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Factional warfare was introduced by CCP with the Empyrean Age Summer Expansion 2008 Eve to ease on the step from the PvE game play to the PvP gameplay. In-game wise it moves the storyline into a war which has been on the horizon in several storyline missions as well as global in-game news.
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{{update|System upgrades and all rewards details need updates according to the significant changes from the [https://www.eveonline.com/news/view/patch-notes-for-march-2020-release Loyalty to Lowsec] and [[Expansions#20.10 Release (Uprising)|Uprising]] updates, and the Allegiance Update [https://www.eveonline.com/news/view/patch-notes-version-21-03 Version 21.03] March 14, 2023.}}
It introduces 4 militias, dividing the empires into two wars with objectives called complexes (plexes for short) in low-sec that can be captured by the different militias and also agents offering factional warfare missions. Doing these accumulates victory points, which contribute to switching a system’s occupancy.
 
Missions and capturing plexes give out mainly standing within the four militias and empires as well as handing out ranks depending on the gained standing.  
 
  
Credits go to the official factional warfare guide [http://www.eveonline.com], the Minmatar militia academy forum [http://www.Minmatar-militia.org] and several other forums from where I gathered my knowledge.
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{{hatnote|This page deals primarily with the mechanics of faction warfare. For tips on how best to take advantage of these mechanics, see [[Faction warfare strategy and tactics]].}}
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'''Faction warfare''' (FW) is a game mechanic whereby you can sign up to fight for one of the four empire factions (against its enemy faction) for control over certain areas of [[low-sec]] space. It was first introduced in the [[Expansions#Empyrean Age|Empyrean Age]] expansion (2008) to offer players a stepping-stone into player-vs-player (PvP) gameplay. In 2022, the [[Expansions#20.10 Release (Uprising)|Uprising]] expansion made sweeping changes across many Faction Warfare mechanics, and the [[Expansions#Havoc|Havoc]] expansion (2023) added the ability to enlist with the Guristas and Angels pirate militias to fight against the empires and participate in [[Insurgency|Insurgencies]].
  
== Introduction ==
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Faction warfare is primarily centered around two [[#war zones|war zones]] (areas of low-sec contested by two empires): the Amarr-Minmatar war zone and the Caldari-Gallente war zone, which each are located on the border of the two respective empires. In these war zones, players who participate in Factional Warfare attempt to [[#Capturing systems|conquer star systems]] for their empire, and are rewarded with [[#Rewards|loyalty points]] and increased [[#Standings and ranks|faction standings]] for their efforts. Additionally, as players who participate in Factional Warfare are effectively at war with one of the four empire factions in the game, they can therefore attack (and be attacked by) players fighting for the enemy faction anywhere in New Eden, as well as fight the enemy NPC faction navies (who patrol the [[high-sec]] star systems belonging to their faction).
Factional warfare introduced with the Empyrean Age Expansion 2008 was introduced by CCP to Eve to ease on the step from the PvE game play to the PvP gameplay. Ingame wise it moves the storyline into the war which has been hinted at in several storyline missions as well as global ingame news.
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In addition to fighting their rival empire militia, players who participate in Factional Warfare are also at war with one of the two pirate militias as part of the Pirate Insurgency. Members of the Amarr and Minmatar militias are at war with the Angel Cartel, while members of the Caldari and Gallente militias are fighting the Guristas Pirates. In insurgency warzones, empire militia members can capture plexes to increase [[Suppression]], and pirate militia members can capture plexes to increase [[Corruption]].  
  
FW puts the player into an "alliance" that is constantly war-dec'ed with two other "alliances" called militias. Each militia is holding occupancy over certain low sec regions between the two empires which the players fight for control vs the opposing militia. The central mechanism around FW is gaining occupancy by conquering factional warfare dungeons commonly called plexes. These plexes focus factional warfare participants into mostly frigate and cruiser size ships due to their restrictions on their entry acceleration gate.
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== Joining Factional Warfare ==
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There are two ways to join Factional Warfare (the game calls this "enlisting"): join as a solo player, or join as part of a player [[corporation]] or [[alliance]]. You do not need to be a part of Faction warfare to fight those who are enlisted.
  
Since these militias are tied to the four high sec NPC empires, the opposing NPC empires will take measures if you enter their empire space, sending/spawning Navy NPCs to shoot opposing militia members in 1.0 to 0.5 to protect their high-sec space, dividing high-sec into safer and unsafer high-sec while still being part of an empire war dec.
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{{note box|
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[[EVE University]] is now able to participate in Factional Warfare!!
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}}
  
== Getting in ==  
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=== Joining as a solo player ===
There are two ways to join factional warfare. You can either join the NPC militia corporations as a solo player:
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[[File:FW-join.png|thumb|200px|Join Factional Warfare through the Militia Office window in a station belonging to the empire you wish to fight for (in this example, the Caldari).]]
* The 24th Imperial Crusade (Amarr)
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Any player can join Factional Warfare provided that their [[standings]] towards the empire faction (e.g. the Gallente Federation or the Caldari State) they wish to fight for are 0.0 or greater. Note that only raw, unmodified standings (i.e. without taking the effects of skills like {{Sk|Social|icon=yes}} into account) count; you can check your standings on your character page.
* The State Protectorate (Caldari)
 
* The Federal Defense Union (Gallente)  
 
* The Tribal Liberation Force (Minmatar)
 
  
or you can join a militia with your whole corporation. Corporations are moved into a FW faction after the next downtime, either instantaneously or, if they're leaving a player alliance, after 24 hours.  
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You can enlist at any station belonging to the empire or pirate faction you wish to fight for by opening the "Militia Office" window (from the [[NeoCom#Factional_Warfare|NeoCom]] or the Station Services window) for empire militias, and by opening the Insurgencies window (from the Activities section of the Neocom) for pirate militias. Note that even though the Khanid Kingdom and the Ammatar Mandate are affiliated with the Amarr Empire, they do not count as being a part of it, and therefore you cannot join Factional Warfare from their stations.  
  
To join the militia of your choice you need in both cases standing of 0.5 with the empire of that faction (social skills are not taken into account). You can get this by doing regular missions for corporations of that empire. For corporations the corporation standing needs to be above the 0.5 with that appropriate empire, the individuals standing is not taken into account (at least not directly).
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A player enlisting while a member of an NPC corporation will leave that corporation, and automatically join one of the six faction militia corporations (NPC-run corporations which are populated exclusively by other players enlisted in Factional Warfare for a given empire):
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* Amarr: [[24th Imperial Crusade]]
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* Caldari: [[State Protectorate]]
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* Gallente: [[Federal Defence Union]]
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* Minmatar: [[Tribal Liberation Force]]
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* Angel Cartel: Malakim Zealots
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* Guristas Pirates: Commando Guri
  
Two main standings are used in Factional Warfare:
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Joining as a solo player happens immediately. These militia corporations have NPC agents working for them, which offer [[#Factional Warfare missions|missions]] to pilots enlisted with their respective faction.
* Faction standings for joining requirements and NPC aggression.  
 
* FW Militia standings for ranks (detailed later)
 
  
A  detailed process is described at the eve online guide [http://www.eveonline.com/guide/en/g625.asp] .
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=== Direct Enlistment ===
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An unaligned corporation may allow individuals to Direct Enlist<ref>Dev Blog: [https://www.eveonline.com/news/view/the-path-to-war The Path to War] (2023)</ref> in Factional Warfare without enlisting the entire corporation. If corporation settings allow for it, members of the same corporation can join opposing factions, becoming legal Militia War Targets to each other. Corporation leadership can limit the factions that members are able to join in order to prevent corpmates from becoming war targets to each other, to focus on aiding a specific faction, or for any other reason. With Direct Enlistment enabled, corporation members may enlist and unenlist in faction warfare at will with any faction that their corporation allows for and that they have sufficient standing to enlist with.
  
== Factional Warfare requirements ==
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Enlisting or retiring individually using Direct Enlistment happens immediately. Once you have Retired from a FW militia you may not enlist in FW again for 24 hours, after which time you may re-enlist at will.
Apart from the 0.5 standing with the appropriate faction, there are no further ingame requirements, apart from not being on a trial account.
 
  
Skill-wise you should be able to fly a frigate with a MWD, scram/disruptor and web. This correlates with having the Basic Propulsion Jammer Operator certificate and the Basic High Velocity Helmsman certificate.
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=== Joining as a corporation ===
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The CEO or Director of a [[corporation]] can enlist their entire corporation (i.e. all their members) to Factional Warfare, and the executor of an alliance may do so on behalf of the alliance. If part of an alliance the corporation retains the decision to join Faction Warfare, so an Alliance can not prevent a member corporation from joining. However, due to wars being shared between alliances and their member corps, if a corp joins a militia, the entire alliance is enlisted as well. It is recommended that, if the alliance does not wish to be enlisted, corps who want to participate in Faction Warfare should either leave their alliance or enable Direct Enlistment so their members can freely join a militia. While individual pilots can join and leave the militias at any time, corporations and alliances will have to wait some time before they are joined into the warfare and may fight on behalf of their chosen empire. As with solo players, the corporation must have a standing of 0.0 of greater towards the empire they wish to fight for (corporation standings are an average of its all members' individual standings, see [[Corporation|corporation standings]] for more details). Enlisting a corporation takes effect after the next downtime.  
  
Having done:
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Players must be in a corporation flagged for Factional Warfare to participate. There is no way for an individual in a FW corp to opt out &ndash; if the corporation changes their flag to join the militia, every member of that corporation automatically joins with the corp.
* the overview class to understand the different overview settings
 
* the fleet movement class will be very useful
 
* knowing how to operate the onboard scanner (Apocrypa changes not taken into account yet)
 
* knowing how to use the star map is also not a must but can be an advantage
 
  
Apart from that I suggest being partially self sufficient ISK wise and being able to lose several frigates and cruisers including their fittings.
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=== Third-partying ===
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It is possible for third parties (those not enrolled in Faction warfare directly) to fight those who are. Sliding into a complex or aggressing a capsuleer enrolled in faction warfare will generally give a [[Timers#Suspect_Timer|Suspect Timer]] (see that page for exceptions). It will also decrease security status and decrease standing with the targeted faction. Third-parties will not receive Faction warfare rewards like Loyalty Points (LP).
  
== Consequences of being in a militia ==
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Third-partying on faction warfare is a common way to find PvP content in lowsec space for those not enrolled in Faction warfare themselves, such as EVE University members.
The consequences of being in a militia:
 
* You are now in an empire war with all it consequences.
 
* You now will be attacked by other NPC faction navy spawns if you enter the opposing factions space. These will have different strengths depending on the security rating of the system and they will use neuts/nos, EW and web. They will however not scram/disrupt you, so if no player intervenes, you will be able to run away.
 
* If you entered the NPC militia you will have that NPC militia as corp channel and have access to a militia channel, resembling an alliance channel. The NPC corp channel is not used that much; the militia channel is usually full with people looking for fleets, advice, fleetmembers and/or intel which is semi reliable.
 
  
Just as in Eve Uni fleets, don't give out fleet locations in militia chat but feel free to rely intel. Also some FW corps have spies in the opposing militia channels and sometimes even in fleets.
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{{expansion past|width= 70%
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|[[File:FW faction alliances.png|thumb|200px|The Amarr and the Caldari fight against the Minmatar and the Gallente.]]
  
You can now scan for plexes in low sec and conquer these to gain victory points for your faction. You will also be able to fight for control of the control bunker who defines the occupancy of a system. Gaining victory points will also result in increase of personal faction standing and with increasing standing you will gain ranks within the militia, shown on your decoration tab.
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Before the Allegiance update ([https://www.eveonline.com/news/view/patch-notes-version-21-03#h2-9 patch notes 2023-03-14.1]), the Amarr and the Caldari were allied (as were the Minmatar and the Gallente), which meant that pilots fighting for (for instance) the Gallente were able to help their Minmatar allies fight against the Amarr (with the exception of [[#Infrastructure Hub|infrastructure hubs]]), and attack (and be attacked by) pilots fighting for the Amarr as well as the Caldari. Additionally, that same pilot was attacked by the NPC [[#Permanent war|faction navies]] of the Amarr and the Caldari when entering their high-sec space.
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}}
  
The LPs you gain with your militia will also allow you to by unique items only offered through the militia LP shop and buying faction navy ships at a fixed discount compared to non militia members.
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== War zones ==
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Factional Warfare revolves around two conflicts, one between the Amarr and the Minmatar, and the other between the Caldari and the Gallente.
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The majority of the actions take place in two areas of [[low-sec|low-security]] space, each of which is contested by two empires, known as "war zones".
  
=== Standing Impact ===
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The [https://evemaps.dotlan.net/map/Amarr_VS_Minmatar Amarr-Minmatar war zone] extends into parts of the Devoid, Bleak Lands, Heimatar and Metropolis regions, while the [https://evemaps.dotlan.net/map/Caldari_VS_Gallente Caldari-Gallente war zone] extends into parts of the Black Rise, Citadel, Essence, Verge Vendor, and Placid regions. The high-security systems on the borders of the war zones are often used as staging areas (as players fighting for the enemy militia cannot enter them without being attacked by friendly NPC [[#Permanent war|faction navy]] ships), although many player corporations also use systems inside the war zones themselves as home bases. The core Factional Warfare gameplay of [[#Capturing systems|capturing systems]] and [[#Factional Warfare missions|running missions]] takes place exclusively within the war zones. [https://evemaps.dotlan.net/factionwarfare Dotlan] has very useful maps of the war zones.
  
The following actions affect you standing with various bodies in different ways (collected by Micky Mwandishi):
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{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:90%; border-style:none;"
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|-
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! style="border-style: none;" |
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! style="text-align: left; padding: 0.2em 0.5em;" | Region
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! style="text-align: left; padding: 0.2em 0.5em;" | Constellations
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|-
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| rowspan=2 | [[image:Logo_faction_amarr_empire.png|64px|link= Amarr Empire|Amarr Empire]]
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| style="padding: 0.2em 0.5em;" | [https://evemaps.dotlan.net/map/Devoid#const Devoid]
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| style="padding: 0.2em 0.5em;" | Semou and Jayai
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|-
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| style="padding: 0.2em 0.5em;" | [https://evemaps.dotlan.net/map/The_Bleak_Lands#const The Bleak Lands]
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| style="padding: 0.2em 0.5em;" | Sasen, Tandoiras, and Vaarma
  
==== Killing/podding a player who is a member of a NPC FW corporation ====  
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|-
If you kill/pod a player in an NPC FW corporation, then you standing with that corporation will decrease. Your standing with that player's FW faction will remain unchanged.
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| rowspan=2 | [[image:Logo_faction_minmatar_republic.png|64px|link= Minmatar Republic|Minmatar Republic]]
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| style="padding: 0.2em 0.5em;" | [https://evemaps.dotlan.net/map/Heimatar#const Heimatar]
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| style="padding: 0.2em 0.5em;" | Hed and Huvilma
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|-
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| style="padding: 0.2em 0.5em;" | [https://evemaps.dotlan.net/map/Metropolis#const Metropolis]
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| style="padding: 0.2em 0.5em;" | Essin, Tiat, Eugidi, Angils, and Aldodan
  
''E.g. A member of Thukk U kills a member of the 24th Imperial Crusade (Amarr NPC corp). The Thukk U pilot will lose standing with the 24th Imperial Crusade, but not with the Amarr faction.''
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|-
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| colspan=3 style="background-color:#333333" |
  
==== Killing/podding a player who is a member of a player FW corporation ====  
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|-
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| rowspan=2 | [[image:Logo_faction_caldari_state.png|64px|link= Caldari State|Caldari State]]
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| style="padding: 0.2em 0.5em;" | [https://evemaps.dotlan.net/map/The_Citadel#const The Citadel]
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| style="padding: 0.2em 0.5em;" | Ieyama and Isoma
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|-
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| style="padding: 0.2em 0.5em;" | [https://evemaps.dotlan.net/map/Black_Rise#const Black Rise]
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| style="padding: 0.2em 0.5em;" | Inolari, Ishaga, Kurala, and Okakuola
  
If you kill/pod a player in an player FW corporation, then all standings will remain unchanged.
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|-
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| rowspan=3 | [[image:Logo_faction_gallente_federation.png|64px|link= Gallente Federation|Gallente Federation]]
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| style="padding: 0.2em 0.5em;" | [https://evemaps.dotlan.net/map/Essence#const Essence]
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| style="padding: 0.2em 0.5em;" | Jeon and Vieres
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|-
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| style="padding: 0.2em 0.5em;" | [https://evemaps.dotlan.net/map/Verge_Vendor#const Verge Vendor]
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| style="padding: 0.2em 0.5em;" | Obray and Woenckee
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|-
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| style="padding: 0.2em 0.5em;" | [https://evemaps.dotlan.net/map/Placid#const Placid]
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| style="padding: 0.2em 0.5em;" | Amevync, Pegeler, and Serthoulde
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|}
  
==== Killing NPCs in a FW complex ====
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== Capturing systems ==
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[[File:FW-circle-of-death.png|thumb|200px|An illustration of how to capture (or defend) a star system in Factional Warfare (using a system contested by the Amarr and the Minmatar as an example).]]
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The core mechanics of Factional Warfare revolve around capturing and holding star systems in the [[#War zones|war zones]]. This occurs in two steps:
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* Attacking and completing [[#Complex information|complexes]] ("plexes") in a system to make the system vulnerable to capture.
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* Once the system is vulnerable, attack and destroy ("capture") the system's [[#Infrastructure Hub|infrastructure hub]] (also known as an "i-Hub") to capture the system.
  
If you kill NPCs in a FW complex, then you will lose standing with that faction, much like you would if you killed those NPCs in a regular mission.
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A system starts off as "stable" (or "uncontested"). The attacking faction (for instance, pilots flying for the Gallente attacking a Caldari-held system) must first attack and complete complexes in the system (this is known as "offensive plexing"); for each completed complex, the system becomes ever more "contested" (commonly quoted from 0% to 100%, sometimes also measured in [[#Victory points|victory points]]). Once a system has become 100% contested, it is listed as "vulnerable", and the attacking faction can then attack the system's infrastructure hub. Once the infrastructure hub is destroyed, the system is considered "lost" and will switch to the attacking faction's control after the next [[server downtime]].  
  
==== Completing a FW complex ====
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During this time, the defending faction can also complete complexes in the system (this is known as "defensive plexing"); for each completed complex, the system becomes ever less "contested" (or, if it's currently "vulnerable", it will revert to being "contested"), all the way back to "stable".
  
If you complete a complex (which simply requires that you are present in the complex at the moment the complex is captured), you gain standing for your own NPC FW corporation. You gain this standing regardless of whether you are in the NPC faction, or in a player faction.
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While a system is "vulnerable" or "lost", the attacking faction may still capture complexes, but they will not get any [[#Rewards|reward]] nor affect the system's capture. Additionally, once a system is "vulnerable", the defending faction needs only to capture a few complexes to revert the system to "contested" (and therefore render the infrastructure hub invulnerable again); the attacking faction only create a small "buffer" against this by capturing more complexes while the system is "vulnerable". Similarly, once the defending faction has captured enough complexes to revert a system to "stable", the attacking faction only needs to capture one complex to put the system back to "contested".
  
''E.g. A member of Thukk U would gain standing with Tribal Liberation Force, as would a member of Tribal Liberation Force itself, for completing a complex.''
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Obviously, in addition to the mechanics above, pilots can (and should!) attack the other faction's pilots to stop them from completing their objectives!
  
==== Completing a FW control bunker capture====
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=== {{Anchor|Complex information}}Complexes ===
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[[File:FW plex layout.png|thumb|left|200px|The layout of a complex. To enter a complex, you must first activate the complex' acceleration gate, which will warp you into the complex at its beacon. In order to capture the complex, you must stay within 30&nbsp;km of the capture point.]]
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[[File:Scanner_Window_showing_plexes.jpg|thumb|200px|Complexes can be found via the [[Probe scanning|probe scanner]].]]
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[[File:FW overview.png|thumb|200px|An [[overview]] showing typical Factional Warfare objects.
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<ul>
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<li> Red: [[#Infrastructure Hub|Infrastructure hub]]
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<li> Light blue: [[#Complexes|Complexes]] (one medium and one small) which have already been visited
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<li> Orange: Enemy [[#Factional Warfare missions|mission]] beacons
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</ul>]]
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Factional Warfare Complexes, commonly known as "Plexes" (not to be confused with [[PLEX]]) are small areas of [[Deadspace]] in war zone star systems. They are a type of [[Cosmic Anomaly]], which means that they show up on the system scanner (but do not need [[Probe scanning|scan probes]] to find), although once someone has warped to a complex, they will also show up on the [[Overview]] (even if someone initiated a warp to them, but canceled it immediately).
  
You gain standing for your own NPC FW corporation.
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Like most other Deadspace Complexes, you cannot warp directly into them, but must first use an [[acceleration gate]], after which you will land at the complex' beacon (Open Complexes (see below) do not have an acceleration gate, but are still a deadspace grid); you cannot light a [[cynosural field]] inside or on grid outside a complex. As of the Loyalty to Lowsec Update in March 2020, pilots who are not active Faction Warfare participants will have to go suspect in order to take the gate<ref>Patch Notes: [https://www.eveonline.com/article/q6z2qy/patch-notes-for-march-2020-release March 2020 Release]</ref>. The gate may be activated from up to 100km away (but warpins are measured from the beacon and may vary as all warps do, so warping at 100km does not guarantee you will be able to slide immediately).
  
==== Completing a FW mission ====
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At the center of each complex, a few kilometers away from the beacon, is the capture point (sometimes called a "button"). An NPC ship belonging to the faction controlling the star system defends the complex.
  
You gain standing for your own NPC FW corporation.
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==== Capturing complexes ====
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In order to capture a complex, you must first clear the area (radius: 30&nbsp;km) around the capture point of enemy ships. If you're the attacking faction, this includes killing the defending NPC; if you're the defending faction, the NPC will obviously not fire on you, and therefore you shouldn't destroy it (even if it appears as "hostile" on your overview)!. Then you must stay inside the capture radius (within 30&nbsp;km of the capture point) until the complex' timer has counted down to 0 (you can see how much time is left by selecting the capture point), at which point you will have captured the complex!
  
==== Being promoted by the FW corp ====
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[[File:FW capturing plex.jpg|thumb|200px|An Amarr pilot capturing an Amarr complex ("defensive plexing"). The timer on the capture point shows how much time is left before the complex is captured.]]
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Additional ships from your faction will not make the timer count down faster; if you leave the complex or the capture radius, the timer will pause (but will not reset). If an enemy ship enters the complex, the timer will also pause until ships from only one faction are present in the complex capture radius, and then it will resume counting down. Note that the timers for both factions are additive - so if a Caldari pilot has spent three minutes capturing a complex, and is then destroyed by an incoming Gallente pilot, the Gallente pilot would have to spend an ''extra'' three minutes in the complex in order to capture it (in order to "undo the capturing" previously done by the Caldari pilot, so to speak).
  
When you standing with your own NPC FW corporation reaches certain points, you will get promoted. When this happens you will get a boost to that factions standing too, and the corresponding gains and losses to all other factions in the game, much like you do when you complete a storyline mission.
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No ship can [[cloak]] within the capture radius of a complex<ref>Patch Notes: [https://www.eveonline.com/news/view/patch-notes-for-kronos Kronos 1.0] (2014)</ref>. Neutral pilots (i.e. pilots who are not enlisted in a militia) can enter a complex, but cannot capture it (their presence doesn't affect the complex' timer).
  
''E.g. When a member of Thukk U gained enough standing with Tribal Liberation Force to be promoted, he will gain standing for Minmatar, Galentte etc, and lose standing for Amarr, Caldari etc.''
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Once a complex has been captured, it disappears from the scanner/overview and despawns after a few minutes. A new complex of the same size will spawn about 30 minutes after the previous one was captured. On average, there will be one or two complexes of each [[#Complex types|type]] in a system. However, if many players have been active in a system recently, it may be the case that, for a brief time, there are no complexes available to capture.
  
=== FAQ ===
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{{expansion past
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|Before the [[Expansions#Kronos|Kronos]] expansion, ships could cloak within the capture radius of complexes. This not only led plex farmers to fit cloaking devices to their ships (allowing them to cloak and escape at the first sign of danger), but also encouraged players to sit in a cloaked [[Stealth Bomber]] inside a complex (to ambush incoming ships).
 +
}}
  
==== Do you need to run complexes? ====  
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==== Complex types ====
 +
Complexes come in a variety of types<ref>Patch Notes: [https://www.eveonline.com/news/view/patch-notes-version-20-10#SNS Uprising - Site Naming Schema] (2022)</ref>. They vary in:
  
Complexes can be useful tactically, as the acceleration gates restrict certain class ships entering them. This can enable you to get some slightly fairer PvP action.
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* What kinds of ships are allowed to enter
 +
* What NPC defends them
 +
* How long it takes to capture them
 +
* How many capsuleers the reward scales to
  
You don't need to complete the complex to achieve this. If others in your group wanted to complete the complex you could warp out just before it captured to avoid gaining standing.
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The name of a complex contains all information about its type. Names are formed as:
  
==== Do you need to shoot NPCs in complexes ====
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{{quote|[Rank / Size] + [ADV / NVY] + "-"[Number] OR [Open Complex]}}
  
In defensive complexes, the NPCs are you own faction - don't shoot them!!!
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* NVY - Short for "Navy". Indicates site only allows T1 and Navy ships to enter, no pirate faction, T2, or T3.
 +
* ADV - Short for "Advanced". Indicates site allows T2 and Pirate Faction ships, and T3 ships in some circumstances. SoCT and Triglavian ships are limited to these complexes.
 +
* Number - This number indicates the number of characters the site reward scales to before reducing loyalty point payout, either 1 or 5.
 +
* Open Complex - This is an open site, a site without restrictions or an acceleration gate, and has a similar defending NPC to large complexes.
 +
* Rank/Size - Controls which ship sizes are allowed in, capture times, and the NPC defenders, according to the following table.
  
In offensive complexes, the NPCs are from your opposition factions. You can choose to shoot them or speed tank them if you wish to complete the complex. If you just want to use the complex tactically, you can stay out of aggro range.
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{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:90%"
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|- style=background-color: #222222;"
 +
! style="padding: 0.3em;" | Type
 +
! style="padding: 0.3em 1em;" | Capture time
 +
! style="padding: 0.3em;" | Allowed ships
 +
! style="padding: 0.3em 1em" | NPC defender
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|-
 +
| style="background-color:#333333;padding:0.3em;" | Scout
 +
| style="text-align:center;" | 10 min
 +
| style="padding:0.3em;" | Frigates and smaller
 +
| style="text-align:center;" | Frigate
 +
|-
 +
| style="background-color:#333333;padding:0.3em;" | Small
 +
| style="text-align:center;" | 10 min
 +
| style="padding:0.3em;" | Destroyers and smaller
 +
| style="text-align:center;" | Destroyer
 +
|-
 +
| style="background-color:#333333;padding:0.3em;" | Medium
 +
| style="text-align:center;" | 15 min
 +
| style="padding:0.3em;" | Cruisers and smaller
 +
| style="text-align:center;" | Cruiser
 +
|-
 +
| style="background-color:#333333;padding:0.3em;" | Large
 +
| style="text-align:center;" | 15 min
 +
| style="padding:0.3em;" | Battleships and smaller
 +
| style="text-align:center;" | Battlecruiser
 +
|-
 +
| style="background-color:#333333;padding:0.3em;" | Open
 +
| style="text-align:center;" | 15 min
 +
| style="padding:0.3em;" | Unrestricted
 +
| style="text-align:center;" | Battlecruiser
 +
|}
  
==== Do you need to run missions? ====
+
* <small>As of 2022-12-01, there is conflicting text between patch notes, some in-game site beacon descriptions, and in-game descriptions on acceleration gates. The above sizes come from the patch notes should be correct for T1/T2 pirate/navy/empire ships of all sizes. Strategic Cruisers, Tactical Destroyers, and more esoteric classes like Flag Cruisers may have in-game mechanics that conflict with the patch note descriptions of what can slide.</small>
  
No, not at all.
+
* <small>[[Venture]]s are no longer able to capture Faction Warfare Complexes.<ref>Patch Notes: [https://www.eveonline.com/news/view/patch-notes-for-september-2019-release September 2019 Release]</ref></small>
  
==== So I could take part in FW without hurting my faction standings in any way?====
+
T3 ships are even more limited in their ability enter complexes, only able to enter ADV plexes of a larger size and Open plexes. (For example, a T3 destroyer can enter a Medium ADV or Large ADV plex, but it cannot enter a Small ADV plex like other destroyer-sized ships can. Along this same line, T3 cruisers can only enter Large ADV plexes and Open plexes.
  
Yes. As long as you never complete complexes, shoot faction NPCs or do FW missions. You don't actually loose faction standing for killing other pvp pilots, you do only loose enemy faction ''war'' corporation standing.
+
For example, Amarr Medium NVY-5 would indicate a site in an amarr-owned system where the rewards scale to 5 capsuleers, and Tech 1 or Navy ships of size Cruiser or smaller are allowed inside.
  
You'll only loose enemy faction standing for killing faction NPC's in plexes, or by getting 'promoted' by your own (npc) faction warfare corporation, which will happen as a result of completing plexes or missions. You don't have to complete plexes to get the pvp you desire (but can still go in them to use their tactical benefits). You don't need to do missions.
+
While each type of complex contributes the same amount to capturing a system (measured in [[#Victory points|victory points]]), capturing larger complexes result in higher [[#Rewards|rewards]]. Additionally, capturing complexes in enemy-held systems (offensive plexing) gives higher rewards than capturing complexes in friendly-held systems (defensive plexing).  
  
==== Can I run missions for the Amarr to offset any losses I do make?====
+
Complexes are defended by a single NPC (in rare cases, two); it's designed to be killed without too much trouble by a player ship of similar size. Once killed, the NPC defender will respawn after between 90 and 180 seconds for novice and small complexes. In medium and large complexes, the NPC respawns after between 90 and 300 seconds.<ref>EVE forums: [https://forums-archive.eveonline.com/topic/343137 Kronos Factional Warfare Complex Improvements] (2014)]</ref>
  
Of course. There are no Amarr level 4 "kill" agents in Metropolis or Heimatar, although there are level 4 agents working for other divisions, and you could mission in other areas.
+
Which systems have complexes and which complexes a system has available can both be found in the [[The Agency|Agency]] window under Encounters > Faction Warfare.
  
== What should I do before I joined a militia? ==  
+
==== Battlefields ====
Before you join a militia make sure you don't have assets you need and are to dangerous or to expensive to be moved in the opposing empire faction space.  
+
Along with normal Complexes, there are also much larger Factional Warfare sites called Battlefields.<ref>Patch Notes: [https://www.eveonline.com/news/view/patch-notes-version-20-10-2 Version 20.10 2] (2022)</ref>
  
Further check your overview settings and adapt them. Personally I have a separate tab with opposing militia members just as normal war dec's with a flashy background on overview. I also have neutrals on overview to identify “out of corp” spies in rookie ships.
+
Battlefields have a number of unique capture mechanics:
  
You also want to prepare a few ships before hand to quickly jump into a new one, for Minmatar FW Amamake is a common rally ground so a base near or in this low-sec system can be handy. For other militias I suggest looking at the FW Map pack from Ombey's Eve 2D Maps [http://www.ombeve.co.uk/].
+
* Battlefields include three separate capture points on grid with each other, with one point in the top middle and the other two approximately 80km on either side.
 +
* Holding a capture point earns capture points for your faction when it ticks down.  Reaching 100% progress completes the battlefield.
 +
* Enemy faction NPCs and enemy militia players within 30km of the capture point pause the capture progress.
 +
* Pods cannot capture or hold a point.
 +
* Winning a Battlefield provides 150k Loyalty Points to the winning side up to 30 people, with decreasing amounts of Loyalty Points if over 30 people for that side are on grid.
 +
* Winning a Battlefield provides a very large amount of Advantage to the winning faction's Advantage system level, as well as 2000 [[#Victory Points|Victory Points]].
  
Having Teamspeak, Ventrilo and Eve Voice ready for usage will help as well. In the Minmatar militia Eve Voice is commonly used by all corporations, though the corporations have usually an internal TS or Ventrilo server. From hearsay, I heared that the Amarr militia has been using a more or less Amarr militia public Ventrilo server to handle militia fleets.  
+
Battlefields also have unique mechanics for capsuleers sliding in. The inside and outside are both full, normal [[deadspace]]. The acceleration gate is further off the beacon than normal FW complexes (10-20km), and only allows T1 and Navy ships.
  
I personally prefer Eve Voice as it is available for everybody and you don't need to setup an additional program. Identifing who is talking is also a little easier.
+
In contrast to normal Faction Warfare complexes, capture points are typically about 75-125km from the landing point for capsuleers who are not enrolled in Faction Warfare. Those enrolled in Faction Warfare may land closer to capture points. There are three landing points: one for each faction, and one for neutral capsuleers.
  
== Can I still do normal missions in empire or go mining? ==
+
Battlefields only spawn in frontline systems. There can be up to two battlefields present at any given time. A new battlefield will spawn three hours after one is completed.
Yes, you can do still missions in empire, but keep in mind that if you do missions in the opposing factions empire the faction NPC navy will also spawn and attack you.  
 
  
Your access to other corporations even from the opposing faction is thus limited due to the movement restrictions due to these NPC Navy spawns. If you can keep up your standing with the other factions corporations you could join the Minmatar militia and still do missions for the Caldari empire, provided these agents are in Minmatar or Gallente space.
 
  
Suicide ganks into the opposing faction have been popular and happen from time to time, also the lone wanderer or fast interceptor is looking for unaware militia members afk-ing in their own space, but I haven't heared from somebody bothering to bring a neutral scanner just to find militia members in high sec.  
+
=== Infrastructure Hub ===
 +
[[File:Minmatar Infrastructure Hub.jpg|thumb|left|200px||An infrastructure hub ("I-Hub") in space.]]
 +
The Infrastructure Hub (or "I-Hub") is a structure in space that the attacking faction needs to destroy in order to capture a system. The I-Hub can be found (and be warped to) from the Overview, but can only be damaged if the star system is in a [[#Capturing systems|"vulnerable" state]], and then only by pilots of the attacking faction (pilots of the defending faction, pilots in an allied militia, or neutral pilots cannot damage the I-Hub).  
  
Mining in common asteroid belts can be dangerous with the imminent danger that a suicide fleet shows up and there have been the occasional kills during the first few weeks of afk miners in high sec so you might want to refrain from doing that. On the other hand – and don't tell the Amarr – I do mine from time to time in Heimatar in a Hulk and so far have been only tagged once by a crow, who couldn't get passed by my shields and ran away when I unleashed my drones.
+
The I-Hub has 25 million hitpoints (HP), with 7.5M HP each in shield and armor, and 10M HP in structure<ref>[http://games.chruker.dk/eve_online/item.php?type_id=29303 Chruker.dk item database]</ref>. This means that a medium-sized fleet is needed to destroy an I-Hub in a reasonable period of time (keeping in mind that its peak shield recharge rate is around 1,700&nbsp;HP/s, which is the absolute minimum amount of DPS needed to break through its shields). Once the I-Hub is destroyed (technically, once it reaches 1% structure), the system will be "lost" and will switch to being occupied by the attacking faction after the next [[server downtime]].  
  
== Risk assessment: with all those people, who do I trust? ==
+
As [[#Capturing systems|explained above]], if a system is "vulnerable", and if the defending faction can capture enough complexes, the system will revert back to "contested". The I-Hub will then become invulnerable again, and any damage which the attacking faction has so far managed to do to it is reset. Therefore, while attacking the I-Hub, the attacking faction must also prevent the defending faction from capturing complexes.
Being thrown into an NPC militia , you end up with a whole bunch of people, and this still being Eve the questions arises can I trust these people?
 
  
The question as in all of EvE is no, trust nobody. Although the spying, backstabbing in the Minmatar-Amarr war is fairly low and the numbers of really bad or even traitorous FC is very low, each war is different. You could even say depending on what time you play the war within on conflict is fought differently as RL player TZ come and go.  
+
The I-Hub is also the place where pilots of the defending faction can [[#System upgrades|donate loyalty points to upgrade the system]].  
  
A  personal experience from the Gallente-Caldari war from our well known intelligence, Patric Reign:
+
=== Victory points ===
<blockquote>
+
Formally, how "contested" a system is is measured in how many victory points have been accumulated by the attacking faction for that system. If the attacking faction has not yet accumulated any victory points for that system, then the system is [[#Capturing systems|"stable"]]. Capturing a complex rewards victory points according to the size and type of complex completed; conversely, if the defending faction captures a complex, victory points are subtracted based on the size and type of complex. In order to bring a system to "vulnerable", the attacking faction must accumulate 75000 victory points. Once a system is vulnerable, the attacking faction can continue capturing complexes until they have a "buffer" of victory points; this is to give themselves some breathing room while they attack the [[#Infrastructure Hub|I-Hub]] <ref name="PN202308011" />.
As a member of the the Caldari militia it became apparent that many of the pirate groups were allied/supporting the Gallente militia in Black Rise. The risks of initiating combat against pirate targets who in many cases kept their sec status neutral, with the subsequent sec status hit and engagement of gate guns, kept the militia on the back foot. Corporations operating from high-sec would also declare war on individual corps in a militia. This would allow them to isolate and engage individual members of your fleet who belonged to those corporations without being flagged to the rest of the fleet. Intervening would also incur a sec-status penalty; Almost complete absence of command & control structures in militias.
 
</blockquote>
 
  
Within the Amarr-Minmatar war the CVA have been a long time supporter of the Amarr NPC militia as well of some of the player corporations. Since alliances can't join militias their support was mostly more logistically and I personally encountered them almost never in the factional warfare zones fighting. Though they recently retracted their official support (ingame news), this doesn't mean that there are no out-of-militia supporters in the Amarr-Minmatar war. Personally I already encountered an NPC noob scout in an noob ship as FC following my gang everywhere dragging an Amarr militia gang with him.
+
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:90%"
 +
|- style=background-color: #222222;"
 +
! style="padding: 0.3em;" | Complex Type
 +
! style="padding: 0.3em 1em;" | Victory Points Awarded
 +
|-
 +
| style="background-color:#333333;padding:0.3em;" | Scout NVY
 +
| style="text-align:center;" | 25
 +
|-
 +
| style="background-color:#333333;padding:0.3em;" | Small NVY
 +
| style="text-align:center;" | 50
 +
|-
 +
| style="background-color:#333333;padding:0.3em;" | Small ADV
 +
| style="text-align:center;" | 75
 +
|-
 +
| style="background-color:#333333;padding:0.3em;" | Medium NVY
 +
| style="text-align:center;" | 150
 +
|-
 +
| style="background-color:#333333;padding:0.3em;" | Medium ADV
 +
| style="text-align:center;" | 175
 +
|-
 +
| style="background-color:#333333;padding:0.3em;" | Large NVY
 +
| style="text-align:center;" | 250
 +
|-
 +
| style="background-color:#333333;padding:0.3em;" | Large ADV
 +
| style="text-align:center;" | 300
 +
|-
 +
| style="background-color:#333333;padding:0.3em;" | Open
 +
| style="text-align:center;" | 350
 +
|-
 +
| style="background-color:#333333;padding:0.3em;" | Battlefield
 +
| style="text-align:center;" | 2000
 +
|}
  
There also have been some known spies in the Minmatar militia, who have been identified, which you will notice and learn from just watching the militia chat and being active. Keeping good and bad militia mmbers and FC in your personal adressbook can help keeping track of these people.  
+
{{expansion past|width=80%|
 +
Prior to the overhaul to Faction Warfare during the Uprising expansion (2022), capturing a complex (regardless of its size) for the attacking faction rewarded 20 victory points<ref>GamerChick42: [http://www.gamerchick.net/2013/01/the-beginners-guide-to-faction-war.html The Beginner's Guide to Faction War Plexing] (2013)</ref> or subtracted 20 victory points for capturing a complex for the defending faction. In order to bring a system to "vulnerable", the attacking faction had to accumulate 3000 victory points (i.e. capture 150 complexes more than the defending faction). Once a system was vulnerable, attackers could continue to earn victory points up to a "buffer" of 100 victory pointsPatch notes: <ref name="PN inferno 1.3" />; the cap on this "buffer" is not documented for post-Uprising Faction Warfare.  The Uprising expansion increased the number of victory points needed to accumulate by the attacking faction from 3,000 to 75,000 <ref>[https://evemaps.dotlan.net/system/Heydieles/stats/2022-11-05:2022-11-10 Uprising VP increase as seen on Dotlan]</ref> and changed the number of victory points awarded by completing complexes based on complex size<ref name= PN202308011 />.
 +
}}
  
As Patric also stated there is no functional command structure within these militias - although some corporation have gathered around some regulations - there is no ingame way to enforce any of these regulations, e.g. killboard loss posting is requested but can not be enforced, there is no shared standing or derived standing and individual player corporations within a militia can be war dec'ed by player corporations within their own militia as well as from corporations outside the militia, resulting in no way to support allied player corporations in the militia from within the alliance apart from re'deccing the aggressing player corporation with your own corporation.
+
=== Advantage ===
 +
Advantage in a system makes it easier to capture and defend a system. Having the advantage increases the number of victory points gained when capturing complexes in that system; thus the side with the higher advantage can more effectively defend or capture that system. Advantage can be increased by winning [[#Battlefields|Battlefields]], successfully deploying Propaganda Broadcast Structures, or completing Rendezvous Point combat sites<ref>Patch Notes: [https://www.eveonline.com/news/view/patch-notes-version-20-10#advantage Version 20.10 - Uprising - Advantage system] (2022)</ref>. It is also possible to reduce the enemy's advantage in a system by destroying enemy supply caches/depots or successfully deploying Listening Outposts.
  
== Now I'm in what can and should I do? ==  
+
==== Supply Caches ====
Factional warfare is apart from restricting your access to two of the major NPC empires and dumping you into a high sec war expanding your gameplay with two features, factional warfare mission and plexing. Both accumulate victory points which at a certain (only internally tracked) point make the control bunker of a system vulnerable. At this point the offensive faction can attack this bunker and turn the occupancy from the opposing ones into their owns.
+
Supply caches, also called supply depots, are NPC faction structures that, when destroyed, will remove 2% advantage in the system from that faction. These structures are guarded by a small NPC fleet of frigates, destroyers, and cruisers. Each faction has their own supply caches that will spawn in frontline systems in friendly and enemy faction warfare space.
  
Taken from the official guide:
+
Supply caches grant roughly 10,000 LP to every player who damaged the structure. There is no limit on the amount of time between damaging the structure and the structure being destroyed for you to qualify to collect the reward. In other words, every pilot who had ever damaged a supply cache would get an LP payout if the supply cache were destroyed. One method of generating LP is to warp to a supply cache, damage it, and warp off before the NPCs can kill you, leaving the job of finishing off the structure to a bigger fleet.
  
''There are different system states appearing in the "Occupancy" line on the top-left corner of the screen depending on the attacker/defender general strength status:
+
'''For Example''': If a Gallente Supply Cache is destroyed every pilot who damaged the Supply Cache will be granted the full LP payout and the Gallente faction will lose some advantage in the system.
* ''Un-contested: natural state of a system occupancy and thus not directly shown. The system is currently not actively fought over by different factions.
 
* ''Contested: FW Dungeons have been claimed by the offenders. Defenders may take it down to "un-contested" by winning FW Dungeons back.
 
* ''Vulnerable: the attacking force won enough FW Dungeons to put the Control Bunker to vulnerable for attack.
 
* ''Lost: the system has been successfully captured by the attacking faction. As such, the Occupancy will switch to the new faction after the next Downtime. Existing FW Dungeons no longer affect the power scale and new ones won’t spawn until then.
 
''To change these states each side has to gain victory points by either doing factional warfare complexes aka. Plexes or by doing factional warfare missions.''
 
  
== Plexing ==  
+
==== Rendezvous Points ====
Plexes are the major feature CCP introduced with factional warfare. These plexes spawn in the low-sec regions between the four major empire and divided the two wars into to war zones, one between the Amarr and Minmatar and one between the Gallente and the Caldari. These factional warfare low sec parts are very good displayed by Ombeves Factional warfare map pack obtainable at http://www.ombeve.co.uk/ .
 
  
These plexes an be scanned down by the militia members of both sides with the normal onboard scanner around each planet within a system. Scanning is chance based so standard recommendation ( on Minmatar side) is to scan at least twice before moving on to the next planet. If you warp to the plex the acceleration gate beacon will become visible for everybody in the system (you can cancel the warp but it will still become visible to everybody) and everybody can pass the acceleration gate if they fly a ship within the gates restrictions.  
+
Rendezvous Points are combat sites found in frontline and occasionally command operations systems, and awards loyalty points and 2% advantage in the system for that faction. The sites must be scanned down and will appear in the probe scanner as level I combat anomalies named for the faction NPCs contained in it, ie. "Amarr Rendezvous Point". Sites for both empire factions will be present in system with a 15-20 minute respawn timer after a site is completed.  
  
Originally there was a bug that would always drop you at 0 on the acceleration gate, no matter which distanced you selected, but this was later fixed by CCP.
+
To complete the site, destroy five waves of NPCs. Each of the first four waves contains 3-6 NPCs, although a battleship NPC may spawn instead for the third wave. The fifth wave will spawn an officer battleship NPC; when this NPC is killed, any NPCs remaining will leave the site, and the site is completed.
  
Plexes come in three sizes, the bigger the more victory points naturally:
+
A well-fit T1 cruiser or better is recommended, as the battleship NPCs in particular can do over 1000 DPS per volley from over 70km away.
* minor, 10min countdown, 10km radius, ships allowed: industriel, frigates and destroyers
 
* normal, 15min countdown, 20km radius, previous + assault ships/T2 frigates and cruisers
 
* major, with major's having two ship restrictions, both with 20min countdown and 30km radius, called
 
** major, all previous + T2 cruisers and battlecruisers
 
** unrestricted, with no acceleration gate and thus no ship restriction (hot-dropping titans please here ;) ).
 
  
All plexes are defended by NPCs of the faction that is currently holding the occupancy of the system. The difficulty ranges depending on the size and they respawn after a while.
+
==== Propaganda Broadcast Structures ====
Scanning for a Plex
 
  
Fly to a planet at random distance, open up your scanner window, select cosmic anomaly, click on scan and wait for the result. If you are lucky a cosmic anomaly will show up, with a signal strength, distance and accuracy. Signal strength can indicate already to the size of the plex, with smaller signatures being a bigger plex.  
+
Propaganda Broadcast Structures are deployable objects that when deployed, start a countdown timer for 10 minutes. Waves of NPCs will periodically spawn, pausing the timer, and must be killed to resume the countdown. At the end of the timer, the site is completed and ~1% advantage is awarded in the system for that faction. If the Propaganda Broadcast Structure is destroyed, either by the NPCs or players, before the timer is finished, no advantage is awarded.
  
Around 0.5 and below is usually an unrestricted major, 2.0 and above usually a minor but distance from the hit also contributes to the signal strength. Signal strength 1.0 - 1.5 might be a minor if its several AU's away and 0.5 - 1.0 could be a medium plex and not a major.  
+
The Structure can be obtained by trading 100 LP and an Encoder Splice from the opposing militia's [[#Operation Centers|Operation Centers]] in the LP store. Deploying the item requires the [[Anchoring]] skill trained to level 3. Once the item is deployed, it shows up as a warpable beacon on the overview, allowing anyone in system to warp directly to the Structure. Up to three Propaganda Broadcast Structures can be deployed in a system at a time.
  
If you are in a gang ppl usually put the planet number they are flying toward in fleet chat so you get better coverage of planets.
+
A well-fit T1 cruiser or better is recommended.
  
A core probe launcher with the core probes will reveal all plexes with a 100% hit within the system with just one probe out, allowing for qucik scanning of a complete system.
+
==== Listening Posts ====
  
=== Tactics for plexing ===
+
Similar to Propaganda Broadcast Structures, Listening Posts are are deployable objects that when deployed, start a countdown timer for 10 minutes. Waves of NPCs will periodically spawn, pausing the timer, and must be killed to resume the countdown. At the end of the timer, the site is completed and ~1% advantage is '''removed''' in the system from the opposing faction. If the Listening Post is destroyed, either by the NPCs or players, before the timer is finished, advantage is unchanged.
As every FC runs his fleet differently I just go over a few common tactics and approaches to finish plexes offensively or defensively.
 
  
First, do not open the plex immediately, as plex beacons only visible in space for everybody after somebody warps to it. Some Fcs want to control which and how many plexes are open to hide them and do them one by one, while others open them all at once to do them all at once.
+
The Listening Post can be obtained by trading 100 LP and a Decoder Package from the opposing militia's [[#Operation Centers|Operation Centers]] in the LP store.  Deploying the item requires the [[Anchoring]] skill trained to level 3. Once the item is deployed, it shows up as a warpable beacon on the overview, allowing anyone in system to warp directly to the Structure. Up to three Listening Posts can be deployed in a system at a time.
  
Usually people “speed tank” plexes, means one pilot in a fast ship grabs all aggro and drags them around within the deadspace, while another gang mate sits close to the countdown beacon commonly called the button. Watch out for the re-spawn. Shooting NPCs gives no bounties but you can loot tags and salvage the wrecks.
+
A well-fit T1 cruiser or better is recommended.
  
You can use the size restrictions of the gate to your advantage. You can either wait inside (drop a can at your warp-in point from the acceleration gate) or gank people who warp to the beacon. Further sitting at the acceleration gate you can see what ship types and how many are in the plex by using the onboard directional scanner (Apocrypha changes not taken into account).
+
==== Operation Centers ====
Defensive plexing can be done against higher number of opponents if you stay close to the beacon and hide between your faction navy NPCs.
 
  
The internal plex spawning mechanism keeps track of the total plexes within a constellation (see also the FW maps) and due to a DT mechanism the likelyhood of plexes spawn after DT is a bit higher. Enforcing focus to a certain constellation will thus result in a slightly higher efficiency in accumulation enough victory points to make a control bunker vulnerable.
+
Operation Centers are level 3 [[data site]]s that can only be found in the Rearguard systems of Faction Warfare [[Lowsec]] space. The sites can be scanned down by any capsuleer, but only participants in the opposing faction are able to hack the cans.
  
== Factional warfare missions ==
+
Operation Centers are named for the empire whose system they are in, such as "Caldari Operation Center".  
Factional warfare mission are missions that take you deep into enemy low-sec territory, where you have to do a regular missions, though the difficulty is easier than a regular as these mission are more an incentive to PvP.  
 
  
There are only kill missions and there are no storyline missions after 16 missions have been completed. Just as in factional warfare deadspace MWDs can be used during these mission.  
+
Each site contains 5 cans, one in each direction beside the landing point. The cans are mostly sleeper difficulty and can be failed as many times as necessary without consequences. If a can is successfully hacked, strong NPCs will arrive 5-10 seconds later and attack the hacker. The site will despawn about 20 minutes after a successful hack.
  
The major difference between normal and factional warfare missions is that the beacon you fly to will be visible just like plex beacons in the overview, so that everybody (again including neutrals) can see where somebody is doing a factional warfare mission and warp to you to fight you. Due to the decreased difficulty of the factional warfare missions (as the main purpose is to fight other players and not NPCs) the pay out of factional warfare missions in terms of ISK and LP is slightly lower than normal missions.
+
The most important loot in Operation Centers are the Encoder Splices (e.g. "Caldari Encoder Splice") and Decoder Packages (e.g. "Caldari Decoder Package"), because these sites are the only way to obtain them, and they are required to purchase the Propaganda Broadcast Structure and Listening Outpost, respectively. As such it is recommended to use a cargo scanner to find which can has the Splice and Decoders, and obtain them first.
  
The whole point of these missions is more or less putting a big sign on your pod telling everybody, please gank me.
+
==== Neighboring Systems (Passive Bonus) ====
  
== More stuff? ==
+
In addition to various sites that can effect system advantage, frontline systems gain a 10% native advantage bonus for each neighboring faction warfare system controlled by defending or opposing forces. A frontline owned by the Minmatar, for example, with two adjacent Minmatar-held systems and one adjacent Amarr-held system will reward an additional 20% advantage to the Minmatar and 10% advantage to the Amarr, for a net 10% advantage gain to the Minmatar for that frontline system.
=== Battlefield intelligence page ===
 
The battlefield intelligence page lists a few statistics about your militia, your corporation and your character.  
 
The items it list are number of pilots on each militia, including people in corporations, kills during the last day, week and total – no idea what total this is though. It also lists for the same timeframe victory points and last but not least currently occupied systems.
 
  
It also lists, which systems are close, where fights have occurred (dangerous systems) and which have been recently contested and/or changed hand, though again I'm not sure about this.
 
  
In overall, apart from the news to the sidebar, which are usually RP-ish nature with some hints toward certain objectives I hardly use it. More interesting and informational is the star map.
+
== System Upgrades and warzone tier ==
 +
{{note box | This section is outdated and need to be rewritten. The [[Expansions#20.10 Release (Uprising)|Uprising]] expansion replaced the Faction Tier of a system and the possibility to upgrade it by the mechanic of the frontlines.  
  
=== The Star Map ===
+
Since Uprising, the rewards scales depending on how close to a system controlled by the opposing faction you are. System are classified as Frontlines (adjacent to an enemy system), where the LP gains are the highest, Commands systems (adjacent to a frontline) and Rearguards systems (adjacent to a Command system or another rearguard).}}
For factional warfare the star map has a few additional statistics, showing
 
* defensive systems: where a militia holds occupancy, but the opposing faction has contested the system
 
* offensive systems: where a militia has contested the current occupancy of the opposing faction
 
* occupancy: which systems belong to which militia
 
* kill statistics FW ships of the last 24hours and the last hour
 
For the first three options you can either choose “My Militia” or directly one of the four militias. “My militia” naturally is the same as choosing your militia directly from the four.
 
  
=== Pirating while in Factional Warfare ===
+
=== System upgrades ===
Pirating in factional warfare is a very controversy topic, ranging from “I don't care”, till “I'll shoot pirates even when they are in my fleet”.
+
[[File:FacWar Infra Hub upgrade dialog.jpg|thumb|200px|A system can be upgraded by donating loyalty points (LP) at the system's infrastructure hub. This system is currently at Level 3, nearing Level 4.]]
 +
Players participating in Factional Warfare can donate the [[LP|loyalty points (LP)]] they [[#Rewards|earned with their militia corporation]] to "upgrade" the star systems that their faction currently controls. To do this, they must fly to the system's [[#Infrastructure Hub|infrastructure hub]], right-click on it, select the "open system upgrade panel" option, and select how much LP they would like to donate. This window also lists the benefits of upgrading a system<ref name="PN inferno 1.0" />:
 +
* lower broker fees for contracts and market orders (-10% per system upgrade level)
 +
* lower costs for industry activities in NPC stations (-10% per upgrade level)<ref>Patch Notes: [https://www.eveonline.com/news/view/patch-notes-for-crius Crius 1.0] (2014)</ref>
 +
When you donate LP, a part is lost as a "[[Tax#Maintenance_tax|maintenance tax]]" (for example, if you donate 1,000 LP, and the maintenance tax is 5%, then only 950 LP are actually counted towards upgrading the system). The maintenance tax starts at 0% and increases the higher their [[#Faction tier|faction's tier]] is, up to about 75%<ref name="PN inferno 1.3" /><ref>EVE Forums: [https://forums-archive.eveonline.com/message/3630457 maintenance tax] (2013)</ref>. The LP you donate is put into a pool with the LP donated by other players from your faction in that system, and the size of that pool determines the system's upgrade level. A system can be upgraded up to level 5.
 +
{{example|In the screenshot on the right, Caldari militia members have donated a total of 129,360 LP in that system, which equates to an upgrade level of 3. In order to each level 4, they would have to donate an additional 10,640 LP to bring the total to at least 140,000 LP.}}
  
The Drama-Lama is strong in this topic and militia corporations even had internal war-dec's against each other with the related forum wars e.g. on the Minmatar militia forum.
+
The total amount of LP required to upgrade a system is<ref name="PN inferno 1.3" />:
 +
* Level 1: 40,000 LP
 +
* Level 2: 60,000 LP
 +
* Level 3: 90,000 LP
 +
* Level 4: 140,000 LP
 +
* Level 5: 200,000 LP
 +
* Buffer: 300,000 LP
  
The current more or less Minmatar militia standing is against pirating, as it is counter-productive as it drains resources from plexing and most FW corporations have a semi-ingame goal focussing on holding and gaining occupancy.  
+
[[File:FW system information.jpg|thumb|left|200px|The system information display.]]
 +
You can check the current upgrade level of a system (along with the associated benefits) through the system information display at the top-left of the screen. Here you can see who currently controls the system, the [[#Capturing systems|system state]] (stable / contested / vulnerable / lost) and its upgrade level.
  
They are not “anti pirate” on the other hand either, so commonly nobody will shoot a flash/low security standing militia member, though some flashy's in fleet had their occasional accident due to overeager fleet members not knowing the difference.
+
The amount of LP in a system's pool is reduced every time a player from the attacking faction captures a complex in that system; 10% of the LP [[#Rewards|reward]] they receive is subtracted from the system's LP pool<ref name="dev blog fast forward" />.
 +
{{example|A Gallente pilot captures a novice complex in a Caldari-held system. The Gallente pilot is rewarded (say) 10,000 LP for her efforts, and hence, the Caldari LP pool for that system is reduced by 10% of that (1,000 LP in this case).}}
 +
If the amount of LP in the pool drops below the threshold required for the current system level, then the system's upgrade level will drop accordingly. The defending faction can counteract this by donating more LP to the pool; even if the system is at level 5, they can continue donating LP into a so-called "buffer" (i.e. more LP than is needed to reach level 5) to stop the system dropping to level 4 as soon as one enemy pilot captures a complex.
 +
 
 +
If a system is captured by the attacking faction, then all the upgrades are lost and the system reverts to its base (i.e. "un-upgraded") state.
 +
 
 +
With the removal of the pre-Uprising tier system, upgrading faction warfare systems is rarely done outside of local market or industry centers in the warzones.
 +
 
 +
{{expansion past|width= 80%|
 +
=== Faction tier ===
 +
[[File:FW Warzone control window 10 Dec 2013.jpg|thumb|200px|The state of the Caldari-Gallente war zone in December 2013, as seen from a Caldari station. This window shows the number of systems controlled by the Caldari, their upgrade levels, and the resulting tier.]]
 +
The more systems in a [[#War zones|war zone]] a faction controls and the more those systems are [[#System upgrades|upgraded]], the higher the [[#Rewards|rewards]] the pilots who fight for that faction receive. This is represented by the "faction tier" mechanic: each faction receives a point for each system they control in their war zone, plus an additional point for every system level upgrade (so an un-upgraded system is worth 1 point, a system upgraded to level 1 is worth 2 points, a system upgraded to level 2 is worth 3 points, a system upgraded to level 3 is worth 4 points, and so forth).
 +
 
 +
The number of points a faction has is then compared to the total number of available points in a war zone (which is equal to the number of systems in the war zone multiplied by 6 (as a system can be upgraded up to level 5, and a level 5 system is worth 6 points)).
 +
* Amarr-Minmatar war zone: 70 systems (420 points available)
 +
* Caldari-Gallente war zone: 101 systems (606 points available)
 +
 
 +
Hence, the number of points a faction has determines its tier<ref name="PN inferno 1.0" />:
 +
* 0-20% of the total number of available points: Tier 1
 +
* 21-40% of the total number of available points: Tier 2
 +
* 41-60% of the total number of available points: Tier 3
 +
* 61-80% of the total number of available points: Tier 4
 +
* 81-100% of the total number of available points: Tier 5
 +
 
 +
The main effect of faction tier is that it affects how many [[loyalty points]] you receive for various activities you do in Factional Warfare; the higher your faction's tier, the higher your [[#Rewards|rewards]]<ref name="PN inferno 1.3" />.
 +
* Tier 1: -50% LP rewards
 +
* Tier 2: (no effect)
 +
* Tier 3: +75% LP rewards
 +
* Tier 4: +150% LP rewards
 +
* Tier 5: +225% LP rewards
 +
 
 +
For example, the base reward for capturing a novice complex in an enemy-held system is 10,000 LP. If your faction is at Tier 1, then you will only receive 5,000 LP, while if your faction was at Tier 4, you would receive 25,000 LP for capturing that same complex! This bonus affects [[#Capturing complexes|capturing complexes]] and [[#Factional Warfare missions|running missions]], but not [[#Destroying enemy player's ships|ship kills]].
 +
 
 +
If you open the [[#Joining Factional Warfare|militia window]] in a station then you can see the tier of that faction's war zone (so the militia office at a Minmatar station would show the tiers in the Amarr-Minmatar war zone), as well as the number of systems (and their upgrade levels) currently controlled by that faction. [https://evemaps.dotlan.net/factionwarfare Dotlan] also shows the system occupancy and the [[#Capturing systems|system state]] (stable/contested/vulnerable), but not the system upgrade level or the faction tier.
 +
}}
 +
 
 +
== Factional Warfare missions ==
 +
{{main|Factional Warfare missions}}
 +
Each of the four Factional Warfare NPC corporations ("militias") have a number of agents which offer missions to pilots enlisted with their militia (and their allied militia). These missions are similar to the [[Missions#Encounter_Missions|encounter missions]] offered by agents of [[Empire]] corporations, but they are run exclusively in the war zones (although they do not contribute to capturing or defending star systems in those war zones). You are rewarded with ISK and loyalty points (LP) for completing these missions.  
  
 
== Rewards ==
 
== Rewards ==
 +
While the primary reason for Factional Warfare is to encourage PvP in low-sec, players are also rewarded directly for participating in the Factional Warfare mechanics.
 +
=== Complexes and i-Hubs ===
 +
 +
{{note box | The recent update to system dynamics has altered LP payouts, so the information in the below table is no longer accurate.}}
 +
 +
If you capture a [[#Complex information|complex]] you are rewarded with [[loyalty points]] (for your faction's militia corporation, so a pilot flying for the Gallente would receive LP for the Federal Defense Union). The LP rewards for capturing a complex in an enemy-held system ("offensive plexing") depend on the size of the complex and on the system's status (Frontline, Command Operation or Rearguard)<ref name="PN Version 20.10" />. A Rearguard system has a -99% LP multiplier, while other status are shown in a table below. You have to be within the complex' capture radius at the moment it's completed (i.e. when the timer runs out) to receive a reward; if there are multiple pilots within the complex at the moment it's completed, the LP reward is split evenly between them (irrespective of how long they have been there). You get no rewards for partially completing a complex!
 +
 +
[[File:Defensive-plex-reward.png|thumb|200px|The LP rewards for capturing a complex in a friendly-held system. This example is based on a novice complex at tier 2 (base reward: 10,000 LP).]]
 +
{| class=wikitable style="font-size: 90%; text-align: center"
 +
|- style="background-color: #222222;"
 +
! style="background-color:#333333;" | Complex type
 +
! style="padding: 0.1em 1em" | Command Operation<br><span style="font-weight:normal; font-size:95%">(base)</span>
 +
! style="padding: 0.1em 1em" | Frontline<br><span style="font-weight:normal; font-size:95%">(+50% LP)</span>
 +
|-
 +
| style="background-color:#333333; text-align:left" | Scout NVY-1
 +
|10,000 LP
 +
|15,000 LP
 +
|-
 +
| style="background-color:#333333; text-align:left" | Scout NVY-5
 +
|12,500 LP
 +
|18,750 LP
 +
|-
 +
| style="background-color: #333333; text-align: left;" | Small NVY-1
 +
|15,000 LP
 +
|22,500 LP
 +
|-
 +
| style="background-color: #333333; text-align: left;" | Small NVY-5
 +
|18,750 LP
 +
|28,150 LP
 +
|-
 +
| style="background-color: #333333; text-align: left;" | Small ADV-1
 +
|17,500 LP
 +
|26,250 LP
 +
|-
 +
| style="background-color: #333333; text-align: left;" | Small ADV-5
 +
|20,000 LP
 +
|30,000 LP
 +
|-
 +
| style="background-color: #333333; text-align: left;" | Medium NVY-1
 +
|20,000 LP
 +
|30,000 LP
 +
|-
 +
| style="background-color: #333333; text-align: left;" | Medium NVY-5
 +
|25,000 LP
 +
|37,500 LP
 +
|-
 +
| style="background-color: #333333; text-align: left;" | Medium ADV-1
 +
|25,000 LP
 +
|37,500 LP
 +
|-
 +
| style="background-color: #333333; text-align: left;" | Medium ADV-5
 +
|30,000 LP
 +
|45,000 LP
 +
|-
 +
| style="background-color: #333333; text-align: left;" | Large NVY-1
 +
|25,000 LP
 +
|37,500 LP
 +
|-
 +
| style="background-color: #333333; text-align: left;" | Large NVY-5
 +
|30,000 LP
 +
|45,000 LP
 +
|-
 +
| style="background-color: #333333; text-align: left;" | Large ADV-1
 +
|25,000 LP
 +
|37,500 LP
 +
|-
 +
| style="background-color: #333333; text-align: left;" | Large ADV-5
 +
|30,000 LP
 +
|45,000 LP
 +
|-
 +
| style="background-color:#333333; text-align:left;" | Open
 +
| style="padding:0.1em 1em" | 30,000 LP
 +
| style="padding:0.1em 1em" | 45,000 LP
 +
|}
 +
 +
If you capture a complex in a friendly-held system ("defensive plexing"), you receive a reduced reward based on [[#Capturing systems|how contested the system is]]. The formula for this is<ref name="dev blog fast forward" />:
 +
 +
: <math> \displaystyle \color{wheat} \text{LP reward } = \text{Base reward of complex} \times ( \text{Contested percentage of the system} / 100 ) \times 0.75 </math>
 +
 +
This means capturing a complex in a friendly-held system will pay out, at most, 75% as much as capturing an equivalent complex in an enemy-held system, and the closer the system is to "stable", the lower the reward.
 +
 +
The base reward for destroying an [[#Infrastructure Hub|infrastructure hub ("i-Hub")]] is 40,000 LP, split between all the pilots who damaged the i-Hub.
 +
 +
{| class=wikitable style="font-size: 90%; text-align: center; border-style: none"
 +
|- style="background-color: #222222;"
 +
! style="background-color: transparent; border-style:none;" |
 +
! style="padding: 0.1em 1em" | Tier 1<br><span style="font-weight:normal; font-size:95%">(-50% LP)</span>
 +
! style="padding: 0.1em 1em" | Tier 2<br><span style="font-weight:normal; font-size:95%">(base)</span>
 +
! style="padding: 0.1em 1em" | Tier 3<br><span style="font-weight:normal; font-size:95%">(+75% LP)</span>
 +
! style="padding: 0.1em 1em" | Tier 4<br><span style="font-weight:normal; font-size:95%">(+150% LP)</span>
 +
! style="padding: 0.1em 1em" | Tier 5<br><span style="font-weight:normal; font-size:95%">(+225% LP)</span>
 +
|-
 +
| style="background-color:#333333; text-align:left" | Infrastructure hub
 +
| style="padding: 0.1em 1em" | 20,000 LP
 +
| style="padding: 0.1em 1em" | 40,000 LP
 +
| style="padding: 0.1em 1em" | 70,000 LP
 +
| style="padding: 0.1em 1em" | 100,000 LP
 +
| style="padding: 0.1em 1em" | 130,000 LP
 +
|-
 +
|}
 +
 +
=== Missions ===
 +
Missions  in Factional Warfare, just like missions anywhere else in EVE, pay in both ISK and loyalty points (LP). The rewards from these missions depend on both the mission level (i.e. their difficulty) and the [[Security Rating|security rating]] of the system where the agent is located (the lower the security rating, the higher the rewards). Any levels of the {{sk|Negotiation|icon=yes}} and {{sk|Security Connections|icon=yes}} skills you have trained increase the ISK and LP rewards, respectively. In addition (just like with capturing complexes), the LP rewards are also affected by your [[#Faction tier|faction's tier]] (so if a mission normally pays, say 1000 LP, but your faction is at tier 3, you would receive 1000 + 75% = 1750 LP). Since these different bonuses stack, the LP rewards from high-level missions (when combined with a high faction tier and a few levels of the Security Connections skill) can be very high indeed.
 +
 +
Note that, unlike missions in Empire space, the NPC enemies you kill in Factional Warfare missions do not have bounties on them and drop very little loot (other than Navy tags, which can be sold or used to buy items in the LP store). 
 +
 +
=== Destroying enemy player's ships ===
 +
{{note box | The recent update suggests that the LP reward is approximately equal to Tier 5 level rewards (+225%). A flat 3.25 multiplier has been added to the equation, but testing is needed to confirm that this is the exact value.}}
 +
 +
In addition to any loot you may recover from the wreck of any enemy player's ships you destroy, you will also receive loyalty points based on the value of the ship<ref>Dev blog: [https://www.eveonline.com/news/view/fw-dev-blog-1-1-1 Factional Warfare overhaul] (2012)</ref> you killed (including modules and the contents of their cargo bay):
 +
 +
: <math> \displaystyle \color{wheat} \text{LP reward} = 3.25 \times ( \text{value of ship hull} - \text{value of ship insurance} + \text{value of modules/rigs/subsystem/cargo ) / 10,000} </math>
 +
 +
As with capturing complexes, if several pilots are involved in killing a ship, the reward is shared equally between them<ref>Dev Blog: [https://www.eveonline.com/news/view/war-is-a-full-time-job "War is a full-time job"] (2009)</ref>. The LP reward scales with faction tier, but is capped at 50,000 LP per kill. 
 +
 +
=== Factional Warfare LP store ===
 +
As with all corporations which reward loyalty points (LP), the four faction militia corporations each have a [[Loyalty point store|LP store]] where you can buy implants, modules, ships, blueprints and skillbooks with the LP you have earned. These stores stock a similar range of items to their respective faction navies' LP stores, but at a discount (for example, the [[Apocalypse Navy Issue]] costs 600,000 LP from the [https://www.ellatha.com/eve/lp/Amarr-Navy Amarr Navy] LP store, but only 250,000 LP from the [https://www.ellatha.com/eve/lp/24th-Imperial-Crusade 24th Imperial Crusade] LP store).
 +
 +
{{expansion past|
 +
Before the [[Expansions#Inferno|Inferno]] expansion, the faction tier directly reduced prices in each militia's LP store (so an item would be cheaper the higher the faction tier)<ref name="PN inferno 1.3" />. This led to a massive see-saw as the factions earned their LP at lower tiers, then made a massive push to tier 5, cashed out all their LP into items (promptly crashing the markets for those items), before letting their tier drop again.
 +
}}
 +
 +
=== Standings and ranks ===
 +
{{main|Factional Warfare Standings}}
 +
Participating in Factional Warfare can impact your [[standings]] towards, notably, the militia corporations and the empire factions. High standings towards your faction militia corporation not only grants you access to higher-level [[#Factional Warfare missions|mission agents]], but also awards you "ranks" (which are visible on the "decorations" tab in your character sheet). You are promoted to a higher rank every time your standings reach an integer number (i.e. 1.0, 2.0, 3.0 - unmodified); when you are promoted, you also receive a one-off bonus to your standings with your faction, and a one-off decrease to your standings with the opposing empire faction. Otherwise, your rank is purely cosmetic. Promotions are notably the only source of standings loss with the opposing empire faction, although faction police of the enemy faction will still attack you in hisec space of the opposing empire faction while you are enrolled in factional warfare.
 +
 +
==Factional Campaigns==
 +
Beginning with the Faction Warfare "Allegiance" Patch (Version 21.03, March 14, 2023), a series of Factional Campaigns have occurred, allowing pilots to support one of the four Empires in a series of events, leading to rewards for participation in furthering that Empire's goals in the campaign.
 +
  
With [http://www.eveonline.com/devblog.asp?a=blog&bid=671 War is a full time job] CCP introduced the factional warfare LP shop, where members of the militia have a fixed discount on the faction ships in the LP store. In addition CCP offered additional faction navy items, which are only attainable from the factional warfare LP shop.
+
The following Campaigns have occurred:
  
Together with this CCP introduced gaining LP for shooting other ppl militia members based on the rank and shiptype the enemy was sailing. The formula used is:
+
[[Shipcaster Shadow War]] - March 14, 2023 - June 20, 2023.
  
[Total given LP value]: [Ship hull LP]x[Ship tech level LP]x[Pilot FW rank]
+
== Permanent war ==
 +
Being enlisted in a Factional Warfare militia (be it as a solo player or as a corporation) means that you are constantly at war with:
 +
* the players enlisted in the enemy militia, and
 +
* the enemy NPC Navy faction.
  
''The LP value will be evenly divided for each gang member in grid range of the kill, no matter which ship they may be flying. Also, LPs will only be given for killing your militia direct opponents, not allies to them (as a Federation pilot, you will not receive LPs for destroying an Amarr pilot ship for example).''
+
The first of these is similar to being a member of a player-run [[corporation]] which is [[War Declaration|at war with another player-run corporation]]. You can attack pilots who are enlisted in the enemy militia anywhere in New Eden ([[CONCORD]] or sentry guns will not interfere) without impacting your [[security status]] (and, of course, they can also attack you!). This effect is most felt in high-sec, where you now have to be on the lookout for enemy players.  
  
For more details please see the dev-blog [http://www.eveonline.com/devblog.asp?a=blog&bid=671].
+
The second of these restrict your movement through high-sec systems controlled by the enemy faction. If you enter one of these systems, you will get a text warning on your screen; if you don't leave the system promptly, you will be attacked by NPC faction navy ships. These ships are more powerful the higher the [[Security Rating|security rating]] of the system you are in, and will use [[electronic warfare]] against you (such as [[Capacitor warfare|neuts/nos]] and [[web]]s). They will not point you, but they will web you, meaning if you warp off immediately it requires a very slow ship to be caught. They also do not scram, so if you are caught, you can still MJD to escape. Unlike CONCORD, it's certainly feasible to survive encounters with them and with specifics fitting to sustain the NPC DPS it's even possible to "camp" in enemy space to catch opposing militia players - but they make travel through enemy-held high-sec a hassle at the least). The in-game star map (or a third-party site like [https://evemaps.dotlan.net/map Dotlan]) can help you to plan safe routes.  
  
With the upcoming [http://www.eveonline.com/dominion/ Dominion] expansion CCP is [http://www.eveonline.com/ingameboard.asp?a=topic&threadID=1172933 overhauling the existing faction navy ships and adding the tier one navy ships], again only attainable from the factional warfare LP shops.
+
Additionally, you cannot dock with a ship in stations controlled by the enemy NPC factions in the [[#War zones|war zones]] (but you can dock at enemy NPC stations in all other parts of space). This means that if you have items or ships in a station that is now held by the enemy faction you cannot access them until your faction takes the system back (although, in a pinch, you can create a [[contract]] to a neutral player, alt, or hauling service to get your items out).  
  
Still Plexing was never intend to be lucrative, so there are no bounties for NPCs and apart from militia tags and salvage, which are sometimes hard to gain there isn't much profit to be made.  
+
== Leaving Factional Warfare ==
 +
You can leave Factional Warfare at any time through the Militia window if you joined as a solo player (or, for an entire corporation, the CEO or Director can do this). You will keep any loyalty points you have earned, but will no longer be able to participate in the formal Factional Warfare mechanics (capturing complexes and systems, or running missions). Additionally, you can re-enlist at any time (provided you [[#Joining Factional Warfare|meet the criteria]]).
  
FW Missions do payout LP and ISK but compared to normal mission, the payout is way smaller with a far higher risk having to operate in low-sec with the “please gank me” sign on your pod, which should now be compensated with the items only obtainable through the FW LP shop.
+
If at any point your (unmodified, i.e. without taking [[Skills:Social|skills]] into account) standings towards your faction drop below 0.0, you will receive a warning mail to raise them back up at the next [[server downtime]]. If you have not recovered your standings until the downtime after that (i.e. two downtimes after the standing drop), you will be instantly kicked out of the FW militia. The same rules apply for a corporation that join FW, except that in that case, it's the corporation's faction standings that counts.
  
=== Ranks ===
+
After you leave Factional Warfare the navies of your enemy factions will still attack you for several hours (even if you join the opposing faction militia!)  Your status as an "enemy of the state" does not show up in your standings, so be careful when you attempt to travel. Either re-logging into your character or waiting up to 16 hours is enough for the enemy navies to forget about you, though this mechanic remains unexplored as to whether it is functioning as intended or in any form of consistency.<ref>EVE forums: [https://forums-archive.eveonline.com/default.aspx?g=posts&find=unread&t=384153 Enemy of the State mechanics] (2014)</ref>
Ranks are the only visible reward you gain from participating in FW, which do sound and look nice are tied to your standing with the FW militia. They sadly do nothing apart from looking and sounding nice and giving your opponent more LPs.
 
  
== Leaving factional warfare ==
+
== Frontlines report ==
Willingly leaving factional warfare from the NPC militia corps, is done just like leaving a normal corporation. If you leave a factional warfare your gained ranks will not be visible any more from the character page. You will not loose your ranks, so when you return you will start with your old rank, if you haven't damaged your FW militia standing, which can be done by e.g. joining the opposing militia.
+
The [https://www.eveonline.com/frontlines Frontlines] report page provides live updates on the state of Factional Warfare in New Eden. The page features maps of conflict hotspots, information on the warzones, and a new video outlining how Factional Warfare works. The API for this tool is available at https://www.eveonline.com/api/warzone
  
You can also be forced to leave factional warfare, when you joined the NPC militia, when due your actions your standing drops with the appropriate faction below the required minimum.
+
== References ==
 +
<references>
 +
<ref name="PN202308011">Patch Notes: [https://www.eveonline.com/news/view/patch-notes-version-21-05#h2-5 Version 21.05 ] Release 2023-08-01.1</ref>
 +
<ref name="PN inferno 1.3">Patch Notes: [https://www.eveonline.com/news/view/patch-notes-for-inferno-1.3 Inferno 1.3] (2012)</ref>
 +
<ref name="PN inferno 1.0">Patch Notes: [https://www.eveonline.com/news/view/patch-notes-for-inferno Inferno 1.0] (2012)</ref>
 +
<ref name="PN Version 20.10">Patch Notes: [https://www.eveonline.com/news/view/patch-notes-version-20-10 Version 20.10 ] (2023)</ref>
 +
<ref name="dev blog fast forward">Dev blog: [https://www.eveonline.com/news/view/fast-forward Fast Forward] (2012)</ref>
 +
</references>
  
From the official guide:
+
== External links ==
*''Player:
+
* [http://www.gamerchick.net/2013/01/the-beginners-guide-to-faction-war.html GamerChick42: The Beginner's guide to Faction War Plexing] (2013)
**''Willingly:
 
***''If part of a FW militia, a player has to click the “retire” button in the sign-up FW page to leave it. The process happens instantly.  
 
***''If part of an enlisted player FW corporation, the individual will have to leave the corporation though normal means to retire. If you have roles, the process will take 24 hours, otherwise it will be instant.
 
**''Automatically:
 
***''If an individual’s raw faction standings drops below 0.5, the player receives a notification mail to raise them back at the next downtime. If they are not recovered during the downtime after that (thus, two downtimes after the standing drop), the player will be instantly kicked out of the FW militia.
 
***''If part of an enlisted player corporation, individual faction standings do not apply for the check. Corporation faction standings are used instead, see below.
 
*''Corporation:
 
**''Willingly:
 
***''The CEO/Director has to press the “retire corporation” button from the FW page. The change is done during the next downtime. Before then, any Director or CEO can cancel this action by pressing the “cancel retirement” option.
 
**''Automatically:
 
***''If a corporation’s raw faction standings drops below 0.5, mail notification is sent to the corporation mailbox at the next downtime. If the standings are not recovered after the second downtime (two downtimes after the standing drop), the corporation is instantly expelled.
 
  
== Player Experiences ==
 
  
Here just a few collections of other player(s) about Factional Warfare.
+
{{FactionWarfareNav}}
From Juan Rayo, Gallente Militia Member via a player corporation(2009):
 
<blockquote>I log in at any time and take a look at militia chat. People are X'ing up for something. Intel channel says the Caldari are moving a fleet down the pipe, 30 strong, lots of Battleships and some EW boats, so I could go join the fight. In another channel, plexers are trying to decontest a system that the Caldari have been fighting bitterly for, slowly driving us out. .
 
They are more organized plexers than most of us, and have been slowly, but surely, conquering Gallente territory. Plexing would raise my standings, and help us defend the systems, so I could head that way. Corp chat is already heating up with people calling for support or looking to go kill, explore a WH or do a mission. A quick look at my wallet tells me I could also use some missioning to pad it a bit, faction warfare is an ISK sink after all.
 
The great thing about it is, ALL this options are open to me the very moment I log in. Faction warfare offers a lot of things to do, and unless your corp is fairly strict, a great ammount of liberty to do those things.</blockquote>
 
  
[[Category:PvP]]
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[[Category:Faction Warfare]]
[[Category:PvE]]
 
[[Category:Factional Warfare]]
 
[[Category:Guides]]
 

Latest revision as of 19:26, 5 November 2024

This page should be updated due to game changes.
Reason: System upgrades and all rewards details need updates according to the significant changes from the Loyalty to Lowsec and Uprising updates, and the Allegiance Update Version 21.03 March 14, 2023.
This page deals primarily with the mechanics of faction warfare. For tips on how best to take advantage of these mechanics, see Faction warfare strategy and tactics.

Faction warfare (FW) is a game mechanic whereby you can sign up to fight for one of the four empire factions (against its enemy faction) for control over certain areas of low-sec space. It was first introduced in the Empyrean Age expansion (2008) to offer players a stepping-stone into player-vs-player (PvP) gameplay. In 2022, the Uprising expansion made sweeping changes across many Faction Warfare mechanics, and the Havoc expansion (2023) added the ability to enlist with the Guristas and Angels pirate militias to fight against the empires and participate in Insurgencies.

Faction warfare is primarily centered around two war zones (areas of low-sec contested by two empires): the Amarr-Minmatar war zone and the Caldari-Gallente war zone, which each are located on the border of the two respective empires. In these war zones, players who participate in Factional Warfare attempt to conquer star systems for their empire, and are rewarded with loyalty points and increased faction standings for their efforts. Additionally, as players who participate in Factional Warfare are effectively at war with one of the four empire factions in the game, they can therefore attack (and be attacked by) players fighting for the enemy faction anywhere in New Eden, as well as fight the enemy NPC faction navies (who patrol the high-sec star systems belonging to their faction). In addition to fighting their rival empire militia, players who participate in Factional Warfare are also at war with one of the two pirate militias as part of the Pirate Insurgency. Members of the Amarr and Minmatar militias are at war with the Angel Cartel, while members of the Caldari and Gallente militias are fighting the Guristas Pirates. In insurgency warzones, empire militia members can capture plexes to increase Suppression, and pirate militia members can capture plexes to increase Corruption.

Joining Factional Warfare

There are two ways to join Factional Warfare (the game calls this "enlisting"): join as a solo player, or join as part of a player corporation or alliance. You do not need to be a part of Faction warfare to fight those who are enlisted.

EVE University is now able to participate in Factional Warfare!!

Joining as a solo player

Join Factional Warfare through the Militia Office window in a station belonging to the empire you wish to fight for (in this example, the Caldari).

Any player can join Factional Warfare provided that their standings towards the empire faction (e.g. the Gallente Federation or the Caldari State) they wish to fight for are 0.0 or greater. Note that only raw, unmodified standings (i.e. without taking the effects of skills like Icon skillbook2.png Social into account) count; you can check your standings on your character page.

You can enlist at any station belonging to the empire or pirate faction you wish to fight for by opening the "Militia Office" window (from the NeoCom or the Station Services window) for empire militias, and by opening the Insurgencies window (from the Activities section of the Neocom) for pirate militias. Note that even though the Khanid Kingdom and the Ammatar Mandate are affiliated with the Amarr Empire, they do not count as being a part of it, and therefore you cannot join Factional Warfare from their stations.

A player enlisting while a member of an NPC corporation will leave that corporation, and automatically join one of the six faction militia corporations (NPC-run corporations which are populated exclusively by other players enlisted in Factional Warfare for a given empire):

Joining as a solo player happens immediately. These militia corporations have NPC agents working for them, which offer missions to pilots enlisted with their respective faction.

Direct Enlistment

An unaligned corporation may allow individuals to Direct Enlist[1] in Factional Warfare without enlisting the entire corporation. If corporation settings allow for it, members of the same corporation can join opposing factions, becoming legal Militia War Targets to each other. Corporation leadership can limit the factions that members are able to join in order to prevent corpmates from becoming war targets to each other, to focus on aiding a specific faction, or for any other reason. With Direct Enlistment enabled, corporation members may enlist and unenlist in faction warfare at will with any faction that their corporation allows for and that they have sufficient standing to enlist with.

Enlisting or retiring individually using Direct Enlistment happens immediately. Once you have Retired from a FW militia you may not enlist in FW again for 24 hours, after which time you may re-enlist at will.

Joining as a corporation

The CEO or Director of a corporation can enlist their entire corporation (i.e. all their members) to Factional Warfare, and the executor of an alliance may do so on behalf of the alliance. If part of an alliance the corporation retains the decision to join Faction Warfare, so an Alliance can not prevent a member corporation from joining. However, due to wars being shared between alliances and their member corps, if a corp joins a militia, the entire alliance is enlisted as well. It is recommended that, if the alliance does not wish to be enlisted, corps who want to participate in Faction Warfare should either leave their alliance or enable Direct Enlistment so their members can freely join a militia. While individual pilots can join and leave the militias at any time, corporations and alliances will have to wait some time before they are joined into the warfare and may fight on behalf of their chosen empire. As with solo players, the corporation must have a standing of 0.0 of greater towards the empire they wish to fight for (corporation standings are an average of its all members' individual standings, see corporation standings for more details). Enlisting a corporation takes effect after the next downtime.

Players must be in a corporation flagged for Factional Warfare to participate. There is no way for an individual in a FW corp to opt out – if the corporation changes their flag to join the militia, every member of that corporation automatically joins with the corp.

Third-partying

It is possible for third parties (those not enrolled in Faction warfare directly) to fight those who are. Sliding into a complex or aggressing a capsuleer enrolled in faction warfare will generally give a Suspect Timer (see that page for exceptions). It will also decrease security status and decrease standing with the targeted faction. Third-parties will not receive Faction warfare rewards like Loyalty Points (LP).

Third-partying on faction warfare is a common way to find PvP content in lowsec space for those not enrolled in Faction warfare themselves, such as EVE University members.

War zones

Factional Warfare revolves around two conflicts, one between the Amarr and the Minmatar, and the other between the Caldari and the Gallente. The majority of the actions take place in two areas of low-security space, each of which is contested by two empires, known as "war zones".

The Amarr-Minmatar war zone extends into parts of the Devoid, Bleak Lands, Heimatar and Metropolis regions, while the Caldari-Gallente war zone extends into parts of the Black Rise, Citadel, Essence, Verge Vendor, and Placid regions. The high-security systems on the borders of the war zones are often used as staging areas (as players fighting for the enemy militia cannot enter them without being attacked by friendly NPC faction navy ships), although many player corporations also use systems inside the war zones themselves as home bases. The core Factional Warfare gameplay of capturing systems and running missions takes place exclusively within the war zones. Dotlan has very useful maps of the war zones.

Region Constellations
Amarr Empire Devoid Semou and Jayai
The Bleak Lands Sasen, Tandoiras, and Vaarma
Minmatar Republic Heimatar Hed and Huvilma
Metropolis Essin, Tiat, Eugidi, Angils, and Aldodan
Caldari State The Citadel Ieyama and Isoma
Black Rise Inolari, Ishaga, Kurala, and Okakuola
Gallente Federation Essence Jeon and Vieres
Verge Vendor Obray and Woenckee
Placid Amevync, Pegeler, and Serthoulde

Capturing systems

An illustration of how to capture (or defend) a star system in Factional Warfare (using a system contested by the Amarr and the Minmatar as an example).

The core mechanics of Factional Warfare revolve around capturing and holding star systems in the war zones. This occurs in two steps:

  • Attacking and completing complexes ("plexes") in a system to make the system vulnerable to capture.
  • Once the system is vulnerable, attack and destroy ("capture") the system's infrastructure hub (also known as an "i-Hub") to capture the system.

A system starts off as "stable" (or "uncontested"). The attacking faction (for instance, pilots flying for the Gallente attacking a Caldari-held system) must first attack and complete complexes in the system (this is known as "offensive plexing"); for each completed complex, the system becomes ever more "contested" (commonly quoted from 0% to 100%, sometimes also measured in victory points). Once a system has become 100% contested, it is listed as "vulnerable", and the attacking faction can then attack the system's infrastructure hub. Once the infrastructure hub is destroyed, the system is considered "lost" and will switch to the attacking faction's control after the next server downtime.

During this time, the defending faction can also complete complexes in the system (this is known as "defensive plexing"); for each completed complex, the system becomes ever less "contested" (or, if it's currently "vulnerable", it will revert to being "contested"), all the way back to "stable".

While a system is "vulnerable" or "lost", the attacking faction may still capture complexes, but they will not get any reward nor affect the system's capture. Additionally, once a system is "vulnerable", the defending faction needs only to capture a few complexes to revert the system to "contested" (and therefore render the infrastructure hub invulnerable again); the attacking faction only create a small "buffer" against this by capturing more complexes while the system is "vulnerable". Similarly, once the defending faction has captured enough complexes to revert a system to "stable", the attacking faction only needs to capture one complex to put the system back to "contested".

Obviously, in addition to the mechanics above, pilots can (and should!) attack the other faction's pilots to stop them from completing their objectives!

Complexes

The layout of a complex. To enter a complex, you must first activate the complex' acceleration gate, which will warp you into the complex at its beacon. In order to capture the complex, you must stay within 30 km of the capture point.
Complexes can be found via the probe scanner.
An overview showing typical Factional Warfare objects.

Factional Warfare Complexes, commonly known as "Plexes" (not to be confused with PLEX) are small areas of Deadspace in war zone star systems. They are a type of Cosmic Anomaly, which means that they show up on the system scanner (but do not need scan probes to find), although once someone has warped to a complex, they will also show up on the Overview (even if someone initiated a warp to them, but canceled it immediately).

Like most other Deadspace Complexes, you cannot warp directly into them, but must first use an acceleration gate, after which you will land at the complex' beacon (Open Complexes (see below) do not have an acceleration gate, but are still a deadspace grid); you cannot light a cynosural field inside or on grid outside a complex. As of the Loyalty to Lowsec Update in March 2020, pilots who are not active Faction Warfare participants will have to go suspect in order to take the gate[2]. The gate may be activated from up to 100km away (but warpins are measured from the beacon and may vary as all warps do, so warping at 100km does not guarantee you will be able to slide immediately).

At the center of each complex, a few kilometers away from the beacon, is the capture point (sometimes called a "button"). An NPC ship belonging to the faction controlling the star system defends the complex.

Capturing complexes

In order to capture a complex, you must first clear the area (radius: 30 km) around the capture point of enemy ships. If you're the attacking faction, this includes killing the defending NPC; if you're the defending faction, the NPC will obviously not fire on you, and therefore you shouldn't destroy it (even if it appears as "hostile" on your overview)!. Then you must stay inside the capture radius (within 30 km of the capture point) until the complex' timer has counted down to 0 (you can see how much time is left by selecting the capture point), at which point you will have captured the complex!

An Amarr pilot capturing an Amarr complex ("defensive plexing"). The timer on the capture point shows how much time is left before the complex is captured.

Additional ships from your faction will not make the timer count down faster; if you leave the complex or the capture radius, the timer will pause (but will not reset). If an enemy ship enters the complex, the timer will also pause until ships from only one faction are present in the complex capture radius, and then it will resume counting down. Note that the timers for both factions are additive - so if a Caldari pilot has spent three minutes capturing a complex, and is then destroyed by an incoming Gallente pilot, the Gallente pilot would have to spend an extra three minutes in the complex in order to capture it (in order to "undo the capturing" previously done by the Caldari pilot, so to speak).

No ship can cloak within the capture radius of a complex[3]. Neutral pilots (i.e. pilots who are not enlisted in a militia) can enter a complex, but cannot capture it (their presence doesn't affect the complex' timer).

Once a complex has been captured, it disappears from the scanner/overview and despawns after a few minutes. A new complex of the same size will spawn about 30 minutes after the previous one was captured. On average, there will be one or two complexes of each type in a system. However, if many players have been active in a system recently, it may be the case that, for a brief time, there are no complexes available to capture.

Complex types

Complexes come in a variety of types[4]. They vary in:

  • What kinds of ships are allowed to enter
  • What NPC defends them
  • How long it takes to capture them
  • How many capsuleers the reward scales to

The name of a complex contains all information about its type. Names are formed as:

[Rank / Size] + [ADV / NVY] + "-"[Number] OR [Open Complex]

  • NVY - Short for "Navy". Indicates site only allows T1 and Navy ships to enter, no pirate faction, T2, or T3.
  • ADV - Short for "Advanced". Indicates site allows T2 and Pirate Faction ships, and T3 ships in some circumstances. SoCT and Triglavian ships are limited to these complexes.
  • Number - This number indicates the number of characters the site reward scales to before reducing loyalty point payout, either 1 or 5.
  • Open Complex - This is an open site, a site without restrictions or an acceleration gate, and has a similar defending NPC to large complexes.
  • Rank/Size - Controls which ship sizes are allowed in, capture times, and the NPC defenders, according to the following table.
Type Capture time Allowed ships NPC defender
Scout 10 min Frigates and smaller Frigate
Small 10 min Destroyers and smaller Destroyer
Medium 15 min Cruisers and smaller Cruiser
Large 15 min Battleships and smaller Battlecruiser
Open 15 min Unrestricted Battlecruiser
  • As of 2022-12-01, there is conflicting text between patch notes, some in-game site beacon descriptions, and in-game descriptions on acceleration gates. The above sizes come from the patch notes should be correct for T1/T2 pirate/navy/empire ships of all sizes. Strategic Cruisers, Tactical Destroyers, and more esoteric classes like Flag Cruisers may have in-game mechanics that conflict with the patch note descriptions of what can slide.
  • Ventures are no longer able to capture Faction Warfare Complexes.[5]

T3 ships are even more limited in their ability enter complexes, only able to enter ADV plexes of a larger size and Open plexes. (For example, a T3 destroyer can enter a Medium ADV or Large ADV plex, but it cannot enter a Small ADV plex like other destroyer-sized ships can. Along this same line, T3 cruisers can only enter Large ADV plexes and Open plexes.

For example, Amarr Medium NVY-5 would indicate a site in an amarr-owned system where the rewards scale to 5 capsuleers, and Tech 1 or Navy ships of size Cruiser or smaller are allowed inside.

While each type of complex contributes the same amount to capturing a system (measured in victory points), capturing larger complexes result in higher rewards. Additionally, capturing complexes in enemy-held systems (offensive plexing) gives higher rewards than capturing complexes in friendly-held systems (defensive plexing).

Complexes are defended by a single NPC (in rare cases, two); it's designed to be killed without too much trouble by a player ship of similar size. Once killed, the NPC defender will respawn after between 90 and 180 seconds for novice and small complexes. In medium and large complexes, the NPC respawns after between 90 and 300 seconds.[6]

Which systems have complexes and which complexes a system has available can both be found in the Agency window under Encounters > Faction Warfare.

Battlefields

Along with normal Complexes, there are also much larger Factional Warfare sites called Battlefields.[7]

Battlefields have a number of unique capture mechanics:

  • Battlefields include three separate capture points on grid with each other, with one point in the top middle and the other two approximately 80km on either side.
  • Holding a capture point earns capture points for your faction when it ticks down. Reaching 100% progress completes the battlefield.
  • Enemy faction NPCs and enemy militia players within 30km of the capture point pause the capture progress.
  • Pods cannot capture or hold a point.
  • Winning a Battlefield provides 150k Loyalty Points to the winning side up to 30 people, with decreasing amounts of Loyalty Points if over 30 people for that side are on grid.
  • Winning a Battlefield provides a very large amount of Advantage to the winning faction's Advantage system level, as well as 2000 Victory Points.

Battlefields also have unique mechanics for capsuleers sliding in. The inside and outside are both full, normal deadspace. The acceleration gate is further off the beacon than normal FW complexes (10-20km), and only allows T1 and Navy ships.

In contrast to normal Faction Warfare complexes, capture points are typically about 75-125km from the landing point for capsuleers who are not enrolled in Faction Warfare. Those enrolled in Faction Warfare may land closer to capture points. There are three landing points: one for each faction, and one for neutral capsuleers.

Battlefields only spawn in frontline systems. There can be up to two battlefields present at any given time. A new battlefield will spawn three hours after one is completed.


Infrastructure Hub

An infrastructure hub ("I-Hub") in space.

The Infrastructure Hub (or "I-Hub") is a structure in space that the attacking faction needs to destroy in order to capture a system. The I-Hub can be found (and be warped to) from the Overview, but can only be damaged if the star system is in a "vulnerable" state, and then only by pilots of the attacking faction (pilots of the defending faction, pilots in an allied militia, or neutral pilots cannot damage the I-Hub).

The I-Hub has 25 million hitpoints (HP), with 7.5M HP each in shield and armor, and 10M HP in structure[8]. This means that a medium-sized fleet is needed to destroy an I-Hub in a reasonable period of time (keeping in mind that its peak shield recharge rate is around 1,700 HP/s, which is the absolute minimum amount of DPS needed to break through its shields). Once the I-Hub is destroyed (technically, once it reaches 1% structure), the system will be "lost" and will switch to being occupied by the attacking faction after the next server downtime.

As explained above, if a system is "vulnerable", and if the defending faction can capture enough complexes, the system will revert back to "contested". The I-Hub will then become invulnerable again, and any damage which the attacking faction has so far managed to do to it is reset. Therefore, while attacking the I-Hub, the attacking faction must also prevent the defending faction from capturing complexes.

The I-Hub is also the place where pilots of the defending faction can donate loyalty points to upgrade the system.

Victory points

Formally, how "contested" a system is is measured in how many victory points have been accumulated by the attacking faction for that system. If the attacking faction has not yet accumulated any victory points for that system, then the system is "stable". Capturing a complex rewards victory points according to the size and type of complex completed; conversely, if the defending faction captures a complex, victory points are subtracted based on the size and type of complex. In order to bring a system to "vulnerable", the attacking faction must accumulate 75000 victory points. Once a system is vulnerable, the attacking faction can continue capturing complexes until they have a "buffer" of victory points; this is to give themselves some breathing room while they attack the I-Hub [9].

Complex Type Victory Points Awarded
Scout NVY 25
Small NVY 50
Small ADV 75
Medium NVY 150
Medium ADV 175
Large NVY 250
Large ADV 300
Open 350
Battlefield 2000

Advantage

Advantage in a system makes it easier to capture and defend a system. Having the advantage increases the number of victory points gained when capturing complexes in that system; thus the side with the higher advantage can more effectively defend or capture that system. Advantage can be increased by winning Battlefields, successfully deploying Propaganda Broadcast Structures, or completing Rendezvous Point combat sites[13]. It is also possible to reduce the enemy's advantage in a system by destroying enemy supply caches/depots or successfully deploying Listening Outposts.

Supply Caches

Supply caches, also called supply depots, are NPC faction structures that, when destroyed, will remove 2% advantage in the system from that faction. These structures are guarded by a small NPC fleet of frigates, destroyers, and cruisers. Each faction has their own supply caches that will spawn in frontline systems in friendly and enemy faction warfare space.

Supply caches grant roughly 10,000 LP to every player who damaged the structure. There is no limit on the amount of time between damaging the structure and the structure being destroyed for you to qualify to collect the reward. In other words, every pilot who had ever damaged a supply cache would get an LP payout if the supply cache were destroyed. One method of generating LP is to warp to a supply cache, damage it, and warp off before the NPCs can kill you, leaving the job of finishing off the structure to a bigger fleet.

For Example: If a Gallente Supply Cache is destroyed every pilot who damaged the Supply Cache will be granted the full LP payout and the Gallente faction will lose some advantage in the system.

Rendezvous Points

Rendezvous Points are combat sites found in frontline and occasionally command operations systems, and awards loyalty points and 2% advantage in the system for that faction. The sites must be scanned down and will appear in the probe scanner as level I combat anomalies named for the faction NPCs contained in it, ie. "Amarr Rendezvous Point". Sites for both empire factions will be present in system with a 15-20 minute respawn timer after a site is completed.

To complete the site, destroy five waves of NPCs. Each of the first four waves contains 3-6 NPCs, although a battleship NPC may spawn instead for the third wave. The fifth wave will spawn an officer battleship NPC; when this NPC is killed, any NPCs remaining will leave the site, and the site is completed.

A well-fit T1 cruiser or better is recommended, as the battleship NPCs in particular can do over 1000 DPS per volley from over 70km away.

Propaganda Broadcast Structures

Propaganda Broadcast Structures are deployable objects that when deployed, start a countdown timer for 10 minutes. Waves of NPCs will periodically spawn, pausing the timer, and must be killed to resume the countdown. At the end of the timer, the site is completed and ~1% advantage is awarded in the system for that faction. If the Propaganda Broadcast Structure is destroyed, either by the NPCs or players, before the timer is finished, no advantage is awarded.

The Structure can be obtained by trading 100 LP and an Encoder Splice from the opposing militia's Operation Centers in the LP store. Deploying the item requires the Anchoring skill trained to level 3. Once the item is deployed, it shows up as a warpable beacon on the overview, allowing anyone in system to warp directly to the Structure. Up to three Propaganda Broadcast Structures can be deployed in a system at a time.

A well-fit T1 cruiser or better is recommended.

Listening Posts

Similar to Propaganda Broadcast Structures, Listening Posts are are deployable objects that when deployed, start a countdown timer for 10 minutes. Waves of NPCs will periodically spawn, pausing the timer, and must be killed to resume the countdown. At the end of the timer, the site is completed and ~1% advantage is removed in the system from the opposing faction. If the Listening Post is destroyed, either by the NPCs or players, before the timer is finished, advantage is unchanged.

The Listening Post can be obtained by trading 100 LP and a Decoder Package from the opposing militia's Operation Centers in the LP store. Deploying the item requires the Anchoring skill trained to level 3. Once the item is deployed, it shows up as a warpable beacon on the overview, allowing anyone in system to warp directly to the Structure. Up to three Listening Posts can be deployed in a system at a time.

A well-fit T1 cruiser or better is recommended.

Operation Centers

Operation Centers are level 3 data sites that can only be found in the Rearguard systems of Faction Warfare Lowsec space. The sites can be scanned down by any capsuleer, but only participants in the opposing faction are able to hack the cans.

Operation Centers are named for the empire whose system they are in, such as "Caldari Operation Center".

Each site contains 5 cans, one in each direction beside the landing point. The cans are mostly sleeper difficulty and can be failed as many times as necessary without consequences. If a can is successfully hacked, strong NPCs will arrive 5-10 seconds later and attack the hacker. The site will despawn about 20 minutes after a successful hack.

The most important loot in Operation Centers are the Encoder Splices (e.g. "Caldari Encoder Splice") and Decoder Packages (e.g. "Caldari Decoder Package"), because these sites are the only way to obtain them, and they are required to purchase the Propaganda Broadcast Structure and Listening Outpost, respectively. As such it is recommended to use a cargo scanner to find which can has the Splice and Decoders, and obtain them first.

Neighboring Systems (Passive Bonus)

In addition to various sites that can effect system advantage, frontline systems gain a 10% native advantage bonus for each neighboring faction warfare system controlled by defending or opposing forces. A frontline owned by the Minmatar, for example, with two adjacent Minmatar-held systems and one adjacent Amarr-held system will reward an additional 20% advantage to the Minmatar and 10% advantage to the Amarr, for a net 10% advantage gain to the Minmatar for that frontline system.


System Upgrades and warzone tier

This section is outdated and need to be rewritten. The Uprising expansion replaced the Faction Tier of a system and the possibility to upgrade it by the mechanic of the frontlines.

Since Uprising, the rewards scales depending on how close to a system controlled by the opposing faction you are. System are classified as Frontlines (adjacent to an enemy system), where the LP gains are the highest, Commands systems (adjacent to a frontline) and Rearguards systems (adjacent to a Command system or another rearguard).

System upgrades

A system can be upgraded by donating loyalty points (LP) at the system's infrastructure hub. This system is currently at Level 3, nearing Level 4.

Players participating in Factional Warfare can donate the loyalty points (LP) they earned with their militia corporation to "upgrade" the star systems that their faction currently controls. To do this, they must fly to the system's infrastructure hub, right-click on it, select the "open system upgrade panel" option, and select how much LP they would like to donate. This window also lists the benefits of upgrading a system[14]:

  • lower broker fees for contracts and market orders (-10% per system upgrade level)
  • lower costs for industry activities in NPC stations (-10% per upgrade level)[15]

When you donate LP, a part is lost as a "maintenance tax" (for example, if you donate 1,000 LP, and the maintenance tax is 5%, then only 950 LP are actually counted towards upgrading the system). The maintenance tax starts at 0% and increases the higher their faction's tier is, up to about 75%[11][16]. The LP you donate is put into a pool with the LP donated by other players from your faction in that system, and the size of that pool determines the system's upgrade level. A system can be upgraded up to level 5.

In the screenshot on the right, Caldari militia members have donated a total of 129,360 LP in that system, which equates to an upgrade level of 3. In order to each level 4, they would have to donate an additional 10,640 LP to bring the total to at least 140,000 LP.

The total amount of LP required to upgrade a system is[11]:

  • Level 1: 40,000 LP
  • Level 2: 60,000 LP
  • Level 3: 90,000 LP
  • Level 4: 140,000 LP
  • Level 5: 200,000 LP
  • Buffer: 300,000 LP
The system information display.

You can check the current upgrade level of a system (along with the associated benefits) through the system information display at the top-left of the screen. Here you can see who currently controls the system, the system state (stable / contested / vulnerable / lost) and its upgrade level.

The amount of LP in a system's pool is reduced every time a player from the attacking faction captures a complex in that system; 10% of the LP reward they receive is subtracted from the system's LP pool[17].

A Gallente pilot captures a novice complex in a Caldari-held system. The Gallente pilot is rewarded (say) 10,000 LP for her efforts, and hence, the Caldari LP pool for that system is reduced by 10% of that (1,000 LP in this case).

If the amount of LP in the pool drops below the threshold required for the current system level, then the system's upgrade level will drop accordingly. The defending faction can counteract this by donating more LP to the pool; even if the system is at level 5, they can continue donating LP into a so-called "buffer" (i.e. more LP than is needed to reach level 5) to stop the system dropping to level 4 as soon as one enemy pilot captures a complex.

If a system is captured by the attacking faction, then all the upgrades are lost and the system reverts to its base (i.e. "un-upgraded") state.

With the removal of the pre-Uprising tier system, upgrading faction warfare systems is rarely done outside of local market or industry centers in the warzones.

Factional Warfare missions

Main article: Factional Warfare missions

Each of the four Factional Warfare NPC corporations ("militias") have a number of agents which offer missions to pilots enlisted with their militia (and their allied militia). These missions are similar to the encounter missions offered by agents of Empire corporations, but they are run exclusively in the war zones (although they do not contribute to capturing or defending star systems in those war zones). You are rewarded with ISK and loyalty points (LP) for completing these missions.

Rewards

While the primary reason for Factional Warfare is to encourage PvP in low-sec, players are also rewarded directly for participating in the Factional Warfare mechanics.

Complexes and i-Hubs

The recent update to system dynamics has altered LP payouts, so the information in the below table is no longer accurate.

If you capture a complex you are rewarded with loyalty points (for your faction's militia corporation, so a pilot flying for the Gallente would receive LP for the Federal Defense Union). The LP rewards for capturing a complex in an enemy-held system ("offensive plexing") depend on the size of the complex and on the system's status (Frontline, Command Operation or Rearguard)[18]. A Rearguard system has a -99% LP multiplier, while other status are shown in a table below. You have to be within the complex' capture radius at the moment it's completed (i.e. when the timer runs out) to receive a reward; if there are multiple pilots within the complex at the moment it's completed, the LP reward is split evenly between them (irrespective of how long they have been there). You get no rewards for partially completing a complex!

The LP rewards for capturing a complex in a friendly-held system. This example is based on a novice complex at tier 2 (base reward: 10,000 LP).
Complex type Command Operation
(base)
Frontline
(+50% LP)
Scout NVY-1 10,000 LP 15,000 LP
Scout NVY-5 12,500 LP 18,750 LP
Small NVY-1 15,000 LP 22,500 LP
Small NVY-5 18,750 LP 28,150 LP
Small ADV-1 17,500 LP 26,250 LP
Small ADV-5 20,000 LP 30,000 LP
Medium NVY-1 20,000 LP 30,000 LP
Medium NVY-5 25,000 LP 37,500 LP
Medium ADV-1 25,000 LP 37,500 LP
Medium ADV-5 30,000 LP 45,000 LP
Large NVY-1 25,000 LP 37,500 LP
Large NVY-5 30,000 LP 45,000 LP
Large ADV-1 25,000 LP 37,500 LP
Large ADV-5 30,000 LP 45,000 LP
Open 30,000 LP 45,000 LP

If you capture a complex in a friendly-held system ("defensive plexing"), you receive a reduced reward based on how contested the system is. The formula for this is[17]:

[math] \displaystyle \color{wheat} \text{LP reward } = \text{Base reward of complex} \times ( \text{Contested percentage of the system} / 100 ) \times 0.75 [/math]

This means capturing a complex in a friendly-held system will pay out, at most, 75% as much as capturing an equivalent complex in an enemy-held system, and the closer the system is to "stable", the lower the reward.

The base reward for destroying an infrastructure hub ("i-Hub") is 40,000 LP, split between all the pilots who damaged the i-Hub.

Tier 1
(-50% LP)
Tier 2
(base)
Tier 3
(+75% LP)
Tier 4
(+150% LP)
Tier 5
(+225% LP)
Infrastructure hub 20,000 LP 40,000 LP 70,000 LP 100,000 LP 130,000 LP

Missions

Missions in Factional Warfare, just like missions anywhere else in EVE, pay in both ISK and loyalty points (LP). The rewards from these missions depend on both the mission level (i.e. their difficulty) and the security rating of the system where the agent is located (the lower the security rating, the higher the rewards). Any levels of the Icon skillbook2.png Negotiation and Icon skillbook2.png Security Connections skills you have trained increase the ISK and LP rewards, respectively. In addition (just like with capturing complexes), the LP rewards are also affected by your faction's tier (so if a mission normally pays, say 1000 LP, but your faction is at tier 3, you would receive 1000 + 75% = 1750 LP). Since these different bonuses stack, the LP rewards from high-level missions (when combined with a high faction tier and a few levels of the Security Connections skill) can be very high indeed.

Note that, unlike missions in Empire space, the NPC enemies you kill in Factional Warfare missions do not have bounties on them and drop very little loot (other than Navy tags, which can be sold or used to buy items in the LP store).

Destroying enemy player's ships

The recent update suggests that the LP reward is approximately equal to Tier 5 level rewards (+225%). A flat 3.25 multiplier has been added to the equation, but testing is needed to confirm that this is the exact value.

In addition to any loot you may recover from the wreck of any enemy player's ships you destroy, you will also receive loyalty points based on the value of the ship[19] you killed (including modules and the contents of their cargo bay):

[math] \displaystyle \color{wheat} \text{LP reward} = 3.25 \times ( \text{value of ship hull} - \text{value of ship insurance} + \text{value of modules/rigs/subsystem/cargo ) / 10,000} [/math]

As with capturing complexes, if several pilots are involved in killing a ship, the reward is shared equally between them[20]. The LP reward scales with faction tier, but is capped at 50,000 LP per kill.

Factional Warfare LP store

As with all corporations which reward loyalty points (LP), the four faction militia corporations each have a LP store where you can buy implants, modules, ships, blueprints and skillbooks with the LP you have earned. These stores stock a similar range of items to their respective faction navies' LP stores, but at a discount (for example, the Apocalypse Navy Issue costs 600,000 LP from the Amarr Navy LP store, but only 250,000 LP from the 24th Imperial Crusade LP store).

Standings and ranks

Main article: Factional Warfare Standings

Participating in Factional Warfare can impact your standings towards, notably, the militia corporations and the empire factions. High standings towards your faction militia corporation not only grants you access to higher-level mission agents, but also awards you "ranks" (which are visible on the "decorations" tab in your character sheet). You are promoted to a higher rank every time your standings reach an integer number (i.e. 1.0, 2.0, 3.0 - unmodified); when you are promoted, you also receive a one-off bonus to your standings with your faction, and a one-off decrease to your standings with the opposing empire faction. Otherwise, your rank is purely cosmetic. Promotions are notably the only source of standings loss with the opposing empire faction, although faction police of the enemy faction will still attack you in hisec space of the opposing empire faction while you are enrolled in factional warfare.

Factional Campaigns

Beginning with the Faction Warfare "Allegiance" Patch (Version 21.03, March 14, 2023), a series of Factional Campaigns have occurred, allowing pilots to support one of the four Empires in a series of events, leading to rewards for participation in furthering that Empire's goals in the campaign.


The following Campaigns have occurred:

Shipcaster Shadow War - March 14, 2023 - June 20, 2023.

Permanent war

Being enlisted in a Factional Warfare militia (be it as a solo player or as a corporation) means that you are constantly at war with:

  • the players enlisted in the enemy militia, and
  • the enemy NPC Navy faction.

The first of these is similar to being a member of a player-run corporation which is at war with another player-run corporation. You can attack pilots who are enlisted in the enemy militia anywhere in New Eden (CONCORD or sentry guns will not interfere) without impacting your security status (and, of course, they can also attack you!). This effect is most felt in high-sec, where you now have to be on the lookout for enemy players.

The second of these restrict your movement through high-sec systems controlled by the enemy faction. If you enter one of these systems, you will get a text warning on your screen; if you don't leave the system promptly, you will be attacked by NPC faction navy ships. These ships are more powerful the higher the security rating of the system you are in, and will use electronic warfare against you (such as neuts/nos and webs). They will not point you, but they will web you, meaning if you warp off immediately it requires a very slow ship to be caught. They also do not scram, so if you are caught, you can still MJD to escape. Unlike CONCORD, it's certainly feasible to survive encounters with them and with specifics fitting to sustain the NPC DPS it's even possible to "camp" in enemy space to catch opposing militia players - but they make travel through enemy-held high-sec a hassle at the least). The in-game star map (or a third-party site like Dotlan) can help you to plan safe routes.

Additionally, you cannot dock with a ship in stations controlled by the enemy NPC factions in the war zones (but you can dock at enemy NPC stations in all other parts of space). This means that if you have items or ships in a station that is now held by the enemy faction you cannot access them until your faction takes the system back (although, in a pinch, you can create a contract to a neutral player, alt, or hauling service to get your items out).

Leaving Factional Warfare

You can leave Factional Warfare at any time through the Militia window if you joined as a solo player (or, for an entire corporation, the CEO or Director can do this). You will keep any loyalty points you have earned, but will no longer be able to participate in the formal Factional Warfare mechanics (capturing complexes and systems, or running missions). Additionally, you can re-enlist at any time (provided you meet the criteria).

If at any point your (unmodified, i.e. without taking skills into account) standings towards your faction drop below 0.0, you will receive a warning mail to raise them back up at the next server downtime. If you have not recovered your standings until the downtime after that (i.e. two downtimes after the standing drop), you will be instantly kicked out of the FW militia. The same rules apply for a corporation that join FW, except that in that case, it's the corporation's faction standings that counts.

After you leave Factional Warfare the navies of your enemy factions will still attack you for several hours (even if you join the opposing faction militia!) Your status as an "enemy of the state" does not show up in your standings, so be careful when you attempt to travel. Either re-logging into your character or waiting up to 16 hours is enough for the enemy navies to forget about you, though this mechanic remains unexplored as to whether it is functioning as intended or in any form of consistency.[21]

Frontlines report

The Frontlines report page provides live updates on the state of Factional Warfare in New Eden. The page features maps of conflict hotspots, information on the warzones, and a new video outlining how Factional Warfare works. The API for this tool is available at https://www.eveonline.com/api/warzone

References

  1. ^ Dev Blog: The Path to War (2023)
  2. ^ Patch Notes: March 2020 Release
  3. ^ Patch Notes: Kronos 1.0 (2014)
  4. ^ Patch Notes: Uprising - Site Naming Schema (2022)
  5. ^ Patch Notes: September 2019 Release
  6. ^ EVE forums: Kronos Factional Warfare Complex Improvements (2014)]
  7. ^ Patch Notes: Version 20.10 2 (2022)
  8. ^ Chruker.dk item database
  9. ^ a b Patch Notes: Version 21.05 Release 2023-08-01.1
  10. ^ GamerChick42: The Beginner's Guide to Faction War Plexing (2013)
  11. ^ a b c d e Patch Notes: Inferno 1.3 (2012)
  12. ^ Uprising VP increase as seen on Dotlan
  13. ^ Patch Notes: Version 20.10 - Uprising - Advantage system (2022)
  14. ^ a b Patch Notes: Inferno 1.0 (2012)
  15. ^ Patch Notes: Crius 1.0 (2014)
  16. ^ EVE Forums: maintenance tax (2013)
  17. ^ a b Dev blog: Fast Forward (2012)
  18. ^ Patch Notes: Version 20.10 (2023)
  19. ^ Dev blog: Factional Warfare overhaul (2012)
  20. ^ Dev Blog: "War is a full-time job" (2009)
  21. ^ EVE forums: Enemy of the State mechanics (2014)

External links