The EVE Online: Catalyst expansion launched this week, and with it came a massive collection of new features. The new mining upgrades make for exciting new industrial opportunities for drillers, haulers, and security details throughout the galaxy. However, one of the new ships to come with this expansion also feels like an incredible inclusion to the overall roster. The Odysseus Exploration Command Ship is a beast of a vessel from the Sisters of EVE faction, and between covert, support, and offensive capabilities, it feels like a strong one-size-fits-all for exploration, fleet play, and other operations. A new way to explore New Eden I got to play with the Odysseus during an early access period leading up to EVE Online: Catalysts launch, and wow, this thing is delightful. The ship is a Sisters of EVE Command ship with an emphasis on support and evasion, but make no mistake, this thing bristles, and it’s not just in the hardpoints, but in the ship’s sheer capabilities. The Odysseus features options for a covert ops cloak, increased scanning, a massive ship maintenance bay, and more, allowing it to be arranged and refitted for a lot of different builds. In terms of sheer versatility, it was the scanning that stood out to me. The Odysseus has a special new Expedition Command Burst that comes in several forms. Other Battlecrusiers can use this Command Burst, but only the Odysseus gets a strength and duration buff while it’s active at this time. What makes it so important? Well, there’s a Pinpointing Charge version that helps speed up salvage, and a Strength Charge that aids in hacking, but the Reach Charge is incredible. It increases Directional Scanning range by 20 percent, and if you apply proper Skill leveling and other buffs, that gives you a huge increase in range for about five full minutes, making the Odysseus a pivotal ship for sniffing out trouble and locking in on it. And then there’s the Ship Maintenance Bay. 75, 000 m^3 capacity for ships to get stored and refit in the field as long as they’re close enough to the Odysseus. It’s a mobile depot. And that means being able to deploy some hefty hardware on the fly. Several combat frigates? Yes. A burly miner like the Prospect? Also yes! And given that you’re riding the Odysseus, which can use Covert Ops Cloak, gets increased scanning, and is bristling with its own hardpoints? This thing is mean, and fun. One of the few major drawbacks in the Odysseus is that if you get caught in a tight spot and need to make an escape, you’re in for a stressful time. Without buffs or improvements, the Odysseus has a warp time of about 10. 6 seconds. That’s a lot. Every second counts when you need to warp out of a hot zone and that’s long enough that if you’re in a catastrophic situation, you could stand to lose big time. Thankfully, this thing has some really great PvP and PvE fits for a variety of situations that mean it’s not going down easy if you play appropriately. A mighty vessel for an exciting expansion EVE Online: Catalyst brings a lot of great new fun and features to the game, including a new online map that’s much easier to navigate, a wealth of mining content including high-value Phased Fields of asteroids containing Prismaticite, the new Pioneer Ore Mining Destroyer (which was a whole different kind of blast from the Odysseus), and much more. The Odysseus promised to be fun, but I think it’s a game changer and I’m excited to see what the EVE community does with it. For more on the game, stay tuned to the EVE Online topic here at Shacknews.
https://www.shacknews.com/article/146896/eve-online-catalyst-launch-odysseus
