Greetings expansion enjoyers!
The Cradle of War expansion is arriving next week on Tuesday, 9 June at 11:00 UTC! We are delivering the patch notes early so you can absorb everything that's coming. We invite you to join the player discussion about the content of this release on the EVE Online Discord and the EVE Online Forums.
Expansion Notes 24.01 - EVE Online: Cradle of War
Starter Space: Exordium
The previously introduced 53 new systems and their associated region, Exordium, is now fully operational as New Eden’s new starting region, and construction of the Manifest V - AIR Laboratories Trade Center has been completed.
All newly created capsuleers will now begin their journey in this starter region, where they will have access to introductory missions, career agents, exploration opportunities, and cooperative activities designed to introduce EVE's core gameplay systems.
Players can continue their progress within Exordium or opt to venture into the wider cluster through the stargate connecting the Exordium hub system of Manifest with Yulai.
As a reminder, systems within Exordium have a dedicated 1.0 security class designed to prevent all forms of PvP.
Within Exordium:
Safety settings are permanently locked to green.
War Declarations and Factional Warfare combat are disabled.
Duels cannot be initiated.
Killrights cannot be activated.
Characters with combat flags such as suspect, criminal, and limited engagements cannot jump into Exordium or undock within the region until their timer expires.
Players cannot freely attack other capsuleers.
Upwell Structures cannot be deployed.
Deployables and anchored containers cannot be placed.
Starter Space Economic Balancing
Exordium is intended as a starting environment for new capsuleers. Economic activities within the region have reduced payouts compared to standard highsec space.
Mission ISK rewards, LP rewards, and NPC bounties reduced by 20%.
Additional 5% market fees added to non-instant orders.
Industry installation fees increased by 5% for manufacturing , material efficiency research, time efficiency research and invention.
Ores found within Exordium are of a new “Grade 0” type with lower mineral yield than their standard variants.
Exploration sites within Exordium contain distinct loot tables with lower value loot and items optimized for new players.
Homefront Operations within Exordium have reduced difficulty, as well as reduced rewards.
Agents & Mission Content within Exordium
Exordium includes a broad range of empire-aligned agents designed to introduce new players to mission running, mining, security gameplay, and faction identity.
The following agents are now available for interactions:
Level 1 and Level 2 Security agents.
Level 1 and Level 2 Mining agents.
Sisters of EVE agents.
Paragon agents.
Shipcasters
The empire shipcaster network within Exordium is now active.
After completing their initial onboarding experience, new capsuleers can use shipcasters located within the empire embassy constellations to travel directly to their chosen empire's high-security space. These shipcasters provide a faster path into New Eden and are intended to help players begin exploring the wider universe and connect with their preferred faction. The shipcasters provide a one-time use, one-way travel, from Exordium into empire space.
The four shipcasters are:
State Rookie Shipcaster:
Tatrys to Onnamon
Federation Rookie Shipcaster:
Mondaekus to Intaki
Republic Rookie Shipcaster:
Dettisolin to Amo
Imperial Rookie Shipcaster:
Ichorah to Mehatoor
Military Campaigns
Military Campaigns are a new type of time-limited content where capsuleers can come to the assistance of each of the four empires as they pursue their goals which will have a lasting impact on New Eden.
Each empire has its own campaign which will lead to different changes in the universe upon its success or failure - it’s up to the capsuleers to come together and help their chosen empire.
Each campaign will have a total of 44 objectives that capsuleers can contribute to, initially starting with only two objectives available and the other 42 becoming available over time. For a campaign to be successful, capsuleers must complete at least 30 objectives.
Your individual contribution to a given objective and its overall progress are tracked separately. As an individual, every valid contribution will yield rewards that can be claimed directly from the campaign's dashboard. These rewards include ISK, loyalty points (LP) and standings gains. The LP gained will either be with your empire’s faction militia if it's a PvP objective or the empire’s Navy if it's a PvE objective. Additionally, the standings gain is always with the Empire itself and does not include any derived standings loss.
As we designed and balanced this feature, our initial intention is that these objective rewards are not the main purpose or motivation to participate, but rather an added bonus to encourage capsuleers to join together in helping their empire achieve their goals.
Limited Time Campaign Content
With the introduction of the first military campaigns comes new campaign content which will persist through the duration of the Cradle of War expansion. This includes both new content in the existing Factional Warfare warzones, as well as new content which will spawn in newly designated highsec Bulwark systems.
Bulwark Systems are high-security systems that are not directly part of the warzone and cannot be captured or influenced. They represent strategically significant high security systems that are neighbouring or close to the warzone and include the faction's War HQ and shipcaster. Additional content that is relevant to each faction's ambitions and military campaigns will appear here.
Bulwark systems can be found on the world map factional warfare filter under warzone status and are visible on the factional warfare dashboard map.
Limited Time FW Complexes
These complexes will partially or completely take the place of similar existing sized complexes for the duration of the Cradle of War expansion. They have slightly better rewards for their size and provide far more victory points (VP).
In general, we are increasing the amount of VP that can be earned per hour, especially in specific systems, by increasing the amount of static complexes and reducing the number of roaming ones.
FW Complex site for Battlecruisers and smaller
Moderate NVY-3
A new 3 person complex which spawns exclusively in frontlines. This site awards a very large amount of VP but has a slower respawn time.
Allows Navy Battlecruisers and below to enter. The first ‘Moderate’ sized complex.
Features a unique effect inside the capture point room which improves the skill bonuses per level of all Battlecruiser hulls by 20% - i.e. if you have the Battlecruiser skill trained to level V, it functionally gives you hull bonuses as if you had Battlecruiser trained to level VI!
Static complex.
15 minute capture timer.
40 minute respawn time.
35,000 LP Base (52,500 LP in a Frontline before suppression bonuses).
600 Victory Points.
The Medium NVY-3 and Medium ADV-3 complexes will no longer be spawning in frontline systems for the duration that this complex is spawning.
FW Complex for T3 Destroyers and smaller with wild effects
Contested Field Research Facility
A new 10 person complex which spawns exclusively in frontline systems. This site has a unique twist where there will be random effects applied to all players inside. There are 20 effects total, of which 3 will be applied.
Some examples include setting all players lock ranges to 30km no matter what, or polarized resistances: setting them all to zero! You can also find bonuses to specific turret types and increasing web range but reducing web strength.
Almost 400 unique combinations of random effects.
The first “Elite” tech restriction complex - All ships of the size including T3s can enter.
Allows T3 Destroyers and below to enter.
Roaming complex.
10 minute capture timer.
1 hour respawn time.
30,000 LP Base (45,000 LP in a Frontline before suppression bonuses).
300 Victory Points.
The Small NVY-2 and Small ADV-2 complexes will no longer be spawning in frontline systems for the duration that this complex is spawning.
FW Complex for Interceptors
Small Interceptor -1
A new complex which spawns exclusively in Command Operations systems. This site only allows Interceptors to enter. Despite being in a Command Ops, it pays out as well as similar sized plexes in Frontlines!
Static complex.
10 minute capture timer.
40 minute respawn time.
25,000 LP Base.
150 Victory Points.
The Small ADV-1 complex will no longer be spawning in command ops systems for the duration that this complex is spawning.
FW Complex for Tech 1 Frigates
Scout BSC-1
A new 1 person complex which spawns exclusively in frontlines.
Allows Tech 1 attack and combat frigates to enter.
5 minute capture timer instead of 10 minutes, with a faster respawn time of 10 minutes.
NPCs guarding the complex spawn twice as frequently, and are far more likely to have warp disruptors, keeping the level of danger just as high despite the lower capture time.
7,500 LP Base (11,250 LP in a Frontline before suppression bonuses).
50 Victory Points.
The regular Scout NVY-1 complex will no longer be static and now has a much lower chance to spawn while the Scout BSC-1 is spawning. No more than 1 Scout NVY-1 will be able to spawn in a single system to keep complex counts low.
Limited Time Mining Anomalies
New mining anomalies can be found in each faction's highsec Bulwark systems:
Amarr Bulwark - Imperial Raspite Reserve.
Caldari Bulwark - State Polycrase Reserve.
Gallente Bulwark - Federal Moissanite Reserve.
Minmatar Bulwark - Republic Kangite Reserve.
These anomalies can be seen on the world map anywhere in New Eden by going to the Bulwark Mining site filter.
These new ores will give players similar minerals when reprocessed as if they had been mining regular Scordite ore, but additionally, will also provide a new resource in the form of crystalline faction minerals. These minerals can be turned in at item traders which can all be found outside each faction's Navy Anchorage Station which were added during the Shadow War event. These stations are all present in each faction's War HQ shipcaster system.
Amarr - Mehatoor - Amarr Navy Anchorage.
Caldari - Onnamon - Caldari Navy Anchorage.
Gallente - Intaki - Federation Navy Anchorage.
Minmatar - Amo - Republic Fleet Anchorage.
These item traders will provide players with boosters, new faction modules, SKINs and SKINR components for the duration of the Cradle of War expansion.
Limited Time Hacking Sites
New hacking sites will start appearing in Bulwark systems belonging to the enemy faction, based on the data sites from the Shadow War campaign.
Amarr Bulwark - Republic Intelligence Exfil.
Caldari Bulwark - Federal Intelligence Exfil.
Gallente Bulwark - State Intelligence Exfil.
Minmatar Bulwark - Imperial Intelligence Exfil.
Hack exfiltration containers to shut them down and receive rewards such as boosters, Navy Scanning Upgrade blueprintes, new Penumbral Shadows SKINs, SKINR components and more.
These hacking sites have Scout NVY restrictions, so only navy and T1 frigates can enter.
Activating the acceleration gate to enter the site will give all capsuleers a suspect timer! So beware.
There are hostile NPCs guarding the site, and it is recommended to bring a navy exploration frigate fit for combat and hacking.
Shipcaster HQ Anchorage Stations
Level 1 through 4 security agents have been added to the following anchorage stations which were built during the Shadow War campaign. Level 1 Mining and Level 1 Distribution agents have also been added:
Amarr - Mehatoor III - Amarr Navy Anchorage.
Caldari - Onnamon VII - Caldari Navy Anchorage.
Gallente - Intaki V (Intaki Prime) - Federation Navy Anchorage.
Minmatar - Amo III - Republic Fleet Anchorage.
Changes to Existing Factional Warfare Content
🤝 Factional Warfare (FW) and Insurgency Complexes now have a subheader separating them from regular combat sites in the right click warp to menu in space.
🤝 Factional Warfare and Insurgency Complexes now have their own group in the probe scanner window, so sorting the group column makes it easier to see all the complexes in the system.
Existing FW Plexes
🤝 Spawns from the occupying faction will now undock from the capture point structures, rather than warping in.
Tightened the leash range on how far FW NPCs should venture off the capture point. They will now orbit the control points much more closely.
FW NPCs should now, in general, be more aggressive to player ships, targeting them more frequently.
Supply Depots and Supply Caches
NPCs guarding these objectives now have omni resistance profiles similar to NPCs found in FW Complexes.
60% resistances for primary tank.
40% resistances for off-tank type.
0% resistances for structure.
Adjusted the aggro range on the NPCs guarding the objectives so that they can no longer be safely shot at 100km+ by sniper ships without the NPCs responding.
Frigate NPCs have been adjusted to be faster so they are more threatening to glass cannon sniper ships attempting to complete the objectives while ignoring the NPCs. Signature radius of the frigates has also been adjusted so they aren’t made harder to track.
Maximum Velocity increased from 2500m/s to 4000m/s.
Signature Radius increased from 40m to 80m.
All supply depots/caches now use omni resistance profiles similar to NPCs found in FW complexes.
Minmatar Supply depot/cache HP values rebalanced to be similar to other factions now they have higher shield resistances.
Armor HP reduced from 20,000 to 10,000.
Shield HP increased from 20,000 to 30,000.
Rendezvous Points
NPCs now use uniform resistance profiles similar to those found in other FW content.
NPCs now warp in faster when the previous wave of NPCs were killed.
Listening Post and Propaganda Beacons
NPCs now use uniform resistance profiles similar to those found in other FW content.
Increased the time for NPCs to respawn between waves so that they will be a bit faster to complete.
Small NVY-1 Complex
This is now is a static complex again (i.e. always respawns in the same system after being completed) rather than a roaming complex.
Battlefields
The resistances of all NPCs in battlefields has been set to the typical omni-resist profiles found by FW NPCs in other complexes
Rebalanced the payout structure of battlefield sites to help combat seagulling.
LP Payout has been reduced from 150,000 LP to 50,000 LP
The removed LP value of rewards has been placed inside NPC freighters which will now spawn on the control points as each faction progresses the site. These freighters will contain FW ‘blue loot’ that can be sold at militia NPC stations for ISK, a new token which can be used in combination with LP and ISK to buy multiple run navy ship blueprint offers. Additionally, they will also now contain boosters, new faction modules, SKINs and SKINR components for the Cradle of War expansion.
Freighter wrecks have a 20km warp disruption radius around them which prevents warping. Making them dangerous for seagulls to ninja loot.
By shifting most of the rewards to lootable items, we hope that this will solve the majority of seagulling complaints, as now the group doing the work on the control points and killing the NPCs will be able to collect the majority of the rewards from the site. The fleet/players who do the most damage to the Hauler NPCs will get the usual rights to loot them. Any seagulls attempting to ninja loot these wrecks will face a suspect timer and the disruption radius around the wrecks means that they have a chance to be killed.
At the same time, the remaining 50,000 LP of rewards still feels good to new players and players not in a group who are just trying to help out their faction while not being part of the dominant force inside the complex. Seagulls relying on this payment will now only get 1/3rd of the rewards from before. We hope that this drastic loss in payment for seagulls will also cause many of them to find other more efficient activities instead.
FW Missions
Reduced the hitpoints on FW mission haulers by 50%.
Changes to Existing Insurgency Content
Insurgency Mining Ambush ADV-10
Increased the number of NPCs which need to be killed to complete the site by approximately 50%.
Sites will no longer spawn in high security space so they can no longer be completed by neutral characters un-enrolled in FW for either side.
Insurgency Sites
All 1-man sites now provide double the amount of standings when captured for empire and pirate militia corporations. This is to help pirates gain promotions more easily as they do not have FW missions. The standing gains for multiple payout sites remains the same.
Tightened the leash range on how far Insurgency NPCs should venture off the capture point. They will now orbit the control points much more closely.
Roaming Pirate / Enforcer NPCs
The regular roaming spawns that start at corruption and suppression levels 4 and 5 will no longer visit stargates. Only the Corruption 2 and Corruption & Suppression 3 spawns will now visit Stargates.
The Counter-Insurgency Sentry Guns from Suppression 5 will no longer get built around stargates. They will now be built in asteroid belts and at highsec ore anomalies instead.
Note: Existing sentry guns from pirate insurgencies before Cradle of War will remain around stargates until they naturally decay or are destroyed.
Pirate FOBs
Reduced the tethering range on the pirate FOBs from 50km to 30km.
Changes to Corp Enlistment in Factional Warfare to combat Awoxing
As we mentioned in the Standings & Awoxing Update Dev Blog from March, we’re making some adjustments to shut down loop holes that players are using to team kill (aka "Awox") their own faction in factional warfare.
When a corporation applies to join Factional Warfare, all characters in that corporation now need to be above -5.0 standings to the faction they are attempting to enlist with.
If any member is below -5.0 at time of application, those members will be listed, and the corporation can choose to kick those characters from the corporation if they want to continue with enlistment, or apply again at a later date once those characters fix their standings.
This closes a loophole where players would constantly create brand new corporations to get around the existing corporation standing requirements, awox for a week, and then create another corporation.
When a character tries to join an already enlisted player corporation, they will now need to be above -5.0 standings to the faction in order to be accepted into the corporation.
If a character ever falls below -5.0 standings while being in a corporation or an alliance enlisted with FW, they will be issued with a warning at downtime, and then in 24 hours if their standings have not been fixed, they will be removed from the player corporation.
Note: If the player is the CEO of the corporation, or a CEO in a Corporation in an Alliance, then we kick the entire corporation or alliance from FW instead.
The overall 0.00 standing requirements for corps and alliances still needs to be maintained.
Heraldry
To celebrate the launch of Cradle of War a special set of login rewards will be available each day that players log into the game for the first 17 days after the expansion launches.
Achievements
Achievements are coming to EVE Online! The new Achievements window can be found in the Neocom under Paragon Services.
The main overview page will show recently progressed Achievements along with any that have been recently completed. In the side navigation bar you can select between Achievement categories each with their own initial set of Achievements.
Achievements can have multiple milestones that can be progressed, with each of them able to provide their own rewards, including Skill Points, Titles, and SKINs, with more reward types coming in the future. Completing Achievements (non time-limited) will also provide the player with an Achievement Score.
Achievements can be Tracked, which will keep them in the HUD to keep an eye on progress, and can also be added to a Pinned section to keep an eye on any specific ones.
Titles
You can now equip titles that will appear by your capsuleer's name in various places throughout the UI and are visible to others. Titles are displayed in a character's Show Info window and can be seen by hovering your mouse cursor over a capsuleer's name in chat windows, station guest listings, and the overview if you select another capsuleer while out in space.
The title to be displayed for your character can be equipped from the new Titles tab in the Decorations section of the Character Sheet. Unearned titles are also shown there and if you see a title you like and want to know how to obtain it there will be a button that takes you to the specific Achievement that grants it.
New Ships
Navy Destroyers
The four new navy destroyers, Dragoon Navy issue, Corax Navy Issue, Algos Navy Issue, and Talwar Fleet Issue are now available in FW militia LP stores. These ships were available for a limited time before the Cradle of War expansion through the Capsuleer Day XXIII reward track and their stats can be found here: Patch Notes - Version 23.02 | EVE Online
Command Carriers
The Cradle of War expansion brings four new capital-scale command platforms, built to become the core around which major fleets operate. Command destroyers serve small engagements. Command ships anchor mid-sized fleets. Command carriers are the next step: flagships designed to project powerful fleet support into some of the most consequential fights in EVE Online.
Command carriers specialize in utility over raw damage. Each hull can fit up to three Command Burst modules and brings the strongest boosts available in the game, amplifying fleet performance through armor, shield, skirmish, and information effects. They also improve on the support fighter role of Tech I carriers, offering greater range and effectiveness, with up to four flights of support fighters for control, disruption, and battlefield command.
Caldari Command Carrier: Simurgh
Simurgh: Skill Bonuses
Caldari Carrier bonuses (per skill level):
4% bonus to all shield resistances
20% bonus to Support Fighter Shield Hitpoints
10% bonus to Scarab Support Fighter ECM strength and optimal range
20% increase in Conduit Jump capacity
Command Carriers bonuses (per skill level)
5% bonus to Shield Command and Information Command burst strength and duration
5% reduction in Capital Micro Jump Drive and Capital Micro Jump Field Generator spool up
Role Bonuses
Can fit Integrated Sensor Array
Can fit Capital Micro Jump Drive and Capital Micro Jump Field Generator
Can fit three command burst modules
200% bonus to Command Burst area of effect range
20% bonus to Capital Micro Jump Field Generator maximum ship jump cap
Can launch Light and Support Fighters
Can lock at Extended ranges
Conduit Jump Capable
5x penalty to Entosis link duration
Slot Layout
6 High Power Slots
8 Medium Power Slots
4 Low power Slots
2 X-Large Rig Slots
Fighter Tubes
4 Fighter Tubes
4 Support Fighter Limit
2 Light Fighter Limit
Ship Hold Capacity
Cargo Bay - 3,310m3
Fleet Hanger - 10,000m3
Ship Maintenance Bay - 2,000,000m3
Fuel Bay - 7,500m3
Maximum Jump Range
3.75ly
Amarr Command Carrier: Salvation
Salvation: Skill Bonuses
Amarr Carrier bonuses (per skill level):
4% bonus to all armor resistances
20% bonus to Support Fighter Shield Hitpoints
10% bonus to Cenobite Support Fighter Neutralization strength and optimal range
20% increase in Conduit Jump capacity
Command Carriers bonuses (per skill level)
5% bonus to Armored Command and Information Command burst strength and duration
5% reduction in Capital Micro Jump Drive and Capital Micro Jump Field Generator spool up
Role Bonuses
Can fit Integrated Sensor Array
Can fit Capital Micro Jump Drive and Capital Micro Jump Field Generator
Can fit three command burst modules
200% bonus to Command Burst area of effect range
20% bonus to Capital Micro Jump Field Generator maximum ship jump cap
Can launch Light and Support Fighters
Can lock at Extended ranges
Conduit Jump Capable
5x penalty to Entosis link duration
Slot Layout
6 High Power Slots
4 Medium Power Slots
8 Low power Slots
2 X-Large Rig Slots
Fighter Tubes
4 Fighter Tubes
4 Support Fighter Limit
2 Light Fighter Limit
Ship Hold Capacity
Cargo Bay - 2,925m3
Fleet Hanger - 10,000m3
Ship Maintenance Bay - 2,000,000m3
Fuel Bay - 7,500m3
Maximum Jump Range
3.75ly
Gallente Command Carrier: Gaia
Gaia: Skill Bonuses
Gallente Carrier bonuses (per skill level):
30% bonus to Support Fighter Shield Hitpoints
10% bonus to Siren Support Fighter warp disruption range
10% bonus to Siren Support Fighter Afterburner speed bonus
20% increase in Conduit Jump capacity
Command Carriers bonuses (per skill level)
5% bonus to Armored Command and Skirmish Command burst strength and duration
5% reduction in Capital Micro Jump Drive and Capital Micro Jump Field Generator spool up
Role Bonuses
Can fit Integrated Sensor Array
Can fit Capital Micro Jump Drive and Capital Micro Jump Field Generator
Can fit three command burst modules
200% bonus to Command Burst area of effect range
20% bonus to Capital Micro Jump Field Generator maximum ship jump cap
Can launch Light and Support Fighters
Can lock at Extended ranges
Conduit Jump Capable
5x penalty to Entosis link duration
Slot Layout
6 High Power Slots
5 Medium Power Slots
7 Low power Slots
2 X-Large Rig Slots
Fighter Tubes
4 Fighter Tubes
4 Support Fighter Limit
2 Light Fighter Limit
Ship Hold Capacity
Cargo Bay - 3,625m3
Fleet Hanger - 10,000m3
Ship Maintenance Bay - 2,000,000m3
Fuel Bay - 7,500m3
Maximum Jump Range
3.75ly
Minmatar Command Carrier: Ymir
Ymir: Skill Bonuses
Minmatar Carrier bonuses (per skill level):
10% bonus to Support Fighter Velocity
20% bonus to Support Fighter Shield Hitpoints
10% bonus to Dromi Support Fighter stasis webification strength and range
20% increase in Conduit Jump capacity
Command Carriers bonuses (per skill level)
5% bonus to Shield Command and Skirmish Command burst strength and duration
5% reduction in Capital Micro Jump Drive and Capital Micro Jump Field Generator spool up
Role Bonuses
Can fit Integrated Sensor Array
Can fit Capital Micro Jump Drive and Capital Micro Jump Field Generator
Can fit three command burst modules
200% bonus to Command Burst area of effect range
20% bonus to Capital Micro Jump Field Generator maximum ship jump cap
Can launch Light and Support Fighters
Can lock at Extended ranges
Conduit Jump Capable
5x penalty to Entosis link duration
Slot Layout
6 High Power Slots
7 Medium Power Slots
5 Low power Slots
2 X-Large Rig Slots
Fighter Tubes
4 Fighter Tubes
4 Support Fighter Limit
2 Light Fighter Limit
Ship Hold Capacity
Cargo Bay - 3,775m3
Fleet Hanger - 10,000m3
Ship Maintenance Bay - 2,000,000m3
Fuel Bay - 7,500m3
Maximum Jump Range
3.75ly
Carrier Changes
Reduced the Jump Portal Generation level requirements for the Capital Jump Portal Generation skill to 3, down from 5.
Fighters
Tech II Fighters will now require and benefit from Fighter Specialization skills.
New Rewards
MODULES
The following new modules will drop from battlefield hauler NPCs and can be traded for using resources gained from mining in Bulwark systems by handing those resources to item traders in each factions War HQ.
Faction Guidance Enhancers and Computers for both Caldari Navy and Republic Fleet.
New Heat Sinks and Magnetic Field Stabilizers which boost both turret and drone damage, based on the C3-A and C3-X Ballistic control systems from Amarr and Gallente.
Large Remote Repair modules for all factions.
New prototype ‘Pluto’ excavators which have reduced yield but lower waste and a new small faction web drone for Gallente.
An upgraded mining survey chipset for Minmatar.
Imperial Navy tracking enhancer which also reduces the activation cost for lasers for Amarr.
Upgraded Signal Dispersion Amplifier for Caldari.
SKINS
New Penumbral Shadows SKINs are available from achievements which can be earned by completing objectives in each factions military campaign.
Additionally, more Penumbral Shadow SKINs are available from the bulwark hacking content as rare drops. These SKINs also have a rare chance to be dropped from Battlefield hauler NPCs.
The previous Penumbral Shadow SKINs which were soulbound rewards from the Shadow War campaign have been added to FW LP stores as a luxury priced item.
Cruiser SKINs - 500k LP + 500 million ISK.
Battleship SKINs - 1000k LP + 1 billion ISK.
One new Penumbral Shadows SKIN is exclusive to the FW LP store for the following ships; Imperial Navy Slicer, Caldari Navy Hookbill, Federation Navy Comet and Republic Fleet Firetail for 100k LP + 100 million ISK.
Ship Balance Changes
All Angel Cartel Ships
Added new role bonus: 75% reduction to projectile weapon reload time.
Dramiel
Warp Speed bonus improved from 25% to 50%
This improves it from 6.25 AU/s to 7.5 AU/s before additional modifiers.
Mekubal
Warp Speed bonus improved from 25% to 50%
This improves it from 5.625 AU/s to 6.75 AU/s before additional modifiers.
Cynabal
Warp Speed bonus improved from 25% to 50%
This improves it from 5 AU/s to 6 AU/s before additional modifiers.
Chremoas
Warp Speed bonus improved from 60% to 140%
This improves it from 8 AU/s to 12 AU/s before additional modifiers.
Moracha
Warp Speed bonus added at 50%
This improves it from 4 AU/s to 6 AU/s before additional modifiers.
Angel Cartel ships had the least unique bonus across all the pirate factions, since a 25% bonus to warp speed could be achieved on any ship by fitting a Tech II Hyperspatial Velocity Optimizer rig. To make Angel Cartel ships feel more special, we’re adding a new bonus which reduces the reload time of Projectile weapons by 75%. This will allow them to swap ammo types with much less opportunity cost, increasing their versatility when it comes to changing damage types and range, allowing knowledgeable players the ability to take advantage of such situations while skirmishing and promoting active gameplay.
Additionally, we’re boosting the warp speed bonus on the Dramiel, Mekubal and Cynabal back up to 50%. This was reduced in 2019 to go along with a large increase to warp speeds of battleships, battlecruisers and cruisers. Since the speed of frigates and destroyers didn’t change in this update, the Dramiel ended up catching a stray! Both the Mekubal and Cynabal could also use some help to make them feel more unique to their competition (i.e. the Thrasher Fleet Issue and the Vagabond respectively).
We’re avoiding boosting the Khizriel, Machariel and Angel Cartel capital warp speed at this time due to ongoing concerns around force projection, since these ships are more powerful and more suited to being doctrine ships and also because these hulls are doing much better overall (the Machariel is the most used pirate battleship in the game overall, and #3 for PVP just a hair behind the Nightmare and Barghest).
Merlin
Max Velocity increased from 310m/s to 320m/s
The Merlin is quite slow for a brawling ship with no range bonus, this should help it get into range when brawling slightly more effectively.
Maulus Navy Issue
Max Velocity increased from 325m/s to 335m/s
Turret Hardpoints increased from 2 to 3
Powergrid increased from 38 to 40
CPU increased from 150 to 155.
The Maulus Navy Issue is currently considered to be the weakest Navy frigate. Giving it a small speed boost, as well as an additional turret hardpoint. This will allow the Maulus Navy Issue to brawl more effectively. Additionally adding some small fitting improvements to account for the extra turret.
Griffin Navy Isue
Max Velocity increased from 325m/s to 335m/s
Drone Damage penalty role bonus increased from -85% to -70%
Giving a small amount of love to the Griffin Navy Issue, giving it a small speed boost and reducing the damage penalty it has to drones. This means it will go from having 0.75 to 1.5 effective combat drones. Notably, this should make the new combat/ewar hybrid drones more effective options for the Griffin Navy Issue.
Cormorant Navy Issue
Small Hybrid Damage per level of Caldari Destroyer increased from 5% to 7.5%
The Cormorant Navy issue has the lowest damage of the 4 turret navy destroyers and is the least used of the original 4. Bringing it up to 7.5% per level to match the Coercer Navy Issue.
Augoror Navy Issue
Maximum Capacitor increased from 1500.0 GJ to 1625.0 GJ
Capacitor Recharge time improved from 7m 55s to 7m 45s.
Maximum Velocity Increased from 215 to 245
Agility Improved from 0.48x to 0.38x
Mass increased from 10,650,000 to 13,150,000
The Augoror Navy Issue is currently the least used navy cruiser so giving it some love. Improving the base capacitor and capacitor regeneration time, setting them to be the same as the Maller. Also increasing the mass of the Augoror Navy Issue to the same as the maller, and then improving the agility and maximum velocity to keep align times and prop on speeds the same as now or slightly better.
This speed adjustment will make the Augoror Navy Issue faster when scrammed, improving range control and tracking while brawling. It will also mean that 1600mm plated fits will be both faster and more agile than before as plates will slow it down less.
Stabber Fleet Issue
CPU Output improved from 310 to 340
The Stabber Fleet could run into CPU issues when fitting artillery or shield fits. Setting it to 340 which is the same value that the regular Stabber has.
Deimos
Max Velocity improved from 230 to 250
Adding the same bonus to maximum velocity that the Thorax got in the Legion Expansion to the Deimos.
Cenotaph
Breacher Pod M Maximum HP Damage per second reduced from 0.8% to 0.6% (from 1% to 0.75% with max skills).
The Cenotaph still feels too oppressive in certain environments so we are setting the Medium Breacher Pod maximum HP damage per second value to now be the same as the Breacher Pod S. Breacher Pod Ms will still do up to 3x more damage than Breacher Pod Ss against bigger targets. This will mean that the Cenotaph is less effective at damaging most subcapital ships with the breacher pod weapon.
All Command Ships
Improved Cargohold Capacity on all Command Ships so they can more easily carry spare command bursts/charges, or just more cap boosters for the active tanking focused ones, as many of them had lower capacity than T1 cruisers and HACs.
Claymore
5% bonus to Heavy Missile and Heavy Assault Missile Launcher rate of fire bonus improved to 7.5% bonus to Heavy Missile and Heavy Assault Missle Damage per level of Minmatar Battlecruiser.
This is a small DPS improvement (from 33.3% DPS to 37.5%) and means the Claymore will not go through missiles as quickly improving it in extended PVP engagements and PVE.
Astarte
7.5% bonus to Medium Hybrid Turret rate of fire bonus improved to 10% bonus to
Medium Hybrid Turret damage per level of Command Ships.
7.5% bonus to Medium Hybrid Turret damage bonus improved from 7.5% to 10%.
Agility improved from 0.7x to 0.69x (NICE!)
This is a small DPS improvement (from 11 effective turrets to 11.25), however, it will be a large improvement for the Astarte in PVP and PVE by consuming much less capacitor and ammo to fire.
The small agility tweak will also bring it below an 8s align time if it doesn’t have a plate or non-active tanking armor rigs fitted.
Armageddon Navy Issue
Added 5% bonus to Nosferatu and Energy Neutralizer falloff bonus per level
Armageddon Navy Issue is the least used battleship (outside of the alliance tournament). It did not inherit the falloff bonus to neuts from the base Armageddon so adding that as a small bonus to throw it a space bone.
Maelstrom
Max Velocity increased from 115m/s to 120m/s
Signature Radius reduced from 460m to 400m
Agility improved from 0.136x to 0.111x
Drone Capacity improved from 100m3 to 125m3
We made several tweaks to the Maelstrom to improve it’s fleet viability in the Legion Major Update which have been largely successful in increasing its usage. We wanted to give it some further tweaks to help it more in a solo/small gang environment (without improving it directly for fleets like improving the alpha strike), so we’re giving it some small mobility related changes and giving it a spare set of light drones, which should make it feel closer to the ‘Shield Hyperion’ vision.
Drone and Module Balance Changes
Web Drones
Berserker SW-900
Maximum Velocity improved from 1500m/s to 2000m/s
Valkyrie SW-600
Maximum Velocity improved from 2000m/s to 2750m/s
Shield Hitpoints increased from 50 to 100
Signature Radius increased from 53 to 75
Warrior SW-300
Maximum Velocity improved from 2400m/s to 3200m/s
Shield Hitpoints increased from 25 to 75
Hull Hitpoints increased from 60 to 80
Signature Radius reduced from 26 to 25
Regular Web Drones had lower speed than all other EWAR drone types such as neut drones and TP drones, and also the smaller versions had lower hitpoints as well. Bringing the web drones up to other EWAR drone types to make more viable as an option.
Microwarpdrives
Enduring MWDs
5MN Cold-Gas Enduring Microwarpdrive activation cost reduced from 35 to 30
50MN Cold-Gas Enduring Microwarpdrive activation cost reduced from 160 to 130
500MN Cold-Gas Enduring Microwarpdrive activation cost reduced from 280 to 220
50000MN Cold-Gas Enduring Microwarpdrive activation cost reduced from 9000 to 7000
Tech II MWDS
All Tech II MWDs signature radius penalty reduced from 500% to 475%
5MN Microwarpdrive II activation cost reduced from 50 to 40
50MN Microwarpdrive II activation cost reduced from 200 to 160
500MN Microwarpdrive II activation cost reduced from 350 to 290
50000MN Microwarpdrive II activation cost reduced from 11000 to 9000
Enduring MWDs were almost always a non-choice over the Restrained MWDs, because the lower capacitor penalty from the restrained MWDs usually provided close to the same capacitor benefit as the Enduring one did while also providing the reduced signature radius penalty, so we are lowering their activation costs so they are now the clear winner when choosing to specialize in lower capacitor costs.
Tech II MWDs were also in a bad spot, they currently offer a very minor speed boost for increased fittings and higher activation costs. So we are lowering their activation costs, and also the sig bloom penalty on them, to make them a more general upgrade if you are willing to pay the fitting cost for them (while not being better at any individual meta variation at their specialized attribute).
All Caldari Navy Hybrid ammo LP store offers have been removed.
Currently there is an imbalance with LP stores, in that Caldari currently have two different navy ammo types, while all the other factions have just one. And Gallente shares theirs with Caldari, causing Federation Navy ammo to be saturated and not as valuable.
This will leave each faction with one type of navy ammo each (Amarr - Frequency Crystals, Caldari - Missiles, Gallente - Hybrid Ammo and Minmatar - Projectile Ammo.)
We will eventually convert existing Caldari Navy hybrid ammo to Federation Navy at a later point.
Needlejack Filament Blueprints
Manufacturing time per run before any skills/bonuses reduced from 9000 seconds to 900 seconds for 15-person filaments, and 1500 seconds for 25-person filaments.
Signal-15 Blueprint
Now uses 150 Fullerene Intercelated Graphite (from 1500) per run
Now uses 3x Signal-5 needjack filaments (from 1) per run
Noise-15 Blueprint
Now uses 150 Fullerene Intercelated Graphite (from 1000) per run
Now uses 3x Noise-5 needlejack filaments (from 1) per run)
Signal-25 Blueprint
Now uses 250 Fullerene Intercelated Graphite (from 2500) per run
Now uses 5x Signal-5 needjack filaments (instead of 1 Signal-15) per run
Noise-25 Blueprint
Now uses 250 Fullerene Intercelated Graphite (from 2000) per run
Now uses 5x Noise-5 needjack filaments (Instead of 1 Noise-15) per run
Signal-15 Blueprint LP Offer
Blueprint Runs increased to 10 runs from 5 runs
ISK Cost increased to 15 million ISK from 7.5 million ISK
LP Cost reduced to 1,500 LP from 35,000 LP
Noise-15 Blueprint LP Offer
Blueprint Runs increased to 10 runs from 5 runs
ISK Cost increased to 15 million ISK from 5 million ISK
LP Cost reduced to 1,500 LP from 20,000 LP
Signal-25 and Noise-25 Blueprint LP Offer (NEW)
10 Run Blueprint Copy
25 Million ISK
2,500 LP
Adding evergreen sources of the 25 fleet member needlejack filaments, and then reducing the costs of the filaments down to more reasonable levels.
Wormholes
The regular ore mining anomalies in wormhole space have had a small gameplay balance pass.
All asteroids in these wormhole space anomalies have been upgraded to the highest yield variation (IV-Grade)
A small visual pass has been done on these sites.
The asteroids in most sites have been placed closer together, and closer to the warp in point, to improve quality of life.
We're excited to see what you do with the updates coming in the Cradle of War expansion, and we'd love for you to get involved with the discussion on the EVE Online Discord and the EVE Online Forums.
o7