EVE Online is starting to trickle out its updates post-Revenant launch, and the latest adds new missions for Mercenary Dens, as well as kicks off its tie-in with this month's EVE Vanguard test.
Mercenary Dens were added with the launch of EVE Online's latest expansion, Revenant, adding yet another structure for players to fight over (as well as valuable assets for alliances looking to harvest resources for those sweet new Deathless ships). Since the launch of Revenant earlier this month, thousands of Mercenary Dens have been set up - and subsequently blown up - and CCP is adding even more strategic value to these structures with this week's update.
Mercenary Tactical Operations have now been introduced into the formula, meant to help provide more value, but also introduce some risk if these structures are largely ignored by players. From the official site's post:
"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."
Completing these MTOs will increase rewards, but ignoring them can also sow anarchy within your workforce, which can harm the value of the system itself. It'll be interesting to see how this new wrinkle drives conflict, especially when you consider these dens have already become a hotbed for small fleet activity.
Also coming with the latest update is the tie-in event for the test of EVE Online's in-universe first-person shooter, EVE Vanguard. The Groundbreak event kicks off tomorrow, November 28th, and as the team is fond of saying, "as above, so below," the two games will have the ability to impact each other. In EVE, new Trustbreaker Arrays have been deployed, but are under siege by Drifter forces. These arrays make it possible for Vanguards on the ground to claim strongholds on the planets they are deployed too, and Capsuleers can help by defending the arrays from Drifter attacks, and earn a little ISK in the process.
