Difference between revisions of "Exploration"

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= Introduction =
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{{Update|November 9, 2021 patch (Version 19.10), added new types of Exploration sites. Add to main Explo page, and any other relevant page (e.g. Data and Relic sites) as appropriate.}}
The [http://www.eveonline.com/odyssey/ Odyssey expansion] to EVE Online took steps to streamline exploration in an effort to make it as easy an early money-making profession to get into as [[Mining|mining]] or [[Missions|mission running]]. While they did an admirable job, exploration can still be a bit daunting at first.
 
  
This guide is intended to provide new players with all the information they need to get started in exploring in high-security space. More experienced players who are new to exploration, or that have not explored since the Odyssey patch will find the sections on [[Odyssey_Exploration#Exploration_Using_Probes|probing]] and [[Odyssey_Exploration#Relic_Sites_and_Data_Sites:_Hacking|hacking]] useful, as they are updated to contain information on the changes that were made to both systems.
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{{Exploration links}}
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{{related class | Exploration (CORE class) }}
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'''Exploration''' in EVE involves using scanning probes to locate [[cosmic signatures]] in space which may contain hackable containers with items inside, resources like [[Gas cloud harvesting|gas clouds]] or ore, [[wormholes]] to distant star systems, or collections of NPCs which may drop rare items. As a profession, exploration can be profitable and engaging, and offers better rewards for players willing to travel in more dangerous space. It has a low skill barrier, and new players can start exploring almost from day 1.
  
New players will learn...
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Players will learn what [[Exploration skills|skills]] are required to start exploring, what ships and equipment are best for the new explorer, what sorts of areas can be [[probe scanning|located]] using the exploration mechanics, how to use probes to track down hidden exploration sites, and how to use analyzer modules to hack into loot containers in exploration sites.
  
* [[Odyssey_Exploration#Skills|What skills are required to start exploring.]]
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== Scanning ==
* [[Odyssey_Exploration#Ships|What ships and equipment are best for the new explorer.]]
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{{main|Probe scanning}}
* [[Odyssey_Exploration#Checking_Your_Ship_Scanner|What sorts of areas can be located using the exploration mechanics.]]
 
* [[Odyssey_Exploration#Probing_Down_an_Exploration_Site|How to use probes to track down hidden exploration sites.]]
 
* [[Odyssey_Exploration#Relic_Sites_and_Data_Sites:_Hacking|How to use analyzer modules to hack into loot containers in exploration sites.]]
 
  
= Getting Started as an Explorer =
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The main object of an explorer is to track down hidden areas found in systems across all of the EVE universe. These areas contain valuable items or other points of interest, but cannot be warped to initially. Instead, a player must use their ship's scanner and their Probe Launcher to track down the “signals” of these hidden areas through a process generally referred to as “probing,” or “scanning,” or “exploring.” If you’ve ever heard someone mention that they are going to “probe down a site”… this is it!
== Skills ==
 
Much like Mining, Exploration doesn't require a high skill level to get started. The three basic Exploration related skills are...
 
  
* [[Skills:Science#Astrometrics|Astrometrics]] (+5% scan strength per level, -5% max scan deviation per level, -5% scan probe scan time per level)
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You’ve found a quiet system to explore and are safely nestled in a comfortable spot. Cocoa and blankets are optional. Time to explore! Pop open your ship’s scanner using the little button on your ship’s HUD that has a picture of a radar screen on it (or press {{button|ALT}} + {{button|P}}). While you were parking your ship somewhere, your scanner was busy! It’s more than likely tracked down a few points of interest throughout the system. Note that if your scanner readout says “No Signals Detected,” that means the system is currently empty. Head to a different system to explore, but note that you can always come back to this system again later to see if anything juicy has appeared.
** Astrometrics allows you to use a Probe Launcher to launch (crazily enough) Scan Probes which are used to locate hidden exploration sites filled with loot, enemies you can destroy, valuable gas clouds, or even wormholes to unknown parts of space!
 
** New characters start their career with Astrometrics 1, but existing characters can easily obtain the skillbook from the Exploration tutorial missions.
 
** While Astrometrics is less required than it was pre-Odyssey, the array of bonuses it provides is very useful, and any true explorer should plan to raise it to at least level 4, which is required to learn the advanced skill [[Skills:Science#Astrometric_Pinpointing Astrometric|Pinpointing]].
 
* [[Skills:Science#Archaeology|Archaeology]] (Required skill for the use of Relic Analyzer modules. Gives +10 Virus Coherence per level.)
 
** Archaeology is required to operate Relic Analyzers, which are a fairly cheap mid-slot module used to interact with structures found inside exploration-located Relic Sites. A good amount of your income as an explorer will come from accessing these structures, so this is an important skill!
 
** Higher skill levels make the minigame associated with opening Relic Site structures easier, with Archaeology 5 allowing you to use the more-powerful Relic Analyzer II module. This is a significant upgrade, so any serious explorer should plan to eventually max this skill out.
 
* [[Skills:Science#Hacking|Hacking]] (Required skill for the use of Data Analyzer modules. Gives +10 Virus Coherence per level.)
 
** Like Archaeology, Hacking is required to use Data Analyzers, which open structures found in Data Sites. Hacking 1 is slightly harder to train to than Archaeology 1, but make sure you get both skills: Data Sites tend to be a bit more lucrative than Relic Sites, and trust me, you won't want to miss out on any sites you find!
 
** Also like Archaeology, higher skill levels make the Hacking minigame easier, and Hacking 5 will give you access to a more powerful hacking module.
 
  
There are some additional skills you can train as you advance in your exploration career to make finding hidden exploration sites easier.
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When you first enter a system, none of its Cosmic Signatures will have any identifying information besides a generic designation, such as “MRM-213”. However, much like Cosmic Anomalies, Cosmic Signatures come in several types. You just won’t know exactly what you are tracking down until you pull out your probes!
  
* [[Skills:Science#Astrometric Rangefinding|Astrometric Rangefinding]] (+5% probe scan strength)
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=== A Good Place to Start ===
* [[Skills:Science#Astrometric Pinpointing|Astrometric Pinpointing]] (-5% maximum scan deviation)
 
** Both these skills make it easier to track down difficult-to-find sites. Rangefinding can be learned and trained at the start of your career, if you are so inclined, while Pinpointing requires Astrometrics 4 as a prerequisite.
 
* [[Skills:Science#Astrometric Acquisition|Astrometric Acquisition]] (-5% scan time)
 
** Not as important at the start of your career, Acquisition speeds up how long a single scanning cycle takes: the default is approximately 10 seconds. Later on, when you are scanning in hostile territory, or attempting to probe for the location of an enemy ship, Acquisition becomes an important supplemental skill, but as a new explorer, patience is a more than adequate substitute.
 
 
 
== Ships ==
 
Any ship with a high slot can fit a Probe Launcher and start to explore. This is a useful fact to keep in mind as you advance in your career and start thinking about fitting ships to accomplish multiple tasks (i.e., explore in hostile territory, explore and complete any Combat Sites located).
 
 
 
However, a new explorer would be best served flying a ship specifically designed for exploration: a '''Tech 1 Exploration Frigate'''. Each race has one...
 
 
 
* Gallente [[Imicus]]
 
* Minmatar [[Probe]]
 
* Amarr [[Magnate]]
 
* Caldari [[Heron]]
 
 
 
All give a 7.5% increase to scan strength of probes per Racial Frigate level, as well as a static +5 bonus to the Virus Strength of any Relic or Data Analyzers you fit. Each also gives a small bonus to Salvager cycle time, in case you occasionally use your ship to salvage wrecks. Useful bonuses all around!
 
 
 
Feel free to use whichever one is easiest for you to fly, likely the one of your starting race, as they all run pretty close in effectiveness. If you're open to cross-training and would like some further subjective guidance, the [[Imicus]] is perhaps the best choice of those four owing to its extra drone capacity, while the [[Magnate]] suffers somewhat from having only three mid slots, which is just barely enough to fit the three core modules required for exploration.
 
 
 
== Equipment and Modifications ==
 
=== Probes and Probe Launchers ===
 
The key module required for exploration is the Probe Launcher, which fits in a ship's high slot. Probes and Probe Launchers are available in several different varieties, but for the beginning explorer, you should only be concerned with one type of each.
 
 
 
* '''Core Probe Launcher I'''
 
** Easy to fit, and does the job. It can only fire the most basic of probes, however, but this isn't a problem for the majority of explorers.
 
* '''Core Scanner Probe I'''
 
** The basic ammunition for the Core Probe Launcher. They are reusable, and the Core Probe Launcher can hold eight at a time. You can technically locate an exploration site with as few as four, but for convenience, it's a good idea to carry at least one full reload (8), or even several reloads. This guide will assume you have at least 8 probes in your cargo hold at all times.
 
 
 
Both of these items are also available as a more expensive Sisters of Eve Faction version.
 
 
 
* '''Sisters Core Probe Launcher'''
 
** Provides a 10% bonus to scan strength of probes, but is very expensive: as of 6/7/2013, it is selling for just over 55M ISK at Jita.
 
* '''Sisters Core Scanner Probe'''
 
** Sisters probes have 10% greater scan strength than the garden variety Core Scanner Probes. They're a bit expensive, but vastly more affordable than the Sisters launcher: as of 6/7/2013, they are selling for just over 700K ISK apiece at Jita.
 
 
 
Consider looking into these as an upgrade once you're starting to get the hang of exploration, but remember EVE Rule #1: don't use them if you can't afford to lose them!
 
 
 
=== Core Exploration Modules ===
 
In addition to your Probe Launcher for finding exploration sites, you'll need a few core pieces of equipment in order to effectively plunder what you find for loot! These are all modules that fit in mid slots on your frigate.
 
 
 
* '''Relic Analyzer I and Data Analyzer I'''
 
** As mentioned previously, these are required to access the loot structures in any Relic or Data Sites you find while exploring. You will definitely want both, and the vanilla level I version is perfectly fine to start out with.
 
* '''Cargo Scanner I'''
 
** Successfully accessing an exploration structure starts a short "twitch-based" encounter that involves tractor beaming loot containers into your ship's cargo hold. A Cargo Scanner makes this game easier by giving you advance notice of exactly which loot containers you should go after during the encounter. It will also tell you which structures in an exploration site are the most valuable, which becomes extraordinarily important if you get into a situation in which you're competing with another explorer for the loot!
 
 
 
While the above three are what I'd consider "core" modules for running exploration sites, I'd also strongly recommend fitting your ship with a 1MN Microwarpdrive module to make travel to and around scanned areas much easier. This makes a total of four mid slot modules, which is one more than the Amarr Magnate can slot. If you're piloting one of those, you'll have to make occasional decisions about which of these four modules to leave back at the station. In most situations, this should probably be the Microwarpdrive, but if you know for a fact that you will only be ransacking exploration sites of a single type (Relic or Data), you can always temporarily forgo the Analyzer of the type that you will not be using.
 
 
 
=== Rounding Out Your Fitting ===
 
After fitting your Probe Launcher and exploration modules, you'll have some space leftover for other equipment. What you choose here depends on your playstyle, but here are some general recommendations. It's also recommended that you take a peek at the [[Fitting Modules and Rigs Guide]] for more information on the sorts of options available to you here.
 
 
 
==== Cloaking ====
 
Most explorers will use a high slot to fit a cloaking device on their frigate: in this case, a Prototype Cloaking Device I. The topic of [[Cloaking]] is beyond the scope of this article, and generally unnecessary for any high-sec exploration that you undertake, but it's something to keep in mind for your future development as an explorer.
 
 
 
==== High-Sec PvE Combat ====
 
A reasonable option for a new explorer is adding a few modules to make your ship capable of handling some of the easier combat encounters that you'll encounter while probing high-sec space. Specific fits will vary depending on your choice of frigate, but some options include...
 
 
 
* Weapons
 
** You'll likely have one or two high slots available for weapon turrets or missile launchers. None of the Tier 1 Exploration Frigates get bonuses to weapons, so whatever racial weapon you've likely been cross-training would be appropriate here. Something longer range would likely be better: the Exploration Frigates are not built for slugging things out.
 
* An armor or shield tank
 
** Tanking is beyond the scope of this article, but thankfully the University has good lessons in place already for both [[Shield Tanking]] and [[Armour Tanking]]. Equipping your ship with a few appropriate tanking modules will increase its survival rate if you decide to tangle with easier NPC targets. Note that you should never try to build both a shield tank AND armour tank on the same ship, and that shield tanking generally requires mid slots, of which your exploration kit is already eating three. Beyond those caveats, a Shield Extender or some Armor Plates might make the difference between successful retreat and successful ejection from your freshly destroyed ship.
 
* A Salvager
 
** Salvaging the wrecks left by destroyed NPC ships is a great supplementary form of income for a new player, so consider strapping a Salvager I module to your frigate if you are going to tangle with Combat Sites. Note that if you are only taking your ship through non-Combat Sites (Data Sites and Relic Sites), a Salvager is not required. This wasn't the case previous to Odyssey! More info on salvaging can be found by reading [[Salvaging 101]].
 
* Drones
 
** Exploration Frigates aren't exactly built to destroy, but all of them can carry a payload of drones with them that will make quick work of NPC frigates. It's advisable to carry a full Drone Bay of appropriate light scout drones any time you are planning to run high-sec Combat Sites. Indeed, since they're very cheap and there is no downside to having them at hand, it's advisable to carry them anytime! Drones are useful in a wide variety of situations in Eve, so definitely give [[Drones 101]] a read and learn more about these incredible little guys.
 
** Since you're going to be using drones offensively, a Drone Damage Amplifier is a good choice for a free low slot.
 
 
 
==== Miscellaneous ====
 
* Several new mid slot modules exist that increase your scanning abilities: the Scan Acquisition Array, the Scan Pinpointing Array and the Scan Rangefinding Array. While these may eventually be worth looking into as an upgrade, they are very new and thus very expensive, and more likely than not, you won't have the mid slots open for them anyway!
 
* Some low slot modules than increase ship agility and speed exist, namely Inertial Stabilizers, Nanofiber Structures and Overdrive Injectors. Speed is always useful, as it makes maneuvering between exploration site structures easier, and makes it more likely for you to escape if something goes wrong. Of the three modules listed, Nanofiber Structures are probably your best bet, as they raise several speed/agility related stats in exchange for a none-too-painful drawback.
 
 
 
==== Rigs ====
 
The most likely rig that you'll want to toss onto an Exploration Frigate is the Gravity Capacitor Upgrade I, which increases probe scan strength by 10%. Oddly, it's mathematically better to fit two of the level I versions of this rig rather than try to slot the larger II version, which works out great if you're a low-skill explorer.
 
 
 
= Exploration Using Probes =
 
The main object of an explorer is to track down hidden areas found in systems across all of the EVE universe. These areas contain valuable items or other points of interest, but cannot be warped to initially. Instead, a player must use their ship's scanner and their Probe Launcher to track down the "signals" of these hidden areas through a process generally referred to as "probing", or "scanning", or "exploring". If you've ever heard someone mention that they are going to "probe down a site"... this is it!
 
 
 
At this point, it is assumed that you are in an exploration ready vessel, much like the one outlined in the above section, and that you are packing a payload of at least 8 Core Scanner Probes.
 
 
 
== A Good Place to Start ==
 
 
When you first begin exploring, you will likely want to stick to high-security space: systems with a security status anywhere from 0.5 to 1.0. You will be pretty safe in these systems, but there are some best practices you can start to follow so that they are routine as you move into exploring more dangerous space.
 
When you first begin exploring, you will likely want to stick to high-security space: systems with a security status anywhere from 0.5 to 1.0. You will be pretty safe in these systems, but there are some best practices you can start to follow so that they are routine as you move into exploring more dangerous space.
  
 
* Explore in quiet systems
 
* Explore in quiet systems
** Pop open your Star Map and set it to look for "Number of players in the last half hour". This will set your map to display large or small circles that indicate how much traffic a particular system has seen recently. In high-sec space, your biggest annoyance as an explorer will be other high-sec explorers: there are only so many exploration sites out there, and you will be racing other explorers for them. Areas with lots of traffic typically won't have any exploration sites of interest to you, and the ones that ''do'' appear will likely be pounced on by someone else. Don't get into a tug-of-war with other high-sec explorers: find a quiet stretch of systems somewhere and do your exploration there!
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** Pop open your Star Map and set it to look for “Number of players in the last half hour.This will set your map to display large or small circles that indicate how much traffic a particular system has seen recently. In high-sec space, your biggest annoyance as an explorer will be other high-sec explorers: there are only so many exploration sites out there, and you will be racing other explorers for them. Areas with lots of traffic typically won’t have any exploration sites of interest to you, and the ones that ''do'' appear will likely be pounced on by someone else. Don’t get into a tug-of-war with other high-sec explorers: find a quiet stretch of systems somewhere and do your exploration there!
 
* Explore from a safe place
 
* Explore from a safe place
 
** While probing for exploration sites, your ship will be motionless for extended periods of time. This is dangerous in many parts of EVE. In high-sec, you will probably be perfectly safe idling some distance from a dockable station, or, say, 100km out from a planet. You will be even safer if you have a cloak fitted and activate it when you get to your spot. Indeed, you can explore cloaked so long as you remember to launch your probes ''first'' before engaging the cloaking device. In low-sec and other dangerous parts of space, you will want to explore from what's called a '''Safe Spot''', and you will pretty much always want to be cloaked. You can find more info on locating and using Safe Spots in the [[Bookmarks]] lesson, and high-sec is a great place to get in the habit of using Safe Spots to explore unhindered!
 
** While probing for exploration sites, your ship will be motionless for extended periods of time. This is dangerous in many parts of EVE. In high-sec, you will probably be perfectly safe idling some distance from a dockable station, or, say, 100km out from a planet. You will be even safer if you have a cloak fitted and activate it when you get to your spot. Indeed, you can explore cloaked so long as you remember to launch your probes ''first'' before engaging the cloaking device. In low-sec and other dangerous parts of space, you will want to explore from what's called a '''Safe Spot''', and you will pretty much always want to be cloaked. You can find more info on locating and using Safe Spots in the [[Bookmarks]] lesson, and high-sec is a great place to get in the habit of using Safe Spots to explore unhindered!
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** After finding a safe spot for your ship, an extra precaution you can take is to '''point your ship in a semi-random direction away from the system’s major points of interest and (if you're not cloaked) then activate your Afterburner or Microwarpdrive'''. You can safely do this while focusing the majority of your attention on your probing. This is very helpful if you are flying without a cloak: the forward momentum makes it harder for hostile players to track you down, and even if they manage to, you will have a head start on them and should be able to escape!
  
== Checking Your Ship Scanner ==
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=== Probing Down an Exploration Site ===
You've found a quiet system to explore and are safely nestled in a comfortable spot. Cocoa and blankets are optional. Time to explore! Pop open your ship's scanner using the little button on your ship's HUD that has a picture of a radar screen on it (or press ALT-D). While you were parking your ship somewhere, your scanner was busy! It's more than likely tracked down a few points of interest throughout the system. Note that if your scanner readout says "No Signals Detected", that means the system is currently empty. Head to a different system to explore, but note that you can always come back to this system again later to see if anything juicy has appeared.
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The goal of probing is to increase a Signature’s Signal Strength to 100%. Your system has a few [[cosmic signatures]] listed, and you’re well versed in what could possibly be out there. Let’s probe one down [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wErCHjNTsRA in this video], or as follows below.
 
 
There are two types of signal that your scanner may have just picked up: '''Cosmic Anomalies''' and '''Cosmic Signatures'''.
 
 
 
=== [[Cosmic Anomalies]] ===
 
[[Cosmic Anomalies]] are areas of interest that radiate a strong enough signal that you can jump to them immediately after your ship scanner finds them. You don't need to do any fancy probing or anything: just click and go! Of course, since ''everyone'' can easily see these sites, they're typically less rewarding, and possibly more crowded than Cosmic Signatures.
 
 
 
Cosmic Anomalies come in two general types...
 
 
 
* '''Combat Sites'''
 
** These sites are a single area filled with several waves of NPC opponents. Blow them up for bounties and loot! Check the [[Cosmic Anomalies]] page for information on the general difficulty of these sites. If you built the High-Sec PvE Combat frigate outlined earlier, you should be able to handily deal with Cosmic Anomalies of the lowest two difficulties (Burrows and Hideaways).
 
* '''Ore Sites'''
 
** These sites are temporary pockets filled with either ice asteroids, which can be mined for fuel components, or regular asteroids of a rarer type not normally found in that system. You can tell what kind of asteroids are within the site by the site's name: they're pretty obvious. These can be interesting places to head if you've cross-trained as a miner, but remember, because they are so easily found, they will likely be filled with other pilots, both friendly and less so.
 
 
 
=== [[Cosmic Signatures]] ===
 
[[Cosmic Signatures]] are the bread and butter of an explorer. These are hidden areas that cannot be warped to unless tracked down by probes. Because of this extra step, Cosmic Signature exploration areas can be very lucrative, even in high-sec space!
 
  
When you first enter a system, none of its Cosmic Signatures will have any identifying information besides a generic designation, such as "MRM-213". However, much like Cosmic Anomalies, Cosmic Signatures come in several types. You just won't know exactly what you are tracking down until you pull out your probes!
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[[File:scanwin_orange.jpg|thumb|200px|The scanner window, with two Anomalies and a Signature]]
  
* '''Combat Sites'''
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* '''You already have the scanning panel open, but let’s hit {{button|F9}} to open up the Solar System Map.''' This is a “wireframe” representation of the system you are currently in, complete with all the major celestials, like planets, moons and the sun. Since you have your scanning window open, there should be some green and/or red dots and spheres on your map. These represent the Anomalies and Signatures currently tracked by your scanner, as well as their general location. Green dots indicate areas that you can warp to, either an Anomaly or a Signature you have scanned down. Red dots or spheres represent the general area in which your ship’s scanner is detecting the signal of a Cosmic Signature. We’re going to have to narrow that down in order to warp there.
** Combat Sites that are tracked as Cosmic Signatures are more complex than Cosmic Anomalies: indeed, they ''are'' complexes! Complexes are EVE's version of "dungeons". They are made up of several "rooms" of space connected by Acceleration Gates, and they frequently have containers filled with great loot. Of course, they are also guarded by large numbers of NPC ships. Cosmic Signature Combat Sites come in two general flavors, both of which are more difficult than the equivalent Cosmic Anomaly site: [http://wiki.eveonline.com/en/wiki/DED_Complex_List DED Complexes] and [http://wiki.eveonline.com/en/wiki/Unrated_Complex_List Unrated Complexes]. While the High-Sec PvE Combat frigate listed above ''might'' be able to clear the 1/10 difficulty version of these Combat Sites, you're probably better off fielding a separate, combat-oriented ship to deal with them. Just probe down the site's location, save it as a bookmark by right-clicking on it, then pilot a bigger, angrier ship in and enjoy!
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* '''The bottom left of your scanner window has an icon that looks a bit like an atom.''' That’s the shortcut for the “Pinpoint” probe formation. '''Press it''', and your ship will launch its payload of probes and automatically arrange them in a Pinpoint formation. Neat!
* '''Relic Sites'''
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* '''You should now notice that some blue spheres have appeared on your Solar System map.''' That’s the general area that your probes can currently scan. The center probe in this formation is represented by a white box with arrows sticking out of it. '''You can click and drag those arrows to move the probes around: by default, dragging that center probe will move ''all'' the probes together in formation. This is useful. Now, in order to start tracking down a Signature, you will need to drag your probes so they are centered over one of the red Signature dots or spheres and then press the Analyze button on the middle left of your scanning window.''' This will scan that area more thoroughly with your probes, and will take a few seconds to complete. If the signature’s red sphere is larger than the area your probes’ blue spheres cover, hold {{button|ALT}} and expand the sphere size. This will increase the range of your probes so you can scan the whole red sphere. If all this is done correctly, the scan will complete and increase the '''Signal Strength''' of your chosen Signature. This is listed on the far right of your scanning window.
** Relic Sites are locations filled with abandoned structures filled with salvage and other loot. Best of all, in high-sec space, they're filled ''only'' with valuables: no NPC defenders. Your exploration frigate can happily sail into these sites and use their Relic Analyzer on the structures within to pry out valuables. You'll have to play a little minigame to get at the loot, however, but this article will get to that soon!
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* '''The goal of probing is to increase a Signature’s Signal Strength to 100%.''' As you continue to increase the Signal Strength, you will begin to learn more and more about the Signature: first, what type of Site it is, followed by the specific name of the site, and then finally, the Signature’s actual location so you can warp to it! Obviously, this is why we’ve picked a ship and equipment that raises the scan strength of our probes: it makes it much easier to get this number to 100%.
* '''Data Sites'''
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* Now, it’s unlikely this first scan got the signal to 100%. '''In order to further increase its Signal Strength, we’re going to have to give our probes more power by reducing the range of their scan.''' We do this by clicking and holding the outside edge of one of the probe’s blue spheres and then dragging it inward. This will decrease the size of your scan. '''Now, re-center your probes on your signature’s dot or sphere and hit the Activate button again.''' If done correctly, your smaller scan area should still catch the Signature and will end up increasing its Signal Strength.
** Data Sites work much like Relic Sites, only they require a Data Analyzer to access, and typically contain more valuable loot items. Items worth millions of ISK frequently drop here even in high-sec, so keep a sharp eye out for them!
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* '''Most Signatures can be probed down by repeating this process: reduce your scan range by a step, re-center your probes on the Signature, and scan!''' It’s just that easy.
* '''Gas Sites'''
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* Once you’ve raised the Signal Strength to 100%, '''the Signature’s Signal Strength will turn into an arrow you can click to warp to the newly located Site.''' Congratulations! You’re exploring!
** Most high-sec Gas Sites are Nebulas, which are quiet, undefended areas that have several gas clouds that can be harvested with specialized, expensive equipment. Sadly, most high-sec gasses are not worth much ISK, either, meaning that most new explorers should avoid these sites. Gas Sites are more lucrative in lower-security space, which you likely won't venture into at first.
 
** Occasionally, a Gas Site may be a Lab or other facility that pirates have set up to harvest the gas for themselves. These areas are a combination of Combat Site and Data Site, and contain hackable structures that are guarded by NPC opponents.
 
* '''Wormholes'''
 
** Wormholes are temporary gates that can take your ship from your current system to almost anywhere else in space, including dangerous "uncharted" areas referred to as "wormhole space" or "w-space". W-space areas contain the most lucrative exploration sites in the game, but all of them are guarded by powerful Sleeper NPCs, even the Relic and Data Sites that are so tame in high-sec. For these reasons, at the start of your career, you should leave wormholes alone... but don't forget about them! Later articles will go into how you can begin dipping your exploration toe into the vast, untamed pond of wormhole space.
 
 
 
== Probing Down an Exploration Site ==
 
Your system has a few [[Cosmic Signatures]] listed, and you're well versed in what could possibly be out there. Let's probe one down.
 
 
 
[[File:scanwin_orange.jpg|200px|thumb|right|The scanner window, with two Anomalies and a Signature]]
 
 
 
* '''You already have the scanning panel open, but let's hit F10 to open up the Solar System Map.''' This is a "wireframe" representation of the system you are currently in, complete with all the major celestials, like planets, moons and the sun. Since you have your scanning window open, there should be some green and/or red dots and spheres on your map. These represent the Anomalies and Signatures currently tracked by your scanner, as well as their general location. Green dots indicate areas that you can warp to, either an Anomaly or a Signature you have scanned down. Red dots or spheres represent the general area in which your ship's scanner is detecting the signal of a Cosmic Signature. We're going to have to narrow that down in order to warp there.
 
* '''The middle left of your scanner window has an icon that looks a bit like an atom.''' That's the shortcut for the "Pinpoint" probe formation. '''Press it''', and your ship will launch its payload of probes and automatically arrange them in a Pinpoint formation. Neat!
 
* '''You should now notice that some blue spheres have appeared on your Solar System map.''' That's the general area that your probes can currently scan. The center probe in this formation is represented by a white box with arrows sticking out of it. '''You can click and drag those arrows to move the probes around: by default, dragging that center probe will move ''all'' the probes together in formation. This is useful. Now, in order to start tracking down a Signature, you will need to drag your probes so they are centered over one of the red Signature dots or spheres and then press the Scan button on the middle left of your scanning window.''' This will scan that area more thoroughly with your probes, and will take a few seconds to complete. If the signature's red sphere is larger than the area your probes' blue spheres cover, click and hold the outside edge of one of the blue spheres and drag outward. This will increase the range of your probes so you can scan the whole red sphere. If all this is done correctly, the scan will complete and increase the '''Signal Strength''' of your chosen Signature. This is listed on the far right of your scanning window.
 
* '''The goal of probing is to increase a Signature's Signal Strength to 100%.''' As you continue to increase the Signal Strength, you will begin to learn more and more about the Signature: first, what type of Site it is, followed by the specific name of the site, and then finally, the Signature's actual location so you can warp to it! Obviously, this is why we've picked a ship and equipment that raises the scan strength of our probes: it makes it much easier to get this number to 100%.
 
* Now, it's unlikely this first scan got the signal to 100%. '''In order to further increase its Signal Strength, we're going to have to give our probes more power by reducing the range of their scan.''' We do this by clicking and holding the outside edge of one of the probe's blue spheres and then dragging it inward. This will decrease the size of your scan. '''Now, re-center your probes on your signature's dot or sphere and hit the scan button again.''' If done correctly, your smaller scan area should still catch the Signature and will end up increasing its Signal Strength.
 
* '''Most Signatures can be probed down by repeating this process: reduce your scan range by a step, re-center your probes on the Signature, and scan!''' It's just that easy.
 
* Once you've raised the Signal Strength to 100%, '''the Signature's bar on your scanner window will turn green, and you can click the arrow to warp to the newly located Site.''' Congratulations! You're exploring!
 
  
 
=== Probing Tips and Troubleshooting ===
 
=== Probing Tips and Troubleshooting ===
 +
* You may occasionally come across a Signature that refuses to hit 100%, despite the fact that you have your probes centered on it at their minimum range (0.25 AU). If this happens, there are a couple things you can try before giving up and resolving to raise your probing-related skills.
 +
** '''Holding the {{button|SHIFT}} key down will allow you to maneuver individual probes, rather than your entire formation.''' If you are using the Pinpoint formation as recommended, you’ll notice that five of the probes are along the same plane, with four hovering around the outside of the center probe. '''Shift these four probes around the center probe so that they form a cross, with one probe at each cardinal direction.''' Activate your scanner again: this in and of itself may be enough to make the Signature warpable. If not, move the four probes closer to the center probe. You’ll want to get them pretty close, without having them overlap. Zooming your view in using the mouse wheel will help here. Alternate shifting the cardinal point probes closer and activating your scanner to see if this raises the Signal Strength enough.
 +
** If the above isn’t ''quite'' enough to get the Signature to 100%, you can '''try shifting the entire formation of probes in a single direction a very small amount and then re-scanning'''. Since the dot that represents the Signature’s location isn’t 100% accurate until its Signal Strength is 100%, you can sometimes squeeze out an extra percentage point or two of Strength in this manner. This can be a bit tedious, however, as the margin for error is so small. It’s recommended that you only try this if you are ''painfully'' close to 100% Signal Strength!
 +
** Note that as a new explorer, '''sometimes you’ll just plain be unable to scan a Signature all the way down to 100%.''' This is very unlikely to happen in high-sec space, but if it does, don’t let it get you down. Just remember, one day your skills and equipment will be good enough that no Signature will be able escape your grasp!
 +
* After you’ve probed something down, you may notice that your scanner ''used'' to have a bunch of Signatures on it, but now does not. This is because launching probes and reducing their range has removed those Signatures from your scanning region. This is easy enough to remedy, however. You can either '''expand your probes’ range to their maximum and re-scan''', or '''temporarily switch the Spread formation and re-scan a larger area'''. In both cases, make sure your probes are covering as large a space as possible: the entire system, if you can. That should find those missing Signatures easily!
 +
* While scanning, once you have a signature down to a single dot, double-click the signature in the scanner window. This will center your star system map on the signature, and, more importantly, make the camera rotate around it (instead of around the sun), which makes moving and aligning your probes much easier.
  
= Relic Sites and Data Sites: Hacking =
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=== Collaboration ===
You've managed to locate a Relic or Data Site. Half the work is done: now you just need to find the loot inside!
+
Collaboration with other capsuleers can increase one's productivity. Through the use of [[bookmarks]] corp members can share signatures, and via various third-party tools players can share additional information.
 
 
[[File:Container_data.jpg|200px|thumb|left|A Data Site container]]
 
  
It's worth repeating here that, ''outside of wormhole space'', '''Relic and Data Sites do not have NPC defenders'''. That means you can wander into these areas and concern yourself mainly with the structures inside... oh, and other player-controlled ships, of course.
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Mapping tools generally focus on wormhole chains to be used by travelers. EVE University previously used the [[Archive:WHC Mapper|WHC Mapper]] tool, and now uses the [[EVE UNI Mapper|Pathfinder]] tool that is available to '''all''' E-Uni Communities.
 +
Additional [[third-party tools]] are available for mapping wormhole chains.
 +
The organization EVE-Scout and corp Signal Cartel maintains a publicly-available map of [[Thera]] connections on their website and 3rd-party tool Tripwire.
  
[[File:Container_relic.jpg|200px|thumb|right|A Relic Site container]]
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=== Site types ===
 +
Exploration sites are divided to cosmic signatures and cosmic anomalies based on how they are located.
 +
Cosmic Anomalies are areas of interest that radiate a strong enough signal that you can jump to them immediately after your ship scanner finds them. You don’t need to do any fancy probing or anything: just click and go! Of course, since everyone can easily see these sites, they’re typically less rewarding, and possibly more crowded than Cosmic Signatures.
 +
Cosmic Signatures are the bread and butter of an explorer. These are hidden areas that cannot be warped to unless tracked down by probes. Because of this extra step, Cosmic Signature exploration areas can be very lucrative, even in high-sec space!
  
Relic and Data Sites are set up very simply. They are pockets of space populated with a variety of cosmetic structures (i.e., wrecked stations, abandoned machines) and several containers that will always look the same, but be named differently. Data Site containers look a bit like an gyroscope, and typically have names like '''[Faction] Info Shard''' or '''[Faction] Com Tower'''. Relic Site containers look like ancient shipwrecks and have names like '''[Faction] Debris''' or '''[Faction] Rubble'''.
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==== Combat sites ====
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{{main|Combat sites}}
  
These containers hold all of the site's valuables, but you can't just fly up and take them: you'll have to hack into the containers first by playing the Hacking/Archaeology minigame. In order to attempt a hack, you'll need to fly within 5,000m of the container, lock on to it, and then use the correct module on it (your Relic Analyzer in a Relic Site, or your Data Analyzer in a Data Site). This will pop open a new window containing the hacking minigame.
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[[Combat sites]] can be found in many flavors. They all share the common element of killing rats for rewards. Combat sites are generally split into two categories, anomalies and signatures, depending on how they are found.
  
== Hacking Minigame ==
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The most commonly found combat sites are [[Combat sites#Combat anomalies|combat cosmic anomalies]]. They are visible in scanner window as soon as you jump into a system and require no specialized scanning equipment. They are always ungated pockets in space with multiple waves of rats.
Mercifully, the hacking minigame is identical in both Data and Relic Sites, aside from a few cosmetic changes to the game's playfield and sound effects.
 
  
The object of the hacking minigame is to '''find and disable the container's System Core'''. You do this by maneuvering a virus through the board of "nodes" that represent the container's electronics.
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A specific type of cosmic anomalies is besieged covert research facility. These sites are found in low security space only and are harder than the normal anomalies. The rats in these will attempt to shoot into your lowest resist so omni tank is needed.
  
Moving around the board is easy enough. Unexplored nodes in the system are marked as green. Clicking on an unexplored node will reveal its contents: if the node is empty, it will turn orange and allow you to further explore nodes adjacent to it. Sometimes, however, a node will contain an obstacle or other item of interest. Among the various things a node may contain are...
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[[Combat sites#Cosmic signatures|Combat cosmic signatures]] are harder to find. They need to be [[Probe scanning|scanned]] with probes and are generally rarer than anomalies. They are made up of several “rooms” of [[deadspace]] connected by Acceleration Gates, and they frequently have containers filled with great loot. Of course, they are also guarded by large numbers of NPC ships. These combat sites are further divided into unrated and DED rated complexes. The differences between the two are mostly cosmetic.
  
* '''Defensive Subsystems'''
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==== Relic and Data sites ====
** These are represented by large circles with an icon inside, and they will be the bane of your hacking existence. '''Defensive Subsystems prevent you from exploring adjacent nodes until they are disabled.'''
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{{main|Relic and data sites}}
** Each Defensive Subsystem has two ratings: a '''Coherence''', which is the equivalent of its health/HP, and '''Strength''', which is equivalent to its "attack power". '''Coherence is represented by an asterisk and is listed atop the Subsystem. Strength is represented by a "wifi/signal" icon and is listed at the bottom of the Subsystem.'''
 
** Thankfully, '''your virus has a Coherence and Strength, too, which you can use to disable the system's defenses!''' You can attack a Defensive Subsystem by clicking it after it has been explored.
 
*** Attacking a Subsystem is turn-based: your virus will attack the Subsystem, and then, ''if the Subsystem is still active'', it will attack your virus back.
 
*** Your virus' Coherence and Strength are listed in the bottom left of the hacking window. '''When you attack a Subsystem, you will lower its Coherence by your Virus Strength.''' If you reduce its Coherence to 0, it is disabled and removed from the board.
 
*** '''If your Virus Coherence reaches 0, you fail the hack and the window is closed.''' Failing a hack once will just make it less likely for you to get any valuable loot from the container (explained below), but attempting a second hack and failing again will destroy the container.
 
** Defensive Subsystems come in a few different types.
 
*** '''Firewalls''' have high coherence, but low strength.
 
*** '''Anti-Virus''' subsystems have low coherence, but high strength.
 
*** '''Restoration Nodes''' show up in more difficult hacks. Each turn they are active, they will give extra coherence to all other uncovered defensive subsystems. Incredibly nasty.
 
*** '''Virus Suppressor''' subsystems lower your Virus Strength while active.
 
  
[[File:Hacking_window_progress.jpg|400px|thumb|right|A hack in progress]]
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[[Relic and data sites]] require [[hacking]] to gain access to the goods. They are found by scanning with probes. They can be divided into groups based on what challenges they contain.
  
* '''System Core'''
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Pirate relic and data sites do not contain any dangers. You just need to scan the site down, [[hacking|hack]] the containers with and grab the goods. This is usually done in defenseless frigate in lawless space so watch out for other players. Drone data sites are similar but failing the hack spawns hostile drones. The drones are weak and even T1 scanning frigate can handle them. Pirate relic and data sites are found in normal space and class 1-3 wormholes. In drone regions only drone data sites are found.
** The System Core operates a lot like a Defensive Subsystem, with the major difference that '''disabling it will successfully complete the hack'''.
 
** The System Core typically has a lot of Coherence.
 
** Its icon looks like a green "X" inside a Subsystem circle.
 
* '''Utility Subsystem'''
 
** Utility Subsystems are helpful, consumable "files" that have been left inside the system. '''You can click one once it has been exposed to add it to a utility slot at the bottom middle of your hacking window.''' They can then be used by clicking the appropriate utility slot. You can only store three Utility Subsystems at a time, so plan ahead!
 
** Utility Subsystems are extremely useful and come in a few different types.
 
*** '''Self Repair''' utilities increase your Virus Coherence by a variable amount. A single Self Repair has three "charge": the first is consumed immediately after use, and the next two are automatically used after your next two actions in the system (i.e., exploring a node, attacking a subsystem).
 
*** '''Kernel Rot''' utilities reduces a target subsystem's Coherence by 50%. Great for use on the System Core.
 
*** '''Secondary Vector''' utilities reduces a target's Coherence by a variable amount. Much like the Self Repair utility, the Secondary Vector has three charges: one used immediately, and two more that fire off after taking actions.
 
*** '''Polymorphic Shield''' utilities prevent the next two instances of damage done to your virus. Good for taking down subsystems with high Strength.
 
  
Thankfully, exploring until you find the System Core and then annihilating it isn't too difficult in the vast majority of sites you will find in high-sec. With a little practice, you'll be hacking with the best of them!
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[[Ghost Site]] are more dangerous data sites found in normal space. In them you have limited time to hack and failed hacks will blow up the container and damage your ship. These sites can be identified from "Covert Research Facility" in their name.
  
=== Hacking Tips and Tricks ===
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Sleeper caches are the most complicated data sites. They contain traps and environmental hazards, single mistake can get poorly fit ship killed. The come in three flavors: [[Limited Sleeper Cache]], [[Standard Sleeper Cache]] and [[Superior Sleeper Cache]]. The limited sleeper cache is for frigates while the other two require more powerful ships.
  
== Container Collection ==
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==== Gas sites ====
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Gas sites contain gas clouds that can be [[Gas cloud harvesting|harvested]] for resources. The resources gathered in normal space are used for [[Medical boosters|boosters]] while the resources in wormholes are used in [[Tech 3 Production|T3 production]].
  
Once you've successfully hacked the system, the loot is yours! Unfortunately, there's a catch: for whatever reason, everything kept inside the container is simply jettisoned into space at this point, and you'll have to act fast to tractor it into your cargo hold before it disappears.
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In certain regions there are also [[Combat sites#Chemical labs|gas site combat sites]]. These sites contain two waves of rats and containers that need to be hacked to get access to the rewards. They contain drug related commodities, blueprints, implants and skillbooks.
  
[[File:Hacking_minicont.jpg|300px|thumb|left|"Mini" loot containers being ejected after a successful hack]]
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==== Ore sites ====
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Ore sites are cosmic anomalies and do not require probes to be located. These sites are temporary pockets filled with either [[Ice harvesting|ice asteroids]], which can be mined for fuel components, or regular asteroids of a rarer type not normally found in that system. You can tell what kind of asteroids are within the site by the site’s name: they’re pretty obvious.
  
After completing the hack, zoom out from your ship a bit and you should see a handful of green cross icons radiating out from the now-hacked container. These are small loot packages, and single-clicking any one of them will automatically zip it into your cargo hold over the course of a second or two. '''You can only grab one container of loot at a time, and only if they are within 3,500m''', so be sure to stay close to the cloud of packages as it travels outward from the container. You can maneuver around while tractoring loot in: double-clicking on one of the packages will automatically have your ship approach it.
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==== Wormholes ====
 +
{{main|Wormholes}}
  
These loot containers come in several types: '''Materials Containers, Parts Containers, Equipment Containers, Data Containers and Scraps Containers'''. Each contains a different assortment of loot, so how do you know which ones to grab? That's where the Cargo Scanner that you've fitted to your ship comes in! '''Before starting a hack on a container, use your Cargo Scanner on it.''' This will bring up a list of items that you can receive as loot from the container. Each type of loot will be ejected into space in a particular type of container, so once you know what is inside the soon-to-be hacked receptacle, you'll know what types of containers you should grab for once they are ejected into space!
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Wormholes are temporary gates that can take your ship from your current system to almost anywhere else in space. They are cosmic signatures and need to be scanned with probes. Some wormholes go to highsec, lowsec, or nullsec space, and are sometimes valuable shortcuts around the universe. Some go to dangerous “uncharted” areas referred to as “wormhole space” or “w-space.” W-space areas contain the most lucrative exploration sites in the game, but most of them are guarded by powerful Sleeper NPCs, even the Relic and Data Sites that are so tame in high-sec. (As of the Phoebe release in late 2014, nullsec Relic and Data sites with Sansha, Blood Raider, Guristas, Angel and Serpentis in their names are unguarded sites in WH space. So after learning more about WH's, if you have enough data/relic skills, you could consider running these.) For these reasons, at the start of your career, you should leave wormholes alone... but don’t forget about them! Later articles will go into how you can begin dipping your exploration toe into the vast, untamed pond of wormhole space. See the [[Wormholes]] information.
  
'''EXAMPLE:''' You are in a Data Site and are approaching a Guristas Info Shard. You use your Cargo Scanner on it reports back that there is 1 Esoteric Symmetry inside, which is a valuable Decryptor. Exciting! Checking the guide below, you'll see that Decryptors are ejected in Parts Containers, so once you successfully hack this Info Shard, you'll know to grab as many Parts Containers as you can!
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=== Sites in wormhole space ===
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Wormhole space has its own sets of sleeper sites unique to each wormhole class. The sleepers defend these sites, for more information see [[Wormholes]].
  
The cargo hold icon at the bottom middle of your ship HUD will display what was inside each container as you tractor it in, so you can watch on the fly which pieces of valuable loot you've managed to find.
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Lower class 1-3 wormholes also contain pirate data and relic sites. These are identical to sites found in normal null security space.
  
=== Container Legend ===
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== Survival ==
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As with most things in EVE, the more dangerous the environment the higher the rewards. Exploration in HighSec tends to have low return on time, but the minigames are far easier and the risk of attack is far lower. As you start moving into more and more negative space the rewards begin to go up significantly. However, by the time you start running sites in null sec you will most likely want to have T2 modules and appropriate rigs for your exploration vessel. This will typically mean that you will be running sites in a ship that has little to no defensive or offensive capability beyond being fast and hopefully cloaky. You may also not have an opportunity to sell your loot frequently, this can lead to a cargo hold full of 100's of million of ISK in a hull that is paper thin.
  
Each type of "mini" loot container will contain a default loot item if it does not contain an item from your Cargo Scan in it. These are essentially "booby prizes". Note that failing a single hack attempt will cause more mini loot containers to show up ''without changing the amount of loot found inside the hackable container''. What this means is that failing a hack will make it harder to tractor in the valuable loot out of a container, and make it much more likely that you'll get the booby prizes listed below.
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Outside of high-sec, it is common for other players to scan you down, not just with the traditional combat probes, but with core scanner probes as well - since you will be in a scannable location. While running the site, and particularly while in the minigame, keep your overview and Local visible, and keep running D-Scan. If you see any probes zero in on you, move quickly away from the structure you are looting and cloak up or warp out. A well used Stealth Bomber, Recon ship, or T3 Cruiser, can make extremely quick work of you, and turn a nice profit in the process. Also keep in mind that somebody else may be there already and cloaked. Especially as you start interacting with the first structure - watch your Local and be ready to run fast. A cloaked stealth bomber could just be chilling waiting for you to start the minigame and lose situational awareness.
  
* Data Containers
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When on approach to a site you can make a nearby escape bookmark on your way in. This acts as a quick bugout location that lets you still keep a D-Scan eye on the site you are running to see who comes in.
** Data Sheets
 
* Equipment Containers
 
** Hydrogen Batteries
 
* Material Containers
 
** Carbon
 
* Parts Containers
 
** Electronic Parts
 
* Scraps Containers
 
** Metal Scraps
 
  
If a mini loot container does not contain a default loot item, however, it'll have an appropriate item from the hackable container's Cargo Scan, which is more often than not an item of value! [http://neural-boost.com/minicontainer-loot-distribution This website] has done a great job in the early post-Odyssey days of tracking which type of container contain what sorts of loot, and this article's writer can personally confirm a lot of its findings. For the purposes of keeping everything in one place, though, its site listing will be duplicated below.
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Remember, even though you have invested in scanning down the site, and may be close to finding the system core, it probably isn't worth risking your ship and your cargo to finish a particular structure or site.
  
==== Relic Sites ====
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Also note - when running some sites in wormholes there will be Sleepers, and all of the above still holds except local won't help and the locals may have already scanned the site so may not need to drop probes on you (of course this can also hold true anywhere - but what's life without a little risk!)
  
* Data Containers
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==== PvE combat ====
** Blueprint Copies
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A ship for running combat sites is very different from a ship that is for running data and relic sites. Combat sites are much easier to scan than data and relic sites and the scanning is usually done in the same combat ship that is used for running the sites and not in an exploration frigate.
** Skill Books
 
* Equipment Containers
 
** Spatial Attunement Units
 
* Material Containers
 
** T1/T2 Salvage
 
* Parts Containers
 
** T1/T2 Salvage
 
* Scraps Containers
 
** ''nothing special''
 
  
==== Data Sites ====
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* Weapons are of course needed to harm the rats.
 +
** You’ll have few high slots available for weapon [[turrets]] or [[missile launcher]]s.
 +
** [[Drones]] are another option that does not need high slots.
 +
* An armor or shield tank.
 +
** Tanking goes beyond the scope of this article, but thankfully the University has good lessons in place already for both [[Tanking]]. Equipping your ship with a few appropriate tanking modules will increase its survival rate if you decide to tangle with easier NPC targets. Note that you should never try to build both a shield tank AND armor tank on the same ship, and that shield tanking generally requires mid-slots, of which your exploration kit already eats three. Beyond those caveats, a Shield Extender or some Armor Plates might make the difference between a successful retreat and an ejection from your freshly destroyed ship.
  
* Data Containers
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== See also ==
** Blueprint Copies
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* [[Guide to combat sites]]
** Skill Books
 
* Equipment Containers
 
** ''nothing special''
 
* Material Containers
 
** Faction Alloys
 
* Parts Containers
 
** Decryptors
 
** Datacores
 
* Scraps Containers
 
** ''nothing special''
 
  
__NOTOC__
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[[Category:Exploration| ]]

Latest revision as of 21:19, 31 January 2024

This page should be updated due to game changes.
Reason: November 9, 2021 patch (Version 19.10), added new types of Exploration sites. Add to main Explo page, and any other relevant page (e.g. Data and Relic sites) as appropriate.


E-UNI Emblem.png EVE University offers
a class on:

Exploration in EVE involves using scanning probes to locate cosmic signatures in space which may contain hackable containers with items inside, resources like gas clouds or ore, wormholes to distant star systems, or collections of NPCs which may drop rare items. As a profession, exploration can be profitable and engaging, and offers better rewards for players willing to travel in more dangerous space. It has a low skill barrier, and new players can start exploring almost from day 1.

Players will learn what skills are required to start exploring, what ships and equipment are best for the new explorer, what sorts of areas can be located using the exploration mechanics, how to use probes to track down hidden exploration sites, and how to use analyzer modules to hack into loot containers in exploration sites.

Scanning

Main article: Probe scanning

The main object of an explorer is to track down hidden areas found in systems across all of the EVE universe. These areas contain valuable items or other points of interest, but cannot be warped to initially. Instead, a player must use their ship's scanner and their Probe Launcher to track down the “signals” of these hidden areas through a process generally referred to as “probing,” or “scanning,” or “exploring.” If you’ve ever heard someone mention that they are going to “probe down a site”… this is it!

You’ve found a quiet system to explore and are safely nestled in a comfortable spot. Cocoa and blankets are optional. Time to explore! Pop open your ship’s scanner using the little button on your ship’s HUD that has a picture of a radar screen on it (or press ALT + P). While you were parking your ship somewhere, your scanner was busy! It’s more than likely tracked down a few points of interest throughout the system. Note that if your scanner readout says “No Signals Detected,” that means the system is currently empty. Head to a different system to explore, but note that you can always come back to this system again later to see if anything juicy has appeared.

When you first enter a system, none of its Cosmic Signatures will have any identifying information besides a generic designation, such as “MRM-213”. However, much like Cosmic Anomalies, Cosmic Signatures come in several types. You just won’t know exactly what you are tracking down until you pull out your probes!

A Good Place to Start

When you first begin exploring, you will likely want to stick to high-security space: systems with a security status anywhere from 0.5 to 1.0. You will be pretty safe in these systems, but there are some best practices you can start to follow so that they are routine as you move into exploring more dangerous space.

  • Explore in quiet systems
    • Pop open your Star Map and set it to look for “Number of players in the last half hour.” This will set your map to display large or small circles that indicate how much traffic a particular system has seen recently. In high-sec space, your biggest annoyance as an explorer will be other high-sec explorers: there are only so many exploration sites out there, and you will be racing other explorers for them. Areas with lots of traffic typically won’t have any exploration sites of interest to you, and the ones that do appear will likely be pounced on by someone else. Don’t get into a tug-of-war with other high-sec explorers: find a quiet stretch of systems somewhere and do your exploration there!
  • Explore from a safe place
    • While probing for exploration sites, your ship will be motionless for extended periods of time. This is dangerous in many parts of EVE. In high-sec, you will probably be perfectly safe idling some distance from a dockable station, or, say, 100km out from a planet. You will be even safer if you have a cloak fitted and activate it when you get to your spot. Indeed, you can explore cloaked so long as you remember to launch your probes first before engaging the cloaking device. In low-sec and other dangerous parts of space, you will want to explore from what's called a Safe Spot, and you will pretty much always want to be cloaked. You can find more info on locating and using Safe Spots in the Bookmarks lesson, and high-sec is a great place to get in the habit of using Safe Spots to explore unhindered!
    • After finding a safe spot for your ship, an extra precaution you can take is to point your ship in a semi-random direction away from the system’s major points of interest and (if you're not cloaked) then activate your Afterburner or Microwarpdrive. You can safely do this while focusing the majority of your attention on your probing. This is very helpful if you are flying without a cloak: the forward momentum makes it harder for hostile players to track you down, and even if they manage to, you will have a head start on them and should be able to escape!

Probing Down an Exploration Site

The goal of probing is to increase a Signature’s Signal Strength to 100%. Your system has a few cosmic signatures listed, and you’re well versed in what could possibly be out there. Let’s probe one down in this video, or as follows below.

The scanner window, with two Anomalies and a Signature
  • You already have the scanning panel open, but let’s hit F9 to open up the Solar System Map. This is a “wireframe” representation of the system you are currently in, complete with all the major celestials, like planets, moons and the sun. Since you have your scanning window open, there should be some green and/or red dots and spheres on your map. These represent the Anomalies and Signatures currently tracked by your scanner, as well as their general location. Green dots indicate areas that you can warp to, either an Anomaly or a Signature you have scanned down. Red dots or spheres represent the general area in which your ship’s scanner is detecting the signal of a Cosmic Signature. We’re going to have to narrow that down in order to warp there.
  • The bottom left of your scanner window has an icon that looks a bit like an atom. That’s the shortcut for the “Pinpoint” probe formation. Press it, and your ship will launch its payload of probes and automatically arrange them in a Pinpoint formation. Neat!
  • You should now notice that some blue spheres have appeared on your Solar System map. That’s the general area that your probes can currently scan. The center probe in this formation is represented by a white box with arrows sticking out of it. You can click and drag those arrows to move the probes around: by default, dragging that center probe will move all the probes together in formation. This is useful. Now, in order to start tracking down a Signature, you will need to drag your probes so they are centered over one of the red Signature dots or spheres and then press the Analyze button on the middle left of your scanning window. This will scan that area more thoroughly with your probes, and will take a few seconds to complete. If the signature’s red sphere is larger than the area your probes’ blue spheres cover, hold ALT and expand the sphere size. This will increase the range of your probes so you can scan the whole red sphere. If all this is done correctly, the scan will complete and increase the Signal Strength of your chosen Signature. This is listed on the far right of your scanning window.
  • The goal of probing is to increase a Signature’s Signal Strength to 100%. As you continue to increase the Signal Strength, you will begin to learn more and more about the Signature: first, what type of Site it is, followed by the specific name of the site, and then finally, the Signature’s actual location so you can warp to it! Obviously, this is why we’ve picked a ship and equipment that raises the scan strength of our probes: it makes it much easier to get this number to 100%.
  • Now, it’s unlikely this first scan got the signal to 100%. In order to further increase its Signal Strength, we’re going to have to give our probes more power by reducing the range of their scan. We do this by clicking and holding the outside edge of one of the probe’s blue spheres and then dragging it inward. This will decrease the size of your scan. Now, re-center your probes on your signature’s dot or sphere and hit the Activate button again. If done correctly, your smaller scan area should still catch the Signature and will end up increasing its Signal Strength.
  • Most Signatures can be probed down by repeating this process: reduce your scan range by a step, re-center your probes on the Signature, and scan! It’s just that easy.
  • Once you’ve raised the Signal Strength to 100%, the Signature’s Signal Strength will turn into an arrow you can click to warp to the newly located Site. Congratulations! You’re exploring!

Probing Tips and Troubleshooting

  • You may occasionally come across a Signature that refuses to hit 100%, despite the fact that you have your probes centered on it at their minimum range (0.25 AU). If this happens, there are a couple things you can try before giving up and resolving to raise your probing-related skills.
    • Holding the SHIFT key down will allow you to maneuver individual probes, rather than your entire formation. If you are using the Pinpoint formation as recommended, you’ll notice that five of the probes are along the same plane, with four hovering around the outside of the center probe. Shift these four probes around the center probe so that they form a cross, with one probe at each cardinal direction. Activate your scanner again: this in and of itself may be enough to make the Signature warpable. If not, move the four probes closer to the center probe. You’ll want to get them pretty close, without having them overlap. Zooming your view in using the mouse wheel will help here. Alternate shifting the cardinal point probes closer and activating your scanner to see if this raises the Signal Strength enough.
    • If the above isn’t quite enough to get the Signature to 100%, you can try shifting the entire formation of probes in a single direction a very small amount and then re-scanning. Since the dot that represents the Signature’s location isn’t 100% accurate until its Signal Strength is 100%, you can sometimes squeeze out an extra percentage point or two of Strength in this manner. This can be a bit tedious, however, as the margin for error is so small. It’s recommended that you only try this if you are painfully close to 100% Signal Strength!
    • Note that as a new explorer, sometimes you’ll just plain be unable to scan a Signature all the way down to 100%. This is very unlikely to happen in high-sec space, but if it does, don’t let it get you down. Just remember, one day your skills and equipment will be good enough that no Signature will be able escape your grasp!
  • After you’ve probed something down, you may notice that your scanner used to have a bunch of Signatures on it, but now does not. This is because launching probes and reducing their range has removed those Signatures from your scanning region. This is easy enough to remedy, however. You can either expand your probes’ range to their maximum and re-scan, or temporarily switch the Spread formation and re-scan a larger area. In both cases, make sure your probes are covering as large a space as possible: the entire system, if you can. That should find those missing Signatures easily!
  • While scanning, once you have a signature down to a single dot, double-click the signature in the scanner window. This will center your star system map on the signature, and, more importantly, make the camera rotate around it (instead of around the sun), which makes moving and aligning your probes much easier.

Collaboration

Collaboration with other capsuleers can increase one's productivity. Through the use of bookmarks corp members can share signatures, and via various third-party tools players can share additional information.

Mapping tools generally focus on wormhole chains to be used by travelers. EVE University previously used the WHC Mapper tool, and now uses the Pathfinder tool that is available to all E-Uni Communities. Additional third-party tools are available for mapping wormhole chains. The organization EVE-Scout and corp Signal Cartel maintains a publicly-available map of Thera connections on their website and 3rd-party tool Tripwire.

Site types

Exploration sites are divided to cosmic signatures and cosmic anomalies based on how they are located. Cosmic Anomalies are areas of interest that radiate a strong enough signal that you can jump to them immediately after your ship scanner finds them. You don’t need to do any fancy probing or anything: just click and go! Of course, since everyone can easily see these sites, they’re typically less rewarding, and possibly more crowded than Cosmic Signatures. Cosmic Signatures are the bread and butter of an explorer. These are hidden areas that cannot be warped to unless tracked down by probes. Because of this extra step, Cosmic Signature exploration areas can be very lucrative, even in high-sec space!

Combat sites

Main article: Combat sites

Combat sites can be found in many flavors. They all share the common element of killing rats for rewards. Combat sites are generally split into two categories, anomalies and signatures, depending on how they are found.

The most commonly found combat sites are combat cosmic anomalies. They are visible in scanner window as soon as you jump into a system and require no specialized scanning equipment. They are always ungated pockets in space with multiple waves of rats.

A specific type of cosmic anomalies is besieged covert research facility. These sites are found in low security space only and are harder than the normal anomalies. The rats in these will attempt to shoot into your lowest resist so omni tank is needed.

Combat cosmic signatures are harder to find. They need to be scanned with probes and are generally rarer than anomalies. They are made up of several “rooms” of deadspace connected by Acceleration Gates, and they frequently have containers filled with great loot. Of course, they are also guarded by large numbers of NPC ships. These combat sites are further divided into unrated and DED rated complexes. The differences between the two are mostly cosmetic.

Relic and Data sites

Main article: Relic and data sites

Relic and data sites require hacking to gain access to the goods. They are found by scanning with probes. They can be divided into groups based on what challenges they contain.

Pirate relic and data sites do not contain any dangers. You just need to scan the site down, hack the containers with and grab the goods. This is usually done in defenseless frigate in lawless space so watch out for other players. Drone data sites are similar but failing the hack spawns hostile drones. The drones are weak and even T1 scanning frigate can handle them. Pirate relic and data sites are found in normal space and class 1-3 wormholes. In drone regions only drone data sites are found.

Ghost Site are more dangerous data sites found in normal space. In them you have limited time to hack and failed hacks will blow up the container and damage your ship. These sites can be identified from "Covert Research Facility" in their name.

Sleeper caches are the most complicated data sites. They contain traps and environmental hazards, single mistake can get poorly fit ship killed. The come in three flavors: Limited Sleeper Cache, Standard Sleeper Cache and Superior Sleeper Cache. The limited sleeper cache is for frigates while the other two require more powerful ships.

Gas sites

Gas sites contain gas clouds that can be harvested for resources. The resources gathered in normal space are used for boosters while the resources in wormholes are used in T3 production.

In certain regions there are also gas site combat sites. These sites contain two waves of rats and containers that need to be hacked to get access to the rewards. They contain drug related commodities, blueprints, implants and skillbooks.

Ore sites

Ore sites are cosmic anomalies and do not require probes to be located. These sites are temporary pockets filled with either ice asteroids, which can be mined for fuel components, or regular asteroids of a rarer type not normally found in that system. You can tell what kind of asteroids are within the site by the site’s name: they’re pretty obvious.

Wormholes

Main article: Wormholes

Wormholes are temporary gates that can take your ship from your current system to almost anywhere else in space. They are cosmic signatures and need to be scanned with probes. Some wormholes go to highsec, lowsec, or nullsec space, and are sometimes valuable shortcuts around the universe. Some go to dangerous “uncharted” areas referred to as “wormhole space” or “w-space.” W-space areas contain the most lucrative exploration sites in the game, but most of them are guarded by powerful Sleeper NPCs, even the Relic and Data Sites that are so tame in high-sec. (As of the Phoebe release in late 2014, nullsec Relic and Data sites with Sansha, Blood Raider, Guristas, Angel and Serpentis in their names are unguarded sites in WH space. So after learning more about WH's, if you have enough data/relic skills, you could consider running these.) For these reasons, at the start of your career, you should leave wormholes alone... but don’t forget about them! Later articles will go into how you can begin dipping your exploration toe into the vast, untamed pond of wormhole space. See the Wormholes information.

Sites in wormhole space

Wormhole space has its own sets of sleeper sites unique to each wormhole class. The sleepers defend these sites, for more information see Wormholes.

Lower class 1-3 wormholes also contain pirate data and relic sites. These are identical to sites found in normal null security space.

Survival

As with most things in EVE, the more dangerous the environment the higher the rewards. Exploration in HighSec tends to have low return on time, but the minigames are far easier and the risk of attack is far lower. As you start moving into more and more negative space the rewards begin to go up significantly. However, by the time you start running sites in null sec you will most likely want to have T2 modules and appropriate rigs for your exploration vessel. This will typically mean that you will be running sites in a ship that has little to no defensive or offensive capability beyond being fast and hopefully cloaky. You may also not have an opportunity to sell your loot frequently, this can lead to a cargo hold full of 100's of million of ISK in a hull that is paper thin.

Outside of high-sec, it is common for other players to scan you down, not just with the traditional combat probes, but with core scanner probes as well - since you will be in a scannable location. While running the site, and particularly while in the minigame, keep your overview and Local visible, and keep running D-Scan. If you see any probes zero in on you, move quickly away from the structure you are looting and cloak up or warp out. A well used Stealth Bomber, Recon ship, or T3 Cruiser, can make extremely quick work of you, and turn a nice profit in the process. Also keep in mind that somebody else may be there already and cloaked. Especially as you start interacting with the first structure - watch your Local and be ready to run fast. A cloaked stealth bomber could just be chilling waiting for you to start the minigame and lose situational awareness.

When on approach to a site you can make a nearby escape bookmark on your way in. This acts as a quick bugout location that lets you still keep a D-Scan eye on the site you are running to see who comes in.

Remember, even though you have invested in scanning down the site, and may be close to finding the system core, it probably isn't worth risking your ship and your cargo to finish a particular structure or site.

Also note - when running some sites in wormholes there will be Sleepers, and all of the above still holds except local won't help and the locals may have already scanned the site so may not need to drop probes on you (of course this can also hold true anywhere - but what's life without a little risk!)

PvE combat

A ship for running combat sites is very different from a ship that is for running data and relic sites. Combat sites are much easier to scan than data and relic sites and the scanning is usually done in the same combat ship that is used for running the sites and not in an exploration frigate.

  • Weapons are of course needed to harm the rats.
  • An armor or shield tank.
    • Tanking goes beyond the scope of this article, but thankfully the University has good lessons in place already for both Tanking. Equipping your ship with a few appropriate tanking modules will increase its survival rate if you decide to tangle with easier NPC targets. Note that you should never try to build both a shield tank AND armor tank on the same ship, and that shield tanking generally requires mid-slots, of which your exploration kit already eats three. Beyond those caveats, a Shield Extender or some Armor Plates might make the difference between a successful retreat and an ejection from your freshly destroyed ship.

See also