Penumbra

"In the heartland of State space, inter-corporate tensions come to the fore as Nugoeihuvi makes a move for some quick ISK, and you must choose who to trust and who to betray. The moral ambiguity continues through to the end, as the player begins to unravel an even darker side to corporate self-interest and the ongoing conflict in Black Rise."

"Penumbra" is the Caldari epic arc and as all epic arcs it follows a story that covers some inner dealings of its faction. You are initially hired by an agent of Nugoeihuvi, one of the seven megacorps that run the Caldari State. During the arc you will witness and participate in the power struggle between these megacorps and have the option to defect to the Hyasyoda megacorp.

To start the Epic Arc you must have a standing of 5.0 or higher with Expert Distribution or the Caldari Faction. These missions have great rewards, but do require some advanced skills and ships to complete safely - the minimum recommended requirements are listed below.

• Recommended:
  • You have and can easily solo Level 4 missions,
  • You have a proper PvE fitted BS or equally capable ship (such as strategic or heavy assault cruiser),
  • You have the Hacking skill at Level 3 or greater (required to complete "The Breakout").

During this Epic Mission Arc several choices are presented to you - this guide lists all missions, but a few descriptions are still missing, please add them if you run these missions.

This guide provides tips and suggestions that are not 'the' way to do the mission, but merely one possible way. The mission rewards listed depend on skills and possibly standings so results may vary a bit.

For a detailed description of all branching options have a look at Caldari Epic Arc guide by Jowen Datloran (pdf).

Another useful reference to specific missions is EVE Survival: Penumbra.

Penumbra is started by speaking with Aursa Kunivuri, at the Nugoeihuvi Information Centre in Josameto ("Beacons" and "Agents in Space" must be visible on the overview).

Mission 1: The Intermediary

Travel 1 jump in high sec with 0.1m^3 of cargo.

Agent: Aursa Kunivuri

Location: Nugoeihuvi Information Centre (Beacon) Josameto (System)

Reward: 250,000 + 1,768,000 (Bonus if completed in 6H 0M)

Enemy: None

Mission 2: Trust and Discretion

Travel 1 jump in high sec with 3m^3 of cargo.

Agent: Katsen Isha

Location: Poinen

Reward: 500,000 + 1,020,000 (Bonus if completed in 3H 38M)

Enemy: None

Mission 3: Their Loss, Our Profit

Combat mission.

Agent: Katsen Isha

Location: Josameto, or near by system

Reward: 5,000,000 + 1,620,000 (Bonus if completed in 6H) + ~15,000,000 Bounty

Enemy: Serpentis

• Further Info:
  • Recommend you kill all rats and then destroy the research facility
  • Initially there are 6 BS and 2 Cruisers - Trigger for next wave is Grand Admiral/High Admiral - obviously kill last
  • First wave is 5 BS and 4 Frig - this group has more DPS than the initial and annoying sensor damp frigs - Trigger is one of the Grand Admirals so leave both for last
  • Second wave is 4 BS 4 Cruisers and 5 Frigs
  • After the second wave has been dealt with, destroy the research facility - some more Frigs will spawn but these can be ignored/taken out with drones
  • Two cans will drop when the research facility is destroyed - one has the S.I Formula Sheet
  • When you warp in you will see a Security Compound some distance away (looks like a can on the overview) - it has some random corpse in it...if you're into that sort of thing you can go get it (it serves no purpose in these missions).
  • Completed in fairly standard PvE Raven with no difficulty

Mission 4: The Paths That Are Hidden

You get a mission choice here - essentially between high security, low security and null security space. Note however that highsec option branches to a short mission chain that will in the end require either a lowsec or highsec mission as well! If you are destroyed and lose the item the epic arc is over. Be advised that the Bherdasopt gate in Gonditsa is frequently gate camped.

Your choice also pre-determines which side you align to an which reward you will get at the end of the mission arc.

• '5A Two Steps Into Hell (nullsec)' or '5B Playing It Safer (lowsec)' will align you with Nugoeihuvi and the final reward will be either 20 Nugoeihuvi Synth Blue Pill Boosters plus Caldari State standing or just ISK plus Caldari State standing, depending on a choice you have to make later.
• '5C An Honorable Betrayal' will align you with Hyasyoda and the final reward will be either a Hyasyoda Mobile Laboratory plus Caldari State standing or ISK plus Caldari State standing, depending on a choice you have to make later.

Mission 5A: Two Steps Into Hell (nullsec)

Take the S.I. Formula Sheet to the Nugoeihuvi Cargo Facility in KFR-ZE in Syndicate (nullsec).

• An interceptor, covert ops frigate or a fast MWD frigate is recommended.
• Take normal precautions in Null Sec, such as never warping directly from gate to gate to avoid bubbles.
• You can warp to zero to the objective as this is a mission deadspace area - drop the formula in the container as quickly as you can and get out!
• You can complete the mission remotely to get a huge amount of ISK!

Enemy: None

Mission 5B: Playing If Safer (lowsec)

Take the S.I. Formula Sheet to the Nugoeihuvi Cargo Facility in Faurulle in Solitude (lowsec).

Your next mission will be "7B Pre-Emptive Opportunities"

An interceptor, covert ops frigate, shuttle or fast frigate is recommended.

Enemy: None

Mission 5C: An Honorable Betrayal (highsec)

Take the S.I Formula Sheet and head 5 jumps to talk to Arkio Kuretsu. Proceed with "5C1 Proof Of Intent"

Agent: Katsen Isha

Location: Poinen

Reward: 250,000 + 227,000 (Bonus if completed in 52M)

Enemy: None

Mission 5C1: Proof Of Intent

This should take around 1 second to complete - just give the Formula Sheet to the agent.

Agent: Arikio Kuretsu

Location: Wuos

Reward: 250,000 + 661,000 (Bonus if completed in 2H 36M)

Enemy: None

Mission 5C2: Return to Isha

As the title suggests, travel 5 jumps in high sec back to Katsen Isha... don't forget the Formula Sheet!

Agent: Arikio Kuretsu

Location: Wuos

Reward: 250,000 + 658,000 (Bonus if completed in 3H)

Enemy: None

Mission 5C3: Re-Examining Options

You get to choose again this time between lowsec and nullsec only. Proceed with either "5A: Two Steps Into Hell (nullsec)" or "Mission 5B: Playing If Safer (lowsec)" as you will fly essentially the same missions, but for the opposite side.

Afterwards proceed with "6 Almost Unmasked (Hyasyoda)"

Mission 6: Almost Unmasked (Hyasyoda)

5 jumps in high sec to talk to Arikio Kuretsu - take a codebreaker and suitable ship for the next mission

Agent: Katsen Isha

Location: Poinen

Reward: 250,000 + 1,690,000 (Bonus if completed in 6H)

Enemy: None

Mission 7: Some Light Theatrics

• You need a ship fitted with a Data Analyzer
• The habitation Module explodes and causes ~900 damage if you're still within 10 km
• Habitation Mod was 54Km away from warp in
• Simply use the Data Analyzer on the Habitation Mod - after a successful hack grab the people from the can, then fly away at least 10 km, and wait for explosion. (Mission doesn't complete if you just warp out).
• Don't go afk, and pay attention while you are using the Data Analyzer - the Habitation Module explodes 30 seconds after a successful attempt - if you don't get the people out in this time I assume things will end badly...

Agent: Arikio Kuretsu

Location: Wuos

Reward: 20,000,000 + 1,660,000 (Bonus if completed in 6H)

Enemy: None

Mission 8: Untouchable

Once again go back and talk to Katsen Isha

Agent: Arikio Kuretsu

Location: Wuos

Reward: 250,000 + 245,000 (Bonus if completed in 1H)

Enemy: None

Mission 6: Too Close For Comfort (Nugoeihuvi)

Another choice: continue with either 7A or 7B.

Mission 7A: The Crimson Decoy

Combat Mission.

Enemy: Blood Raiders

Mission 7B: Preemptive Opportunities

Combat Mission.

Enemy: Mercenaries

Mission 9: A General's Best Friend

• Encounter is 1 jump away in high sec
• Take a highly tanked BS - Large amounts of Thermal, EM and Kinetic damage are served up
• An acceleration gate is ~30Km away at warp in - shortly after you begin approaching it the first and only wave appears - Align to a station at this point and be ready to get out!
• Wave is 6 BS (Sin) 10 Cruisers (Arazu) and 5 Frigs (Nemesis)
• BS do large amounts of Thermal and Kinetic damage, but can be taken down fairly quickly
• Cruisers shoot EM missiles and are also quite soft
• Frigs did not web or warp disrupt me but don't count on this - they die very quickly to light drones.
• I had to warp out several times in my Raven
• After all NPCs have been dispatched, jump through the gate and approach the station (84Km away....)
• When you get to within 15Km of the station the mission is flagged complete and you can complete it remotely.
• Loot the wrecks!
• This mission did not affect my Gallente standings at all

Blitz: You can blitz this mission in a covops (or any fast ship with a decent tank).

• The gate is unlocked.
• Burn to gate, jump and then burn to the station. There are no NPCs in the second room.

Agent: Katsen Isha

Location: Poinen

Reward: 5,000,000 + 1,330,000 (Bonus if completed in 6H) + ~10,000,000 in loot mostly from tags

Enemy: Gallente Federation

Mission 8: Meet Sinas

Travel to Astoh and check in with Sinas Egassuo at the Caldari Navy Relay Nexus. For the next mission you will need a BS with a codebreaker fitted.

Agent: Katsen Isha

Location: Poinen

Reward: 250,000 + 1,580,000 (Bonus if completed in 6H)

Enemy: None

Mission 9: Right Tool for the Job

Combat Mission.

• Need a Data Analyzer fitted
• Encounter is 1 jump away in high sec
• You can select your warp in range for this encounter - I fitted a sniper BS for this mission, warped in at 100km and kited the NPCs until I killed them all.
• Using this method I didn't take any damage, although the mission will take a long time to complete.
• To blitz, destroy the frigs near the shipyard, hack the shipyard container, take the item and then get out (You will miss out on about 30mil ISK worth of tags and loot)
• Initial there are 12 Frigs and 4 Cruisers
• There are 6 waves, spawning 5 minutes apart (therefore it takes 30min for all enemy NPCs to appear)
• Wave 1: 4 Frigs and 2 Cruisers
• Wave 2: 3 Frigs and 2 Cruisers
• Wave 3: 5 Frigs, 5 Cruisers and 3 BS
• Wave 4: 5 Frigs, 5 Cruisers and 4 BS
• Wave 5: 5 BS
• Wave 6: 1 Cruiser and 1 BS
• The cruisers sensor damp very heavily - if you plan on taking out all NPCs, kill the cruisers first and keep them out of sensor damp range (> 80km should keep you safe)
• Don't bring a salvager in until all NPCs have been killed - the NPCs do retarget and 'warp' back to their spawn point if kited far away.
• Once all NPCs have been killed, hack the shipyard container, take the item and report back to the agent.
• -2.4% Gallente Federation standing loss if comm array is destroyed. This prevents the waves from spawning but is not required to complete mission.
• The Gallente standings hit if you kill all waves is minimal (much less than if you destroy the comm array to avoid reinforcements).
• Killing all ships and leaving the comm array intact, I observed four negative entries in my Gallente faction transaction log:
• -0.02% Combat - Ship kill (x3) and -0.0% Combat -Aggression (x1) -- this is very minor.

Agent: Sinas Egassuo

Location: Caldari Navy Relay Nexus (Beacon) Astoh (System)

Reward: 10,000,000 + 1,350,000 (Bonus if completed in 6H) + ~30,000,000 in loot (mostly tags)

Enemy: Gallente Federation

Mission 10: The Breakout

• • You need to have a Data Analyzer equiped and the Hacking skill at Level 3 or greater to complete this mission (Hacking 2 and 2 rigs worked)
• You need to scan down the "Federation Detention Facility" Cosmic Signature for this mission
• The mission states that this site is somewhere within the Aokinen constellation - I believe that there is one of these sites in every system in this constellation, as I have always found it in the Astoh system where this mission is accepted
• Warp to the Detention Facility. The gate is not locked as long as you have the Federation Navy FOF in your cargo so all you need to do is approach and use it.
• For those wishing to kill the NPCs, the first room contains 17 Frigs, 4 Cruisers and 7 BS
• In the second room, approach any detention facility and hack it.
• Once it has been successfully hacked, grab the prisoner and return to the agent.
• Second room contains 8 Frigs
• After the hack the NPCs will start shooting, but they hit with only 2 damage each.
• It should be possible to catch 2 prisoners in the given time. The second can be sold via contract.
• Blitz: buy the "Caldari Prisoners of War" on contracts.

Agent: Sinas Egassuo

Location: Caldari Navy Relay Nexus (Beacon) Astoh (System)

Reward: 20,000,000 + 1,570,000 (Bonus if completed in 6H)

Enemy: Gallente Federation

Mission 11: Whisper of a Conspiracy

This is a low-sec courier mission. The item is small so it can be carried in a shuttle or covops. You need to travel approx. 6 jumps to a randomly selected nearby low-sec system Warp to the mission objective, approach the damaged radio telescope, retrieve the encrypted data fragment and return to the agent

Agent: Sinas Egassuo

Location: Caldari Navy Relay Nexus (Beacon) Astoh (System)

Reward: 7,500,000 + 762,000 (Bonus if completed in 3H 30M)

Enemy: Nil

Mission 12: Practical Solutions

High sec courier with 3m^3 of cargo. Five jumps to Oipo then back to Sinas Egassuo.

Agent: Sinas Egassuo

Location: Caldari Navy Relay Nexus (Beacon) Astoh (System)

Reward: 2,500,000 + 229,000 (Bonus if completed in 1H 4M)

Enemy: None

Mission 13: Forewarning

Low-Sec courier, take 1 unit of Encoded Message to random low sec.

Agent: Sinas Egassuo

Location: Caldari Navy Relay Nexus (Beacon) Astoh (System)

Reward: 5,000,000 + 165,000 (Bonus if completed in 34M)

Enemy: Nil

Mission 14: The Knowledge To Act (Hyasyoda)

The last choice, select:

• Home In Peace: leads to 25m ISK and Caldari State Faction standing increase as final reward
• Slipping Away: leads to Hyasyoda Mobile Laboratory and Caldari State Faction standing increase as final reward

Mission 14: A Difference of Opinion (Nugoeihuvi)

The last choice, select:

• Home In Peace: leads to 25m ISK and Caldari State Faction standing increase as final reward
• Learning by Doing: leads to 20 Nugoehuvi Synth Blue Pill Boosters and Caldari State Faction standing increase as final reward

Mission 15A: Home In Peace

Lowsec courier: transport 5000m^3 of Caldari POWs to Malkanen.

Mission 15B: Slipping away (Hyasyoda)

Report back to Arikio Kuretsu in Wuos (Best to arrive in a BS ready for the final mission).

Agent: Sinas Egassuo

Location: Caldari Navy Relay Nexus (Beacon) Astoh (System)

Reward: 250,000 + 1,130,000 (Bonus if completed in 4H 30M)

Enemy: Nil

Mission 15C: Learning by Doing (Nugoeihuvi)

Report to Katsen Isha at Poinen IV - Moon 13 - Nugoeihuvi Corporation Development Studio.

Mission 16A: Across the Line

• Single pocket without acceleration gate. The objective is in the office facility, guarded by a single NPC battleship.
• The following NPCs will spawn when the facility is closer tan ~125km: 9 Frigates, 4 Cruisers, and 6 Battleships.
• Cruisers have very strong jams and range > 170km - expect to be nearly perma jammed.
• Frigates warp scramble (2 warp strength).
• With one meta 4 ECCM (96%) it is possible to avoid most - but not all - of the jams.
• Because of the jams F.O.F. missiles might be effective. With good missile skills you can use FOF Cruise missiles from 200k+ which is well out of range from the NPCs.
• Alternatively, equip a sensor booster to be able to target the jammers from outside their range.
• You can also bring a friend in a fast frigate to draw their scrams and jams while you take those out. If the frigate maintains at least 600 m/s then it should be able to self-repair the reduced missile damage, but there is some more-sophisticated AI in this mission so the NPCs may switch targets anyway.
• Very heavy damage is dealt by the BSs, which fire very long range torps - I had to warp out several times in my Raven.
• If you warp to the facility at close range and get full room close-range aggro, expect in excess of 4000 pre-resistance DPS, primarily kinetic.
• You can warp within the mission to structures. (In fact, since there is no aggression until you start to close the distance to the office facility, you can come in first with a MWD frigate and set up some bookmarks to use during combat. Then you will be able to warp around for awesome kiting, and each time you warp you will break all target locks and cause all the inbound torps to miss you. This method is great for a dedicated sentry drone ship (e.g. Dominix) since each warp breaks their jams so you can relaunch your sentries and assign them to another target before you are jammed again - your drones will continue to attack that target until it is destroyed, at which point you can scoop them, warp to another bookmark, and repeat.)
• Once all NPCs have been killed warp/approach the office facility, get the family and return to the agent!

Agent: Arikio Kuretsu

Location: Wuos

Reward: One unit of Hyasyoda Research Laboratory + 1,740,000 (Bonus if completed in 6H)

Enemy: Nugoeihuvi (deal roughly 50% Kinetic, 50% Thermal damage)

Mission 16B: The Price of Silence (Nugoeihuvi)

Combat Mission.