Yeah, so this strange event has started in EVE Online. As a long time fan of Doctor Who, I thought it would bear investigation. As a sometimes fan of EVE Online, I thought “what the hell”. As an actual fan of the slower EVE gameplay (as if you can differentiate any single part of EVE as “slower”) like scanning and hacking, I don’t think I could be more pleased with how this is sussing out.

I’m not going to cover the “why” behind this event, mainly because I don’t know what the reasoning is for this mash-up of two completely different vibes of entertainment. There are three “phases” to tackling this thing:

1. Scan for special “warp matrix convergence” sites.
2. Hack into debris containers for materials and blueprints.
3. Use the blueprints to create a “key” to a pocket system.
4. Attack the Daleks hiding there.
5. Repeat?

Scanning is one of my favorite things about EVE Online. I don’t know why. It’s not super complex to do, although having better skills will help make things easier. With a Probe Launcher and scanning probe ammo equipped to your ship, you launch probes into the system, moving them around in an overlapping cluster to find unknown signals. Once you have signals pinpointed, collapse the probe bubbles into smaller and smaller ranges until you fully identify the signal.

With the signal pinpointed, travel there and behold the majesty of whatever it is that we’re supposed to be looking at. True fact: even…what? 20 years after EVE’s launch, it still blows the doors off of most online games in the visuals department.

There are three types of debris containers: small, medium, and large. Not only does the size designate how much loot is inside, but also how difficult it is to hack, so it also helps to be skilled in relic analyzer use. These medium slot devices are usually used at generic relic sites, but they are also used here. Once activated, dust off your Minesweeper skills, because that’s what EVE’s hacking game is all about.

You’ll need to find the central core and destroy it in order to open the debris container and take the goods within.

Eventually you’ll find a “Curious Warp Matrix Filament Blueprint”. This is the “key” for opening the pocket system where you’ll need to get back to the ho-hum combat. It’s not complicated to build one of these, but you do need to have a lot of materials, more than what you can find in just a single signal zone.

I haven’t gotten this far. I’ve been patrolling the systems around my noob home station for relic sites, and once I find one, I head straight over. Once I decide to call it quits, I turn around and head home. There’s a tracker in the Agency panel which indicates that the more scanning of sites/looting of containers that you do, the more points you earn, and the more points you earn, the more rewards you get. Most of the rewards are either boosters for scanning or skins for ships you probably don’t own (if you’re character is still a lowbie like mine). Every so often there’s a loot box which, again, probably contains nothing to get excited about.

At this point I might have enough materials to craft one of these pocket system keys. I haven’t actually bought a bigger ship, so my main combat vessel is a Coercer, which I’m also using as my scanning ship. It’s not ideal, but I was under the impression that combat would be more frequent in the run-up to the last stage, so I’m making do. I should be ready to assault the enemy sometime this weekend, so I’ll report back on how it goes.