Despite the backdrop of Frontier Developments setting Elite: Dangerous players on fire with talk about cash shop ship bundles, the studio came together for another Frontier Unlocked livestream to talk more about Powerplay 2.0 and how its various interlocking mechanics will work when it goes live.
Players can expand their chosen power’s territory by simply doing activities that their chosen power prefers, like the given example of boosting a system’s trade by bringing it goods. As a power’s influence spreads, the system’s state will grow into the three earlier previewed states of exploited, fortified, and stronghold. Powers will ensure their foothold on a system by improving these states and the quality of held systems is stressed, as simply expanding territory by the quickest yet barest levels can make it easy for rival powers to break that chain.
On the subject of taking back star systems, players who want to undermine a power’s influence and tip the scale in their chosen faction’s favor will be able to see a UI element that gives them instructions on what kinds of activities would help in that goal, whether it’s killing players or delivering goods or data in the name of their aligned group.
The devs then talk about stronghold carriers, aka the faction-aligned fleet carriers that friendly players will be able to make use of. These locations will give aligned players access to benefits like “very well stocked markets” and Powerplay-specific commodities, but they can also be enticing targets for opposing powers, as one of the best ways to undermine a faction’s influence is by attacking carriers or stealing data and commodities from nearby support craft.
The adjustments to Powerplay go beyond the mechanical, as FDev is also trying to make it clear from a visual standpoint what players are doing. Most of that will be handled by filters on the galaxy map and a Powerplay hub menu, both of which should make it easier for players to see where they can make an impact.
Finally, FDev discusses some of the rewards waiting for engaging in Powerplay 2.0, which will be couched in a loyalty rewards track that will grant certain benefits when in a friendly system. As players climb up loyalty tiers, earned benefits can increase and new ones can be gained, all up to a final level of Tier 10, after which players can earn care packages of goodies. On top of tier rewards, there will be weekly rewards for players to earn and a faction-wide leaderboard to climb for additional ARX and credits.
