Note: What follows is just an overview of the information dispensed from CCP. Further analysis will come as the dust settles.
CCP has released the dev blog for the new structures, Engineering Complexes, which are structures specialized towards research and manufacturing. This is the second set of structures, after the Citadels were introduced earlier this year. The Complexes are the centerpiece of the upcoming expansion “Ascension” scheduled to hit Tranquility on November 8.
The first thing to note is what is missing from the dev blog: no BPO costs, and only the build material list for the hulls. CCP have said the final numbers for these are still being nailed down, but, of course, the lack of information delays market speculation on materials which already have a tight bottleneck. CCP picks their timing carefully to avoid massive runs on the market of supplies needed to build.
Before we dive into anything in depth, here are the key points:
As with Citadels, there are 3 sizes of Engineering Complex (EC): Raitaru (M), Azbel(L) and Sotiyo (XL)
- They are subject to the same placement restrictions as Citadels. No trade hub systems, shattered wormholes, or rookie systems, and not within 1000km of each other.
- The Raitaru can build anything except capitals and super-capitals, and costs 40% less than an Astrahus (approx 700M ISK, before market fluctuations)
- The Azbel can build the same as the Raitaru, as well as capitals, and costs 60% less than a Fortizar (5.2B ISK)
- The Sotiyo is what you want for building super-capitals, and costs 90% less than a Keepstar (30B ISK)
- You cannot dock your super-capitals in any of the sizes of EC
- EC have 33% fewer hitpoints than the equivalent citadel
- EC have more vulnerability windows than citadels, with 9h(M), 18h(L) and 36h(XL) compared to 3(M), 6(L) and 21(XL) on citadels
- The damage cap remains the same on EC as for the equivalent citadel size, meaning that it is faster to take down each section of an EC
- The build materials for the hull are the same type of materials as used in citadels, with quantities adjusted to match the EC build costs
Hull bonuses are 25% bonus to engineering rigs on all sizes of EC, 25% reduction in engineering module fuel use across the range of structures, and then a time reduction for science and industry jobs depending on the size of the structure, 5% on M, 10% on L and 15% on XL.
SERVICE MODULES
As with citadels, there are Tech1 service modules with the same “Standup” prefix for Engineering Complexes.
The Manufacturing Plant module is for building everything apart from caps and super-caps. This can be installed in all security sectors of space, and on all sizes of structures.
The Capital Shipyard does what it says on the tin, and allows you to build caps. This can only be placed on L and XL citadels or EC, and only outside of high-security space.
The Supercapital Shipyard can only be fitted to XL ECs and requires sovereignty as well as the Supercapital Construction Facilities ihub upgrade. This means that super-cap building remains unchanged from its current locations, answering months of speculation about whether you would be able to build supers in wormholes: No supercapital shipyards in wormhole space.
The final two modules are the Research Lab and Invention Lab, which do exactly what you would expect. The Invention Lab allows for the invention of T2 & T3 items, which is a change from the current system, where you need a reverse engineering array for T3 invention.
As at present, service modules on Upwell structures are interchangeable unless otherwise noted. Yes, you can put a market on your L or XL EC. You can also put manufacturing modules and rigs onto your citadel (with the exception of the cap and supercap modules), however, they will not get bonuses from the structure.
Fuel block usage is something that all manufacturers will have to take into account, and it is split between the modules as follows:
Manufacturing Plant – 20 blocks/hour
Capital Shipyard – 30 blocks/hour
Supercapital Shipyard – 40 blocks/hour
Research Lab – 20 blocks/hour
Invention Lab – 20 blocks/hour
The cost to online the modules is not yet known. The Supercapital Shipyard cost of 40 blocks per hour puts it in line with the Market module for citadels, and about the same cost as running a large POS.
RIGS
In line with Citadels, there are rigs to go with the Engineering Complexes. There are 104 of these! (64 for M, 32 for L and 8 for XL – This is for the T1 & T2 variants). These give bonuses to ME, TE or a reduction in science costs. The bonus from the rig is dependent on the security of the space in which your EC is anchored. The base bonus is for highsec, then there is a 50% bonus on top for lowsec, and a 67% increase from base cost for wormhole or nullsec.
As the EC are bonused for manufacturing, they get a 25% bonus to the strength of all engineering rigs.
All the values below are base bonuses for the T1 rig, for the T2 variants, see the dev blog.
ME bonus rigs:
- Highsec 2.4%
- Lowsec 3.6%
- Nullsec & WH 4%
TE bonus rigs (for either science or industry jobs):
- Highsec 24%
- Lowsec 36%
- Nullsec & WH 40%
Science job cost reduction rigs:
- Highsec 12%
- Lowsec 18%
- Nullsec & WH 20%
With the 25% bonus that all citadels get to ME, the maximum available bonus is 6% with a T2 rig in nullsec.
As the size of the structures affects the bonus to TE, this gives an incentive for players to upgrade, as the maximum time bonus is 66% in an XL in nullsec with T2 rigs.
With a T2 rig, in nullsec or WH there is a maximum available science job cost reduction of 30%. The installation costs of science jobs is not a concern for many industrialists, however, those going for the perfect ME on their BPOs may choose this rig.
It should be noted that you cannot fit 3 T2 rigs on an EC, so it is likely that industrialists will prioritize ME and TE over science job cost reduction rigs.
The 104 rigs available give many possible variations of rigs that can, and probably will, be placed onto EC, as people try to find the optimal solution for their manufacture & research needs. The dev blog has a full image of all the available rigs, and bonuses.
ASSET SAFETY
Asset safety is a concept that was introduced with citadels and has continued in Engineering Complexes. BPOs will be delivered to asset safety on the destruction of the complex, as will any jobs that have been delivered. Any industry jobs that are currently running, or have finished but not been delivered will have a chance to drop. Asset safety of course, only exists outside of WH.
LEGACY STRUCTURES
POS and Outposts for now, will remain unchanged, but, from the December release, no new outposts or outpost upgrades will be able to be built. This means, if you want an outpost, get building it before the end of November.
One final piece of interest, it seems that you will be able to view super-caps that are building in XL EC.
As mentioned at the start of this article, this is just an overview of the changes coming in November, there is a lot of analysis, spreadsheeting and impact assessment to be done over the next few days, and we will have a follow-up article later this week going into more depth.
