The Triglavian Invasions have been active for a while now, Arataka Research Consortium, among others have been running public fleets to investigate what is happening and how it is developing.
Invasion Systems
There are 3 Invasion system classifications; Foothold, the actual core system of the Invasion, Adjacent, any system within 1 jump of the foothold system, and finally Perimeter systems which are 2 jumps out from the Foothold.
These all have system-wide effects due to the influence of the Triglavian Xordazh.
| Perimeter | Adjacent | Foothold | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miner Cycle Time Bonus | 10% | 25% | 45% |
| Drone Speed Penalty | 20% | 35% | 50% |
| Drone Damage Penalty | 20% | 35% | 50% |
| Ship Agility Bonus | 10% | 25% | 45% |
| Ship Hull HP Penalty | 15% | 25% | 40% |
These can easily be referenced from the Agency, as well as the current status of the Invasion. These begin with āScouts Reportedā,at which point Roaming Fleets can be found in the affected systems. Composition varies but these fleets can number from 8 up to 20 or more ships and the first ones are generally smaller ships. The second stage is āConduits Stabilizedā, the first Minor Conduits begin to form and Roaming Fleets continue. The initial ones will appear in the Foothold system and spread outwards. These are followed by Major Conduits, in the Foothold system, spreading to Adjacent systems. As far as we are aware Major Conduits do not appear in Perimeter systems. Conduit Fleets vary, as will be discussed later. The third phase is āWorld Ark Detectedā, the Xordazh ship appears in the Foothold system. This appears to increase the number of conduits forming in associated systems and also the strength of both conduit and roaming fleets. Once this has been defeated, not destroyed, but it withdraws back to the Abyss, its function accomplished, the invasion switches to its final stage; āForces Withdrawing.ā At this point conduits begin to lessen in number, but the Roaming Fleets remain strong.
Roaming fleets warp around celestials and also warp to Conduit sites, including sealed ones. Be especially aware of this. They also hang around structures in system and can include Anchoring ships.
There is a sense that this is all being done in the name of proving. So the more Triglavian ships that are defeated the faster the Invasion sequence appears to cycle through. The last roaming fleets appear to be stragglers, perhaps themselves trying to earn some merit from the proving.
Invading Precursor Entities
The forces deployed by the Triglavians are similar in many respects to those seen in the Abyss, although so far they have not deployed any Vila drones, presumably due to the system wide effects.
So far the following types of craft have been encountered.
Anchoring - Warp Scramblers
Blinding - Sensor Dampeners
Ghosting - Guidance Disruption
Harrowing - Target Painters
Liminal - Heavier Damage
Renewing - Remote Repping
Starving - Energy Neutralizers
Tangling - Stasis Webifiers
These types are applied to the usual Triglavian ships; Damaviks, Kikimora, Rodiva, Vedmak, Drekavac and Leshak.
There is an additional designation which are Zorya class ships. These are upgraded versions of standard ships, and seem to have more valuable content.
Pilots will need to add the āInvading Precursor Entitiesā group to their overview.
Invasion Structures
There are a number of unusual structures in the vicinity of the World Ark.
Triglavian Femion Monitor - Intercepted data transfers indicate that this device is gathering information on the quantum state of particles throughout the surrounding system. CONCORD researchers believe this may be an error however, as the computational power required to process such vast quantities of data is theoretically impossible.
Triglavian Graviton Monitor - Scans indicate this device is unusually simple for Trigalvian technology. It appears to be gathering gravitonic information from the surrounding system using methods very similar to those common throughout New Eden. Where it differs is that all the data gathered is being contextualized relative to apparently random coordinates in Abyssal space. Early analysis has not been able to provide any rational link between these two data sets.
Triglavian Entropic Monitor - Analysis of these devices has led to great confusion amongst CONCORD scientists. It appears that the sensors that line its surface are designed to measure nothing. More precisely, the location and arrangements of negative space and null-energy zones within the surrounding system. What the purpose of this information might be is currently unknown.
These do not appear to have any noticeable effects, although they may be part of some larger mechanism that allows the Triglavians to manifest a degree of control over the normal system space.
The following pylons do affect ships flying close to them and spawn in the vicinity of the World Ark.
Stasis Field Effect Sub-Pylon - Webifier - 15km range - HP 10k
ECM Field Effect Sub-pylon - ECM field - 10km range - HP 10k
Energy Pulse Field Effect Sub-pylon - Damages like a Smart Bomb - 10k range - HP 10k
Dampening Field Effect Sub-pylon - Sensor Dampener -50 target penalty - 30km range - HP 10k
Transport Field Effect Sub-pylon - Micro Jump Drive field - 15km range - HP 10k
These are dangerous, the World Ark deploys them randomly with each successive wave of attacking ships. Move out of range and destroy them.
Fleet sizes and composition
The recommended sizes for fleets, in order to get maximum payout are:-
Minor Conduits - 3
Major Conduits - 8
World Ark Proving Ground - 15
Armor tanked fleets have been the most successful so far, although people are using Shield tanked fleets effectively. Rattlesnakes and Marauders have been used for solo gameplay; they work well for Roaming Fleets and Minor Conduits, Major conduit forces can overwhelm them.
Triglavian ships work very well, favoured damage to deal is Thermal and Explosive, as are resists. 3 Drekavac with cap transfer, Command links, webs and drones are capable of dealing with Roaming fleets and Minor Conduits.
For Major Conduits 2-3 logistics ships, Guardians, Basilisks or Nestors with a combination of DPS ships and a salvager are required.
The World Ark is a tough fight, expect up to an hour or so. Fleets should contain 4-5 logistics ships, a salvager and a combination of DPS ships.
DPS is best provided by a combination of ships. Loki works well with long range webifiers, Leshaks, plus Drekavac and a Vindicator, as the Triglavian fleets will contain all sizes of ships from Frigate up to Battleships.
NPC Behavior
As previously stated, the Roaming fleets gather around celestials. Once a fleet has been located then it is a relatively straightforward fight. Be on guard, other Roaming fleets can warp to the same point, and usually do. Minor Conduits follow a pattern of successive waves of ships appearing from the conduit itself. Major Conduits and the World Ark follow a similar pattern, although fleet sizes are larger and much stronger. With the World Ark each wave is accompanied by a group of Sub-pylons. In most cases each wave will contain a Zorya class vessel, sometimes a pair of them.
Tactics and Techniques
Roaming Fleets are the first to appear, these can be located by the use of Dscan or with combat probes, or by warping around the system. Minor Conduits, Major Conduits and the World Ark Proving Ground all appear as beacons, and on the Probe Scanner window. If a site is in the Probe Scanner window but does not appear on overview then it is new and has not yet been opened by someone initiating warp to it. Completed Conduits appear on the overview as āSealedā.
Be sure to get cap transfer and any bursts going as soon as possible; the initial attack will generally target one vessel, normally focusing on logistics and that will need reps fast. There is also a chance that a Roaming Fleet has already warped in, or that someone has opened the Conduit previously and a reinforcement wave is present.
Anchoring ships should be primary, if there are problems then these prevent fleet members from warping to safety. Usually these should be followed by the Zorya vessels; the Damavik have warp scramblers and the larger ships have effective neutralising capabilities. Renewing and Rodiva vessels should be taken care of next, as these repair the others by the greatest extent.
Liminal and Harrowing generate the most DPS so should be a priority at this point, unless there is heavy neutralising pressure from the Starving varieties or an excess of Blinding.
The Leshaks tend to stand off at a distance. It has been discovered that a Tracking Disruptor causes them to reposition themselves. In Minor Conduits this normally means they will approach close, but in Major Conduits they warp off and then back in to a closer point.
Small fleets tackling Minor Conduits should carry Salvage drones but for Major Conduits a dedicated Salvager and MTU are pretty much essential. There have been a lot ninja salvagers and thieves present in Invasion systems.
The World Ark is a long fight with multiple successive waves of large numbers of ships. The fleet should be aware of the Sub-pylons and either eliminate them as quickly as possible, or move out of range. They have a short period where they do not employ their effect just after being deployed. It should also be noted that once the World Ark has been forced to retreat the ships on field do not reduce to wrecks and simply disappear once eliminated.
Rewards
Roaming Fleets carry no bounty from DED, the only reward is salvage and the contents of their wrecks, which can be very valuable. Minor Conduits pay a maximum of 15m isk and 1000 DED LP once completed, this reduces according to how many take part. Completing a Major Conduit carries a reward of 20m isk and 1600 DED LP and the World Ark has a bounty of 50m isk and 4000 DED LP. In all cases the payout is reduced according to the number of ships that participate, even if they are not in the same fleet.
