I’m planning on riding the edge of the conflict area between the UEE and the Vanduul. I haven’t decided between North or South of Elysiam yet because we don’t really know where the fighting will be.
Leir is a key system. If you’ll recall, they were attacked by a pair of Void Bombers a few years ago, so certainly that space is contested. However, the known gates from Leir to Vanduul space don’t support ships as large as the Void Bomber, so I may devote myself to searching for hidden jump points in the Leir area.
North Of Elysium, the center of activity is Orion, and players get to participate in the Sons of Orion storyline there. This is probably where we’ll find PvE missions, especially for bigger ships like the Polaris. Thing is, if Void Bombers can sneak into Leir, the Polaris can sneak from Leir into Vanduul space. So I need to wait and see what develops. Either way I’m all in for murdering Vanduul.
One thing that speaks to me is Sun Tzu’s “fight the enemy where they are not.” Looks like they’ll be concentrated up by Orion, so striking in the South, from Leir to Vanguard is attractive, even if we need to use squadrons of smaller ships. I am still loving the notion of a few Eclipse surrounded by two to three times as many Arrows, and several MIS on overwatch, all sneaking in stealthily. No need to bring the Lib carrier through to Vanguard.
Just need to remember, Leir is somewhat hostile toward everyone not from there. They consider themselves to be spiritually awakened and evolved past humans, and are not fond of other races besides. They do however buy and fly UEE ships, so it’s a great place to go one stop shopping for that Polaris or Idris you didn’t mind loaning off a snooty Leirian.
There is one system in the West that could prove ideal for a secret base from which to launch long range attacks against the Vanduul. Such a base needs to be Goldilocks but also empty, so it’s cheap to live there but no one will get hurt if the Vanduul search it out. I’d say what the “home” is, but then it wouldn’t be secret.
Me thinks secret bases are cool.