Update 1.9 Patch Notes

[p]Update 1.9 will be available for troopers to download at 10 AM PT (GMT-7) today January 28th, 2026.[/p][p]This patch is a collection of content and bug fixes. If you'd like to discuss Update 1.9 with your fellow troopers, please feel free to join the Starship Troopers: Extermination Community Discord![/p][h2][/h2][h2]Arachnids[/h2][h3]Fire Bombardier[/h3][p]The Arachnid’s endless evolution shows no limit to their madness. A startling confluence has resulted in the emergence of a new Bombardier variant, the Fire Bombardier. Instead of the mercy of an immediate explosive death, these sadistic bugs prefer to burn their victims alive leaving a zone of flaming devastating in their wake making it harder for allies to rescue their downed compatriots.[/p]

[p]Can encounter Fire Bombardiers with specific Mission Mutators (for now)[/p]

[h3]New Ambush Mutators[/h3][p]Be advised, early reports are indicating that the Arachnid’s may have developed new tactics. Keep your eyes peeled for new scenario modifiers![/p]

[p]Can now encounter Royal Guard, Inferno, and Fire Bombardier Ambushes[/p]

[h3]Roaming Royal Guards[/h3][p]We’ve really stirred up the nest! Royal Guards have left the safety of their Hives, and have been spotted roaming the battlefield.[/p]

[p]Royal Guards may attack during Horde and ARC/AAS Defense[/p]

[h3]Increased Arachnid Count Testing[/h3][p]We are testing out an increased amount of arachnids that troopers may face at once during a game. Stay safe out there troopers![/p][p][/p][h2]Mission Tuning[/h2][h3]New Side Objectives[/h3][p]The Fleet’s expanding field of operations has added new secondary objectives, intended to assist Troopers in their endeavors. These new objectives may be encountered periodically during regular ARC missions. [/p]

[p]M55 Cache, and Fleet Relay Side Objectives can now be encountered during ARC missions without Mission Mutators[/p]

[h3]Critical Strike Optional Objectives[/h3][p]The Federation has noticed Troopers often become distracted by side objectives located along the way. To encourage Troopers to assemble at the Archnigeon drilling site, a strict time limit has been established for all secondary missions. Failure to recover MI assets within the allocated time will forfeit them, but with no reward distracting the Troopers they can be focused towards the primary objective instead.[/p]

[p]Optional Side Objectives now have an expiry timer[/p]
[p]Critical Strike Hive Objectives now reward MI Crates upon completion[/p]

[h3]Boreas’ Bridge[/h3][p]Based on extensive feedback, we’ve determined that a bridge should be accessible from both ends. Thanks to the efforts of our Federation Engineers, we have developed a new method of traversing vertical terrain; the staircase. This technology has already been implemented on many of our colonies, with a brand new example built on the frozen wasteland of Boreas.[/p]

[p]The Bridge now has a staircase[/p]

[h3]Horde Missions[/h3][p]The Arachnid threat has adopted new strategies to assault our strongpoints. Due to a number of factors, the intensity of the Bug attacks, and the intermissions between waves may vary greatly! Keep on your best guard, and stay vigilant.[/p][p]Each Planet will have different Horde Mission tuning. We will be monitoring feedback and making adjustments![/p][p][/p][h2]Armory Tuning[/h2][p]Relaxed regulations in munitions procurement has allowed new modifications to reach Vanguard units. [/p][h3]TW-202-L Morita Hawkeye[/h3][p]The relaxed procurement process has allowed more modifications that have started their life in the citizen sector to start use in the Mobile Infantry. ATK Rounds are purpose-built to penetrate the thickest chitin. ‘Advanced Tiger Kill’ rounds are commonly used during corporate hunting expeditions, but the loss of a sporting challenge has many hunters criticizing their usage, as a skilled Sniper using standard-issue ammo can out-perform them with a few well-placed rounds to the nerve stem and bypassing the carapace all together. Other attachments are less controversial, the Mag Optic provides an unobstructed, elevated sight picture with a low level of magnification. Intended for close to mid-range, these sights can offer some of the flexibility of a higher-power scope, with the battlefield awareness of a Reflex Sight.[/p]

[p]Added Mag Optic sight mod at level 4[/p]
[p]Added ATK Rounds ammo mod at level 6[/p]

[h3]Morita MK3 SAW[/h3][p]The adaptability of the Mag Optic has allowed its introduction to benefit a number of weapons in the Vanguard arsenal.[/p]

[p]Added Mag Optic sight mod at level 4[/p]

[h3]TW-201-S Morita I[/h3][p]Updating training regimes for the Morita rifle have expanded the venerable workhorse’s selection of available modifications. New levels of mastery have been added to provide new options for Troopers and pave the way for future enhancements.[/p]

[p]Added new Mastery levels, can now reach Mastery level 12[/p]
[p]Moved Armory Unlock to level 12, was level 10.[/p]
[p]Added Mag Optic sight mod at level 10[/p]

[h3]C-32 Chi-Hong MGL[/h3][p]The Chi-Hong gets the new Napalm Grenades modification allowing the Trooper to saturate the battlefield with a scatter of incendiary death. Napalm Grenades provide an alternative ammo option for Demolishers and other pyromaniacs. These grenades create lingering flames that quickly incinerate trapped bugs, and create zones of deadly fire that bugs cannot cross unharmed, but will be less effective against mobile targets (and fire proof bugs) that can escape the flames. Napalm Grenades can also be used to destroy bug corpses.[/p]

[p]Moved Holo Trajectory sight mod to level 3, was level 4.[/p]
[p]Added Napalm Grenades ammo mod at level [/p]

[h3]Prosthetic Servos[/h3][p]The Federation would like to remind Demolishers with replaced limbs, that Engineer’s shovels are the preferred method of clearing away bug corpses. While you may punch dead bugs to destroy them, the shovel should still be superior. Punch effectiveness against living bugs is unaffected.[/p]

[p]Bug corpse damage modifier reduced to 200%, was 300%[/p]

[p]Small/medium bug corpses will still be cleared with a single punch, but larger corpses may require additional Custodial Training.[/p][p][/p]

Quality-of-Life

[h3]Weapon Modification Icons[/h3][p]Weapon Modifications now have new Icons to make identifying their differences easier at a glance.
[/p][h3]Carnage Tuning[/h3][p]Minor adjustments to Carnage corpses (the persistent bug piles). Reduced corpse Health for Drones, made all the Warrior variants have the same Health, and Fire and Frost variants of bugs have different resistances/vulnerabilities to Fire damage.[/p]

[p]Drone corpse and Ice Drone corpse Health reduced to 100, was 200[/p]
[p]Fire Warrior corpse Health reduced to 300, was 400[/p]
[p]Frost Warrior corpse Health reduced to 300, was 400[/p]
[p]Frost Drone corpse and Frost Warrior corpse Fire damage modifier increased to 70%, was 35%[/p]
[p]Fire Warrior corpse Fire damage modifier reduced to 17.5%, was 35%[/p]
[p]All corpses Punch damage modifier reduced to 200%, was 300% (Knife is 300%, Shovel is 500%) [/p][p] [/p]

[p] [/p][h2]Known Issues[/h2]

[p]Shotgun can be stuck in an infinite reload visual glitch.[/p]
[p]In high latency conditions, players might see a de-sync in their ammo counts while swapping fire modes during a reload.[/p]

[h2]Highlights [/h2]

[p]Fixed issues that caused Underbarrel weapons to have the incorrect ammo.[/p]

[h2]UI[/h2]

[p]Fixed a typo with Chemical Connoisseur displaying the incorrect number for Stim Carry Capacity.[/p]

[h2]Art & Animation[/h2]

[p]Fixed an issue near Valaka Starport buildzone that could cause players to get stuck between crates & walls.[/p]
[p]Fixed an issue with the lava in the Agni Prime Critical Strike capture zone being hard to distinguish from the ground.[/p]
[p]Polishes to all maps. Overall improvements to level art and presentation. Fixed a number of issues with collision and missing or floating meshes.[/p]
[p]Fixed an issue with projectile FX trails that could cause them to appear too well lit during darker gameplay conditions.[/p]
[p]Fixed issues that caused icy FX explosions, impacts, and dust to appear too well lit during darker gameplay conditions.[/p]
[p]Fixed an animation issue with weapons that could cause the fidget animations to offset the weapon aim position during firing.[/p]

[h2]Gameplay & General Fixes[/h2]

[p]Fixed an issue that did not give Troopers kill/assist credit if the bug was only damaged by the lingering flames of a Napalm Grenade.[/p]
[p]Fixed an issue that prevented Custodial Training from applying to Engineer’s shovels, and Demolisher’s punches.[/p]
[p]Fixed issues during Horde that could cause bugs to spawn outside the generated Navmesh and become isolated and unable to path towards the MBU.[/p]
[p]Fixed issues during Horde that could cause bugs to spawn farther away than necessary causing lower intensity swarms.[/p]
[p]Fixed an issue where sometimes in SOG mission 30 players could spawn outside of the map.[/p]