Picture 16 troopers scrambling to reinforce a base perimeter while a walking tank the size of a small building opens up with twin shoulder cannons on a wave of incoming arachnids. That's the new reality in Starship Troopers: Extermination with the arrival of Patch 1.10, the first major update of 2026 from developer Offworld and publisher Knights Peak.
Meet the Marauder M-11E Babar
The headline addition is the Marauder M-11E Babar, and it is exactly the kind of ridiculous, satisfying hardware that a bug-stomping co-op shooter deserves. Armed with a rotary cannon, an auto-howitzer, and twin smoothbore cannons mounted on its shoulders, the Babar is the biggest piece of equipment Extermination players have had access to yet.
Here's the thing, though: piloting one isn't a guaranteed power trip. The mech carries limited ammo and moves slowly enough that a coordinated arachnid swarm can overwhelm it without Trooper support. That trade-off is smart design. It turns the Babar into a team asset rather than a solo win button.
Currently, the mech only appears via a randomly triggered mutator during matches. Offworld has confirmed that new methods of earning access to the Babar are in the pipeline, so this is very much the beginning of the mech's role in the game rather than the full picture.
Hope's Retreat and the TW-7 Liberator
Patch 1.10 also drops a brand-new battlefield: Hope's Retreat, a ruined Federation settlement on the planet Valaka. The location brings a fresh base-building zone and a set of new missions, giving squads a new environment to fortify and defend.
Tagging along with the new map is the TW-7 Liberator, a powerful revolver that rounds out the weapon roster. It's a sidearm with enough punch to feel meaningful, though the Babar will understandably steal most of the attention this patch.
danger
Bug holes are now significantly more vulnerable to fire, napalm, demolition, and explosives damage. If your squad has been sleeping on those damage types, Patch 1.10 is a good time to reconsider loadouts.
Smarter bugs and a harder fight
Offworld hasn't just handed players a giant mech and called it a day. The arachnids have gotten sharper too. Instead of sending random trickles of bugs at players throughout a match, the AI now identifies isolated Troopers and hits them with sudden, concentrated waves. According to Offworld, this ambush rework is "the start of major steps" toward increasing the baseline difficulty of a typical match, designed to keep pressure varied and constant rather than predictable.
Tac fighter airstrikes also got a tuning pass. They're now more likely to lock onto high-value bug targets and less likely to accidentally shred your squadmates, which anyone who has called in air support near a chokepoint will appreciate.
Hope's Retreat on planet Valaka
What this means for returning players
Extermination has been building steadily since its 2024 launch, adding Helldivers 2-style airstrikes and a string of content drops that have meaningfully expanded the game. Patch 1.10 feels like the update that tips the scale from "worth revisiting" to "worth staying."
The Babar alone changes how squads need to think about positioning and support roles. Pair that with smarter ambush patterns and more destructible bug holes, and matches should play out with noticeably more tension than before. For the full breakdown of balance changes and bug fixes, the official patch notes cover everything in detail. Offworld has signaled this is just the beginning of a wider difficulty overhaul, so expect the arachnid menace to keep evolving. Make sure to check out more:
