I don’t think I am exaggerating any when I say that the Citadel expansion, coming (Soon™) this spring, is one of the biggest game changing additions in recent years. Functions of starbases and stations are being rolled into one structure, supercapitals are being allowed to dock, and the dreadnought pilots are smelling the blood in the water of structure killmails which Entosis Links seemed to have stolen from them.
Gone are the days of structures being tied to moons, and stations being defenseless monuments, indestructible and eternal. Even the state of trade hubs are being debated. All of this due to Upwell Consortium’s new citadel structure line. And now Upwell is giving us a chance to be part of this historic change in New Eden’s landscape with a research race.
RACE TO THE START
We have seen this before in Eve, with the sleeper loot collection race of YC116. The result of that, Tactical Destroyers, wasn’t known, but this time the rewards are clear: the first blueprint for a small size citadel in the game. This is a huge advantage, and whether you build it, or just sell the BPC, the victor in this race will be well-renowned.
A REWARDING EXPERIENCE
The race this time functions as a lottery, where every Research Component item contracted to Lee Brinalle earns you an entry into the final drawing for the prize: a fully-researched BPC for an Astrahaus small citadel. But that’s just the first prize. As the contracts flow in, certain quotas will be met, and more raffles will take place.
Here are the rewards for the following drawings:
- Citadel 2: One additional Astrahus BPC
- Citadel 3: Two more Astrahus BPCs
- Citadel 4: One more Astrahus BPC and Upwell Branded Apparel for every capsuleer who contracts a Research Component Citadel
- Citadel 5: 1 Fortizar (medium size citadel) BPC
As if that wasn’t enough of a set of rewards, the top contributors will have their names immortalized on the descriptions of the prototype citadels they helped to build. The reason for that is that these Research Components will be key in the construction of these first few Astrahaus in New Eden. Without these capsuleers, Upwell would never be able to complete the project.
As an additional bit of evidence for what this means to New Eden, the first citadel Upwell has built is already a smoking ruin, courtesy of The OSS alliance and their dedicated PvP players. This article will be updated as more information becomes available, and the locations, regions, and system security status of the citadels are as follows:
- Anjedin 0.5 Tash-Murkon (Amarr space)
- Asgeir 0.7 Metropolis (Minmatar space)
- Mara 0.4 Lonetrek (Caldari space)
- Ourapheh 0.9 Genesis (Interbus space)
- PF-346 -0.35 Syndicate (Intaki Syndicate NPC Null space)
TAKE ME DOWN TO THE PARADISE CITADEL
How will this work in practice? Well, apparently Upwell still has a grudge against the Serpentis, as these research components are only available in Serpentis data, relic, and ghost sites. Expect to see Gallente space of all security states flooded with eager explorers aiming to seize this chance to make history. Wormhole space, with its assortment of racial hacking sites, will also be a hotbed of activity.
Be careful though, Serpentis exploration sites will likely be scanned down and used as bait by the more predatory. No probes will give warning, as they sit and wait for activity. With activity comes aggression, and I suspect the kills will flow as freely as the components do. If you’re not familiar with exploration, and want to try your hand in this historic time, take a look at these articles for assistance! Watch your d-scan in hostile space, contract your components to Upwell, and enjoy your chance of a lifetime at fame and rewards!
This article originally appeared on TheMittani.com, written by Verdis.
