Star CitizenAlpha 3.21.1 is more than a sub-update for the latest major patch in the game. This new update not only added Crusader Spirit C1 as a new playable ship but also brought a massive overhaul to tractor beams by activating vehicle tractor beams and improving the hand-held ones.
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The patch also delivered a new mission type to the universe, which is yet another variant of bunker raids. Data Heist is an illegal mission that pays pretty well at the higher levels, which is a great example of the contrast between risk and reward in the PU.
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How To Get Data Heist Missions
Data Heist missions areonly available around MicroTech. If you check your Personal tab in the quests and head over to the Mercenary category, you will find a new mission type that is usually named"Easy Data Grab"from a new contractor called"Bit Zeros". This new contractor also has a reputation bar now, divided into six ranks. As you do more Data Heist missions, your reputation with Bit Zeros will increase, which means you will gain access to more rewarding and riskier variants of the mission.
Requirements Of Data Heist
There are a bunch of requirements for completing a Data Heist mission, but most of them are only optional. First and foremost,you do need to have a CryptoKeyto initiate this mission. While you can obtain one CryptoKey inside the bunker, we strongly suggest you take at least one key with yourself, so if you face any bugs that won’t allow you to grab that CryptoKey, you will still have a plan B.
As mentioned earlier, this is an illegal mission, and that means you will be facing UEE guards inside the bunker. Killing more than a few UEE guards is enough to get you aLevel 5 CrimeStat, and you will face a lot of them in this mission as it is much longer than a simple bunker looting. Simply put, you will easily become a high-value target for all bounty hunters in the verse after completing your first Data Heist mission. As a result, we suggest youtake down the corresponding Comm Arraybefore starting the mission if you don’t want to be recognized as a criminal in the entire star system.
Last but not least, the bunker is under UEE’s control, which means you will be initiated as a trespasser as soon as you enter the bunker’s range. So,the bunker turrets will begin shooting at your shiponce you are in their range. As a result, you either need a ship that can easily deal with those turrets, or you must park your ship at least 2 km away from the bunker and traverse the remaining distance on foot or using a ground vehicle.
How To Complete Data Heist
Once you are inside the bunker, a location will be marked for you as"Mainframe". If you don’t have a CryptoKey, you need tolook for an unarmed operator inside the bunkerwho carries a special CryptoKey. It’s quite easy to find an unarmed man as all bunker residents are well-armed guards. Once youkill the operator, open up his chest pack, and you will find a CryptoKey. Now, make your way into the Mainframe, hold the CryptoKey in your hand, and then interact with the port on the left side of the mainframe’s screen, which will let you insert the CryptoKey.
The hacking process will now begin, and once it’s done, you need toclick on “Accept"to start the data heist process. Depending on the level of the mission, at least three data packs must be uploaded to complete the objective successfully.The uploading process is quite time-consuming, and it will be interrupted by server hiccups in the middle. In between, you need to deal withwaves of UEE guardsthat will spawn from the elevators all around the bunker.
At the base level of this mission, one of the servers located in the mainframe’s area willlose access to the cooling system from time to time, which means the server will start to overheat, andif you don’t reactivate the cooling system in time, the server’s data will be lost permanently. Depending on the mission’s level, losing more servers than the required number of data pack uploads will end up failing the objective. But how can you reactivate the cooling systems?
When you are doing the base-level variant of Data Heist with a reward of 30,000 aUEC,two locations will be markedfor you inside the bunker whenever a cooling system is interrupted.One of the locations represents the server that is interrupted, and theother one showcases a data screen that includes the security code for re-enabling the cooling system. There are multiple data screens inside the bunker, and each time, only one of them will show the security code. So, you need to get out of the mainframe’s room, read the code, and come back to the corresponding server to enable the cooling system by inserting the security code.
Keep in mind that the bunker will be filled with guards every time you get out of the mainframe’s area. Also, you will have a limited time before the temperature indicator on the server’s dedicated screen reaches the critical point, which makes it burn out.
This interruption will repeat a few times during each data pack uploaduntil the data heist process is completed. It’s important you know that inhigher-level Data Heist missions, the interrupted server andthe security code location will NOT be marked for you. This means you should always remain in the mainframe area, and recognize which server is interrupted by thealarm noisethat it makes. Once you find it, you will need to step out and check all data screens inside the bunker one by one to see which one is showing a security code. This makes the mission much harder to complete solo, which is why we strongly suggest you take a companion with you to higher-level Data Heists.
As soon as all data packs are uploaded, you will receive an “Objective Completed” notification, and you can then leave the bunker to accept new missions. Completing 4 or 5 Data Heist missions will be enough to raise your reputation with Bit Zeros toLevel 2.
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