Greetings Citizens,
Star Citizen Alpha 2.6 is now available for all backers! Alpha 2.6 includes the first iteration of Star Marine, our dedicated FPS module, as well as significant updates to the rest of the Star Citizen experience. Star Marine offers two game modes that will give you a taste of first person combat in the ’verse while a new Pirate Swarm game mode has been added to Arena Commander and a grand total of eight new ships are available in the PU. The patch also includes a major spaceflight balance pass, a brand new menu system, as well as dozens of bug fixes, quality of life improvements and other changes. The Alpha 2.6 patch is now available for download via the Star Citizen launcher.

You can read the complete Patch Notes here.

Join the Fight…
Star Marine is here! Star Citizen’s first-person combat simulator lets backers engage in pitched FPS battles complete with multiple game modes, leaderboards and an all-new user interface. The initial launch of Star Marine includes two maps, OP Station Demien and Echo Eleven, as well as two game modes. Elimination is a free-for-all everyone-for-themselves fight where players duke it out for the highest kill score. Last Stand offers a chance for players to team up and battle for dominance over several Control Points in a fight where proper teamwork will determine victory.

Star Marine features numerous updates to Star Citizen’s FPS systems including grenades, vaulting, and combat emotes. The Player Health System has been updated so that you can now bleed out, when injured your health pool decreases over time until it reaches a fatal limit or the player heals. Competitive leaderboards have also been
included, as well as a major UI update to the lobby. Star Marine is
accessible to all backers with Star Citizen packages.

New Features:
Star Marine’s initial release features two maps: OP Station Demien and Echo Eleven.

Star Marine has two available game modes for 2.6. Elimination, an every-man-for themselves mode where you duke it out for the highest kill-score. Last Stand, where Outlaws and Marines battle for control of four key computer access points to earn points.

Grenades are also available in Star Marine from the ammo crates.

Epic Space Battles…
Star Marine isn’t the only major update in Star Citizen Alpha 2.6. The Arena Commander ‘dogfighting module’ has been updated and expanded with a special focus on improvements to overall flight balance. Three multi-crew ships have also been added to Arena Commander’s private matches: the Retaliator, the Caterpillar and the Constellation Andromeda.Thanks to an incredible testing effort by our internal Quality Assurance teams and the Evocati backer group, we’ve come up with some flight balance changes that we think improve the overall experience. We’re eager to hear what you think, so please test out your favorite ship and then sound off on the forums.

A new game mode, Pirate Swarm, has also been added to Arena Commander, allowing players to fend off increasingly difficult waves of the notorious Nova Rider outlaw pack. To celebrate this new mode, we are offering two new ‘bounty missions’ with this patch: defeating the updated Vanduul Swarm and the new Pirate Swarm modes will earn you an account badge. Receiving the Vanduul Swarm badge will once again give players access to purchase a Glaive from a limited stock of 1,500 ships, while the Pirate Swarm badge will give access to
purchase a unique pirate-skinned Caterpillar that will be available in the
store for a two week limited-run.

New Features
Battle increasingly difficult waves of outlaws in the Pirate Swarm game mode for both Drone Sim and Spectrum matchups.

Enemies in specific game modes (Vanduul Swarm, Pirate Swarm, Squadron Battle, Battle Royale) now drop pickup items including Afterburner fuel, missiles, ammo or repairs.

We have also made the following ships available in Arena Commander, though they are restricted to Private Matches and Single Player games: Constellation Andromeda, Retaliator, and the Caterpillar.

Fantastic Ships and How to Fly Them
In 2.6, we’ve taken a long look at the internal QA testing as well as feedback from the community about their gameplay experience and taken a new approach to the flight model in general. This update will introduce this new approach along with a myriad of other updates and revisions to help balance the various ships and components.

New Features
8 new ships and variants are hangar and flight ready in 2.6.

Massive overhaul of ship flight mechanics.

Complete rebalance of SCM speeds and ship handling for all ships.

Afterburner and Boost functionality has been completely revised. The goal is that Afterburner becomes the method to engage/disengage combat as well as gives the choice between outright speed or better handling.

We’ve also reinvented our Fuel System. All ships have had a pass on their thruster fuel consumption values, intake regeneration rates and fuel tank capacities.

Complete rebalance of all shields, all missiles and missile racks
and countermeasure ammo for all ships.

Out of the Cocoon…
The Drake Caterpillar is flyable in Star Citizen Alpha 2.6 joining the MISC Starfarer and the Aegis Starfarer Gemini in Star Citizen’s fleet of large multi-crew ships. Intended to form the lead ship in raiding groups, the Caterpillar is a flagship any outlaw or ‘legitimate businessperson’ can be proud of. Future patches will add additional functionality, including the detachment feature for the Command Module and new upgrades for the Caterpillar’s segments and mounts.

You can learn more about the Drake Caterpillar here.

Hark, the Herald’s Engines Sing…
The Drake Herald is flight ready in Alpha 2.6. The Herald joins an elite group of fast ships which includes the M50, 350R and Mustang Gamma. QA reports that navigating the Murray Cup map in Arena Commander using the Herald is a true challenge … are you pilot enough? Additional functionality relating to the Herald, including systems related to data and hacking, will be introduced in future Persistent Universe patches.

You can learn more about the Herald here.

Sheer Luxury…
The Origin 85X is a snub and a half! This luxury touring spacecraft was originally created to launch from the Origin 890 JUMP and is now flight ready for all backers.

The Spice of Life…
In addition to the Caterpillar, Herald and 85X, Star Citizen Alpha 2.6 adds a total of five ship variants to the lineup! These include the Vanguard Hoplite landing craft and the four variants created for Star Citizen’s 4th anniversary: the Hornet Wildfire, Sabre Comet, Gladius Valiant and Avenger Titan Renegade.

Equipment that Won’t MISS…
The Items 2.0 rollout continues with Star Citizen 2.6, with a special focus this month on missiles! The patch adds ten missile types, fifteen new missile racks and three guns to finish out the Behring MXA series.

You can check out the variety of new missile racks here.

You can find many of the new missiles and guns below.

What Else is New?
There are plenty of other additions and new features that Alpha 2.6 brings along with it, from numerous under the hood adjustments to more noticeable quality of life improvements.

Persistent Universe
Ol ‘38 Bar added to Grim HEX landing zone.

Crusader has several new locations to visit and a new ICC Probe mission.

The Yela Asteroid belt has received some updates, with a much denser field and more varied salvage locations.

Lobby Refactor
Our new front end user interface is now implemented, with updated graphics and new features.

All new loadout customization section for Arena Commander that allows players to edit their ship components for Arena Commander matches through the game interface without the use of Port Modification. This changes will also be retained between play sessions.

Updated Leaderboards for Star Marine and Arena Commander on the website now rank players in each game utilizing actual UEE ranks.

Third-Person Camera System
The third-person cameras for Vehicle and On-Foot have been much improved in 2.6. Players can now select lens size and offset the camera to create cinematic and dynamic framing.

Health System Updates
Bleeding has been added to the game, in both the Persistent Universe and Star Marine. This debuff stacks (additively) with itself and will decrease your total health pool each second it ticks down until healed.

Thank You, Citizens!
Patches like Alpha 2.6 can only happen thanks to the thousands of Evocati and PTU testers who put early builds through their paces. And that says nothing of the countless other community members whose passion for Star Citizen inspires the team every day. This project would not be possible without the support of backers around the world. Thank you for everything.