Original Drifter Combat Anomalies

Drifter Crisis: Drifters Attack

This article documents content that is no longer in the game
These sites were available only during the initial attack of the Drifters during the Drifter Crisis

During the Drifter Crisis, High-sec and Low-sec sites came under attack. A similar mechanic to Incursions, players could run one of 4 variety of Crisis Sites until the drifters were weakened and the Crisis Resolution site spawned. [1]

Crisis: Field Rescue — Salvage the wreckage left behind following an empire assault on a Drifter facility to locate any survivors. It is recommended that at least 3 capsuleers tackle this rescue mission. T1 frigates and standard T1 destroyers are permitted.

Crisis: Observatory Infiltration — Scan down this site to retrieve valuable relics from the remains of an emergent Jovian Observatory. Bring up to 2 other capsules to maximize rewards, but be wary of any traps the Drifters may have left behind! T1 frigates, destroyers, and standard T1 cruisers are permitted to enter.

Crisis: Deathless Research Outpost — A Deathless research base is under attack by Drifter forces. Use remote repair modules to keep the structure alive until it can be secured. Alternatively, destroy it yourself and sell the accrued Hyperspace Telemetry data to the highest bidder. 5 capsuleers are recommended to aid the site; less may be required to destroy it. T1 frigates, destroyers, and standard T1 cruisers are permitted to enter.

Crisis: Lancer Counter Offensive — An empire-owned Lancer dreadnought has been deployed to aid a civilian structure. Help it destroy the Drifter presence before its nefarious task can be completed. T1 frigates, destroyers, and standard T1 cruisers are permitted to enter.

Crisis Resolution: Vigilant Dreamer — To resolve the crisis within the system, 10 capsuleers are required to bring an end to the Vigilant Dreamer. Using data analyzers, the defensive array protecting this Drifter facility can be disabled allowing it to be destroyed. T1 frigates, destroyers, cruisers, and standard T1 battlecruisers are permitted to enter.

This article documents content that is no longer in the game
The original Combat Anomalies were removed and replaced during the Drifter Crisis 2025

Drifter Systems

Each Drifter wormhole contains five unique combat anomalies. They are visited and defended by regular Drifter patrols. More detailed information is available via Drifter Hive Systems Anomalies (pdf). All listed wormholes are of the violent type and not passable.

Vidette	Ship Graveyard	Sleeper Engineering Station	Spatial Rift	Sleeper Enclave in Coral Rock	Crystals and Stone Circle
Redoubt	Ship Graveyard	Caged Wormhole	Spatial Rift Generator	Sleeper Enclave	Hollow Asteroid
Sentinel	Monolith	Wormhole in Rock Circle	Opposing Spatial Rifts	Sleeper Enclave Debris	Crystal Resource
Barbican	Wrecked Ships	Unstable Wormhole	Spatial Rift	Heavily Guarded Spatial Rift	Crystals
Conflux	Monolith	Caged Wormhole	Rock Formation and Wormhole	Particle Acceleration Array	Guarded Asteroid Station

Hive Sites

Drifter Hive and support installations close to a shattered planet in a Redoubt wormhole.

All Drifter wormholes contain a huge Drifter Hive protected by a sequence of deadspace pockets and connected via acceleration gates and warpable Rifts. The layout of these sites is slightly different in each of the 5 different Drifter wormholes, but the main rooms are the same. The entrance appears as a beacon on the overview under the name of the site, e.g. "Conflux".

Drifter Nexus: hundreds of huge bars with sparks flying between them. Their configuration has changed from a "sea urchin" to an S-shape since their first appearance months ago. An enormous semi-transparent blue sphere encompasses them all.

1. Entrance: Contains warp-in beacon. Warp at range is possible. The beacon is 50-80km from the acceleration gate.
2. Lobby or Split: Contains two acceleration gates plus a warpable rift that leads back to the Entrance. Is protected by 5 Emergent Patrollers (sleepers). The acceleration gates lead to a number of Transfer and Access rooms whose layout depends on the specific system.
3. Antechamber or Antichamber: Contains the gate to the final room, the Hive. Protected by various sleeper ships up to battleship size and webbing sleeper frigates.
4. Hive: Contains the main hive structure. Protected by Hikanta Tyrannos (at 250-400km and aggros on warp in, moves at ~2km/s) plus sleepers up to battleship size. Contains Vault (access with index in hold to get 10 elements). Nexus Transfer gate leads to Nexus room.
5. Nexus: A giant cluster made up of hundreds of "bars" engulfed by a huge blue sphere. The shape of the bar cluster is changing over time. It started spherical like a sea urchin and currently has an s-shape.

Additionally there are rooms that depend on the specific site:

• Access Alpha etc: Contains access units - hackable by data analyzer - named according to the gate: Alpha, Beta, etc; up to Gamma depending on specific system. Protected by sleepers.
• Transfer Alpha etc: Contains no specific installations. Protected by sleepers.

A detailed Drifter Site Overview (pdf) lists the rooms in their original state. Since then the parallel hacking that was required has been dropped.