The live first run of Star Citizen’s new instanced mission “Siege of Orison” in patch 4.10 showcases engaging cooperative PvE gameplay with impressive mission design and visuals but is marred by technical issues such as low server FPS, unresponsive AI, and minimal rewards. While the instancing system currently offers limited performance improvements, the community remains hopeful that future patches with enhanced server meshing and AI will significantly improve the experience.
The video captures a live first run of Star Citizen’s new instanced mission, “Siege of Orison,” introduced in patch 4.10 on the PTU (Public Test Universe) Wave 1. The streamer and his group of friends dive into the mission with little prior knowledge, exploring the new content and mechanics as they go. Throughout the stream, they interact with the audience, welcoming chat members, discussing game features, and sharing their initial impressions. The mission involves retaking Crusader platforms from the Ninetailes gang, with objectives such as disabling identity friend or foe inverters and fighting through enemy NPCs.
During the gameplay, the team experiences several technical issues, including server performance problems and AI behavior that feels unresponsive and janky, similar to the persistent issues in the main PU (Persistent Universe). Server frames hover around 8 to 15 FPS, causing stuttering and desyncs that affect the fluidity of combat. The AI NPCs behave stiffly and are not very challenging, which detracts from the overall experience. Despite these issues, the mission design, level layout, and environmental visuals receive praise, with the nighttime setting and battlescape effects enhancing immersion.
The instancing system itself is explained as operating within existing dynamic game servers (DGS), meaning players share server resources with other instances rather than getting dedicated servers for each group. This approach currently offers no significant performance improvements over the standard PU, and players inherit the shard’s overall load. The streamer speculates that true performance gains may require full implementation of dynamic server meshing technology, which could dynamically allocate server resources to instances in the future. For now, the instancing mainly provides a private, uninterrupted gameplay experience for small groups.
Loot and rewards in the mission are minimal at this stage, with no credits or significant payouts yet implemented in wave one. Players can collect Ninetailes armor sets, including a newly introduced super heavy armor, and some weaponry like the Arlington rifle and Vendetta heavy machine gun. The mission’s replayability and content are promising, but the lack of meaningful rewards and the current technical shortcomings limit its appeal. The streamer and viewers hope for improvements in AI behavior, server stability, and performance in future patches.
In summary, the first run of the Siege of Orison instance showcases a solid foundation for instanced content within Star Citizen, offering a structured cooperative PvE experience with cinematic elements and engaging mission design. However, technical limitations in server performance and AI responsiveness currently hinder the overall quality. The community remains optimistic that ongoing development, including better server meshing and AI improvements, will enhance future iterations. The streamer plans to continue testing and sharing updates as the PTU progresses toward the live release.