Stars Reach Adds Swimming, Craftable Maps, and New Professions in Update 8.9.0

Stars Reach has rolled out Update 8.9.0, titled Making Waves, with a few substantial additions for players testing the MMO. The big ones are swimming, craftable maps, and two new profession specializations: Strategist for Leadership and Orienteering for Ranger.

Swimming is now available to everyone without requiring a skill unlock. Players can swim on the surface, dive underwater, sprint while in the water, and use tools below the surface. The update also adds underwater visual effects, splashes, new animations, and an automatic bubble helmet when diving.

Orienteering gives Rangers a movement-focused path that levels through swimming, climbing, and hiking uphill. Training improves swim speed, climbing efficiency, and hill movement, while unlockable gear includes a Climbing Kit for recovering stamina while anchored to a wall and Traction Cleats to help prevent sliding on slopes for a short time.

Strategist is aimed at party leaders. With a Leader Staff equipped, the leader can mark a hostile creature within 40 meters for eight seconds. If at least half the party lands direct damage before the timer ends, the call triggers an effect such as a slow, stun, Dizziness, fear, or target confusion. Calls cost 100 Focus, share a 20-second cooldown, and only one can be active per party.

Cartography is another major piece of the update. Players can now craft maps at a Cartography Console using their own surveys. These maps record terrain and waypoints, can include creator notes, and can be traded or sold to other players. Equipping one in a utility slot adds a minimap to the HUD, though each crafted map only has 10 hours of active display time before it wears out.

Combat also gets a pass. Projectile hit detection has been improved, along with the Healix heal beam. The Sniper Rifle now hits harder with its base shot, lets players move slowly while charging, and gains Spotter and Predation abilities. The Grenade Launcher gets faster projectiles, a larger blast radius, and new Bombardment and Gravity Well specials.

Player towns now have defined territory as well, usually starting at 256 by 256 meters around the landing spot and expanding as the GovBot levels up. Town rules apply inside that area, while default planet rules take over outside it. Fully upgraded GovBots can eventually govern an entire planet.

Further reading: Official Stars Reach Making Waves Update 8.9.0 notes