Starfield’s Free Lanes update and Terran Armada DLC have been announced, bringing a whole host of new content to Bethesda Game Studios’ sprawling space RPG. The DLC adds a brand new story that introduces the Terran Armada, adding new opportunities to gain powerful new gear in the form of Incursions.
The Terran Armada is a powerful new threat to the Settled Systems, aiming to unify everyone within it under a single authority. Bolstered by a robotic army and advanced technology, including powerful weapons and ships, they’re a force that need to be dealt with.
The new faction can be challenged during Incursions, new combat events introduced alongside this storyline where players can hinder the Terran Armada’s progress and salvage new gear, including the valuable new resource, X-Tech.
Starfield Lead Creative Producer, Tim Lamb stopped by Xbox Wire to share a little more about the Terran Armada, and the Incursions that the group can initiate.
Briefly, What Are Incursions?
Incursions are effectively deadly assaults that can transform existing locations within the Settled Systems into active combat areas, with the Terran Armada at the helm. Once the storyline has been started, they can deploy an Incursion to almost any of the star systems in Starfield. Some of those Incursions are in space, others are on the surface.
“Incursions are places the Terrans have started to deploy their technology,” Lamb explains. “That technology has an area of influence inside a star system that prevents the use of grav drives to jump. Players will have to utilize the ability to Cruise to approach or avoid the Incursions.”
Cruise is the new gameplay mechanic that allows you to fly throughout a particular solar system with no load screens – which grants a smoother, more immersive experience for traversing the systems. It’s also a necessity to reach some major Incursions – as the Terran Armada have disabled the ability to fast-travel to those locations while the event is active. Defeating the Terran Armada and ending the Incursion will restore safety and bring back all travel options to the area.
How Do Incursions Work?
Incursions can require several approaches, and they can vary in size, according to Lamb. Once inside, players can be presented with a variety of different tasks required to ultimately shut down the site of the incursion, and how you address the situation is up to you.
“The more sizable incursions task the player with infiltrating large Terran vessels, like robot assemblers, assault ships, or landing platforms.” Lamb adds. “There are also some smaller incursions that can range from a ship patrol to a scouting party, or even drop pods with a force the player needs to defeat.”
Are Incursions Optional?
While some Incursions can be optional, they’re built to disrupt, and it’s in the player’s interest to explore it, shut it down, and gather up some new resources along the way. Some are required to advance the Terran Armada story, and those will be highlighted alongside their associated quest.
“Other Incursions are optional to the story, but they are usually a great place to find some X-Tech or new gear,” Lamb says. “We are dealing with a military force after all, and we want to continue to reward exploration.”
If you’d prefer to avoid an Incursion at any given time, it’ll be clearly displayed on the Starmap, giving you the option to navigate around it.
With Incursions, the Starfield team hopes to build the Terran Armada into a widespread threat that feels omnipresent across the entirety of the Settled Systems.
“We’ve always been listening to our fans. Where we previously focused on a compelling single location, the feedback we heard was that there was a desire for something with a more widespread or galactic impact,” Lamb says. “That’s where the Terran Armada comes in.”
“There are forces in the Settled Systems that would prefer to keep the Terran threat hidden and deal with it using some discretion. The threat is imminent, but we didn’t want it to be overwhelming. With that in mind, we’ve also added a Gameplay Option that can increase or decrease the rate of the Incursions not directly tied to the story.”
What’s more, Incursions are designed to be revisited, and offer repeated high-level opportunities to test our new gear, builds, and combat approaches.
The Starfield Free Lanes update and Terran Armada DLC are out April 7 – for more information on all of the content coming in the update, head to the Bethesda blog.
Starfield
Bethesda Softworks
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The year is 2330. Humanity has ventured beyond our solar system, settling new planets, and living as a spacefaring people. From humble beginnings as a space miner, you will join Constellation – the last group of space explorers seeking rare artifacts throughout the galaxy – and navigate the vast expanse of the Settled Systems in Bethesda Game Studios’ biggest and most ambitious game.
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The post Starfield: A Brief Overview of Incursions, And How They Work appeared first on Xbox Wire.
