Analysing hacking
23rd July 2013 – 5.35 pmLook at all of these pilots! Recruitment must be going well, thanks to George. And some rocks have floated in to the system to join the party. 'Yeah, sitting here staring at them', says my glorious leader. Shouldn't you be shooting them, or whatever it is that's done with rocks? But Fin's mostly startled that the rocks have returned, as she's floating cloaked in her Loki strategic cruiser and not in an exhumer wondering which button fires the mining lasers.
Aii is rather more unfazed and knows just what to do. Some Sleepers turn up to look menacing, but Aii simply boards his own strategic cruiser and pops them like gnats. Fin and I watch, although I've been active and checked the system for connections. It's just our static wormhole for now, and I keep it that way whilst Aii crushes the Sleepers. Once done, I let him know I'm heading to our neighbouring class 3 system, but that I'll shout if it looks like something mean will come the other way to stop his mining. I'm sure his Hulk will be fine.
Four salvage drones aren't going to be much of a threat, although even they can probably scan without too much effort these days. The lack of ships and wrecks suggests these fellows have been abandoned, and exploring C3a finds occupation but no pilots on the edge of the system. All looks quiet, so I scan. The six anomalies and six signatures hold two wormholes, one skinny and one chubby, which probably means a static exit to high-sec and a K162 from elsewhere. Fin and I head in different directions to find out.
Well, it's technically an exit to high-sec, I suppose, but I still don't appreciate being dumped in Aridia. Fin's choice of direction to a K162 from null-sec, even one at the end of its life, seems better. But there are plenty of anomalies and signatures in this high-sec system, and although sifting through them identifies only combat, data, and relic sites, no wormholes, I realise I've not had a go at analysing the containers in such sites yet. Maybe I should.
I've already stowed a data and relic analyser each in my Loki's hold for just such circumstances. It takes a small diversion to a station to change my ship's fitting, swapping out the scrambler for an analyser, and I'm back in space warping to a relic site with Fin behind me. We're in high-sec too, so there won't be any ganking whilst I try to determine what I'm supposed to be doing. 'Unless it's Concord', says Fin. 'I hear they can do a number on your ship.' Yeah, don't remind me. My first action on entering this system was to check my safety switch. It's yellow.
Okay, first site, first can. Click. Click. Clickity click. Done. Grab some of the jetsam, end up with crap. That... wasn't much fun. Next can, click a bit more, grab a bit more crap. Third can, and I'm just clicking on every node as fast as I can. No method, no reason. I honestly don't know what I'm doing, but it seems to be working.
Granted, I'm in a strategic cruiser with a locus analyser subsystem, fitted with a Tech II analyser module, have both appropriate skills trained to level V, and I'm hacking cans in a high-sec site. I don't expect it to be difficult. But I also don't see how this is any kind of improvement on activating the module and looting a can. This is busywork, making me feel active without actually being so. A bit of off-line reading later reveals potential stumbling blocks and 'strategies', so maybe I need to find a proper site in null-sec. W-space won't do, not solo, as we still have Sleepers protecting the cans.
So the relic site is a bit of a disappointment. I dock, swap analysers, and try one of the data sites instead. Cracking open the cans again comes down to clicking everything everywhere as fast as possible and have Fin and I try to catch what gets ejected. But I am pleased that I don't try to shoot the Anathema who has also found the site, almost as much as bagging some decryptors, which are actually worth something.
Buoyed by our success, however limited, I swap modules again to see if the second relic site will give us any good loot. Maybe if we cracked open the Probe, but again I remember I'm in high-sec and satisfy myself with rapid mouse-clicking. Not rapid enough, as the Probe is opening the third of four cans, leaving us with just the one to loot. It's not really worth it, either. I'll have to find some null-sec sites to try again. But not tonight. My new-found lack of appreciation for analysing has us heading home with a measly few million ISK in loot for our efforts.
10 Responses to “Analysing hacking”
I'm in a strategic cruiser with a locus analyser subsystem, fitted with a Tech II analyser module, have both appropriate skills trained to level V, and I'm hacking cans in a high-sec site. I don't expect it to be difficult.
None of these sites will be very hard with this level of skill. However some of the nullsec sites won't be gimmes, at least. (Some have 90/20 firewalls, 60/40 antivirus, and lots and lots of virus suppressors and restoration nodes.) All of them require time.
Time reduces the ISK/hour. It also makes hacking more dangerous outside of highsec.
BTW you certainly can do hacking in wspace. Kill the sleepers first, is all. The hacking itself is as challenging as nullsec, perhaps even a bit harder I think, except that unlike in nullsec you get as many tries as you want in wspace. In kspace all sites blow up if you fail twice.
The rewards in wspace are crappy for data sites, but quite good for relic sites. I.e. the C4 relic sites will tend to have about 80 to 100m ISK in sleeper artifacts.
I've been hitting the Data/Relic sites for a a week now in an attempt to create a record of the actual sites. If you want to improve your loot from the jetcans, use a cargo scanner first on the initial object. It will tell you all the contents that will eject prior to completing the mini-game. With this information, you can prioritize the jetcans. My early opinion on null-sec exploring is that it's not worth the time, ISK wise. If you enjoy the actual exploration side of it, have a go at it.
As you say it is really just a click fest. While a few approaches exist to winning, there isn't any "strategy", it's still a luck based system where you increase your odds with better skills. The whole concept is busy work and isn't engaging.
I'd also wonder how much fun Fin had waiting for you to hack the container and how entertaining it was to click on small canisters in space? Considering they did that to encourage group play.
I also recently got a write up of the system posted whether or not it helps others has yet to be determined.
You can greatly improve your loot with a cargo scanner first and don't grap everything in Relic sites just go for Parts and Materials and in Data sites go for Parts and Data or follow this guide.
http://neural-boost.com/minicontainer-loot-distribution
Head out to null-sec with a cov ops. Fit a relic analyzer, relic analyzer rigs (scope-emission-something-or-other?), and a cargo scanner. The cargo scanner is crucial. Scan down sites, warp in, scan all the cans, and only hack the ones that have valuables in them. For relic sites, you'll find salvage in the parts and materials containers. Data sites will have decryptors and datacores in the parts containers. In either site, blueprints are always in the data containers. Spatial attunement units can appear in any container.
Data sites usually aren't worth it unless there are optimized decryptors or valuable BPCs present. Relic sites are more routinely profitable due to T2 salvage. But on average, I usually only go for the highest value 1 or 2 containers in a site after cargo scanning them. Sometimes none are really worth hacking, and it's better to just move on.
High-sec sites are really a joke and a waste of time...unless you find faction tower or pos mod BPCs.
If you're quick at scanning and selective about which cans you hack, you can actually make upwards of 100 mil/hr in null.
Grab a battleventure next time and steal their scatter cans. I don't quite understand why, but a lot of explorers fit a single turret, making your harmless little venture a juicy target.
You cannot steal other people's scatter cans. Or anyway, that's what I found the one time I tried exploration in highsec. Assuming that is so, it's another thing on the long list for CCP to fix.
You most def can, I've got loads of kills doing that because you go suspect after. Like I said, battleventure. They always engage lol
Going out to null-sec in a Buzzard sounds like a decent plan, and probably better than refitting my Loki to do that. And it would get me using the cov-ops again.
I've read about using a cargo scanner to check the cans, but didn't want to gimp my Loki too much. Swapping to the cov-ops fixes that too. I can check out the helpfully linked guides to see what to look for.
Yeah, I know I can hack and analyse in w-space still, my comment was more about needing to get past the Sleepers first, which is awkward when flying solo. The Sleepers in radar and magnetome... uh, data and relic sites tend to be more challenging than in standard anomalies of the same class, and they are already a bit tough to run solo for the reward.
As for stealing other's cans, I guess if Keigei was in high-sec and had his safety switch set to not-stupid then perhaps he would have been stopped.
Yes, I am sure Rabbit is right. It was the safety. Silent failure. I hate that. I am glad to know that CCP didn't screw it up.