Don't PANIC! · public · first seen
The war has sides now. Three factions hold the galaxy, each with its own ships, its own leader and its own grudges. Fight them, pay them off or make allies of them. You can even win the war without firing a shot. This update also adds a fleet of your own, ship upgrades and hull tiers, trade convoys, a longer war, a warlord's battleship and Steam achievements.
The Reavers are fast, brutal raiders. The Paragon is a machine order of shields and heavy guns. The Gorgons are something alive and strange from the deep systems.
Every system belongs to a faction, and each faction sends its own ships. The Reavers hold the near systems, the Paragon the middle, the Gorgons the far reaches.
12 new enemy ships: the R-6 Jackal, R-8 Typhoon and RC-1 Pack Mule for the Reavers, the P-130 Lancet, P-210 Sentinel, P-310 Regent and P-410 Tithe for the Paragon, and the G-I Flint, G-III Basilisk, G-IV Scythe, G-V Leviathan and G-VI Matriarch for the Gorgons.
Every enemy ship now carries a faction code and a name, such as the R-7 Hurricane or the P-320 Tyrant, and several were redrawn in their faction's colors.
The galaxy map shows each faction's territory in its color. You see only where you have been, and one jump beyond.
Supply runs: a faction's haulers cross its systems under escort. Stop them for their cargo.
From time to time another faction's squad jumps into a system and fights the holders. It fights you too, unless it is at peace with you.
Every faction has a standing with you: War, Hostile, Neutral, Friendly or Allied. Everyone starts Hostile.
Each faction has a leader who speaks to you when you enter its space for the first time, and again whenever your standing has changed. Press H to talk to them at any time in their space.
In the talk you can ask for passage, pay tribute, ask for work, propose a pact or declare war.
Destroying a faction's ships, taking its planets and freeing its systems lowers your standing. Its rivals are glad of it. Its work, tribute and trade raise your standing, at a cost with its rivals.
Neutral factions leave you alone until you fire on them. Friendly factions never attack you, open their landing pads to you, and their Caravans come more often and sell for less.
Destroy a friend's ship and every one of its ships in that system turns on you, until you pay the debt or leave.
At War, a faction sends hunters after you in its space.
The enemy capital now stands 9 jumps from home, and three fortresses, one for each faction, hold up its shields.
A fortress also counts as fallen once its faction is your ally. Allies open the jump drive, let you fly through their systems, and their squads come to help you.
Ally with all three factions, then fly to the capital to sign the peace and win the war.
Jumps now follow the lanes one at a time. Systems with an outpost link up at any distance.
Planets are optional: the stronghold is the only thing you must take, and each planet you hold weakens it and sends you fighters.
After a win, press N to start the next war: a new galaxy at higher danger, with your ship, gear, level and unlocks kept.
Each stronghold's flagship is the next of its faction's ships you haven't met yet, so a new enemy is first met as a boss.
A Reaver warlord now comes in his battleship, the R-9 Maelstrom. Break it apart piece by piece.
Buy friendly ships at the Workshop: the F23 Redoubt frigate, the F24 Palisade escort that draws fire away from you, the F25 Ravelin missile boat and the F26 Casemate siege ship.
Tell them to follow you or guard a base. When badly damaged they fall back to repair.
27 upgrades: new weapons, weapon mods and ship upgrades, bought from Caravans and kept for good.
Your hull has slots for what is fitted. Fit and swap them at the Workshop.
Five hull tiers, MK1 to MK5, each larger than the last. Fitted weapons show on your ship.
A neutral Caravan with its escorts crosses the system now and then. Press T near it to buy supplies, or raid it if you dare.
Every new enemy type gets a first sighting banner and a radio call, and goes into the contact log in the pause menu.
Enemies, weapons, upgrades, hull tiers, allies and activities now unlock as you free systems, so something new keeps turning up. What is new is marked NEW.
37 achievements, from your first freed system to a war won without a single kill.
Ships now break into their own pieces when destroyed and drop their own scrap.
Your ship looks damaged below 35% of its hull, on every level and tier.
Ground posts (sentries, AA posts, hangars and bunkers) now show on the radar once found, and stand out better on the surface.
Once a planet's defenses are down, its pads let you refuel, repair and use the Workshop, even before you can capture it. Outposts can now be built from the first system, so you can no longer get stranded.
Workshop text no longer runs off the page.
Balance changes to the friendly ships and to raids.
| Depot | New manifest | Previous manifest |
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| 4353311 | 6149997728927260913 | 1959234175497667748 |