Stars Reach Combat: Weapons, Healing and Creatures in Build 8.7.2

How a fight works in the current build

The official overview describes combat in four parts. You dodge and weave, or "pop your reflector shield to bounce energy beams back at your enemies". Different weapons and a module socketing system give you "dozens of combat skills to learn". And if your aim is poor, you can "choose weapons and skills with classic tab-targeting or homing bullets".

That last part is often misread. The overview does not describe a global aiming setting you flip in the options menu. The aiming style comes from which weapon and which skills you use. The pistol is a concrete example. In the pre-Early-Access Open Horizons update (2 April 2026), its projectiles were made much faster and its homing "significantly reduced". So switching weapon or Special is how you change how forgiving your aim needs to be.

Abilities come from skill trees. On the advancement model the studio published, you unlock Specials by using a weapon, and you can have two enabled at a time. That 2024 design had the enabled Specials crafted into the weapon. Since 8.1.5 you change them instead by right-clicking the weapon in your inventory while in a safe area (the Loadout Kiosk also still works), so you don't need a new weapon to change your pair. Weapon trees earn experience from dealing damage, because dealing damage puts your character at risk. That is one of the few progression loops that works without other players online.

The 8.4.0 Early Access build added optional Haven missions that teach dodge rolls and combat, the grapple and camps. If you skipped them, they are the quickest way to learn the controls.

Weapons: what is in the game and how you get one

There is no official weapon list, and the studio is deliberately sparing with numbers. The table separates what the studio has named from what players report.

Players on Steam name four guns in the current build: Assault Rifle, Pistol, Grenade Launcher and Sniper Rifle. One guild player wrote that "those four guns are the only ones actually in at this point in time", and that other weapon trees, drones among them, show as work in progress in the skills window (K). The same threads say weapons can be bought at the TPL tool shop for about 2,000 Klaatus or crafted by players. Treat the price as a player report, not a fixed number.

Crafted weapons come from the crafting professions. In 8.4.3 the studio moved "weapons, tools, medical outputs" and other items to tiers compatible with their ingredients, and reworked the early Armorer and Pressure Forge recipes around more accessible resources. For the current recipe chains, use a community recipe library rather than this page. We link the GUNC guild's tools from our crafting guide.

Repairs matter more than they look. The starter repair kits handed out on Haven did not work at launch, and 8.4.3 fixed them. Players on Reddit report that you repair by right-clicking the tool and choosing Repair. Since 8.6.0 your inventory shows a wrench icon when an item drops below 40% durability (orange) and below 15% (pink). 8.7.0 fixed a bug that let a broken Grav Mesh keep working, so repair yours.

Healing, wounds and getting back up

Healing is split between consumables, a healing tool and other players. Wounds sit on top of ordinary damage.

• Medical from the start: since 8.4.0 every new character is granted the Medical skill and the Antiseptic Bandage recipe during onboarding, and the Bioprocessor I path was simplified so you can make basic medical items early.
• Healix: the healing tool's Siphon skill (Open Horizons) drains a locked-on enemy to restore your own health. The rework outlined on 10 October lists an area-of-effect Healix as planned.
• Healing XP: since 8.4.3 healers earn experience outside combat as well, and get a healing bonus when they are on the enemies' threat list, meaning actually in the fight.
• Wounds: 8.4.0 shows wounds as a reddened area on the grey health-bar background. Sprinting builds stamina wounds ("Exhausted"), and 8.4.5 reduced how fast those accumulate.
• Groups: the 8.7.0 party sidebar shows up to 10 members with health, wounds and status icons, and warns when someone is critically injured or dead. Use it when hunting with others.
• Death: your entitlement items, such as Founders Pack gear, are never placed on your gravemarker (8.4.3), so you cannot lose them to death. A bug that could stop players reviving each other was targeted in 8.3.0.
• Food and meds from caches: 8.5.0 changed loot caches so they more often drop something immediately useful, usually food and meds at lower tiers.

What you fight, and how creatures behave since 8.7.0

You fight wildlife, Maker spawns, the Corruption and Public Event targets. There is no player-versus-player combat yet; the studio plans optional PvP later, set by each planet's laws.

Creatures changed a lot in September. 8.5.0 made them check line of sight and circle around walls instead of shooting through them. Crafted in Color 8.7.0 "brought back basic creature melee attacks" and adjusted several creatures' characteristics. It also added pathfinding so they avoid jumping off cliffs, and let them jump out of holes, climb hills and get over obstacles. A hole or a ledge is no longer a safe place to shoot from. 8.7.2 capped the maximum spawn size, because especially large creatures were causing performance problems.

Creatures generally avoid player structures and NPC buildings (8.4.0). Makers keep producing hostile fauna, which is why the studio tells homesteaders to destroy any Maker near their plot. On Haven, creature difficulty is capped (8.4.0), so the first serious fights happen after you leave.

The Corruption, added in 8.4.0, is the game's hostile hive mind. It appears as floating spores that grow, split and burst in gas clouds, as anchored turret tentaclevines and puffball stalks, and as Motherplants that build rings of defences and spread. The studio says that clearing it from a planet "can be a major task requiring serious cooperation". Public Events add named targets: 8.5.1 restored Blackhart and King Prowler, after fixing them firing more projectiles than intended. Since 8.7.0, Kill Missions use the new creatures and can require several kills.

The combat rework: what was announced on 10 October

Player criticism of combat is consistent. The phrase that recurs on Steam is "bullet hell with 2 abilities", meaning fights come down to dodging projectiles while cycling the two enabled Specials. Raph Koster responded with a developer post on Steam on 10 October 2026 (Pacific time) listing the next round of work. On combat it lists creature tactics, stun meters, damage-type resistances and an area-of-effect Healix. A player who quoted the list in the thread added that some creatures will "Call for Help" and summon minions, and that dealing enough damage during a creature's action can interrupt it and stun the creature.

The same post lists Ranger upgrades (Wall of Fire, Cold Snap, stealth, and orienteering and climbing) and new Leadership and Strategist professions. Both would add tactical options beyond pure damage. None of this has a date, and none of it is in 8.7.2.

So, practically: do not over-invest in mastering a specific encounter pattern, because creature tactics are the first thing listed to change. The Patch Notes page records when each item actually ships.

Practical advice for fighting in 8.7.2

1. Do the optional Haven combat and dodge-roll missions before you leave. Haven's creature difficulty is capped, so it is the safest place to learn the timing.
2. If your aim is the problem, change weapon or Special rather than looking for a settings toggle. Tab-targeting and homing come from weapon and skill choice.
3. If shots feel late, press F9 before blaming yourself. The 8.7.0 performance monitor shows ping, packet loss and server load with colour-blind-friendly blue, yellow and red indicators. A red Server light means the zone is struggling, not you.
4. Do not fight from ledges or holes. Since 8.7.0, creatures path, jump and climb to reach you, and melee attackers will close the distance.
5. Carry bandages and repair before long trips. Watch for the wrench icon, and right-click a tool to repair it (player report).
6. Hunt in a party. Since 8.6.0, /party invite forms a group, and the 8.7.0 sidebar shows everyone's health and wounds. The studio runs regular community hunts through its Discord.
7. Destroy Makers near your homestead early, before their spawns build up.
8. Leave the Corruption's Motherplants to groups. The studio describes clearing them as a cooperative task.