User:K950/3P38 Sleeper Nexus: Difference between revisions

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I [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61qqQVEN-ek found a video on YouTube] which is fairly good at demonstrating the basics in a more visual form. Through the content of this post, some experience of having run these sites yourself (I recommend a couple high-sec attempts before you do the more dangerous ones), and this video, you should find yourself adequately familiar with the site itself.

== Sleeper Caches: A Preamble ==

These may appear by name to be an intimidating retreat where ships go, and then they don't come back, but in reality, these cosmic indications within EVE Online are actually fairly straightforward. They by default, more difficult versions of the data or relic sites you get normally. There is additional risk involved because of various hazards, but you can get some sizable reward for your trouble should you decide to run one, which after this, I hope to convince you that you should.

I should start off, appropriate, with a list of cautions and advisories:

* Do not attempt these sites without Tech II analyzer modules. This being the Relic Analyzer II and the Data Analyzer II. You can technically get away with just a Data Analyzer II, but without a Relic Analyzer II, you're going to be spending more time inside the site than if you just had it in the first place.

* Your first four to five times inside these sites should not be done with shiny ships, like the Astero or the Stratios. A T3 is also not worth risking in the upper grade of sites.

* Should you run the site completely, you might have some nice gank-worthy (or ambush-worthy if in lowsec/nullsec) cargo in your hold. Exercise the appropriate cautions: gank limits, using blockade runners, a hauling alt, et cetera.

* Do not rush these sites, at least until you're quite familiar with them. Ships get lost on these sites every month because of carelessness.

There are three kinds of Sleeper sites: Limited, Standard, and Superior; in this order is their typical difficulty in the same fashion. Unlike regular data and relic sites, Sleeper site loot is held in storage depots, which are accessed with the Relic Analyzer. Site-related functions, such as switching off sentry guns, turning off toxic gas clouds, resetting timers, and so forth are all data hacks which use the Data Analyzer. While failing certain Data hacks can be decidedly unpleasant, nearly all the Relic cans can be failed repeatedly without ill effect. Superior Sleeper sites do have a different mechanic in the Archive Room.

Polarized weapon BPCs, Storyline BPCs, random manufacturing materials (usually worthless in most contexts), skill books, "Blue loot", and random "meta" level weapons and modules is pretty much standard fare as far as loot goes for these sites. The "Blue loot" and the BPCs is where the money is at. Here is a cute image of one of the first Limited Sleeper Caches I have ran:

From here, the R.A.M. stuff isn't worth bothering with, the Meta modules or weapons are usually worthless, and the BPCs are sometimes useless too. I don't know if anybody will even buy those BPCs. Polarized Torpedo Launcher BPCs sell for bank though, because they're one of the few Polarized weapons that people actually use. The Electric Conduit and the Talocan Molecule are some examples of some "fluff" that is the reason you should always bring a cargo scanner with you to make sure you don't hack a can only to get 1 Limited Light Ion Blaster I out of, or 100 R.A.M. junk.

The so-called Blue Loot items are typically sold to NPC buy orders at most stations. Head to a normal trade hub (Jita IV-4, Amarr EFA, ...) and check that the icon on the right of the sale has a white (=) to indicate that you're getting full value. You can expect to make anywhere from 10 to 300 million ISK off of blue loot depending on the site: Standard and Superior Sleeper sites tend to have more blue loot.

Right -- now let's get to the site! First you'll have to scan it down -- and I'll say it's not easy. With extensive scanning experience, you can figure out if it is one without even pulling out the probes. How do you tell if you have a Sleeper site in the system?

* Looking at the signature as you scan it down. If you're at 1 A.U. and it's still only showing Data Site as the classification, you're probably looking at one.

* Normal cosmic signatures almost always spawn within 4 A.U. of a celestial. This can be a moon, stargate, planet, station or the Sun. But Sleeper sites, as I have come to understand, may spawn 5 or more A.U. away from a celestial.

* As far as I know of, Sleeper sites only spawn in Known Space. If you like real adventurous PvE content like this stuff, you should look at C5 and C6 wormhole "combat data sites" which have a nice Sleeper presence to welcome you. Bring lots of friends.[/list]

Before I go anywhere else, I should probably mention probe strength. You can find out your probe strength by pulling up the Fitting Window, usually ALT+F. Hover over your probe launcher, and choose the little (i) that says "Show Charge Info". Go into the Attributes tab of the window that opens and your probe strength is there before you, under "Base Sensor Strength". Pyfa and EFT can also display this information under Show Charge Info of the launcher (EFT) or Charge Stats (Pyfa).

I have scanned down a Limited Sleeper Cache with 85.8 probe strength. That is with a Tech I frigate and all Tech I equipment. If you have the following:

Racial Frigate V

Astrometrics V

Astrometric Rangefinding IV

Core Probe Launcher II

Sisters Core Scanner Probes

1 Gravity Capacitor Upgrade I

1 Scan Rangefinding Array I

... you should have a probe strength of 107.135, which is enough to scan down a Superior Sleeper Site, the hardest site to scan down, with just a basic Tech I exploration frigate. Findings from multiple Superior Sleeper Caches indicated that 104 probe strength was the minimum. A basic rundown of the minimum probe strength required to scan down each site is listed below: tight cube formations are pretty much required:

* Limited Sleeper Cache: 85.8 (approximate: less most likely won't work)

* Standard Sleeper Cache: 92 (approximate: 91 didn't work)

* Superior Sleeper Cache: 104

Some trick, you say? And why not use a shiny ship? Well, I'm a cheapie, and my reasoning is if I can do it with a Tech I frigate, why not do it with a Tech I frigate? Indeed, you can run all the Sleeper Sites, to a point, with just a Tech I frigate. I will show you how.

First to scan the site. While the Dual Triangle Formation can yield, according to my testing, the strongest strength, it is rather difficult to set up. You may have heard of custom probe formations before, and while scanning Sleeper sites down is an excellent time to work on two formations: a generic cube formation, and a "max strength" cube formation. The cube formation is the easiest formation to make that yields the best scan strength. How did I make mine? Well, awhile back I couldn't scan down a Sleeper Site, but I still found one to set my probe formations up and test them. There's also the Diamond formation, but I find that the cube formation has been the easiest and has worked every time.

Here's some fancy images to show you:

[images]

[discussion]

So when I identify a Sleeper site, I normally start with 4 A.U. regular old default pinpoint formation. As you might imagine, my astrometric skills are somewhat high, so I don't have as much of a problem as back when I was wandering around in wormholes on my trial days. (I actually did hack a relic site or two back then.) I then jump to 1 A.U. size, refine, scan, then .25 A.U. and really make sure I get the location accurate. Once I get that result, I switch it over to the maximum strength cube formation preset, center it up nice, and scan...boom, result. No fancy costly Sisters launchers needed -- why would I buy one of those, when if I lost my ship, that module alone would cost more than three times the total value of my ship? I don't know why people buy those. Too shiny for me.

After you have scanned down the site, you'll want to make sure it's safe to run in the first place. Are there 8 war targets in the system? One of them might break out the combat probes, warp to the first room and join you in a rather interesting partyfest. As they've said before, in nullsec and lowsec (and in w-space, with other players detected in system), you should never hack with unknowns in local. Well, you can, but you are taking a considerable risk. He might have bookmarked the site and is waiting for you to come to him. (The Spatial Rift having been activated before you got inside is a clue that someone has been there before.)

However, Sleeper sites, like most mission sites, have a first room with an acceleration gate (renamed "Spatial Rift" in Sleeper sites). You cannot take an acceleration gate with an active cloaking device. Monitor D-scan with 2 AU range? Your call. Do be advised, Sleeper Caches do eventually get pulled from the probe scanner window after a few relic containers are hacked: in that case, the usual two minute despawn timer is initiated. That said, in low sec and nullsec, always ALWAYS keep an eye on Local and the directional scanner.

Ships -- now's a very good time to start talking about them. There are two Tech I exploration frigates I recommend, and frankly, if it's not listed here, there is a very good set of reasons why it is not.

The Heron is what I normally use for exploration. It is both cheap, capable, works good for combat probing detail, and works well enough for the job. Its slightly longer targeting range (it's not much, but I do like it) and higher top speed (with a MWD, about 300 m/s versus the Magnate) means that combined with the other purposes I use it for, makes it well suited as my default exploration vessel.

The Magnate is the alternative. Its abilities are slightly different than the Heron, but can mount a respectable armor tank, though it doesn't do as much in the DPS department because it has less powergrid than the Heron. I think it's a fine vessel, although I have a much harder time fitting an expanded launcher for high security space drone recovery work, which is part of my regular operations.

The Probe and the Imicus...where do I start: first the Imicus is beyond ugly, and it is beneath me to fly it for that reason alone. But really, these vessels are not suitable for Sleeper Caches ''because they do not have the slot layouts to handle either the proper shield tank OR armor tank requirements.'' It would be better to conscript a buddy to run a logistics frigate to help you with repair needs if, by some reason, these vessels are all you have.

The Astero is a fine, capable hull that can do well as a stiff tanky drone boat for PvP, an impromptu site runner or just a basic exploration purpose. The nice thing is the fits that I have created for the Magnate cross directly over to this boat, the not-so nice thing is a lot of the people that fly this vessel or aspire to fly it shouldn't (that included me at some point). There are those who say "well just one good container and your ship is paid for" -- and that is valid argument, but that same "one good container" is a rather huge caveat, leaning heavily on the "if you get out alive" factor. Loose one of these clumsily inside a Standard Sleeper Cache, and you'll know why I recommend the Tech I hulls to newcomers and regular runners.

But don't get me wrong -- I think it is a fine ship, it's just that it doesn't offer any particular advantages I need inside these sites, or for general exploration. Even in nullsec with the usual bubblecamps and in wormhole space with the cloaked Interdictor inside the site (your Magnate with 4 warp core stabilizers won't last with that thing on your tail) I just prefer the basic default frigates -- they are cheaper and work just fine.

The Stratios and Tech III Strategic Cruisers are more in the realm of those who can fly them, generally, but not always, know what they're doing. Would I use one in the future if I had a chance inside a Standard or Superior Sleeper Cache? No. I would be entertained by the prospect of a Stratios hacking out the entirety of the Archive Room with two Guardians, but otherwise, no.

Other pointers before I get started on the posts for each site:

* Don't forget to make sure all the hacking analyzers are set to Auto-Repeat Off. Otherwise they will needlessly continue to cycle, wasting capacitor.

* A squad commander of a fleet can tag items with various characters in the alphabet or numerical indications, and this is one of the ways I identify cans that should not be hacked because of lack of sufficient value in them. A fleet of 1 member is fine.

* I can't think of anything to put here for now, so I'll just ... draw a blank.

Read on for posts on each individual site.

@@ Line 318: / Line 318: @@
 I [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61qqQVEN-ek found a video on YouTube] which is fairly good at demonstrating the basics in a more visual form. Through the content of this post, some experience of having run these sites yourself (I recommend a couple high-sec attempts before you do the more dangerous ones), and this video, you should find yourself adequately familiar with the site itself.
+== Sleeper Caches: A Preamble ==
+These may appear by name to be an intimidating retreat where ships go, and then they don't come back, but in reality, these cosmic indications within EVE Online are actually fairly straightforward. They by default, more difficult versions of the data or relic sites you get normally. There is additional risk involved because of various hazards, but you can get some sizable reward for your trouble should you decide to run one, which after this, I hope to convince you that you should.
+I should start off, appropriate, with a list of cautions and advisories:
+* Do not attempt these sites without Tech II analyzer modules. This being the Relic Analyzer II and the Data Analyzer II. You can technically get away with just a Data Analyzer II, but without a Relic Analyzer II, you're going to be spending more time inside the site than if you just had it in the first place.
+* Your first four to five times inside these sites should not be done with shiny ships, like the Astero or the Stratios. A T3 is also not worth risking in the upper grade of sites.
+* Should you run the site completely, you might have some nice gank-worthy (or ambush-worthy if in lowsec/nullsec) cargo in your hold. Exercise the appropriate cautions: gank limits, using blockade runners, a hauling alt, et cetera.
+* Do not rush these sites, at least until you're quite familiar with them. Ships get lost on these sites every month because of carelessness.
+There are three kinds of Sleeper sites: Limited, Standard, and Superior; in this order is their typical difficulty in the same fashion. Unlike regular data and relic sites, Sleeper site loot is held in storage depots, which are accessed with the Relic Analyzer. Site-related functions, such as switching off sentry guns, turning off toxic gas clouds, resetting timers, and so forth are all data hacks which use the Data Analyzer. While failing certain Data hacks can be decidedly unpleasant, nearly all the Relic cans can be failed repeatedly without ill effect. Superior Sleeper sites do have a different mechanic in the Archive Room.
+Polarized weapon BPCs, Storyline BPCs, random manufacturing materials (usually worthless in most contexts), skill books, "Blue loot", and random "meta" level weapons and modules is pretty much standard fare as far as loot goes for these sites. The "Blue loot" and the BPCs is where the money is at. Here is a cute image of one of the first Limited Sleeper Caches I have ran:
+From here, the R.A.M. stuff isn't worth bothering with, the Meta modules or weapons are usually worthless, and the BPCs are sometimes useless too. I don't know if anybody will even buy those BPCs. Polarized Torpedo Launcher BPCs sell for bank though, because they're one of the few Polarized weapons that people actually use. The Electric Conduit and the Talocan Molecule are some examples of some "fluff" that is the reason you should always bring a cargo scanner with you to make sure you don't hack a can only to get 1 Limited Light Ion Blaster I out of, or 100 R.A.M. junk.
+The so-called Blue Loot items are typically sold to NPC buy orders at most stations. Head to a normal trade hub (Jita IV-4, Amarr EFA, ...) and check that the icon on the right of the sale has a white (=) to indicate that you're getting full value. You can expect to make anywhere from 10 to 300 million ISK off of blue loot depending on the site: Standard and Superior Sleeper sites tend to have more blue loot.
+Right -- now let's get to the site! First you'll have to scan it down -- and I'll say it's not easy. With extensive scanning experience, you can figure out if it is one without even pulling out the probes. How do you tell if you have a Sleeper site in the system?
+* Looking at the signature as you scan it down. If you're at 1 A.U. and it's still only showing Data Site as the classification, you're probably looking at one.
+* Normal cosmic signatures almost always spawn within 4 A.U. of a celestial. This can be a moon, stargate, planet, station or the Sun. But Sleeper sites, as I have come to understand, may spawn 5 or more A.U. away from a celestial.
+* As far as I know of, Sleeper sites only spawn in Known Space. If you like real adventurous PvE content like this stuff, you should look at C5 and C6 wormhole "combat data sites" which have a nice Sleeper presence to welcome you. Bring lots of friends.[/list]
+Before I go anywhere else, I should probably mention probe strength. You can find out your probe strength by pulling up the Fitting Window, usually ALT+F. Hover over your probe launcher, and choose the little (i) that says "Show Charge Info". Go into the Attributes tab of the window that opens and your probe strength is there before you, under "Base Sensor Strength". Pyfa and EFT can also display this information under Show Charge Info of the launcher (EFT) or Charge Stats (Pyfa).
+I have scanned down a Limited Sleeper Cache with 85.8 probe strength. That is with a Tech I frigate and all Tech I equipment. If you have the following:
+Racial Frigate V
+Astrometrics V
+Astrometric Rangefinding IV
+Core Probe Launcher II
+Sisters Core Scanner Probes
+Gravity Capacitor Upgrade I
+Scan Rangefinding Array I
+... you should have a probe strength of 107.135, which is enough to scan down a Superior Sleeper Site, the hardest site to scan down, with just a basic Tech I exploration frigate. Findings from multiple Superior Sleeper Caches indicated that 104 probe strength was the minimum. A basic rundown of the minimum probe strength required to scan down each site is listed below: tight cube formations are pretty much required:
+* Limited Sleeper Cache: 85.8 (approximate: less most likely won't work)
+* Standard Sleeper Cache: 92 (approximate: 91 didn't work)
+* Superior Sleeper Cache: 104
+Some trick, you say? And why not use a shiny ship? Well, I'm a cheapie, and my reasoning is if I can do it with a Tech I frigate, why not do it with a Tech I frigate? Indeed, you can run all the Sleeper Sites, to a point, with just a Tech I frigate. I will show you how.
+First to scan the site. While the Dual Triangle Formation can yield, according to my testing, the strongest strength, it is rather difficult to set up. You may have heard of custom probe formations before, and while scanning Sleeper sites down is an excellent time to work on two formations: a generic cube formation, and a "max strength" cube formation. The cube formation is the easiest formation to make that yields the best scan strength. How did I make mine? Well, awhile back I couldn't scan down a Sleeper Site, but I still found one to set my probe formations up and test them. There's also the Diamond formation, but I find that the cube formation has been the easiest and has worked every time.
+Here's some fancy images to show you:
+[images]
+[discussion]
+So when I identify a Sleeper site, I normally start with 4 A.U. regular old default pinpoint formation. As you might imagine, my astrometric skills are somewhat high, so I don't have as much of a problem as back when I was wandering around in wormholes on my trial days. (I actually did hack a relic site or two back then.) I then jump to 1 A.U. size, refine, scan, then .25 A.U. and really make sure I get the location accurate. Once I get that result, I switch it over to the maximum strength cube formation preset, center it up nice, and scan...boom, result. No fancy costly Sisters launchers needed -- why would I buy one of those, when if I lost my ship, that module alone would cost more than three times the total value of my ship? I don't know why people buy those. Too shiny for me.
+After you have scanned down the site, you'll want to make sure it's safe to run in the first place. Are there 8 war targets in the system? One of them might break out the combat probes, warp to the first room and join you in a rather interesting partyfest. As they've said before, in nullsec and lowsec (and in w-space, with other players detected in system), you should never hack with unknowns in local. Well, you can, but you are taking a considerable risk. He might have bookmarked the site and is waiting for you to come to him. (The Spatial Rift having been activated before you got inside is a clue that someone has been there before.)
+However, Sleeper sites, like most mission sites, have a first room with an acceleration gate (renamed "Spatial Rift" in Sleeper sites). You cannot take an acceleration gate with an active cloaking device. Monitor D-scan with 2 AU range? Your call. Do be advised, Sleeper Caches do eventually get pulled from the probe scanner window after a few relic containers are hacked: in that case, the usual two minute despawn timer is initiated. That said, in low sec and nullsec, always ALWAYS keep an eye on Local and the directional scanner.
+Ships -- now's a very good time to start talking about them. There are two Tech I exploration frigates I recommend, and frankly, if it's not listed here, there is a very good set of reasons why it is not.
+The Heron is what I normally use for exploration. It is both cheap, capable, works good for combat probing detail, and works well enough for the job. Its slightly longer targeting range (it's not much, but I do like it) and higher top speed (with a MWD, about 300 m/s versus the Magnate) means that combined with the other purposes I use it for, makes it well suited as my default exploration vessel.
+The Magnate is the alternative. Its abilities are slightly different than the Heron, but can mount a respectable armor tank, though it doesn't do as much in the DPS department because it has less powergrid than the Heron. I think it's a fine vessel, although I have a much harder time fitting an expanded launcher for high security space drone recovery work, which is part of my regular operations.
+The Probe and the Imicus...where do I start: first the Imicus is beyond ugly, and it is beneath me to fly it for that reason alone. But really, these vessels are not suitable for Sleeper Caches ''because they do not have the slot layouts to handle either the proper shield tank OR armor tank requirements.'' It would be better to conscript a buddy to run a logistics frigate to help you with repair needs if, by some reason, these vessels are all you have.
+The Astero is a fine, capable hull that can do well as a stiff tanky drone boat for PvP, an impromptu site runner or just a basic exploration purpose. The nice thing is the fits that I have created for the Magnate cross directly over to this boat, the not-so nice thing is a lot of the people that fly this vessel or aspire to fly it shouldn't (that included me at some point). There are those who say "well just one good container and your ship is paid for" -- and that is valid argument, but that same "one good container" is a rather huge caveat, leaning heavily on the "if you get out alive" factor. Loose one of these clumsily inside a Standard Sleeper Cache, and you'll know why I recommend the Tech I hulls to newcomers and regular runners.
+But don't get me wrong -- I think it is a fine ship, it's just that it doesn't offer any particular advantages I need inside these sites, or for general exploration. Even in nullsec with the usual bubblecamps and in wormhole space with the cloaked Interdictor inside the site (your Magnate with 4 warp core stabilizers won't last with that thing on your tail) I just prefer the basic default frigates -- they are cheaper and work just fine.
+The Stratios and Tech III Strategic Cruisers are more in the realm of those who can fly them, generally, but not always, know what they're doing. Would I use one in the future if I had a chance inside a Standard or Superior Sleeper Cache? No. I would be entertained by the prospect of a Stratios hacking out the entirety of the Archive Room with two Guardians, but otherwise, no.
+Other pointers before I get started on the posts for each site:
+* Don't forget to make sure all the hacking analyzers are set to Auto-Repeat Off. Otherwise they will needlessly continue to cycle, wasting capacitor.
+* A squad commander of a fleet can tag items with various characters in the alphabet or numerical indications, and this is one of the ways I identify cans that should not be hacked because of lack of sufficient value in them. A fleet of 1 member is fine.
+* I can't think of anything to put here for now, so I'll just ... draw a blank.
+Read on for posts on each individual site.