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NPC Loot?

Author
Hoof-Arted
State War Academy
Caldari State
#1 - 2014-08-10 19:41:49 UTC
Currently, does one of the NPC types provide more lucrative loot than the others?

This would primarily be for Anoms and Sigs.
DeMichael Crimson
Republic University
Minmatar Republic
#2 - 2014-08-10 20:46:22 UTC  |  Edited by: DeMichael Crimson
Thanks to Soundwave & Co, their 'War On Gun Mining' has basically nerfed the hell out of loot drops.

In my opinion if you're flying solo, Cosmic Anomaly sites should be blitzed for bounty pay. They're basically just a fast-paced encounter area that's great to run when there's no Cosmic Signatures available. It's not really worth the time and effort to salvage and loot Anomaly sites since there's usually not a large amount of wrecks, especially when only 1/5th of those wrecks contain loot and 2/3rd's of those only contain 1x Metal Scraps.

Now don't get me wrong, every once in a while Anomaly sites will spawn a Commander NPC which is definitely worth salvaging and looting. Hopefully the site will also escalate into expedition but that's rare.

Course if it's a small fleet running the Anomaly sites then it won't take much time at all to salvage and loot everything.

Now Cosmic Signatures on the other hand is where the ISK is and depending on the site, could be worth the time to salvage and loot, especially if it contains a lot of wrecks. Cosmic Signature sites also have a very good chance of spawning Commander / Overseer NPC's holding Faction / Deadspace loot. Not to mention they have a very good chance of escalating into expedition.

I'm sure others will tell you which NPC's drop the best loot. Since I'm Minmatar I spend most of my time fighting Angels.



DMC
Hoof-Arted
State War Academy
Caldari State
#3 - 2014-08-10 20:57:47 UTC
Ok, that all makes sense.

Are all the NPC's about the same from the ISK standpoint, or does one tend to be more lucrative?
IIshira
School of Applied Knowledge
Caldari State
#4 - 2014-08-10 22:07:32 UTC
Just curious DMC do you loot level 4 missions? I usually don't because I don't want the hassle of changing ships or bringing in a alt. Is it even worth it?

Not trying to hijack the OP thread but I figured since the topic is very close no point in making a whole new thread.
Caleidascope
Republic Military School
Minmatar Republic
#5 - 2014-08-10 22:49:02 UTC  |  Edited by: Caleidascope
Keep in mind that anomalies do have occasional faction rat, looting that one is good idea.

Life is short and dinner time is chancy

Eat dessert first!

DeMichael Crimson
Republic University
Minmatar Republic
#6 - 2014-08-10 23:04:11 UTC
Hoof-Arted wrote:
Ok, that all makes sense.

Are all the NPC's about the same from the ISK standpoint, or does one tend to be more lucrative?


Hard to say, each Pirate Faction NPC (Commander / Overseer) has their own special 'Faction' module that brings in top ISK. Since the drops are random, you can't really count on always getting the top item.

For example, you might be getting a lot of Gistii A-Type Small Shield Boosters when you actually want a Domination Gyrostabilizer. No problem, just sell a few of the Gistii A-Type Small Shield Boosters and purchase a Domination Gyrostabilizer or whatever type of Faction / Deadspace module you want.

As for the regular Pirate NPC's, as I said before, loot drops have been nerfed badly, almost to the point of extinction. The exception would be in missions that spawn Mercenary or EoM NPC's. The majority of their wrecks usually contain loot. Also the loot drops are all T1 modules which sell for different prices in different Market areas.

I'm not a Market Trader and that topic is better answered in another sub-forum. I will say that after years of playing this game, I now have loot stashed in over 100's of stations. In fact due to the recent Industrial update / release, I decided to collect all the minerals I had from years of reprocessing low level loot. Turned out I had minerals in 230 stations spread throughout New Eden. Needless to say I've been very busy for a week now collecting it all up.

DMC



IIshira wrote:
Just curious DMC do you loot level 4 missions? I usually don't because I don't want the hassle of changing ships or bringing in a alt. Is it even worth it?

Not trying to hijack the OP thread but I figured since the topic is very close no point in making a whole new thread.


Depends on the amount of wrecks. If it's a lot, I'll get my Noctis and clean up everything like I use to do before Soundwave & Co. started their war. If it's a small amount of wrecks, I just send out Salvage Drones that I carry in my combat ships and while they're busy, I cherry pick through the loot and just collect all the high meta level modules. Usually by the time I'm done with that, the salvage drones are done as well.

Now if it's a mission with a lot of small wrecks, I'll bypass them and just concentrate on salvaging the medium and large wrecks.


DMC
Jered Hakaaros
Viziam
Amarr Empire
#7 - 2014-08-11 02:41:44 UTC
In all honesty, the Mobile Tractor Units have made looting and salvaging so easy, if you have some spare time and doing anomalies, you might as well drop them and collect the loot (and maybe the large wreck salvage) afterwards for a nice plus in profit, it takes no time at all.

Other strategies are reprocessing that loot to build up a nice stash of minerals on the side while doing anoms, this works esp well if you are doing anoms in your base system. When you or the corp needs anything built but there arent any mats in a few jumps range, u always got your stash in hand.
Substantia Nigra
Polaris Rising
Goonswarm Federation
#8 - 2014-08-11 03:11:40 UTC
I’m no mission runner but do occasionally find myself inside guristas anomalies … mainly forsaken hubs and sanctums.

Until recently salvaging and looting was pretty universally skipped, except by some of our newest folk who’d follow around clearing up your debris trail. The reason for this was that looting and salvaging took half the time it took to complete the site, for a much smaller portion of potential isk return.

Now, however, I drop a mobile tractor unit when I warp into the site and then, when I have completed four such sites (that’s how many MTUs my afk-tar ratter can carry), I take a break from rat-shooting to undock an eight-salvager noctis and loot / salvage them all. It only takes a couple of minutes per site now. I have not looked at the loot / salvage value in detail but, based on the auto-calculation of the can I store it in, it appears to be 10-20% of the value of the bounties earned while clearing the anom.

This is certainly not the most efficient way to go (afk-tar is convenient rather than fast) but I do now routinely loot and salvage … despite the nerfs.

Of course, if a have a dread ship spawn or … hasn’t happened yet … an officer I’d be burning over to that wreck rightaway to grab whatever it contained.

I guess I am almost a 'vet' by now. Hopefully not too bitter and managing to help more than I hinder. I build and sell many things, including large collections of bookmarks.

DeMichael Crimson
Republic University
Minmatar Republic
#9 - 2014-08-11 05:55:16 UTC
I think this thread here is also relevant to this topic.



DMC
Jenn aSide
Soul Machines
The Initiative.
#10 - 2014-08-11 12:27:36 UTC
Substantia Nigra wrote:
I’m no mission runner but do occasionally find myself inside guristas anomalies … mainly forsaken hubs and sanctums.

Until recently salvaging and looting was pretty universally skipped, except by some of our newest folk who’d follow around clearing up your debris trail. The reason for this was that looting and salvaging took half the time it took to complete the site, for a much smaller portion of potential isk return.

Now, however, I drop a mobile tractor unit when I warp into the site and then, when I have completed four such sites (that’s how many MTUs my afk-tar ratter can carry), I take a break from rat-shooting to undock an eight-salvager noctis and loot / salvage them all. It only takes a couple of minutes per site now. I have not looked at the loot / salvage value in detail but, based on the auto-calculation of the can I store it in, it appears to be 10-20% of the value of the bounties earned while clearing the anom.

This is certainly not the most efficient way to go (afk-tar is convenient rather than fast) but I do now routinely loot and salvage … despite the nerfs.

Of course, if a have a dread ship spawn or … hasn’t happened yet … an officer I’d be burning over to that wreck rightaway to grab whatever it contained.


That's something that a lot of people aren't taking into account. CCP made looting and salvaging MUCH easier with MTUs and salvage drones, so it happens way more often in null sec than it ever used to, and this has an effect on salvage and loot prices. It's foolish not to load a drone ratting ship (ishtar, domi, VNI etc) with MTUs that auto-scoop all the loot for you.

This is why i was generally against the idea of MTUs continuing to scoop loot while the owner is off grid, now damn near everyone is doing it in high sec missions and null sec anomalies (not to mention wormholes) and you can tell.
Jenn aSide
Soul Machines
The Initiative.
#11 - 2014-08-11 12:42:44 UTC
Hoof-Arted wrote:
Currently, does one of the NPC types provide more lucrative loot than the others?

This would primarily be for Anoms and Sigs.


The question is rather vague. 'loot' means a lot of things in this game.

If you are asking for the relative values of high end (like "faction" and "dead space" gear), that is determined by EVE's "meta-game" ie "who uses what items for what".

Shield modules are in very high demand for a number of reasons. Caldari and Minmatar Super Capital ships usually make use of such gear like Pithum class invulnerability fields and other such hardeners, so super cap pilots are willing and able to pay a lot for those. The same modules are widely used in some kinds of PVE, more prominently Incursions, so that also adds to the demand for such things. Pithum class medium shield boosters are some of the best loot drops you will ever see even though the prices have come way down (I once got a Pithum A type medium shield booster and a pithum a-type invul from the same plex, almost 3 billion isk at the prices at the time)

In short, if you ever run across a Guristas 6/10 DED complex in low sec, DO IT lol.

Still, other kinds of gear (like Armor modules) can bring in nice isk too. And sometimes sites drop blueprints for ships and modules as well.

To me, the 'value chart' goes something like this.

Guristas (Dread Guristas and 'Pith') Shield stuff and ships like the Gila and Rattlesnake

Angels (Domination and 'Gist') lots of shield stuff and ships like the Machariel

Serpentis (Shadow Serpentis and 'Core') Armor modules and ships like the Vindicator

Sansha (True Sansha and 'Cent') Armor modules and kick ass laser ships like the nightmare

Sisters of EVE, Thukker and Mordus (no combat sites for these factions yet, but they have missions agents and their LP stores are awesome)

Blood Raiders (Dark Blood and 'Corp') Armor modules and ships like the Bhaalgorn, which IMO is the coolest looking ship in the game

Drones (the red-headed stepchildren of EVE), loot tends to suck but can drop Sisters of EVE chips and parts for special combat drones





James Baboli
Warp to Pharmacy
#12 - 2014-08-11 15:46:04 UTC
Jenn aSide wrote:
[quote=Hoof-Arted]
Drones (the red-headed stepchildren of EVE), loot tends to suck but can drop Sisters of EVE chips and parts for special combat drones


And should you get any of the mythical purple drone stuff, wow the prices.

Talking more,

Flying crazier,

And drinking more

Making battleships worth the warp

Hasikan Miallok
Republic University
Minmatar Republic
#13 - 2014-08-11 18:33:38 UTC
Note that its loot that got nerfed recently.

Salvage still pays the same as ever.

Does not effect me as my mission alt blitzes.

Feel sorry for the salvage corps and ninjas though.
Stubborn Stain
Stubborn Stain Inc
#14 - 2014-08-11 19:26:00 UTC
Nothing in life can quite compare to the joy of completing "The Blockade" and getting a bunch of metal scraps and a few meta 2 afterburners for your pains. Roll

I still loot/salvage all my mission sites, but it's right on the bubble of not being worth it. The only thing that makes it worthwhile is the MTU - if it weren't for that, I wouldn't even bother for anything less than Level 4 missions.
Asinar
The Hotdog
#15 - 2014-08-11 19:37:35 UTC
IIshira wrote:
Just curious DMC do you loot level 4 missions? I usually don't because I don't want the hassle of changing ships or bringing in a alt. Is it even worth it?

Not trying to hijack the OP thread but I figured since the topic is very close no point in making a whole new thread.


Some are, some aren't.

Damsel in distress for example drops more in loot than the bounties IIRC, something like 10 mil. Angels missions give decent salvage, especially the ones heavy on battleships. 2 of them, forgot names.

Pith, guristas, just don't bother. Nothing to see, move on, save youself the time. Really.

Faction missions, sure, worth it, because people don't like loosing standing so the tags are worth good amount of iskies.

Sanshas, not sure, rarely do those but last I heard salvage was good but that was years ago.
Stubborn Stain
Stubborn Stain Inc
#16 - 2014-08-11 20:11:49 UTC
Also, I can remember back when drones dropped mineral alloys that added up to a pretty nice payday. But then they nerfed it to where drones drop no loot at all, and very little salvage. Running drone missions (in hisec, anyway) is pretty much a waste of time.
DeMichael Crimson
Republic University
Minmatar Republic
#17 - 2014-08-11 21:36:37 UTC
Stubborn Stain wrote:
Also, I can remember back when drones dropped mineral alloys that added up to a pretty nice payday. But then they nerfed it to where drones drop no loot at all, and very little salvage. Running drone missions (in hisec, anyway) is pretty much a waste of time.

Well, Rogue Drone missions pay ISK, LP's and standing. No reason to decline those and tempt fate with the 4 hr timer, especially if you decline Empire Encounter missions.

Now if you're talking about Rogue Drone Exploration Sites, then I totally agree with you.

Back before Soundwave & Co started their 'War On Gun Mining', Rogue Drone sites were great to run. Now they're not even worth the time. In fact, the only Rogue Drone sites that barely qualify now are the DED sites. And that's only due to getting Overseer Personal Effects (OPE's). Not to mention a very small chance of getting Serpentis loot with them.

Now that I think about it, it's been quite a long time now since I've seen any Serpentis loot drop with the OPE.
And I always run Rogue Drone Asteroid Infestation sites whenever I see them. Wouldn't surprise me if CCP nerfed that as well.

I wonder, has anyone else seen any Serpentis loot drop with OPE's in Rogue Drone DED sites?


DMC
Hasikan Miallok
Republic University
Minmatar Republic
#18 - 2014-08-12 06:52:45 UTC
Stubborn Stain wrote:
Also, I can remember back when drones dropped mineral alloys that added up to a pretty nice payday. But then they nerfed it to where drones drop no loot at all, and very little salvage. Running drone missions (in hisec, anyway) is pretty much a waste of time.



It's the CCP way. Make things originally a bit too good ... then "balance" by nerfing them into pointlessness :D
Ruskarn Andedare
Lion Investments
#19 - 2014-08-13 17:24:38 UTC
DeMichael Crimson wrote:
I wonder, has anyone else seen any Serpentis loot drop with OPE's in Rogue Drone DED sites?


While you're at it has anyone seen any decent Core* loot drops from Serpentis DED sites recently?
Master Odysseus
Deep Core Mining Inc.
Caldari State
#20 - 2014-10-13 12:03:47 UTC  |  Edited by: Master Odysseus
Bringing an old post back to life....

Have they recently "stealth" nerf the looting from 0.0 anomalies?

Specifically, before summer, I used to do forsaken hubs, dropping 4 MTU's then looting them, averaging 7,5-9 mil per hub in loots, in about 4-5 mins time. I took a break for summer, came back, now I loot 3,5-4,5 mil per anomaly. It's not worth it now, I just stopped looting and go on to kill a few more rats in those 4-5 mins and take more ISK and not get into all that trouble (logistics trouble, time, fuel costs, etc).

Unless I also included the price of the MTU in my "before summer" check of loot worth and so nothing changed, 3,5-4,5 mil worth of loot per anomaly is the standard (and not worth the trouble) - Just loot the occasional faction rat and go on
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