1. You must know Battleships, Dark Matter Drawing and Zero Point Energy.

2. An event will pop up with a MTTH of 5 years that will notify you about rumors that Dark Matter can be used as an energy source. You can then choose to pursue this further by either

- Summon a Science Convention : 20000 Physics Tech Cost. Plain and Simple.
- Hires a Smuggler : 12500 Society Tech Cost. Pays 10000 minerals and 200 influence.
- Asks the Curator : 10000 Physcis Tech Cost. Pays 20000 energy and 100 influence.
3. Once any of the above is done, you will be told to find an expert in Particles/Materials and Military Theory respectively on each stage. The calculations for tech weights are as followed.


4. Once you completed all stages and research all the required techs, you will get an event that gives you the tech options for Dark Matter Reactor/Thruster/Deflector. You may now begin to research them normally.

5. An event will pop up to acknowledge your accomplishment once you research Dark Matter Reactor, congrats!!


In addition to being a gate for each stage, the three technologies also provide some additional benifits.

- Dark Matter Power Generation : Unlocks Dark Matter Extractor Building, which is a micro-Black Hole that consumes large amount of upkeeps to generate 1 point of DM.

- Dark Matter Power Containment : Grants 5% bonus to energy output and starbase/district upkeep reduction.

- Dark Matter Power Application : Gives your empire +0.5 influence and two unique edicts that cost Dark Matter.

A: Dark Matter Ship Optimizations = Increases weapon damage, fire rate and ship speed by 10%

B. Dark Matter Labotory Augmentations = Increases tech output by 10%

Both lasts for roughly 2 years and have a base cost of 60 DM.