In a recent Patch Watch post on Spectrum, CIG shared some more details about some of the balancing changes that will be applied to items and commodities in Alpha 4.0 to give the overall economy in the game a solid position.
Star Citizen players should expect an increase in the price tag for ship missiles and bombs, which will make them think twice before wasting an A2 bomb.
The items required for FPS gear will also get a price hike, including ammo, medpens, weapon attachments, and even consumables like water and food.
When it comes to commodities, CIG will run a massive overhaul on the availability of each commodity and their price difference in various locations. This will probably prevent players from buying RMC at Maker’s Point for a low price and then selling it just a few hundred kilometers away at Lorville for a big profit.
The changes in commodities were not discussed in detail, but CIG will update all commodities and even rework some of them entirely. They will also categorize commodities into hauling grades so that haulers with different ship sizes can benefit from it. Quantum and Hydrogen fuel costs will also increase in Alpha 4.0 as revealed before.
Last but not least, CIG will also drastically nerf the drop chance of big abandoned ships that are fully loaded with valuable cargo such as Widow. So, this will probably make ERTs far less beneficial.
Now, in response to all these price increases, CIG also mentioned that they have changed the code for all in-game missions and have brought them in line with the new high-risk-high-reward approach. So, players can expect to earn more than before for completing quests when Alpha 4.0 launches.
Currently, the 4.0 patch is in the Evocati testing, but it is expected to be released onto the live servers later in December 2024. The patch will only include Pyro and Server Meshing, with most of the other features postponed to early 2025.
