Alpha 4.10.3 on PTU: Vanduul Incursion missions, Skarnov rifle and the datamined Vanduul Hunter (October 24, 2026)

In the patch notes published on Spectrum on October 23, CIG detailed the contents of Alpha 4.10.3, first opened to the Evocati on Friday late afternoon, then to Wave 1 that evening. The PTU is hosted on a server reserved for US players, with long-term persistence (LTP) enabled. The patch adds a new line of missions against the Vanduul and a new FPS weapon. Some elements had already surfaced in the datamining the day before.

Vanduul Incursion: New Contracts at Nyx

Intersec Defence Solutions opens a line of contracts against the Vanduul and the Shattered Blade clan. These missions take place in open space rather than at existing sites, and target both pilots and ground teams. Most of these contracts normally require completing the Vanduul tech smuggler work for Welcome To Nyx first. During the PTU, all contracts are accessible directly.

The notes list the following contracts:

• Shattered Blade Raid (rank 1): clear the auxiliary stations in the Nyx system held by the Shattered Blade.
• Retake Ship (rank 2): board a ship seized by the Shattered Blade and take it back.
• Vanduul Clan Extermination (rank 4): hold out against increasing waves of Vanduul ships, across three difficulty tiers.
• 3-Way Standoff (rank 4): player, Vanduul and Shattered Blade converge on the same spot, and everyone becomes a target.
• Takedown (ranks 4 to 6): hold off Vanduul waves until an element whose name is hidden is drawn to the site, across five tiers. The full contract name is partially masked in the notes.
• Gather Vanduul Cryopod: recover cryopods in the field.

The hardest tiers are designed for crews rather than solo pilots. New space combat and FPS points of interest are spread across Nyx.

Dead Cryopods and Blueprints

A second type of Vanduul cryopod makes its appearance. The classic red pods contain living Vanduul. A new shade signals a dead occupant, considered more valuable and exchangeable with Wikelo. The hardest tiers unlock blueprints: an energy rifle, two heavy armors, a flight suit and a set of unprecedented ship weapons.

The LBCO Skarnov Rifle

Lightning Bolt Co. has produced a medium-weight, fully automatic precision rifle with automatic and single-shot modes. According to the patch notes:

• damage: 27;
• projectile velocity: 500;
• aim time: 0.25 seconds;
• rate of fire: 375 rounds per minute;
• magazine: 30 rounds;
• electric jump range: 5 meters (3 meters maximum).

According to design notes signed by Zac, each shot leaves an electrified pulse on the target that spreads to nearby enemies. Vertical recoil is high. Overheating depends on temperature: the hotter the environment, the faster the weapon heats up, and the reverse applies in cold environments. To facilitate testing, the weapon and its ammunition are available at Area18 (Cubby Blast), GrimHex (Skutters), Levski (Conscientious Objects) and Checkmate (Weapon Shop).

Sidebar: what the datamining reveals (unofficial)

The following elements come from dataminers who went through the files of build 4.10.3. They may change or disappear, and CIG has not confirmed them.

• Vanduul Hunter: a corvette 420 m long, 124 m wide and 98 m high, with a crew of 35. It would reportedly carry a fixed nose cannon, S6 and S8 plasma cannons, an S9 beam laser, S7 tachyon cannons, S5 flak cannons, S6 laser repeaters and eight “Cleaver” IR missile launchers at S10, along with three shields, two power plants and two size 4 coolers.
• Raider Camo: a cosmetic bundle combining the Corbel and Palatino armors, the Tailwind flight suit and seventeen weapons, including the Skarnov. The method of acquisition is unknown.
• Third pod: a “Vanduul Sample” type, with an animated and sound-enabled electrocardiogram, which would correspond to a state distinct from the two known variants.
• Skarnov: five finishes (Base, Raider Camo, Ferrite, Relay, Sparkplug). The readings give 10 energy damage points and 35 distortion, with a 1 km range. These values differ from the 27 damage announced in the official notes.

Context

The Roadmap Roundup of October 21 added to the roadmap an Intersec Defence Solutions mission pack for Nyx, centered on the Vanduul threat and new blueprints, with Committed status for 4.10.3. The day before the PTU opened, the datamining had already spotted the Skarnov with four finishes, the Raider Camo bundle and a temporary event named “Vanduul Incursion.” Until then, the LIVE version remained 4.10.2, with no PTU cycle open for several days.

What Remains to Be Known

CIG has said nothing about the Vanduul Hunter or the third type of pod. It is therefore unknown whether the ship is intended for playable use, NPCs or an event. The link between the announced blueprints and the Raider Camo bundle has not been established, nor has the arrival date on LIVE. The signals to watch are the notes for upcoming PTU builds and changes to the content of the game files.