On February 27, The first Chapter of Elite: Dangerous Beyond will be released.
The next phase of Elite: Dangerous development brings a lot of new content and changes to the space sim. The new expansion marks the beginning of the 3rd Season of content for Elite. The continuation of the Horizons story brings with it a bunch of reworks to existing features. For example, full GalNet audio is being added to increase immersion throughout the game world.
Other welcome enhancements include a revamped trading UI that will help expedite finding good deals, as well as some changes to the Engineer mechanics to improve overall crafting results.
Chapter One is the first update to Elite Dangerous’ third season, Beyond, following the Thargoids assault on humanity’s starports which took place in Horizons, the game’s second season.
All supported platforms, both non-VR and VR versions, will receive the update when it launches.
Frontier says they’ll have a more detailed rundown on all of the changes coming in the 3.0 Update on their forum soon. Here’s the condensed list of additions coming in Beyond – Chapter One:
- New Ship: Chieftain – Elite Dangerous Horizons Commanders will also be able to take to the stars in the new Alliance Chieftain, designed not only to dish out punishment, but to avoid it. Manufactured by Lakon Spaceways, the Chieftain is more maneuverable than ships of similar size and weight, and its combat profile means it can more than hold its own in a fight.
- Improved Core Mechanics – Chapter 1 of Beyond will bring improvements to some of Elite Dangerous’ core mechanics, including accessibility enhancements to the engineering mechanics, an overhaul of mission rewards and big changes to Crime and Punishment. We’ll be sharing more information on the changes to Crime and Punishment, and the Engineers in a future post here on the forums and in the livestreams mentioned above.
- Wing Missions – Chapter 1 of Beyond will give you the chance to take on wing missions with your fellow Commanders, sharing both the efforts and rewards.
- Revised Trade Data – Commanders will now be able to access trade data from systems they have previously visited, in order to make more informed decisions when shipping goods across the Milky Way.
- Planetary Visual Improvements – Chapter 1 also includes the first of the planetary visual improvements coming as part of the Beyond series of updates (with more surface level improvements coming later in the year) bringing a new vibrancy to the Elite Dangerous galaxy.
- GalNet Audio – With the introduction of GalNet Audio, you will be able to catch up on the latest news from across the galaxy without ever leaving the action.