This new game mode expands the social aspect of being a Commander and challenges your ability to strategize and defeat powerful opponents. Section 31 - a brand new Faction - is protecting the best interests of the Federation and they need your loyalty and assistance: assign two of your strongest ships and team up with four other players to defend a Central Entity (CE) from waves of increasingly powerful hostiles.
Wave Defense launches with two central locations that require defending, an S31 Covert Base and Borg Research Lab; these will be distributed across 25 new systems.
How does it work?
The game mode will unlock at Ops Level 30, alongside a new building: The Facade. A group of 5 players (they don’t need to be members of the same alliance) will team up and face multiple waves of hostiles. The enemies will spawn in predefined locations and they will move towards the CE, with the aim of destroying it. If a set number of hostiles reach the CE, the WD fails. If the team or the Central Entity is destroyed during the first wave, there won't be any rewards. But if the team survives at least the first wave, they will become eligible to get some loot. For example, if your ships are destroyed on wave 1 but the group completes 4 waves, everyone gets rewards for 4 waves. There will be a total of 10 waves planned for launch, and defeating each one of them will reward players with “Section 31 Credits”, a currency that will be used on the brand new “Section 31” part of the Faction Store.
How to start a Wave Defense?
They will be launched from within the Central Entity. Section 31 Ciphers are the currency used to start a WD. You can try it out without a full team, although this is not recommended. The Wave Defense will begin either when the timer hits 0, or whenever the leader chooses to start. If you are joining, the ships you decide to take must be docked first and then you can travel with them to the WD system. All ships currently in the system at that time will be part of the Wave Defense, and no more ships will be able to join. Please keep in mind that you can't start a new WD in a system if there’s already an ongoing one.
Who are you fighting against?
Each wave will increase in difficulty. Waves will be composed of a set of Federation Explorers, Klingon Interceptors and Romulan Battleships. Additionally, depending on the level of the Wave Defense, players will need to deal with Swarm, Borg, Actian, Species 8472, Hirogen and Texas-class hostiles. You will need to coordinate to make sure the team has ships to counter each of the incoming hostile types. Note that you cannot repair the ships while in the Wave Defense.
Note: if the enemy ship gets too close to the CE, players won't be able to attack it anymore.
Wave Defense Building: The Facade
The building will unlock at Ops Level 30 and it’s an essential part of the Wave Defense. It will provide not only additional Damage against Wave Defense Hostiles but also increase the Ship’s Hull Health and Officer Stats. Materials to upgrade the facility - “Section 31 Transmitters” - will be available through the S31 Faction Store.
Wave Defense: Gameplay Basics & Loop
Winning Criteria: Complete all waves (all hostiles are destroyed) AND the Central Entity is NOT destroyed AND at least ONE team member is alive.
Losing Criteria: All team members are defeated OR the Central Entity is destroyed. Reminder - if the team or the Central Entity is destroyed during the first wave, there won't be any rewards.
Wave Defense: System View
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Q: The new Wave Defense Updates, what are they?
A: We will add 2 new Terran Empire themed Wave Defense encounters, these will range from Ops levels 40-50 to 50-65+. They will be located in the same place as the already existing WD systems and the new Directives (Section 31 Mirror Ciphers) for them will be sourced via the Mirror Refinery. The Ciphers will be obtainable by spending 1500 “Section 31 Credits” and will provide enough directives for 1x WD launch every 3 days.
Q: What else is new about the Wave Defense?
A: A successful WD encounter might drop Liquid Trellium (based on wave reached) and the new Section 31 Mirror Credits. Those Credits can be exchanged for new rewards in the S31 Faction Store.
Q: Is anything new coming to the S31 Faction Store?
A: Yes! With the new currency (Section 31 Mirror Credits) an updated list of obtainable items will be rolled out as well. Those will include: the “Agony Booth” Forbidden Tech, shards for the new “Field Repair” Ability and materials for it (Welding Hardware), Elite FKR Rep and Syndicate XP bundles.
Q: How many new Forbidden Techs are you releasing and what are their main benefits?
A: Besides the aforementioned “Agony Booth”, we are also introducing the “Tantalus Field”. The “Booth” (focus: FKR Faction Boost) will provide PVE benefits such as: Increasing Apex Barrier against non-Armada hostiles, positive FKR Reputation gains, Hull Health and base damage increases against non-Armada hostiles. The “Field” (focus:PvP Damage Neutralizer) will offer an increase in Hull Health, more Damage, Isolytic Damage and Apex Barrier against other players.
Q: Are the “Field Repair” Abilities useful?
A: They can be the difference between being able to continue combat or having to retreat. These abilities will heal 25% of max HHP out of combat. You will get 1 free activation every day via a free bundle inside the WD Store (Players can hold a maximum of 10 free activations, you can get more activations by using the WD directives in the Store).
Q: What’s the cooldown period for the “Field Repair” ?
A: The cooldown between uses will start at 10 minutes, but it will decrease 20 seconds with every unlocked ship tier.