Exploration in Eve is the process of using Probes to scan down Data and Relic sites in a system and acquiring the loot in containers at these sites by hacking them. It is especially advisable for Rookies who are looking for ways to make some ISK early on in the game, since skill requirements and base capital needed are low.

Exploration is fairly easy, once you have the knowledge of how everything works, so be sure to read this guide thoroughly.

The skills needed for Exploration are very basic and you have probably trained some of them already to some extend.

Exploration can be done with almost any ship, as long as it has a high slot that can fit a Launcher. There is multiple support equipment that allows you to be more efficient, however.

Check out this guide on how to fit ships for exploration.

Since Exploration is non-combat PvE (Player versus Environment) you want to look for a system that does not list many kills and is not visited by many people.

You may want to look for a system with a low number of gates, because the chance of people coming through will be lower. To see recent kills visit DOTLAN where you can check statistics on single systems.

A single system will in most cases not fill your cargohold with loot and therefore you want to plan a route covering multiple systems that fit the standards.

Scanning is the first step in exploration and doing it correctly can save you a lot of time. The steps below seem long, but it will come natural after you have done the first few Explorations.

When you found a good system, you want to click the 'Scanner' button (looks like a little radar) on the left side on your Ship Control Panel. Three buttons will appear in a radial menu and you want to click the 'Scanner Probes' button (see picture on the right).

This will open the Probe Scanner window where you can see anomalies and signatures in your current system. Un-tick the box 'Show Anomalies' to filter out everything except signatures. Every entry shows the estimated distance, a unique ID, Scan Group, Group, Type and Signal. The important information for Exploration are the ID, the Group and the Signal.

You can use the ID as the signature's name, basically. The group is important, because it will show if the signature is a Relic, Data, Combat, Gas site or a Wormhole. Finally, the signal has to be 100% to be able to travel to a site.

When you found one or more signatures in a system you want to scan down, the first step is making sure, you are safe. Check local to see how many people are in the system. Some examples to show the risk:

Safe

• No one in local except for you
• Only corp/alliance/fleet members (green/blue/purple) in local

Dangerous

• 1-2 neutrals (grey) in local
• 3+ neutrals
• 1+ enemies (red) in local

!!! Extremely Dangerous !!!

• 10+ reds/neuts in local

If you feel safe enough warp to a random planet within 50-100km distance and align to a gate. The gate will be your exit point if things get too hot. Be careful if you are in a dead-end system (only one gate). Enemies know your only way out and could be waiting at that gate. In that case align to another planet.

1. Make sure your Probe Launcher is loaded with Probes. The icon should show the Probe image in your UI. If it isn't right-click it and load it
2. Open your Star Map (press 'F10') and switch to the Solar System Map in the legend
3. Choose an ID you would like to scan down
4. Press the 'Launch Probes in Pinpoint Formation' button to launch your Probes (marked green in the image). The scan radius of your Probes is shown as bubbles and their centre position point as a cube
5. Click the ID you want to scan in your Probe Scanner window (this filters all other signatures)
6. Move your camera position to a top down view on your Probe cube and drag the cube into the middle of the signature sphere
7. Adjust your viewpoint by 90° so you look at one of the sides of your cube and move it to the centre of the the sphere again
8. Adjust your Probe scan range by click-holding one of your Probe bubbles and dragging it to the point where your Probe radius overlaps the signature sphere
9. Click the 'Scan' button (marked yellow in the image)
10. Check the scan results box to see what to do next
11. When you are done scanning don't forget to collect your Probes by pressing the 'Recover all active Probes' button (marked red in the image)

You can stop scanning signatures at any time when they are not of the Group you are looking for. When you finally find one or multiple sites you want to visit, you can warp to them by clicking the warp icon that appears under Signal in you Probe Scanner window, when you reached 100%.

Before you can loot containers at Exploration sites you will have to hack them in a mini-game. It may look complex at first but the rules are quite simple and are easily figured out.

There are multiple ways to turn the loot you made during Exploration into ISK. The different options are listed below.

You can always sell the loot in the state you have acquired it. It is easy, doesn't involve many steps and you get a nice bit of profit.

Most times it is more advisable to use a buyback service which every bigger corporation or alliance provides. These players will take your loot to one of the main trade hubs in Eve and sell it there, where profits are almost always higher than in Nullsec. Most will take a share of the profit (expect around 10%), since they are doing the hauling, but this still leaves you with much higher profits than selling it locally. You can use Evepraisal to see what your loot is valued at in Jita and other markets.

DeepSafe

This website is a community effort to create a database of system signatures all over New Eden.

You have to log in using the in-game browser. The website will automatically detect the current system you are in and show discovered signatures in this system and their group (e.g. Data site, Relic site). You can compare the ID of these with the ones you find in your Probe Scanner window and by that filter for the ones you want to scan down. Best-case scenario is that all signatures you see have been scanned down by other users already and you are free to choose the ones you want to explore as well.

If you find signatures in your Probe Scanner window that are not listed you can help expand the database by scanning them down to the Group and adding them through the dashboard. Future explorers will thank you!