Missions & Complexes

I have been trying to find some guides to finding and running DED complexes but can't seem to find one that practically explains how they work, where to find them and what sort of ship you need to do them. If you know of a good guide I would appreciate the link. I am a low SP character about 6 months old and can fly a lot of stuff, but none it it really max skilled. I currently run a lot of level 4 missions (high sec) and do manufacturing (on another character). I am interested in mixing it up a bit. I don't seek out or care for solo PvP, and would prefer to avoid it when out doing sites.

Here are some real newbie questions:

- What does DED stand for?

- How do I tell a combat site that I scan down from a regular one to a DED one?

- I have access to a set of low sec systems that are usually very empty. When I scan in those sites I see lots of wormhole and combat sites. Are DED sites "combat" sites?

- How can I tell if it is a 3/10 or 4/10? WHat do those numbers mean other than "ship restriction size"? Should I just be looking up the name from the eveonline wiki? What would be a good difficulty site to start with?

- What security status would I need to fly in to get "good-ish" sites?

- Is the risk worth the reward to take a tengu or gila or other expensive ship with PvE fittings into lowsec to do the sites? I have only ever gone into lowsec with a PvP fleet or in cloaky Helios doing exploration (data+relic). I have never taken a ship into a combat site.

- If you are in an empty lowsec system and you scan down a site and someone comes into system and deploys combat probes should you just run away and hide immediately? If they scan me down and warp in are they forced to the first gate like a regular mission site?

- I see a lot of people say they use an alt for scanning. Is it possible to do a scanning + DPS ship that can scan down and complete the sites?

- I see that people run sites in null sec. Is that usually a situation where you are part of a corp that lives there?

Thanks!

DED apparently stands for Direct Enforcement Division though I didn't know that until checking.

We usually don't refer to DED sites versus "regular" sites. The terminology you're probably looking for is "rated" versus "unrated" respectively. You can tell which is which by the name and by the popup when you warp to the site. Rated sites will have, naturally enough, a rating (e.g., DED threat assesment 5/10).

Ratings run from 1/10 to 10/10. T3s in particular can't enter anything short of a 5/10, BCs can't enter lower than a 4/10, cruisers can't get into 1/10s or 2/10s. Except for T3s, site restrictions on advanced ships (e.g., HACs versus cruisers) are the same as their base class.

The relative value of DED sites (and combat sites in general) depends on which rats you're dealing with. As a general rule, value increases from 1 to 3, dips somewhat at 4 then rises to 6. Value of 7-10/10s vary widely, but those are all restricted to null so probably won't be what you start with.

The difference between a rated site and an unrated site is twofold. First, rated sites do not escalate (but see below). Everything is in one set of deadspace pockets culiminating in a a final overseer (there may be other overseers along the way). Second, rated sites drop Overseer's Personal Effects or OPEs which guarantee some financial gain from the site (other than bounties) when sold to Concord or DED NPCs.

There exists a third category, the psuedo-DED sites. Neither Serpentis nor Angels have a "proper" 6/10, but both have a site that behaves just like a 6/10 except that it escalates (once each) to a second set of deadspace pockets. The Serpentis one is also... tricky. These are pseudo-DED sites in (somewhat) common parlance. In null, Fleet Staging Points do the same thing, acting as effective 9/10s.

If you are scanned out in site, anyone warping in will reach the fist gate of the deadspace complex. If you are, say, 4 rooms deep -- well, then you have lots of time to either complete the site if you're close or bug out.

As for ship selection.... There are lots of options. I use a T3 and swap subsystems from cloaky/scanny to combat when I find a site. The spare subs and mods just go in the cargohold (sometimes along with a mobile depot depending on exactly what I'm doing). Other people, as you noted, use a scan character and a combat character to achieve the same.

A third option is to just use a Stratios; it can (sort of) handle up to 6/10s (with really solid skills). This has an advantage over T3s in that a Stratios can also run 3/10s and 4/10s (both of which spawn in both high and low).

The last option is to just use a HAC (usually an Ishtar). It's not that hard to get a probe launcher onto a combat fit Ishtar and it won't be too hard to pin sites if you have good scanning skills.

In null, some people ninja and some live there. It depends. Since combat sites take so long to run it's a bit harder to ninja them than it is to ninja professional sites. Ishtars are often the ship of choice for this purpose, but purpose-fit T3s can do the job as well.

So where do you start? Wherever. People have made fortunes never leaving Caldari (and/or Minmatar) high sec. Other high sec zones don't pay out quite as much but have lower competition. Low sec is nice as it's often so damn empty -- but then the same can be said for much of null. I happen to like low but that's just me.

You can also be lazy and leave the sensor overlay on and only warp to the DED 'green dots' on your screen, no additonal scanning required. Those sites are useless and only contain rats, but everynow and then a commander ship spawns after you wiped out the rats and that commander can have really nice faction loot (or you get a location to a hidden DED site). Those sites you have cleared in a couple of minutes and you can do it with any T1 frig/cruiser (in high sec). Simply set a route over 10 systems and warp to all the 'dots' in every system and go back and forth. Good chance you will have gained a couple of hundred mil worth of loot after some hours, or if youre lucky in like 15 minutes.