Missions & Complexes

Three months ago I took my rather new alt (>3m SP) and sent her to low sec to become a full-time explorer, with the hopes of funding my main and PVP-addicted toon. I have kept track of the ISK made from the (main) sites I've run since then, and I thought some players might find it helpful to see some of the numbers, particularly newer players looking to get into exploration outside of high security space. My alt is quite new still, and most (but not all) of these sites were done with a cheap BC over the course of 3 months of very casual play (the first number is the amount of times run):

Provisional Blood Outpost - 5 10m faction loot, 4mil
Mul-Zatah Monastery - 3 340m faction loot, 2m, 340m,
Blood Outpost - 5 17m faction loot, 5m, 2m, 12m
Dirty Site - 1 10m salvage,
Blood Raider Psycho. - 2 80m (35m in faction loot), 75m,
Blood Annex - 3 95m faction loot, 55m, 1m,

Radars - 36 493m
Mags - 30 369m (BPCs apx. 200m)
Ladars - 4 74m


As anyone who explores for more than a few hours knows, the common question of how much Isk per hour exploration brings in is not answerable in any helpful way—e.g., there are many days where I log in, spend a 30 minutes probing, and find absolutely nothing, while there are other rare times where I log in and make 50m or 340m in less than an hour. However, I think a similar question does have an answer, the question of the most efficient sties or Isk/time commitment. Based only on my limited experience, here's what I've found:

-Mag sites are actually more profitable (thus far for me) than radar sites, with the BPCs in mag sites added in. Both sites are the backbone of my Isk so far and are quite relaxing to run. In terms of Isk/time they are often quite fast—anywhere from 10 minutes to 30.

-Ladar sites take too long for me to consider worth the Isk/time, as there are generally a lot of well-tanked rats that take a while for me to kill.

-Many of the lower-end sites are not worth running (some of which I haven't even included on the list, such as many of the lower drone sites). Sometimes you get some low-end faction loot, but in terms of Isk/time commitment these sites are less profitable than mag and radars. If anyone has different experiences, I'd like to hear them. I'd like to see these sites improved in some way.

-The site I am most excited to get is the 4/10, simply because it is absurdly fast to run—around 10-15 minutes for me, with a low-SP alt—and can net a lot of Isk. I've spent maybe 45 minutes total running 4/10s, with a total Isk of around 640m, while I've spent in the range of 15 hours running radars (apx. 20 minutes each) with a total Isk of 493m or so. For this reason, I think 4/10s should be removed from high security space. They are already very fast to run, and the safety of high security space makes for a system which gets easily exploited by farmers.

-The 5/10 has not panned out for me in terms of Isk, but also because it takes so long for me to run. Blood Annex has proven a lot better, since it is a lot faster for me. And obviously I can't run the 6/10 yet and I'm sure that's where a lot of folk make their Isk.


Finally, I have some thoughts on exploration in Odyssey: I believe the devs have said the loot tables will be looked at in mag and radar sites in expansion. If this means a buff to (solo) mag and radar sites this is very good news, since they are already quite profitable and quick, and unless the new mini-game is time consuming it looks like they will be getting even faster to run, which means even an better Isk/time ratio. Plus, with Grav sites now taken out of the scan system (I'm assuming this means all Grav sites everywhere) this will mean it will be faster overall to find better sites.

I think further iteration on the exploration system could balance high security sites—perhaps removing 4/10s from HS—and improve all lower-end sites, perhaps giving them a more stable low-end loot drop that makes them worth running. Across the board I hope mag/radar sites as well are improved slightly as they are the main source of income for newer explorers in all areas of space.

Not empty quoting.

Great post, thanks.

+1

Removing 4/10 out of Hisec is kind of useless. As announced in the upcoming patch there will be like nothing left in Hisec anyway. Not only for exploration but for everyone but mission running, but those are about to be nerfed down to nothing if not with Ody then in the first patches, same for Incursions.

Hisec is literally dead for everyone but traders. I think CCP will make Hisec to nothing more than a very small area for beginners - the smaller the better, because then the Gankers can find the beginners quickly and kill them for fun.

We all are now forced to move to lowsec and nullsec. Especially explorers. In fact, im happy to have invested more than 5 billion over the last months in the exploration stuff and it already has a value of 8.2 billion :)

I think its the best you can do as former explorer: Trading. You dont need expensive ships, nor do you have to deal with pewpew-gimps and make about 500 million per day. Prices for plex will be dropping so cheap times are incoming. No ships, no insurance or POS payments, and its ridiculous to maintain a bigger corp from that PoV.

I was so against this upcoming, but now that i can buy a plex like every day if i want only by trading, i start to like it, somehow. Also i dont need two accounts anymore and much better: A trader can even play with changing free accounts and doesnt even need a plex :) All you have to take care of is that your cash is wandering to more than just 1 char and it shouldnt be bigger values, else you might get banned. But it is very positive that you dont need any skills that require a paid account at all.

If you want to battle there is enough action right at the doors of Amarr and Jita. No faction problems. No expensive ships. No insurances and no Gankers anymore. I love capitalism hehe.

And its all about the cash anyway. Great patch and great idea from CCP :)

with the new probing system you don't get an exact % signal strength from signatures.

This means no more cherry picking sites as easily you have to actually scan them down slightly to know what they are with any sort of accuracy.

Although with premade probe formations this won't be too difficult it's still a step in the right direction.

I'm no cherry picker; I run each combat site rated or unrated which are possible to run with the ships I have nearby.
Yet, I'm forced to blitz because there are cherry pickers who blitz, which even made me consider becomming a cherry picker myself.

I have read about DED sites "triggering" new stuff, but that was one post by Jenn Aside (I think). Other than that no info at all.. So unless there is info to be found about this, people will blitz sites because they don't know any better..

So here I am, torn between blitzing sites, and looking for a needle in a haystack, because there is no info what-so-ever. While I consider myself an explorer, and finding out new stuff is part of the exploration, it is also my main source of money..

Well, read the messages in local and understand when you combine them all to a complete story what is going on, if you want to decloak those "deep exploration sites".

As written, the very first step of most of us real explorers begins in the Vigil, or the Watch. Once you know how and when it triggers and how to act (there are no spoilers available) you will find many more of the hidden missions in those sites.

Example, as described often enough:

Scan a Sansha Vigil site. Hope for the expedition "true power ship yards". Follow it down, but mind it can stop at any moment, it is pure luck if you come to its end. At the end site you have to clear the site. Dont warp out. Dont cloak. Wait. Wait for 8 to 20 mins. Then the fleet comes. ONLY if you are at the 4th of 5th site and in lowsec you might get the fleet, that triggers the first escalation "Tracking down the source". Follow it. Hope for the next escalation, then another one of which like every has 3-5 destinations, only low and nullsec. At the end of this you trigger a named spawn. That one will warp off. You have to follow him. Until you are at the very last site and the named and his buddys are waiting for you. Can be more than 1 wave, be careful. Consider those nameds as difficult as trying to solo an incursion named, it can be quite annoying.

EDIT:

The fleet mentioned in the "XXXX ship yard" comes at any site. YOu can even wait at the first site, and it will come. But the more sites you travel along - i think the furthest is 5 - will let you end up in lowsec. Waiting there for the fleet is from my knowledge the only chance to trigger the first escalation.

How to find those? Well read the messages in the windows and local chat. This is what RPG fans name a Quest or Mission and it also exists in EVE. In the vigil the story is, that you found out that a special delivery will be handed to you if you cloak yourself as one of the pirates. On the sites you follow down the story says, that the parcel delivery hasnt arrived or is waiting somewhere else (-> expedition 1 leads to site 2 and so on) You received the new coordinates and destination, take out the witnesses of your appearance and clear the site, then follow to next target. At the last site you find some rats flying around and the control tower says that the parcel hasnt arrived yet and you shall wait. The rats engage you, and you clear them. Then you have to wait. Taking out the control tower, blocks the trigger. If the control tower is still up when the fleet arrives and the story hasnt stopped on 2nd or third site, you might have the luck to get the fleet that triggers the first escalation.

For the rest about how and why certain things happen and sometimes not, you are on your own.

[4/10 stay in hisec with 7/10 moved to losec]

This. 9/10s are pseudo-DEDs that always escalate. Same for Serpentis and Angel 6/10s. Beyond that, actual DED sites do not escalate. Not sure where that particular confusion comes from.