A captain may brag about their rank—but they’re really only as good as their last battle. We feel like the same goes for us: our mission to improve Dreadnought should never slow down. It is in the spirit of constant improvement that we bring you PC Update 1.7.0: Proving Grounds!

If you read a little further, you’ll notice that “Proving Grounds” is actually a new game mode that replaces the old Training Matches at the start of the game. But we also think these words apply to our update as a whole, because it’s full of features that we think improve the onboarding experience for new players just as much as it provides new content for experienced ones.

We know, that’s a lot of talk. Read on—and let us prove that we can back it up!













WHAT’S NEW

NEW MAP: ELYSIUM

Elysium may have been abandoned by its Transhuman creators, but it hasn’t been forgotten. After the war, the nation of Troja founded small research colonies around the island, using it as a base to search for Transhuman artifacts on Uranus. The moon as a whole has become a battlefield for outlaw captains looking to score the most valuable Transhuman tech ever created. When earthquakes rock Titania’s mantle, there are plenty of hands ready to pick up what emerges from the depths.





Check out our lore article for more info about the background of this far-flung, treasure-rich battlefield—or get a behind-the-scenes look at the creation of the map in DN_Nwood’s forum post!

FIRST WIN OF THE DAY

Winning feels good, doesn't it? Now it will feel even better! With 1.7.0. With the new “First Win Of The Day” rewards, you will get a 100% bonus to your Ship XP, Free XP and Credits when you win the first battle of each day. This bonus can only be earned once per day and the timer resets at midnight server time (UTC).





CAPTAIN ONBOARDING

We've completely overhauled how new captains get acquainted with their ships with a brand-new intro video and tutorial! In addition to some flying lessons in a Dreadnought, the new tutorial explains the UI and mechanics more clearly than the old system. Once you complete it, you’ll be asked to fight three battles on the Proving Grounds, a new game mode that has replaced Training Matches.

PROVING GROUNDS

This new game mode replaces the old Training Matches. On the Proving Grounds, Bix sends you out to defend Sinley Bay from an attack force that’s interfering its navigation beacons. Completing this mission proves that you are reliable and worthy of access to the nav beacons.





In the old Training Matches, you were joined by two full teams of AI-controlled ships. However, on the Proving Grounds, you team up with other players to fight against a fleet of AI-controlled ships (after 1 minute of matchmaking, your team is filled with AI). Additionally, the Proving Grounds will now reward you with Credits and XP for completed missions (although these rewards are less than those given by PVP game modes).

While this game mode is part of the new onboarding process, it’s also open for anyone to join. However, the Proving Grounds will not be included in matchmaking when “Any” is selected.

CAREER PROGRESSION

The brand-new career progression system allows captains to complete challenges to earn rewards. Not only does it allow new players to learn the basic mechanics of Dreadnought, but it also offers incentives for experienced captains to leave their comfort zones and try different ship classes, take on new challenges and explore the depths of the game. These career progression goals are optional, and fulfilling them offers rewards like XP, Credits, and GP.





This system will be added on top of the existing daily contracts. Additionally, challenges in the career progression window contain hints on how to complete them, improving the onboarding experience even further.

HELPER HUD

The new Helper HUD overlay provides information about the functionality of the Dreadnought HUD and the basic controls of the game. It can be activated during any match by pressing the "H" key. If the heat of battle ever causes you to forget what keys to press to communicate with your teammates, don’t worry—this useful helper is just a key press away.

NEW MARKET VANITY ITEMS

Equip your ship with a piece of battle history. Icon Operations was an elite unit of the Pan-Colonial Fleet during the Great Solar War. Founded in 2388 CE and led by Bix Duquette (of later Sinley Bay fame), its purpose was to spearhead the Atlantian Plan—the PCF’s secret operation that they developed to finally defeat the Transhumans.

Bix filled Icon Operations with the best captains from the strongest fleets that he'd fought alongside during his career in the PCF. Routinely venturing deep within the Uranian system to fight the Transhumans, this group played a major part in shaping the end of the war—and eventually, the Great Mutiny.

Want to display the colors and symbols that were once used by these elite captains? Check them out in the hangar by clicking on one of your ships and selecting “appearance.”

THE PCF CAPTAIN’S DAY BUNDLE

The PCF Captain’s Day bundle pays homage to the elite captains of Icon Operations. It contains an Icon Operations decal and emblem for every one of your ships.

ICON BERET

The official cap of Icon Operations. Its dark color matches the shadowy, secretive nature of the missions that these elite officers undertook.



ICON OPERATIONS EMBLEM AND DECAL





While most outlaw captains disagree with the original premise of the Great Solar War—to drive out the Transhumans—they tend to romanticize it. The eagle is the quintessential symbol of how they view Icon Operations: as an elite group that fought bravely on the front lines.



DIGITAL CAMO PATTERN AND BURNT SKY COATING





The PCF created the Digital Camo pattern and Burnt Sky coating for use on the Cronian front, a place where many members of Icon Operations cut their teeth in battle. To this day, both items are used to honor these captains’ bravery—and the fiery skies they often left in their wake.



CHANGES

UI UPDATE

In addition to the new onboarding and career progression, we’re continuing what we started in the last update with changes to the UI. The most recent UI includes a reworked fleet management bar as well as an updated look for our Tech Trees and Manufacturer Trees.

NEW FLEET MANAGEMENT BAR

NEW MANUFACTURER TREE















We recently discovered a potential fix for the “crash back to hangar” issue, but have not had enough time to test it thoroughly and include it in this update. It will most likely be included in the 1.7.1 patch.

GENERAL

Fixed a bug that would make the Stahl coating appear less shiny than it was supposed to.

Fixed captains feet being detached from their bodies in the End of Match screen.

Fixed multiple texture issues on Ixion.

Fixed an issue on Ryugu Haven that would allow the player to fly outside of the map.

Fixed the camera pointing in the wrong direction when the Silesia's forecastle is being applied to a ship.

Fixed the Gora appearing distorted in the hangar.

Fixed Vucari forecastle clipping into default hull.

Fixed an issue that would cause the camera to get stuck in spectator mode when a player repeatedly pressed the space bar during force warp in an Onslaught match.

Fixed an issue that would cause the camera to pan out of the map during re-spawn screen, if the ship's debris collides with the terrain.

GAMEPLAY

Fixed an issue that could cause a player to start a game of Team Elimination as a Fighter Jet.

Fixed an issue that would occur when the "Reinforced" and the "Desperate Measures" Officer Briefings were used together and would cause "Reinforced" to become inoperative once "Desperate Measures" was activated.

Fixed the Disruptor Beam module on Artillery Cruisers not working correctly.

Fixed an issue that caused a Tactical Cruiser's healing beam to pull a fighter jet in Team Elimination.

Fixed an issue with the Jump Drive V module that did not work as described.

Fixed an issue that could cause the Flashpoint Torpedo Salvo module to hit the ship that fired the torpedoes.

Fixed an issue that would cause Artillery Pods to not properly target enemies and not be removed at the end of their lifetime.

Fixed an issue that would cause Anti-Missile Lasers to target the locations of already destroyed missiles.

Fixed an aiming issue with Repeater Missile module that would cause the missiles to target another nearby enemy after the module has already been activated.

Fixed an issue that would cause the Bomb Catapult II module to not work properly when the target was below the player.

Fixed an issue that would cause the Nuclear Bomb to explode as soon as its owner was destroyed.

Fixed potential Team Elimination exploit that would allow Tactical Cruisers to earn astronomical scores.

PROGRESSION

Fixed an issue that would cause contracts to not update once they were fulfilled.

Fixed an issue that would allow contracts to be re-rolled infinite times.

Fixed an issue that would cause kills with attack boosting modules (eg. Siege Mode, Beam Amplifier) to not counting towards contracts requiring you to kill enemies with modules.

Fixed an issue that could cause the Mithras Corvette to lose access to the 101 Officer Briefings.

STABILITY

Fixed an issue that would cause players to experience server lags in Team Elimination.

Fixed an issue that would spawn the player in the middle of the map, before the orbit screen and cause a game freeze.

Fixed an issue that would cause a minor hitch for all clients when a player changes their loadout in pre-battle Orbit Screen.

Improved performance optimization and reduced GPU and CPU load for ship weapons.

USER INTERFACE

Fixed the Target Warp IV for the Koschei having a Charge Up time of "Text".

Fixed chat messages not going through if they contain quotation marks (" ").

Fixed missing / incorrect description in the tool-tips for all turret type weapons.

Fixed the list of alive players being incorrectly displayed for late joining players during Team Elimination matches.

Fixed the description of primary weapons on light Corvettes that stated the ships were all using Tier V Dual Heavy Autocannons.

Fixed description of Triad Pods V.

Fixed description of light Corvettes that was claiming they used higher tiered weapons than they actually do.

Fixed the warning that, depending on your skill you might be matched against higher tiered ships, appearing when selecting the Legendary fleet. - Since this is the highest fleet, it would be hard matching you with even more powerful ships.

Fixed the customer support window popping back up after closing it.

Fixed the squad window overlapping the matchmaking options. - The ongoing UI re-work will soon address the social windows as well but for now, we've moved these windows to a lower layer.

Fixed the Nevis ship parts incorrectly being called "Lerwick".

Fixed description of Scrambler Missile module to reflect the correct number of missiles fired.

Fixed missing Charge Up Time in description of Target Warp IV module.

Fixed chat window disappearing when pressing space bar in hangar after receiving a message.

Fixed incorrect information about Akkoro loadout being displayed in pre-battle Orbit Screen.

Fixed tooltip descriptions of multiple modules in Tech Tree that would have overlapping text.

Fixed an issue that would display a module as still purchasable although it already has been purchased.

Fixed the description of the convert Ship XP to Free XP screen to no longer be editable.

MARKET

The Valkyrie Venture bundle description has been updated to include the Valkyrie emblem.

Fixed an issue that caused the Zaratan Hero Ship icon to not show for all users.

The Vanguard bundle no longer gives some players a second unusable PCF Silesia.



VFX

Fixed an issue that would cause missile VFX to disappear and the missile to explode immediately after using the Anti-Missile Pulse on the Nuclear missile or on the Goliath Torpedo.

Let us know what you think of this update in the forums!