Deadspace Complexes

Written by – TenTonHammer

Published in PDF format by [aaeo].net

www.allabouteveonline.net
 Deadspace Complexes

The “Dungeons” of EVE Online

Between all the movement, trading, killing, and skill gaining in EVE there is one
thing that seems to be lacking; traditional dungeons. EVE Online offers it’s “counter”
to the traditional dungeon in the form of scattered Complexes throughout the galaxy.
These Complexes are static areas that come filled with various different pirates and
rogue drones to challenge players and still offer decent loot and cash.

Finding and Entering a Complex

Before even starting out to investigate these locations of importance, you’ll want to
make sure that you have Complexes enabled in your overview. Complexes are
marked only in the overview and there is no way to reach them unless you have them
actively set on your list so you can see them. Complexes show up on the overview as
an upwards pointing arrow.

There is yet another piece of information you’ll want to confirm before running any
Complex, and that is whether or not your ship can be used in that specific level of
Complex. Complexes are leveled 1 to 10, with each level representing an increase in
challenge. Level 1 through 4 Complexes have certain “requirements” for what ships
you can bring in with you, while anything 5 or higher has no limit (though you will
likely need a good group of pals to handle those ones).

Once again, since we are such nice people over here at TenTonHammer, here is a list
of Complex restrictions:

Complex Level Useable Ships*

1/10 Frigates
2/10 Frigates, Destroyers
3/10 Cruisers, Frigates, Destroyers
4/10 Battlecruisers, Cruisers, Frigates, Destroyers
5/10 Battleships, Battlecruisers, Cruisers, Frigates, Destroyers
6/10 Battleships, Battlecruisers, Cruisers, Frigates, Destroyers
7/10 Battleships, Battlecruisers, Cruisers, Frigates, Destroyers
8/10 Battleships, Battlecruisers, Cruisers, Frigates, Destroyers
9/10 Battleships, Battlecruisers, Cruisers, Frigates, Destroyers
10/10 Battleships, Battlecruisers, Cruisers, Frigates, Destroyers

*Note: All ships include their Tech II Counterparts.

The Basics
As for how complexes work, they are all accessible via Acceleration Gates. These
Gates “warp” you into Deadspace and the Complex itself. It is important to note that
inside these Complexes you cannot use Micro Warp Drives, but you can still warp out
to safety (unless of course you are being jammed by pesky pirates). Afterburners will
function normally in the confines of Deadspace, so it is preferential to equip them
before making the journey.

Most Complexes are multi-tiered and have several gates that you will need to go
through to reach the end. Gates can be “activated” when you get within 2500m of
them, and once active they will move you to the next level of the Complex. It should
be noted that most Gates cannot be activated while there are active enemies in the
Tier that you are in. There are even some Gates that require a key, passcard, or cipher
to be opened. The Complex keys are held by semi-rare spawns called Deadspace
Overseers. Be warned, there will likely be a race of players to kill the Overseer in
populated systems… this is followed up by angry fights in the local chat… so be sure
to loot the Overseer and get the key so you can be the one bragging!

There are different types of Complexes, but they can be highly generalized into two
categories; Rogue Drone Complexes and Pirate Complexes. There are few differences
between the two types of Complexes, but it is the only real distinct difference in the
types of Complexes that exist.

Both types of Deadspace Complexes (Pirate or Drone) have special cargo containers
within them, usually denoted in red as opposed to the usual white diamond for cargo
containers. Special Deadspace cargo containers usually hold precious items like
Overseer Effects that can be sold to C.O.N.C.O.R.D. for a decent sum of ISK
depending on their level. Special cargo containers often have a chance to hold named
faction items or special blueprints.

Rogue Drone Complexes

Rogue Drone Complexes are (believe it or not) filled with Rogue Drones that usually
come in swarms of 5 to 10 per pull. While individually, most drones are nothing more
then a nuisance; the fact that they attack in swarms makes dealing with them
extremely annoying and sometimes even difficult. There are several different types of
Rogue Drones such as the ultra-fast Ripper drone, or the missile armed Demolisher
Drone, each with their own weapons and armor resistances. Unlike pirate ships,
Drones do not give a bounty after being killed; and instead drop Compounds that can
be refined into precious minerals.
The following are examples of some commonly encountered Drones:

Drone Examples
Ripper Drones – Extremely fast drones that will web you down and decrease your
speed. This drone comes in and orbits at about 1000m out making tracking and
targeting a pain for most weaponry. It is best to target these drones before any other
and while in optimal firing range.
Demolisher Drones – A sturdy drone that utilizes Bloodclaw light missiles as its
primary form of attack. Found as the “boss” of lower level Complexes (2/10), it is
later found in packs and can prove to be damaging to ships not outfitted to handle the
Kinetic damage that the missiles deal.
Render & Splinter Drones ¬¬– While not able to deal large amounts of damage;
Render and Splinter drones are able to take large amounts of punishment and are
highly resistant to EM and Thermal weaponry (laser users beware!).

Pirate Complexes
Pirate Complexes are filled with assorted types of Pirate ships, most of which are
named branded pirates. A few examples of name branded pirates would be the Centus
division of Sanscha’s Nation, or the Corpii division of the Blood Raiders. Name
branded pirates have a chance to drop superior loot then most random spawn pirates
that you find patrolling asteroid belts. While similar in difficulty to normal pirates,
name branded pirates have higher bounties on their heads.

Most Pirate Complexes will require you to kill an Overseer to progress deeper in
(most Rogue Drone Complexes do not have keys), and these enemies are usually
camped by other players who collect the dropped keys. The Overseers also have a
decent chance of dropping faction items that relate to their faction (True Sanscha
Lasers, Dark Blood Crystals, etc, etc) and faction related Blueprints.

Another key factor in dealing with Pirate Complexes is to note the various structures
you will encounter within. Most Pirate structures have a chance to drop some decent
loot once they are destroyed, so it is suggested to kill everything in sight even though
you may get nothing… We like carnage here at TenTonHammer… even reckless
destruction of pirate space buildings!