I even found a weird site last night where i had to hack as much as possible before the NPC rats came out to kill me. Managed to leg it (barely) with 35mill isk.

Hi all,

Not sure if i'll get into trouble for this as it not really a question.

Kind regards,
Teium

You might try an Astero, or if you can skill into it, a Stratios. Those are the SOE ships and are pretty much the best ships for exploration and looks (again, my tastes) in the game.

For standard pirate faction relic/data sites, the Stratios is actually less-optimal than an exploration frigate. The reason being it is slower (can-can movement), slower to warp (site-site movement), slower to align (easier to catch) and just a blingier target.

A Strat has its place, but basic relic and data sites is not it.

The salvage/explo Nereus sound amusing though.

I ventured into Nullsec last night. It didn't go too well lol

couldn't find many data/relic sights at all. Managed to get 10mill off the last system I went it and went in a huff lol. Decided to go back to my home base. Was careful until the last system when I just though "sod it i'm going gate to gate".........One warp bubble later and my poor Magnate and all my implants were gone.

Lesson well and truly learned. Never EVER let your guard down in nullsec.

Think i'm gonna hang round in lowsec for a while longer, get more isk and skill points then properly do a plan of attach for Null.

border systems where null meets low or high sec are you most dangerous systems to travel through. You are far safer deeper into null.

Sometimes you can find a wormhole that leads to null and you can wander around several systems and never see another player.

Well i think wormholes into null are going to be the way forward for me :)

Sounds like you are on the right track to me OP.



Yeah that's what I would suggest. The payouts are bigger in null/w-space but the stakes are higher too. I would suggest training up to a covert ops cloak and covops frigate before you take that plunge, but it's not totally necessary if you are alert and aware of your surroundings and remain cloaked while scanning.

Others often suggest the Astero for exploration and while it's a fine ship I still prefer t2 covops frigates, they get just as good a bonus for the hacking mini-game and their bonus to scan probe strength is actually better than the Astero when you hit covert ops frigate IV. Plus the loss mails aren't as big .

When it comes to wormholes there's a lot of information you will have to research, wormhole types, wormhole system classes, the various wormhole effects, etc. and your d-scan skills will have to be on point. You'll also need to learn to differentiate between the guarded Sleeper relic/data sites and the unguarded pirate faction ones. Joining a corp of seasoned explorers can help here with learning the ropes, but exploration works fine as a solo career as long as you're willing to do the research and learn from your mistakes.

If you are done with covops, train for an interceptor, then T3 tactical destroyer and max your probing skills ... these are all very handy for moving around in New Eden (beside core and fitting skills of course).

I intend to go solo. A few people have said this is silly, but I really have my heart set on it.

I don't really want to go Astero. It's too expensive. I fully intend to go T2 covert-ops frig. Only 6 more days till I get to fly one i believe from last time I checked my queue.

From reading a guide, i think that the sites which have the pirate names in them are abandoned, but I could be wrong.

I really need to spend time researching wormholes. Haven't really looked into them at all. Busy saving ISK from LowSec sytems at the moment and waiting for my covert-op frig. Not long now though :)

In Wormholes sites with Pirate names are the ones that 's usually abandoned. Outside of Wormhole space it's critical to read up on exactly what defences certain sites have. Some might appear to be abandoned but instead have a hidden timer where you get attacked by a defence force after time's up. Others might have defences that activate if you fail a hack or simillar.

I've done some exploring myself (not much though so I'm no expert in any way) and I have chosen to stick with T1-ships both because the cost for loosing one is negligible and because I'm not as 'blingy' as the covert-ops exploration frigates for hunters looking for both a kill and payout.

I'm not sure exactly what's the difference in cost between a kitted T1 and T2 exploration frigate is nowadays but it is something that should be considered if ISK is an issue.

OP, you will love wormholes. Do go check them out right away, no need to wait. Also, look up Thera system.

Absolutely. However, the ever-present danger is part of what makes wormholes fun.

For the record Thera is a very popular PvP location. An dangerous place for a exploration frigate. probably not many sites there anyway.

Actually it's quite safe for cloakies as long as you stay cloaked , but you never do hacking inside Thera anyway (or for longer than 30s ), instead use it as a staging to explore distant regions.