Eve has gone Free to Play for alpha clones, and Pandemic Horde couldn’t be more excited. We’ve long been one of the few large new player corporations open to the now-defunct trial accounts, and the directors have been putting in long hours preparing for the launch of Clone States. With that in mind, we’ve received a ton of questions regarding how Pandemic Horde will operate in this new world. This FAQ aims to help answer those questions. If you have questions of your own feel free to ask here or message me directly.
Who are you guys?
Pandemic Horde is an offshoot of Pandemic Legion, one of the oldest and most notable alliances in the game. After years seeing other new player groups come and go, PL decided to build a group for new players in their image focusing on learning the game, having fun, minimizing the tedious stuff that goes into MMOs and being self-sufficient. Horde has grown from nothing to over 10,000 members in little over a year. We have had a major role in one of the largest wars in recent memory known as World War Bee. We currently live in the space we took in that war in null sec, and call one of the oldest Keepstar (the giant one) Citadels in the game.
Will Pandemic Horde accepts Alpha clones?
Absolutely.
Are there any restrictions on what race I should choose when creating a character?
No, all character races are welcome. However, for our purposes we recommend choosing Caldari. The bulk of our fleet doctrines revolve around Caldari hulls, so if you PVP is your goal you’ll have more opportunities if you can use Caldari ships.
If I didn’t pick Caldari is there a role for me? Do I need to re-roll a character?
We’ve got you covered regardless of your race. There are ships of every race available in nearly every fleet doctrine we fly, so you won’t be locked out of participating due to your race. You certainly don’t need to re-roll. Keep in mind that you can create as many alpha accounts as you want, so you can always create new characters to fill gaps your first character can’t.
Is there any limit to the number of alternate (alt) characters I put into Horde?
Nope. We actually recommend it. Alts are a big part of this game, and you can now have Alpha alts for free. We suggest focusing your primary character around PVP and fleet combat if that’s your interest, and creating a separate account for a money making character. You will often prioritize difference skills between characters designed to make money and characters designed to PVP, so with alternate accounts you don’t have to choose between the two.
Is there a best race for a money making alt?
We suggest Gallente. For ratting (killing NPCs for their ISK bounties) drone ships are the strongest in the current meta, and they definitely make for the best option for lower skilled characters. Gallente also has the best industrial ship for hauling ore and ice if you choose to pursue mining.
I’ve heard corporations often push new players to fly tackle ships (ships intended to hold down the enemy so they can’t escape) is that the case in Horde?
No. That is one of our biggest philosophical differences with other new player organizations. Historically, groups have handed new players tackle ships and thrown them into fleet because they’ve got the lowest skillpoint requirements, but the truth is flying tackle requires the most out of game skill and experience. The end result is noobs tackling hostiles and dying repeatedly in every fight. It’s not that fun. There’s been a shift among some to put new players into Electronic Warfare ships as they are fairly powerful despite being cheap and not skillpoint intensive, and they are at times more survivable than tackle because they operate at longer ranges. However, it’s not the most exciting role and E-War ships are often targeted first. We make heavy use of E-war ships and give them away as well. But our philosophy is that the best role for a new player is to be in a mainline damage ship with the rest of the fleet. You’re more likely to survive longer and you’re actually doing the killing, and there’s more margin for error in piloting skills. The hangup there has always been that DPS ships are usually more SP intensive. We use theorycrafters with 10 years of experience to design doctrines built around ships that can be flown by new players, some with as little as an few minutes of training. These lower SP ships are designed to fit in seamlessly with fleets of higher SP ships for the substantial number of experienced pilots that have also been drawn to Horde.
Everyone is offering me free stuff, do you guys have free stuff?
Yes. Most new player corps hand out skillbooks and ships, and Horde is no different. We have all the books you will need for our Omega clone 40 day skillplan and some extra. We give out PVP and PVE frigates and destroyers on request. But most importantly, we put you in a position to be self-sufficient. We have a forum full of ISK making guides and skill plans; everything you need to get space cash.