Massive Star Citizen patch 3.18, titled Lasting Legacies and touted by director Chris Roberts as “Star Citizen’s biggest update yet” for one of the most ambitious space games on PC, is now live. With an overhaul to the cargo system, the introduction of scavenging, new locations and updates to existing ones, and plenty of other added features including racetracks, there’s definitely plenty to take in – so let’s get to it. review everything in patch 3.18.
Among the major features of Star Citizen 3.18 is a complete overhaul of the game’s ship cargo system. This allows players to pick up and move individual cargo of all types, and you will now be able to manually organize your cargo boxes in your ship using a tractor beam, with the ability to snap to a grid for quick and easy placement.
A new “sand cave” archetype has been added to several planets and moons in Stanton, with unique cave formations to explore and an adorable creature called Stone Bug that lives within them. Also highlighted is the introduction of “persistent entity streaming” – this essentially means that Dynamic Items will now stick around in perpetuity, even if they are not currently owned or owned by a player, which should make more consistent locations.
Recovery, scratching and soft death
Salvage is now fully implemented, with options for hull stripping and repairs either by hand (with a new Greycat multi-tool attachment) or using systems like the Aegis Reclaimer and new Drake ship vulnerability. You can break down parts, convert and store them, and use the resulting material to repair ships or sell it. You can scrape the hulls of ships without shields and manually remove their cargo boxes using a portable tractor beam to claim them yourself.
The update also introduces “soft vehicle death,” a state ships will fall into if a critical component is damaged. These stranded gear will be left open for recovery by other parties using the Aegis Reclaimer or Drake Vulture. Players aboard a ship that suffers a soft death will not be killed – but, with the multi-information display, weapons, engines, and thrusters all disabled, their only option will be pretty much to leave the ship until at new order.
New locations and revisions
Several new points of interest have been introduced, while other locations are getting big improvements. The Daymar crash site is a “large abandoned settlement” that promises many secrets to be uncovered over multiple missions. A number of bounty and assassination missions have been introduced on Orison’s platforms.
The Kareah Security Post will now play a more central role, as Crusader Security Forces have moved in and are storing their confiscated contraband there. The station is off-limits to civilians without proper permission, but you can use more violent means of entry. Criminal players can fight their way through the completely revamped station and – if they are able to take down a station boss – will have the option of using the station’s smuggling machine to dispense a limited amount of drugs.
That’s not all, however, as there are over 30 new small abandoned outposts to discover across Stanton. Along with the introduction of the aforementioned sand caves, dozens of rivers and lakes have been spread across the star system – these come with their own “biome-specific item rule sets” depending on where they are. are found.
New ship and time trial racing tracks
There’s a new Star Citizen ship in 3.18 – the Drake Vulture is a lightweight rescue ship that, as mentioned above, comes in handy for dismantling parts of stranded or destroyed watercraft. Meanwhile, six new community-focused racing sites have been introduced. These will be unlocked as players complete time trial missions. There is also a new race track in the Orison Vision Center which is built specifically for the Greycat PTV.
Elsewhere, the update includes new courier delivery missions, which are based on the local delivery companies for each individual system within Stanton. There’s also an overhaul to the legal system, which developer Cloud Imperium Games says should make things less punitive for players with lower level crimes on their record. There are also a series of tweaks to vehicle speed and combat balance; key among these, ballistic weapons will now be better against shields but worse against armor.
Star Citizen’s final release date isn’t yet known, but there’s plenty to dig into if you’re one of the game’s many Kickstarter contributors. Developer Cloud Imperium also reassured players that the size of your Star Citizen ship doesn’t matter as much as you might think. If you just can’t get enough space exploration in your life, you’ll be glad to hear that Starfield’s release date is finally here.