If you’re a freshly minted Valkyrie pilot you may be hearing stuff bandied around that makes absolutely no sense to you right now. Stuff like ‘Fatal’, ‘EMS’ and ‘New Eden’. What better way, then, to get you up to speed than a fully comprehensive A to Z. There’s quite a bit to talk about, so we’ve split it into three parts - this first section deals with those mysterious subjects mentioned above, plus a whole lot more besides.

Let’s go!

A is for Antagonist

We are referring, of course, to the villain of the Valkyrie piece, Fatal. EVE Online players will already be familiar with the former leader of the Guristas Pirate clan. Well, in EVE: Valkyrie he’s back and planning to create an immortal army. Project ‘Schism’ sees Fatal stealing the consciousness of talented dead pilots and transplanting it into a series of clones. You can find out a bit more about Fatal’s past in our brief history of the EVE universe.

B is for Beams

This entry could also have been under ‘S’ as we are talking about Support Beams. Support ships are the medics of EVE: Valkyrie, designed to provide aid to fellow pilots, but their Support Beam weapons do far more than just heal. There are five different beams, each with a slightly different function. The Buff Beam is a balanced device equally capable of healing and draining enemy shields, whereas the Vamp Beam transfers a portion of the enemy’s shield back to the beam’s user. We’ll be bringing you a mini masterclass on Support Beams next week, so stay tuned.

C is for Carrier...

...or more specifically, Carrier Assault Mode. This is the most complex multiplayer combat mode in EVE: Valkyrie and consists of three distinct phases. The first involves capturing two of the three power relay stations on the enemy’s carrier in order to take down the shields. Having done so, the attacking team then has to take out the carrier’s many cooling nodes. Success during this phase will result in the carrier’s core being exposed. The final phase is flying through the carrier’s central structure to attack the core, ultimately destroying the carrier. See Carrier Assault Mode in action in our video tutorial below.

D is for Defensive Measures

We love a good weapon and in EVE: Valkyrie we’re spoilt for choice. But the Valkyries’ ships also have an impressive loadout of defensive tools. There are countermeasures that can be deployed to neutralize a missile threat. The EMS (electromagnetic shield) protects you from missiles, but also confers EMP status on weapons you fire through it enabling you to stun enemies. Then there are the versatile Spiderbots that can be used to break a missile lock or you can deploy a little cloud of them, which again serves two purposes. Friendlies flying into them will be healed whereas an enemy will be damaged by the ‘bots. Find out about other defensive hardware in our handy weapons and defence guide.

E is for EVE… Obvs

If EVE: Valkyrie is your only experience of the EVE Universe you might be surprised to learn just what a rich history and gaming heritage New Eden boasts. For a start, the massively multiplayer online game EVE Online is coming up to its 14th birthday and over the years it has attracted hundreds of thousands of players all vying to make their mark on the galaxy through mining, manufacturing, trade and piracy. There have been four EVE-related games altogether. To find out more about this, check out our brief history of the EVE Universe, where you can also discover the relevance of the word ‘EVE’.

F is for Fighters

Heavy class ships provide some satisfying grunt, support ships can turn the tide of a battle, but it’s fighter class that the majority of players return to most often. Why? It’s the versatility and sheer fun of the things that swing it. Their balance of speed, agility, robustness and fancy weapons arsenal make them a constant joy to take out into the void. Plus, as with all the classes, there’s a surprising amount of variety between the many fighter models available for unlocking and purchase, so you can match a ship’s capabilities to the task you are faced with. Find out about how to master the maps in a fighter in our brand new guide.

G is for Gatecrash

Gatecrash was the second major free update for EVE: Valkyrie and it was a whopper. It launched on December 7 2016 and included a significant amount of new content. As well as enhancements for PlayStation Pro owners and a nifty pilot customization feature, the star of the show was the now much-loved Gateway map. Featuring a huge and complex central structure – a warp gate still under construction – several functioning warp points and a nearby ‘iceteroid’ field, Gateway offered players unprecedented opportunities for taught dogfighting, mine-planting sneaker maneuvers and super-fast navigation. The Gateway map has something for everyone and you can find out how to tackle it with heavy class ships here.

H is for HOTAS

HOTAS is an acronym that stands for Hands on Throttle and Stick and it’s an alternative control system for playing EVE: Valkyrie. With a HOTAS controller, you have a separate central joystick like you’d find in a modern-day fighter jet controlling pitch, yaw and roll, with weapons mapped to buttons on the stick. A second stick operates the throttle. It a complex yet satisfyingly realistic set-up and we’ll be telling you more about it in an upcoming feature. In the meantime, look in awe at the custom Valkyrie HOTAS controller we featured in our forums.

Next time we’ll be looking at letters ‘I’ through ‘P’ and covering such diverse topics as Joint Strike, mango chutney* and PSVR.

See you soon, fact fans.

*We lied about the mango chutney.