Minmatar Liberation Day 2021 - The First Weekend

After doing the content for the Minmatar Liberation Day event in EVE Online over the weekend, I can safely say my original estimates for how well I could do have gone down drastically. I'm not sure I can reach 600 points on a single character, much less multiple ones.

My score after the first weekend

On Friday, I travelled to the notorious system of Hagilur to visit the Minmatar Mining Corporation Testing Facility. I slipped into the system via the Anher gate as the Bei gate is often camped. The locals took to camping the site as well. Suspecting the locals would do so, I bounced to a celestial and then warped to the site at 100km. To no surprise, the wrecks of player-owned ships littered the grid. All for a lousy 5 points.

I didn't take a screenshot, but the text of the site was recorded in my notifications.

The Scythe-class cruiser remains the oldest Minmatar ship still in use. It has seen many battles and is an integrated element of many Minmatar tales and the material heritage of the tribes. A significant number of Scythes found their way into the hands of the Minmatar resistance. Upgunned and armored by rebel crews, the Scythe was an important combat ship at the oubreak of the Great Rebellion in BYC20.

After picking up the travel points, I tried my hand at probing down data sites. I managed one, but only hacked one can before two pilots from Fweddit showed up. I was wary because one had been in the system earlier. Apparently he went and got a friend. I went away with my 2 points for hacking a can.

If probing down data sites was disappointing, then running event sites in high sec was an exercise in futility. The best thing I can say is that I proved the concept of my new Jaguar fit. I also discovered I didn't have the DPS to contest other ships taking credit for killing the boss NPCs. I earned no points for running the combat sites and wound up with 69 points for the day.

Saturday was a better day. I logged in to a system with multiple combat sites and no one around. I actually completed the site and discovered not one, but two boss NPC Prophecy drones. The first one gave me 30 event points and the second an additional 10. The two NPCs also dropped 454 Liberation Day tokens worth 45.4 million ISK as well as the Bellicose Dawn of Liberation and Leopard Starkmanir SKINs. 

As pilots started showing up in local, I decided to try my hand at mining. I headed over to the Ortner constellation near Rens in an Endurance and started munching on rocks. The first 10,000 units mined and delivered granted me 10 points. I received an additional 20 points for the next 30,000 units mined and delivered. The two sites ran also netted 6 million ISK. 

I called it a night when the next mining event would give me two points for achieving a bronze or higher score in an expedition site. Still, 70 points and 50 million ISK wasn't too bad. My total of 139 also resulted in unlocking the Breacher Starkmanir SKIN.

On Sunday I decided to do some sightseeing. The first site of interest was the Golgothan Fields in Ennur, Molden Heath. Thankfully the site wasn't camped so I could take some screenshots.

Golgothan Fields

A few weeks after the start of the rebellion in BYC20, the Minmatar met with the Amarr in a fierce battle. The Minmatar eventually withdrew, but not before dealing heavy casualties to the Amarr forces. Most importantly, the Amarr lost many capital ships and were left with considerably reduced offensive power in the frontlines of their attempt to defeat the Great Rebellion.

Next, The Agency sent me to Hjoramold to visit the ruins of Lord Bastion.

The Lord Bastion museum in Hjoramold

Shattered remnants of a formidable space fortress built by Lord Basad, the governor of the Ani constellation in early BYC19, durin gthe time of the Great Rebellion, to hold off the rebel forces. This fortress stood for two months in orbit of Hjoramold XII and its ruins act as a reminder of both the cruelty of the Amarr and the spirit of the Minmatar.

My final stop of the day took me to Odatrik and the Battle of Fort Kavad Monument. Unlike the other sites, the monument was just a beacon in space.

The Battle of Fort Kavad Monument in Odatrik

The Battle of Fort Kavad in BYC17 was the final blow by Minmatar freedom fighters that prevented an Amarr counter-offensive and secured the territories of what would become the Minmatar Republic. Catching an assembling Amarr taskforce by surprise, the massed strike by Minmatar forces destroyed the core of the battleship fleets committed to reconquer the Minmatar. After Fort Kavad, the Amarr Emperor called a halt to such attempts and the Minmatar had won their freedom.

Warping to each of the historical sites granted me 10 points, for a total of 30.

The final mining event

My final successful activity of the weekend involved mining. I was hoping that the completion of a mining expedition at bronze level or higher was not the final iteration of the mining events. I threw together a Venture fit that I knew could run a limited site within ten minutes and went to work. Two sites later, all I had was 4 points and 2.8 million ISK. The event did not change.

I did one additional activity. I tested an event fit for the Bellicose. I think I'll need to try using rapid light missile launchers, because heavy assault missiles failed to do more than scratch the armor of one of the frigate NPC types. But my tank held, which was a positive sign. I'm also working on a Rupture fit using 220mm autocannon. I want to come up with something Minmatar flavored since the event is called Minmatar Liberation Day. Besides, I picked up the Bellicose Dawn of Liberation SKIN and am 67 points away from the Rupture Starkmanir SKIN. I think running an event site sporting one of those SKINs would fit the spirit of the occasion.