Hope to have a psionic exclusive DLC.

[Lykus Cerebros]

If it's works for you go for it. Am not trying to convince you just wanted to answer this.

I think that's where the question comes in, though: What is the story that this is telling?

And I think you put your finger on it. Is an ascension path specifically something that happens to change the empire's population, or is it something that happens to change your empire and its people overall?

All three official ascension paths are doing exactly that. They change your population. That's the answer to your question if it's affecting pops or empires. You can actually acquire other populations with more than one special trait but never can you do more than pathway. It more akin to a private decision by the population of one Empire that gets codified as law compared to publicly funded megastructure projects.

 

[Empire of Terra Nova]

It more akin to a private decision by the population of one Empire that gets codified as law compared to publicly funded megastructure projects.

no wonder i also tend to pick shared burden quite often

 

[Ikael]

Rather than a DLC, I would love to see every ascension path expanded and improved. Bring them at least to the level of "becoming the menace". And yes, I know that it is not an ascension path technically speaking, but it is a great model to have: it has narrative weight, galaxy-wide consequences, it greatly changes the way you play, unique mechanics... and yes, megastructures are close to becoming an ascension of their own too, but that's a matter for another day.

As for psi ascension, it is a pity how underpowered it is. There are a ton of possibilities in order to expand it beyond "make it like the other two and give it pop assembly". Unique psi traits for leaders rather than a generic one (telepath, astropath, telekinetic, etc), skill trees, some "map" of the shroud in order to make it less random... there are endless ways to deepen it.