Cosmic Anomalies
Cosmic Anomalies (not to be confused with Cosmic Signatures) are exploration PvE sites that can be found throughout EVE. They are found using the system scanner, and require no skills to locate (unlike Cosmic Signatures, which require probes and probing skills). There are several types of Cosmic Anomalies:
- Combat Sites contain multiple NPC rats to be killed with a combat ship. They come in a variety of difficulties depending on the security level of the space where they are found.
- Ore sites contain asteroids to be mined for minerals or ice products; the ore is often of types that are not normally found in systems of the security rating that the anomaly is in.
- Ghost Sites (also known as "Covert Research Facilities") contain 4 data/relic cans to hack, which explode if the explorer fails the hack. Also, an invisible timer (about 2 minutes) starts on the first warp-in to the site, and once it is up, indestructible NPC rats will warp in, cause all cans to explode and shoot at the explorer for a while. Tanked cruisers or larger ships, or "egg-thief" (hacking only one can quickly, then leaving) tactics are recommended. Either analyzer (and its relevant skill) may be used for the hack.
- Contested Covert Research Facilities may be found in high- or low-sec[1] and are very similar to the regular Covert Research Facilities (Ghost Sites). They contain 1 data/relic can that explodes if the hacking/archaeology attempt fails. Just like Ghost Sites, there is also a hidden timer (45-60s) after which the can explodes.
- Besieged Covert Research Facilities, which are found only in low-sec[1], are more similar to combat sites, containing multiple cruiser- and battleship-class NPC rats to be killed with a combat ship. In addition, they may contain destructible structures with loot.
Note that this article only deals with the cosmic anomalies found in known space; wormhole space has its own sites which follow their own naming conventions etc.
How to Find Cosmic Anomalies
Cosmic Anomalies can be found by using your onboard scanner.
To find these sites, you simply jump into a system, check the onboard scanner and warp to any results. Cosmic Anomalies appear within a 4 AU range around planets. Open your onboard Probe Scanner by pressing ALT+P, and results will update automatically. When you have found an anomaly, warp there or create a bookmark of its position. Once an Anomaly has been completed, it will disappear after some time.
On occasion you may need to 'jiggle the wires' of your onboard scanner by de-selecting and re-selecting the show all check box to encourage them to appear.
Difficulty and Classification
Combat Sites
Combat site anomalies are ranked in difficulty by 10 levels/classes, and follow a naming scheme of (faction) (anomaly).
The rank of the anomaly depends on the security status of the system you are searching in. Within high-sec (security status 1.0 to 0.5) the lowest third (in terms of difficulty/value) will be found. Low-sec (security status of 0.4 to 0.1) contains the mid third of them and the highest third will be found within nullsec. The anomaly names are identical for all factions with the exception of Rogue Drone sites, which also differ slightly in which classes of space they are found in.
Some anomaly types may have more difficult variants in addition to the basic version, sub-divided into 3 more categories:
- (Faction) Hidden (anomaly) - easiest, but still harder than the basic version
- (Faction) Forsaken (anomaly) - middle
- (Faction) Forlorn (anomaly) - hardest
Ghost Sites
Ghost Sites occur in all classes of space, from high-sec to null-sec, and even in wormhole space. They are only divided into 4 difficulty/size categories, with progressively better loot but also more damage and rats (but always having 4 cans to hack). Ghost Sites are named according to a standard scheme of (size) (faction) Covert Research Facility, with (size) depending only on the security class of the system:
- "Lesser" in high sec
- "Standard" in low sec
- "Improved" in null sec
- "Superior" in wormholes
See the main Ghost Site article for more information.
Contested Covert Research Facilities
The only known variant is the Contested Guristas Covert Research Facility (evelopedia). It contains 1 hackable can, called a Guristas Transponder Tower. If the hack fails or after about 45-60s from the first warp-in to the site (even if the can has already been emptied), the can explodes for roughly 2000 raw explosive damage. Even exploration frigate (Magnate,Heron, Helios or Probe) can be fitted to survive this with some tanking modules/rigs: one could for example swap out one analyzer and the cargo scanner often found in exploration fits for a small Shield Extender and a Explosive Deflection Field, and if necessary change 1 lowslot module for a Damage Control. These modules take 15m³ of space from your cargo hold and can be fitted in at any nearby station, and back out once you've done the site (remember to repair any armor/hull damage you may have suffered).
Besieged Covert Research Facilities
Again, only 1 version is known, the Besieged Guristas Covert Research Facility (evelopedia). The site has two waves of Mordu's Legion cruiser and battleship rats. They use missiles and will use different damage types to test your resistances to find the weakest one, in addition to tackling you with webs and points. Notable loot, some of it coming from the destructible structures (Guristas Research and Trade Hubs and/or Thukker Labs) which may be found in these sites, includes higher-end implants and Ship Skin BPCs, as well as some special module BPCs.
See Also
- Exploration combat sites for new players
- Dev blog introducing Ghost Sites: http://community.eveonline.com/news/dev-blogs/ghastly-hotbed-of-spaceship-trauma/
- Dev blog introducing the Contested and Besieged Covert Research Facilities: http://community.eveonline.com/news/dev-blogs/sweeping-death-and-chaos/
