Didn't SD just a month ago decide cards shouldn't double off each other forever? Why is a new card immediately doing exactly that?

Rampant capsuleers,

The Gallente Election was your first chance to experience Rampant Drone Fabricator sites.

Thanks to your feedback they are now being made permanently available in C1-C6 wormholes, with a couple of changes, specifically tailored to wormhole space.

Face escalating waves of Rogue Drones, with the threat level now building based on a point system known as “Rampancy”. The escalating threats are determined by the ships in proximity to the Fabricator.

The more waves you destroy, the bigger your rewards will be. Not only that, but because you were so good at these, we had to up the ante and increase the wave cap from 30 to 100. Translation: It’s hard!

Can you prove your worth? Who will be the first to outlast all 100 waves?

The extremely brave can attempt to tackle the sites solo (at least the first half – you’re unlikely to survive past 40 waves or so), but they are tailored for small teams to tackle together. Push your luck and see how long you can hold out, but know that you can fleewith the loot you’ve acquired at any time, or keep going and hope to survive for even more!

For more details, refer to the patch notes.

We hope you enjoy this addition to wormhole space, and look forward to bringing more improvements in the near future.

Happy hunting, capsuleers!

So Beta Ray Bill is a cool person and all, but one thing I can't understand is how or why his name is "Bill."

After all, other Korbinites have alien-ish names, or names I assume we've translated from their language, like Ti Asha Ra and Dar Mal Goth.

I understand most/all alien names won't have a direct analogue into human Earth tongues, but it seems "Beta Ray Bill" is this guy's actual name. Which seems to imply, like in English, that "Bill" is his given name, "Beta Ray" is some kind of title or descriptor.

I understand Bill was created, not born. But still. Why is his name Bill? Is it just a coincidence it sounds so Earth-like compared to other Korbinites? Why give him a descriptor/title for part of his name? We don't call Captain Marvel "Flying Girl Carol" as a full name, and it seems Korbinites don't normally do this in their culture?

A decade ago, my nulsec corpmates told me nobody flies stealth bombers, and they're only for fleet operations. Then I read a little blog called Confessions of a Stealth Bomber killer and I got obsessed with trying every covert ops ship in the game.

It's time to argue! Let's hear it! What would you put in the S and F tiers of covops ships?

Patch Notes for 2026-07-07.1

Features & Changes:

Operation Avalon is here!

Avalon Investigations:

Avalon Investigations will begin appearing throughout Empire space, from high to null-security systems. Additional investigations can be activated by Vanguard warclones as they complete Expeditions. Ongoing investigations appear both in the Map and the Opportunities window, under the Interstellar Events category.

Roaming Haulers and Hidden POIs:

Within these investigated systems roaming haulers, AEGIS Squalls, will travel between new sites and hidden POIs. Haulers have a variety of valuable loot in their cargoholds. Hidden Points of Interests include:

• Hacking sites
• Salvaging sites
• Combat sites

Hidden POIs can only be located by scanning down haulers as they visit these locations, and contain much more valuable rewards.

Standard Sites:

In addition to the hidden POIs, standard versions of these sites can be found both as anomalies and cosmic signatures. While their rewards are not as high as their hidden variants, they are much more common and make for a reliable way to increase influence within the system.

Influence will be increased with every site completed. Once 100% influence is achieved, a special site containing additional rewards will appear. Completing this site will bring the investigation within the system to an end. Keep an eye out for the AEGIS Director and their exclusive Aralez combat drones!

Avalon Traders:

Vanguard Resonant Cyphers can be found in all sites and the roaming haulers. These tokens are highly sought after by Avalon traders, who will be more than happy to exchange them for unique rewards! These traders can be found throughout New Eden in the following systems:

• Amarr
• Sifilar
• New Caldari
• Kinakka
• Poitot*
• Dodixie
• Ostingele
• Rens
• Hadozeko
• SL-YBS

*Did you know Poitot is the only named system in Syndicate?

The items that can be acquired from traders include:

• Volatile Boosters - extremely short-duration boosters with powerful effects.
• Poteque 'Prospector' Salvaging SV-906 - an Implant that boosts Salvage retrieval by 6%.
• New Vanguard-themed SKINR components.
• Breach Control - A new faction damage control that can be activated in a pinch to reduce incoming Breacher pod damage for 120s.
• A Unique Vanguard-themed character background.

Seasonal Challenges:

Capsuleers can complete various challenges to progress the Season reward track. Rewards for progression include Skill Points, Arkombine Arisen SKINs, boosters, and more. The final reward provides a Capsuleer with a Ranking Vanguard Resonant Cypher. This special token can be exchanged at the previously mentioned traders for additional rewards:

• Salvation Arkombine Arisen SKIN.
• Aeon Arkombine Arisen SKIN.
• Lorharyth’s Modified Inertial Stabilizer - a brand new Officer Inertial Stabilizer!

Daily Login Rewards:

Each day, capsuleers can log in to receive additional rewards. These include more Skill Points, Arkombine Arisen SKINs, boosters, and more!

Graphics:

The Exordium region has seen a few minor updates:

• The environment nebulae color variation between the 4 empire and CONCORD constellations have had a technical update that fixes small glitches in the application of the nebulae color variation.
• The 8 border gates that mark the entry and exits between the 4 empire constellations and the central CONCORD constellations have all received an environment upgrade with additional infrastructure.
• The Paragon Fulfilment Center in Manifest has received a graphical upgrade with additional infrastructure.
• The 4 CONCORD stations in Couth, Manifest, Forte and Rationate have each received a CONCORD SKIN to properly communicate their ownership.
• The Exordium region open asteroid belts have received some graphical updates.

Defect Fixes:

Gameplay:

• It’s now possible to activate the ‘Republic Iconic - Unlimited' SKINR Pattern.

PvE:

• Fixed an issue causing NPCs in Homefront Operation sites to prioritize incorrect targets.

User Interface:

• Fixed an overlap in the Achievements window with the dropdown arrow in the side menu.
• Fixed an issue where the Character Sheet portrait info bar could overlap with the status icon and window controls.
• The Achievement milestone bar now correctly updates on progress when the window is open upon completion.

Anyone else have this issue? In the past month, whenever I play music or a video, the audio always starts mono, on the left side only. Then after 5-10 seconds, it switches to full normal stereo sound.

Weirdly enough I noticed this doesn't happen with video calls or system sound effects.