Day of the Vara 2956: Abomination and Desmodus Paints, Arena Commander and Pumpkins (October 22, 2026)
CIG launched Day of the Vara 2956, the 'verse's Halloween event, on October 21, with four new paints, a temporary Arena Commander mode and the return of the pumpkin contest. No end date has been announced.
In an email sent to subscribers on October 21, CIG announced the official launch of the universe's annual Halloween celebration. The email links to the Comm-Link "Day of the Vara 2956: Don't Wake the Dead". The 2026 edition revolves around three components: monstrous paints, a skeletal Arena Commander mode and the pumpkin decorating contest.
Four Monstrous Paints
CIG is offering three liveries inspired by classic horror creatures:
- the Drake Vulture receives the "Abomination" paint;
- the Aegis Eclipse receives the vampiric "Desmodus" livery;
- the Kruger Wolf receives a lycanthropic livery.
The Raven EX also receives a "Black Magic" paint. Several paints from previous editions are also returning to the store, but their exact list has not been detailed. Content creator Citizen Spooner has already published a video showing the Desmodus, Abomination, Lycan and Black Magic paints in-game. CIG also released an official teaser that highlights the event's three main components.
Arena Commander: A Horde of Skeletons
The temporary Arena Commander mode, described by CIG as "bone-thrilling", sends a horde of skeletons into the arena. Surviving two rounds unlocks a Vanduul mask exclusive to the event. The email does not detail the mode's exact structure, the total number of rounds or its balancing rules.
The Pumpkin Contest
The annual pumpkin decorating contest is back. The grand winner will receive a ship in the Day of the Vara paint, along with a full set of masks. All qualifying participants will be given the Hill Horror helmet. CIG says it wants creations inspired by genre classics: werewolves, vampires and the Frankenstein monster. The qualification criteria, the entry deadline and the ship being offered have not been specified. A community guide is circulating on Discord explaining how to obtain the Hill Horror helmet and the Vanduul mask, but it is unofficial.
A Fix Already Applied to Discounts
A Spectrum thread, FIXED Paint Discounts not working with Vara Paints, documents a discount issue affecting the event's paints. It is marked as fixed and has 17 votes and 751 views. No official response from CIG has been noted on Spectrum regarding this, so the exact nature of the fix remains unspecified.
Context
The weekly schedule published by CIG planned the launch of Day of the Vara 2956 for Wednesday, October 21, alongside a Roadmap Update and a Roadmap Roundup.
The event was anticipated. October's subscriber promotions already included a skeleton flair for Day of the Vara. The October 16 Sneak Peek, titled "Halloween Armor" and captioned "Bad to the bone", showed a piece of armor. CIG did not comment on this teaser, and nothing officially links it to the event's content.
The paint discounts come in a recent context. On October 13, CIG introduced stackable discounts on several paints across all ships, with up to ten paints for ten ships in the same cart.
What we still don't know
CIG has not announced an end date for Day of the Vara 2956, whether for the paints, the Arena Commander mode or the contest. The paint prices, the contest's qualification conditions and the nature of the paint on the offered ship are also not known at this time. The next signal to watch will be the weekly newsletter, expected Friday according to CIG's schedule, along with any further details in the event's Comm-Link.