Greetings Citizens! There was a lot of activity on day 46, Cycle 201, as Bodyguards arrived at Security areas on all stations, offering their protection services to every Citizen. Read on to learn more about this brand new feature, which provides vital protection against hostile attacks.

What are Bodyguards?

The universe can sometimes be a hostile place to travel solo. Tau Station is a very safe station, thanks to its high law and high Orwellian level. If someone attacks you, it will, in most cases, lead to a long imprisonment of your attacker. However, in our growing universe, there are an ever increasing number of stations that are more dangerous, lacking strong laws and authorities. When visiting, you would be best advised to watch your back or… hire bodyguards!

Bodyguards operate covertly and offer a nasty surprise for attackers by jumping into the fight to protect you without warning. You’ll get a notification in cases where somebody attacks and your bodyguard steps into the fight.

Hiring Bodyguards

This service is available in the Security area, where info about currently employed bodyguards can also be viewed. Yes, that’s right, you can hire more than one! They are tough opponents, always entering fights with full stats. Once defeated though, they need to recover until their stats are fully recharged and they’re ready to serve you once again. Their companies provide them with private care and they are treated in their corporate Sick Bays or re-spawn in their corporate Clone Vats. This kind of special treatment will be available for Syndicates in the future as well, once the building feature is available. As a result, you won’t find recovering bodyguards exposed in the public area’s people list, but their current status is – in any case – always shown at Security.

Attackers will only be able to fight you directly, once there are no operational bodyguards with you anymore. So it might make sense to hire a couple of them to confront your enemies with a mixed bag of surprises. In the example below, we have hired 2 different bodyguards.

Please note that the order of acquisition has no impact on which bodyguard steps into the fight for you. It will always be the most qualified one for each attack, aiming for the best protection possible.

Four types of Bodyguard Services

Depending on your needs and budget, four services are available. In terms of equipment, all of them are equal. The gear quality and skills improve for all the packages in the same way, depending on the chosen tier. The main differences between the offers are the ability to travel and how far your bodyguard can follow your journeys. The most complex service is the Sentinel package which provides a team of bodyguards and a special extraction service (read more below).

The Warden – One Station for One Day

Those who require only basic protection for the local station may choose this one day service. Your bodyguard is restricted to his or her home station and won’t travel with you to other stations or systems. Their tier is determined by the local station’s tier. In case you’re unsure about a station’s level, it’s always shown in the Government Center. Level 1-5 reflect tier 1, level 6-10 are tier 2, and so on.

The Escort – Safety for one whole system

For some extra credits, a more flexible service is available with the Escort Package. This bodyguard does join your trips throughout the system of hiring, but is not able to join trips to other systems. Their fighting power is connected to the bodyguard’s tier and it can even surpass yours. A service duration of 1, 10, or 28 days is available.

The Guardian – Following you everywhere

This package is the right choice for all Citizens who frequently travel for exploration and adventures, as this bodyguard will follow you to any station throughout the entire universe. Similar to the Escort, any tier can be chosen while the duration of 1, 10, and 28 days is also available in varying prices.

The Sentinel – Best team protection plus extraction

The Sentinel package has similar characteristics as The Guardian in terms of travelling, tier, and duration. However, it is a slightly different type of service in that a whole team of bodyguards is at your service.

One important distinction is your evacuation to a safer location during hostile situations. While one person is taking your place during the fight, another one is ensuring your extraction. Wherever you need to go, the Sentinels will find a way to get you there. No need to concern yourself about hostile attacks while waiting for a public shuttle, they will find a way for you to be on board!

In case one of a bodyguard gets injured during a fight, the company will always provide an immediate replacement.

So, if you plan to attack someone using the services of the Sentinel package, you may require coordinated help, as each Sentinel team can only fight against one person a time. Always keep the instant replacement after fights in mind!

Artwork in more detail

There’s more to come…

Knowing if you have an active bodyguard is important for peace of mind while travelling. With the next game update, a new icon in your information panel will let you know at a glance whether you have an active bodyguard or not.