Everything Else That Changed in EVE Online (Returning Player Guide 2026)

Over two hundred thousand of you watched my guide to everything that changed in EVE Online while you were away. Thank you. You also told me what I'd missed, and it wasn't a couple of ships. It was two whole expansions and half of another, stuff that should have been in that video from the start. Then on 22 September Fenris Creations changed the game again, and when I went back through it all I found one more expansion none of us mentioned.

So this is the rest of that video. The ships you've never seen, what happened to carriers, what happened to mining, and the expansion nobody talked about. Biggest changes first.

On the site:
Coming back? Start here, with a returning player FAQ: https://downthechain.net/start/
The Atlas, every site in New Eden graded by source: https://downthechain.net/atlas/
Join the Discord: https://discord.gg/pZe8D4Nt2X

New, returning, or already playing? Sign up or log in through this link and you get 1,000,000 free skill points. It works on existing accounts too, as long as yours has never been linked to a recruiter before. It costs you nothing and it helps the channel:
https://www.eveonline.com/signup?invc=1784553d-de22-4a0c-9e1d-e7a3a53c5965

Been away 30 days or more? Fenris runs free Omega offers for returning players every few months rather than all the time. Check the launcher and https://www.eveonline.com/return when you log in. Fenris Creations' own returning player help page is here: https://support.eveonline.com/hc/en-us/articles/6387243601180-Returning-to-EVE-Online

CURRENT AS OF: October 2026.

CHAPTERS
0:00 The rest of the returner guide
0:45 The ships you've never seen
3:29 Carriers, four rebuilds and a new class
6:12 Mining, rebuilt more than once
9:30 Revenant, and the chain I never followed
11:47 Legion, the one none of us mentioned
12:55 The 22 September update
15:56 Find the year you left
17:41 The HyperNet Relay
18:27 Before you log back in
21:05 Close

WHAT'S IN IT

THE SHIPS YOU'VE NEVER SEEN
Over forty new hulls since 2016. Force Auxiliaries, the Triglavians, EDENCOM, the lancer dreadnoughts and the Odysseus.

CARRIERS
Four rebuilds in ten years, and the new command carriers.

MINING, REBUILT MORE THAN ONCE
The Rorqual, active moon mining, the end of Scarcity, compression in the belt, residue, new ores, Metenox drills, and Catalyst's faster cycles, critical hits and Prismaticite.

REVENANT, 12 November 2024
Mercenary Dens, Zarzakh, the Deathless hulls and Breacher Pods, the first damage over time weapon in EVE.

LEGION, 27 May 2025
The one none of us mentioned. Freelance Jobs, sovereignty upgrades and the Babaroga.

THE CRADLE OF WAR UPDATE, 22 September 2026
C1 to C3 sleepers that no longer attack drones, Rampant Drone Fabricators, level zero skills for new characters, jump bridges on a battery, seven day insurgencies and the 500 million ISK war.

FIND THE YEAR YOU LEFT
A timeline from 2016 to now, the HyperNet Relay, and incursions.

BEFORE YOU LOG BACK IN
Where your stuff is, what an Alpha can still fly, the NPC corp tax, and the new map.

SOURCES
22 September update notes: https://www.eveonline.com/news/view/patch-notes-version-24-01
Cradle of War: https://www.eveonline.com/news/view/cradle-of-war-expansion-notes
Catalyst: https://www.eveonline.com/news/view/catalyst-expansion-notes
Legion: https://www.eveonline.com/news/view/legion-expansion-notes
Revenant: https://www.eveonline.com/news/view/revenant-expansion-notes
Equinox: https://www.eveonline.com/news/view/equinox-expansion-notes
Mining residue and the end of Scarcity: https://www.eveonline.com/news/view/patch-notes-version-19-11
Asset Safety: https://support.eveonline.com/hc/en-us/articles/208289365-Asset-Safety

I am a former military intelligence analyst building an industrial empire in EVE Online and narrating it like a live operation. Real numbers on screen, honest assessments, and post mortems when it goes wrong.

The video this continues, Everything That Changed in EVE Online:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8N1DYqHQdY0

The Campaign playlist:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLEpUKAeJwkIg

Questions or requests, put them in the comments. I read all of them.

Business enquiries: info@ironcommand.co

EVE Online materials are used with limited permission of Fenris Creations (formerly CCP Games hf). No official affiliation or endorsement is stated or implied.