What is stellaris difficulty?

Stellaris has five different difficulty levels that the player can choose from, ranging from "Ensign" to "Grand Admiral". The difficulty affects the AI's behavior during gameplay, such as their technology and expansion speed as well as their competitiveness in wars and diplomatic actions. Generally, higher difficulties will make the game more challenging, requiring the player to be more strategic in their decisions. The AI's aggressive behavior will increase as well, making diplomacy and alliances more challenging. The higher the difficulty, the more aggressive and unpredictable the AI will behave. However, the player can also change the difficulty level during gameplay to adjust the game's challenge according to their preference.