Welcome back to Your Week in New Eden. To coincide with patch notes and updates, this post is now updated on Tuesdays. Today, we have a pretty big launch of features for EVE Online so let’s get into it.
First things first, EVE Online has now been updated to version 18.11 as the latest patch went live after an extended downtime today. This patch makes live the changes that were proposed to specific supercarriers, the Wyvern and Aeon, as well as some fighter and general supercarrier changes:
- Wyvern and Aeon Fighter damage bonus increased from 5% to 7.5%
- Heavy Fighter Hit Points increased by 10%
- Light Fighter Speed reduced by 10%
- Light Fighter Signature increased by 10%
- Increase Supercarrier Ship Maintenance Bay capacity from 2,500,000 m³ to 5,000,000 m
The increase in the supercarrier Ship Maintenance Bay comes alone with in-space recloning, a feature that allowed fleetmates to reclone directly in space in the event of capsule destruction.
- Recloning requires the capsule pilot to have a “Nanoheuristic Clone Mapper” implant injected, and that a fleet-mate Super Carrier pilot provides a recloning site with an active Tactical Capsuleer Recloner module.
- On Capsule destruction, the Capsuleer will automatically reclone with a new capsule at the fleet’s closest active Tactical Capsuleer Recloner within the same solar system. The new capsule will spawn with 60 seconds of temporary invulnerability.
- Added a new tab “Active Recloners” to the fleet window that will show all fleet-mates providing recloning facilities
The recloner comes with a new module that can only be fit to supercarriers and its description is as follows:
- Requires different fuel types depending on which Supercarrier type fits the module. Each reclone event consumes 10 units of fuel. Fuel will be consumed from the fleet hangar and the cargo bay.
- Wyvern: Nitrogen Fuel Block
- Hel: Hydrogen Fuel Block
- Aeon, Revenant: Helium Fuel Block
- Nyx, Vendetta: Oxygen Fuel Block
- Blueprints for the module can be found at the same stations that provide Clone Vat Bay blueprints
To use a recloner, capsuleers must have a new implant injected prior to capsule-destruction. This “Nanoheuristic Clone Mapper” lasts for 6 hours and survives across capsule deaths. The blueprint is sourced from Navy LP stores around New Eden.
Most of the rest of the patch notes details the Dynamic Bounty System and changes to the Encounter Surveillance System. The most notable change from the patch notes is one that we’ve been patiently waiting for for a very long time: it is now possible to cancel an in-progress target lock. Time dilation fighters rejoice as one of the most annoying things in any large slugfest is now slightly less annoying. Thanks, CCP!
Next up, we have the Dynamic Frontiers update which is now live on Tranquility. For the last week or so, it has been on the Singularity server for testing and it seems a sufficient amount of testing was done to allow this update to go live. Unfortunately, neither the patch notes or the update detailing the changes gives us any of the required information such as what percentage of bounties go where. If this information was provided previously on a stream or through some other method, we at the New Eden Post missed it entirely and, frankly, I’m disappointed that it’s not detailed here.
An additional purpose for the Dynamic Bounties System is to make income generation from botting harder and give corp leaders, corp members, and sovereignty owners more tools to identify botting activities.
CCP Dopamine
One glaring piece of this update is the fact that this update is also designed to give players more tools to catch botters in their space. While every player (except for the players who bot) wants to see less bots in New Eden, I feel it’s pertinent to remind CCP that catching and punishing these offending players is your job. It is not the job of players to seek out bots and report them. Until there is some incentive other than a slew of successful report emails, I do not see this behavior changing any time soon.
Other than this, the Dynamic Frontiers Update post is just the two previous devblogs summarized and smashed together. You end up getting more information from the patch notes:
Dynamic Bounty System
- In Null Security Systems (High Security / Low Security / Wormhole / Triglavian systems excluded), system activity will now impact ratting payouts either positively or negatively.
- This multiplier will always be visible via the Star Map so that you can locate high-value solar systems in which to hunt pirates.
- This multiplier will be adjusting constantly based on what’s happening in the solar system: more ratting will drive bounties down, more Capsuleer losses will drive bounties up.
- For more information, please read the Dynamic Bounty System Dev Blog.
Encounter Surveillance System (ESS) Update
- The ESS is no longer optional and will be present by default in all claimable Null Security Space.
- The location of the ESS is public and sits behind an acceleration gate with specific ship class restrictions.
- Payouts from the ESS happens automatically for contributors.
- The new ESS will have a unique set of on-grid rules. These rules are in effect within a 75km radius around the structure, containing the following:
- Warping is disabled.
- Micro Jump Drives are disabled.
- Micro Warp Drives are disabled.
- Cloaking Devices are disabled.
- Cynosural Field activations are disabled.
- Filament activations are disabled.
- Deployables are prevented from launching.
- A percentage of bounties generated in the solar system will be delivered to the ESS Bank. The take will be split between two banks:
- The Main Bank – This is where the majority of the money goes. It pays out automatically every 3 hours to contributors, but can be stolen from at any time.
- The Reserve Bank – A smaller portion of each bounty is placed in the Reserve Bank where it sits until claimed; To claim the Reserve Bank, a consumable key is required to unlock it. These keys will be available via gameplay content at a later date.
- For more information, please read the Encounter Surveillance System Dev Blog.
The last thing to cover this week before we jump into the war update is the completion of construction on the Jita 4-4 station. After months of work, the City in the Sky is complete and my God is it beautiful. With the completion of construction, there is a new daily login event and a series of parades across highsec with challenges. Your daily rewards consist of Jita Celebration fireworks, SKINs and apparel.
PSA: You will need to update your bookmarks around the station and may need to update your insta-undocks as the size and position of the undocks (yes, with an S) has changes.
The update to this station is amazing. The art team has, once again, outdone themselves. Though there still needs to be some much-needed changes made to the core of EVE Online, it’s important to not bash the art team for it as they are not the ones that work on those things. You can, however, show them maximum amounts of love on their stream today at 15:00 EVE on the CCP Twitch channel.
And now, we move onto an update in World War Bee 2. Unfortunately, not much has happened this week with the exception of a few skirmishes over infrastructure hubs in Delve and more constellations reinforced. No specific battle reports were submitted to the site for review. However, a notable not-battle happened in 49-U6U, Querious, where PAPI forces reinforced the shield and subsequently the armor of the Imperium Keepstar there without contest. Though Imperium forces were mobilized, they were stood down in the presence of an overwhelming amount of supercapital forces from PAPI.
The updated map of Delve is as follows:
As you can see from the map, PAPI still holds a strong footprint in southeast Delve and are making progress towards the western side. However, the Imperium made the decision to restage their capital assets into the system of E3OI-U, effectively bottlenecking PAPI’s advance into the northwest area of the region. My guess is that, once the rest of Delve falls, the Imperium will leave out of their hideout in E3OI and evacuate to nearby lowsec. Time will tell, however, if this is the case.
Regardless, the hull timer for the 49-U6U Keepstar should be a spectacle to see. We are not expecting a fight (much like we weren’t expecting one for the armor timer) but will absolutely broadcast on our Twitch channel if one starts.
That’s it for this week, folks. Long update, lots of stuff to cover, and we’ll see you next week.
