Low Sec Travel Advisory: Shield Slaves

After downtime, CCP published the patch notes for today's release and we all got to see the reason for CCP's recent secrecy. Shield slaves.

Added Nirvana "Shield Slave" Implants, initially available through the "Dragonaur Blitz" event:

• Mid-grade Nirvana Alpha +3 Perception 1% Bonus to shield hitpoints with 10% set bonus

• Mid-grade Nirvana Beta +3 Memory 2% Bonus to shield hitpoints with 10% set bonus

• Mid-grade Nirvana Gamma +3 Willpower 3% Bonus to shield hitpoints with 10% set bonus

• Mid-grade Nirvana Delta +3 Intelligence 4% Bonus to shield hitpoints with 10% set bonus

• Mid-grade Nirvana Epsilon +3 Charisma 5% Bonus to shield hitpoints with 10% set bonus

• Mid-grade Nirvana Omega 25% set bonus

• High-grade Nirvana Alpha +4 Perception 1% Bonus to shield hitpoints with 15% set bonus

• High-grade Nirvana Beta +4 Memory 2% Bonus to shield hitpoints with 15% set bonus

• High-grade Nirvana Gamma +4 Willpower 3% Bonus to shield hitpoints with 15% set bonus

• High-grade Nirvana Delta +4 Intelligence 4% Bonus to shield hitpoints with 15% set bonus

• High-grade Nirvana Epsilon +4 Charisma 5% Bonus to shield hitpoints with 15% set bonus

• High-grade Nirvana Omega 50% set bonus

Low-Grade Nirvana Implants will become available in the future.

The recent closure of the Singularity test shard to players means that not much was known about the Dragonaur Blitz event prior to the launch of the release.

Dragonaur Staging Facility locations can be discovered throughout lowsec space for a limited time

• These locations allow access to a specific and limited selection of capsuleer ships (Tech 1, Faction, and Tech 2 ships that have bonuses to the use of Heavy Missiles): Bellicose, Caracal, Caracal Navy Issue, Gila, Orthrus, Osprey Navy Issue, Scythe Fleet Issue, Cerberus, Sacrilege, Vangel, Enforcer, Rapier, Chameleon, Rook, Onyx, Cyclone, Drake, Drake Navy Issue, Gnosis, Claymore, Nighthawk, Damnation, Barghest, Praxis, Rattlesnake, Raven, Raven State Issue, Scorpion Navy Issue, Typhoon, Typhoon Fleet Issue, Marshal, Widow, Golem

• These sites contain valuable loot including blueprint copies for the new Nirvana implant set

In addition to the patch notes, CCP published a dev blog with more details on the event. The event is primarily aimed at Caldari pilots and runs through 27 January.

CONCORD urges you to join the Dragonaur Blitz and attack the extremist Templis Dragonaurs outcasts in Low-sec sites in specified ship types, and earn the new Nirvana Implant BPCs. This limited time event ends 27 January, so act fast and get involved!

As mentioned above, only certain ship types will be allowed entry to Dragonaur Blitz sites. These will include ships with bonuses to Heavy Missiles and recently rebalanced Caldari craft that are most affected by the Warhead Upgrades update (details below).

The Dragonaur Blitz event will also be your first opportunity as pioneering Capsuleers to earn blueprints for the new Nirvana Implants. So, it's time to climb aboard the right ship, prepare for attack - as well as some surprises along the way - and hit the Templis Dragonaurs extremists for the honor of the Caldari State!

In addition to the shield slave implants, heavy missiles received a +5% buff to damage and explosion velocity. The ships allowed in the Dragonaur Blitz sites will benefit the most from the buff.

CCP often goes to great lengths to keep news of items that will greatly impact the market a secret from players. With shield slaves, the developers have an additional reason for secrecy. Some null security organizations, particularly Test Alliance Please Ignore and, to a lesser extent, The Imperium, will benefit greatly with the introduction of shield slave implants to the game. The two organizations bought in heavily to the use of shield-tanked titans which will benefit greatly from the new implants.

Expect to see pilots from both Legacy Coalition and The Imperium to blanket low sec in search of the new implants for their titan pilots. Fortunately for TEST, they abandoned their nascent war against Dead Coalition last week and can focus their full attention on the strategic goal of improving their supercapital fleet. Expect lots of traffic from null sec pilots roaming low security space looking for PvE action over the next two weeks.