As announced, Frontier released the third chapter of the ongoing season for Elite Dangerous to live servers where new mysteries await brave commanders venturing into the black.

As usual with new patches – people have already found new guardian locations and new Thargoid threats. The guardian site from the trailer can befound in Synuefe EN-H D11-28 while a Threat 9  Thargoid signal has been confirmed packing 128 Thargons alongside the mothership, so make sure to prepare your ships as best as possible if you’re looking to pick a fight.

The narrative part of the patch starts with the new unusual energy signatures detected in NGC 2451A sector, the IC 2391 sector and the Synuefe EN-H region – all 3 of the similar nature.

The engineer Ram Tah made a statement to the media:

“As part of my research, I regularly review data from surveillance satellites and ships that have picked up atypical signals. Although most turn out to be of no consequence, on this occasion I have identified three energy signatures that I believe warrant further investigation.”

“The signals originate from the NGC 2451A sector, the IC 2391 sector and the Synuefe EN-H region. I have no further data, and at this time the signatures’ meaning remains a mystery.”

“I encourage any independent pilots operating in these regions to investigate. I do of course apologise if this turns out to be a pointless exercise, but in the pursuit of scientific knowledge, even the smallest opportunity must be explored.”

Beyond Chapter 3 patch notes

Weapons

The following weapons have been added to outfitting (where applicable):

  • Large Dumbfire Missile
  • Large Seeking Missile
  • Large Torpedo Launcher
  • Large Multi Cannon (turret)

The following weapons have been added to the Human Tech Broker:

  • Small Shock Cannon (turret)
  • Small Shock Cannon (gimbal)
  • Small Shock Cannon (fixed)

The following weapons have been added to the Guardian Tech Broker

  • Small Guardian plasma launcher (turret)
  • Small Guardian plasma launcher (fixed)
  • Small Guardian Shard Cannon (turret)
  • Small Guardian Shard Cannon (fixed)
  • Small Guardian Gauss Cannon (fixed)

Ships

Crusader

  • Latest member of the Alliance ship group. A medium sized ship based on the Alliance Chieftain, with the additional space to carry a fighter bay.

Guardians

  • New Guardian sites added to space and planet surfaces for players to investigate.
  • Three Guardian fighters added (via Guardian tech brokers):
    • Trident (XG7) armed with a Plasma Auto Cannon
    • Javelin (XG8) armed with a Shard Launcher
    • Lance (XG9) armed with a Gauss Focus Cannon

Engineers

  • Players will now be able to work with a variety of Engineers across the Colonia region.

Wing Missions

Added two new wing mission types:

  • Planetary settlement hack
  • Planetary settlement disable

Design a Holo-Screen Advert

  • The winning entries have now been added to the game.


Fixes and Improvements

Art

  • Fixed some misaligned geometry at Pavlov Beacon

Audio

  • Increased the volume of the Archer COVAS pack

Galaxy Map/System Map

  • Renamed some systems that had duplicated names

General Fixes & Tweaks

  • Fixed some German localisation issues
  • Fixed some localisation issues with the unlock messages for Guardian technologies
  • Fixed issue where ships hitcheck is missing when player is in an SRV

Installations/POIs/USSs

  • Fixed a rare issue causing a resource extraction site to be incorrectly positioned outside an asteroid belt
  • Added missing interaction objects to Agricultural Installation
  • Fixed some improperly placed Guardian pylons
  • Fixed Skimmers not spawning correctly at Bova Point+

Missions

  • Fixed some instances of mission targets not appearing in mission specific signal sources
  • Fixed an issue with completing Source and Return missions
  • Fixed mission objectives not spawning for Dark Wheel Wetwork mission
  • Fixed some instances of Assassination missions not updating correctly when scanning a Nav Beacon
  • Fixed missing text in some mission messages
  • Fixed wing depot text incorrectly appearing in a non-wing variant

Powerplay

  • Fixed the 20% discount on Corrosion Resistant Cargo Racks not applying at an Edmund Mahon controlled station

Ships & SRV

Anaconda

  • Fixed the Pulse paintjob displaying incorrectly when your ship is damaged


Imperial Clipper

  • Improved some areas of the Military paintjob

Krait Mk. II

  • Fixed antenna that could only be seen from inside the cockpit
  • Fixed the order of the dashboard bobblehead slots
  • Fixed missing boost and thruster audio when in vanity camera
  • Fixed description inconsistencies
  • Fixed outfitting camera issues whilst in VR
  • Fixed missing UI audio for multi-crew members

Federal Drop Ship

  • Fixed incorrect name plate outfitting cameras

Stability Fixes 

  • Fixed a memory related crash for Xbox One
  • Fixed a rare crash that could occur when in an Remote Engineer Workshop
  • Fixed a rare Galaxy Map crash
  • Fixed Xbox One crash that could occur when disconnecting a controller
  • Fixed a crash that could occur when activating data points at Penal Colony BV-2259
  • Fixed a crash that could occur when swapping modules

User Interface

  • Fixed the landing pad number being truncated when playing the game in Brazilian Portuguese

Weapons & Modules

  • Fixed Guardian Modules being listed incorrectly when playing the game in Russian
  • Fixed an issue whereby the turreted version of the Flechette Launcher would not show in outfitting if unlocked before the fixed version

Server Fixes and Tweaks

  • Demand for mined commodities during mining community goals should now be displayed in the commodity market's demand column
  • Fix Commander module storage limits occasionally breaking when swapping multiple modules between storage & ship
  • Premium guardian synthesis recipes now use guardian materials, like the basic & standard guardian recipes
  • Markets at risk of being affected by Thargoid Sensor interference should more clearly advertise their increased demand for meta alloys