Fractured Space Enters Phase 2

Fractured Space's next big update marks the entry into the second phase of development. With a slew of new features for older players, and a wealth of assistance to new ones, the update is set to breathe new life into a game that was already doing pretty well, thank you very much.

Developer Edge Case Games gave us an insight into what we can expect to see over the second phase, including more customisation and theorycrafting, new ships, and upgrades to station and asteroid designs. Here's what we can look forward to from the game:

Titan Defense Systems Aegis

The Aegis is a heavy support craft that can quickly get into tactical locations with its Blink Shift Buoy. Once in position it can then augment allies with its barrier capabilities that absorb damage to fuel its devastating weaponry.

When its energy reserves are full, the Aegisis a significant threat to all enemies in the sector, dealing tremendous damage with its Particle Accelerator which can destroy formations in seconds. This mobility, utility and firepower does not come without a severe weakness however: the Aegis has low hull strength for a ship of its class, and only an infrequent, short-duration barrier with which to protect itself and allies.

Drafting

Phase 2 see the introduction of a brand new drafting interface in preparation for the launch of ranked play, coming in the first quarter of 2017. This new interface will not only allow you and your team to better co-ordinate ship selection, but it will allow you to change your ship skin, loadout options and crew selection during the final drafting stage giving you the ability to better respond to whatever fleet composition your opponent throws at you.

With this new interface added to the game we will soon include alternative drafting methods including sector selection, ship bans and rotating picks.

New Player Focus

The Conquest tutorial system, Proving Grounds, is taking a back seat to an improved game introduction for new players.

Focusing on the more action-oriented and immediately explosive Frontline mode of play this will allow players to experience and learn the ins and outs of combat in Fractured Space before moving onto the strategic side of the game in Conquest. As part of this process we'll be adding rank-up rewards for new players to help introduce concepts such as crew, career progression, ship and loadout selection at a more readily accessible pace.

Crew Implants

Crew are being overhauled in Phase 2 allowing players to customize individual crew member strengths to a much greater degree. Each member of your crew will have three slots designated for Attack, Defense or Utility Implants. These slots can be filled with one of a large range of Implants which you'll acquire gradually through ranking up and mission drop pods.

The slots available to an individual crew member will vary according to their role, some may have two Attack slots and one Utility slot, other crew members may have one of each. If you're fortunate enough to have collected any legendary crew members, their slots will be chromatic, allowing them to equip Implants of any kind.

After the Implant system has had time to develop in the game we will introduce the option for players to buy selected Implants using DNA, with the selection changing on a regular basis.

 

Enhanced Mission Drops

On the subject of drop pods, we will be introducing a variety of new items into the existing mission rewards to make a drop pod much more exciting.

Along with brand new and popular ship skins, we will be adding implants and all new FX Mods. The Mission program itself will be enhanced in future updates, giving you more ways to earn drop pods with rewards increasing and changing regularly. We're working hard to ensure that every time you receive a mission reward it feels like a genuine victory.

Better still, playing in co-op will now also count towards your daily mission targets, so those who prefer a simulated opponent to a live one need not miss out.

FX Mods

One of the new drop pod additions are FX Mods. These single-use items can be added to your ship in order to provide custom coloring to the ship's lighting effects. One of the first ways these new mods will be used is in competitive play to enable the two teams to be independently identified.