Star Wars Outlaws gets a patch that makes it more save-happy, less punishing in stealth, and stops N

If there's one thing I know, it's that seemingly nobody quite grokked the stealth in Star Wars Outlaws. Kay Vess might be quick on the draw, but she's not light on her feet, and it was far too easy to accidentally catch the attention of a wandering stormtrooper and get shunted back to a checkpoint in one of its weirdly archaic insta-fail stealth sections.

Well good news, Force fans: Ubisoft has put out a patch for the game that, among other things, should make the stealth a bit more forgiving.

Specifically, Ubi says it has "implemented stealth changes to 'False Flag' and other missions to give players more flexibility in how they approach situations without the risk of failing".

Plus, the game now has "increased and improved quest checkpoints" alongside "increased auto-save opportunities in open world hostile areas (Imperial Compounds and Faction Territories)," so if you do absolutely biff a sneaky section you shouldn't lose too much progress.

Those aren't the only changes, mind you. There's a new Bug Reporter for you to, uh, report bugs. Wanted difficulty now scales based on your progression, NPCs [[link]] are—so it's said—smarter in combat now, and the devs have fixed a so-called "issue" where NPC speeders could crash into one another. Which doesn't sound like an issue to me. I think you just made the game worse, Ubi.

I haven't poured much time into Outlaws myself just yet; perhaps I'm subconsciously waiting for it to arrive on Steam. It's pretty popular around here, though.

I know that my fellow writers Robin Valentine and Fraser Brown are both keen on the game, and it didn't fare badly in our Star Wars Outlaws review, either. PCG's Morgan Park scored it 73%, noting that, sure, it had flaws, but it was still "some of the best fun I've had with anything Star Wars."

I'm eager to play it properly whenever I, you know, get around to it.

Star Wars Outlaws - Title Update 1.3.0

Perofrmance and Stability

• Fixed an issue where the game would crash when 'New Game' was selected
• Improved overall stability and FPS drops
• Fixed an issue where the game could crash when using the Electrobinoculars on PS5
• Improved stability with GeForce Now

General Gameplay

• Increased and improved quest checkpoints
• Improved manual and autosave features including allowing more opportunities to save in the open world, compounds, and syndicate territories
• Removed autosave restrictions for combat/detection
• Improved NPC and player animations
• 'Wanted' difficulty now scales based on player progression
• Fixed an issue where Death Troopers would not spawn from search parties
• Improved enemy AI and combat behavior
• Fixed an issue where the Stun Shot would miss if shooting from cover when unholstered
• Fixed an issue where the Boonta Brawler Belt did not increase grenade blast radius
• Fixed an issue where grappling hook haptics were not present on PS5
• Improved camera detection for defeated enemies

UI, HUD and Settings

• Improved UI when detected
• Updated the keybind for Hyperspace jump
• Added segments to the VRAM meter
• Equipment screen now has an option to mark all items as viewed
• Fixed an issue where the map cursor could disappear when using a controller on PC

Audio

• Made NPC voice lines more consistent with player detection
• Fixed an issue where there was no music on Renpali station
• Fixed an issue where multiple sound effects would disappear after completing the game
• Improved ground wetness/snow footstep sound effect playback
• Improved airtraffic sound effect playback
• Improved audio for collisions

Cinematics

• Improved textures during cinematics
• Fixed an issue with blurred images during cinematics and dialogue scenes

Camera

• Improved the camera when interacting with vendors
• Improved camera re-center speed on the speeder

Worlds, Fauna and Flora

• Increased spawn rates for speeder races
• Made the Varaki predator on Toshara more formidable

Sabacc:

• Fixed an issue where music and ambiance were missing

Photo Mode:

• Enabled splitting camera inversion from gameplay camera
• Added option to disable UI sounds in photo mode
• Camera speed applies to both panning and movement
• Enable switching between 16:9 and 21:9 modes
• Implemented a color picker UI
• Added a black, white and neon cyan Star Wars Outlaws logo
• Fixed an issue where some UI elements could be seen in photos

Accessibility:

• Removed glitch effect while using Electrobinoculars
• Removed directional arrow for Kay's captions when in standard gameplay camera view
• Added setting to show a visual reminder of the button used for Nix quick actions
• New settings from updates 1.2 and 1.3 added to accessibility presets
• Menu remapping section added, allowing some keyboard controls for navigating menus to be remapped
• The keys for Hyperspace menu and Hyperspace jump are now remappable through the keybind menu
• Added settings to invert X and Y axis of photo mode camera
• Moved menu narration to top of the UI menu & top of the vision preset menu
• Added setting to stop voice lines interrupting menu narration
• Menu narration now reads negative brightness slider values, the heal button while low on health, new quest notification, reputation changes in contracts menu, quest tracker 'more info' prompt, cloud upload/download notifications, that starting a Sabacc game requires a hold, and whether abilities of partially equipped gearsets are locked
• Fixed an issue where Nix sense was not affected by protanopia color preset
• Fixed an issue where ND5 and Gedeek would not appear as allies in high contrast mode for some missions
• Fixed an issue where some inputs would have a double action if remapped

Miscellaneous

• Fixed an issue where NPC speeders could collide with each other
• Fixed an issue with the intel location for Thorden's itinerary
• Fixed an issue where the Trailblazer's auxiliary devices couldn't be used during syndicate quests

__MAIN & SIDE QUESTS __(beware of [[link]] spoilers)

Canto Bight

• Beginnings: Fixed an issue where Nix could get stuck when stealing credits

Toshara: Underworld

• Traversal opportunities are now better highlighted

Toshara: False Flag

• Adjusted the mission to enable flexibility in how players approach situations in addition to stealth
• Removed some alarm panels from the mission
• Adjusted the text when failing the mission
• Adjusted NPC and enemy placement

Toshara: 'I'm here' Intel

• Fixed an issue where a rock blocking the fan wouldn't spawn if the player left the area and returned later.

Kijimi

• The Hive: Adjusted NPC and enemy placement
• Fixed an issue where Jet Kordo's vault would not be able to be opened

Tattooine: Jabba's Favour

• Fixed an issue where Vail would not mount her speeder
• Removed some alarm panels from the mission
• Adjusted NPC and enemy placement

Akiva: Viper

• Fixed an issue where the rebels could remain stuck after the Viper droid fight

Akiva: The Scavenger

• Fixed an issue where the speeder would not spawn after talking to Temmin

Akiva: Money Drop

• Fixed an issue where the objective would be missing

Akiva: Revelator

• Fixed an issue where players could not move or shoot the Trailblazer