The Scythe is coming! Much of our focus in recent weeks has been on Star Marine, the FPS module… but that doesn’t mean progress isn’t continuing on Arena Commander and the rest of Star Citizen. The next major Arena Commander patch will include a number of updates and additions, including the long-promised flyable Scythe. For the first time, backers will be able to get behind the stick of an alien ship… with more to follow!

Because of how development works, with different branches of development building off of one another, the Scythe and other changes can’t be added until Star Marine (which features necessary updated animation code) launches. In the meantime, we thought backers would enjoy an initial look at the Scythe in action in a player’s hands for the first time.

Will I need to speak Vanduul?

NO! In Star Citizen’s fiction, the Scythes currently available have been modified by a human aerospace company. They include human-designed control surfaces and HUD software that has been modified with human-appropriate text and graphics. These systems will still retain an alien style, but will be fully usable by those who don’t speak (grunt?) Vanduul.

Hasn’t the Scythe been in the game since AC launched?

Yes and no! The Scythe has been present in Arena Commander as the AI enemy since the module launched. But making the base ship is just the start of the process! In order to make the Scythe flyable by human players, a number of tasks needed to be completed. These range from designing a human-usable cockpit and HUD to engineering entirely new sounds to capturing and perfecting the animations needed to see your character get in and out of the ship. While the AI can make do with an incomplete flight model, we want to make sure you have everything you need to pilot the Scythe. Constant improvements to Arena Commander also mean that the Scythe has evolved alongside everything else, with new damage states being one of the additions you can look forward to.

How can I fly the Scythe?

A limited number of Scythes were available to backers early in the campaign and there are no plans to sell additional ships. That said, we will absolutely make them available for everyone to try during designated free-fly weeks. Additionally, Imperator subscribers receive a token for additional Scythe time each month (past months stack, so existing Imperators will have a number of days when the ship launches.) You can learn more about Imperator subscriptions here.