Missions & Complexes

Radar sites tend to be somewhat worthwhile as decryptors are always in demand to some degree and the drop rate isn't too bad. I keep a codebreaker on my scanning fit to pick up what I can.

Mag sites are still pretty meh. Yes they can drop T2 salvage, yes they can drop rig bpcs, but overall I've found them not worth the time and energy to carry an analyzer -- or even warp to them any more.

Ladar only spawn in certain regions and come in two basic varieties: combat and gas cloud. Gas clouds are just like grav sites in that you just mine out the cloud for booster goo. Combat sites require an analyzer and have decent payouts including reasonable rates of faction spawns. The market isn't all that strong for booster bpcs but it does exist. The chance of getting a nice skillbook alone makes them worth the time. However, the combat aspect is non-negligible and there usually aren't any gates, so watch out.

Radars are easy money in high low and null, but won't reach the jackpot levels of DED/Unrated combat.
Magnetometrics are terrible in highsec, a gamble in lowsec, and good in nullsec.
Gas harvesting ladars are terrible I'm told in high and low, and good in null if you're doing drug production.
Combat Ladars in low and null (none in high) that drop Nanite Control (300m+) are good, rest aren't.

* Region dependent. Sansha and Blood are good because of prices for Capacitor Console and Intact Armor Plates, other factions/regions may vary.

Hello Pilot

As you can see on my corporation name, i am that what others would call a hardcore explorer. I m just exploring, and i still love it.

An answer to your question:

I am just and only on the hunt for the high value sites, in this case Radars, Magnetometrics and the more difficult plexes in all possibilities: highsec, lowsec, nullsec and of course in wormholes. In general i let gravimetric sites out of my business, since i am not the big fan of mining, though i sometimes do it, when in the mood. For ladar i can tell you, those are rare in highsec anyway, and the only interesting ones are those with are not gas cloud mining sites, but combat sites involving drug producing mercenaries or pirates.

In agreeing with the former posters i can tell you, that magnetometric and radar sites are the most proficient, since they are really quick cash. Bringing yourself into a position that a lot of these sites appear on your scanner ist the most difficult part about it. As a general rule you can say:

The more the region, constellation or system is inhabited, the more you have to rely on your luck to find one of these sites.
The less the region, constellation or system is inhabited, the bigger the chances are to get one to appear on your scanner.

I can recommend, to choose an area, where high and lowsec are close to each other with lots of 0.5 systems with nearly no to only very few stations in the neighboring systems. A distance from 20 to 30 jumps away from the main trading hubs (jita, amarr ..) is a must. If no DED plexes, mission sites and trade lanes (0 to low to hi to trade hubs) passing through the region, then you have found your paradise.

My choice while scanning:
Primary targets are RADAR (hacking V with t2 equipment is a must, implants and rigs are important)
Secondary targets are MAGNETOMETRICS (salvage V for t2 salvager and archeology V for analyzer t2 are a must, else u leave a lot of treasures behind).
Then the rest of the sites i am after: Ladar Combats, Pirate DED3 or 4 plexes, hard complexes, the expeditions in there and their escalations.

Values and proficiency:

Highsec Radars: varying from 2 million to max 100 million, average is like 20 to 30.
Highsec Mags: varying from a few thousand to max 30 million, average is like 1 to 4 million.

Lowsec Radars: varying from 2 million to max 200 million, average is like 20 to 40 million.
Lowsec Mags: varying from a few hundred thousand to max 70 million, average is like 1 to 7 million.

You cant compare complexes and DEDs with those sites realistic. Those sites are like fly in, shoot a bit, get loot, get out. DEDs and complexes can (but must not) lead to an expedition, where each site can pop up another escalation (not always) and you might not always be able to follow each escalation.

Time u need:
Radars from few minutes to max of 30 mins (so far for me, there might be longer ones)
Mags about the same.
Plexes can vary from 10 mins to several hrs.

So you need to find your own measurement between time invested and treasures gained, by calaculating the risk (both PVE and PVP) you can take and afford or compensate losses. Which is not an easy calculation. For me i can say:

I prefer rads and mags, since they cost less time and bring there for enough profit. Because they appear there where i am flying very often and i am one of the few explorers there. This might not suite to where you fly. But dont be stubborn on onyl these sites. As explorer you have to be more or less opportunistic and take what you want.

But you can live from it easily, once you found your own way :)

Hope that helped.

Cheers

Sorry to have re-edited :) but i thought this was important :)

Cheers

It isn't really a matter of it not being profitable, it's just a matter of I'd rather be blowing up other people's stuff than generating isk from AI controlled, static activities. I will definitely look into exploration once my probing alt has trained up more though.

While needing T2 salvs was indeed not correct, you do need a minimum level of salvaging 3 to salvage T2 ships and 4 to salvage sleeper ships. There IS a minimum requirement, but 5 is not it.

This is actually quite bad advice. The busier an area is, the better it can be due to faster respawns and sites not being stacked up in systems, dormant waiting to be found.



radars and mags should be a noob priority...you know why? opportunity cost. The time you spend scanning those sites/running those sites is better spent finding the better sites. They are great for noobs that can't do the good DEDs and unrateds without a tengu beating them, but once you can effectively find and do those sites, radars/mags should be ignored.

Additionally, if you ignore these sites, you leave them for others to find. When another person finds that radar, thats one less person scanning for DEDs/unrated sites.



Edit: Inappropriate part removed, CCP Phantom

Can you please let us know in which region such Radars spawn?

I would put average around 5 mil pro site.

My max drops from one radar in hi sec was about 40 mils, in whole my exploration career, and it happened only couple of times.

this is not exactly true. since radars and mags are scattered over all the signature spectrum in k-space, you cannot avoid them after the initial scan, you have to get them to show their type. radars are usualy pretty easy and fast money at all times. I do have a codebreaker but no salvager/analyzer on my exploration ship for that very reason.

also salvage is region dependent (serpentis are crap, blood raiders are good etc ...) radars are pretty even.

While you're right to an extent, the opportunity cost is still there. Now obviously it is dependent on the player if the opportunity cost is too high or not, but for me id rather spend my time checking the next system and getting a leg up on my fellow gso hunting tengus.