The Week That Was

Full Power means Full Speed Ahead

Power was restored a week ago, we've had no problems since then although we've had more rain and wind that did give cause for concern. It certainly was interesting being without power and being early to bed each night was nice... for the first day or two but after two days I started to hate nights. There just wasn't enough light that we had to read so that limited what I could do. 

It's over now and I'm already looking at investing in a small generator or perhaps the new Tesla backup system in case this ever happens again.

Reaction Tower Frustration

I was fortunate not to have anything serious going on in EVE during my unexpected downtime and I returned to full towers and a need to refuel my towers rather urgently. My towers coped without me, I didn't doubt that at all, and the only thing that annoys me about my reaction towers is the need to empty them constantly between 48 and 72 hours of operation. 

The frequency of maintenance is dependant on what they're making but its frustrating for me because it means I need to do things, at a minimum, every two days to ensure that output is dealt with yet inputs I can leave for at least a week (168 hours). 

I could add more silos and chain the outputs to give myself more space but for some stupid reason asilo requires 500 cpu to online. Why the silo, something that should just be inert storage, requires so much CPU I don't know but needing 500 means that in any complex reaction setup you'll only be able to have enough for two inputs and one for output. 

Until the POS receives a massive overhaul there isn't much I can do and so I'm developing OCD with respect to POSes and managing when silos will be full/empty/nearly full.

Returning to High Sec DED Sites

I posted quite sometime ago about the profitability of running sites in high sec and then getting escalations which could result in very profitable loot drops. I know Bex continues to do this and has gathered a good collection of Deadspace and Faction loot but I stopped because I really hate probing.

I mean I really hate probing, I'd rather 0.01 ISK in Jita than probe but I'm working on the skills and I've decided to give it a go. So far, with a little help from Bex on where to look for sites, I've had a much better time than I did before.

I spent about 4 hours in total on the weekend probing and running combat sites and managed to get seven escalations (all Guristas Scout Outposts) from which I managed to get three C-Type Kinetic shield amplifiers, a C-Type Medium Shield Booster and two C-Type Adaptive Invulnerability Fields (the latter working out at just under 300m each).

Very profitable for the time and with the practice in scanning I'm getting I'm sure it'll be more profitable for a small time sink.

3D Map Out and Explorers Hate It

That sounded like click-bait for a second. Sorry about that, but no link to follow :)

A while back CCP allowed players to start using a new in-game Map that had plenty of improvements and was all shiny and new. It is good, although I do miss some of the ease-of-use features (such as Jump Range bubble when in a jump capable ship) and finding out what systems were populated or had no pilots with just a single click.

However this same map is now used for the scanning/probing mechanic in-game and it is quite horrendous and frustrating to use. The view resets when you move focus, it certainly uses more processor when running that the previous map and can be very sluggish as a result. Filters are different and whilst there exists all the previous filters they are harder (I find) to apply and then clearly see what the results are.

I do like the new map but I don't have enough experience as an Explorer yet to comment on its usefulness in scanning.

Beauty is not just SKIN deep

Well CCP done fucked up but in a very enjoyable and happy way. Then they said they'd be fixing it and people didn't like that so there was lots of fun had applying skins to ships that should not have had the ability to have skins.

What do I mean, well players found a bug (definitely not a feature) that allowed any ship skin to be applied to any ship rather than what it was designed to do (which was specific skins for specific ships).

Lots of fun was had and there were some very good looking ships appearing on various Reddit threads and on Imgur. However it was a bug and CCP Falcon pointed out (quite correctly IMO) that having a Sarum Family logo on a non-Amarr ship did not "fit" with the Lore and so could not be allowed. He did say that he was discussing this with the development/art teams because a lot of feedback was generated and some was very useful and may influence how skins are developed.

EVE Prosper Market Show

If you're into Market activities in EVE Online then you can do with all the help you can and I cannot recommend that you have a look into the EVE Prosper Market Show. Now up to it's 25th Episode this is an excellent discussion/review programme for not just the EVE Online Market but also features excellent coverage of in-game events and news stories of note.

Seriously, go watch. Lockefox knows his stuff and presents an excellent show for people with any interest in the EVE Online economy.

DED sites in High Sec

There are Deadspace areas of space, connected by acceleration gates, that are inhabited by pirates and these are referred to as DED Sites. They contain challenges of varying difficulty (1 to 10) and located in all but wormhole space these sites are a challenge for pilots but can have very profitable rewards.

Last week I received a mail from my friend Bex who had recently started roaming around New Eden looking for High Sec DED sites to run. Previously he had run a few sites but never made a dedicated effort to find them but once he did he wasn't disappointed in the rewards he was given, so much so that he said the following:

I am surprised how easy it is to make a living in HiSec.
        - Apex Bex

Aiming Low

As far as what sites to run, in high sec you'll find DED sites from 1/10 to 4/10 and it is the 3/10 and 4/10 DED's that should be your primary targets as they drop the best rewards. That's not to say that unrated or even Drone sites aren't worth doing, they are, and if they escalate you'll be showered with Faction Drops and Tech II hardwirings that can be sold for a very large profit.

EVEopedia's comprehensive list of DED Complexes

Bex has followed one simple rule: if its a combat site that has to be scanned out, he scans it then runs it.

The only exception being those ones that only allows Frigates. He can't arsed reshipping to do those as he's often a very long way from home as his current ship, a Gila, is a mobile so he doesn't have to get stay in one location and can roam the byways and back roads of New Eden.

The best places to scan are off the beaten track. High sec systems that are hidden behind Low sec pockets are ideal as they get very little traffic. Bex often makes use of wormholes to move around and as a result sometimes their exits have led to a backwater system 40 jumps from anywhere but they have 4 DED sites in them, just waiting for someone to harvest them.

Selecting the Ship

Doing DED sites in High sec you really want a one ship solution, it can scan and find sites but also run them without the need for swapping ships or using a second character. As a result you see a lot of Stratios, Vexor/Navy Vexor, and Gila's being used for this.

Bex has taken the Gila fit I use for ratting in Curse and has tweaked it to have more gank than tank as primarily the DED sites (1/10 to 4/10) in High Sec contain frigates and more tracking and movement speed for the medium drones is a good idea. There is one thing he does consider essential and that is the Drone Navigation Computer, Medium drones are very slow and the 30% speed buff is very, very useful to getting to and from targets.

Looks, Mobility and Damage - the complete package

Of course it doesn't have bonuses, like some of the others, to scanning but with decent scanning skills (Level 4 at least) there's nothing you can't get 100% on.


[High Sec DED]
Core Probe Launcher, Sisters Core Scanner Probe
Light Missile Launcher II, Caldari Navy Scourge Light Missile
Light Missile Launcher II, Caldari Navy Scourge Light Missile
Light Missile Launcher II, Caldari Navy Scourge Light Missile
Light Missile Launcher II, Caldari Navy Scourge Light Missile

Large Shield Extender
10MN Afterburner II
Kinetic Deflection Field II
Thermic Deflection Field II
Drone Navigation Computer II
Sentient Omnidirection Tracking Link

Drone Amage Amplifer II
Drone Amage Amplifer II
Drone Amage Amplifer II
Omnidirectional Tracking Enhancer II

Medium Core Defense Field Purger II
Medium Core Defense Field Purger II
Medium Core Defense Field Purger II

2 x Valkyrie II
2 x Hammerhead II
4 x Salvage Drone I
1 x Vespa II
2 x Infiltrator II


He also carries a mobile depot and spare modules to be able to change and adapt his tank to the damage that he is expecting for each site. There is even fitting room for a 100MN Afterburner instead of the 10MN but this does lead to some issues around cap stability and really is overkill for the DED sites that will be found in High Sec.

Contesting Sites

You won't be the only person running DED sites and from time to time you will encounter people who will try to steal your site or will attempt to get you to attack them so as to start PvP. You won't be able to avoid it so its best to be prepared.

Try not to take your time, quickly and efficiently kill all targets and when you do see the Overseer or final loot dropping rat move as close as you can, as quickly as you can whilst killing them. Now, if you get the kill shot on any rat, it's your wreck, no one else can take it without going suspect, that way you can loot the wreck as soon as its dead and prevent anyone from stealing it.

Just in case though Bex suggests if you can spare the mid slot, fit a long point. It's the last thing any would be thief would expect. But use discretion and consider what you could potentially lose for the sake of a crappy faction hardener.

Bex, being the pirate inclined pilot he is, has actually stolen at least one site as they were being run, he warped in and obliterated everything in sight including the final Dread Gurista rat. As he killed it the wreck was white to him but yellow to the other guy in the site and he didn't take to kindly to this and he opened fire:

Kill: VVS Solt (Navy Vexor)

As a result Bex got a shiny afterburner as well as the Mid Range Crystal Gamma that dropped from Dread Gurista rat. Lesson here should be to complete sites faster and to secure the loot BEFORE anyone else.

Rewards - 24 hours of Sites

In one twenty four hour period last week Bex was able to run sites that yielded not only bounties, salvage and Overseer Personal Effects but the following Deadspace items:

• Sentient Omnidirectional Tracking Link
• Pithi A-Type Small Shield Booster
• Pithum C-Type Adaptive Invulnerability Field 
• Corpii A-Type Small Armor Repairer
• Dark Blood Small Focused Pulse Laser
• Dread Guristas Drone Damage Amplifier
• Pithum C-Type Explosive Deflection Amplifier
• Pithum C-Type EM Ward Amplifier
• Pithum C-Type Medium Remote Shield Booster
• Corpii A-Type Small Remote Capacitor Transmitter

The rewards are random, of course, but you often get nice surprises. Like the unrated Drone site that dropped a Sentient Omnidirectional Tracking Link and the Guristas 4/10 that dropped a C-Type Invulnerability  Field worth over 400 million ISK.

Conclusion

I'll certainly be having a look at DED Sites in High Se, I've avoided them in the past because I haven't thought I could do them. But from what I've written I'm certain two of my characters would have no issues scanning down and doing these sites.

I'm going to give it a try and should I get anything good you can be sure I'll write about it here.

Thank to Bex for the information and the round up of his experiences.