The Superior Sleeper Cache is a Cosmic Signature that can be found in known space using core scanner probes. The Superior Sleeper Cache is the most difficult of the Sleeper Cache sites, and is possibly the most difficult site that can be found via exploration that does no explicitly require combat. Pilots will be risking their ship when trying this or any other Sleep Cache. However, once familiar with these sites, pilots should be able to run the site without taking any damage. Like all Sleeper Cache sites, the Superior Sleeper Cache requires the use of both Data and Relic Analyzers. While ships up to battleships can enter this site, an exploration frigate is highly recommended in order to make use of their hacking bonuses. Superior Sleeper Caches are incredibly difficult to scan down compared to most other signatures found in known space, and both excellent scanning skills as well as equipment are required to pinpoint the site completely.
A probe strength of at least 103 is needed to scan down a Superior Sleeper Cache. A probe strength of 102 will come very close, but will ultimately not be enough. With a probe strength of 104, the site can be located using a tight cube formation. To view your probe strength:
If another pilot has already entered the site, an alternate means of entry would be to switch to combat probes and give him a visit or “share” the loot, if you know what that means. I try to respect the concept of site ownership, however if people abandon the site, I'll usually finish it.
You will need a Strategic Cruiser or Nestor to handle this room, with at least 2000 EHP/sec active reps and minimum 50K EHP of buffer. You must be able to both repair and tank considerable damage. A super-tanked cruiser or battlecruiser (such as a Maller or Prophecy) may be capable of surviving for a time with proper use of the Vessel Rejuvenation Batteries. To ensure that loot is not lost in the event of failure, eject loot at regular intervals to be returned to later.
Having scanned down the site, warp to the result.
Look for a Hyperfluct Generator can. If a Spatial Rift is already up, then someone is there, or has been there.
WARNING: If the site has already been accessed, quickly check the Directional Scanner in a 1 AU radius to check for wrecks. If there is one at the site, do not enter. (You can also check zKillboard.) The Rift in the entry room might send you straight into the Turret Room, which might have had the alarm tripped. Unless you have a strategic cruiser or battleship with strong resistances (an overtanked Maller with two EM and two Thermal Hardeners works too), you'll be alpha'd off the field by 16+ Sentry Towers. There is no opportunity to warp out, cloak up, or escape through the nearby rift – they aggress almost immediately.
Otherwise, continue on with the hack of the Hyperfluct Generator can:
Activate the rift.
Note: The destination is random for each site and changes from one site to the next, but it will remain consistent within any one site.
Stay on the side opposite the Solray Power Terminal—it deals ~600 dps omni-damage without being aligned. If someone has already entered, you will need to ascertain whether the Power Terminal has been aligned. There are two ways of doing this: first, the name of the container will have changed; second, you can inspect the Alignment Unit containers to see if the correct disc was placed inside. As a last resort, bring in a cruiser that can tank or have a friendly logistics cruiser capable of restoring ~650 EHP/sec (roughly 250 raw HP/sec).
Near the Solray Gamma Alignment Unit container, there is a structure named the Solray Observational Unit. When successfully hacked, pilots can obtain an “alignment disc” which, when placed in the proper container, reduces the strength of the damage cloud created by the Solray Power Terminal. When warping through the Power Terminal's damage radius, vessels may sustain some damage but this damage is manageable.
Hack the Alignment Unit.
Zoom out to locate the correct container to place the alignment disc. There are three: Infrared, Radio and Gamma Ray Alignment Discs. The Infrared Alignment Disc goes in the Solray Infrared Alignment Unit, the Gamma Ray Alignment Disc goes in the Solray Gamma Alignment Unit, and the Radio Alignment Disc goes in the Solray Radio Alignment Unit. Collect the discs and burn over to the appropriate container. To load the Radio Alignment Disc, take the rift near the Solray Observational Unit to warp over to that container, then take that rift back over to the main area.
Using the crystal disc, the alignment is now correct and the Solray Power Terminal is stable.
With the Solray Power Terminal aligned, it will deal considerably less damage while a vessel is within its damage radius (~14-17km).
Drop a mobile depot near the lone (Dented or Mangled) Storage Depot which is between the Solray Gamma Alignment Unit and the Infrared Alignment Unit. If your Relic Analyzer is equipped, hack the depot while the mobile depot is setting up. Otherwise, wait near it (do not cloak, otherwise the site may despawn) and after it is ready, refit into the capacitor stable self-repper fit with a Relic Analyzer. It may be prudent to cargo scan all nearby containers including the ones inside the Power Terminal's proximity to check for dead-end worthless containers (as it is possible that some may be empty).
With 50% resistances to all damage types, the damage cloud deals ~15 damage per second. A ship able to repair more than 30 Effective Hit Points (EHP) per second indefinitely is completely sustainable.
Afterwards, refit back to the generic site running fit with a Microwarpdrive and both Analyzers.
For the frigate pilots, consider skipping the next room and moving on to Sentries on Duty, below. A Strategic Cruiser or Nestor is best for attempting the Mine Room. An overtanked Stratios (2 plates and 2 large shield extenders) should also be fairly safe. Frigate pilots will lose their ship upon failure.
Specifics of the Power Terminal
Normally, without being aligned, the Power Terminal area of effect damage cloud does 600 DPS to a regular Tech 1 resistance profile, assuming no hardeners. When suitable hardeners are fitted which provide ~65% resists to all damage types, the DPS is about 150 in total on a Stratios. A Moa sustained ~228 DPS with a 62/59/69/74% resist profile. The damage radius is approximately 14km from the Power Terminal unit itself.
Placing the incorrect alignment disc in a container initially announces the message that it has been aligned:
“Using the crystal disc, the alignment is now correct and the Solray Power Terminal is stable.”
But shortly thereafter:
“Seems you used the crystal disc incorrectly, the Solray Power Terminal is losing its alignment fast! The solar flare around the Terminal will increase again in approximately 30 seconds.”
However, the damage per second will actually remain identical. A disc that has been placed into a container cannot be removed.
The recommended tank for this room is 70,000 EHP. It can be done with less, so long as the pilot does not fail any hacks. If you wish to attempt this section with a frigate, use the cheapest T1 exploration hull (the virus strength is a requirement) equipped with a Medium Azeotropic Restrained Shield Extender, a Damage Control I, a Compact Multispectrum Shield Hardener, and a Data Analyzer, with nothing else. In that case, do this room after completing the Turret Room.
To access this room, take the rift near the Solray Observational Unit. The Solray Power Terminal must be aligned first for the rift to work properly, even if the Reroute Unit has been hacked. The landing point is next to the Solray Radio Alignment Unit. Hack the Remote Reroute Unit:
A successful hack changes the direction of the Rift near the Solray Observational Unit to point towards the Mine Room instead of near the Radio Alignment Unit. Take the nearby Rift to head back to the main area, then take the rift near the Observational Unit into the Mine Room itself.
Expect to sustain ~800 damage upon landing or shortly thereafter from a hidden mine. Upon landing, you should see a Remote Defense Grid Unit. Do not activate a Microwarpdrive if you have one equipped. The Remote Defense Grid Unit is approximately 7km off the beacon; some slow manual piloting may be required:
If successful, continue by hacking the spawned containers:
When finished, you may Micro Jump Drive back to the main area, burn a Microwarpdrive, or just warp out and warp back in. Continue on to the Turret Room.
Mine room damage Upon landing inside the site, even while still in warp, expect to sustain ~2100 damage from a mine, or possibly several mines. An Astero with just a Damage Control II, 200mm plate, and an Anti-Explosive rig sustained 2135 damage, which left it with 65% structure.
WARNING:
This room can be challenging, but for frigate pilots, this is generally the most lucrative portion of the site.
The area you're entering has several sentry guns active, and there are indications that many more may be hidden in an inactive state. The sentry guns surround a lucrative cache of storage depots and another Hyperfluct Generator, possibly opening a way deeper into the complex.
Start from the Solray room, leaving the Mobile Depot near the lone Storage Depot.
Make sure to do three things before attempting this room:
Take the Spatial Rift near the Solray Gamma Alignment Unit container. The Sentry Towers will not aggress unless a ship strays too close to the loot containers.
The Remote Defense Grid Unit in the room has three functions: first, it disables any proximity-based Sentry Towers from activating. Second, it re-wires a hostile Sentry Tower into a friendly one. Third, it recalibrates the Vessel Rejuvenation Battery into one that can be hacked to configure it to repair the friendly Sentry Tower. If a ship approaches the Storage Depots and ignores the Remote Grid Defense Unit procedure, then not only will the 6 initial Towers aggress, but up to 10 additional new Sentry Towers can spawn.
First, hack the Remote Defense Grid Unit. Take your time on this hack, there is no rush. The newly-converted Tower will then aggress the other 5 Sentry Towers, and in turn take damage itself. It can't sustain the incoming damage for long.
WARNING: A present bug in the site seems to indicate that failure of this next hack will spawn the Sentry Towers regardless of whether a successful rehack has been completed. So the countdown to the perimeter Sentries will not be actually canceled, no warning in Local that they are about to spawn, instead you will find 16 Sentry Towers will spawn anyways. In a frigate, warp off the site immediately if you fail the hack. Cruisers and above which can run the Archive Room may choose Plan B.
For Cruisers and above, there is Plan B (below).
After hacking Remote Defense Grid Unit: By hacking the remote defense unit, you've managed to rewire one of the sentry guns nearby. It now considers you friendly and the other sentry guns as hostile and will start attacking them.
Immediately after hacking this container, active the Microwarpdrive and burn towards the Sentry Repair Station located near the right of your present position. Hacking the Sentry Repair Station will cause it to provide armor and shield reps to the friendly Tower. (The friendly Tower cannot receive remote repairs from ships.) There is enough time for 2 hacks, maybe 3 fast hacks, before the hostile Sentry Towers destroy the friendly Tower:
Hostile Towers do not appear to aggress ships even if the hacking the Sentry Repair Station is unsuccessful. Instead, the hostile Towers appear to keep incurring damage and are eventually destroyed, even with the Rewired Sentry Gun destroyed. This is another bug of the site itself. Should it be fixed in the future, simply revert to Plan B. Do not aggress the Sentry Towers with weaponry - it will instantly trigger the 16 Perimeter Defense Sentry Towers.
After hacking Sentry Repair Station Preservation Unit: You have successfully turned the focus of the repair facility to the rewired sentry gun. This will not only repair it from incoming damage, but also speed up the destruction rate of the hostile sentry guns now that they no longer enjoy the benefits of the repair station.
Assuming a successful hack of the Sentry Repair Station, simply sit near the Repair Station and wait for the hostile Towers to be eradicated. Do not approach the 3 Unstable Plasma Chambers located north of the warp-in. Getting too close to these could be fatal, and will also trip the alarm.
Upon approaching Unstable Plasma Chambers: These Plasma Chambers seem volatile. You should be careful around them lest they explode.
Hacking the Sentry Repair Station before the Remote Defense Grid Unit does nothing, although a message appears in Local: “Hacking the repair station has no discernible effects on anything in the vicinity. The station continues to provide repair services to to the nearby sentry guns.”
When all is clear, the loot is there for the taking, and pilots may hack and loot in peace, with no particular danger:
Do not hack the Hyperfluct Generator container yet.
While working on the hacks, avoid using the Microwarpdrive, use “Keep at Range” (2500m) on the last can near the group of Plasma Chambers, and move slowly (around 100m/sec) to avoid triggering the Plasma Chambers. After all worthy containers are hacked, frigate pilots will have completed as much as they can. Take the Spatial Rift to head back to the Solray Room, refit to a travel fit if needed, scoop up any contents inside the Mobile Depot (if it is scooped to the cargohold directly, a jetcan is left behind), pack up the Mobile Depot and depart.
For the T3 Cruisers, Nestor and other similar battleship-level tanked ships, if there was no Mobile Depot left behind anywhere in any other room, you may now proceed to the Archive Room.
Plan B:
While this room can deal huge amounts of damage, it is not completely untankable. There are a couple of ships and fits that are viable for the job.
When a ship approaches the Storage Depots, the initial Sentry Towers will begin to aggress the player around the 10km mark measured from the warp-in beacon toward the Hyperfluct Generator. Assuming the alarm has not been activated, their activation range is ~10-12km. As the ship continues, hidden Sentry Towers are activated in predefined spots as the ship moves around the area. In total, 10 Sentry Towers can be activated by proximity and 6 are from the initial spawn.
The basic strategy is to ignore the Remote Defense Grid Unit hack entirely, and hack only the Storage Depots. If the 16 Perimeter Defense Towers are online, the previously-mentioned fits may not be sufficient to tank the incoming damage. In that case, pilots can elect to fit a buffer tank and bring in logistics cruisers to compensate. However, any fit that can survive the Archive Room indefinitely (repping in excess of 2000 EHP/sec) won't have a problem, and may simply continue on hacking.
If there is doubt as to whether the Alarm is active or not (i.e. if someone else may have tripped it), swap out the two armor repairers for a pair of 1600mm plates and have a look. There is enough buffer to survive without reps for about five minutes. If the Perimeter towers are not active, but all 10 proximity towers and the initial 6 towers are, then the tank should last for about 6.5 minutes. Using Pyfa's numbers, one Exequror can repair about 2000 EHP/sec onto a plated fit and may be a good alternative. As long as the logistics ship does not steal aggro (just sit near the beacon), this approach should work nicely. This also has the benefit in that an overtanked Maller may only need to swap out for all EM and Thermal Hardeners, as 90% resists are pretty effective at reducing the incoming DPS.
It has been observed that if a solo ship warps out, the Sentry Towers may switch to attacking Storage Depots and may not reaggress upon re-entry.
The Perimeter Towers (and the initial Towers if the alarm is tripped) themselves have an activation range of 120km. Beyond this point, they will switch from a red box to a yellow box, but will re-engage if a player approaches within that 120km limit. Because of this, a sniping battleship can be used to clear out the Sentry Towers if desired, however this does take some time. To do this, when landing on the beacon, immediately turn the ship around 180 degrees from the area near the Storage Depots and then hit the Micro Jump Drive. (This allows for the maximum distance jumped from the rest of the Towers: hopefully only three or four Towers will still have active aggression.) Use 1400mm Artillery, Sentry Drones or probably large beam lasers. Then it's a matter of carefully positioning around to make sure the Towers in aggression range are limited so it doesn't break the tank, yet still engaging them within optimal of the battleship. Attack battlecruisers like Oracles won't work because those cannot fit MJDs.
Starting from the Sentries on Duty room, there should be a Hyperfluct Generator container. Hacking it produces two outcomes:
Just after you finish the hack, watch Local to see when the message pops up informing of the activation, then quickly shoot a Plasma Chamber. The Vessel Rejuvenation Battery's mad reps will protect you. Quickly turn on the Microwarpdrive over to the now-revived Hyperfluct Generator. There are just 60 seconds to attempt a successful hack before the Perimeter Defense System comes online. When that happens, 16 new Sentry Towers appear. Frigates will be destroyed. Ships that can run the Archive Room fine will be okay to repeat attempts until the Rift is generated.
Assuming the hack goes through in time, take the Rift into the Archive Room itself.
Any failed hacks in this room may spawn additional Sentry Towers.
There are several obstacles in the Archive Room which cause damage: Sentry Towers, damage clouds near various objects (Smoldering Archive Ruins), and shockwaves.
Begin by approaching the Defense Targeting Augmentation Unit. From the beacon, a straight line approach is fine. Hack the Defense Targeting Augmentation.
A successful hack also has the opportunity to spawn a Pristine Storage Depot nearby. You may hack it and loot it.
Proceed on to hacking the Cerebrum Maintenance Chambers. Each functions like a normal data or relic site object: it must be hacked first before it can be opened. Three Cerebrum Oscillation Fluid objects are needed to activate the Central Archive Cerebrum; other items like the Self-Regulating Machine Gears and what not are just scrap. Hack enough Cerebrum Maintenance Chambers to get the items required:
It is advisable to shoot the Sentry Towers that lie around the perimeter. As they have a 50m signature radius, Light Neutron Blasters and light drones are recommended. Depending on the ship's fit, their absence can be enough to make sure your tank lasts long enough.
Once 3 Oscillation Fluids (or more) have been obtained, approach the Central Archive Cerebrum and “Open Cargo”.
Place 3 Cerebrum Oscillation Fluids into the Central Archive Cerebrum; more is unnecessary. When this is done, a couple of things are initiated: first, the Central Archive Cerebrum will eject Storage Depots of varying grades, and shockwaves will begin to occur. The first set are tankable fine in a standard Tech III Strategic Cruiser, though the double massive shockwaves will most likely be more than most fits and skills can handle. The basic idea then becomes a question of how many cans can be hacked and looted before the incoming damage is more than can be safely tolerated.
Vessel Rejuvenation Batteries will also be ejected from the Cerebrum itself (details in collapsed “Archive Room Damage” infobox, below). Make sure to check for other containers around the area, for those looking to complete the room fully. When finished, warp out. Those who left Mobile Depots in other rooms may need to warp back to collect them and refit for a travel fit.