Crimson Harvest 2025 Beginning On 6 October

Yesterday CCP announced that this year's iteration of Crimson Harvest in EVE Online will run from 6 October to 4 November. The seasonal event first ran in 2015. As usually happens the developers make some changes to prevent the content from going stale. I thought I'm run through the announcement for some key things I look when running EVE's oldest seasonal event.

Difficulty and Ships - What ships are needed to run the event sites? I'm at a point where I don't like flying the bigger ships anymore. Frigates and sometimes cruisers is more my speed nowadays. The announcement was nice enough to remove that uncertainty. Here is a quick breakdown of the sites and ship requirements.

Easy - Limited to high sec and allows Tech 1 frigates.

Medium - found in all space, limited to Tech II frigates and Tech 1 destroyers.

Hard - found in low sec, null sec, and wormholes, these sites allow Tech III tactical destroyers and below. In a change from last year the hard sites are no longer limited to Blood Raider regions.

New sites - Things never change in New Eden, do they? The new sites this year are associated with the Upwell Consortium. Unlike the old Jove who originally brought new technology to the game, Upwell screws up a lot.

New Biocybernetic Incident sites appear across highsec, lowsec, nullsec, and wormhole space as Upwell clone research goes awry. They were designed as labs, but now they are tombs. 

In an attempt to mitigate a somewhat messy situation for them, Upwell has blocked its own EDENCOM ships from entering these sites. 

The sites also have environmental factors to consider.

Stay within a designated area for a set duration, fight off enemy waves, and try to blast rogue shuttles loaded with valuable cargo. Be careful, as there are unstable generators in the sites which can be destroyed, causing damage to all close by. Make sure to keep your distance, but keep in mind you can use them strategically.

Returning sites - The sites are not just limited to small ships. Blood Raider and Tetrimon combat sites are returning. Last year the sites allowed cruisers, battlecruiser and battleships to enter and I assume the same will be true this year. Different this year is that the Crimson Gauntlet and Tetrimon Base sites may also trigger escalations which may prove another incentive to run the content.

A couple of other things to note about these sites.

Tetrimon Frontline Base and Dark Blood Gauntlet sites will also return and appear exclusively in Blood Raider space in lowsec and Delve. 

There are chance encounters within returning combat sites that may link directly to the Upwell horror unfolding across space, and they are more likely within wormholes. These encounters increase the rewards to be had from a site, so keep an eye out for any suspicious wrecks. 

Rewards tracks - Last but not least are the rewards tracks. 

The harvest is a time for reaping, and great rewards are to be expected as usual. Log in daily to claim a massive cache of Skill Points, boosters, new Deathglow Remnant SKINs, and more. Omega capsuleers earn rewards on both Alpha and Omega tracks. 

Complete seasonal challenges to unlock even more, including SKINR components and after the event enters the final week, a final crate with a rare Blood Raider blueprint. 

That's right, rewards that only unlock during the final week of the event.

In the final week of the Harvest, the horrors will intensify and the seasonal reward track will be extended to include a final reward crate containing a Blood Raider ship blueprint. More surprises will be announced as well, so keep your eyes on the unfolding bloodshed.

I think CCP is looking to keep players engaged enough with Crimson Harvest to stick around to try out the winter expansion. Players already do that, but I think CCP is looking for some higher player counts. Either that or the accountants are looking for higher Daily Active User numbers and don't want to let players completely finish the content early.