The Star Citizen 4.3.1 PTU patch significantly increases shield resistance to ballistic weapons while slightly boosting ballistic damage to hulls, leading to notable gameplay changes demonstrated through in-game tests. Additionally, the patch improves tier one medical bed respawn ranges but leaves the Heart Seeker turret bug partially unresolved, requiring further fixes.
The video discusses the latest 4.3.1 PTU patch for Star Citizen, emphasizing that the live release is imminent, likely within the next couple of days. The primary focus is on the changes made to ballistic weapon effectiveness. This patch marks the third adjustment to ballistic damage resistance for ship armor and shields. Notably, ballistic weapons have become less effective against shields but slightly more effective against hulls. Most ships have seen their armor damage multiplier increase marginally from 0.6 to 0.62, meaning ballistic weapons now inflict about 3% more damage to hulls. However, there are exceptions like the Anvil Arrow, Razor, Merlin, Fury family, and M50 interceptor, each with unique damage modifiers affecting how much ballistic damage they absorb.
A significant change in this patch is the increase in shield physical absorption from 0.2 to 0.45, effectively boosting shield resistance against ballistic damage by 125%. This means that when a ballistic round hits a fully shielded ship, only 55% of the damage penetrates the shield, compared to 80% before. Consequently, ballistic weapons are now much less effective against shields but remain slightly more potent against hulls. The video explains this with a damage calculation example, concluding that ballistic weapons now deal roughly 34% effectiveness against fully shielded ships, which is similar to previous versions but feels more impactful in practice.
The creator conducts in-game tests comparing ballistic weapon effectiveness on ships with full shields versus those without, revealing a stark contrast in damage dealt. Ships with full shields take significantly less damage from ballistic weapons, reinforcing the patch notes’ implications. This suggests that players might need to adjust their combat tactics, possibly using energy weapons to break shields before switching to ballistics for hull damage. The video showcases these differences through live gameplay demonstrations, highlighting the practical effects of the patch changes.
Another update covered involves the tier one medical beds’ respawn range. Although the patch notes initially indicated an incorrect maximum respawn distance of 750 million kilometers, tests reveal that the actual effective respawn range is much larger, consistently allowing respawns within approximately 75 gigameters. The video walks through several test jumps at varying distances, confirming that players can reliably respawn on tier one medical beds at these extended ranges. This fix improves gameplay by ensuring more predictable and functional respawn mechanics for players using these beds.
Lastly, the video touches on a fix related to the Heart Seeker ballistic turrets. Previously, these turrets would disappear after the ship was destroyed or reclaimed, causing frustration. However, testing shows that while the base of the turret reappears after repair, the barrels are still missing, indicating the issue has not been fully resolved. This ongoing bug means players cannot yet rely on the turrets to persist through ship destruction and reclamation, pointing to the need for further fixes in future patches.