Elite Dangerous: The Guardians update

A little while ago new 2.2 and 1.7 updates dropped on Elite Dangerous. 1.7 is specifically for the base game, whereas the 2.2 is for the Horizon expansion. The amount of new content and fixes is pretty huge, so feast your eyes on the official changelogs if you want to see them all.

Among the more interesting things for all the audiences is the new mission type, which finally gives you a reason to purchase the Beluga line passenger ships, as from now on you can ferry people all across the galaxy, be it taking them on scientific exploration, work assignment on a foreign system or any other reason like a simple holiday trip or be escaping the strong arm of the law. Then there are the refined station interiors with more detail, added planetary details for Horizon owners and so on. In a word, this has been a much-needed content update, which also brings in new missions and even a new vocation in the form of a galactic bus driver (or a luxury yacht, however you want it).

What I'm personally surprisingly excited about are the passenger missions, as they actually give a new boost for exploration as well. See, while I liked flying aimlessly in the huge galaxy, it did get a bit boring quite fast. But now, especially if you take passengers with scientific missions in mind, you have a good reason to travel vast distances and really plan the voyage. Previously I just took a random spot and went as far as I could muster the interest, now I can have a very specific location in mind and go there with a renewed determination, especially because the long-range missions pay quite well.

While the Beluga Liner is the dedicated passenger ship with a cool, luxurious design it's not the only ship that can carry passengers. You can fit passenger cabins to other ships as well, so if you already have a big enough ship, you can sacrifice, say, cargo space for passenger space. You can choose from three cabin types, economy, business and first-class. Obviously, not all passengers are willing to travel economy, so there's a reason to opt for a bit more luxurious cabin.

Beluga near a tourist beacon. (pic from Elite: dangerous wiki)

I must admit, that before these new updates I've had a bit longer pause from the world of Elite, but this gave me a new spark. Not only does it add to the amount of playable content and missions types, it also adds to the feeling that space is really populated, as there are new faces popping out in the mission screens. There's still a lot more stuff coming to the world of Elite, like the commander creator and what not and perhaps even the possibility to walk around your ship, stations or even planets. Yeah, those are still a long way off, but still, piece by piece, Elite is getting better.

I know I didn't say a lot about the other stuff, but the reality of the matter is, that the first thing I wanted to try was the passenger missions and at the moment I'm 1000 LY away from the human-settled space, ferrying people to their destination. It's a living, I guess, but a good deal for my Explorer status and bank account.

If you already own the base game, 1.7 updates should give you some new stuff to do. If you have Horizons, 2.2 is the one for you. But either way, it's again nice to be a freelancer in space.