April 7 is a stellar day for Starfield.
Starfield’s most expansive free update yet and a new story DLC are both dropping on the same day. The Free Lanes update is a game-wide evolution, touching everything from space travel and late game content and progression to gear and ship customization and outpost building, and countless improvements in between. Alongside Free Lanes, players can dive into Terran Armada, a new story packed with repeatable content and tons to discover.
As if that weren’t enough, Starfield will also officially launch on PlayStation 5 on April 7, opening the stars to an entirely new batch of captains. Learn more about the PlayStation 5 content and editions here.
Since launch, Starfield has received more than a dozen patches packed with thousands of fixes, performance enhancements, expanded options and controls, and meaningful quality-of-life improvements. New content has continued to roll out, including the REV-8 land vehicle, the Shattered Space story DLC, and Tracker’s Alliance bounty contracts (complete bounty series available now on Xbox/PC), plus over 1000 Creations from Bethesda Game Studios and Verified Creators, bringing new weapons, spacesuits, missions, characters, skins, and even reimagined game systems to Starfield.
Get ready for April 7 with this in-depth look at Free Lanes and Terran Armada with Lead Creative Producer Tim Lamb, Art Director Istvan Pely and Design Director Emil Pagliarulo, then continue on below for a complete breakdown of everything included in the free update and the DLC.
New to Starfield? Get even more insight into the game and Free Lanes here.
Free Lanes Update
All the content in the Free Lanes update will be free for all players.
Free Lanes
Free Lanes & Cruise Mode: Since launch, you’ve been asking for more options for space travel, so we’ve added the ability to freely fly between planets in a star system! With Free Lanes and Cruise Mode, you’ll be able to take off in any direction, letting the Frontier guide you through the massive expanse of space. Cruise Mode lets you truly experience the fantasy of life on your ship. Everything you can do while in orbit or docked, you can now do in Cruise Mode. Decorate your ship, chat with your companions and crew, hit up the workbenches. It’s all there for you. And don’t worry about overshooting your destination; autopilot will automatically slow you down when you arrive. There are also tons of new space POIs to discover as you travel in Cruise Mode. You’ll see them dynamically pop up and you can change your destination on the fly to automatically head to one of these POIs, or you can just keep on moving toward your original destination.
New Encounters: New space encounters have been added to the game, and their frequency has been increased to give you even more reasons to get out there and explore space. Some of these new encounters will pull you out of Cruise Mode automatically and you’ll need to deal with them before you can move on.
X-Tech
X-Tech: X-Tech is one of the most exciting new additions in Free Lanes. This new resource will let you customize all of your weapons, gear, and even your ships even further. This update will be huge for players who really want that super deep customization in their gear. You’ll come across X-Tech through combat and exploration – on bosses and in chests and ship wreckage – and trust us when we say you’ll be hording it like credits.
Customize Weapon Effects: We've updated the way you upgrade your weapons to allow you to use X-Tech to re-roll your legendary effects until you get the one you want. You’ll get 5 rerolls that you spend X-Tech and credits on, but don’t worry. If you don’t get the one you want, after those 5 re-rolls, the full list will open up and you can pick the modifier you’re looking for.
Tier 4 Legendary Effects: Free Lanes adds a new legendary rank for your weapons, Helmets, Packs and Suits. Once you have a rank three legendary item, you can apply a new rank four effect for credits and X-Tech. You don’t have to roll for these. You can just pick the modifier you want. Some weapons and gear even become “Exotic” when you reach max upgrades. Some of the new Tier 4 legendary effects include:
- Saboteur: Damaging robots has a chance to instantly kill them. Robots explode on death. (This will definitely come in handy for Terran Armada.)
- Reckless: Ranged only. Magazine size is reduced to 1; damage is increased by 500%; health is reduced by 50%. (We’re looking at you, snipers.)
- Enigmatic: Suit only. Holograms of yourself appear while in combat, confusing enemies.
New Quality Tiers: Two new quality tiers above Advanced have been added. You can now build out your gear to Superior and Exceptional tiers.
Ship Optimization Terminal: A Ship Optimization Terminal has been added and can be dropped directly into your ship (and yes, you can poke through it and make changes while you’re in Cruise Mode). From this terminal you can use X-Tech to upgrade different systems like shield strength, weapons, engines, grav drive and more.
Outposts
Shared Outpost Container: You can now install an outpost container at each of your outposts that will allow you to quickly and easily share items and resources between outposts. Whatever you drop in one will be accessible at any other outpost with a shared container.
Database: The new Database system will appear in your character menu. This will help you find all of your other outposts quickly. In addition, the Database also pulls together everything you’ve learned. Information about locations you’ve visited, recipes you’ve gathered, resources and ingredients you’ve researched and where to find them. It’s all in one convenient place. You can even use this Database to Favorite the planets you frequently visit.
Outpost Pet: Add the joy of being an alien pet owner to your playthrough with the new Milliewhale outpost pet. This precious little beasty will live in your chosen outpost, perform tricks, and just generally be a good little alien. You can even change its colors to match your favorite aesthetics. You’ll need to complete the “Housesitting” quest in Anchorpoint to unlock the Milliwhale.
Starborn Abilities & New Game+
Upgrading Starborn Abilities: You can now rank up your unlocked Starborn abilities using Quantum Essence without starting New Game+ and finding additional temples! Become a Starborn superhero and max out your favorite abilities, then Favorite Quantum Essence from the Powers Menu to be able to quickly refill your power meter and string together devastating combos.
Quantum Entanglement Device: If you do want to jump into New Game+, you don’t have to start from scratch with your gear. Thanks to the new Quantum Entanglement Device, you’ll be able to bring your favorite items with you into your new playthrough. You can expand the space in your Quantum Entanglement Device using Quantum Essence. You’ll be able to build the device in The Lodge after building the Armillary with all the Artifacts, and your items will be waiting for you in The Lodge in your next playthrough.
And More!
- Anchorpoint Station: Anchorpoint is a new starstation with vendors and quests.
- New Ship Modules: New ship modules have been added to upgrade different ship specs and even add some unique new abilities to your ship, like a new stealth module that cloaks your ship while boosting. These modules will drop in ship combat as schematics and can be installed at any ship services technician.
- Upgrade Module Slot: You’ll notice as you’re customizing your gear that there’s a new Upgrade Module slot. This slot lets you upgrade a specific stat like range, rate of fire, etc. on your gear.
- Colony War Action Heroes: There are 27 Colony War Action Hero collectibles for you to track down. Each one gives a stat buff (with different buffs for opened and unopened versions) and will look great decorating your outpost in the new outpost display cases.
- Many more planetary POIs: You’ll notice an increased variety in the types of planetary POIs as you explore.
- New Elite Crew: Fan-favorite NPC Muria Siarkiewicz can now be added as an Elite Crewmember. Find her at her normal spot near Galbank in New Atlantis.
- New side quests: There’s a number of people on Anchorpoint that could use your help. Talk to everyone.
- New land vehicle: Bounce your way across the surface in style with the new Moon Jumper land vehicle. With its impressive boost capabilities, the Moon Jumper is built for verticality, allowing you to reach high up places much easier while in a vehicle.
- Asteroid base home: For those with a lot of credits to burn, you can now purchase a very ritzy asteroid base to call home. Explore Anchorpoint to learn how to purchase it.
- New enemy modifiers: Add some extra challenge to combat with new enemy modifiers like Tank (3x more health), Tricky (chance to avoid damage), Martyr (dying puts nearby allies into a rage), and more. These modifiers can be tuned in the Gameplay Options menu. All new modifiers will be identified with new icons near enemy health bars and full descriptions can be found in scanner mode.
- New weapon skins: New Constellation and Neon skins for select weapons
- Photomode poses with the REV-8
- New camera features: A toggle to always play a landing camera has been added to Accessibility settings. Additionally, a more distant ship POV level has also been added to camera options.
Terran Armada
The new Terran Armada story DLC launches alongside the Free Lanes update on April 7 and will be available for $9.99. PlayStation 5 players will have the option to get it bundled with their purchase of either the Premium Edition or the Premium Edition upgrade. Learn more about the different PlayStation 5 editions here{target=”_blank”}.
Brand New Story & Companion
A new threat has entered the Settled Systems. Believing themselves to be the “true” children of Earth, the Terran Armada is made up of members of the United Colonies and Freestar Collective who vanished during the Colony War. The Terrans are an advanced military force, largely comprised of robotic soldiers.
The new questline in Terran Armada is woven into the fabric of the Settled Systems. When the Terrans first arrive their motivations are unclear, but the fate of the war against the Terran Armada will have consequences that ripple throughout the galaxy.
Not all Terrans have it out for the Settled System. Along the way, you’ll meet your new companion Delta, a reprogrammed Terran Armada robot. “He’s not evil,” says Pagliarulo in the deep dive. “But he’s definitely not good.”
Sounds like the perfect addition to any morally grey captain’s roster.
Incursions
The Terran Armada DLC also adds the new Incursion system. These can occur almost anywhere in the Settled Systems and are both a key part of the DLC storyline as well as repeatable content with great loot to collect.
You can see where the Terran Incursion are on the Starmap, so the choice is yours to avoid them or take them head-on. Think carefully before you jump in as nearby Terran technology could prevent you from quickly jumping away. You'll need to get far enough away or shut down the Incursion to successfully grav jump. Be aware, there are encounters out there that can pull you out of Cruise Mode.
Incursions range from small skirmishes to large-scale infiltrations of Terran vessels where the objectives can vary. Some are story-required while others are optional and reward exploration, and you can tune how often non-story Incursions appear through the Gameplay Options.
And More!
New Ships & Ship Parts: You’ll be able to pick up schematics for new Terran-specific ship modules. You’ll get access to new double-decker habs, a big new cockpit, and new structural parts that have a “NASA tactical” appearance. And if their ship parts aren’t enough for you, you can just acquire the whole ship. The Terrans are the bad guys, so stealing from them is totally justifiable.
New Gear: A military force means new military gear. The weapons, space suits and attire you’ll find in Terran Armada has a more tactical, real-world look and feel. “Less sci-fi, more grounded,” as Pely describes it. Many of the new suits will drop as loot or naturally appear while playing through Terran Armada, but check with your vendors just to see if they have anything new in stock.
New Elite Crew: Want more robots? Maybe something a little… cuter? Visit The Well in New Atlantis and kick off the “Spare Parts” quest to get an adorable little ModelG mini-bot as an Elite Crewmember. Give your mini-bot a nice paint job and even change up its personality for a little extra fun.
Pre-Built Outpost: We know you love building outposts, but sometimes it’s nice to just have a quick and easy place to drop down where you can lay your head. Terran Armada introduces a ready-to-go, fully decorated elevated cabin module for you to drop on the planet of your choice. Though it does come furnished and decorated with a ton of new items, you can make whatever changes you want to the interior once it’s built.
New Outpost Decorations: Take your outpost personalization to the next level with new decorative items like faction-themed skins for your workbenches and adorable little animals and habitats for them.