CIG ran its fourth ship Time-to-Kill test, Tech-Preview 4, over the weekend of September 25 inside the first public Alpha 4.10.2 test build. Its main job was to repeat the third test without the mistakes. CIG described Tech-Preview 3 as cursed and listed three serious errors, including shields with twice their intended health.
TTK, time to kill, is how long it takes to destroy a ship. None of these values are on the live servers, and CIG said the test is not intended to arrive with Alpha 4.10.2. It still matters, because the numbers show where ship combat is heading.
What went wrong in Tech-Preview 3
CIG opened its notes with an apology to everyone who took part in the third test and then set out what had failed.
It also corrected a misunderstanding. One stated goal of Tech-Preview 3 was to increase TTK for PvP. CIG says it meant an increase compared with Tech-Preview 2, not compared with the live game.
- An implementation error gave every shield double its intended health, which made fights longer, the opposite of the goal. CIG credits a single player with spotting it
- A data entry error gave several shields far too many power pips, so they did not work in game
- A new bug made ships skip their over-damage health pool, so they exploded as soon as the shield was gone, about ten times earlier than intended, without being disabled first
What players told CIG
Most feedback on the third test was about those errors. CIG lists four other takeaways.
- Ballistic weapons are still too strong
- Even with doubled shield health, TTK for large ships went down
- Power pip assignment cannot be the tool for balancing ballistics at the moment, because with current engineering players tend to max out shields anyway
- The AI modifier, which makes AI ships take extra damage, is largely disliked. CIG says it has noted this and is discussing it
What changed for Tech-Preview 4
CIG calls the fourth test a fixed and refined version of the third. One problem is still open: the over-damage bug has not been fixed and showed up in roughly 25 to 50 percent of CIG’s attempts to reproduce it, so some ships in the test still exploded early.
- Shields were set to their intended values, which should bring TTK back down
- Ballistic damage was cut by 20 percent compared with Tech-Preview 3
- The AD4B, AD5B, Deadbolt IV and Deadbolt V had their alpha damage, the damage of a single hit, provisionally cut by a further 20 percent after being called out as overpowered
- Shield and health values for large and capital ships were generally raised, to bring them closer to the goal of two thirds shield and one third armor and critical parts
- Energy and ballistic deflection were adjusted
- The AI modifier was reduced
Tech-Preview 4 compared with the live game
CIG also published the overall difference between this test and the live servers, noting that most of it was already present in Tech-Preview 3.
- Shield health up 17 to 70 percent
- Armor health from 20 percent lower to 100 percent higher
- Alpha damage up 145 percent for energy weapons and 116 percent for ballistics
- Armor deflection up 80 percent against energy and 64 percent against ballistics
- Shield resistance of 40 to 50 percent against ballistic damage and 35 to 45 percent against energy damage, depending on shield health and power pip assignment
- Shield absorption of 0 to 80 percent against ballistic damage, depending on shield health
- Slap down time, the pause before a shield starts to recover, up 100 percent while the shield is damaged and up 70 percent once it is broken
- Shield regeneration adjusted in line with the health increase, giving a slower recharge than the live game
- In PvE, AI ships take 20 percent more damage
What happens next
The test lasted one weekend. The next Alpha 4.10.2 build, on September 29, noted that the TTK Tech-Preview was no longer active and that balance was back to normal.
In its September 28 weekly update CIG said the teams were working through the feedback and data and would continue tuning, including the AI modifier for PvE. It has not said when a fifth test will run or when any of these values will reach the live game.
What this means for new players
Nothing changes for a new account today. The live game still uses the old balance, and CIG has not said when any of this ships. The direction has been consistent across the tests, though: shields are meant to do more of the work in a fight, ballistic weapons are being pulled back, and fights against AI are meant to stay quicker than fights against other players. If you are choosing a first combat ship, do not buy around today’s strongest weapon loadout, because the weapons named in this test are the ones being reduced. Our Star Citizen referral code guide explains how the 50,000 UEC signup bonus works and how to apply code STAR-6WPK-3K56 before you enlist.
Frequently Asked Questions
It is CIG’s fourth test of new ship Time-to-Kill values. It ran over the weekend of September 25, 2026 inside the first public Alpha 4.10.2 PTU build and was a corrected version of the third test.
No. CIG said the test was folded into the PTU build for one weekend and is not intended to arrive with 4.10.2. The following build returned to the normal balance.
Shields had double their intended health, a data entry error left some shields with too many power pips to function, and a bug made ships explode as soon as their shield was gone.
Yes. Ballistic damage was cut by 20 percent compared with Tech-Preview 3, and the AD4B, AD5B, Deadbolt IV and Deadbolt V lost a further 20 percent of their alpha damage.
In Tech-Preview 4, AI ships take 20 percent more damage in PvE. CIG reduced the modifier after players said they disliked it.
Source: [Wave 1] Star Citizen Alpha 4.10.2 PTU Patch Notes 12770507. Details come from the TTK balancing section of CIG’s Wave 1 Alpha 4.10.2 PTU patch notes on Spectrum, September 25, 2026, the September 29 PTU notes, and This Week in Star Citizen for September 28.
