Invasion is a mission type that allows players to team up together with the Corpus or the Grineer to work against the opposing factions, as a faction invades a specific mission sector. It was first introduced in The Gradivus Dilemma and officially added to the game in Update 11.3 (2013-12-12). The Infested also are able to invade, although players cannot side with them.
Mechanics
A contested sector on Pluto. In this example the Grineer are attacking a Corpus-controlled area.
The Invasion tab in the Operations window.
Invasion Missions are essentially a modified version of regular ones where both opposing factions are presented on a battlefield. During the mission the player is aided by the faction they sided with (i.e. siding with the Grineer will give you Elite Lancers and Heavy Gunners, among others) as they attack the enemy.
Corpus and Grineer invasions feature Exterminate, Capture, Rescue, Sabotage, and Spy mission modes. Rescues will start execution trigger on entering prison, similar to Sorties. Sabotage mode requires to destroy reactor core located on enemy ship, unlike regular Sabotages that use Reactor Sabotage for Grineer Galleon and Corpus Ship tilesets. Spy missions feature single data vault located on enemy side of map.
Any ongoing invasions are listed in the Operations window, with the Invasions tab located between the Alert and Syndicate mission tabs. Alternatively, players may select planets with the symbol of the attacking faction to view the contested sectors.
Both sides offer payment for supporting them in contested locations. Selecting a conflict location will present a choice of sides and their respective battle pay, ranging from large Credit sums, to rare Blueprints and Resources.
You will need to commit to a single side to earn battle pay by completing 3 missions, with switching sides eroding your rating with the opposition and denying players either reward. Bear in mind that completing more than the required amount of missions will not increase or improve the reward by any means. Players will receive the battle pay of the faction they sided with regardless if they won the invasion or not.
The attacking faction is represented on the left, with a percent of capture. The faction being attacked is represented on the right. Once either side reaches 100%, the invasion ends and the node returns to its regular mission type.
If the player is ambushed by any Assassin or Syndicate Death Squad during an Invasion mission, allied NPCs will aid the player in fending them off, even if they are from the same faction (The Grineer will attack The Grustrag Three, for example).
Infestation Outbreaks
An example of an Infestation Outbreak on Uranus, with several sectors in varying degrees of infestation.
Infested missions were largely cleared from their Solar Map locations in Update 11.3 (2013-12-12) and replaced with Operations using the Invasion mission mechanic. During these, the faction being invaded will assist you in dealing with the Infested threat. Unlike standard Invasions, Infestation Outbreaks spread between sectors much faster than Grineer or Corpus invasions, and can often see an entire planet covered with Infested missions fairly quickly.
Infested Invasions will always inherit the sector's mission type if the preexisting sector was Exterminate, Defense, Mobile Defense, or Survival. If the contested sector mission type was not one of those, the game will decide randomly out of those 4. Assassination mission types use Phorid as the assassination target, and will appear over the planet's standard Assassination mission.
Tile Sets
A hologram found on the Corpus ship showing the targeted asteroid base and 2 Grineer support ships reinforcing the base.
Invasions on Corpus Ship and Grineer Galleon tilesets feature unique map tiles that connect the two opposing vessels of each side, serving as a transitional tile from one map tile into the other, i.e. changing from Grineer Galleon to Corpus Ship and vice versa. Each invasion sector has its own variant of these connecting tiles, which does not change for missions performed on that tile until the invasion ends.
Variant A features a large asteroid mining base connecting the two ships, with plenty of open space and side paths for large engagements. This tile features an energy field that blocks the main path that must be dispelled by hacking a nearby control console. Alternately, there are hidden paths accessible only by parkour that allows players to bypass the field completely.
Variant B features a direct connection between vessels by a Grineer boarding tunnel, leading to a heavily damaged Corpus room.
Variant C is encountered when siding with the Corpus on certain invasions, which features an access tunnel that periodically pulses with energy that can damage player shields. This tunnel exits into the outside of the Corpus Ship that is exposed to space, draining player shields the longer they stay. This then leads to a large glowing portal which transports the players directly into the barracks complex of the opposing Grineer Galleon.
Finally, Variant D is encountered on the same sectors as Variant C, but when siding with Grineer instead, involving a large room with massive cannons firing boarding pods. Players can board an empty pod and initiate the launch sequence by activating the control console inside; this closes the pod, which after a few seconds is fired directly at the opposing Corpus Ship. After the transition, players can exit the pod into the Corpus Ship via a breach made on its hull.
Note that both Variant C and Variant D prevent backtracking into the allied ship as both their transition areas only allow one-way travel.
The Gradivus Dilemma featured an additional variant featuring an asteroid cave connecting the two ships, which has been implemented in standard invasion missions with the Grineer Asteroid tileset as the main tileset.
Infestation outbreaks on Corpus Ships also feature a unique transitional tile, which takes place on a large shuttlebay with an equally large glowing portal at the end, that transports players into another ship. These missions also feature a unique starting tile, which holds a secret room inside an elevator shaft.
Aftermath
Once a victor for a sector has been decided, the player will receive their reward in the inbox regardless who won the sector. However, the player will attract the attention of either the Zanuka Hunter or The Grustrag Three depending on who he or she sided with in Grineer/Corpus invasions (The Zanuka Hunter will attack players who supported the Grineer and vice versa) and may be ambushed during a later mission. Players may also get the Stalker's attention by defeating Phorid.
Notes
- The mission type was officially announced in Livestream 16. Livestream 17 mentioned the possibility of the Invasion gametype returning, but as alert-only as opposed to replacing a preexisting game type.
- As of Update 11.6 (2014-01-08) factions now have momentum, giving the leading faction a periodically increasing score. This was added to avoid faction stalemates and allow the invasion system to move to different locations.
- Barring Infestation Outbreaks, Environmental Hazards such as fires are guaranteed to occur in any given invasion.
- Grineer invasions are called Grineer Offensives, whereas Corpus invasions are called Corpus Sieges.
Trivia
- If Phorid invades, it will list Phorid as the 'Faction', not the 'Target'. It is also called Phorid Manifestation.
- The diorama for Corpus invasions contains a graphical error; Flux Rifles can be seen firing as if they were Deras.
- If the player is playing an unaffected node on a planet that is under siege, the invading enemy can appear in the mission. This does not affect the goal of the mission.
- Prior to Update 14.0 (2014-07-18), the faction that won a contested node would take over that node, replacing the previous faction owner as a result. This may have been removed to avoid disrupting mod drops on a planetary scale – one infamous case had all of Europa taken over by the Grineer.
- Invasions are a good time to codex scan the faction you are sided with, as they will hold still while not attacking.
- Invasions also seem to have a higher chance to spawn Rare containers, many users reported finding rare containers especially on invasions.
Bugs
- The Grineer Breach Pod tile is prone to bugs due to moving parts, especially when playing as a group, most likely due to synchronization errors. Often the players' pod won't load into the launcher. There is no discernible player-made cause for this.
- If the last mission to receive battle pay is completed after the invasion node returns to normal, you will not receive the battle pay.
- If an Infested invasion occurs on a Crossfire mission, the Infested will appear as Orokin in the factions section.
- On rare occasions you will recive the reward from an invasion that you have only ran one mission for.
Patch History
Update 19.0 (2016-11-11)
Changes:
- Prior Sortie Season Vandal and Wraith rewards can now be offered as invasion rewards by the respective faction.
- Interception missions have been added into the mix when playing for invading faction.
- Winning factions will now 'Occupy' the node for up to 24 hours. During this period, the invaders will raid the location for resources towards a mysterious 'Construction Project'
- The mission type at a particular Invasion node will change every 15 minutes.
- The progress of an invasion can now lead to a Faction Specific event.
- Factions now pay an additional 1000 Credits each time you run a mission for them on the same node (up to max of 10K).
Fixes:
- Fixed issues with Invasion missions loading to black and no spawning enemies.
- Fixed Invasion progress not counting if a player was in mission during a Hotfix.
- Fixed Phorid occupied nodes still showing the underlying bosses.