The Star Citizen Alpha 4.3.2 PTU update introduces major improvements to tractor beams, making them faster, more responsive, and easier to use, alongside enhancements to ship Point Defense Cannons and a new limited-time Frontier Fighters event featuring faction-based missions. While some bugs persist, such as PDCs not targeting correctly, the update significantly enhances gameplay quality and sets the stage for upcoming features like new binoculars, creatures, and salvage mechanics.
The Star Citizen Alpha 4.3.2 PTU update has been released to all waves, allowing backers to access and test the latest features. The video creator streamed five hours of gameplay testing and provides a condensed overview of the most notable improvements. One of the standout changes is the significant enhancement to tractor beams, including handheld multi-tool tractor beams, the Max Lift, and the Atlas ship tractor beam. These beams now have faster traversal and rotation speeds, making them much more effective and enjoyable to use. The Atlas tractor beam, in particular, has been improved to no longer block the player’s view, making cargo handling much easier.
The video demonstrates the new tractor beam capabilities, highlighting the increased speed and rotation control, which allows players to manipulate objects more fluidly. The Max Lift tractor beam has a longer range but is slightly slower than before, while the ship tractor beams have also received rotation speed improvements. Players can now even inflict damage using the tractor beams, adding a new tactical element to gameplay. The overall feedback is very positive, with the creator expressing excitement about how much more usable and fun the tractor beams have become.
Another major update involves the ship’s Point Defense Cannons (PDCs). Currently, there is a bug where PDCs do not shoot at party members or even hostile targets, although they do track incoming missiles. The new friend-or-foe system works well in marking party members as friendly (green markers) and hostile players as enemies (red markers) once they leave the party. However, the PDCs themselves are not functioning properly in this PTU build, which is acknowledged as a bug that will likely be addressed in future patches.
The update also introduces the Frontier Fighters finale, a limited-time event where players choose to support one of two factions: Citizens for Prosperity or the Head Hunters. Players complete various missions to earn points for their faction, with the faction accumulating the most points declared the winner. The event spans three weeks, featuring different mission types such as elimination, investigation, ship ambushes, and a final server-wide “Hound the Polaris” mission. Players can currently participate in missions for both factions, though this may change upon the live release.
Finally, the video mentions upcoming additions and tests planned for the weekend, including new binoculars, snake creatures, and salvage mechanics. The creator plans to provide more detailed coverage of the Frontier Fighters missions and other new features soon. Overall, the 4.3.2 PTU update brings significant quality of life improvements, especially to tractor beams and party mechanics, while also laying the groundwork for exciting new gameplay content in the Frontier Fighters event.