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Planet Risk podcast explains tactics for EVE's high level wormholes
The EVE Online-focused Planet Risk Show returned this week after a planned holiday hiatus. For those who've never heard of Planet Risk, it's a live weekly Split Infinity Radio program that's also released as a podcast. Planet Risk differs from most EVE podcasts in that it's largely focused on wormhole colonization, which only became possible after the Apocrypha expansion was released, allowing players to pull back the curtain of known space and head into uncharted expanses. Hosts Luminus Aardokay and Quivering Palm spend most of their EVE time in wormhole space, so they're fast becoming experts on the subject. Indeed, they broadcast The Planet Risk Show from within their colonized wormhole system, which is a rather unique one in the game. Their home is one of the most hostile types of wormholes in New Eden -- a Class 6 -- where the Sleeper NPCs are especially deadly. The ship setups and tactics used against the Sleepers in such a solar system differ greatly from how it's done in lower class wormholes. They explain some of the tricks that allow them to overcome the Sleepers in their Class 6 wormhole this week in Episode 13 -- right around the 1 hour 11 second mark. It's a good listen, particularly as there isn't a great deal of information available on such high level encounters in the game.
EVE Online's wormhole exploration leads to new 'rescue' profession
Wormhole exploration is perhaps the key feature that came to EVE Online with the Apocrypha expansion. Its 'true exploration' of thousands of uncharted solar systems can bring great rewards but also entails equally great risks. The Sleepers are the strongest NPCs that players can face in the game's setting of New Eden, adding to the challenge of taking them on is the fact that you may be hunted down by players at the same time. The delayed local channel in wormhole space ("w-space") means you won't know if you're really alone in the uncharted solar system until you find yourself being targeted and fired upon by a roving gang of hostiles. Wormholes can also have tactical environments which affect how well your ship operates in that solar system, sometimes imposing penalties. Then factor in that wormholes are inherently unstable and can collapse once enough ships have passed through, and you've got a fair amount of unpredictability injected into your gameplay. Wormhole collapses have led to a number of EVE's capsuleers being stranded in unknown regions and unable to find a way back into known space ("k-space"), much less navigate their way home again. That's where "Wormhole Rescue Service" and its founder Astro Glyde can help.
