5 Things to Know About the Starfield 1.8.83 Update

Bethesda’s confirmed a new Starfield 1.8.83 update for Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, and Windows and the patch is set to bring big changes to the game.

The developer promised a big Starfield update in the coming weeks and the company is set to deliver. A new patch is confirmed and select users can try the new features, and fixes, ahead of its public release.

With that in mind, we want to take you through the most important things to know, right now, about the Starfield 1.8.83 patch. Our guide covers everything from the release date, to the beta, to its highly anticipated features.

Starfield 1.8.83 Beta

Unlike the game’s previous updates, the Starfield 1.8.83 patch is a major upgrade. The previous updates, while important, were all hot fixes.

Given its size, Bethesda has put the update into beta testing so players and poke and prod it for bugs and performance issues ahead of its public release.

The company has launched a beta version of the game for Steam users which means Windows PC players can try all of the changes right now.

The company isn’t offering a beta program to Xbox Series X or Xbox Series S users at this time.

How to Download the Starfield Beta

If you want to try the Starfield beta on your PC via Steam, you’ll need to opt-in by following these instructions:

• Open up your Steam Library and find Starfield
• Right click on “Starfield” and select “Properties”
• In the pop-up window, select “Betas”
• In the beta drop down, select “[beta]”
• Wait for app to download the new build
• Launch the game

Once you’ve done that, here are a few thing to keep in mind.

The Starfield Steam Beta is a separate build of the game and requires a separate download.

You can continue with your latest save, but saves created in the Beta build will not work in the live game until the 1.8.83 update is live.

If you do use the beta, make sure you send feedback to Bethesda so it can get to work fixing bugs. You can do that by visiting the #steam-beta-feedback section on the official Discord Server.

Starfield 1.8.83 Release Date

It’s unclear how long the beta will last, but Bethesda says it plans to push the update to Windows, Xbox Series X, and Xbox Series S later on this month.

That will probably happen, but of course the exact timing depends on the update’s performance in testing. If it needs more time, it needs more time.

Starfield 1.8.83 Features

The 1.8.83 patch will bring two requested features to Starfield, they are as follows:

NVIDIA DLSS Support

• This update introduces Nvidia DLSS support for PC players. Compatible Nvidia graphic cards can now use DLSS Super Resolution, Deep Learning Anti-aliasing (DLAA), Nvidia Reflex Low Latency, and DLSS Frame generation

Bethesda notes that while DLSS Frame Generation is active, VSync needs to be toggled off to see the benefit. It says it’s working to automatically adjust the setting in a future update.

Eat Food

• We have added the ability to ingest food and drink items upon finding them in the environment.

So you can now eat the random food you find without having to enter your inventory.

Starfield 1.8.83 Bug Fixes

In addition to new features. the 1.8.83 update brings a number of performance improvements and bug fixes to the game. The update fixes issues with gameplay, quests, and graphics.

Gameplay

• Adjusted stealth to be a bit more forgiving.
• Fixed an issue where Andreja’s head would stay permanently cloaked.
• Fixed an issue that could prevent players from firing their weapons.
• Fixed issues where some NPC could be seen not wearing clothes.
• Fixed an issue where already in-progress skill challenges could stop progressing after reaching the Unity and starting a new game.
• Fixed an issue that could temporarily prevent opening the inventory or saving after entering the Unity.
• PC: Fixed an issue where mouse movement could be choppy.
• Fixed a rare issue that could cause the home ship to be lost.
• Fixed an issue where the ship services technician might be missing.

Graphics

• Addressed an issue with how ambient occlusion appeared in ultrawide resolutions.
• Optimized initial shader compilation that occurs on start-up.
• Added the ability to adjust Brightness and Contrast in the Display Settings menu.
• Added the ability to adjust HDR Brightness provided that the system supports it. (Xbox & Windows 11 only).
• Addressed a number of materials that could sometimes present an unintended pattern under certain conditions.
• Fixed various visual issues related to the new FOV slider options.
• Improved the appearance of the eyes on crowd characters.
• Addressed a number of minor visual issues related to lighting, shadows, terrain, and vegetation.

Quests

• All That Money Can Buy: Fixed a rare issue where players couldn’t sit during the negotiation with Musgrove.
• Blast Zone: Fixed an issue where the hard rocks that need to be cleared out by players will not appear on Ngodup Tate’s land.
• Echoes of the Past: Fixed an issue where the Grylloba Queen could sometimes not be reachable during the objective “Secure the Shuttle Bay”.
• Eye of the Storm: Fixed an issue where players’ quest progression could potentially be blocked due to a missing docking prompt.
• Grunt Work: Addressed an issue where progress could appear blocked if “Supra et Ultra” was completed while returning to the Lodge during “High Price to Pay”.
• No Sudden Moves: Fixed an issue the that could prevent the entrance door to the Scow ship from being opened again.
• Operation Starseed: Fixed an issue where the key that is needed to exit the facility could sometimes not be present.
• Sabotage: Fixed an issue where David Barron could potentially not be found by players.
• Short Sighted: Fixed an issue where players could rarely become control-locked while speaking with Vladimir.
• The Heart of Mars: Fixed an issue where players might not be able to mine the “The Heart of Mars”.

If you don’t see a fix for an issue you’ve encountered in the game, make sure you report it to Bethesda so it can get to work on a fix.

Enhanced Player Heath Bar

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Let's start with a Starfield mod that's extremely basic, but has a huge impact on gameplay. Enhanced Player Heath Bar is a popular Starfield mod for PC that simply changes the player's health bar color when health reaches 75%, 50% and 25%. At 75% health your player's health bar will change to yellow. At 50%, it changes to orange. And if you're at 25% and close to dying, it will of course change to red.  It's simple, but it's extremely nice at a glance, especially when you're in a particularly tough fight with Terrormorphs or a group of mercs.

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