Minimum probe strength for non-combat exploration sites?

[Noh Luciola]

I'm currently fitting a Sister's probe launcher on my BR for scanning down anomalies while en route on trade runs.

I've had Astrometrics V (as well as Hacking & Archeology V) along with the associated Pinpointing, Acquisition, and Rangefinding at IV for awhile now but have only recently gotten into the exploration mechanics; my current skills along with Sister's launcher/probes give me a base core/combat probe strength of 72.6/36.3 respectively.

I know if I switched up to a scan bonused hull (Stratios for instance) my core strength would get boosted to 100+ but I need to stay in the BR for the cargo space (no weapons so cov-ops is a must as well).

What is the minimum probe strength I would realistically need to scan down (non-combat) anomalies in low/null?

I have the option of spending my remaining bonus SP on Astrometric Rangefinding & Pinpointing V which in turn will enable the tech II scan array modules (I could refit my BR on the fly using a mobile depot); altogether this will bring my base core/combat probe strengths up to 82.2/41.1 (in my BR).

Should I consider this - or is the boost not worth the SP for the skills?

Another consideration would be if the level V skills are generally just overkill.

Would level V Rangefinding & Pinpointing be of any real benefit if I did at some point in the future switch into an exploration hull?

[Ernesto Guevarti]

You do realise that you have to be uncloaked while you do these sites, at which point you are a great juicy, easy to kill, hard to get away target?

As you are much larger than a frigate, you will be really quick to scan down, so you're not even going to get much warning of hunters. Also, because you don't get any bonuses to hacking, etc, you are going to take longer to complete these sites, increasing your time uncloaked and therefore your vulnerability.

[Anidien Dallacort]

“ The recommended scan strength for level IV sites is around 90, while the recommended scan strength for level V sites is 100 and above.”

https://wiki.eveuniversity.org/Relic_an ... and_tricks

Relic and data sites are the bread and butter of exploration. In EVE, you can do anything you want, you just can’t do everything with the same ship or skills.

You aren’t going to explore as efficiently with a BR, which means some sites will be unscannable, and the rest will take longer to scan than a dedicated ship.

If this works into your plan and you can accept not being able to scan the best sites, great. But take the other advice seriously - you aren’t just risking your explo loot when running sites, but whatever you are hauling, since you are doing this during cargo runs.

[Noh Luciola]

You do realise that you have to be uncloaked while you do these sites, at which point you are a great juicy, easy to kill, hard to get away target?

I've got better tank and +2/3 warp strength relative to the Astero. Compared to the Stratios I've got 50% smaller sig and a much faster align. And I'm not trying to fight, the plan is just to cut and run. I get that I've got to survive an alpha strike so being in the middle is likely not ideal but I'm hoping that, as long as I stay on my toes, I won't be too to easy to kill.

As you are much larger than a frigate, you will be really quick to scan down, so you're not even going to get much warning of hunters. Also, because you don't get any bonuses to hacking, etc, you are going to take longer to complete these sites, increasing your time uncloaked and therefore your vulnerability.

I'd assumed the site itself would be the juicy target and all a hunter would need to do is sit offsite cloaked and point Dscan in the appropriate direction. Granted I'm new to this. I've also read that most sites only give you a single chance for a hack, so lacking the bonus means I'm more likely to fail quickly but not necessarily that it will take longer?

FWIW I've got my hacking skills at V.

Even just as a novice I find myself passing through empty systems with anomalies that seem just ripe for the picking. It's these that I'd likely be taking advantage of - with an eye on local as I plod my way through. Assuming I can scan them down (I don't need to be uncloaked to do that, right?)

“ The recommended scan strength for level IV sites is around 90, while the recommended scan strength for level V sites is 100 and above.”

https://wiki.eveuniversity.org/Relic_an ... and_tricks

Relic and data sites are the bread and butter of exploration. In EVE, you can do anything you want, you just can’t do everything with the same ship or skills.

Thanks that answers my question. I've been reading wiki (honest) and I don't know how I missed that.

You aren’t going to explore as efficiently with a BR, which means some sites will be unscannable, and the rest will take longer to scan than a dedicated ship.

If this works into your plan and you can accept not being able to scan the best sites, great. But take the other advice seriously - you aren’t just risking your explo loot when running sites, but whatever you are hauling, since you are doing this during cargo runs.

https://forums.eve-scout.com/topic/409/ ... his-site/2

I'm avoiding the NOT SAFE sites which I'd assume would be the more valuable (and thus difficult to scan) sites.

Is it worth me spending SP to boost my probe strength to 80+?

(I'm thinking maybe not for the time being?)

[Rayni Ptarth]

No. Free SP is priceless. Save it for emergencies.
High Sec exploration is worth ~50k to 3M per site. Most sites you will encounter will also be wormholes or combat sites, not relic or data. Low sec, null, or wormhole space pays better, but the hunters are MUCH more dangerous. It is not uncommon for a pair of cloaked cruisers to spend 30 to 60 minutes stalking an exploration frigate. They dream of encountering industrials and pack 4 points of warp disruption.

[Anidien Dallacort]

the “Not safe” sites aren’t necessarily the best. In known space, that’s going to be the sleeper and the covert sites. Those can be higher tier, but safe relic sites are going to be the biggest ISK bang.

Even at level V hacking/archeology, without hull bonused virus coherence, there may be some tricky hacks. Sometimes you do just need to bust through a strong firewall, and your virus needs to survive.

Just note if your probes are “weak” enough, you might not even get a name out of the site, so you won’t know whether it’s a safe site or not you are missing.


As far as safety - no, generally explorers are looking out for those that are hunting them, not the sites. People will scan down sites ahead of time and wait until others come to run them.

Most sites give 2 chances to hack, per can, but some have penalties for failing once. Depends on the site.

You don’t need to be uncloaked to scan, but you do to launch and reload probes. Generally you want to enter a system, warp to a safe spot, start moving, launch probes, and cloak as soon as the delay is over. Then you can scan down the system cloaked.

To use analyzers to hack, though, you need to target the can, which means you have to uncloak, and stay uncloaked while you are performing the hack.

[Celine en Chasteaux]

Also possibly worth pointing out that exploration loot is very light on the cargo space.
I've carried about 200m of it in my astero without it even taking up 50% of the cargo bay.

[Noh Luciola]

Thanks for all the advice folks! I'll definitely hold off spending my SP for now.

No. Free SP is priceless. Save it for emergencies.
High Sec exploration is worth ~50k to 3M per site. Most sites you will encounter will also be wormholes or combat sites, not relic or data. Low sec, null, or wormhole space pays better, but the hunters are MUCH more dangerous. It is not uncommon for a pair of cloaked cruisers to spend 30 to 60 minutes stalking an exploration frigate. They dream of encountering industrials and pack 4 points of warp disruption.

Not to get too far off topic but how is the warp disruption usually applied; 2x scrams, 4x disruptors or some combination thereof?