Starfield 1.8.86 Update: What’s New

The beta is over and Bethesda’s pushed its highly anticipated Starfield 1.8.86 update to Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, and Windows.

The Starfield 1.8.86 update for Starfield is the fourth post-launch patch for the game. Unlike the previous update, this patch is a big one, the biggest since the release of the game earlier this year.

It brings a batch of new features, performance enhancements, and bug fixes to the popular space RPG.

Unsurprisingly, it requires a very sizable download. Keep this in mind if you plan to play Starfield today and haven’t installed the update and/or if your console or PC is running out of storage. More on the exact size later in this post.

With the update now available to download, we want to run down everything we currently know about the Starfield 1.8.86 patch for Xbox and Windows.

Starfield 1.8.86 Update Size

The next time you fire up Starfield on your Xbox or PC, you’ll see the 1.8.86 update. Again, it requires a significant download.

The 1.8.86 patch will add more weight to a game that already requires 100GB+ of free space to run. It’s a 14GB download for the Xbox Series X. The patches for the Xbox Series S and Windows PC’s should be around the same size.

If your Xbox or Windows PC is connected to a fast Wi-Fi network, it should take less than ten minutes to download and install the update.

New Features

The 1.8.86 update brings two new features to the game. One is exclusive to Windows PC while the other is for all three platforms.

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.

Bug Fixes & Improvements

In addition to new features. the Starfield 1.8.86 update brings performance improvements and bug fixes to the game. The patch fixes issues with gameplay, quests, and graphics.

Performance & Stability

• Addressed a number of memory related issues and leaks.
• Added some GPU performance optimizations, which will be more impactful on higher end cards.
• Improved renderer threading model, improving CPU usage most notably on higher end systems.
• Various stability and performance improvements.

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 (Note: This issue may resolve itself over time).
• 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.
• Fixed an issue where occasionally the camera could shake incorrectly during Traveling, Grav Jumping, Docking, or Landing transitions.

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.
• PC: Addressed additional visual issues related to DLSS.

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 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 Starfield, make sure you report it to Bethesda so the developer can get to work on a fix in a future update.

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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