Day of the Vara 2026: Vanduul Mask, Pumpkin Contest and Monster Paints

Arena Commander’s skeletons are back, and surviving two rounds earns a Vanduul mask. Day of the Vara 2956 has arrived with a second route to a permanent helmet, too: decorate a real pumpkin for the community contest and submit a qualifying entry before 9 November 2026 at 20:00 UTC.

The two rewards come from different activities. The Vanduul mask belongs to the Arena Commander challenge; The Hill Horror helmet is the participation reward for the pumpkin competition. You do not have to win the contest to receive that helmet, but an entry that misses its requirements will not qualify.

Two rounds against the skeletons

The seasonal Arena Commander activity brings skeletal opponents back into the fight. Its announcement specifies surviving two rounds for the Vanduul mask. It does not give a separate closing date or a detailed account-crediting timetable, so the pumpkin deadline below should not be used as an assumed deadline for this challenge.

A pumpkin earns The Hill Horror helmet

This year’s contest uses three classic monster themes: Frankenstein, vampires and werewolves. A real pumpkin can be carved, painted, or both. Star Citizen details are encouraged, but a well-made monster design can qualify without them. A ship silhouette, a faction emblem or an alien detail gives an entrant room to bring the game into the design without abandoning the chosen monster.

The important preparation happens before the finished photograph: record your process. At least one photograph or video showing how you made the pumpkin must accompany the submission. A polished final image alone is not enough.

1. Choose one of the three monster themes and use a real pumpkin.
2. Photograph or film the work in progress, then capture the finished piece.
3. Submit it to the Day of the Vara 2956 event on the Community Hub. A reply in the announcement’s Spectrum thread does not count.
4. Complete any corrections before 9 November at 20:00 UTC. Posts edited after the deadline will not be considered.

Multiple entries are allowed, with each unique pumpkin counted separately, but a participant can win only one prize. The participation helmet is also limited to one per account. Qualifying entries receive The Hill Horror after the contest ends; it is permanently attributed to the account.

Let the carving and lighting do the work

Decorations, staging and lighting can be part of the photograph. Image post-processing and special or after-effects cannot. Submissions using or featuring AI are excluded. That makes a practical difference when preparing an entry: build the effect around the pumpkin rather than adding it to the image afterwards.

Judging considers workmanship, creativity and adherence to the rules. Clean cuts and careful paintwork matter, as does a distinctive idea. Star Citizen references can strengthen the creative side of an entry, but they cannot rescue a missing process photograph or an ineligible submission.

What the three category winners receive

One winner from each monster category can choose from three ship prizes, each supplied with lifetime insurance, its accompanying themed paint and a mask bundle:

• Drake Vulture with Frankenstein paint.
• Kruger L-22 Alpha Wolf with Werewolf paint.
• Aegis Eclipse with Vampire paint.

These contest prizes are non-giftable and non-upgradable. They are winner rewards, separate from the helmet awarded to every qualifying entrant.

Three monsters across the fleet

The seasonal paint lineup carries the same Frankenstein, vampire and werewolf theme across the Vulture, Eclipse and Kruger Wolf family, alongside returning finishes. The artwork below shows the new seasonal treatment; paint is a cosmetic change, not a new ship variant or a performance upgrade.

For the story behind the black-and-green celebration, our existing Day of the Vara lore feature follows the lost exploration ship and the haunted reputation of Hades. This year’s event adds something more immediate: a reason to face Arena Commander’s dead, or spend an evening turning a pumpkin into something suitably unpleasant.