Faction warfare

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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 (often abbreviated as 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 PvP (player-vs-player) 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. 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 multiple capture points (on grid with each other)
  • Holding a capture point earns capture points for your faction when it ticks down
  • Enemy faction NPCS and players block capture
  • Pods cannot capture
  • Winning a Battlefield provides a large number of Loyalty Points to the winning side
  • Winning a Battlefield provides a very large amount of Advantage to the winning faction's Advantage system level

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.

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, NPCs will arrive 5-10 seconds later and attack the hacker.

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.

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 1700 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.

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

[1]

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. Advantage can be increased by winning Battlefields, deploying several deployable structures, or completing Rendezvous Point combat sites[11]. It is also possible to reduce the enemy's advantage in a system by destroying enemy supply caches/depots or deploying propaganda billboards.

Supply Caches

Supply caches, also called supply depots, are NPC faction structures that, when destroyed, will remove some 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 semi-randomly spawn throughout friendly and enemy faction warfare space.

Supply caches grant roughly 10000 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.

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).

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)[16]. 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[15]:

[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[17] 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[18]. 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.[19]

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
  4. ^ Patch Notes: Uprising SNS
  5. ^ Patch Notes: September 2019 Release
  6. ^ EVE forums: Kronos Factional Warfare Complex Improvements
  7. ^ Patch Notes: Uprising part 2
  8. ^ Chruker.dk item database
  9. ^ GamerChick42: The Beginner's Guide to Faction War Plexing (2013)
  10. ^ a b c d e Patch notes: Inferno 1.3
  11. ^ Patch Notes: Uprising Advantage
  12. ^ a b Patch Notes: Inferno 1.0
  13. ^ Patch Notes: Crius 1.0
  14. ^ EVE Forums: maintenance tax
  15. ^ a b Dev blog: Fast Forward (2012)
  16. ^ Patch Notes Version 20.10 (2023)
  17. ^ Dev blog: Factional Warfare overhaul (2012)
  18. ^ Dev Blog: "War is a full-time job" (2009)
  19. ^ EVE forums: Enemy of the State mechanics (2014)

External links

v · t · e
Faction Warfare
Empire Factions
Pirate Factions
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