Greetings, Captains.

In this release, we deployed a more flexible queuing functionality, brought back an improved version of Ceres Awakens, and fixed a handful of bugs.

We also added a new “Deep Space Explorers” outfit to the market, and put some of our hero ships on sale.

Here’s the detailed scoop:

QUICK MATCH (FAVORITES) QUEUE

Before this release, you could either queue for ANY game mode or for only one. However, some Captains prefer to play some of the game modes, but not all.

With this in mind, we added flexibility to the queue. Now players can select which game modes are their “favorite” and only queue for those.

When you are in the Game Mode Selection screen, you will notice two things:

The ANY button was replaced by a QUICK MATCH button.

Each game mode has a GREY LIGHTNING BOLT in the lower right of the buttons. If you click this lightning bolt, it will turn blue, setting this game mode as a "Favorite". Clicking it again will remove it from your favorites. On PS4 this is done by highlighting the game mode and pressing the Triangle button.

Once you have set all your “Favorites,” select the QUICK MATCH game mode and click PLAY. This will queue you ONLY for the game modes you selected as “Favorite.”

After you select your “Favorites,” the QUICK MATCH option on the Home screen will also queue you only for the game modes you selected in the last Tier you queued for.

To show you how this works, we made a short video tutorial for the new QUICK MATCH functionality. We hope it’s useful!

CERES REAWAKENS

The last time we made Ceres Awakens available, we received feedback about the placement of tech caches: they were too far away from where ships would fight. Of course, this made it too difficult for slower ships to pick up the caches and remain effective.

In the improved version of the game mode, we moved most of the spawn locations of the caches to areas where fighting would naturally occur. So, now the tech caches are easier to grab and have the ability to impact the heart of the battles.

We also created an added incentive to collecting tech caches by adding scoring events for each cache you pick up and an additional bonus for every third cache you pick up. You’ll also receive XPs and credits per scoring event.

Please visit this link for more information about Ceres Awakens

SINLEY BAY MARKET

NEW OUTFIT: DEEP SPACE SURVIVAL SUIT, HELMET, AND CAPTAIN TINT.

Dating back to the Golden Age of Space Exploration, the Deep Space Survival Suit (or DS3) was critical in protecting the first human explorers as they traveled into the far reaches of the Solar System. After an eruption on Ceres revealed a large stockpile of DS3s, it has since been re-embraced for its elegance and durability.

HERO SHIPS ON SALE

• Leviathan and Demeter 50% off
  
• Akkoro and Orion 25% off
  

BALANCE CHANGES AND BUG FIXES

• Stronger Scattergun Broadsides - We thought Scattergun Broadsides were a little weak. So we decided to put more boom in your boomstick. We buffed the damage but also gave them a little more lock on range and blast radius to make them a bit more effective. Let us know if we went too far or not far enough. We fully expect more tweaks to be needed here.
  
  These are the specific changes:
  
  • Number of projectiles per shoot now T3 - 10, T4 - 15, T5 - 20
    
  • Damage per projectile now T3 - 450, T4 - 360, T5 - 305
    
  • Damage Radius now 300m for all tiers
    
  • Range increased to 1400m for all tiers
    
  
  
  
• Moved Emblem attachment point on the Marauder forecastle to an appropriate location.
  
• Invictus Primary Weapon: Fixed reload time being longer with power to weapons.
  
• Added Support link on the Home screen.