DISCLAIMER: i may go a bit over in length for this post as its a heavy amount of stuff. will be updating as i finish since there’s a lot to figure out.
this is a basic concept focused on updating Rogue Drone related content based upon CCPs recent PvE additions into the game and some old data from chronicles and past ingame events. the main objective of it is to either replace the current Rogue Drone sites or update them with these new additions.
Lore Basis:
Rogue Drones have existed for at least 26 years, when their first iterations were presumably created inside Gallente space. these autonomous machines have ever since migrated and infected all of New Eden in the form of separated hives that range from simple bunkers around old asteroids and derelicts into gargantuan super structures like those found in NullSec.
as of YC119, knowledge of Rogue Drones inhabiting Abyssal Deadspace has been made public, both under control/alliance with the recently discovered Triglavians and under subjugation by the Drifters who have been shown to also be able to control Sleeper derived drones. however, these aren’t the only cases of “human” interaction with the autonomous AIs, such examples can be seen in the mission reports regarding Dr. Delainen, a lone scientist that lived in seclusion with a Rogue Drone Hive, he’s represent the first case of Rogue Drones interacting and fusing with organic compounds up to the point of giving rise to a new intelligence (the so called Delainen-Solar Cinder Entity).
the Society of Conscious Thought and the Servant Sisters of EVE have also shown some degree of control over Rogue Drones and their brethren. the Mysterious Drone incident represents the first case of human control over Sleeper Drones, reports of the sisters being able to contain and control Rogue Drones or even Sleeper Drones inside and outside their facilities has been hinted at from time to time.
the Rogue Swarms of YC118 and the latest discoveries have shown that Rogue Drones could be reaching a new stage of evolution, as we get close to 30 years of their presence in the cluster we can only speculate about their next move.
Main Story:
a containment breach incident in YC122 (3 years from now) was supposedly reported in Thera XII - The Sanctuary Institute of Paleocybernetics and has shaked the news in all of New Eden. the few local witnesses inverviewed by The Scope and other sources mentioning what seemed to be a new kind of spaceship with a biomechanical look flying out from an opening in the station and warping to an uncharted wormhole at the time of events.
after the breach, a series of sightings in K-Space were reported from different regions of the cluster. many of these sightings mentioning strange biomechanical ships releasing what is presumedly recorded as a new strain of Rogue Drones upon the local hives, these new AI then rallying the local rogue drone populations in order to be assimilated and reprocessed into updated versions.
CONCORD investigation in the matter resulted in the discovery of a series of experiments performed by the Servant Sisters of EVE between YC119 and YC122 upon specimens from the local Sleeper, Nullsec and Abyssal Deadspace strains of Drones with a new kind of nanites presumedly spliced out of fusing Jovian nanites provided by the SoCT and Mutaplasmid strains obtained from Triglavian caches.
the end result of the experiments was the creation of a new kind of semiorganic drone that fused adaptations from all the previously mentioned strains, the nanites were directed by the experts in order to modify the physionomy of the drone in order to make it compatible with human usage. with the Rogue Drone directive being supposedly erased and replaced with typical onboard AI Assistance Programming found in regular and capsuleer spaceships.
despite this, the AI was reported to show a certain degree of self awareness, sometimes discussing the test results with the staff during simulation and technical experimentation. the machine was learning according to the reports and was growing increasily curious about its origins and purpose. The Sanctuary deemed the entity as potentially dangerous and was programmed for deletion but one of the staff members was reported to be fond of the test subject and protesting against the decision.
in YC122.20.8 the experimental subject GL-T4, also dubbed “Galatea” by its creators escaped the facility with a human subject inside as co-pilot, the recording cameras inside the facilities showed the drone opening the eastern wall of the station by converting parts of its nanite lattice into rudimentary launchers and shooting self powered nanite charges of different effects to make its way out to space. then, with help from its partner in escape, setted up warp towards an exit via wormholes from where they got lost in track.
no sights of the original subject or its human companion were ever recorded after the incident. instead, the new strain of machines dubbed “Galatean Automatons” have been seen setting up home in the places previously occupied by regular strains of rogue drones. as of current time, no Hives have been found residing in Wormhole or Abyssal Deadspace, probably due to Drifter and Triglavian defensive procedures. despite the hostile responses from locals, their remains can be found in Anoikis and some of their compounds have been looted from Triglavian caches on all the tiers an classes.
in K-Space the situation is different, with Galatean Hives assimilating the local Rogue Drone populatiosn in order to increase their numbers and construct more complex structures. for the most part the Galatean Drones have been reported as neutral towards human activity in the system, save for pirates and poachers wanting to harass them. instances of Galatean Drone involvement with Capsuleers have been reported in some parts of the cluster, as the machines were originally planned to fly in conjunction with a human pilot. whether this is positive or negative remains to be seen.
Concept:
the Galatean Hive is a possible Subfaction inside the Rogue Drones that has started populating some parts of New Eden from YC122 and beyond. unlike the original Rogue Drones, these are semiorganic machines that can act by themselves but were originally designed to serve as an AI + Human duo in order to function at full capacity.
this new strain of Rogue Drones follows a much more complex scheme, and its real motives are still not well understood. despite this they represent a neutral party in the local space they occupy, only attacking in self defense.
Faction Features:
1. Corporations and Members:
the Galatean Hiveminds represent the corporations of the faction, all of them living in K-space and with some sites in Wormhole space and encounters in Abyssal Deadspace. each Hivemind is focused on a specific doctrine that differs from the others.
-Hivemind Khepri is located in Amarr and Blood Raider space, they have a focus on EM damage and medium range combat
-Hivemind Carcinus is located in Gallente and Serpentis space, they have a focus on Thermal damage and very short range combat
-Hivemind Jorogumo is located in Caldari, Gurista space, they have a focus on Kinetic damage and very long range combat
-Hivemind Kanaloa is located in Minmatar and Angel space, they have a focus on Explosive damage and long range combat
apart to these main Hiveminds, there’s two Hivefleets that have have been sent to expeditions into Anoikis and the Abyss. allthought the results of their advances have been mostly defeats agains the Navka Overminds and the Scylla and Charybdis Infestations.
-Hivefleet Omukade is located in Wormhole Space, it focuses on medium to long range engagements with a mix of EM and Kinetic damage.
-Hivefleet Argus is located in Abyssal Deadspace, it focuses on very short to medium range engagements with a mix of Thermal and Explosive damage.
Notes:
ORE, SoE, SoCT, Mordus Legion, Sansha and Syndicate are left out for now as i have to figure out their distribution. human acting for the drones may be also planned but i need to figure out a proper usage for them.
2. Structures and Missions:
because they are a global faction with not territory occupied, agents, stations or LP stores avaliable for players. this is partially in order to evade players from camping certain systems, each Hivemind instead can randomly spawn a structure in the space where it can be found.
this Hive works much like a FOB, but its inhabitants are as previously mentioned, neutral to humans unless provoked. the Galatean drones will extract resources and defend themselves from hostiles entities like pirates and Drifter patrols. they will also periodically warp and examine player and NPC structures in a manner similar to Autothysian Lancers.
there can only be one hive at any given moment in the solar system and hives are spaced out around the region. whenever there’s a hive in the system, a new series of sites will spawn in the system. these sites behave like a mission where the player will have to complete certain tasks in order to reach the end of the mission, the main rewards come in the form of a lootbox instead of LP or ISK but there’s chance for loot drops from NPC wrecks apart of the salvage.
the Hives can be attacked and will respond with reinforcements much like with FOBs. however, players will have to be aware of the Galatean Hive’s secret weapon. if killed the hive will drop good amounts of Drone comnpounds, components and will have a chance of dropping BPCs or related modules.
3. Weapons:
as the main story may tell, the Galatean Drones are capable of using a special weapon unique to them. this weapon is dubbed as a “Nanite Launcher”. the weapon is designed to behave like a missile launcher (and thus gain bonuses from missile skills) with different nanite charges serving as ammunition, these charges vary in damage type and range consistent with the previously mentioned Hiveminds. this weapon has a higher consumption of powergrid compared to missile launchers but it doesnt require capacitor to run.
-Charged Nanites -> apply EM damage at medium range
-Molten Nanites -> apply Thermal damage at very short range
-Piercing Nanites -> apply Kinetic damage at very long range
-Volatile Nanites -> apply Explosive damage at long range
all nanite charges apply the same volley damage and have stats consistent with missiles but its more like literally shooting a drone to the enemy ship.
there’s 2 T2 versions of these. the Abyssal Nanite which is a 50% Thermal, 50% Explosive charge with a range consistent to typical short range missiles like Rockets, HAMs and Torpedoes, the Drifter Nanite on the other hand is an 50% EM, 50% Kinetic charge with a range more consistent with things like Light, Heavy and Cruise Missiles.
the T2 versions require one of each respective regular charge apart of a special compound found as its name implies in Abyssal Deadspace and in Wormhole Space. this and some extra materials (minerals) to craft the canister.
like with other new weapons the Nano Launchers lack rigs (this would probably change in the future) but they would have a special damage enhancing module dubbed “Amplifying Organ” which increases damage and rate of fire for Nano Launchers. in addition to these, the Nano Launcher gets bonused from Missile Guidance Enhancers and Computers.
4. new modules:
the Galatean Drones have an amalgamated technology that combines Rogue, Triglav and Sleeper adaptation. this has in time provided the machines with new systems to survive the onslaught from different enemies. among these adaptations is a new EWAR module designed to turn the table against enemy Drones…
adapted from the Deviant Automata Suppresors used by Triglavs, the so dubbed “Automata Nullificators” are a new strain of disruption module that causes an eletronic wave from the ship, this wave doesnt destroy enemy drones or affects the enemy ships’s electronic systems, instead, messes up the speed, tracking and range commands of the hostile drones in order to reduce their effectiveness in combat.
these modules require the same skill as weapon disrupors and are designed to scale with weapon disruption rigs and enhancer modules, they occupy a midslot and have a fairly average capacitor consumption. Galatean Droneships are specialized in the use of these modules and as such get increased effectiveness and range.
Ships:
the Galatean Hulls are at its core, derived from Rogue Drone schematics. this means they tend to have more defense in general and a slight increase in speed but dont have as much firepower. due to being originally created by SoE they share the same Gallente/Amarr skill base allthought their bonuses differ from hulls like the Astero, Stratios or Nestor.
main traits:
-Launcher focused with a specific bonus to Nanite Launchers
-less highs but good amount of mids and lows for defense/utility, a trait adapted from Triglav and Sleeper derived automata
-slight increase to max velocity adapted from Rogue Drone heritage
-bonus to Automata Nullificator modules
-special bonus related to drones but different to other droneboats
as for the ships themselves:
- “Xiphosurus” (Frigate)
Gallente Frigate bonus per lvl:
5% bonus to Small Nanite Launcher damage
Amar Frigate bonus per lvl:
7,5% bonus to Automata Nullificator effectiveness
Role bonus:
* 15% bonus to Automata Nullificator range
* you gain an extra 5% bonus to one the following stats for each small racial drone you control:
-Caldari for Shield Hitpoints
-Minmatar for Max Velocity
-Amarr for Armor Hitpoints
-Gallente for Hull Hitpoints
2 highs (2 launchers)
4 mids
4 lows
3 rigs (small)
10 m3 Dronebay
10 Mbit/sec Bandwidth
Hitpoints: 450/550/600 (Shield/Armor/Hull)
Powergrid: 40 MW
CPU: 170 tf
Capacitor: 440 GJ
Calibration: 350
Sensor Strength: 13 points (Radar)
Mass: 970,000 kg
Signature Radius: 35 m
Scan Resolution: 630 mm
Volume: 25,000 m3
Cargo: 150 m3
Max locked targets: 5
Max targetting range: 40 km
Max velocity: 380 m/s
Inertia modifier: 3.5
Warp speed: 5 AU/s
- “Deinocaris” (Cruiser)
coming soon
- “Euripterus” (Battleship)
coming soon