Star Wars Outlaws Update 1.3 Changes Overview

Massive Entertainment has kept true to their roadmap and released update 1.3 for Star Wars Outlaws on October 24, 2024. This update focuses on adjusting gameplay while touching on UI updates, speeder travel, and stability issues.

Update Highlights

Patch 1.3 is now available for all platforms as of October 24, 2024. The exact size of the update differs with each system with the Xbox series X|S having the largest download.

• PlayStation5: 3.5 GB (version 01.003.000)
• Xbox Series X|S: 5.1 GB (version 1.0.3.0)
• PC: 4.9 GB (version 1.0.3.0)

Much like Update 1.2, we’re still not sure why Ubisoft calls this Update 1.3 in the roadmap and social media while being labeled as a variant of 1.0.3 on all platforms.

Regardless of terminology, we’ll go over some of the more notable updates seen in Star Wars Outlaws Update 1.3.

Changes to the False Flag story quest

One of the most significant changes to Outlaws are the modifications made to the Imperial space station in the False Flag quest. These are primarily the placement of enemies and the removal of some alarm panels.

The following example is one of a handful of removed alarm panels in the False Flag quest. In this room, you can see the alarm panel on the left wall pre-1.3 and it’s now missing post-1.3.

Another odd change is the removal of an Imperial Officer near one of the terminals you use to disable cameras to proceed. You can see the before and after screenshots below:

This didn’t feel necessary as they had their back turned away allowing for an easy knockout.

The patch notes state that they’ve “adjusted the mission to enable flexibility in how players approach situations in addition to stealth”, but I haven’t noticed anything of note after replaying this level for comparison purposes.

Scaling Wanted Difficulty

Becoming wanted by the Empire becomes more dangerous as you progress through the story. In the following examples, I killed two stormtroopers before starting False Flag and one stormtrooper after completing the final quest, Revelator.

Killing two stormtroopers increased my Wanted status to level 2 early on in the game. Meanwhile, killing one stormtrooper after beating the game raised my Wanted status to level 3. The levels have tripled by the time you reach the end of the game.

Improved Enemy AI and Combat Behavior

The enemy AI has made one notable improvement with the release of 1.3, they don’t immediately lose sight of you when you hide in the grass.

This was a common complaint with how dumb the AI was previously where you could hide in some tall grass and they would immediately lose sight of you. Instead, they’ll follow you into the grass or shoot the area you were last seen in.

While this can make evading the Empire or syndicate guards more difficult, this is overall a good thing for immersion and intuitive gameplay in my opinion.

While the behavior in some situations is slightly improved, there’s lots more to be done. We tested a few situations and produced mixed results. You shouldn’t have an Imperial Officer commanding the troops with “block all exists” when the situation is taking place in an entirely open field outside.

Vulkk shared a weird bug that we have not encountered before. On Toshara, at one of the Imperial Outoposts, the troops were still looking for Kay after they officially dropped the search and the Wanted system removed the mark in the top left corner. However, when Kay appeared at the Outpost a few moments later, the NPCs reopened fire immediately. Without rising the Wanted level.

Better Manual and Auto Save Mechanics

As of 1.3, you’ll have a bit of an easier time restarting an area if you get caught in stealth or worse, killed in combat.

1.3 removes some restrictions for autosaving during these scenarios which means you won’t have to go to a far back point and instead, get to a closer spot.

You also have more opportunities to save out in the open world, compounds and syndicate territories. This was very restrictive before.

Increased Spawn Rates for Speeder Races

You’ll now be able to partake in speeder races more often. This is a fun way to get a few credits and is necessary for unlocked the Gunslinger Expert’s Speeder Shot ability.

You can find a full list of Speeder Race event locations on the All Experts and Abilities guide. This should make it a bit easier to fully upgrade Kay with the expert abilities, so the increased spawn rate is a good touch.

Fewer Collisions with Speeder Travel

A common occurrence many of us had was accidentally ramming into a small boulder while riding our speeder, only to be flung into the air.

The patch notes state that speeder travel has improved by reducing collisions with objects in the environment, but fails to state specific examples. The exact same improvement was also part of Update 1.2, where it was much more noticeable.

I guess they have further improved on it in 1.3. I personally saw no difference. But then again, I am not a new player anymore and I bump into random boulders far less often now.

The NPC speeder AI is listed as being improved. They are to crash into each other far less frequently, but this was an uncommon occurrence to begin with. This more likely happened on Akiva where the traffic is denser than Tatooine or Toshara.

While NPC’s might bump into each other less frequently in 1.3, Kay’s speeder was more than enough to cause this in front of this Imperial tower on Toshara. All while they were searching for me at Wanted level 3.

Photo Mode Changes

The Photo Mode has some new additions. First off, you can toggle a setting to invert the X and Y axis while in photo mode. You can also disable UI sounds while in photo mode.

A new Toggle Aspect Ratio button has been added to allow you to switch from 16:9 to 21:9. This can help you get wider shots with more detail than you would otherwise or provide a more cinematic look for your screenshots.

Four new watermarks have been added. It’s the Star Wars Outlaws logo and it’s available in black, white, and neon cyan.

Last is a color picker feature that has been added to the list of options. This allows you to add a tint of a color you pick to the screenshot.

Accessibility Improvements

A few good accessibility improvements have been added to Star Wars Outlaws. This includes an option to display a visual reminder of which button to use for Nix’s quick actions, the hyperspace menu and hyperspace jump buttons can be remapped, and other quality-of-life improvements.

Performance and Stability Fixes

The patch notes state that it has improved the overall stability and FPS drops in Star Wars Outlaws. Despite this, my whole PC crashed when I tried to get a picture of Kay on Akiva when I entered Photo Mode.

These stability issues are like a hydra from Greek myth. For every bug fixed, two more appear to take its place.

No fix yet for the Windows 11 24H2 bug

The devs are aware of the currently ongoing issue with some PCs after the update to Windows 11 24H2. Sadly, Update 1.3 has no fix for this yet as they are still looking for a solution.

We are also aware of an ongoing issue affecting PC players after the 24H2 Windows Update. We are working hard to identify both the root cause and its resolution. This investigation is taking some time; therefore, the fix couldn’t be ready for this Title Update. We’ll deploy one as soon as it’s ready and update all affected players.

New Bug Reporting website

If you want to help the game devs, you can report a bug easier now by utilizing the new Bug Reporter wqebsite. Here are the steps you must make:

1. Go to the Bug Reporter website
2. First, browse through the issues to see if your issue has already been reported.
3. If your issue is already reported, simply upvote it.
4. If you are facing a new issue, select “Report an issue” at the top of the page.
5. Choose a title that best reflects your issue.
6. Fill out the form that follows and provide as much information as possible to help our teams identify the bug.
7.  Select “Confirm” to save the report.

What is next for Star Wars Outlaws

The next update is going to arrive on November 21st, along with the Steam release for PC and the first DLC: Wild Card. Massive promise this will be the biggest update to the game yet.

Updates 1.2 and 1.3 were not massively overwhelming, but they significantly improved some aspects of the game, while remained lacking in others.

If you’ve read the article this far, then you deserve a little reward. As I was trying to get a Featured image for this article, I accidentally recreated the “Marge Simpson Krumping” meme with Kay. Enjoy!

Related Star Wars Outlaws Collections of Guides

Beginner Guides

Main Quests

Side Quests

Vaults and Keycards

Jet Kordo’s Vaults

Experts & Abilities

Expert Key Parts

Blaster Key Parts

Outfits

Treasure Locations

Our Guides Master List for Star Wars Outlaws is a great starting point. In it you will find all of our guides and walkthroughs ordered in categories.