Standard Sleeper Cache
The Standard Sleeper Cache is a Cosmic Signature is a higher end and more complicated site which bears some resemblance to the basic Limited Sleeper Cache. Like the lesser version, these sites can be found in all areas of Known Space but seem to spawn in greater concentrations in the Empire regions. The good news is that the site itself can be completed just fine with a regular Tech I exploration frigate and tends to pay better in most cases than the Limited Sleeper Cache.
The initial acceleration gate admits all subcapital ships. Because of the way the site works however, battleships are rather slow unless the site is "tripped". After some number of experiments, it has been determined that a probe strength of 92 (Level IV) is the minimum to scan down the site.
First timers should definitely read this Preamble before moving forward.
Quick Guide
- Scan down the site.
- Hack the Hyperfluct Generator to spawn a Spatial Rift, which functions identically to an acceleration gate. Battleships and below can activate the Rift.
- Drop the mobile depot at the warp in. Hack the Remote Defense Grid Unit. Warning: Failure of any data hack may trip the alarm: watch messages in Local. Hack slowly and cautiously. Same goes for the Coordinate Plotting containers.
- Hack the 3 Coordinate Plotting cans. Place the Coordinates into the Long Distance Calibration can. Head back to the mobile depot.
- Refit for a Afterburner fit with a buffer tank with EM and Thermal hardeners. Make sure you have guns or drones. Activate any active hardeners; take the nearby Spatial Rift.
- Upon landing, you will be aggressed by two Sentry Guns. Immediately active the afterburner and make haste towards the Remote Defense Grid Unit. Orbit it at 2500m and hack it. Shoot the remaining Tower nearby.
- Using a spiraling approach on the remaining Restless Sentry Tower in the middle near the Tractor Beam, approach it and engage it. Then head back to the Mobile Depot near the warpin.
- Refit for a Relic Analyzer, cargo scanner and MWD, then take the rift again and hack the cans at your leisure. When finished, warp out of the site and back in, or just burn the MWD back to the main area. At the main site warpin, hack the two closer storage depots, but not the farther one. Refit for both analyzers. Pick up the mobile depot.
- Look for the depot container about 30km from the warp-in beacon. Hack that can with the Relic Analyzer. Immediately loot the can and look for the Defense Alarm Unit can, and attempt to hack it. It's a rough hack, and speed counts too: be prepared to fail it. If you do fail it on the first attempt, do not attempt to repeat it. Immediately align the ship straight upwards (on the Z axis) and burn the Microwarpdrive. When you're about 120km away from the area you just were, you may turn off the MWD and wait. If you succeed in hacking the Alarm Unit, then the alarm must be triggered manually. After hacking the Pristine Depot nearby, take the Spatial Rift to the back area. Look for a structure named "Sleeper Enclave" (there are two such named objects). Lock it up, burn the MWD out of the area (straight up is fine) and aggress it with a hostile module such as a web, target painter, a gun, or the like. Drones will not work. (Alternate: Fail the RDGU near the tractor beam repeatedly.)
- Let the Engineering Stations do their thing. After about 20 seconds, a rift will spawn in the middle. Burn around the highly dangerous gas clouds (80km away from them is fine) down and between them to the rift. Take it.
- Move around a bit to activate the Remote Defense Grid Unit. Hack it.
- Immediately lock up the loot cans and cargo scan for the two most valuable ones. Burn with the MWD to one, then hack it. Then make your way over to the self-destruct can and hack it. Then go hack the second most valuable can, then the third. By then the fourth can is a bonus. Warp out and pick up your secure container after the site despawns (if used), refit to your travel fit, and make your way home.
Ship Fittings
|
Exercise caution when downgrading these fits, as they have been thoroughly tested. They do not need to be modified, but meta modules can be upgraded to T2 equivalents (such as hardeners) if desired. |
The following "Site Run" fits represent the standard for moving around the site, and are equipped with a Microwarpdrive, Medium Shield Extender, both Analyzers and a cargo scanner. However, these fits are only safe to use once all Sentry Towers have been neutralized, because they have no specific hardeners to resist multiple hits. The standard fit can also be used for running the hidden room.
Heron - Std. Sleeper Cache Site Run
Data Analyzer II
5MN Quad LiF Restrained Microwarpdrive
Medium Azeotropic Restrained Shield Extender
Relic Analyzer II
Type-E Enduring Cargo Scanner
Damage Control II
Micro Auxiliary Power Core I
Small Anti-EM Screen Reinforcer I
Small Anti-Thermal Screen Reinforcer I
Small Gravity Capacitor Upgrade I
Hobgoblin II x3
- Not for skirmishing with Sentry Towers: it doesn't have enough resists to survive a couple of whacks from those guns.
- Drones are chosen because they are the cheapest non-T1 drones. Use as preferred.
Magnate - Std. Sleeper Cache Site Run
Relic Analyzer II
Data Analyzer II
5MN Quad LiF Restrained Microwarpdrive
Damage Control II
Small Armor Repairer II
200mm Crystalline Carbonide Restrained Plates
Micro Auxiliary Power Core I
Small Gravity Capacitor Upgrade I
Small Auxiliary Nano Pump I
Small Anti-Explosive Pump I
Hobgoblin II x3
- Swap an unneeded Analyzer out for a cargo scanner as needed.
The following fits are specifically for handling the two Sentry Towers in the back room while hacking the local Remote Defense Grid Unit. The hardeners can be upgraded to their T2 equivalents, along with Electron Blasters (or AutoCannons for the Magnate) if possible, as they will do more damage than railguns. The same fits are useful for shooting the Restless Sentry Tower in the middle area.
Propulsion: The Afterburner is vital for keeping the ship moving.
Tank: The EM and Thermal hardeners resist the damage types of the Sentry Guns, and the buffer tank can absorb one or two (maybe three) hits at the most.
Analyzer: The Data Analyzer is necessary to hack the Remote Defense Grid Unit.
Weaponry: The guns and the drones are there to kill one of the Sentry Guns.
One alternative is to fit a Heron with a Medium Ancillary Shield Booster with Heron. However, buffer is what makes resistances worthwhile, as the damage has to sink into something, and frigates and destroyers don't usually have the native HP to tank damage without a buffer (something normally reserved for cruisers and above). Therefore it's easy for a lucky wrecking hit to alpha an insufficiently tanked ship off the site.
It may also be possible to use two Anti-Thermal Screen Reinforcers and one T2 active EM hardener, which may enable fitting a shield booster. Experimenting with a friendly Bantam or Inquisitor pilot can help, or bring a Scythe for extra drone damage. (Use light drones. The 50m signature radius of the Towers means medium drones can hardly track them. Sentries work too.)
Heron - Shield AB Blasters SC Std. Cache BackRoom
125mm Gatling AutoCannon II, EMP S
125mm Gatling AutoCannon II, EMP S
Data Analyzer II
Limited 'Anointed' EM Ward Field
Medium Azeotropic Restrained Shield Extender
Limited Thermal Dissipation Field I
1MN Monopropellant Enduring Afterburner
Damage Control II
Micro Auxiliary Power Core I
Small Anti-EM Screen Reinforcer I
Small Anti-Thermal Screen Reinforcer I
Small Gravity Capacitor Upgrade I
Hobgoblin II x3
EMP S x1
- As it has only buffer, proper flying is essential to avoid taking too much damage.
- T2 Hardeners are optional.
Magnate - Std. Sleeper Cache Turret
125mm Light Gallium Machine Gun, Phased Plasma S
125mm Light Gallium Machine Gun, Phased Plasma S
1MN Monopropellant Enduring Afterburner
Data Analyzer II
Cap Recharger II
Armor EM Hardener II
Small Armor Repairer II
200mm Crystalline Carbonide Restrained Plates
Armor Thermal Hardener II
Small Gravity Capacitor Upgrade I
Small Auxiliary Nano Pump I
Small Anti-Explosive Pump I
Hobgoblin II x3
Phased Plasma S x1
- You may elect to swap out the Data Analyzer for an extra Capacitor Recharger, this will help with repair module usage, and/or swap for T2 Energized Thermal and EM Membranes.
- Be ready to overheat the Armor Repairer.
An Astero would be fit very similarly to the Magnate. The Heron has a greater base speed than both the Magnate and the Astero, which is nice.
Visual Reference
The images above quick a quick preview of the site. Examine the images below for detailed notation of most site features:
Walkthrough
|
|
WARNING: Inexperienced site runners may have tripped the Alarm which generates large Area of Effect clouds which deal in excess of 350 DPS (after resistances) to vessels. The site may also be already nearly finished by another runner. Use caution when proceeding further: inexperienced site runners may elect to abandon the site.
If the Alarm has been activated, and the Guardian Extermination Units are fully deployed, frigate pilots will have no choice but to slowboat cloaked to the Hidden Room, avoiding both damage clouds. Read the collapsed notation below for further information. A message can be announced in Local which reads: Warning! Massive amounts of corrosive materials have been released in the area, making it extremely hazardous to operate in! |
| Running a "tripped" site |
|---|
| Your ship will land at a different Beacon, as the warpin beacon is relocated once the Alarm is tripped and the Extermination Units spawn. Your ship may take some slight damage as it warps through the damage cloud: it is not enough to warrant any concern. The new beacon ensures you won't be immediately destroyed upon entry, however be very aware of the damage cloud sizes, and stay well away from them, along with a chance of a nearby Sentry Tower.
Assuming basic T1 frigates and standard cruisers like the Stratios, the only option is to slowboat to the Spatial Rift inside the site, ignoring all else inside the site. The hazards include the large damage clouds and the distant Sentry Towers which can engage out to 250km. Cloaking is recommended to slide up to the Rift without taking long-range damage which can wreck plans without too much difficulty. The slow speed under cloak is the only annoyance but is mandatory because the Towers in the backline (and possibly one or two in the middle) require such an approach. There won't be enough time or tank to burn through 70km to the Rift. Cruisers have enough hit points and tank ability to simply burn through. Basic cruisers like the Stratios will need a dual rep fit to survive against 3 Sentry Towers (assuming proper EM + Th hardeners), and will just have to burn through to the Hidden Room like the frigates, although MWDs are more or less a requirement and a consequence of that is increased damage taken. Any cruiser or above with greater than 1000 EHP/sec can simply ignore the damage clouds and hack the storage depots, though 1200 EHP/sec may be slightly better depending on the situation of the Sentry Towers. |
Entrance
Upon warping to the site, pilots will land in the first room, which contains one can, named the Hyperfluct Generator. The possibilities are below:
- CAN DIFFICULTY: 7/10 DATA [RED HACK]
- SUCCESS: A new Spatial Rift is generated, which functions identically to an Acceleration Gate. It will take you to the main area, which is called the Logistic Depot. (The site makes references to "frontline" and "backline": frontline refers to the area near the Tractor Beam, and backline refers to the area in the way back near the Sleeper Enclave structure.)
- FAILURE: You have two minutes to attempt a successful hack. Should you fail to hack it successfully within that timeframe, the site will despawn. Take your time and work slowly on the first hack to make the most of the first attempt.
- SUCCESS: A new Spatial Rift is generated, which functions identically to an Acceleration Gate. It will take you to the main area, which is called the Logistic Depot. (The site makes references to "frontline" and "backline": frontline refers to the area near the Tractor Beam, and backline refers to the area in the way back near the Sleeper Enclave structure.)
In dangerous space, you should look to see if the Hyperfluct Generator has been hacked already, and if the Spatial Rift is there. If it has, then someone may have been there before. If there are neutrals in system, it could also be an ambush.
Logistic Depot
After activating the Spatial Rift, pilots will land in the main area. Assuming no hostile players are present, there is no immediate danger.
| If you were looking to spoil the day of someone you don't like who got here first, you could try shooting the Sleeper Enclave in the back area to raise the Alarm Level (discussed later) to 5, for which then the Sleeper Extermination Units will spawn to create some nicely-sized AoE damage clouds which can wipe a frigate off the field handily. Then you can sneak around and go into the Hidden Room to run that yourself. |
At the warp-in, drop a mobile depot and bookmark it. While the timer on it is counting down, head over to the Remote Defense Grid Unit near the Coordinate Plotting Devices :
|
|
WARNING: Failure of the data hacks can cause the sitewide Alarm Level to increment. At Level 5, the Alarm will trip, however it may also trip at lower levels. Alarm trips have been confirmed at Levels 1, 2 and 3. |
- CAN DIFFICULTY: 8/10 DATA [RED HACK]
- SUCCESS: In the back area, one Sentry Gun will be deactivated (out of three), but another one near the Tractor Beam will be activated.
- FAILURE: Overall, the Site has a "sitewide" Alarm Level. Failing this hack (or the other one down below) will raise the Alarm Level by 1. The Alarm Level starts at 0 out of 5. At Alarm Level 4, pilots should proceed with extreme caution. At Level 5, the Sleeper Engineering Stations will spawn in each mini-room (the warpin, the Tractor Beam mini-room, and the Back Room mini-room) to generate highly dangerous damage clouds (though the alarm can also trip at lower levels).
- SUCCESS: In the back area, one Sentry Gun will be deactivated (out of three), but another one near the Tractor Beam will be activated.
The damage clouds are extremely dangerous to frigates, and will most likely destroy them in seconds.
| Guardian Extermination Unit Damage |
|---|
| When the Extermination units first spawn, they generate a smaller radius cloud. The exact radius of the small clouds is unknown. Here is the damage report of an Astero with just an Anti-Explosive armor rig and a Damage Control II equipped (near the end I dip into structure):
[ 2016.06.24 14:37:38 ] (combat) 44 from Guardian Extermination Unit - Hits 160 DPS. Once the damage clouds have enlarged, their damage radius is about 67km. Assuming roughly 63% resistances to all damage types, the expanded cloud does about 354 damage per second. Using EFT or Pyfa's calculations of Effective Hit Points per Second (EHP/s), a ship that can repair 900 EHP/s won't be destroyed right away, but will eventually be destroyed. 1200 EHP/sec is most likely sufficient to tank the clouds indefinitely. The Spatial Rift near the Calibration containers doesn't work with the Engineering Stations spawned. If you want to MJD to the back room while tanking the damage clouds, you must also account for the sentry tower damage. Output from the expanded clouds: [ 2016.06.20 01:08:53 ] (combat) 94 from Guardian Extermination Unit - Hits Here is a Polarized damage log. Most recent information is at the top. When the Guardian Extermination Units first spawn, they deal 400 damage per second, upgraded to 1000 DPS after 30 seconds of deployment. 02:21:55 Combat 250 from Guardian Extermination Unit - Hits |
Now, head over to the three Coordinate Plotting Devices on your right:
- CAN DIFFICULTY: 7/10 DATA [RED HACK]
- SUCCESS: The coordinate for the can which you just hacked is added into your ship's cargohold (using "Open Cargo" on the can is unnecessary).
- FAILURE: The Alarm Level may increment by 1 or trip.
- SUCCESS: The coordinate for the can which you just hacked is added into your ship's cargohold (using "Open Cargo" on the can is unnecessary).
Obtain all three coordinates. Place those three Coordinates (there should be X, Y, and Z Coordinates) into the Remote Calibration Device - High Power can nearby. To do this, get within 2500m of the container (it looks like a jetcan), "Open Cargo", and place the Coordinates from your ship's cargo hold into the container. A message will appear onscreen to indicate success.
Do not hack any of the depots in the first part of the site here. Experienced site runners know what to expect of these can run them as needed. (Have seen someone focus solely on the Pristine Storage Depot that spawns after successful hack of the Alarm Unit. It's risky still though.)
Go back to the mobile depot. Remove all unnecessary cloaks, probe launchers, unnecessary cargo, and travel-fit modules and pack them into the Mobile Depot itself to minimize loss in case of a mistake. Refit into one of the fits specified above for running the back room with an afterburner. (Experienced site runners: Use a Small Secure Container instead. Bring the Mobile Depot to refit in the back room.)
Once the ship has been refitted, head to the area to the right of warpin and approach the Spatial Rift.
|
|
Warning: An active Microwarpdrive on a frigate can be fatal if a Sentry Tower secures a good hit. The frigate fits cannot absorb too many errant strikes: failure to keep moving and maintain good transversal velocity will likely be fatal. |
Back Room
Activate the Spatial Rift.
| Why the Rift is used |
|---|
| The reason for using the Spatial Rift is because simply burning 200km to the back room will not go unnoticed by the 3 Sentry Towers in the back enclave. At the distances involved, your ship's effective transversal velocity will be low. The Sentry Towers can strike out to 250km, meaning that frigates will be toasted before they even make it halfway. In fact, a frigate with a Microwarpdrive on when the initial alpha strike happens could be destroyed with a single hit. Also be warned: There is a hidden Restless Sentry Tower that can be activated by proximity to the Tractor Beam zone, right next to the Tractor Beam itself. As seen in some of the images, hidden sentry towers can generate in two specific areas: near the Tractor Beam, and about 70km away from the Tractor Beam off to one side. Their activation proximity is roughly 20km of their spawn spot. Both Sentry Towers are duplicates of ones that can spawn by hacking the respective RDGUs which trigger them: killing either "type" (proximity activated or by hacking RDGUs) will not spawn another in the same spot.
The alternate method is to use the Tractor Beam. That method is detailed further down. |
Immediately after landing, turn on the Afterburner and orbit the Remote Defense Grid Unit, which will be ahead of your ship, slightly to the left of landing. Hack it. (Speed Tip: Lock up the Sentry Tower further away and put your drones on it for now. If you don't have the skills for a T2 Data Analyzer, now is when you'll start regretting it. I know it's long train. But it's worth it.)
Hack the Remote Defense Grid Unit:
- CAN DIFFICULTY: 8/10 [RED HACK]
- SUCCESS: The Sentry Gun to the left is deactivated, and one Sentry Gun in the Tractor Beam area is activated.
- FAILURE: The Alarm Level for the site is raised by 1 for each failure, or the alarm may trip. Messages in Local will track the alarm's progress.
- SUCCESS: The Sentry Gun to the left is deactivated, and one Sentry Gun in the Tractor Beam area is activated.
If the Alarm Level reaches Level 3, abort the hack procedure and instead shoot all the Towers until they're destroyed. As shown below, you may elect to swap out for a DPS ship or call someone else to whack the Towers. Cruise missiles are not a good choice because of the 50m signature radius of the Towers: small guns or sentries are a better choice. To be honest, the time spent reshipping is hardly worth it versus just using the same ship: although if a corpmate is bored, it'll give them something to do.
If the Remote Defense Grid Unit was successfully hacked, start approaching the nearby Sentry Gun while maintaining transversal velocity. Do not approach it head-on: manually pilot towards it at an angle. The Sentry Towers in the site fire once every 15 seconds, and skilled pilots can overheat their hardeners to mitigate damage further.
Once within range for drones and weapons, engage the Sentry Tower. It can be orbited safely at 7500m or closer. It has very low tracking and the fire rate is very slow, but individual hits are very powerful.
Once the Sentry Tower is down, which can take awhile (Sentry Towers have no shields, 40% armor resistances to all 4 damage types, and no resistances on structure), burn the Afterburner toward the middle area Restless Sentry Tower. (Optional: Refit for a Relic Analyzer and hack the nearby depots. Time saved: not much: but if the threat of a contest is present, it may be smarter.) Using the tactical overlay, head straight for the Tower until about 80km separates your ship from the Tower. Then begin spiraling in - if you do not spiral in, you will likely lose your ship. Shoot the Sentry Tower, which can be orbited at 2000m with the afterburner off to allow turrets to track more easily.
Then head back to the main area where the Mobile Depot was dropped.
Refit for a Microwarpdrive and Relic Analyzer. Activate the nearby Rift again. Impenetrable Storage Depots should appear on the Overview. Approaching within approximately 10km of them will cause them to transform into either a Mangled, Dented, Pristine or Intact Storage Depot:
- CAN DIFFICULTY: 5/10 to 9/10 RELIC [YELLOW to RED HACKS]
- SUCCESS: Loot may be collected normally.
- FAILURE: No penalty.
- SUCCESS: Loot may be collected normally.
A cargo scanner can be helpful to identify which cans are worth looting. Generally, the Pristine and Intact Depots have a higher chance of having valuable items inside.
Once finished, warp out of the site, then warp back in. Remember that if the Signature for the site has disappeared from the Probe Scanner window, the site will despawn in two minutes if you cloak up or warp out and fail to ensure that a ship is inside and active (not cloaked) inside the site to hold it open. Pilots can also return to the entrance manually with the Microwarpdrive, but it takes less effort to just warp out and back in.
Hidden Room
Back at the mobile depot, cargo scan the nearby containers: there's usually 2 Mangled and 1 Dented Storage Depot. The farther Mangled Storage Depot (at about 26km versus 10-14km for the other two relative to the warp-in beacon) is very important. Don't hack it yet.
|
|
Caution: Read both Case scenarios to understand what needs to be done before executing the instructions. |
Hack the two closer Storage Depots. Before hacking the farther one, fit both analyzers and a Microwarpdrive. See Ship Fittings above for fits.
| The warp-in beacon for the site is moved once the alarm has been tripped. |
Hack the "farther" Mangled Storage Depot:
- CAN DIFFICULTY: 6/10 RELIC [YELLOW HACK]
- SUCCESS: A Defense Alarm Unit can is spawned, and the can may be looted normally.
- FAILURE: No penalty.
- SUCCESS: A Defense Alarm Unit can is spawned, and the can may be looted normally.
Upon success, immediately loot the container, then quickly look for a Defense Alarm Unit can. The Defense Alarm Unit must be successfully hacked within 60 seconds or the alarm will trigger.
- CAN DIFFICULTY: 10/10 DATA [RED HACK]
- SUCCESS: The alarm is suppressed and a Pristine Storage Depot will spawn. Read Case 2 for what to do next.
- FAILURE: No penalty immediately, however the alarm is not suppressed. Only highly experienced hackers should attempt a second hack. Sleeper Engineering Stations will spawn in each room area which do massive DPS once fully expanded. Read Case 1 for instructions.
- SUCCESS: The alarm is suppressed and a Pristine Storage Depot will spawn. Read Case 2 for what to do next.
|
|
Do not spend too much time on the Defense Alarm Unit hack. Experienced hackers may be able to squeeze in a second attempt but those inexperienced with these high class hacks should not attempt a second try. The important thing is to save the ship first. |
This hack is very difficult. It's worth trying, but it can be hard even for experienced hackers. Don't spend too much time on the hack: just work quickly, and if it appears to be buried behind some impenetrable fortress of hostile nodes, simply abort and move on. It is much more important to leave within the time limit. Make sure to watch Local, as messages will relay the status of the alarm.
Case 1
If the first hacking attempt fails, or you've taken too long (more than 25 seconds), immediately manually direct your ship straight upwards. Activate the Microwarpdrive. The goal is to get as far away from the area as possible -- at least 100km by the time the Sleeper Engineering Stations spawn. A good benchmark is to be already at least 30km away burning the MWD when it says "Elevated alarm. Guardians will deploy in 30 seconds to clear out area."
Wait for the middle area Station to blow up. The detonation activates a rift which leads to the hidden room, as one Guardian Extermination Unit malfunctions, failing to expand its gas clouds to full size.
Burn to an area high above and between the two gas clouds. Avoid the lone Sentry Tower in the distance: approaching high and at a strong angle to the Rift is one way to avoid it. Activate the Rift when possible.
Case 2
After successfully disarming the Defense Alarm Unit container, the site must still be tripped for the Hidden Room to become accessible.
Take the Spatial Rift in the main area to head back to the back enclave. Using a hostile module such as a web, target painter, gun or the like (drones will not work), find and aggress the Sleeper Enclave structure. There are two "parts" of the structure with the same name, either one works. Immediately after aggressing the structure (the message in Local will indicate the alarm has tripped), point the ship upwards and activate the Microwarpdrive. You may also burn over to the Tractor Beam and fail the RDGU repeatedly (if you don't have guns or don't want to refit).
Allow the Engineering Stations to fully develop. Burn to the high middle area between them, avoiding the distance Sentry Tower and both highly dangerous gas clouds. After the Rift spawns in the middle, approach it whilst avoiding the toxic gas clouds. Take the rift.
Working inside the Hidden Room
The warpin area is safe upon landing and there are no hazards inside this room. If using the suggested Magnate fit, a cargo scanner will not be available to scan the cans.
Orbit the beacon at 7500m until a Remote Defense Grid Unit activates:
- CAN DIFFICULTY: 8/10 DATA [RED HACK]
- SUCCESS: Three Storage Depots will spawn. Shortly therafter, a Self-Destruct Reset container is generated, along with a fourth Storage Depot. A timer is set for the room to self-destruct all containers in 180 seconds (3 minutes).
- FAILURE: No penalty.
- SUCCESS: Three Storage Depots will spawn. Shortly therafter, a Self-Destruct Reset container is generated, along with a fourth Storage Depot. A timer is set for the room to self-destruct all containers in 180 seconds (3 minutes).
Immediately lock up all four loot cans. Quickly identify the one with the most valuable loot in it, either with a cargo scanner or by choosing an Intact or Pristine Depot at random:
- CAN DIFFICULTY: 6/10 - 8/10 RELIC [YELLOW / RED HACK]
- SUCCESS: Loot may be collected normally.
- FAILURE: No penalty.
- SUCCESS: Loot may be collected normally.
Go ahead and hack it, loot it, then approach the Self-Destruct can. Hack it:
- CAN DIFFICULTY: 8/10 DATA [RED HACK]
- SUCCESS: The count-down timer for the room is reset to 3 minutes.
- FAILURE: The count-down timer is set to 60 seconds, in which case the containers will self-destruct unless a successful re-hack is completed within 60 seconds, in which case it will be set back to 3 minutes.
- SUCCESS: The count-down timer for the room is reset to 3 minutes.
The Self-Destruct can may only be hacked once, meaning the room timer can only be reset once. Make haste towards the other two cans identified as having valuable cargo. When the clock is up, the cans not hacked detonate like they normally do in a regular data/relic site, and the explosions do not deal any damage.
Warp out of the site to a bounce point. If the Mobile Depot or Secure Container (bookmark it!) was left behind in the area where the toxic gas clouds are, wait for the site to despawn entirely, which it should do shortly (2-3 minutes).
| The high speed, high risk approach |
|---|
| The alternate approach for pilots who don't shoot the middle Restless Sentry Tower:
Having refitted, burn with the Microwarpdrive until located directly above the rift, between the gas clouds. The Sentry Gun near the rift can alpha a frigate off the field. It deals lots of damage; it fires (like all the others here) once every 15 seconds; it does EM and Thermal damage; and you need to get to the rift as fast as possible. Burn with the Microwarpdrive until about 85km out, then turn it off. Continue to slowboat. Make sure you can see your combat log (make sure it shows misses and hits) carefully on your screen. Having the Combat Log window pulled up helps too. The Sentry Gun fires every 15 seconds, but a Microwarpdrive cycles once every 10 seconds. Set your Microwarpdrive to "Autorepeat: Off". Wait until the Sentry Gun fires (and hits, or misses) the first time, then immediately activate the MWD and let it cycle once. Then when it fires (and misses, or hits) again, then hit the MWD again for one cycle. Repeat this until within activation range of the rift. This strategy is very dangerous. Skilled pilots can overheat their active hardeners for the period just before the Sentry Gun fires, given that hardeners cycle faster than the sentry guns fire. |
The Tractor Beam Method
Instead of putting the X, Y and Z Coordinates into the High Power Calibration Device, it is also possible to complete the site using the Low Power Calibration Device. Once the coordinates have been loaded into either Calibration Device can and Rift activated, the Rift cannot be re-calibrated. Leave the Remote Defense Grid Unit near the warp-in area alone - it's handy to forcibly trip the alarm for the hidden room, unless you'd prefer to aggress the Sleeper Enclave in the back area. One other thing: The Tractor beam is disabled once the Alarm has been tripped. Message in local: The Tractor Beam has powered down permanently, any further hacking attempts are impossible. It also seems to be that the Spatial Rift ceases to function once the Alarm is tripped. The Tractor Beam cannot pull depots from the back area that have been activated from their "hidden state": only the "Impenetrable Storage Depots" themselves can be pulled, not any Mangled, Intact, Pristine or Dented depots can be tractored.
The nice thing about using the Tractor Beam to pull cans is battleships and other ships capable of fitting Micro Jump Drives can easily jump to the structure from the warp in from the site without even using the Spatial Rift at all. Distant Sentry Towers can still aggress however. Such ships usually have a hard time in the Hidden Room because of their slow speed.
|
|
This approach exposes your vessel to long-range damage, which means that your transversal velocity relative to the distant Sentry Towers is low. Although the Sentry Towers may not aggress, frigates have a very hard time tanking the damage if they do. |
When the Rift has been calibrated using the Low Power can, the Rift will send ships over to the middle area near the tractor beam. Upon landing, there are several challenges:
- A hidden Sentry Tower will spawn and aggress. (Activation proximity roughly 15km.)
- Some of the Sentry Towers in the back room will also agress. Damage from the nearest Tower can be avoided, but the low effective angular velocity for the far Towers means ship will take damage from them.
- The nearby Remote Defense Grid Unit.
- The Tractor Beam "can".
This approach is not recommended for frigates, though an exploration cruiser such as a Stratios may be able to handle it better. By orbiting the nearby Remote Defense Grid Unit, ships won't take damage from the nearby Sentry Tower, but the distant ones hit hard. Pilots can bring a logistics buddy to tank the damage if they wish - at least 250 EHP/s is necessary to tank two Towers, provided that the target ship also has an oversized buffer fit.
Quickly orbit the nearby Remote Defense Grid Unit. This hack must be completed quickly.
- CAN DIFFICULTY: 7/10 DATA [RED HACK]
- SUCCESS: The nearby Sentry Gun is deactivated.
- FAILURE: No penalty for failure.
- SUCCESS: The nearby Sentry Gun is deactivated.
It may be necessary to warp out. If so, then warp back to the site, repair overloaded hardeners if needed, fix up, and go back again. Hack the Tractor Beam Unit. Doing so will pull all of the loot cans to an area just forward of the Tractor Beam. Assuming the Remote Defense Grid Unit near the Tractor Beam was successfully hacked, the Sentry Guns in the back room enclave should not aggress while looting the cans.
- CAN DIFFICULTY: 7/10 DATA [RED HACK]
- SUCCESS: The Tractor Beam will commence teleporting storage depots to the area nearby.
- FAILURE: No penalty for failure.
- SUCCESS: The Tractor Beam will commence teleporting storage depots to the area nearby.
In the approach to the hidden room outlined earlier, ship are aggressed by one Sentry Tower on the approach. In this method, ships are aggressed by two, which makes this approach more dangerous than the first. Pilots will need to trigger the Sleeper Guardians to activate the hidden rift. There are two methods, as earlier:
- 1. Hack the farther Mangled Storage Depot, and successfully hack the Alarm Unit. If successful, go to the nearby Remote Defense Grid Unit which should not have been hacked earlier (as doing so provides no particular benefit for this method), and deliberately fail it repeatedly. To do this, simply activate the Data Analyzer on the can, wait a couple of seconds, then abort the hack by closing the hacking window. As before, be ready to move far away with a Microwarpdrive.
- Aggressing the Sleeper Enclave structure in the back area (which is probably extremely dangerous to approach considering the 3 Sentry Towers present there in this method) will trigger the alarm level directly to 5. Any hostile module works, like a web or turret, however drones will not.
- 2. Failing the Alarm Unit hack. In this case, just burn out with the Microwarpdrive, and wait for things to develop.
