Isn’t it awkward when we roll over into a new month? The title is messing with my feng shui. Anyway, moving on.

Bastions of War – Now Live

The new patch is live, bringing buffs to Marauders. The Bastion module has been reworked and will now double the rate of fire for all large weapons. The module has also had its cycle decreased to only 30 seconds, allowing Marauders to pop in and out of Bastion more frequently to change positions. In addition, the Vargur has had its bonuses changed in order to further increasing its DPS. The Kronos has had both its capacitor increased and its recharge time decreased. Finally, the Paladin’s bonus to capacitor capacity has been replaced with a 10% reduction to Large Energy Turret activation per Amarr Battleship level.

Heavy Assault Cruisers have been nerfed slightly, in an attempt to shift the meta in fleet fights. The Assault Damage Control duration has been reduced by 25%. HAC passive hull resists have been reduced and the signature reduction for the MicroWarpDrive has been removed.

Finally, CCP has released a new “Reign Supreme Pack” which provides 30 days of Omega, skill books for Marauders and Recon Ships, and a set of cool SKINs. Also, the New Eden store is offering Marauder and Recon SKINs at a 25% discount until March 2nd, so make sure to grab those the day this article comes out.

Exploit Notification – Abyssal Siege Module

Some of you may have seen footage of dreadnaughts cloaking while using the Abyssal Siege module. CCP has declared this an exploit, so don’t do it. CCP wants witnesses to this behavior to contact Customer Support.

Expert Systems Coming Soon

CCP will soon be releasing an avenue for new players to get a taste of some advanced skills through the Expert Systems. For a price, Capsuleers can temporarily be granted access to the “Magic 14”; however, the access is only temporary so as not to replace actual skill training. CCP is hoping this will remove some pain points with the new player experience in EVE. For more information on Expert Systems, check out the DevBlog or see INN articles Changing the New Player Experience and CCP’s ‘Expert Systems’.

Abyssal Proving Grounds 4 Player FFA Combat and Attack Frigates

Hopefully you’re getting the pattern here with the Abyssal Proving Grounds. We go to print about the same time they expire, so make sure to keep an eye out for these events as they are a great way to “git gud” at EVE combat. This week’s event was a 4-player FFA in Combat and Attack Frigates. The permitted hulls are the Atron, Breacher, Condor, Executioner, Incursus, Kestrel, Merlin, Punisher, Rifter, Slasher, Tormentor, and Tristan.

Since it’s probably over by the time you’re reading this, congrats to the winners, I guess! For the rest of you, keep an eye out for those events and make sure to jump in; it really can’t hurt your piloting skills.

Bum Dum Bump

Another one bites the dust. Queue Freddy Mercury.