Elite: Dangerous 'Beta 3' adds multiple ship ownership and more

Those looking to collect a fleet in Elite: Dangerous can now do so with the new Beta 3, which launches today.

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The journey through the galaxy continues in Frontier Developments' Elite: Dangerous. Today, the developer rolled out the game's Beta 3 stage, adding more features, ships, and refinements than ever before.

The biggest change is the community-requested multiple ship ownership. Players can now dock multiple ships at starports, which allows them to design ships based on certain functions, like combat and exploration. Exploration ships will come in handy when utilizing the new mining feature, which allows players to land atop giant asteroids and mine resources with the new mining laser.

Other changes include new philanthropy missions, interdiction, an expanded 2,400 star system/869,000 cubic light year play area, and the new Imperial Clipper and Federal Dropship vessels.

The full list of changes include:

  • Player-driven interdiction. Players can now interdict NPC ships, pulling them out of faster-than-light travel back into normal space along with the player.
  • Philanthropy missions added.
  • Fuel scooping from stars added. Keep a close eye on your temperature gauge as you refuel from the blazing surface of stars.
  • Asteroid mining added. Cut metal and rock from asteroids using the mining laser.
  • New ships added: Imperial Clipper and Federal Dropship.
  • Multiple ship ownership. Long requested by the community, players can keep multiple craft docked at starports, allowing for reserve ships dedicated to combat, exploration, trading and more.
  • Additional ship images added to loading screen .
  • Status panel now shows faction reputation.
  • New in-game controls to allow rapid switching between display screens.
  • Outpost landing pads now reflect low gravity environment.
  • Play area expanded to over 2,400 systems and 869,000 cubic light years of playable space.
  • Improved galaxy map, with partial name searching, range display and route finding.
  • Planet visuals overhaul. Planet surface types, liquids and atmospheric colours now reflect their chemical composition.
  • Planets display volcanic features and complex craters can create dust ejecta. Crater frequency is dependent on atmosphere thickness.
  • Ice planets now have fracture features.
  • All planets now have dynamic ice caps and liquid levels.
  • Asteroid belt clusters added.
  • Nebulae added, visible in the sky and the galaxy map.

For more, check out the trailer below. The Elite: Dangerous beta is available for purchase from the game's website.

Senior Editor

Ozzie has been playing video games since picking up his first NES controller at age 5. He has been into games ever since, only briefly stepping away during his college years. But he was pulled back in after spending years in QA circles for both THQ and Activision, mostly spending time helping to push forward the Guitar Hero series at its peak. Ozzie has become a big fan of platformers, puzzle games, shooters, and RPGs, just to name a few genres, but he’s also a huge sucker for anything with a good, compelling narrative behind it. Because what are video games if you can't enjoy a good story with a fresh Cherry Coke?

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