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Elite Dangerous Is Being Invaded by Thargoids

It looks like 2022 is one of the best years for Elite Dangerous. After the game got the most important updates in years back in August, Frontier Developments announced an even more exciting update coming to Elite Dangerous: Odyssey today.
Elite Dangerous Thargoid ship 11 photos
Photo: Frontier Developments
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While the update launched in August introduced a new narrative driven by the controversial figure known as Salvation. Despite claiming to have the answer to winning the war against the Thargoids, Salvation’s anti-xeno weapon called the Proteus Wave ended up backfiring and its activation actually resulted in catastrophic losses for the Alliance fleet.

In the time left after the major in-game event and today’s update, Elite Dangerous players were left to deal with the consequences of Salvation’s failure, as locations in the game that they have previously considered safe from Thargoids attack come under intense attack.

Update 14 for Elite Dangerous: Odyssey continues the narrative by basically starting the Thargoids’ war against humanity. Expect drastic changes to the game if you log in to play today after installing the update.

Elite Dangerous\: Odyssey screenshot
Photo: Frontier Developments
But just to get a glimpse at what’s happening in Elite Dangerous right now, here are some of the details offered by Frontier Developments. First off, the Thargoid assault has begun with eight huge anomalies known as Maelstrom leading the charge. Obviously, they are accompanied by scores of Thargoid ships.

One thing that’s left for players to determine is what’s inside each of these anomalies called Maelstrom, which appear as giant caustic gas clouds when approached in space. That said, numerous other changes have been implemented with Update 14, most of them focusing on the way Thargoids behave in the game.

Also, new system states that reflect the ongoing progress of the war have been added, which will help players shape the fate of each system by successfully defending against Thargoids invaders. This can be done either by directly fighting them in space or by supporting humanity via less confrontational means.

More importantly, all systems that fall to the Thargoids will undergo visible changes, such as star ports and settlements becoming badly damaged or even abandoned.

Elite Dangerous\: Odyssey screenshot
Photo: Frontier Developments
But wait, there’s more! Update 14 introduces a brand-new ship, a revamped Thargoid Interceptor called Othrus. What’s interesting about it is that the Interceptor doesn’t behave like existing ships in the game, and its purpose must be discovered for humanity to have a chance at stopping the Thargoid assault.

Apart from the new content and gameplay for the ongoing Thargoid narrative, a bunch of fixes and improvements have been included with Update 14. For example, increases have been made to the base payout for scanning organics and to the multiplier for the first-time organic scans from 2 to 5.

Additionally, those who play “Live” have a new option in the Options menu to “reset to orbit”, which will allow them to escape from “unintended tricky situations.” On that note, those playing “Legacy” will still be able to launch “Base Game Elite Dangerous (without Horizon)” to “reset to orbit.”

Elite Dangerous\: Odyssey screenshot
Photo: Frontier Developments
For the full patch notes of Update 14, make sure to check out the game’s official website, but here are some important fixes to gameplay and missions that have been implemented too:

  • Commander fleet carriers will no longer turn hostile toward them as a result of certain missions.
  • Stopped previous hostility to player occasionally persisting after they respawn at a detention center.
  • Multicrew SRV pilots will no longer find themselves in a situation where they loot cargo, then result in that cargo being deleted.
  • In-Person multicrew now shares out bounties and combat bonds correctly.
  • It’s true that today’s announcement that contains details about Update 14 is a little vague, but that’s deliberate since developers want to let players discover more on the new gameplay and narrative.

Last but not least, all players who own a copy of Elite Dangerous on PC and are playing in Live Mode will have access to the expanded narrative experience in Update 14, regardless of whether they own a copy of Elite Dangerous: Odyssey.

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