EVE Online: Revenant Thanksgiving Patch - Mercenary Dens

CCP Games has faced a problem with the last couple of EVE Online expansions. After the goodies accompanying the launch of an expansion end, so does the attention of many players. The developers have come up with a unique solution. Once the login rewards and free game time run out, drop more content. And so, I woke up this morning to find a mini-expansion's worth of patch notes waiting on the launcher along with a dev blog. After a quick read, I think the mashup might prove useful. So here's part of the effort covering additions to one of the new features introduced in Revenant, Mercenary Dens.

First from the dev blog is an overview of the additions to Mercenary Dens that didn't make it onto Tranquility with the launch of the Revenant expansion.

Since the launch of Revenant, capsuleers have been hard at work constructing and destroying mercenary dens all over nullsec space. Today, Mercenary Tactical Operations (MTO) have been introduced to these dens, enabling capsuleers to seize control of their systems’ destiny. Upwell has lobbied for a crackdown of the transportation of the encrypted infomorphs of workers in breach of their work contracts, but the Deathless Circle has found a way to remotely transmit infomorph applicants using infomorph decryption keys, unlocking the same kind of remote consciousness that capsuleers use when they die. The production of these keys can be further stimulated through mercenary site activity and they can be delivered to the Deathless for handsome rewards. Dive into MTO today to drive development and reduce anarchy by completing operations, boosting production of infomorph decryption keys that can be traded for valuable rewards, and eliminating potential workforce disruption.

The above sounds great. Or confusing. Definitely confusing without some details. Thankfully the patch notes supplied a lot of details.

 

Mercenary Dens

• Mercenary Dens now have 2 new attributes, Anarchy and Development. Both Anarchy and Development values will slowly increase over time, approximately 5 levels per day (24 hours). Eventually, when the level hits a certain threshold, the Anarchy or Development for that mercenary den will level up, which can have certain affects.
  
  
• While a Mercenary Den is reinforced, passive Anarchy and Development are paused.
  
  
• Added a dedicated window for viewing all your mercenary dens which can be found via the neocom under Industry, or from the mercenary den agency page.

Anarchy

• Anarchy Amount: 0-19 - Level 0 - 0% reduction to Skyhook Workforce
• Anarchy Amount: 20-39 - Level 1 - 0% reduction to Skyhook Workforce
• Anarchy Amount: 40-69 - Level 2 - 10% reduction to Skyhook Workforce
• Anarchy Amount: 70-99 - Level 3 - 20% reduction to Skyhook Workforce
• Anarchy Amount: 100 - Level 4 - 40% reduction to Skyhook Workforce

This means that if left alone, it will take 8 days for a mercenary den to start to negatively impact a Skyhook.

Development Amount

• Development Amount: 0-19 - Level 0 - Regular Informorph Production rate
• Development Amount: 20-39 - Level 1 - 15% bonus to Infomorph Production Rate
• Development Amount: 40-69 - Level 2 - 25% bonus to Infomorph Production Rate
• Development Amount: 70-99 - Level 3 - 35% bonus to Infomorph Production Rate
• Development Amount: 100 - Level 4 - 50% bonus to Infomorph Production Rate

I do have to put my two cents in at this point. I believe players were promised some PvE content along with the introduction of mercenary dens. Today's patch introduces the gameplay. Plus, the sites seem custom made for newer player to contribute to the economic well-being of a null sec alliance. At least in theory. We'll need to wait for experience to see if the developers' plans bear fruit.

Mercenary Tactical Operations (MTOs)

Approximately every 3 days, a mercenary den tactical operation (MTO) will become available. MTOs are new PVE content designed for a single player in a cruiser. These sites are behind an acceleration gate that only lets in T1 and faction cruisers, or any destroyer/frigate. Once an MTO has been warped to, a beacon will appear in space which anyone can warp to, even hostile players. MTOs are very rewarding and will drop on average around 80-100 million ISK in loot, and if they are successfully completed, they will decrease anarchy by 20 points, and increase development by 10 points. Since it takes 4 days for anarchy to increase by 20 points, this means that running a MTO once every 3-4 days (when it becomes avaliable) will be enough for Mercenary Den owners to maintain their dens to prevent any adverse affect on the Skyhook if they so wish.

To Start an MTO, you will need to be undocked in the solarsystem where the mercenary den is located, and then start it from the Opportunities window, or from the Mercenary Den window. MTO sites always spawn in the same solarsystem as where the Mercenary Den is located. A Mercenary Den can have a maximum of up to 3 MTOs at once, and MTOs last for 4 days after being offered.

If a Mercenary Den is already maxed out at level 4 Development, completing a MTO will create 500 bonus infomorphs directly into the mercenary den on completion in place of the development reward.