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The Grand Heist

Opportunistic Capsuleers,

It’s time to get your ships and fleets ready for the Grand Heist! Last year the new Dynamic Bounty System was introduced across null and low security space, and the Encounter Surveillance System was overhauled for Nullsec. These two systems have worked together since then to generate conflict and balance wealth generation with environmental danger. Since going live, adjustments have been made to both systems based on associated findings and your feedback.

All the while, the size of reserve bank caches has been increasing steadily, and now huge opportunities await.

Here are the highlights of the Grand Heist:
- Long anticipated ESS reserve bank keys are here
- New anomalies will be introduced to Lowsec where keys can be discovered
- Reserve banks are bursting with over 20 trillion ISK
- The Grand Heist is available on Singularity for testing today

[h2]The Reserve Bank[/h2]
The reserve bank receives a portion of each bounty earned in-system and can only be accessed using new Secure Commerce Commission (SCC) authorized keys. When the correct key is used on an ESS, the reserve bank unlocks to be accessed by any eligible ships within 10km. Once a link is established between your ship and the reserve bank, stored funds will begin transferring to your cargo every minute until the reserve bank relocks.

There are eight types of reserve keys to be found. Each key will have a corresponding quadrant of the map where it can be used and a duration that it will hold the reserve bank open. The rate of pay increases over time until it reaches a maximum at which point it will begin decreasing until totally shutting off at the end of the unlock duration.

Be aware that an intrusion into a reserve bank will alert the entire region, and as such, a good reserve bank heist will require planning to ensure you can hold the grid for the duration of the unlock, lest your window of opportunity be snatched away by an opportunistic roaming fleet.

To acquire the extremely coveted reserve bank keys, you will not be able to simply ask the SCC to hand them over. Instead, your plan should be to locate and trespass into the SCC’s secure key storage sites hidden throughout low security space to get your hands on a key, and these sites will be guaranteed to always have a key inside. There are certain restrictions to ship numbers and class that will be allowed into one of these sites, but that challenge will ensure that only Capsuleers who show patience and skill will be able to pull off the heist. The reward is significant, so be prepared and good luck!

[h2]Stunning New Visuals[/h2]
The ESS has a brand-new makeover:



The size and look of the ESS have been completely revamped when compared to the Vargur next to it . Keep an eye out for visual changes to the ESS depending on how and when Capsuleers are engaging with it.



Based on community feedback, a brand-new warp disruption bubble effect for the ESS is being introduced. It will change visibility, depending on camera rotation and zoom level, making it easier to see both the action and UI.

While an intrusion is underway between a ship and the ESS, a new visual effect will be displayed between them both. This visual effect will also represent the moment that the ISK bonds are delivered into the ship’s cargo.

Finally, the ESS now shows the 10km range of interaction more clearly for daring Capsuleers with new perimeter lighting.

[h2]A New Way to Interact[/h2]
Watching the community hack their way into the main bank while fighting for their lives has helped identify areas of improvement for the next major update.



The UI window that is used to interact with the ESS has been removed and both the interactivity and information of the ESS have been moved through a new in-space UI. With the brand-new structure for the ESS, the UI in space points physically to both the main and reserve banks, showing the status of your interaction.

When an intrusion to the main bank is underway, the timer will be visible in space surrounding the main bank, showing both the time remaining visually and numerically. The timer will be visible to all on grid, even if outside of the interaction range.

The reserve bank is similarly represented, and the in-space UI will show an access timer as well as the time until the next payout is delivered. Both banks are represented by two colors, with blue representing the main bank and orange representing the reserve bank.



The existing ESS window can be opened anywhere, even off-grid of the ESS which allowed everyone a way to access the banks’ information. We have moved the information into a new well-designed info panel which you can see below.



Initiating hacks against either of the banks will update the info panel immediately. For the main bank, the portrait of the hacker will appear with a timer. The reserve bank has detailed information, including how many Capsuleers are linked to it, and the status of the payouts.

[h2]In Closing[/h2]
Putting keys to the giant reserve banks into your hands is very exciting, and seeing who will manage to get their share of the trillions of ISK will be equally thrilling. Pulling off the perfect heist requires careful planning and skill to execute, and we’re eager to learn how New Eden’s very first reserve bank robbery plays out.

Please share your thoughts on the new in-space UI which moves EVE towards more modern modes of interaction with the universe.

As a final notice to those of you who are still in possession of the deprecated Encounter Surveillance System deployables, the NPC market orders to buy them back will be closed as of this update and a decay timer of 14 days is also being added to the deployables that are still left out in space.

The Grand Heist goes live in late July, but In the meantime, please check it out on the Singularity test server and share your feedback!

Fiery Rifter Combat in the Proving Grounds!

Defiant Capsuleers,

In celebration of the unbreakable spirit of the Minmatar, strive for Glorification in a new Abyssal Proving Grounds event where four pilots engage in all-out combat flying the iconic Rifter frigate, burning bright with a 100% bonus to the effects of overheating most modules! Let your weapons and thrusters blaze as bright as your determination as you battle on equal ground – but take caution to not burn up first yourself.

This special Liberation Day Proving Ground event opens at 11:00 UTC on 16 July, and will run until 11:00 UTC on 20 July.

The ruleset for this event is as follows:
- Only the Minmatar Rifter frigate may enter
- Overheat bonuses for modules are increased by 100%, excluding EWAR
- Modules are limited to meta level 5 and below
- No pirate implants

Ready your ships, your ambitions, and your Proving Ground Filaments - collected from Abyssal Deadspace caches or purchased from the in-game market - and demonstrate the strength of your spirit as you aim for the top of the Proving Grounds leaderboard, gaining notoriety and earning special rewards!

EVE Academy – How to Find a Corp

Academic Capsuleers,

A new tutorial has been added to EVE Academy! This video will help you join up with like-minded Capsuleers as a part of the Soldier of Fortune path. You can find the video below or over on the EVE Academy site itself.

EVE Academy is your guide to New Eden - a website aimed at giving new EVE Online players the best start by providing a tailored learning experience. It provides a wealth of information designed to help you decide who you want to be. Pick from Explorer, Industrialist, Enforcer (PvE) or Soldier of Fortune (PvP) to get skill plans, beginner ship fittings, and curated links to resources created by the EVE Online community.

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Becoming a threatening solo pirate takes time and skill. Knowing your enemy and learning how to counter them can often be more important than skills or the ship you want to fly. A great way to set off right as a new player looking to jump into PvP is to search for a mentor. This can mean joining a Lowsec or Nullsec training corporation or even just messaging the pilot who most recently killed you. Taking every ship loss as a chance to learn will be beneficial to your growth as a pilot, or perhaps a pirate! -EVE Academy, Soldier of Fortune

New content is always being added to the Academy so be sure to check back regularly to get the latest new videos to help you excel in EVE Online!

Visit EVE Academy

Announcing Alliance Tournament XVII

Competitive Capsuleers,

Take up your flags, the 10 v 10 battle for alliance supremacy returns to EVE Online this November! Alliances will once again be sending their champions to battle it out in the arena for glory and epic prizes, while a desk of experienced casters will break down the action for you as you cheer your team on to victory. There will even be some exciting new prizes for viewers to earn while rooting for their teams!
Signups will open on 19 July at 11:00 UTC, so expect a follow up article with full rules and signup instructions on that day. Until then, rally your alliance mates, get your propaganda artists working on a new video advertisement, and blow the dust off your alliance executor (so they can register your team on time!)

This year we’re flying our EVE_NT partners out to Reykjavik to help us put on the professional tournament broadcast you’ve come to expect from the Alliance Tournament in our new studio. And of course, to contrast the polished streaming experience, we hope to see lots of new video advertisements for your corporations, alliances, or in-game businesses – details on how to submit these will be provided in the Alliance Tournament XVII official discord. Your video advertisements (if approved) will be shown to thousands of other players live on stream during the tournament, so be sure to get started on your ad right away!

As for prizes, this year’s tournament is going to be pancake themed; Mordu’s Legion is sponsoring this event, so you can expect discounted points for the Garmur, Orthrus, and Barghest, plus some rather flat Alliance Tournament prize ships to be fought over.

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[h2]
Evolution - Committing to Tournaments Year Round
[/h2]
This yearly tournament was placed on hiatus in 2019 as a re-evaluation of how-to best support tournament events such as the Alliance Tournament as well as community run tournaments was needed. We are now in a position to support the competitive community year-round. This past year has seen excellent player run tournaments such as the EVE_NT Alliance Open last fall and Anger Games: Rebirth this past Spring, and it’s about time the Alliance Tournament rejoined the fray!
To ensure that high quality tournament support can be provided all year-round, a few changes are being made to how tournament support is handled. Some of these are minor tweaks, such as re-using tournament prize SKINs for supported events through a full year instead of only for a single event. This was done throughout the past year for the Alliance Open, Anger Games, and an upcoming Chinese / Australian time zone tournament which will be taking place this summer (or winter, in the case of those Australians). Expect this to continue with the new prize SKINs given for ATXVII this year, as it allows for better support of community events without adding additional development work for development teams.

Another such change is the policy on Alliance Tournament prize ships. While these will remain as prizes just for the Alliance Tournament, the idea is to begin bringing back prize ships which were introduced over a decade ago. There are new Mordu’s Legion prize ships for this year’s event, so no ships are being brought back just yet – the first ships brought back would be next year, starting with the Freki and Mimir. Only ships from Alliance Tournament VII and onward will be included in this rotating cycle (no Gold Magnates or Raven State Issues). This policy change allows exciting prize ships to always be available for the yearly Alliance Tournament even when development time is at a premium, and creates a set pool of ships which can be kept up to date with balance passes, as well as keeping some of these rare and exciting ships in the ecosystem from completely disappearing. These ships will remain quite rare, as once a ship is reintroduced it will move to the back of the list and won’t be added to the game again for at least another decade. We are also considering ways in which we can preserve the uniqueness of past prize ships, such as having new names, item descriptions and/or colors for the ships which are being re-released in the future. This change doesn’t preclude the development team from producing new tournament ships for future events, it simply allows for a steady baseline to work from, so new tournament ships may still be introduced in the future!

[h2]Tournament Updates and Changes from ATXVI[/h2]

The format of the Alliance Tournament you know and love is much the same; double elimination 10 v 10 team battles with ships having certain point values. However, many balance changes to the game -- as well as changes to the tournament meta - have happened since the last Alliance Tournament in 2018, so the rules for the event are being updated to keep the tournament fresh, diverse, and fun to watch, with an emphasis on pilot skill.

Some of the changes since the last Alliance Tournament you can look forward to are:

  • More granular point values for individual ships with the goal of creating more diverse team compositions. A point calculator to help your team with theorycrafting will be provided!
  • A new ‘cascading blind ban’ system as was seen in last year’s Alliance Open.
  • Removal of Alliance Tournament prize ships from the competition to level the playing field for newer groups who want to test their mettle against the entrenched winners of years past.
  • A new ‘Mercenary’ rule to provide a bit more flexibility for group membership and to create a clear path of entry for established groups which fly under a non-alliance banner.
  • New hull limitations to provide for more diverse team compositions will be introduced.
  • Flagships will be back but with new twists with the goal of keeping the flagship meta fresh (so it’s not all Bhaalghorns or Leshaks).


As this is the first year of the Alliance Tournament’s return, this year’s tournament will be for 32 teams. However, as it is likely that many more applications will be received, a feeder event will be held for those teams that don’t make it into the initial bracket to fight it out and win a spot in the tournament. Don’t hesitate to sign up your alliance before the deadline, as the feeders will have room for everyone! The format of the feeder will be determined based on the number of applications that are received by the time signups are closed. As with past events, there will be a number of slots which will go to the highest bidders via silent auction. Due to the long period of time since the previous Alliance Tournament, seed positions from ATXVI will not be used. Instead, there will be a few slots reserved for those top teams from this past year’s Alliance Open and Anger Games. Instructions on how to sign up for the event will come next week!

If you are interested in enrolling your alliance, finding a team to fly with, or just generally chatting about the Alliance Tournament, please join us in the Official ATXVII Alliance Tournament Discord. This new discord server will be the best place to stay up to date on all things Alliance Tournament!

[h2]Key Dates[/h2]

19 July – Signups open

16 August – Signups close

23 August – Roster lock / Thunderdome access

4/5 September – Feeder event
Saturdays in September / October – CCPTV Broadcast Open Practices to be held on Thunderdome

6/7 November – Alliance Tournament XVII Weekend 1

13/14 November – Alliance Tournament XVII Weekend 2


Gather your friends, Capsuleers, we look forward to seeing you in the arena!

Liberation Games Closing Soon

Tribal Capsuleers,

The Minmatar Liberation Games are soon coming to a close at 11:00 UTC on 20 July where the winning tribe will take control of a new station in Pator. Make sure you log into EVE soon and take part in the celebrations and events to support your chosen tribe and enrich yourself in the culture of the Matari people.

This is your chance to claim any remaining daily gifts or upgrade to Omega and pick up that second tier of rewards. Get Omega before 20 July and you’ll also receive a free In Rust We Trust SKIN for one of four popular Minmatar ships.

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