Joint Strike Update Coming in October

Hello Pilots,

It’s with great pleasure that I welcome you to our next major free update for EVE: Valkyrie, coming October 7, as well as our patch notes!

We are on the verge of welcoming a whole new galaxy of pilots into the ranks of the Valkyrie and this game update celebrates the event with a Titan sized list of new and improved content. The Valkyrie you know and love is evolving.

With such a long list of features to get through I’ll keep this section as short as possible. It’s been a long summer in development and the team here in Newcastle are all excited to see what you make of these cool new additions. Your feedback puts the spring in our step and helps us prioritise the right features at the right time. The community has been such as driving force over the past few months. Keep it coming!

As gamers we’re also very keen to get back to flying on a more regular basis, so keep any eye open for some CCP’ers in those combat zones and clone vats - and be on the lookout for more dev blogs coming this week which will take a deeper look into some of the features outlined below!

Light those engines and fly together!

CCP ROO

NEW! Cross-Platform Play

On the 13th of October we will be welcoming an armada of new PlayStation pilots ready to make a name for themselves as Valkyrie. This is another milestone event as we deliver on the promise of cross-platform gaming in VR. No matter what platform you choose, Valkyrie will be there, and we’re incredibly excited to see what these new pilots can do. Keep your eyes peeled in the clone vat - I’m sure you’ll be able to spot them as they launch alongside you!

Fly together, die together :)

NEW! Co-Op Game Mode

Joint Strike is not only a reference to cross-platform gaming, but also to the new Co-Op game mode which has been added to the Combat HUB. Here you’ll be able to invite friends to your Squad, or simply use matchmaking to create a team and do battle against a team of AI balanced to compliment the skills of your own team.

Whether you choose player vs AI (Co-op), or player vs player (Combat) you will be rewarded and progress at the same rate. XP, currency and unlocks work exactly the same in both modes, so play and enjoy the game however you want. This is your pilot, and your Valkyrie career.

NEW! Com Alerts

Com Alerts are short, instant messages the can help a team rally round an objective, alert a teammate when help is on the way, or simply to say thanks. Communication is essential to success, and now all pilots will have the means to keep each other informed. Whether they are part of a Squad or just on the same side, Com Alerts can be seen and heard by all players (and on any platform) on the same team.

Simply press down on the D-pad to bring up the Com Alert wheel. Select the message you want to broadcast with the Right Analogue Stick and release the D-pad to issue the message. Depending on your pilots sex you will hear either a male or female voice. Text of the message will also appear on the right of your cockpit (mirroring the kill feed shown on the left). The system is fully customisable via the Tactical Menu (Pause Screen) so you can toggle the VO and Text message on/off.

Group Up > Objective B! ComAlerts

NEW! Recall Missions

There are 2 new single player Recall missions added into the Chronicles HUB. They reveal more backstory on the events and characters in the Valkyrie timeline, and also give players a chance to hone their skills in a range of mechanics and features that will be experienced in live combat. To say any more would steer a little too close to spoiler alert territory - but we have a dev blog coming this week which will reveal more...

Recall

NEW! Daily Challenges

Keep those wallets fat and those salvage stockpiles ready for crafting by completing some of our new Daily Challenges. These present pilots with a range of objectives catering to all styles of play and offering a variety of rewards. You can hold 3 challenges cards at any time and choose to refresh 1 per day. They will passively track any data in the background and you can check on your progress on the main menu, or via a Challenge link within the CAT.

Daily Challenges

NEW! Clone Data Integrity

Who says stats can’t be sexy? The new Clone Data Integrity is a visual representation of your pilot’s DNA. All of your actions are tracked and displayed as progress bars and percentage within the pilot menu, but this information is also translated into a vivid VR environment that surrounds you as you view the data. It’s like literally being inside your pilot's brain. As you progress, different neurons will light up within that virtual brain. Each section corresponding to different activities played and experience gained.

In the 2 images below you can see the differences between a pilot who spends more time playing solo (first image), and a pilot who has spent more time in multiplayer combat and used a combination of Fighters, Heavies and Support ships (second image).

Pilot1 Pilot2

NEW! Game Guide

We’ve added a Guide section within the CAT menu. In the guide, pilots will find short summary information on many of EVE: Valkyrie's key features, modes and mechanics. Along with the text descriptions and hints each page will use the VR assets related to each topic to help establish and strengthen familiarity with our in-game iconography.

New! Training: Test Arena

Take any ship from your Hangar into our virtual playground. Test out your weapons and abilities on the enemy and friendly AI that are engaged in a never ending Team Death Match battle. They’ve been programmed not to return fire so this is an ideal opportunity to practise your manoeuvres without fear of retaliation. We’ve also disabled the carrier shields so you can practise that all-important trench run.

Test Arena

New! Art: Paint Jobs & Decals

We’ve added dozens of new Paint Jobs & Decals so you can peacock to your heart's content. There are loads of new patterns and striking colours to help you stand out in the heat of battle or give you a bit more swagger when you’re sitting pretty on those post-match results screens. Wear it, own it ;)

PaintJobs

New! Audio: New explosion FX

There have been many, many cool new audio additions in this patch, but I simply have to call out the new explosion FX. The satisfying crack and boom you hear when taking down a target sends shivers down my spine. It’s a joyous celebration of the kill shot and leaves you in no doubt that someone unlucky pilots flight just came to a definitive end. *Boom-B! *

Progression Changes: Added Silver reward to Match Win and Match Played bonuses

With all this new content we felt the in-game economy needed another boost. Those sweet new Paint Jobs are made to be flown, not just left on the hangars (see what I did there? OK,I’ll stop now). So to get some more Silver in your virtual pockets we’re now rewarding pilots with 8000 Visk for every battle they complete, and 2000 Visk for claiming a victory.

Menus: Chronicles (Single Player) redesign

There are some major new changes in the Chronicles menus. We wanted to give pilots better visibility of what game content they have completed, and to what extent. Some of these design intentions were connected to the Clone Data Integrity described above, but we also wanted to present the available options in a more user friendly flow. When entering the Chronicles HUB, you now will see 4 clear game mode options – Training, Recall, Scout and Survival. Your percentage completion will be shown on each of these options, and when you enter a sub menu the percentage completion will become more granular in its detail. Each mission, mode or event will clearly display your progress within it.

Another key change here is the movement of the planets (game maps) to the rotating wheel interface. As our game content continue to expand, we need more space in which to display it and comfortably interact with it. These changes preserve that VR wow of being in a planetarium, but ensure that important options can be selected quickly and intuitively.

Chronicles

Menus: Combat (Multiplayer) redesign

With the addition of Co-Op we took the opportunity to do some tidying up in the multiplayer HUB. The goal here was to strip away some of the none essential options and keep focus on the central “Launch into Combat” button. The match settings menu has been separated from the central launch button and placed in a more convenient location to your right. It’s also been updated to use the game mode icons. Server Region selection has been moved from this menu and placed under Settings, and the Launch Tubes link has been replaced with an option to toggle between Co-Op (players vs AI) and Combat (players vs players). Don’t worry, Launch Tubes can still be configured via your Hangar pre-battle, and the Launch Tubes quick link will dynamically appear in the HUB between battles for convenience.

The countdown to launch timer has also now been moved to a more central position. This was partly for clarity and comfort, but also because it looks more impressive and imposing. Prepare for battle!

Menus: Quartermaster redesign

As part of the menu and UI redesign we introduced some consistency rules for comfort and usability. While the head selecting items remains a cool VR moment, some menus can become cumbersome when there are too many options available. The Quartermaster was one such place. The selection of options has now been moved to the rotating wheel for easier selection. Many of the items within this menu have also have visual updates to ensure better clarity of information.

Menus: XP Transfer feature redesigned

Another feature that was overdue a usability pass was the XP Transfer system. Things are a lot more user-friendly now. The system will automatically display your ship classes that contain surplus XP (usually Legendary) and you simply select the class (or classes) you want to transfer to and define the amount by increasing or decreasing the XP gauge.

We have also changed the cost of transfering XP to Silver instead of Gold.

Menus: Unlock Screen Flow

We’ve totally revised how we display the items you have unlocked during a battle. After you have studied the Results Screen, and filled your wallets on the Rewards Screen, a series of pop-up messages will give you a nice VR preview of all the items unlocked. Simply dismiss or action the messages with a single button press.

In-game HUD: Shield Bracket Colour Change

The shield bracketing information (target markers on ships) now appears as a white colour with a tint of red, or blue. This helps to differentiate the status of a ship's armour and shields at a glance.

In-game HUD: In-Cockpit Scoring Feed

We’ve updated the front-facing score feed to give you more instant feedback on kills, assists, heals etc. You’ll now be able to keep track of score multipliers and additional bonuses without taking your eyes off the next target that’s currently locked in your sights.

In game HUD: Carrier Health

New Carrier health gauges are being displayed in the cockpit to keep you updated on the current status of your home and enemy bases during the Carrier Assault game mode. Just look down to the left side of your seat to check on progress.

Gameplay & Balance: Capacitor Tuning (all ships)

Players who brake for 1.5 time (or more), capacitor will recharge at x3 of the ships standard recharge rate.

Gameplay & Balance: Mag Cannon (Displacer, Spur)

Turn rate reduction 270 to 38
Velocity: Initial speed decreased 3600 to 3500
Velocity: Acceleration rate increased 0 to 2400
Burst Time Increased: Heat gain per sec decreased 0.5 to 0.25
Burst Time Increased: Re-fire level after overheat decreased 1 to 0.2
Spread: Max spread increased 0 to 6
Spread: Time to max spread decreased 1 to 0.5

Gameplay & Balance: Gorgon Redesign

Inventory:

Split into Left & Right Missile Pods
Time between shots drastically decreased 0.05 to 0.6
Time to lock individual missiles increased 0.2 to 0.8
Temporary Crosshairs added
Countermeasures removed
MWD (micro warp drive) shifted to Ability 1 button

Flight Model:

Minimum braking speed reduced 75 to 0
Braking aggressiveness reduced 15 to 7.5
Brake energy use added 0 to 3
Drift Correction changed 20 to 0
Pitch & Yaw speeds reduced 90 to 75
Angular Speed Modifier at min reduced 123 to 1

Upgrades:

Missile Salvo increases available missiles 3 to 4 per weapon with crosshair upgrade.
Missile Regen time decreased 1.5 to 1.2

Gameplay & Balance: Heavy tuning (all)

Turning Speed:

Reduced the Yaw turning speed from 70 to 50
Reduced the Pitch turning speed from 70 to 50
Reduced the Roll turning speed from 79.3 to 50

Flak Cannon Changes:

Increased damage to armour from 15 to 18.5
Increased damage to shields from 15 to 18.5

Gameplay & Balance: Cyclone

Flak Cannon:

Decreased damage to armour from 17 to 15
Decreased damage to shields from 17 to 15

EMS:

Decreased direct hits to disable from 10 to 5
Decrease direct hits to disable from 15 to 10
Increased the explosion radius from 120 to 300

Gameplay & Balance: Storm

Reduced the aim assist sphere

Gameplay & Balance: All Beams

Reduction of Buff Beams lock angle 50 to 40

Gameplay & Balance: Sentinel Beam

Increased the enemy health transfer ratio from 0.1 to 0.5

Gameplay & Balance: Displacer Beam

Reduced the heal rate by 20%

Gameplay & Balance: Ascent

Spool time increased by 1 sec
Minor reduction in aim assist

Gameplay & Balance: Controllers & Inputs

When using a joystick on PC you will now be able to use multiple devices of the same type, at the same time. A side effect of this change is that joystick users will have to reset their device type using the frontend settings menu. This will only have to be done once, and the button bindings will remain the same and once its set up you won’t need to revisit the menu.