Have you tried out any of EVE: Valkyrie’s weekend wormhole events yet? If you have, you’ll already know the insanity that lies beyond the conduit. If you haven’t, you’re in for a treat.

A new wormhole opens up each week and runs from Friday through to Sunday. Each time you warp to the other side, you will find versions of the regular maps that have been corrupted in some way, with conditions that alter your ship and weapon capabilities. Basically, any player, regardless of ability, will find themselves thrown in at the deep end as they enter the mysterious world of the wormhole.

Naturally this throws up a few important questions, so let’s address those right now.

Can I use any of my ships on Wormholes?

The beauty of Wormholes is that the usual rules no longer apply and it presents a level playing field. All wormholes specify which loadouts are available for pilots to fly. So, while you can’t use your usual roster of ships, everyone can use all the available loadouts when flying in the wormhole. What’s more, all craft are fully upgraded and you get to fly the ships even if you haven’t already unlocked them in the main game.

If I do well in a wormhole, does it count towards my progress in the rest of the game?

All of the same rewards are available in Wormholes as in standard multiplayer combat, so you get VISK, experience, cosmetic unlocks and so on, so experiment and have fun, as there are ample rewards to be gained.

I’m already a high-ranking pilot. Isn’t entering a wormhole risking defeat and screwing up my hard-earned reputation?

No need to worry on that score. The main thing here is that wormholes don’t contribute to League rankings or Pilot stats. Anything that happens in a wormhole stays in a wormhole and won’t stay on your permanent record. So, you get all the rewards with none of the risk!

Does my knowledge of the maps count for anything in a wormhole?

Yup! Some Wormholes maps will be more similar to their regular map counterparts than others, but knowledge of the regular maps will certainly help you navigate your way around the Wormholes maps. Sure, in some instances the world beyond the wormhole is horribly corrupted, but there are many common reference points that, as a master of the regular maps, you’ll be able to take advantage of.

What’s the best way to prepare for combat in a wormhole?

Some of the odd characteristics of the wormholes mean that in some ways you can never be fully prepared for combat, since you won’t know what you’re coming up against. That said, in the downtime between wormholes, it would be a good thing for pilots to try out as many different ship loadouts as possible. If you’ve unlocked and bought plenty of ships, get practicing on all of them. If you haven’t got many, get playing to unlock some more. Wormholes force certain loadouts on you and you never know what ship you might find yourself flying, so get to know as many of them as you can. Expertise in as many ships as possible would give pilots a big advantage.

Massive thanks to CCP Badhorse for throwing light onto the darker corners of the wormholes.

Wormholes are just part of the recent Wormholes major update and you can find out about all the other awesome new Valkyrie features in our recently published article.

See you on the other side pilots!