Star Citizen’s massive 3.18 patch, titled Lasting Legacies and billed by director Chris Roberts as “Star Citizen’s biggest update yet” for one of the most ambitious space games on PC, is now available. . With an overhaul to the loadout system, the introduction of scavenging, new locations and updates to existing ones, and many other features added including race tracks, there’s definitely plenty to take in, so let’s review all of this in patch 3.18.
Among the key 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 arrange your actual cargo crates on your ship using a tractor beam, with the ability to hook onto a grid for quick and easy placement.
A new “sand cave” archetype has been added across multiple planets and moons in Stanton, with unique cave formations to explore and an adorable creature called Stone Bug that lives inside. Also of note is the introduction of “Persistent Entity Streaming”; Essentially, this means that Smart Items will now stay in perpetuity, even if they are not currently owned or owned by a player, which should make locations more consistent.
Recovery, scraping and soft kill
Rescue is now fully implemented, with options to strip and repair the hull by hand (with a new Greycat multi-tool attachment) or using systems like the Aegis Reclaimer and new Drake Vulture ship. You can disassemble parts, convert and store them, and you can 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 ships will be left open for other parties to recover using the Aegis Reclaimer or Drake Vulture. Players aboard a ship that suffers a gentle death will not die, but with the multi-information display, weapons, engines, and thrusters disabled, their only option will be to abandon ship until further notice.
New locations and revisions
Several new points of interest have been introduced, while other locations are undergoing major upgrades. The Daymar crash site is a “large abandoned settlement” that promises many secrets to uncover throughout multiple missions. Various bounty and kill missions have been introduced on the Orison platforms.
Kareah Security Post will now play a more central role, as Crusader Security Forces have moved in and store 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’re able to defeat a station boss, they’ll have the option of using the station’s smuggling machine to distribute a limited amount of drugs.
That’s not all, as there are over 30 new small abandoned outposts to discover in Stanton. Along with the introduction of the aforementioned sand caves, dozens of rivers and lakes have spread throughout the star system; these come with their own “biome-specific item rule sets” depending on where they are.
New boat race tracks and time trials
There’s a new Star Citizen ship in 3.18: the Drake Vulture is a lightweight rescue ship that, as mentioned above, is very useful for dismantling parts of stranded or destroyed ships. Meanwhile, six new community-focused racing locations have been introduced. These will be unlocked as players complete time trial missions. There is also a new race track at the Orison Vision Center that was built specifically for Greycat PTV.
Elsewhere, the update includes new courier delivery missions, which are based on 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 harsh for players with lower-level crimes on their records. There are also a lot of changes 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 assured players that the size of their ship Star Citizen didn’t matter as much as they think. If you just can’t explore space enough in your lifetime, you’ll be glad to hear that Starfield’s release date is finally here.