In our upcoming November 11 update, we have added additional balance changes, encounters, contracts and PvE difficulty changes. You can see below for the specific contents.

We also have something to say about the Skill Point reset mechanic: Because we have been burning the midnight oil to further develop other game mechanics, while also compiling the data to ensure a smooth Skill Point reset functionality, we ended up not finishing the Skill Point reset mechanic on time. Though it was mentioned in a previous AMA that this feature may not be released with the November 11 Update, we still are unhappy that we weren't able to complete it on time. We are still working on this though, and we hope you can all understand us as we continue to improve EVE Echoes for everyone!

November 11 Update Details:

Based on a combination of all of your great feedback and a lot of the data we've been collecting these past few months, we will be applying several balance changes. These are meant to both allow players to progress further in PvE Encounters at a better pace (to improve the experience with progression in difficulties) while creating a more realistic universe (with NPC actions and difficulty). In balancing all of this and with the new modules added, we have also further balanced ship roles. We hope this will provide a more exhilarating experience as we all go forward together in making the universe more realistic and fun for all.

==Module Balancing==

Small Snubnosed Railgun Optimal Range +20%, Accuracy Falloff +20%

Small Laser, Railgun, Cannon Damage Multiplier +10%

Small Missile Launcher Flight Time -20%

Small Torpedo Launcher Flight Time +20%

Medium Laser, Railgun, Cannon Damage Multiplier +5%

Medium Beam Laser Tracking Velocity +20%

Medium Snubnosed Railgun Optimal Range +20%, Accuracy Falloff +20%

Medium Autocannon Tracking Velocity +10%

Medium Strike Cannon Tracking Velocity -15%

Medium Rapid Missile Launcher Damage Multiplier -15%, Flight Time -15%

Medium Missile Launcher Damage Multiplier +20%

Medium Torpedo Launcher Damage Multiplier +20%

Large Laser, Railgun, Cannon, Missile Damage Multiplier +20%

Large Torpedo Launcher Flight Velocity +20%

Medium Drone HP +50%

Large Drone HP +100%

Sensor Dampening Strength -20%

Optimal Range for Energy Nosferatu and Energy Neutralizer increases with the metalevel.

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==Adjustments to Ship Role Bonuses==

1. Bonus Modules

There are no Weapon Disruptors or Electronic Jammers among the new modules—they have been replaced by Tracking Disruptors and Guidance Disruptors.

Ships affected by this change include:

Crucifier, Griffin, Arbitrator, Arbitrator Covert Ops, Arbitrator II Covert Ops, Blackbird, Blackbird Covert Ops, Blackbird II Covert Ops and Scorpion.

 

2. Bonus Skills

We have added "Signal Disruption" and 2 other new skills, so several bonus skills for disruption ships have been changed.

Ships affected by this adjustment include:

Maulus, Crucifier, Griffin, Vigil, Arbitrator, Blackbird, Celestis and Bellicose.

 

3. Disruption Range Bonus reduced

Since the disruption modules have a fairly long range, we have canceled Optimal Range bonuses for several Frigates.

Ships affected by this adjustment include:

Maulus, Crucifier, Griffin and Vigil.

Bonus 1: Optimal Range bonus changed from +5% to +0% (removed)

Scorpion

Bonus 1: Optimal Range bonus changed from +25% to +10%

 

4. Jam Strength Bonus Reduced

We have shortened the cooldown for Advanced Stealth ships after they decloak and lowered the Jam Strength Bonus for several battleships.

Ships affected by this adjustment include:

Arbitrator II Covert Ops, Blackbird II Covert Ops, Celestis II Covert Ops and Bellicose II Covert Ops.

Bonus 1: Jammer Strength bonus changed from +10% to +7.5%

Role Bonus: Cooldown duration after decloaking reduced by 50%

Scorpion

Bonus 1: Disruption Strength bonus changed from +15% to +10%

 

5. IC Frigate Changes

As the Warp Scrambler becomes available, specialized IC Frigates are now able to do what they were supposed to do. Thus, we removed the Stasis Webifier Range bonus from 8 IC Frigates.

Warp Scramblers are very capable, so the bonuses for lock speed and Warp Scrambler Jammer Strength were also removed.

These ships can now increase the range of Warp Disruptors and Warp Scramblers simultaneously (+3% or +5% per level).

Ships affected by this adjustment:

Executioner Interceptor, Condor Interceptor, Atron Interceptor and Slasher Interceptor.

Executioner II Interceptor, Condor II Interceptor, Atron II Interceptor and Slasher II Interceptor.

 

6. Damage/Range Changes

Worm

Damage changed from +175% to +200%

Rattlesnake

Damage changed from +425% to +450%

Cruor and Daredevil

Damage changed from +20% to +25%

Ashimmu, Vigilant and Vindicator

Damage changed from +10% to +12%

Tormentor, Merlin, Incursus and Rifter

Damage changed from +5% to +7.5%

Omen

Cooldown Time changed from -3% to -4%

Omen Navy Issue

Cooldown Time changed from -2% to -3%

Thorax Prototype

Damage changed from +4% to +5%

Stabber

Falloff Range changed from +5% to +7.5%

Stabber Fleet Issue

Falloff Range changed from +7.5% to +10%

Ferox, Ferox Guardian and Ferox II Guardian

Optimal Range changed from +5% to +10%

Hurricane Prototype

Damage changed from +3% to +5%

Harbinger Prototype

Damage changed from +8% to +9%

Brutix and Harbinger

Damage changed from +5% to +6%

Vindicator

Stasis Webifier Optimal Range changed from +20% to +10%

 

==Bug Fixes==

Fixed the issue where the 50% warp acceleration for Dramiel, Cynabal, and Machariel failed to display (the acceleration was working though).

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==NPC Pirate Balancing==

Here in the EVE Echoes team, we place great importance on creating an immersive cosmic experience for our players, and effective NPC pirates add to this experience. Our long-term goal is to minimize the differences between NPC pirates and actual players. We want to create a universe that feels authentic, where its inhabitants have "souls," as well as a better, more challenging PvE experience—this update is a small step towards that goal.

Of course, as always, we have collected a ton of feedback from players who have played on the test server and made additional adjustments accordingly. It seems that we might have strengthened the pirates a tad too much, as some of the players are now having a significantly harder time farming them. Therefore, we're trying our best to make smaller, subtler changes to make the transition between each update as smooth as possible.

 

==Pre-Patch NPC Pirates==

1. Use the same batch of ships and modules as players, but each enemy always used the same ship and module setup.

2. Due to technical issues, some pirates might spawn without a weapon or without some essential modules for their roles.

3. The fleet configuration for Remote-Repairing/Disruption/Electronic Warfare pirates is ineffective, resulting in 50% of the pirates providing little-to-no help in combat.

4. Due to technical issues, it was difficult to update new weapons for pirates.

5. The configuration for pirates in anomalies is fixed, resulting in repeated encounters with the same set of pirates.

 

==Post-Patch NPC Pirates==

1. Each pirate can use a variety of ships and weapons, randomized under specific algorithms. However, each type of pirate is assigned to a certain kind of ship to avoid an awkward situation (for example: having a massive fleet of battleships going for you in an anomaly).

2. We've updated the mechanics to allow all pirates to be able to fulfill their true potential.

3. The new pirates are now able to remote repair one another, and the repair amount has also adjusted accordingly.

4. We now have more flexibility to adjust their item drops.

Again, we implemented these adjustments to pirates in order to provide a more immersive experience for our players. We hope you enjoy these changes.

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==Encounter System Changes==

In order to allow players to gradually handle more difficult missions more smoothly, we’ve made changes to Encounters.

1. New Difficulty for Encounters: Normal and Hard. Difficulty selection now consists of Beginner, Normal, Advanced, Hard and Expert

2. Rebalanced rewards for all News missions

3. Rebalanced rewards for Storyline missions

4. Adjusted the combat difficulty of Storyline missions. Added an additional wave of enemies to the combat scenarios in every Storyline mission.

5. Added a new type of supply box: Module Blueprint Supply Box

6. Greatly increased the item volume in neutral transport missions.

7. Completing neutral transport missions will grant you Module Blueprint Supply Boxes.

8. Reduced the probability of listing transport missions and mining missions on the mission board.

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==Contract System Changes==

1. Added available contracts for Corporations and Alliances.

2. Contracts can now be shared across all channels.

3. Added a shortcut for contracts that displays when selecting an item under Inventory.

4. Added a feature to reject private contracts.

5. Adjusted the value difference reminder. It is now a lot more noticeable in order to further reduce the possibility of players being scammed.