![]() ![]() Hundreds of Jackdaw-class destroyers were deployed to protect the keepstar. It can carry a thing called a ‘defender launcher’ which homes in on the nearest bomb.” “It’s a destroyer, and it has a unique property. “They had surrounded the keepstar with ships called a Jackdaws,” Asher explained. Unable to target the small, invisible ships themselves, PAPI’s only recourse was to try to pluck their payloads out of the sky before they landed. The strategy paid off: After roughly 10% of the first wave of bombers were destroyed in the initial assault, the remaining pilots fell into a groove. With those runs locked in, it was just a matter of individual pilots doing the work - often for hours and hours on end. Well ahead of the engagement, Asher plotted out multiple waypoints to create complex bombing runs. ![]() The main thrust came from massive wings of stealth bombers, with nearly 500 ships in all. To keep landing blows against the keepstar, Asher deployed a number of unusual new strategies. Asher’s challenge was to continually do damage to the starbase over an extended period of time, which was the only way to prevent PAPI from repairing it and establishing their beachhead. It was Goonswarm’s turn to go on the offensive. But, while that battle was still going on, PAPI deployed a second keepstar nearby. When PAPI deployed its first keepstar, Goonswarm scouts pinged it almost immediately and destroyed it in relatively short order. The strategy, as Asher explained it, was fairly complex. We had to be creative, and we had to commit a lot.” “When they have those kinds of numbers - when you have that kind of disadvantage,” Asher told Polygon, “there’s no such thing as a straight-up fight. ![]() ![]() One of Goonswarm’s Megathron-class battleships, which was pulled in too close by PAPI forces and destroyed Image: CCP Games via Razorien PAPI brought at least twice as many - more than 5,000. Asher estimates that there were roughly 2,250 players fighting with Goonswarm over the weekend. Of course, since the entire world (excluding some players in China) play on the same server, not everyone is awake or even available when big battles occur. Players in Eve are allowed to use multiple accounts, but even still that represents a force of tens of thousands of real-life human beings. Since July 5, Asher said, the ranks of Goonswarm’s allies have swelled. Polygon spoke with Asher on Discord on Wednesday, and he helped put the scale of the war and the significance of this battle into perspective. The enemy was at the gates, and it was up to Goonswarm fleet commander (FC) Asher Elias to destroy those keepstars before they could anchor in place. If these keepstars had been left in place to establish themselves, it would have opened up not one but two beachheads for PAPI’s fleets to flood ships into Goonswarm territory. These huge defensive structures stand 160 kilometers high and allow other massive ships to be ferried into the star systems where they are located. They brought with them two massive structures called keepstars - Eve’s equivalent of Star Wars’ Death Star. Image: CCP Games via RazorienĪfter working at Goonswarm’s flanks for two months, over the weekend PAPI’s forces finally crossed the line into the enemy’s home territory of Delve. More than 8,825 players would fight over it. It all adds up to the makings of a spectacular confrontation.Ī 160-kilometer tall keepstar deployed by PAPI in Goonswarm’s region of Delve. But, after 10 years of dominance, Goonswarm won’t be going down without a fight. Most estimates have them outmanning Goonswarm and its allies by roughly three-to-one - 50,000 characters holding out against 150,000, according to some reports. Simply judging by sheer player count, PAPI has a significant advantage. Speaking with Polygon last month, Vily said his goal is nothing less than the “ extermination” of Gianturco’s forces, and the dissolution of his beloved Goonswarm. On the other side of the battle lines is a massive coalition, referred to as PAPI, led by a player known only as Vily. Leading that faction is one of Eve’s most notorious personalities - Alex “The Mittani” Gianturco. World War Bee 2 is an all-out assault against Goonswarm, a powerful player-led faction that has been a major part of the game’s culture for at least a decade. But players tell Polygon that the war is far from over. When the smoke cleared, the faction known as Goonswarm was triumphant. On Sunday, the stakes rose considerably when a total of 8,825 players showed up for the single largest battle in the massively multiplayer game’s nearly 18-year history. So far it’s been a slow burn, with multiple medium-sized engagements all over the spacefaring game’s southwestern sectors. A massive war began in Eve Online in early July, pitting some of the game’s most powerful groups against one another. ![]()
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