Catalyst



''As it turned out, the distress call located in The Rift was nothing but a well-devised recruitment ploy, organized by Newton Siddis himself. He was never in any real danger, but was in fact, sat in a nearby cargo ship containing the very reason he came to The Rift – a shard of an Ark’ain Artefact.''

All that’s required now is to escort Siddis and his Payload to his Research Facility, located in Sigyn’s Breath; trouble is, a few factions have caught wind of his findings, some of which will do anything to stop his experiments on such a volatile substance…

Catalyst was an event and game mode that was avaiable until the end of August 2018. It is still playable as a Legacy Episode. It revolved around pushing a payload into the enemy base, while maintaining control of mines to gain a level advantage.

Lore
The Catalyst event was preceded by what happened in The Rift.

Upon entering a game:

As the mercenary fleet accompany Newton Siddis to his Research Facility along with his latest findings - the shard of an Ark'ain artefact - they're intercepted by the anti-technology terrorist organisation known as "The Third Reign"

The group have sabotaged the payload containing the artefact shard, triggering it to blow - Siddis has been advised to return to his Research Facility and warn his team of the potential devastation.

''The fleet's instructions are to guide the payload into The Third Reign's base of operations: the long-abandoned Research Facility nearby. Fail to do so, and the casualties will be immense.''

In the trailer Siddis explains the situation:

This is Newton Siddis, and I'm in desperate need of the fine skills you displayed back at The Rift ''Remember that collection of artefacts you and your team helped me gather? Well, a close minded, misdirected and frankly loathsome faction who go by the moniker "The Third Reign" caught wind of my research, and managed to steal a substantial portion.''

They had the fantastic idea of intercepting the artefacts and setting them to detonate, thinking I wouldn't notice. I say that we re-direct the cargo's course straight into their base; if they want to tamper with my work, let them have it! Of curse, that has nothing to do with the fact it'll destroy the abandoned research facility they reside in, and all the deviants inside...

They'll see this coming, obviously, so expect a lot of resistance - and don't take them lightly. They might be ragtag bunch of luddites who believe the universe is better off without technology, but they're known for they combative prowess.

Upon finishing a game:

When that artefact lit up, and we saw the base reduced to ash, we had no idea of the power we had just unleashed, and what the ramifications would be - not just for us, but for the all of the known universe...

As the unstable artefact approached the enemy base, Newton Siddis began with an evacuation effort, as if he knew that upon the payload reachig it's destination, the aftermath would be catastrophic...

Before the Mercenaries' could question this, Siddis quickly sends co-ordinates to the Jump Core crew to an unmapped sector, and jumps.

''It was evident he knew more than he led on, and perhaps this is what he wanted? Surely if he valued this mysterious artefact so much, there would have been an effort to save it.''

A blinding shockwave brought by the devastation in Sigyn's Breath travelled across the galaxy, at an incredible speed - unbeknownst to the Mercenary fleet, they had just unleashed an ancient horror on the universe...

The destruction of the Artefact was the direct cause for the Awakening.

Objective


It is a fast-paced single sector PvP/CO-OP mode, where teams of 5 compete for control over mines and the Payload. The team with the higher combined capture power in the vicinity of the Payload, will push it towards the enemy base. The Artefact is rigged to explode as soon as it is completely inside a base. The team whose base did not blew up, wins. However, the players have only fifteen minutes to escort the Artefact as far as possible, if at the end of the time no one has successfully delivered the package, the team who has pushed the Artefact further will be declared the winners.

Be sure to keep control of the two Mining Facilities located in the center of the sector to ensure that you and your Team have the upper hand over your opponents in levels, while also trying to push the Payload as far away from your base as possible.

Respawn times in this game mode are fairly short. Therefore, it is very important to keep the focus on capturing or pushing, rather than getting many kills. While the large open space and the clustered objectives are great for snipers like the Watchman, they cannot push as well as a heavy ship like the Gladiator, because they die to fast near the Payload. Keeping the mines in mind is thus very important to give your team the level advantage it needs.

Rewards
As in The Rift, Catalyst again offered unique Episode Rewards, available to anyone who played the game mode, free of charge, until 28th August, 2018. The objective to earn the rewards was to simply push the payload a certain distance:
 * 125,000m pushed: ‘Focus Payload’ Emote
 * 500,000m pushed: Exclusive Galactic Express Badge and Nameplate
 * 1,250,000m pushed: Superlifter Galactic Express skin

By purchasing the Catalyst Episode Pack for 2,000 Platinum in the in-game store, players could unlock exclusive items worth over 9,000 Platinum, also available until 28th August, 2018:
 * Catalyst Hangar Environment
 * Exclusive Badge & Nameplate
 * Three Galactic Express Skins: Centurion, Paladin and Brawler
 * Two permanent Energy Mods
 * 3 x Implant Pods (15 implants in total)

Additionally, there was a community event until the 20th August, where all players in total had to push the Payload for 15,000,000m to gain the Galactic Express Skin for the Displacer. Anyone who played Catalyst while the event was active, is eligible for the reward and received the skin once the time was up.