EVE Online's February update rolled out today, introducing a new limited time event as well as big balance changes to certain ships and structures. In celebration of Valentine's Day, EVE pilots can gatecrash a pirate party from February 13 to the 27 and earn some sexy ship skins.
The Guardians Gala is a returning event where players can locate and crash special NPC gatherings happening all across New Eden. It's a relatively easy fight, but those who participate can earn exclusive Spirit ship skins as well as special implants that could be useful to a newer pilot. The ship skins are especially pretty.
If you want to know more, you can read all about the Guardian Gala here. Or, if you're playing, just pop open The Agency tab in-game and it'll direct you toward the nearest party so you can get blasting.
Fortunately, the Guardian Gala is just the pink icing on EVE's February update. A much bigger (and more exciting) part of this patch is the introduction of Upwell Structures 2.0 in addition to Assault Frigates finally getting a balance pass.
You can read the full notes here, but the gist is that the systems governing how Citadels work—like attacking and defending them—has been updated significantly. Now, Citadels have high and low power modes, the latter of which makes them significantly easier to blow up. A Citadel must have at least one module online and consuming fuel to be in high power mode, which also grants it full defensive capabilities. Structures that have run out of fuel and are therefore offline will enter low power mode, reducing their defenses. This will make taking down abandoned Citadels much easier, while encouraging defenders to actually pay attention to their structures.
Other major changes to Citadels include a new reinforcement system, which determines when these massive space stations become vulnerable to attack by enemy players. Likewise, moon mining is now available in wormhole space and certain high-security systems so more corporations can reap the benefits of mining moon rocks for profit. Assault frigates, a powerful ship specialization that capitalizes on speed and maneuverability, have been overhauled making them even faster and punchier too.
Overall, it's a sizeable update to EVE Online that'll impact just about any player no matter what corner of space they inhabit.
