Science & Industry

Sorry if this is noobish of me. Finished the exploration tutorials where there are lots of different types of cosmic signatures, so thought I would give it a go myself. I have been to about 7 different solar systems, but all i seem to find every time is unstable wormholes. These are no use to me at the moment as I dont have a good enough rig to enter null-sec, just wanted to do a bit of exploring and see how it goes.

Do I need a specific skill to be able to find other types of signatures? Or is there any advice on the best places to find other types?


Thanks all!

They're not all wormholes, but on average, if you see a sig in a high traffic area, it will PROBABLY be a wormhole. This is just a natural result of the fact that other sites despawn after someone runs them, whereas wormholes have a static duration.

Try scanning in areas off the beaten path.

No, no, no. This is nonsense.

In HS a Z971, K162, or A641 all have the same strength as 3/10 DED, lookouts, desolate sites, and an assortment of radar, mag, and grav sites. K162s are extremely common (they're the "other" side of any other wormhole) and this is fairly high strength, so their frequency may make it seem like WHs are stronger sigs in general, but that's really not the case.

C2 (R943) wormholes are the only signature of their strength in HS.

X702 and R051 share sig strength with 4/10 DED, watches, and an assortment of radar, mag, and grav sites.

M555 and V283 share sig size with an assortment of radar, mag, and grav sites.

The very weakest sigs are strictly radar, mag, and grav sites. You do not see these very often. There's also another set that is just grav sites. The very strongest sigs are 2/10s, hideouts, haunted yards, and grav.

Also, do NOT start with your radius at 4 if you aren't sure something is there. The ONLY thing the sig strength affects is how difficult it is to get 100% on the sig - it does not impact whether or not the sig will show up at all. If it is there, and it is within your probe radius, and your filters are not blocking it out, it will show up in the list regardless of strength.

The optimal way to scout sigs in a system is with Deep Space probes set at 256 AU, but this requires astrometrics 5. This also lets you determine which strength class the signatures are, so if you're looking for a certain type of site, you need only scan the ones that it could potentially be.

Thanks for all your help. In that case is there an easy way of telling what is a wormhole and what isnt other than by getting the signal strength up to about 90%?

Can i tell what they are by the ID code they have?
Or is there a skill I can train to make identifying them easier?

Thanks looks like its not going to be easy! lol. I like a challenge.

the only bit I dont understand is : "also make sure you are in your factions +% to probe scan ship. it will be a frigate class ship."

Can you explain this in noob terms if you dont mind?

Thanks

Every race has a frigate that has a bonus to scan probe strength. It is listed in the ships description. I believe you get one of these ships for free in the scanning tutorial, at least you used to. So you probably already have it.

also using faction probes (sisters) will help as they have a 10% sensor strength bonus, and sisters probe launchers have a 10% bonus, plus there are rigs (Gravity Capacitor Upgrade) which give 10% bonus too.

Agreed. You need a lot more luck in Hi Sec. Someone on the Exploration channel said, "Hi sec is soooo over-farmed."

Tippia states this in terms of risk v reward, as you need to scan and work the sites fast, else risk losing them to the competition in T3 cruisers who can easily blitz the sites.

I have found that the grav sites in certain systems get left alone and are available for harevsting - which my main's corp is happy to do. So, you will find viable sites depending on whether or not you are willing to take what is available. On the other hand, if you are only looking for the high end mag sites in hi sec, good luck.

Lo sec is different game. You need to be prepared to engage in activities there. But you can really take your exploration to a new level.

I started by doing PI in lo sec, and stealthed around in my Prowler. Then I saw a fairly cool Pilgrim build for a lo sec all-in-one exploration boat. Now we have a team in lo sec that regularly works sites comprised of a cloaky Gila, and my Pilgrim - we kick ass. The Gila gets in close to the BS's and orbits for transversal while using Ogres for DPS - the Pilgrim is set up for scanning and support - it orbits the Gila (double-transversal :: orbiting a cruiser that is orbiting a BS) and shield reps or DPSes with drones as needed. Mind, you must learn how to avoid the roaming gangs and random pirates as an environmental survival factor.

Exploration will take all over the known EvE universe. Have fun out in the black !!!

Signatures have different sizes which affect their signal strength. They fall into discrete size buckets, so it is easy to identify a particular bucket.

Example:
* Large = 2x signal strength of medium.
* Medium = 2x signal strength of small.
There are signature buckets between these three major size buckets, but not as many signatures fall into them.

Example: A one-probe scan finds signatures with strengths: 0.94 0.45 0.19 (large medium small).

K162 wormholes tend to be large. Radar and mag sites tend to be small.

Although Deep Space Probes at 256 au are ideal, and the guide specifically refers to them, the same tactics for identifying signatures can be used with any probes. It is just more accurate, and simpler, the larger the area the probe will cover. In a pinch, a single Combat Probe at 64 au serves the same purpose. If you cannot completely cover a system at 64 au, then use multiple probes arranged for full coverage, but only activate one per scan.

Deep Space Probe Exploration Guide

Take notes of your one-probe scan strengths (note: they greatly change with skills and equipment). The in-game notepad comes in handy.

Example of my one-probe log (I lived in a C5), which only applies to my skills and scanning equipment (notice the size buckets, and what they contain):

3.92 LADAR minor * 3
3.87 C5 static * 2
3.86 K162 dangerous
3.86 WH C5 static
3.83 K162 null
3.82 WH
3.82 C5 static
3.80 C5 static
3.77 LADAR Sizeable
3.76 LADAR Token
3.71 K162 dangerous
3.70 LADAR Minor * 2
3.68 WH K162 null
3.67 K162 deadly
3.65 LADAR Ordinary
3.60 K162 deadly * 2
3.60 K162 dangerous
3.59 K162 null
3.55 LADAR Sizeable
3.53 LADAR Ordinary
3.53 GRAV Ordinary
3.52 WH K162 null
3.44 WH K162 dangerous
3.42 WH C5 static
3.42 LADAR Token
3.39 WH C5 static
3.38 WH C5 static * 6
3.36 GRAV Ordinary
3.34 WH C5 static
3.29 LADAR Sizeable * 8
3.29 WH K162 dangerous * 2
3.20 WH K162 dangerous
3.20 WH H296 C5 static

1.92 GRAV Average * 6
1.92 GRAV Unexceptional
1.91 LADAR Vast
1.88 LADAR Bountiful * 2
1.87 GRAV Average
1.85 LADAR Vast * 3
1.84 LADAR Vast
1.82 GRAV Unexceptional
1.80 LADAR Bountiful
1.78 LADAR Bountiful
1.78 GRAV Average * 4
1.70 GRAV Average

0.98 MAG
0.98 LADAR Instrumental
0.97 RADAR * 4
0.96 LADAR Instrumental
0.93 LADAR Instrumental * 2
0.93 GRAV Exceptional * 2
0.89 Hisec D792
0.88 MAG
0.87 MAG * 5
0.83 LADAR

And i really do not like this 'feature'. Seems that for the w-spacers it's nice to see fresh sites/holes, but in k-space it's just stupid. They should make sig ids really random again.