Missions & Complexes

Hi everyone,

It makes a week and a half that i've start to run combat sites in hisec, mainly Angel ones.
I've done a total of 40-50 sites, combining anomalies (Refuge, Hideaway, Den) and signatures like Angel Lookout and Hideout..
I've also tried drone ones like Haunted Yard, Desolate Site

All that + the escalations from it (like Chasing The Dragoon) and i had NO LOOT !
Best thing is an ancilliary BPC from a Sentient Drone...
Is the drop rate that low ? Or am i running bad ?


Second questions is concerning ships : I'm actually using an arty Trasher but i'ts definitly not very efficient.
I'm might be able to fly an assault frigate quiclkly (Wolf or Jaguar)
Is it suitable for DED sites ? Will i be able to do 3/10 or 4/10 with it ?
For now, i can't do the Angel Red Light District escalation, that i got a lot !

Thanks for your answers

Really ? why that ? In my mind, it's was only a pvp module
I was thinking about the rupture too, but i guess i'll go full drone training to reach the VNI.

VNI is a good start for combat exploration.
If you have the ISK, get a Gila.

Gila is also really demanding on the wallet. You can get a T3 for less than a fully fitted Gila. While the Gila will likely clear sites faster, the T3 is able to serve pretty much any function.

t3 cruisers will not get into ded sites below a 4/10

They can't even enter 4/10s.


Stratios works too, but they cost the same as Gilas and, just me personally, i'd always prefer a Gila for combat exploration.
Yes, the scanning will be a little slower, but the fighting is so much faster and easier in a Gila.


Well, drops are always random. But the problem is the sites you are running.

Anomalies will VERY RARELY spawn a Faction NPC at the end and he MAY drop something valuable IF you are lucky. The Escalations you get from them are way better, but like you said, you can't even run the "Angel Red Light District" (these are pretty good. one time i got ~900mil out of this site).

You are running unrated sites too, but only the "small" ones (Hideout, Lookout). Get a ship, that can run the Watch and Vigil, too.
But then again, Most of the unrated sites, don't have a guaranteed Faction NPC. If it doesn't spawn, the site is worthless to you.

To make things even worse, even IF you do get a Faction spawn and they do drop something (many times it's an implant), you are running sites in Angel space, and Faction spawns in Angel space drop "Halo" implants, which are crap, hence they are not very expensive. That's the reason, why some explorers (me included) skip the most unrated sites in Angel space and move on. Save time and hope to find a better one (DED 3/10, 4/10) instead.

Drone Sites (Haunted Yard, Desolate Site, Chemical Yard) are very much hit and miss. The drop rate of "Sentient" modules or Nexus chips seems to be pretty low, but it's always nice to find one and the sites are easy to run. The Escalation you can get from the Chemical Yard is especially interesting, since Part 2 and 3 of it will spawn a "Sentient" Cruiser and these have a chance to drop Nexus chips you can redeem for a Stratios BPC.

Now to the most important part. DED sites. Run the 3/10s and 4/10s. This is where most of your ISK is.

TL;DR
Random drops are random, but you are basically running the wrong sites.
If you come back later, saying that you ran 40-50 DED sites and you got NO LOOT at all, THEN i would be really surprised.


P.S. If you need info on combat sites, like how to run them, or where the loot is, check these 2 sites:
DED Complex List
Unrated Complex List

I would recommend flying in an Assualt frig (Enyo or Wolf) for the highsec sites. When I ran them, I was doing the Guristas DED sites, and I don't know what the Angel ones are like. Anyway, I preferred the assault frigs because they were much faster than most other ships that can run the sites, and you can sig tank all sites up to 4/10's. This means if someone is running the site already you have a very good chance of beating them to the loot.

And as far a loot drops, you just get lucky with some. I got 2 Pithum C-Type Invulns in a day from Guristas sites, and didn't get a single drop for another week. Just takes patience, but for me, the sites themselves are fun so it's no so bad.

I will reiterate. The tactical destroyers are great for running hisec combat sites. The Jackdaw has an active shield tank comparable to a BC, but the best dps you can get will prolly be around 350. The Svipul has a shield tank comparable to a cruiser, with a dps of around 500. The Confessor has an armor tank comparable to a cruiser, with dps around 500 as well. All have a small signature, and can easily fit a scan probe launcher or expanded probe launcher.

I have been running Serps, Blood Raiders, Guristas, and drone sites with all three; up to 4/10. No problems with any of the sites as long as I don't screw up with my piloting.

In all my time playing EVE, the tactical dessies are easily the funnest ships I have flown.

Can you link that Jack fit. I'm struggling with tank here. DPS is low on LML, rockets are good (around 350 at Vs) but have short range. I had to warp out from sanshas DED 4 full of LML turrets.

I did a bunch of hideaways, refuges + Desolated site (rogue drones) etc in Sansha space in my Confessor few weeks ago, and earned aprox. 250 million isk in a couple of hours.

So it's all about the luck... Cause now I've done 10 sites and haven't found anything this week.