What would be a good low sec exploration fit
A cheap one you don’t mind losing.
A good answer to that question requires a lot more information than you’ve given. There’s “what skills do you have?”, “what hulls can you fly?”, “what is your budget and income?” and “what is your risk appetite?”
I fly a 100m ISK T2 Covert Ops ship. If someone even sees me I feel like I’m doing it wrong. That may be too expensive for you - it’s a couple of days idle income for me. It’s also fully T2 fitted, both Data and Relic analysers. Sisters Probes, Core and Combat. Two sets of each for fast “already done” reloads. That’s a lot of skill training (Covert Ops V, fitting skills all V, Scanning skills all, wait for it, V).
But if you’re a new player then that isn’t realistic.
Yeah, I don’t expect toys to pay for themselves. It’s fun, not income that they are used for.
So, no detailed fits, but I’m not cruel - some pointers.
Train the relevant Racial Frigate skill to at least IV.
Put a probe launcher Inthe high slots. The mid-slots: prop-mod to get between hacking items quickly. Time is your enemy, reduce your exposure. Data and relic analysers - both unless you are focusing, the relic sites often have better loot. Add scan improvement modules if you’ve space. Time isn’t important go for resolution.
Low slots. Fit for fastest alignment - you aren’t going to fit a tank worth a dime, your aim is Run Away Quickly. Ideally you want a sub- two second align time. For “reasons”.
Don’t get greedy - what you have found isn’t worth anything until you get it to market.
Watch out for gate camps getting from Hi-sec to Lo-sec. They will be camped.
Keep close watch on d-scan and local. Always be ready to run. Getting fixated on the hack can kill you.
Try wormholes - often safer, especially if you start well away from busy places in Hi-sec. And better loot.
1 Like
Also fit a cloaking device and make / use safe spots for hiding when local spikes in low / null sec space.
Yeah, and that.
I should have mentioned it - mea culpa.
I’m not sure about the skill needs to use a cloak, but I know they are about 2.5m - more than the cost of a cheap exploration fit.
One of the brilliant things about Eve is that everything is choices. And those choices change over time for any given player.
1 Like
me who lost my first exploration ship to an agies site not knowing it would be defended
When CCP first implemented the Venture, I made a fit for it with a regular cloak for stealth mining in low and null sec space. The idea was to first go scout with a Covert Ops Frigate, make safe spots and bookmark specific rocks for mining, then go back with the Venture, start mining and whenever local spiked, warp to a safe spot, cloak up and wait for local to die down.
Course after a while CCP implemented the Prospect and then later implemented the Endurance which kinda put a damper on my idea for stealth mining with a Venture.
Regardless of that, I think the idea is still sound…
1 Like
I run a (roughly) 1.1mil isk T1 Heron for general exploration and hacking. I have two versions of it - one fit for relic sites, one for data.
I only use basic probes and launcher as it is a totally disposable amount of isk even for a newer player. I have scanning skills all at 5 though so it happily scans up to level IV sites (but does have trouble with V’s unless boosting).
You won’t mind losing a few if they’re that cheap, and even a single low sec level I site will probably net you more than you spent!
What are you exploring for, and in what region populations?
Is it data/relic sites, gas/ore, or combat sites?
And are they generally empty systems, or fairly populous?
The general advice of: the cheapest that gets the job is the go-to.
Once you are comfortable with that, more expensive options that can more comfortably/faster clear are worth looking into.
For practical options: a venture, probe, or jackdaw are very solid choices.
Venture and probe are cheap, and strongly recommended to use if you are relatively new to lowsec – learning how to avoid bad situations, and avoid getting smart bombed or escape all but the most dedicated of gate camps
jackdaw is a T3d that is very powerful for the cost, can clear most of the DED 2-4’s that you find, can get <2 align with only an agility implant, and is a capable pvp hunter to chase down every venture and probe you come by, as well as most FW frigate targets.
spending a bit more isk, prospect and T3C’s are worth considering. A well fit T3C can cloaky scan and generally avoid dying to gate camps, as well as clearing the DED 5-7’s that you find in lowsec.
2 Likes
Lowsec only spawns DED 1-6.
This topic was automatically closed 90 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.