Frontier Developments 2.2 Guardians update for their space simulator Elite Dangerous is preparing to launch, bringing close quarter combat fighter ships to the main persistent universe.

In the last article we talked about the new Beluga spacebus that will be coming soon that introduces the new passenger missions, but that isn’t the only content coming to the new 2.2 Guardians update. The menu and galaxy map has also been improved, as well as other tweaks and updates to the visual presentation for a lot of the other menus and gameplay elements.

The CQC Arena mode in Elite Dangerous was a separate game mode from the rest of the game that pit pilots against other players in a deadly combat deathmatch arena. But it sounds like you couldn’t really use all of those ship designs in the main game to travel and dogfight. The new 2.2 Guardians update will be taking that concept and bringing it to the main game to allow you to deploy a small fighter from your main ship to engage in CQC combat. Take a look at the ship launched fighter video down below.

For the Elite Dangerous 2.2 Guardians update, it sounds like players will be able to have up to two fighters on their main ship at a time, and if one gets destroyed you can quickly rebuild another one on the fly to launch back into battle as long as you have the resources to do so. Think of the fighter hangar module as a mini factory that actually BUILDS those ships when you need them.

You will also be able to remotely give commands to your fighter or back to your main ship to keep it hidden and out of danger, and swap between using both ships for some interesting ambush and battle tactics. If you team up with your friends, that could make for some really complex gameplay mechanics by having multiple hidden ships to ambush and take down a spacebus for profit.

Three fighter ships are coming to the main game, such as the F63 Condor federal fighter, the GU97 imperial fighter, and the Taipan fighter. In order to use these fighters you will first have to upgrade your larger main ship with a special fighter hangar module. You will also now be able to hire more crew members to help you pilot and run your ship, check out the video below that shows how to do it.

Last but not least, there will be a few new interiors for the space stations, such as the port Variant Tourism station shown in the trailer down below. These new ports will add a bit of a scenery change while you are in the hangar and selecting your missions, just to add a bit more variety when you travel from one port to the next.

CEO and game designer for Frontier Developments, David Braben, had an interview furing Gamescom 2016 where he talked about the future of the game and the science behind Elite Dangerous as well as story elements in the video down below. If you watch all four videos of the interview, there are some pretty strong hints that aliens are coming. You can watch all of the videos from the official Elite Dangerous YouTube Channel to see the entire full interview.

Due to the delay of the Horizons update, the 2.2 Guardians patch has also been pushed back for a fall (Mid-October) 2016 release date, but the developers at Gamescom didn’t go in further detail and did not give a specific release date yet.

I stumbled across this Timeline chart that had a scheduled Summer of 2016 release date for 2.2 Guardians update, and the Commander update scheduled for Fall, that means that the Commanders update for Fall would really have to move fast to get that content out to the public on time, and that seems a bit unlikely at this point. So, we’ll see how things go.

Are you worried about the price and how much all this new content will cost? Well from my knowledge and research, I believe that if you already purchased the Horizon’s standalone expansion, all of the content for any following 2.xx updates will be included in that package, so you are good to go!

If you purchased the Season pass you should already be set and ready to go as soon as the content patch goes live. For more information and details about the 2.2 Guardians content update, you can head over to the official Elite Dangerous website for further details and information about the game.