs to an empire that has closed its borders to the player, it appears as a thick yellow line. Although invading fleets cannot use Hyper Relays to directly reach their enemy’s capital, these structures prove valuable to both aggressors and defenders during wars in Stellaris. Invaders can utilize Hyper Relays in any occupied system, connecting to their own network and enabling swift reinforcements, drastically reducing the time it takes for fleets to arrive.