Star Citizen's IAE 2956 FAQ is up: 48-hour rentals, six limited-ship waves, and the Prospector goes to $175

Three days out, and the IAE rulebook just dropped. BigTO-CIG posted the IAE 2956 “Choose Your Adventure” FAQ on Spectrum this afternoon (it’s on the Devtracker too). We already had the dates and manufacturer days. This one fills in the stuff you actually need to plan around: rental rules, limited-ship timing, and one price change worth knowing about.

Doors, Free Fly and getting to Tobin

IAE opens November 13 at 16:00 UTC (11 a.m. ET) and runs through November 27, with Free Fly starting at the same moment. New players pick Stanton and New Babbage as home, then it’s the Metroloop over to Tobin Expo Center. If you’re flying in, land at the New Babbage spaceport and follow the signs. CIG says every account gets an RSI Aurora Mk II for the event, pulled from any ASOP terminal, so nobody’s stuck on foot on microTech.

Rentals: 48 hours, once per ship

This is the big one for planning. Rent at the Traveler Rentals terminals in the main hall during that ship’s manufacturer day, and you keep it for 48 hours. You can rent every flyable or drivable vehicle on display, plus some that aren’t on the floor, but each vehicle can only be rented once. So don’t burn your Idris rental on a ten-minute joyride. The four Best in Show ships (Perseus, M80, Corsair and Ironclad Assault) are free to fly from November 22 to 27.

Limited ships drop in six waves

Stock-limited ships are one per account, released in six waves. In Eastern time that’s 11 a.m., 3 p.m., 7 p.m., 11 p.m., 3 a.m. and 7 a.m. The schedule:

• Nov. 14: Origin 890 Jump
• Nov. 17: Drake Kraken and Kraken Privateer
• Nov. 18: Consolidated Outland Pioneer
• Nov. 20: Aegis Idris-P and Javelin

Best in Show paints and the Prospector bump

If you own one of the Best in Show hulls, the exclusive livery, coin and coin case show up after IAE ends, free, but only if that exact ship (not a variant) is active in your hangar, not sitting in buyback. Melt it first and you lose it. The Perseus, as champ, also gets a bomber jacket. And heads up, miners: the MISC Prospector goes from $155 to $175 on MISC Day. Twitch Drops are back as well, with two, four and six hours of watching unlocking the Venture undersuit, armor and a MacFlex backpack.

PPR take: This is the FAQ I actually read every year, and the 48-hour, once-per-ship rental rule is the line that matters. Plan your big rentals for when you can actually sit down and crew them, especially Aegis day with the Idris-P. The Aurora for every account is a nice touch for new folks too…nobody wants to start IAE hoofing it through the snow. The wave times are friendlier than usual for us on the East Coast, with three of them landing between 11 a.m. and 7 p.m. The Prospector going up $20 stings a little, but CIG gave a clear heads-up, so if it’s been on your list, grab it before MISC Day. And read that Best in Show fine print. Check your hangar before you melt anything. o7