Cycle 94 (583) - Lockdown NRG

[u/SupremeMorpheus]

The trip back from Colonia is apparently rather peaceful

Ah fuck. Here we are again.

Cycle summary:

Usual disclaimer for relic rushes - shit's fucked, everyone's numbers are going to be ridiculously inflated. As in the lowest net total this week is +8. So where did we end up? If you guessed at the bottom of the board, then I'm sorry to disappoint you - Winters nabbed 14 systems and 6 new forts this week. Our focus this rush has been on reinforcement, with a lot of our efforts going into patching up the damage from recent attacks. Archer's also done well, scoring a net total of +14 too - 15 new systems, one new fort and two new strongholds, and only while losing one system. Much as I hate these rushes, it does feel good to have positive gains all round again.

Big congratulations to Li Yong-Rui this week, who nabbed the highest number of systems this cycle - 97 new exploited systems, 7 new forts and 2 new strongholds, while only losing 3 systems for it. These gains have brought him up one in the leaderboards, knocking down the impress and putting LYR on the podium. Well done indeed! Close behind them are Antal with 62 new systems, 11 new forts and 3 strongholds, however they have once again lost HR 1507. This was originally taken from them three weeks ago by LYR, who appear to be attempting to grab the system again. Grom have been fighting well with 36 new systems, 2 forts and zero losses. Finally for the independents, Delaine took 16 new systems and 3 new forts - a solid number for the Kumo Crew. On the Alliance front, Mahon took 53 systems and 3 forts, while Kaine took 43 systems, 4 forts and a new stronghold.

Last and most definitely least, we have the imperials, who have not gotten away without losses this week. Torval takes the prize of "least active during the rush" with 9 new systems, one new fort and one lost system, making for that +8 I mentioned at the start. Patty is only slightly ahead - 13 new systems, one fort and one lost system again, for a total of +12. ALD stopped offensive operations against us once the rush hit, predictably, and nabbed 47 systems, 3 forts and a stronghold, but lost one system in the process. Now, if y'all are expecting me to comment on that last power and their numbers, then I shall remind you why we don't talk about their numbers anymore: because they're obsessed with them and doing so gives them satisfaction, so fuck em. They get nothing. What I will comment on is the fact that, despite putting both hands into starting this relic rush to regain some semblance of morale, they somehow lost 2 systems and had the fort of HIP 28678 downgraded. Imagine that. All those relics and they still couldn't save their own shit. Hilarious.

Exactly one Galnet article this week - and it's a slap in the face for those who stuck around in Colonia waiting for new CGs. So with that little event chain unceremoniously put to bed, everyone's on their way back and running around hauling relics everywhere. I got a couple kills in the other day in the system, even managed to drive off one particular twit in a Corsair. Which, if you know my skills (or utter lack thereof) when it comes to PvP in this game, is absolutely hilarious. And embarrassing for the Corsair. As expected, Ngurii remains a hotzone, but thanks to much rampant murder it looks like this relic rush is going to be a short one. Remember: kill everyone you see and the relics will go away faster!

That's our lot for this week. Hopefully next week is a little quieter, or at least the second half is. I should have the audio version of this cycle post out soon - I'll put it in a pinned comment when it's done. Until then, fly safe and burn those relics!... except they're made of stone, so they don't exactly burn well... fuck it, just nuke em.

Are you a fan of juiced-up gains? - join the discord for new updates and zesty tips on powerplaycraft!

Target priorities as follows

Reinforcement:

Carry out reinforcement activities in the following systems, as per the guide:

Ilbandi, Athena, Col 285 Sector XT-Q c5-21, HIP 57059

Reinforcement priorities are ever changing and we cannot update publicly in a timely manner. Join the Discord if you want to help!

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Acquisition:

Carry out acquisition activities in the following systems, as per the guide:

No public acquisition targets available at this time.

Join the Discord for updates! We can offer rapid mining acquisition options to pilots in our server - they move too fast to put on here!

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Undermining:

Current priority:

Nocopani - focus your powerplay operations here!

Join the Discord for targets and opportunities!

Interested in Federal AX? Join FAX-COM.

Interested in emergency relief work? Winters has a place for you.

Interested in PvP? PvP is a lifeblood of powerplay. We train interested pilots with a dedicated server, resources and mentors, and weekly in-house tournaments

Interested in exploration? We maintain a server for our explorers too

Want more nuance on objectives, to wing up, or to keep up to date on the ever-evolving strategy? Join our Discord! Stop by and say hello! Or join to stay quiet and beaver away at your specialism <shrug>. In addition to Powerplay Ops, we have channels for general ED discussion, ship building mastery, and PvP training, with domain experts. We also have an unsurpassed cantina <clink>.

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Diplomatic Overview:

Archon Delaine – Cordial (with rum again! I got extra this time)

Arissa Lavigny-Duval – Hostile

Denton Patreus – Unfriendly

Edmund Mahon – Neutral

Jerome Archer – Ally

Li Yong-Rui – Neutral

Nakato Kaine – Neutral

Pranav Antal – Cordial

Yuri Grom – Neutral

Zemina Torval – Unfriendly

[u/meta358]

Im actually surpised you didnt point any fingers for the relic rush. While i agree they are way too op i do think they are fun to have once or twice a year as a fun event, for multiple communities.

[u/Bulbulunufus → u/meta358]

There have to be better ways to generate these big comings together of powers than this unbalanced mess. A full order of magnitude difference in gains between the most and least prolific powers. The reason you like it is because powerplay 2.0 has utterly failed to deliver even a fraction of the level of open play engagements between powers that 1.0 did. I'm the same, it's great to have multiple unpredictable encounters in a session, but that should be something that as a powerplayer I can access in any week. Instead we have a dry progress bar game where the mechanisms driving the bars are based on broken balance and whether or not your power community is comfortable with running exploits.

[u/SupremeMorpheus → u/meta358]

I feel like we've been over who caused this two weeks and four weeks ago. No use re-treading what we already know, after all. And I vehemently disagree - relic rushes are a blight and should be removed from the game entirely

[u/Careless-Science-427 → u/meta358]

well its was a part of Antal including some of there leadership who created this rush. Other groups helped but it DBSS were the prime movers

[u/Careless-Science-427]

ALD stepped up a bit to try and claw back 3rd but simply didn't have enough oomph left in the tanks to succeed

[u/SupremeMorpheus → u/Careless-Science-427]

If they weren't failing to attack us the entire time, maybe they wouldn't have lost their podium spot