[p]Greetings Commanders,[/p][p][/p][p]The Caspian Explorer Update is now live. Embrace the depths of space with a large new exploration ship from Zorgon Peterson built to seek the stars. Available now via ARX early access, alongside a number of changes to on-foot weapons and NPC behaviours as well as bug fixes.[/p][p][/p][p]Features of Note:[/p]

• [p]Added Zorgon Peterson Caspian Explorer:[/p][list]
• [p]In world holo-screen adverts now present for Caspian Explorer.[/p][/*]
• [p]Mk II Ablative Armour - Armour that allows for faster and steeper planetary entries. These include lightweight alloy, reinforced alloy, military grade composite, reactive surface composite and mirrored surface composite variants. *[/p][/*]
• [p]Mk II Gravity Optimised Thrusters - Size 7 thrusters that reduce the most severe effects of gravity on High-G worlds.[/p][/*]
• [p]Mk II Supercharge Optimised Frame Shift Drive (SCO) - Size 8 FSD that enhances the effect of supercharging your FSD when using a fuel scoop at a neutron or white dwarf star.[/p][/*]

[/*][/list][p]*We are aware of an issue with the mirrored surface composite and as a result it has been removed from the game temporarily. The team are working on a balancing fix has which shall be implemented next week. Once this fix is in place the module will be available for purchase and use. [/p][p][/p]

• [p]Added Pre-Built Ships:[/p][list]
• [p]Caspian Explorer Galactic (69,000 Arx).[/p][/*]
• [p]Caspian Explorer Stellar (38,000 Arx).[/p][/*]
• [p]Caspian Explorer Standard (19,020 Arx).[/p][/*]

[/*][*][p]Adjustments Made to On-Foot NPC Combat Behaviours:[/p]

• [p]General Movement Speed:[/p][list]
• [p]Introduced a haste system which controls NPCs movement speed. Maximum haste values make NPCs run faster than current speeds.[/p][/*]
• [p]NPCs will be more combat efficient, more decisive, and have better threat detection.[/p][/*]

[/*][*][p]Dodging Improvements:[/p]

• [p]NPC will now prioritise dodging into cover if possible.[/p][/*]

[/*][*][p]Crouching Improvements:[/p]

• [p]NPCs will crouch more often including behind cover, reloading, or to evade.[/p][/*]

[/*][*][p]Retreating/Cover Movement:[/p]

• [p]Improved reaction time when an NPC needs to take cover.[/p][/*]
• [p]NPCs will make better use of cover and be less likely to stand in the open.[/p][/*]

[/*][*][p]Under Threat Behaviour Improvements:[/p]

• [p]If the NPC is shot at or has low shield or health, they will attempt to take cover.[/p][/*]
• [p]Once their shield has returned, they will resume usual behaviours.[/p][/*]
• [p]This behaviour replaces the old "fleeing" behaviour entirely.[/p][/*]

[/*][*][p]Advance Towards Threat Behaviour:[/p]

• [p]Strikers and Scouts may decide to advance under fire until they lose their shields entirely.[/p][/*]
• [p]Other NPCs are more likely to retreat under threat.[/p][/*]

[/*][*][p]Crime Scan Adjustments:[/p]

• [p]Security will now crime scan from a longer range. This removes the short walk to the target.[/p][/*]
• [p]Security NPC will turn to face the target before starting.[/p][/*]

[/*][*][p]Grenade Behaviour Adjustments:[/p]

• [p]Grenades are more often used against groups.[/p][/*]
• [p]Grenades are used to flush targets out from cover.[/p][/*]
• [p]NPCs will now use memorised and reported positions to better identify large groups of targets.[/p][/*]
• [p]Ensured that NPCs will no longer throw EMP grenades at targets with low shield proportion.[/p][/*]

[/*][/list][/*][*][p]Rebalanced suits & weapons [/p]

• [p]Rebalanced NPCs suit and shield resistances to reduce the disparity between damage types vs shields and armour for suits/shields (this does not affect the player they are using the old resistances) [/p][/*]
• [p]Weapon changes:[/p][list]
• [p]Improved stow and draw times for all weapons[/p][/*]
• [p]Adjusted weapon handling modification to account for new stow and draw times [/p][/*]
• [p]Decreased flight time on projectiles for: [/p][list]
• [p]Manticore Executioner[/p][/*]
• [p]Manticore Tormentor[/p][/*]
• [p]Manticore Oppressor[/p][/*]

[/*][*][p]Increased ammo for:[/p]

• [p]Karma AR-50[/p][/*]
• [p]TK Eclipse[/p][/*]

[/*][*][p]Decreased ammo for:[/p]

• [p]Karma C-44[/p][/*]

[/*][*][p]Decreased reload speed for:[/p]

• [p]Karma L-6[/p][/*]

[/*][/list][/*][/list][/*][*][p]Powerplay:[/p]

• [p]Markers will now be placed on the galaxy map over rival systems, indicating targets for undermining efforts.[/p][/*]

[/*][/list][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/8337594/2809a14bab5b9ebbe9b0f283ab4f956300e0f464.png"][/img][/p]

• [p]A maximum of 5 markers will be placed per Power.[/p][list]
• [p]The system targets of these markers is determined entirely by player undermining efforts - the top 5 undermined system by players in a power will have a marker placed over them.[/p][/*]
• [p]Marker placement will update once per day.[/p][/*]

• [p]Within these marked systems, Power Conflict Zones will generate, fully enabling combat as a viable means of undermining.[/p][/*]
• [p]An additional +25% merit bonus will be awarded for all undermining actions taken within a marked system.[/p][/*]
• [p]A system must be undermined to unoccupied and then acquired within 1 cycle for the bonus to be issued.[/p][/*]
• [p]Only the agents within power that acquires the system will be issued bonuses, and that power must have actively taken part in undermining the system to the unoccupied state.[/p][/*]
• [p]Merit bonuses will be issued on a tier system, so agents with a higher undermining contribution will receive a higher bonus:[/p][list]
• [p]25th Percentile - 20,000 Merits[/p][/*]
• [p]50th Percentile - 10,000 Merits[/p][/*]
• [p]75th Percentile - 5,000 Merits[/p][/*]

[/*][*][p]Bonuses will be issued on a weekly basis over the maintenance period.[/p][/*][*][p]Markers will now be placed on the galaxy map over rival systems, indicating targets for undermining efforts.[/p][/*][*][p]Merit Bonuses will now be awarded for undermining and subsequently occupying another power's system.[/p][/*][*][p]Initially, both new mechanics will only be active for the Powerplay systems surrounding HIP 87621.[/p][/*][/list][p]Bug Fixes[/p]

• [p]Resolved trade powerplay activities rewarding significantly less merits than intended.[/p][/*]
• [p]Resolved further instances of fleet carrier cargo transfers failing and erroneous stock errors.[/p][/*]
• [p]Resolved Dodec interiors not changing with economy type.[/p][/*]
• [p]Resolved instances of a crash that could occur when a player dies in an active on-foot Conflict Zone whilst another player is doing through the respawn flow.[/p][/*]
• [p]Resolved an issue when selecting a facility in the System Map, then selecting another facility it would incorrectly display the demolish options of the first selected facility.[/p][/*]
• [p]Resolved the loading spinner on the "Cancel Construction" panel taking longer than the timer states to become interactable with.[/p][/*]
• [p]Improved player feedback when a request to rename a System Colonisation facility fails.[/p][/*]
• [p]Resolved an issue where the System Colonisation Ship will display a Cancel Construction option after completing the primary construction.[/p][/*]
• [p]Resolved instances where the Brewer Corp. fanfare audio could repeat after closing the construction effort screen.[/p][/*]
• [p]Resolved the Powerplay Care Package expiry timer not displaying on the Care Package UI.[/p][/*]
• [p]Resolved instances where the Powerplay Care Package UI screen would state that on-foot materials space was full when the player has adequate space.[/p][/*]
• [p]Resolved broken strings being displayed in the Info panel when converting Powerplay Care Packages.[/p][/*]
• [p]Resolved a couple of issues with text being truncated or cut off in Community Goal UI.[/p][/*]
• [p]Resolved the warning text being missing for armour modules when storing multiple modules, this now highlights that the module will be replaced by factory default.[/p][/*]
• [p]Resolved the weapon detailing cosmetic only applying to the projectile and not its trail when firing the Mining Volley Repeater module on the Type-11 Prospector.[/p][/*]
• [p]Resolved various minor clipping issues with the Type-11 Prospector geo[/p][/*]
• [p]Resolved instances where some buildings in the High Tech & Factory star port interior barrel were not correctly being avoided by auto-dock.[/p][/*]
• [p]Resolved instances of being able to skip the glide phase of planetary landing.[/p][/*]
• [p]Resolved instances of backfaced culling on doors at Tourism settlements.[/p][/*]

[/*][/list]