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Starfield Free Lanes is the biggest update yet, making significant changes and additions to gameplay mechanics that can completely change how you play the game – and it's available to all players for free! Space exploration has been fully reimagined in Starfield, letting you cruise through the galaxy looking for encounters rather than simply warping to your destination, and there are plenty of fresh options for upgrades and customizations. To find out more, here are the biggest changes introduced with the Free Lanes update in Starfield.
You can use Free Lanes to explore space
The most significant change features in the name of the update itself, with the Starfield Free Lanes completely opening up space exploration. While previously you will have used Starfield fast travel to simply jump between locations across the vast expanse of space, you can now actually cover huge distances within systems while experiencing everything.
By engaging Starfield Cruise Mode, you can set your ship on a course then get up and walk around your vessel, interacting with your crew and the various workbenches you have available. If you encounter anything interesting on your travels then you'll be alerted to it, so you can jump back in the cockpit and investigate.
X-Tech opens up new customizations
X-Tech is a new resource added with the Free Lanes update, and it's important as you can use it to further customize your weapons, gear, and ships. You can loot it from defeated bosses, chests, and ship wreckage, so keep an eye out for this high-value commodity. For weapons, X-Tech can be used to reroll legendary effects, and after five rerolls the whole list opens up so you can choose the modifier you want if you didn't get it already.
X-Tech will also unlock Tier 4 legendary effects for compatible weapons, helmets, packs, and suits, plus two additional quality tiers have been added above Advanced so you can now improve your gear to Superior and Exceptional tiers. Separately, a Ship Optimization Terminal can be added to your vessel, which uses X-Tech to upgrade the various systems such as your shield strength and grav drive.
There's a new Starstation to visit
The new Anchorpoint Station offers a travel hub to visit that is packed with merchants and quests to discover, but it's not easy to find or reach. It's located within the Starfield Algorab system in the far reaches of the Starmap, and you'll need a ship capable of jumping significant distances in order to make the journey there. If you get there, we have a walkthrough for the Starfield Anchorpoint Safe and Clue locations so you can crack the code and collect a reward.
Outposts have been upgraded
To help manage your items and resources, a shared outpost container can now be installed at each outpost you set up, so that anything you deposit can be accessed at any other outpost that also has a container. There's a fresh Database system that can be viewed through the character menu and tracks all of your outposts, gathering information on locations, resources, and more. You can even unlock a new Milliewhale outpost pet to own, though you need to complete the 'Housesitting' quest in Anchorpoint to unlock that.
There are fresh ways to upgrade the Starborn
If you want to level up your unlocked Starborn abilities, you no longer need to use New Game+ to find more temples as you can now collect Quantum Essence to rank them up. Quantum Essence can also be used to refill your power meter quickly, to combine different moves. For those who want to move to New Game+ after completing the main storyline, the fresh Quantum Entanglement Device can be constructed in The Lodge and used to transfer items to your next playthrough.
Lots more improvements have been made
There are a huge number of other improvements that have been made as part of the Starfield Free Lanes update, such as the new Moon Jumper land vehicle that can boost to higher places, a set of Colony War Action Hero collectibles to find that each give a stat buff, plenty more planetary POIs to discover, and even an asteroid base home you can purchase to live in. For a detailed rundown of everything that has been added or updated, take a look at this official Bethesda post.
If you've purchased the Starfield Terran Armada DLC then we've got a separate guide explaining how to get started with that.
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