Star Traders: Frontiers News

Update #157 adds a exciting new function capability of ship components, 5 new ship components, new rules to help keep Interdictors competitive, new rules to help keep your active wing specialist pilots up to level, a major balance improvement for On Init crew combat Talents, a big wave of component rebalance and more.

It's another big update from our HQ to you -- if you're enjoying the constant stream of new content, please be sure to leave a review and rave to a friend :P


With this update, we've added a new capability for ship components -- that of reducing deep space encounters -- with the Sig Dampener and Signal Concealment Field components. Joining the existing small slot Sig Dampener are the small slot Sig Dampener 2 and 3 and the Rychart-only Sig Veil Field. For a medium slot option, the Sig Concealment Field packs a higher reduction rate of 10% but is a larger slot investment.

When stacked, these components can reduce ship encounters up to 25% maximum. Each of them has other bonuses, adding both strong Escape bonuses and primarily Electronics and secondarily Nav Skills with some light Void Resistance on the top end options.

For those ships looking to avoid encounters and escape in the case of being forced into an encounter, these new Sig Dampener components and feature are going to be a great boon.

As an all new area, they're likely to get some balancing up and down in some stats in the next release or two, so be sure to post your feedback!


Craft have gained two more important balance additions with this update. First, in order to reward their successful service, those wing specialist pilots who make a complete and successful Flight Plan during ship combat will gain Experience directly. This helps to keep your most active wing specialists pilots gaining XP for their flight duties, in the same way that crew combat gains XP for their battles.

Second, Interdictors have now joined Bombers and Shuttles in landing on the same turn that their flight plan ends. Previously, Interdictors would have a final turn where they were not blocking torpedoes but only focusing on landing the craft. Now, they land at the end of the last turn on which they will block incoming long range attacks, improving their flight plan efficiency by 20%.


Crew Combat Talents that fire "On Init" have gained a major upgrade as they now impart their Init bonuses on the turn they fire. As almost every On Init Talent gives a +Init bonus, this is a big boon and guarantees at least one of your combatants to get an Init bonus on the first round of combat (assuming you're wisely using these power talents) and then more bonuses to come if you have more Talents.

Of course, the enemy gets the same. And they are wise to use these Talents as well :D


A lot of balance changes have been rolled up into this release. A huge thanks to all the community members, including @prime_resistor for posting such great suggestions.

With Update #157, we've adjusted all Combat Hyperwarp drives to tweak their allocation of Skill Points, putting more into Navigation over Electronics. Smaller ship Combat HW Drives -- for Mass 2400 and 3400 hulls -- have gained additional Skill points.

The large slot Hull Plating components now add to Ship Ops as well as contributing better Electronics and Void and Radiation Resist. For such an investment in an armor-focused large slot, these components are now far more competitive and also have reduced Jump Cost across the boards.

The medium slot Deflector Arrays have gained improved Electronics Skill Pool as well as new Void Resist to help their long range defense contribution, shifting them into a more advantageous position within the Elo-defense meta.

Finally, we've added +15 Fuel Storage to Micro Launch Bays to help offset their Jump Cost.

There is always more! Be sure to check the full release notes below and leave a review!


- Added new component capability - reduce encounter rate in void travel by %, up to 25% maximum (starport "Ship" filter)
- Added new 2 new small slot Sig Dampener components (2, 3) to join original Sig Dampener in granting reduction in encounter rate, grant Elo, small Nav, Void Res
- Added new Rychart only small slot Sig Veil Field as top tier Sig Dampener type component
- Added new medium slot Sig Concealment Field which reduces encounter rate, grants Rad/Void Res, Elo/Nav Skill
- Wing specialist pilots now gain XP for each successful flight plan run keeping active wing pilots better leveled
- Interdictors on defensive flight plans now land after the final turn instead of waiting one last turn to only land (just like offensive flight plans)
- Big buff to all On Init Talents: now correctly granting the Initiative bonuses on the first Turn they are used
- Adjusted all size Combat Hyperwarp Drives to rebalance Electronics and Navigation, improved Skill Pools for Mass 2400 and Mass 3400 drives
- Adjusted large comp Hull Plating to include Ship Ops, better Electronics, moderate Void and Radiation Res on all tiers and lower jump cost
- Adjusted medium comp Deflector Array to give slightly better Electronics bonus and Void Res
- Added +15 Fuel Storage to Micro Launch bay
- Adjusted Wing Tech's "Recovery Pod" Talent to use Repair to determine health of saved wing pilot
- Improved language in ship encounter to explain current disposition / hostility versus base disposition / hostility
- Fixed some bugs with certain play loops causing game date to skip backwards
- Fixed bug with Wing Tech's "Hangar Triage" Talent not using Repair Skill correctly

Update #156 comes roaring to life with a new starting ship, new terrifying Steel Song ship components, a new section added to the Talent manifest, upgrades to the De Valtos faction ship and some down balance for Xeno and Void Contortions Crippling effect. And ... lots more too! Check the full release notes for everything and enjoy it!

If you're loving the relentless pace of updates and new content, please drop a review and tell a friend.


The new priority D ship weighs in at a clean $200,000 and is custom-fitted for long distance void travel and covert spying operations. Delivered with built-in spying components, a single weapon and a Longhaul engine, the Longbolt packs a crew of 24 for long distance trips. Locked behind the Big Network achievement, this new ship gives a traveler, spy and mission runner or any captain who is looking to use the Electronics meta and avoid combat, a new starting option in the D slot. You can see its starting configuration above, including its ridiculous fuel range and low jump cost thanks to the Water-Fuel Reclamation Tank. Watch out, it has very light weaponry.


Steel Song has a reputation to uphold, and its doing so with the newest round of new ship components. The medium slot Interrogation Chamber and the large slot Interrogation Ward both hold prisoners in special "luxury" care. When a new prisoner is taken aboard the ship and one of these Interrogation Cells is available, up to 10 Intel is immediately generated. De Valtos may have their luxury, but as the Song say -- maybe you'll come back as one of us.


With this update, we've slowed down the access of Terrox xeno to tier 2 and 3 components, and especially let difficulty take a bigger hand in this progression. Some of the up-balance of the xeno got ahead of where we wanted it to be and we've been listening to players and making tweaks over the weekend. We've also directly reduced the power -- especially Gunnery bonuses -- of some of the Terrox components.

Also, the Void Contortions Crippling Effect from torpedoes has received a nerf. For being a tier 1 type of Crippling Effect it was simply too strong and its -20% Defense and -20% Escape chance sounded the death knell for too many captains. We've dropped this to -10% Defense, -10% Escape, -10% Armor to ensure that it doesn't completely undo the buff you just dropped or the bonus your engine is granting in a single hit.


We've added a section covering both the legal and illegal Talents of trade. Quick reference can help you see what types of bonuses they offer and what is available at any given moment.


There is always more, these notes go on for a while!

Spice Hall Talent activation has been changed to ensure Talents with a % chance to run will not block other Talents from running if they fail. Over all, this will see an increase in Talents running during spicing.

We've fixed an issue with the "Distress Signal" card that was allowing you to get some $2 or $3 paybacks for helping to tow in a disabled ship.

We've also added 2 new art boards to the orbital card game for refuel and extorting bribes.

If you get a stash from winning a combat -- such as in Salvage -- the crew victory screen now includes the details.

Also, we fixed the coloration of the text in ship comparison to help avoid red-brown (gold) issues.


- Added 2 new Steel Song prison cells -- Interrogation Chamber and Interrogation Ward, each create up to 10 Intel when taking on a new prisoner during a mission
- Added new priority D starting ship, the Longbolt is 3400 Mass, fast travel and spy-ready ship, requires Big Network unlock
- Added new Exchange and Black Market section to the Talent manifest including all trading bonus and trade into conflict talents
- Improved De Valtos faction ship "Corsair Interceptor" -- upgraded to Cargo Hold 2, Nav Assist Module 2, added 13th small slot with Sensory Array 1
- Improved rules for how Spice Hall Talents run -- Talents with a % to fire that do not no longer block other Talents from running
- Reduce power of tier 1 Crippling Effect "Void Contortions" created by torps (now -10% Defense, -10% Escape, -10% Armor)
- Reduced power of some of the Terrox xeno tier 3 components
- Fixed Orbital Ops result of Distress Signal that could sometimes result in $2 or $3 credits when towing
- Improved description of stashes won via crew combat to include the type and count of the stashed resources
- Added new card art for orbital operations for extortion bribes and refueling
- Clarified rules description for both Wing Bomber's "Intimidating Fly Over" and Wing Commando's "Grandiose Arrival" -- both require piloting craft
- Reduce cool down for Wing Commando's "Grandiose Arrival" to 9 weeks
- Fixed bug where Talents that require character to be piloting a craft might not appear in ship or crew victory if there was one crew member out of a craft
- Updated font color in ship comparison tooltip and report to avoid red and gold looking to close
- Improved new game crew generator to ensure better number of starting crew dogs

Another community challenge has arisen from our Discord's STF channel (https://discord.gg/tresebrothers), and we're throwing it out there for the June challenge! Can you follow in the footsteps of the recently released famous Bounty Hunters and rise to legendary status?

Join in the discussion here!


In this challenge, you must start the game as a Bounty Hunter. You can start the game on any difficulty, but props clearly going to permadeath players.

During early play, you can do anything you want to accrue wealth and experience.

First, you must achieve Edict 9 with a faction of your choice. Then, you must complete a $500,000 mission kill or capture bounty mission which requires an Edict. To get that size of a payment for your Mission, you're likely to need your Edict, high Military rank, a Contact with the right Traits and/or a high power mission payment boosting Talent.

Please post in this discussion thread if you're picking up this challenge! Then post some screenshots and brag about your difficulty and at what date you completed your mission :D

If you missed the May Community Challenge: Small Ship to Prize Ship you may still want to jump in and join the fun.

Update #155 completes the adds the fourth and final legendary bounty hunters in the v2.5.x family. We've also improved the ship comparison report to be more directly helpful and easier to read, rebalanced Water-Fuel Reclamation component and added a second level Javat-only version of the component. We've clarified rules for both Trade War Conflict and Civil Unrest in the game and fixed a pile of community reported issues and suggestions.

We're on stride, hitting an update every 3 days for the month of May with 6 new story arcs added in the last 30 days. If you're enjoying the pace of updates, features, and new content please leave a review and tell a friend about Star Traders: Frontiers!


A Bounty Hunter who has been operating since the pre Exodus period, Draiv Solregard is two centuries ancient but just as deadly and ruthless as ever. Unlike the other hunters, if a contact sends him after you, he will come bearing a capture warrant for your arrest and imprisonment. Be careful if you cross him, you might die regretting it!


This ^^ looks bad ... with Update #155, we've changed what numbers are being compared in the ship report. Now, instead of comparing their accuracy vs. your accuracy, we're comparing their accuracy vs. your defense so that you can get a much clearer view of whether or not they'll hit you and if you have a chance to hit them. We've also updated the fonts in the ship report to be red (outclassed by enemy) and gold (outclass your enemy) to help make them clear with just a glance.


Improvements to the Water-Fuel Reclamation Tank component and a second tier 2 version of the component are going to make these both of high interest to those captains who travel far and jump often. Both components now include small Navigation bonuses, as well as larger fuel storage(+18 and +32) as well as more significant reductions to jump cost (-5 and -12). You can only install a Water-Fuel Reclamation 2 system at a Javat starport, so be sure to stay friendly with this industrious clan.


We've added rules clarification to the Civil Unrest confirmation that Tactics saving Talents do not have an effect during these attempts to reach Contacts. Also, we've clarified the Trade War Conflict tooltip to be clear that selling goods to a faction who made them doesn't incur Rep penalty (selling Mok goods at a Mok Exchange does not incur penalty with Rychart if they are in a Trade War).

We've resolved an issue reported by some Steam players that certain Rifle or Pistol attack Talents could be incorrectly used with the wrong weapon types. We've changed some of the dialog and characters in the Werewolf story to better match the KickStarter backer's vision.

And, there was an issue where when you hired an Exo-Scout under Xeno Spores Rumor, they'd morph into a doctor. No more!

If you enjoy the updates, content, stories and fixes please leave a review!


- Added new Bounty Hunter story vignette - determined and ancient hunter "Draiv Solregard" comes hunting with a Capture Warrant
- Finished the 4th legendary Bounty Hunter to be added in v2.5.x dev roadmap family -- many thanks to the KickStarter backers!
- Adjusted ship comparison in Encounter and in ship combat tooltip to compare attack vs. defense (not attack vs. attack), improved fonts for clarity
- Rebalanced Water-Fuel Reclamation Tank to include small +Nav bonus, reduce Jump Cost by -5, +18 Fuel
- Added Javat-only Water-Fuel Reclamation Tank 2, more Electronic/Nav, -12 Jump Cost, +32 Fuel
- Clarified rules for Trade War in Conflict tooltips -- no Reputation loss for trading of cargo manufactured by a faction at that faction's own Exchange
- Clarified rules for "Civil Unrest" -- Tactics saving Talents do not apply here, fixed bug with Rep loss
- Fixed bug in Talent Manifest causing Skip Off the Void not to show
- Fixed issue with Valencia's story where results could be crossed (left, but then joins your ship)
- Fixed reported issues with "Werewolf" Bounty Hunter story
- Fixed engine placement for some ships
- Fixed issue allowing some rifle or pistol attacks to be used with the wrong type of weapon
- Chased out the Doctors hiding as Exo-Scouts in the Spice Hall during "Xeno Spores" rumors and let the real Exo-Scouts in