EVE Online has deployed a minor new patch today with some big implications. Let’s take a loot at the EVE Online Version 18.12 patch notes and see what we can find.
Along with the launch of the Japanese client today, there are some backend fixes going in. One major change that should help in battles with server performance is that damage calculation has been better optimized, reducing the server-side impact of weapons like bombs going off.
Two new classes of Salvage Drone have finally been added to the game as well. The Salvage Drone II is a new Tech II variant with better stats, and then there’s the commemorative “Dunk” variant, named supposedly for Dunk Dinkle a legendary player with Brave Collective.
But with the good news comes some bad stuff as well, or in this case nerfs. The drone behavior AI has been tuned to no longer automatically attack hostile NPCs, even when set to aggressive. This completely removes the ability for semi-AFK ratting in drone ships, which is what a ton of players even use drones for. Now, the drone gameplay is just as active as any other PvE style, through the locking and manual attacking of targets. While not a bad change for the battle against bots, some players are likely to be very upset by the loss.
What will make a lot more players interested in PvE for the hunting aspect is that the Dynamic Bounty System (DBS) is now active across all Low-Security systems.
And speaking of PvE, there’s one more good thing to take about. Resource distribution has been rebalanced. This change won’t put a bunch of Ore and Ice back on the table, but it will make certain systems more livable. It turns out that CCP was overzealous in their initial mining nerfs and lt led to some systems not getting enough of the spawns they needed to raise ADMs in NullSec, which has now been fixed with guaranteed ore spawns in certain Null systems. The distribution of Ice and low-end Ores in LowSec has also been tweaked.
EVE Online Version 18.12 Patch Notes
FEATURES & CHANGES
Audio & Graphics:
- Added voiceover for Aura during tutorial in English clients.
- Updated Daily Login Rewards to make getting Skillpoints more visceral and understandable.
Balance:
- Increased Activity Defense Multiplier (ADM) Industry modifier to make it easier to increase and sustain high industry ADM.
- Increased ADM Military modifier to increase the delta between where the ADM drops to level 4 and the value where the Dynamic Bounty System reduces the output of the system.
Game Systems:
- The Dynamic Bounty System (DBS) is now active across all Low Security solar systems.
Resource Distribution:
- Added a guaranteed anomaly containing Arkonor and Bistot to all Null Sec systems.
- Added an extra guaranteed anomaly containing Arkonor and Bistot for systems with true sec between 0.0 and -0.5.
- Added guaranteed anomaly containing Jaspet to all Low Sec systems.
- Updated rules governing the distribution of ice anomalies. After an ice anomaly is cleared it will now be reseeded randomly in any of the systems where ice is known to spawn. More than one ice anomaly may exist in the same system.
Gameplay:
- Added fitting window warnings for fits that have multiple stacking penalized disruption modules.
- The ‘Aggressive’ behavior setting of drones will now only cause drones to respond to direct offensive actions taken by another Capsuleer (player) or their controlled drones. Drones will no longer automatically attack NPCs when their behavior is set to aggressive.
- Removed the Capsuleer log-off timer attached to their character when a character goes through a pod death.
- The new capital recloner module will not clear the Capsuleer log-off timer.
Localization:
- A full Japanese language support is now live! Join the firework extravaganza today at 12:00 UTC in the starting systems in-game.
- Updated to fast checkout localization for ‘Item’ in all languages.
Science & Industry:
Added blueprints for the new salvage drone variations:
- The Salvage Drone II Blueprint can be invented from the Salvage Drone I Blueprint.
- ‘The Dunk’ Salvage Drone Blueprint can be purchased from the ORE LP store.
Ships:
Added two new Salvage Drone Variations:
Salvage Drone II
- Required skills: Salvage Drone Operation 5
- Salvaging 4
- Drones: 1
- Salvage Drone Specialization 1
- Access Difficulty Bonus: 4%
‘Dunk’ Salvage Drone
- Required skills: Salvage Drone Operation 4
- Salvaging 4
- Drones: 1
- Access Difficulty Bonus: 4.5%
Skills:
Added Salvage Drone Specialization skill:
Advanced proficiency at controlling salvage drones. 2% bonus to the max velocity and salvage chance of drones requiring Salvage Drone Specialization per level. Can be acquired directly from the character sheet for 13,000,000 ISK. Required prerequisite skills:
- Salvage Drone Operation 5
- Salvaging 4
- Available only to Omega accounts
Technical:
- Improved server performance for handling many damage events at the same time, such as instances where many smartbombs are used at the same time.
Triglavian Space:
- Rebalanced NPC groups in content related to the Triglavian Space.
User Interface:
- Increased size of the right-click context menu.
- Probes will now automatically stack when returned to the Cargo Hold.
- A confirmation prompt will now appear when attempting to join a Fleet while you are currently in one, allowing you to swap Fleets.
- Made additional UI improvements to the Jump Clones tab in the Character Sheet.
- The Career Agents page of the Agency will now show the closest available Agents.
- Added arrows to control expanding and collapsing sections of the Info Panel instead of the section header.
- Warp Gates will no longer appear as nearest object in System section of the Info Panel.
- Moved the ‘Hide Buttons’ button from the HUD to a checkbox in the HUD Options menu.
- Added the volumes of item stacks to their tooltips in Inventory windows.
- Added ‘Drifter Reinforcements’ to the default General Overview Settings.
- Added a missing error message when attempting to put a non-Core item into a structure’s Core Room.
- Adjusted the width of tooltips in the Triglavian Space Filament page of the Agency.
- Added hints/tooltips to some of the Drone settings to explain what they do (Aggressive/Passive/Focus Fire).
New Eden Store:
- Updated the sorting of New Eden Store offers.
DEFECT FIXES
Gameplay:
- Fixed an issue which could cause Observatory Flashpoint sites to not complete correctly.
- Fixed an issue where Monitor objects within World Ark Flashpoint sites would give a large amount of standings.
- Fixed an issue where players could install a Medical Clone in a Station or Structure without an active Clone Bay Service.
Graphics:
- Fixed an issue which caused large ships to sometimes undock from small ship undocking points.
- Fixed an issue which stopped Jita 4-4 from switching to weekend lights.
- Fixed an issue that caused some of the visual effects of supercarriers to display incorrectly.
- Fixed an issue that caused Mobile Sanguine Harvester to have an icon missing.
- Fixed an issue that caused wormholes to appear too red when close to a star.
User Interface:
- Fixed an issue which could cause Autopilot routes to be incorrectly optimized on login.
- Fixed an issue which could cause the Sensor Overlay to not load correctly.
- Fixed issues in the Info Panel for several ‘The Blood-Stained Stars’ missions.
- Fixed an issue with ‘Buy PLEX’ button overlapping with the PLEX amount in multiple languages.
- Fixed an issue where a text string overlaps the ‘Buy this type’ window.
- Fixed an issue in the Agency where the external icon was showing on cards even though the cards point within the Agency.
- Fixed an issue where the ‘NEW!’ tag overlaps with the Agents & Missions title tag in the Agency Window.
- Fixed an issue that caused wrong diminishing returns warning in fitting window/fitting simulation to be displayed.
- Fixed an issue where the hardpoints icons in the fitting window were offset.