Hello pilots,

Winter has arrived!!! And what better way to celebrate than with our festively frost-themed new EVE: Valkyrie update Gatecrash. The update includes a stunning new map that will put your combat and navigation skills to the test. The action takes place around a partially constructed warp gate surrounded by “iceteroids” in a vibrant polar-toned nebula. Its already become a studio playtest favourite and I’m sure you’ll get a thrill exploring every nook and cranny of the rollercoaster-like structures to find those perfect flanking lines.

This update also includes a feature that we’re been itching to deliver at some point this year: Pilot Customization. It’s the ultimate expression tool for any pilot or squad looking to stand out from the crowd in the clone vats, results screens and cockpits. There are a huge range of flight suits and helmets in a range of colours and styles. You are now a clone in DNA only. With over 2000 possible combinations you can create a look that matches your style and strikes fear into the hearts of your opponents.

We’ve also crammed in a ton of gameplay balancing tweaks (see CCP Groot’s post below), bug fixes and polished up many more features for usability. Be sure to check out the details below.

What are you waiting for? - Warm those engines and watch out for icebergs ;)

Happy holidays & happy hunting

CCP ROO

NEW! Gateway map

A brand new combat zone crammed with environmental challenges, Gateway is located in the Great Wildlands and features an under-construction warp gate at its centre. This superstructure of concentric rings dominates the skyline beneath a frozen belt of ice asteroids. Contained in its central column is a speed boost gate. While construction workers make legitimate use of the fast travel between points, pilots in combat can also make strategic use of the gate to get them out of (or in to) trouble.

The Gateway map is also playable in Survival and Scout modes. So there’s new Echoes to be discovered and some sweet loot in the form of hidden Salvage crates.

NEW! Pilot Customization

You can now customize your pilot with a range of helmets and flight suits. There’s a wide variety of styles from sleek to vagabond, and every outlaw’s favourite – skulls! Get creative with the colour and style combinations to create your unique look.

The Pilot Customization options can be found in either the Quartermaster, or by clicking the direct link in your Pilot summary screen. Once in the Pilot Customization menu you will see a preview of your entire pilot and a zoomed in view which shows of the finer details of the helmet or suit you have selected.

You can preview (and rotate) all the available styles and colours in any combination. The shopping cart summary panel to the left of the pilot preview will automatically update to keep track of the currently selected items, colours and price. Once you have the desired outfit simply look at this summary panel to confirm your selections for purchase. Upon leaving the menu the newly purchased items will be applied to your pilot.

You can also use this menu to apply and re-apply any items that you own. Including the option to return to your original (default) pilot suit and helmet.

NEW! PlayStation Pro Optimisations

Our first PlayStation Pro optimisation patch is included in this update. There’s no need to alter anything in the settings menu as the patch is automatically applied when playing EVE: Valkyrie on a PlayStation Pro. The improvements include:

Dynamic shadows (most noticeable in the cockpit)

Increased Particle FX (and improved details)

Increased resolution in all areas of the game

Reduced loading times

Menus: New Animations

You’ll notice some new animations when looking at features and shortcuts in the game menus. These are part of our ongoing quest to improve usability through enhanced visual feedback.

Ship Balancing: Overview

(from CCP_Groot)

We want heavies to control areas of space by dominating their front 180 degrees. To do this we have provided the heavies with more damage. The goal is to make pilots fear to go into the heavies’ combat zone.

We feel that nimble ships should be rewarded for getting behind a heavy, but now many ships can do this with little to no risk. By increasing the damage available to heavy players, ships trying to attack a heavy straight on will have a much worse time of it. But, by reducing the health pool of a heavy a player who uses the terrain well, or a cleverly timed distraction will be able to punish a heavy player in a meaningful manner and without it taking an eternity to do so.

To balance out this boost of power we have reduced the overall health pool of the heavy ships. Heavies’ health pools were significantly greater than that of any other ship (4x that of the fighters, for example.) When good players do out-manoeuvre a heavy pilot we don’t want them to feel like it is a worthless endeavour, and heavies shouldn’t simply be a bullet sponge.

As part of heavies’ overall health pool decrease, we’ve also rebalanced the damage output of the fighter and support classes.

Gameplay & Balance: Heavy

Spectre

Armor & Shields

44% decrease to armor

44% decrease to shields

Flak Cannon

50% increase damage to armor

50% increase damage to shield

Micro Warp Drive

Cooldown timer increased by 50%

Spool up time decreased by 66%

Rhino

Armor & Shields

44% decrease to armor

44% decrease to shields

Tri-Flak Cannon

50% increase damage to armor

50% increase damage to shield

Micro Warp Drive

Cooldown timer increased by 50%

Spool up time decreased by 66%

Goliath

Armor & Shields

44% decrease to armor

44% decrease to shields

Gorgon

Armor & Shields

44% decrease to armor

44% decrease to shields

Missile Pods Right and Left

25% increase damage to armor

25% increase damage to shield

Cyclone

Armor & Shields

44% decrease to armor

44% decrease to shields

Tri-Flak Cannon

50% increase damage to armor

50% increase damage to shield

Micro Warp Drive

Cooldown timer increased by 50%

Spool up time decreased by 66%

Storm

Armor & Shields

44% decrease to armor

44% decrease to shields

Laser Gatling

50% increase damage to armor

50% increase damage to shield

Micro Warp Drive

Cooldown timer increased by 50%

Spool up time decreased by 66%

Maelstrom

Armor & Shields

44% decrease to armor

44% decrease to shields

Mortar

Players can now manually detonate mortar rounds by press the primary fire button again.

50% increase damage to armor

50% increase damage to shield

Micro Warp Drive

Cooldown timer increased by 50%

Spool up time decreased by 66%

All Heavies

Turn Rate Increase

Pitch 20% increase

Yaw 20% increase

Gameplay & Balance: Fighter

Wraith

Gatling Gun

20% Decrease to damage to Armor

20% Decrease to damage to Shields

Dominator

Autocannon

40% Decrease to damage to Armor

30% Decrease to damage to Shields

Accord

Pulse Cannon

30% Decrease to damage to Armor

40% Decrease to damage to Shields

Assuage

Autocannon

40% Decrease to damage to Armor

30% Decrease to damage to Shields

Ascent

Pulse Laser

Spool up time removed

The weapon now overheats.

Aegis

Flak Cannon

20% increase to damage to Armor

20% increase to damage to Shields

16% decrease to damage Weapon Range

50% increase to flak explosion radius

Projectiles now lose damage over distance.

Sentry

Pulse Cannon

30% Decrease to damage to Armor

40% Decrease to damage to Shields

Gameplay & Balance: Support

Banshee

Phaser

25% increase damage Armor

25% increase damage to Shields

Guardian

Gatling Gun

33% increase damage to Armor

33% increase damage to Shields

Warden

Pulse Cannon

42% increase damage to Armor

33% increase damage to Shields

Revenant

Gatling Gun

33% increase damage to Armor

33% increase damage to Shields

Corrupt Beam

33% increase to Max Lock Distance

Siren

Phaser

25% increase damage Armor

25% increase damage to Shields

Sentinel

Phaser

25% increase damage Armor

25% increase damage to Shields

Phantom

Dumb Fire Missile Pods

60% decrease damage to Armor

60% decrease to Shields

Gameplay & Balance: Additional Changes

Spider bots now heal hull (armor)

Supports can “manual target” select friendlies

Manually targeted friendlies appear on the supports orientation circle as a yellow arrow

Dropped Salvage (per green pod) is increased

Various bug and stability fixes

These include:

Fixed the issue where EMS destroyed friendly missiles

Fixed an issue where EMP mines wouldn’t disable targets that flew through them.

Fixed for the gorgon getting stuck on collision and being unable to get free.

Drones now require a perimeter of free space in order to be dropped. This was to fix issues with drones clipping into geometry or being placed in areas some ships cannot reach

If you are experiencing any issues with updating, please visit our help center here.