Greetings Vanguard,
In the past few months, legions of warclones have gone boots-on-the-ground to try out EVE Vanguard, the sci-fi sandbox FPS set in New Eden, thereby helping to forge the future of the broader EVE Universe. Soon, the doors will open once more, allowing valiant warclones to try out a new mining prototype, a new warclone suit, contribute to suppression in the system, and much more.
The upcoming First Strike playtest kicks off at 12:00 UTC on 21 March and runs until 12:00 UTC on 25 March, and is open to all Omega players as a part of Founders’ Access.
BUILDING THE NEW BATTLEFIELD
As EVE Vanguard continues to evolve, the community’s feedback following each First Strike playtest leads to subtle yet impactful enhancements. The latest build introduces a new mining laser prototype, bringing a strategic layer to resource gathering, essential for survival and accomplishing contract objectives. An early version of a mining laser will be included in players’ default inventory, allowing the mining of ore and opening of tech vaults. Vanguard can passively scan for these resources when the mining laser is equipped, and coupled with the introduction of new mining contracts, this opens up brand new content and dynamics to the battlefield. In addition, minable resources have been added to crafting recipes, and energy ammo can now only be crafted using mined resources (click to watch a video below).
The new Vanguard build also introduces a new warclone suit, as well as a new and updated suit for NPCs. These updates aim to deepen tactical gameplay and visually distinguish Vanguard from NPCs on the battlefield.
Another notable addition in the latest iteration is the introduction of suppression contracts, bringing new dynamics to EVE Vanguard. Warclones now have a choice between sides in the ongoing struggle between order and disorder in New Eden. All corruption contracts have received suppression versions, leveling the playing field between the two sides. In addition, NPCs now drop ammunition as well as biomass, with higher ranking enemies dropping more kinetic ammo than their lowlier counterparts, and elite NPCs drop energy ammo. All this marks the beginning of added complexity and depth coming to EVE Vanguard. In addition to the introduction of these in-development features, several fixes and improvements have also been made, based on player feedback:
- Combat and rewards have received balancing improvements.
- Multiple server performance improvements have been made, including fixes to server and client crashes.
- An issue with deployable shields being active longer than they should has been fixed.
- An issue has been fixed, which allowed players to perform multiple actions simultaneously, that should have been mutually exclusive, such as healing and gathering resources.
- Push-to-talk has received multiple improvements, including fixes to key binding and operational errors.
- An issue with death box animations has been fixed.
- An issue allowing players to simultaneously sprint, and place equipment has been fixed.
- An issue allowing players to interact with out-of-range objects has been fixed.
- An issue with the deployment summary screen displaying incorrect information has been resolved.
- Display errors with contract objectives have been addressed.
- An issue with NPCs moving at great speed or appearing to teleport across the map has been addressed.
TAKE ON THE LATEST CHALLENGES
Just like in previous playtests, there are serious rewards on the line for industrious warclones. Depending on your activities on the ground, you may walk away with impressive spoils. The rewards on offer include the Corax Arkombine Arisen SKIN, for Vanguard who exchange biomass for a clone 20 times as a part of a squad of two or bigger.
Warclones who manage to harvest at least 2,000 units of ore from mining will receive the Osprey Navy Issue Arkombine Arisen SKIN.
Additionally, Vanguard who reach the top 10 leaderboard for most credits extracted during the event, will be handsomely rewarded with PLEX.
- 1st place - 3,000 PLEX
- 2nd - 2,000 PLEX
- 3rd - 1,500 PLEX
- 4-5th - 1,000 PLEX
- 6-10th - 500 PLEX
Acquiring 20 clones as a part of a squad counts toward a longer-term challenge which will culminate in unique rewards later this year. In the December playtest, it was enough to simply launch the game, in January, you needed to complete a deployment as a squad member, and in February you needed to eliminate 50 threats. To unlock the big reward in June, you need to complete at least four of six challenges, so make sure you don’t miss out.
Keep in mind that if you kill five or more of your squadmates over the course of the playtest, you will be disqualified from all the rewards above.
BECOME A FOUNDER
As in the previous First Strike playtests, the doors to EVE Vanguard will be open to players with Founders’ Access, meaning the only requirement to join the event is to have Omega. For those who haven’t already, this is the perfect time to upgrade, as both the EVE Store and the New Eden Store are offering a bundle including 14 days Omega with Arkombine Arisen SKINs for the Orthrus and Phoenix Navy Issue for a limited time, giving anyone interested in jumping into EVE Vanguard an unmissable opportunity.
SEE YOU PLANETSIDE
EVE Vanguard is a collaborative effort between developers and players, and your participation on the battlefield is invaluable. We look forward to seeing you on the ground, and continuing to work with you toward the creation of the ultimate sci-fi sandbox FPS experience within the EVE Universe.
Make sure you tune in to CCP TV at 15:00 UTC on 21 March as EVE devs will be going live to talk about all things Vanguard, and join the following Q&A on the Discord server at 16:00 UTC on 21 March. In addition, the Live2Feed stream from 14:00-16:00 on Friday 22 March will feature EVE Vanguard, so stay tuned for that.