Terraforming

Terraforming allows players to change low-tier Telluric Planets into higher-tier ones, all the way from Barren to Terran.  First, players must research the relevant terraforming technologies, which are located in Stage 4 and 5 of the Science and Exploration tree. Terraforming is recommended for players who want to increase their max population in a system, slightly modify the planet's FIDS output, raise approval, or add new traits such as Temperate or Fertile to fit System Improvements or its Planetary Specialization. Once the necessary tech has been researched, a build action becomes available on any colonized planet that fits the tech requirement to be Terraformed.

   The direction of Terraforming is reversed for The Riftborn. Gas-giant type Planets cannot be Terraformed.

## Primary Terraforming

Once Primary Terraforming has been unlocked by researching Evaporation Inhibitors in Stage 3 of Science and Exploration, Sterile  planets can be transformed into other types. The highest tier planets that can be reached with Primary Terraforming are Steppes, Snow, Savanna, and Arid.

## Advanced Terraforming

Once Advanced Terraforming has been unlocked by researching Climate Engineering in Stage 4 of Science and Exploration, the rest of the terraforming transformations are unlocked: planets can be transformed into Fertile  types, and Steppes and Savannah can be transformed into Monsoon.

## Strategy

Terraforming typically raises the maximum population, but slightly lowers the FIDSI output per population. On a max population planet, the growth in population results in a net increase in FIDSI, especially once System Improvements, Resources, Hero skills, and Anomaly bonuses are accounted for. In some cases, however, the more-specialized planets on lower tiers may be worth keeping. Notably, Boreal () and Jungle () can be worth keeping around, despite still having terraforming options left, because the / bonuses available to / planets, particularly from late-game System Improvements and Planetary Specialization, outweigh the slightly increased population from performing one final terraform to a  planet type.

A player might decide to delay or skip terraforming if the planet has unmitigated negative anomalies, to avoid taking further per- penalties. Wide-empires benefit less from terraforming than those who seek high population systems, because an expansive empire can still move population units from full systems to newer colonies using the Spaceport. The process of terraforming can also be expensive, meaning there is a significant opportunity cost.

In most empires, having at least one Fertile  planet per system is beneficial for population growth.

### Pros and Cons

* Food bonus will always be benefitted by terraforming. Very little tech support food generation on terraformed planets because the base production is already huge.
* Industry will receive penalty on early tech level unless you branch from Arid to Jungle which gives population bonus on top of being a hot planet
	+ Late tech, specifically the Chlorophyll Chemistry which transform 100% into 100%  at max population, which is a massive boost compared to other techs.
* Dust will tend to be penalized on early tech level
	+ Late tech, especially the Optimized Logistics gives a flat boost of +4 from Fertile soil and another +4 from Temperate climate
* Science will be penalized the most unless you branch into cold boreal, which would keep the improvement bonus from having a cold planet
	+ Late tech, particularly the Climate Engineering tech will mitigate the loss into boost which gives +4 for every population in fertile planets
* Influence gets a flat boost which synergize with Influence related Planetary Specialization such from Xenology, Supralight Aerodynamics, and finally Nano Aquaculture
	+ Plus, most FIDSI bonus and the tech Xeno Anthropology gives up to +3 simply for having population on happy planets and most terraformed planet gives flat bonus to happiness if you have the tech Eukaryotic Sap.