



Sometimes, the most important thing you can do is to listen—which is exactly what we focused on doing for this update. But what does that mean, exactly? It means that we’ve been paying particular attention to what you’ve been saying over the past few months about the old maintenance system and the in-game UI. Then we worked long and hard on making them better.



So, rather than making this about us, let’s get to it. See what we’ve been working on below. And as always, let us know what you think on the forums and our social channels.





WHAT’S NEW

MAINTENANCE IS DEAD. LONG LIVE BATTLE BONUS!

All hail Battle Bonus, the new system that replaces fleet maintenance! While active, Battle Bonus increases the amount of Credits, Ship XP and Free XP that your fleets earn after a match. Unlike the old setup, if you lose, you’ll still be able to play that fleet as much as you want (you just won’t get the extra bonus). Basically, you can play any fleet, anytime.

Each fleet type has a different Battle Bonus rate. Bonus amounts, from top to bottom: Credits (green), Ship XP (white) and Free XP (blue).

After playing a match with Battle Bonus active, it will go on cooldown. You’re free to pay Credits to reset it (if you want). The bottom line: you can always play any of your fleets, no matter what.

Your feedback was critical in realizing the need to replace Maintenance. You helped us understand why the old system wasn’t ideal and was creating negative experiences for players. In some cases, it was double-punishing you. Not only did you get lower rewards when you lost a match but you had to pay the maintenance fee on top of that.

We were also hearing that game crashes were counting as losses and triggering fleet maintenance. Basically, the original intent of maintenance had transformed into an overall negative experience, which was completely unintended. We hope that the Battle Bonus system is a much more positive one. As always, let us know what you think!

Talking about thoughts on the new system, let's hear what some of the Yager devs working on Battle Bonus have to say about it:





For more of our thoughts on the new Battle Bonus system, check out our Short Range Scan episode.

NEW MAP VARIANT: THE DARK SIDE OF ELYSIUM

The hunt for Transhuman treasure never sleeps, especially on Elysium. This lush, tropical paradise on the Uranian moon Titania is home to some of the most valuable and advanced artifacts in the Solar System. Get ready to join the swarms of captains skirmishing around its massive ruins under a violet veil of twilight.

NEW MARKET VANITY ITEMS

Equip the markings of the much-feared Hydra Mercenaries. Headed by Bashmu Geryon, one of the leaders of the Great Mutiny, this group is notorious for carrying out precision attacks on high-profile politicians and business mavens throughout all three Home Planets’ colonies. They pledge allegiance to themselves...and, of course, the highest bidder.

THE REAPER EMBLEM COLLECTION

For an outlaw, there’s no higher crime than treachery. Created by Captain Bashmu Geryon shortly after the Great Mutiny in 2410 CE, the Reaper emblem is a clear reminder of the value of loyalty—and the price of betrayal: your soul.

KARKINOS BLUE COATING

This powder-blue and orange coating is inspired by the giant crab that fought Heracles during his battle with the Hydra. While the story goes that the son of Zeus made quick work of the creature, that hasn't stopped Scum Belt scavengers from honoring its legendary grit and courage.

NAUTILUS STRIPES PATTERN

Bold and captivating, the Nautilus Stripes pattern is a common sight on the steel armor of a Hydra Mercenaries’ vessel. Like the exotic stripes of a poisonous fish, it’s a warning to anyone who might consider crossing their path.





Note: the Nautilus Stripes pattern is only available for the Nox Artillery Cruiser. Also pictured: the Karkinos coating.

SHARKTOOTH DECAL

The ruthless symbol of this razor-sharp shark’s tooth is a personal favorite of Captain Geryon. Anyone who crosses a Hydra Mercenary will get a nasty gash in the side of their ship—at least.





CHANGES

UI UPDATE

Update 1.8.0 brings a third installment of major UI improvements! In addition to the old maintenance system, the in-game UI is a key issue that we’ve received feedback on from a lot of you.

We’ve tweaked a lot of details, but go ahead and check out our streamlined market layout and redesigned Elite Status menu! For more details about what’s changed, take a look at our “bug fixes” section below.

















GENERAL

Updated the logos at the initial loading screen to include legal info



Fixed an issue where the game would not end if all members of a team left in Team Elimination



Fixed the orientation of the Missile Defense Fighter's primary weapon



Fixed an issue where some geometry would lack collision on Ryugu Haven



Fixed a number of clipping issues on Ixion

Fixed an issue where Elite Bonus' from players that have left the match prematurely were still applied



GAMEPLAY

Resolved an issue where Missile Defense Fighters would detonate enemy missiles prematurely, causing damage to enemy capital ships



Resolved an issue where the Disruptor Autobeam ability would sometimes inappropriately trigger twice



Resolved an issue where Team Elimination would sometimes award 0 ship XP



Fixed an issue where the Torpedo Salvo V ability would not launch the correct number of missiles



Resolved an issue where the player was able to go out of bounds on Rings of Saturn



Resolved an issue where the player was able to go out of bounds on Dry Dock

Fixed an issue where the Ultra Torpedo ability would not damage the player that fired it if they are in the blast radius



Improved the aiming "snapping" of the Tactical Cruiser's Beam Turret to better align with the intended aiming point



Fixed an issue where idle players would not always be appropriately kicked for inactivity



Fixed an issue where the Svarog Artillery Cruiser would sometimes be unaffected by Stasis Missiles



Improved the number of AI in the Tutorial mission



Fixed an issue where certain event triggers could be completed out of order in the Tutorial mission



Resolved an issue where the Anti-Missile Pulse ability would cause some missiles to behave erratically instead of explode



Resolved an issue where a Nuclear Missile would explode if its owner dies mid-launch



PROGRESSION

Updated Tier-IV Weaponbooster Pulse price to it's intended 14000 CR

Fixed an issue where multiple Career Progression contracts would not complete properly or not notify the player they were completed. We have also disabled a small number of Career Progression contracts that were unable to be completed, until such a time that they are properly complete-able

Updated a number of Career Progression objectives to be more clear



STABILITY

Fixed multiple crash and disconnect issues



Fixed a rendering issue that occasionally caused late-joining players to be missing a skybox



Resolved an issue where the game would sometimes become unresponsive after selecting a different window in Windowed Mode



Fixed a performance issue in the Hangar screen that would cause unresponsiveness or a crash



Resolved a crash issue relating to the loading screen



Fixed an issue where ALT + ENTER would sometimes cause the game to freeze



USER INTERFACE

Fixed an issue where Loadout and Appearance UI elements would be overlapped by Fleet Selection UI under the Play menu



Fixed an issue where if a squad member was ineligible for the queue due to their fleet tier they were unable to select a different queue or fleet tier



Fixed an issue where Captain Progression would still default to the Recruit tab when everything in that tab was unlocked



Fixed an issue where Proving Grounds was the default game mode selected on logging in, instead of Any



Fixed a number of spelling inconsistencies in the market and ship loadout screens



Fixed a UI issue where some elements would be unnaturally overlaid when adding a new ship to your fleet



Fixed an issue where Career Progression contracts would not display descriptions



Resolved a number of inconsistencies with ability descriptions



Improved a number of elements in the fleet selection and tech tree UIs



Fixed an issue where the UI in the Tutorial mission would overlap



Fixed an issue where Career Progression UI elements would inappropriately overlap



Fixed an issue where the list of alive players would be incorrect for late-joining players in Team Elimination



Resolved an issue where placeholder officer briefings were visible when viewing a Recruit fleet



Resolved an issue where some character customization items would be listed as "equipped" after viewing them



Fixed an issue where if the research requirements are not met the research cost inappropriately says "Free"



MARKET

Fixed a number of inconsistencies with ability and cosmetic icons when viewing a ship loadout



Updated the Netron ship's geometry to no longer incorrectly mirror decals



Fixed an issue where some hero ship tooltips displayed the wrong name



Removed the duplicate Paypal payment option



Updated a number of Decal and Coatings descriptions



Fixed an issue with the Akkoro ship bundle contents view



Fixed an issue where some purchases can be accidentally made twice by clicking them rapidly



VFX

Fixed an issue where destroyed assault ships would magically disappear mid-explosion in Onslaught



Fixed an issue where the Disruptor Autobeams VFX would not display for all players



AUDIO

Fixed a number inconsistencies relating to 'ability-use' and 'ability-lock-on' VO

Removed errant "old Bix" voice lines when queuing up for battle





... And probably more!





We'd love to hear your feedback on this update on the forums here. Be sure to join the conversation on our community discord channel and subreddit!