EVE: Havoc Patch Notes: Insurgencies Intensify

Another Tuesday, another patch drop in EVE Online. While World of Warcraft players are receiving the Seed of Renewal patch 10.2.5 and Final Fantasy XIV players just received Growing Light patch 6.55 and new servers in Japan, EVE Online players now have additional updates to the pirate insurgency system.

In today's patch notes, CCP added an Ambition Modifier to pirate insurgencies. In a dev blog, the system was described as follows:

Among the things announced on stage at Fanfest 2023, when the Havoc expansion was revealed, was the inclusion of an Ambition Modifier, which adjusts the number of points needed to win an Insurgency. The Ambition Modifier has now been implemented in Havoc, and it will affect the side that regularly wins Insurgencies by requiring more system wins for subsequent victories. In effect, this means that the more victorious one side is, the more it will take to keep the winning streak going. This will make the struggle between suppression and corruption more balanced, the fight more gripping, and the achievement of victory all the sweeter.

The patch notes went into further detail.

• The Ambition Modifier will change how many corruption 5 or suppression 5 solar systems a side requires for victory in an insurgency campaign.
  
  
• Whenever an Insurgency campaign is won by the pirates, or the anti-pirates, that side will increase their ambition modifier by +1 if they currently have equal or more ambition than the other side.
• If an Insurgency campaign is won by the side with less ambition, it will reduce the ambition modifier of the other side by -1.
  
  
• The Ambition Modifier can go as high as +13, requiring a side to fully corrupt or suppress 20 solar systems for victory or to make the FOB vulnerable.
  
  
• Information about the Ambition Modifier can be found ingame in the pirate insurgency guide page in the agency.
  
  
• Added a new insurgency filter to the starmap and the classic starmap.
  
  
• New Graphics, Audio and VFX have been added to Insurgency solar systems and the pirate FOB to reflect the corruption and suppression state, campaign state and the Ambition Modifier.
  
  
• As corruption goes up, stargates and stations will start to feature pirate billboards, electrical faults, fires, smoke, and clouds.
• As suppression goes up, stargates and stations will start to feature police drones and “bobs”.
• The Pirate FOB will feature additional VFX as the ambition modifier increases.
• The Pirate FOB will also feature new VFX on the ‘undocking ports’ of the FOB as the pirates win solar systems.

The dev blog also offered a description of the map and graphics changes listed above.

Capsuleers now have improved oversight when it comes to the status of systems, as a filter can be applied to the new and classic star maps to view corruption and suppression in Insurgency systems. Additionally, the pirate FOB in the main Insurgency system now visually displays the level of corruption or suppression, as well as the current Ambition Modifier level, making it a lot easier to see the system’s status at a glance. Also, stargates and selected stations in corrupted systems now fly pirate banners, giving a better feel for pirate-affected space by setting the tone immediately upon entry. All of this combines to bring added quality of life to pilots involved in the struggle between pirates and militias, help capsuleers strategize more effectively, and add to the immersion in affected systems.

As a personal note, I appreciate CCP's years-long effort to making information available to players looking at elements in the game and not having to use a right-click menu.

The developers also introduced some behavior changes in the AI controlling the NPC defending some Deathless systems.

Since the introduction of Havoc, countless capsuleers have seized the opportunity to align with the Angel Cartel or the Guristas to bring corruption to various systems around New Eden. Impressed with the performance of capsuleer insurgents, Esri Hakuzosu of the Guristas Pirates has issued new orders to roaming patrols in the system of H-PA29 - they will now no longer fire upon those capsuleers enlisted with the Commado Guri. Rafik Zohar has relayed similar orders to Angel Cartel forces in G-0Q86 and Turnur, such that roaming patrols will not attack those who have pledged their support to the Malakim Zealots.

The patch notes might show a wrinkle not explicitly listed in the dev blog.

• The Angel Cartel and the Guristas Pirates have increased patrols in the Zarzakh solar system.
  
  
• These new NPCs will attack militia players, but will otherwise be neutral to capsuleers who choose to keep the peace in Zarzakh. They will engage anyone who has a deathless retribution timer.
  
  
• The Angel Cartel and Guristas Pirates have also deployed new patrols in the surrounding solar systems of Turnur, G-0Q86 and H-PA29. These NPCs will be friendly to capsuleers who have chosen to enlist with them but will attack anyone else on sight.

In effect, the devs have set up a police force for the Deathless not as powerful as CONCORD is in empire space. On a personal note, I can't wait to hear the stories of players fighting off the Deathless' forces.