Today marks the first phase of 2018 updates to Elite: Dangerous with the release of the Beyond – Chapter One open beta.
The beta has been hyped for weeks, and now the newest patch is finally here. A massive bug fix update also accompanies the beta. More than 1,000 different bugs and issues have been fixed. A new ship is also being added to the game; the Chieftain, the second Lakon ship in Elite: Dangerous is included in this update.
Frontier are including new story beats for players to follow. The new Galnet audio segments will clue players in on what’s to come. Especially after Thargoids stepped up their war on humanity a few months ago. The new audio readouts will enhance immersion around things like trade data and station interaction, at least that’s the hope.
Crime and punishment changes will also be in effect and players will also be able to take on missions that provide them with a choice of up to three different mission reward packages. This includes ‘hot’ ships, bounty and notoriety changes, detention centers and the Advance Tactical Response.
Here are the full patch notes.