With the upcoming Guristas Hunt event, we will see the addition of the new Hydra pirate implant set. Initially, this implant set was announced at Eve North 2019, and was slated to grant drone hitpoints. I was not impressed. However, this is no longer the case! Yesterday’s Singularity update included, among many other pieces of data, two specific string updates that are very interesting.
First up, string 562532:
This memory augmentation has been modified by Guristas scientists for use by their elite officers.
Primary Effect: +4 Bonus to Memory
Secondary Effect: 1.5% bonus to drone tracking speed, drone optimal range, drone falloff range, missile flight time, and missile explosion velocity
Set Effect: 15% bonus to the strength of all Hydra implant secondary effects
Note: Has no effect on fighters
This implant grants +4 to the Memory attribute, indicating that it is a High-grade Hydra Beta implant. These effects directly counter the environmental factors in Dark Abyss sites that impact the Gila’s ability to apply damage. The enemies move fast, and drone turrets receive a sharp penalty to both optimal and falloff. This implant set improves missile explosion velocity, partially countering the enemy speed increase. Additionally, the optimal/falloff penalty is directly addressed, and the additional tracking addresses the enemy speed increase for your drones as well.
While we cannot assume that this extrapolation will be accurate, or even that these attributes are final, we do know that the shown attributes match the recently-added High-grade Savior Beta implant, and the set has the following attributes:
Per-slot bonus: 1% / 1.5% / 2% / 2.5% / 3%
High-grade Savior - 15% set bonus per slot, 50% bonus for Omega, total bonus of 26.8%, and +4 to each character training attribute.
Mid-grade Savior - 10% set bonus per slot, 25% bonus for Omega, total bonus of 18.6%, and +3 to each character training attribute.
Low-grade Savior - 2.5% set bonus per slot, 10% bonus for Omega, total bonus of 11.9%, and +2 to each character training attribute.
Next up, string 562806:
Named after an aquatic demon worm from ancient Minmatar mythology, this neural interface upgrade boosts the optimal range of drones and fighters controlled by the pilot.
3% increase in drone and fighter optimal range.
This appears to be a hardwire implant, and my prediction is that this will be a limited-time item, similar to other limited-time event-based rewards, and will likely be available in two or three different strengths. I cannot tell what hardwire slot (6-10) this will be for, but I doubt it will be for slot 6 which would cause it to conflict with Omega implants.
As the Hydra set is being added permanently, and the hardwire is likely to be limited-time, it makes sense that the Hydras do not impact fighters, while the hardwire will.
A last little prediction regarding this hardwire - the “aquatic demon worm” which is the stated namesake of this implant is more than likely to be the recently discovered eldritch horror named Valdimar the Worm, found in the CCP fish tank and who had been surreptitiously culling the tank population for years, referenced in the Pulse video here. Poor @CCP_Convict, first they let the beast eat him, and then they name an implant after it, adding insult to injury.
What does this mean for a Gila build? This remains to be seen. The changes I will be tinkering with will likely be only in the midslots and rigs, will involve the removal of tank (an active omni resist mod), the addition of at least one stasis webifier, and the addition of Drone Scope Chip rigs. The loss of the Crystal implants and resists will be acceptable, as incoming damage in Dark Abyss sites is greatly reduced compared to other weathers; the challenge to the Gila in Dark weather is application, not tank.
Once these implants are available, I will experiment more and publish a build that allows us to complete these sites in our beloved Gilas, at long last, and then we can wear the Abyssal Darkfield SKIN with pride!
