CCP Games revealed on Monday that the very first major update to Eve: Valkyrie is coming on June 20. This update will be completely free and packed with loads of new features, bug fixes, improvements, and balancing changes. Based on the developer’s announcement, the biggest feature added to the popular multiplayer dogfighting shooter game is seemingly the cool new Carrier Assault mode that allows players to actually engage with the enemy’s carrier, an impossible feat prior to the free expansion.
According to the developer, this mode is carried out in three stages. First, the players must gain control of at least two of the three Power Relay Stations juicing up the carrier’s shields. This stage works much like the current Control game mode, allowing players to protect a control point using a drone. Once two Power Relay Stations are seized, the carrier’s shields will go down for a limited time.
Next, players attack the enemy carrier by going after its Cooling Nodes, which are highlighted on the player’s HUD. Naturally, players must accomplish several things during this process: Avoid the enemy carrier’s automated defense turrets, avoid the shots from the defending team’s own fighter ships, and protect the player’s own carrier in the process. The stage will not conclude until all Cooling Nodes are destroyed.
Additionally, CCP Games has also thrown in Boost Gates, which offer a new tactical option for the Carrier Assault mode. Simply fly through them and get a huge one-way speed boost, an important tool when players are fighting to get from one Power Relay Station to another. Boost Gates are also helpful when attacking the enemy carrier’s hull once the shields go offline.
Finally, there’s stage three. That’s when the enemy carrier’s Core is exposed deep within its belly. The only way to get to it is to jet down a trench-like access tunnel, and once accessed, players are to plummet the carrier’s heart with everything they have, causing the Core to go critical. You’ve seen how this works in the Star Wars movies: shoot up the Core and get the hell out before the big carrier goes kaboom!
In addition to the Carrier Assault mode, the upcoming expansion will add a new multiplayer map called Crossroads that will support Scout and Survival game modes. This map features a single control tower, Station 27, standing tall within an extensive asteroid field. Crossroads is also a graveyard of battered ships as factions and races have converged to battle in this little section of known space.
“Learning every nook and cranny of the new terrain can give you the edge in combat,” the developer says. “As a reward for this exploration you will discover new hidden Salvage crates (giving you crafting currency), and new Echoes that provide more back story on the history of Eve: Valkyrie and its characters.”
CCP Game says that with the new expansion, the multiplayer mode selection process now provides more options before the player launches into combat. There are also now special XP rewards for completing a match, and a new Tactical Menu that shows all active players currently in the match including details such as their ships, their current scores, and so on. The developer even made “tons” of ship balance changes to Fighters, Heavy Ships, and Support Ships with this new expansion.
For a detailed accounting of how these ships were balanced, head here. Again, the free expansion hits the game on June 20, but in the meantime, check out the promotional trailer embedded above.
