Heatleech Infestations
By korodic
Community Rating
You should inspect your ship for heatleeches… because now it can actually happen!
They’ll cause plenty of havoc if left unchecked. There is a chance that a heatleech infestation will damage the reactor, shield systems, and/or generally make the ship take longer to repair. It gets worse depending on the severity of the infestation.
Actions have consequences. Deploying of the aceles will lower the infection chance. Deploying of the microbe will significantly lower infection chance. If configured in game options, deploying of the microbe can also make your ship immune from heatleech infestations.
If your ship becomes infested, a ship services technician can now inspect your ship for heatleeches and remove the infestation. How much it costs depends on the severity of the infestation. Alternatively, you can try to exterminate them yourself; once all heatleeches are dead, there is a small chance the infestation is removed, configurable in game options.
Release notes
Xbox
-
1.4* Added support for Free Lanes (Anchorpoint) ship vendor.
* Updated Game Options descriptions and label. -
1.3.2* Bug fix: The OnLanding event no longer triggers multiple times for the same landing. This event used to trigger when exiting an interior, changing home ships, modifying a ship, or actually landing (expected). Same for OnBoarding event. These would cause heatleeches to have unexpected additional spawning opportunities.
-
1.3.1* Bug fix: Logical off by 1 error resulting in occasional failure to remove heatleech infestation by extermination (extermination was added in v1.3 update).
-
1.3* New feature: The player now has a chance to clear an infestation manually by eliminating all heatleeches onboard the player's home ship. The chance is configurable using the new game option "Heatleech Infestations - Extermination Chance", which has a default of 6% chance to clear the infestation.
* Bug fix: Game option "Heatleech Infestations - Infestation Chance" had options which were mislabeled, it was actually in increments of 2%. The setting options labels now reflect the real values. -
1.2* Changed behavior of infestation; infestations will no longer be possible when undocking from another player-owned ship. This is done to support a potential for increased interactions with other player owned ships/stations/etc for future content, such as Fleet Commander (be sure to check out Fleet Commander on Creations!).
* Changed behavior of infestation; as some people correctly pointed out, the microbe is not necessarily wiping out all heatleeches and terrormorphs outright. Instead of making your ship immune to infestation as a result of choosing the microbe, infestation chance is reduced significantly - even more so than the aceles. -
1.1* Bug fix: Added condition to confirm Heatleech infestation when applying debuffs.
* Changed behavior of Heatleech pacification; instead of attempting to stop combat between the player and Heatleeches, it will now disable Heatleeches while the player is actively piloting the ship. This should prevent potential issues while trying to fast travel/land.
* Changed game option name from "Heatleech Infestations - Max Heatleeches Per Infestation Level" to "Heatleech Infestations - Max Heatleeches/Infestation" to fit text on screen. -
1.00Initial release.
Playstation
-
1.4* Added support for Free Lanes (Anchorpoint) ship vendor.
* Updated Game Options descriptions and label.
PC
-
1.4* Added support for Free Lanes (Anchorpoint) ship vendor.
* Updated Game Options descriptions and label. -
1.3.2* Bug fix: The OnLanding event no longer triggers multiple times for the same landing. This event used to trigger when exiting an interior, changing home ships, modifying a ship, or actually landing (expected). Same for OnBoarding event. These would cause heatleeches to have unexpected additional spawning opportunities.
-
1.3.1* Bug fix: Logical off by 1 error resulting in occasional failure to remove heatleech infestation by extermination (extermination was added in v1.3 update).
-
1.3* New feature: The player now has a chance to clear an infestation manually by eliminating all heatleeches onboard the player's home ship. The chance is configurable using the new game option "Heatleech Infestations - Extermination Chance", which has a default of 6% chance to clear the infestation.
* Bug fix: Game option "Heatleech Infestations - Infestation Chance" had options which were mislabeled, it was actually in increments of 2%. The setting options labels now reflect the real values. -
1.2* Changed behavior of infestation; infestations will no longer be possible when undocking from another player-owned ship. This is done to support a potential for increased interactions with other player owned ships/stations/etc for future content, such as Fleet Commander (be sure to check out Fleet Commander on Creations!).
* Changed behavior of infestation; as some people correctly pointed out, the microbe is not necessarily wiping out all heatleeches and terrormorphs outright. Instead of making your ship immune to infestation as a result of choosing the microbe, infestation chance is reduced significantly - even more so than the aceles. -
1.1* Bug fix: Added condition to confirm Heatleech infestation when applying debuffs.
* Changed behavior of Heatleech pacification; instead of attempting to stop combat between the player and Heatleeches, it will now disable Heatleeches while the player is actively piloting the ship. This should prevent potential issues while trying to fast travel/land.
* Changed game option name from "Heatleech Infestations - Max Heatleeches Per Infestation Level" to "Heatleech Infestations - Max Heatleeches/Infestation" to fit text on screen. -
1.00Initial release.
User Reviews (1)
A cheap mod that adds a welcome addition to space travel. It's customizable with how big or small you want an infestation to be, how often, and whether partaking in the Vanguard questline affects the fate of these nasty vermin. It fits well with the lore and worldbuilding of Starfield, so much so, it feels like an actual part of the game in my experience. It's a great price for a mod that adds a good level of immersion. And, let's be real, whacking heatleeches with whatever you got will always be fun and chaotic.
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- Published
- Sep 17, 2024
- Last Updated
- Apr 14, 2026
- Platforms
- Playstation, PC, Xbox
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