Let me dispel any notion that bigger is always better. Experimentation has shown that a simple, relatively inexpensive frigate is perfectly capable of running all combat anomalies in hisec with little risk of losing the ship. At the time of this writing, the estimated cost of this fit is only 1.5 million isk. My technique is to kite, and use guns when rats come up close while kiting things like missile batteries.

The fit below works well. She's a drone boat, has no rigs, and is fitted with tech 1 hobgoblins. Looting the wrecks in hisec pays off. I've never had to buy ammo or drones, and have consistently picked up other useful items, such as guns, warp scramblers and disruptors, stasis webifiers, etc. Being based in a hisec pocket far from a trade hub, this looting goes a long way to making me self-sufficient.

The only downside to running this ship is that it takes a bit longer to complete most sites than using something with more dps, but using something like this can be fun. I have noticed that escalations triggered from these sites are all level 3. When using something like a VNI to run these sites, escalations seem to be higher level. UPDATE: It's dens that can escalate to 5/10 sites, so this does not appear to be related to the ship you use.

[Tristan, Trusty]
Nanofiber Internal Structure II
AE-K Compact Drone Damage Amplifier
Small Armor Repairer II

Multispectrum Shield Hardener I
Small F-S9 Regolith Compact Shield Extender
5MN Y-T8 Compact Microwarpdrive

150mm Railgun II
150mm Railgun II


Hobgoblin I x8

Antimatter Charge S x1000

Recently I ran a number of these sites in a Gnosis (a battlecruiser). While completing the sites was trivial, I rarely got an escalation, and never got a boss NPC. That seemed odd, until I realized that the game mechanics surely reward you if you take on risk. To test that theory, I ran about 17 sites of all types today (hideaways of various types, up thru dens) in the Tristan.

I got three escalations (two 3/10 and one 5/10) and two boss NPCs. The first boss dropped little loot, but the second one dropped a mid-grade Asklepian Gamma implant valued at 83.9 million. I'm convinced that running these sites in something like this Tristan can pay off immensely versus using something way overpowered for the job!

Forget the above theory. After going back to using the Gnosis, I've gotten multiple Serpentis Shadow NPC bosses, each dropping significant loot. Most recently, today I got a 75 million implant drop in a Hideaway.

Everything's relative, but running combat anomalies in hisec isn't just for newbros, at least not in my opinion. Some surprisingly good loot awaits the patient. Here are some examples of drops from bosses. Not all lucky strikes are recorded here - just those that I bothered to note at the time. Interestingly, these bosses, some of which have pretty high bounties for hisec, are not difficult to destroy at all. While Hideaways and Refuges are the types of sites that tend to trigger escalations, Forlorn Hideaways seem to get bosses dropping the best loot. Further, running those Forlorn Hideaways in 0.5 space consistently gets better boss drops than in 1.0-0.6 space.

January 30, 2021
Running a den in the mighty Tristan. Got a Shadow Serpentis boss at the end. He dropped 86 million isk in Shadow Serpentis Inertial Stabilizers! A bit later, running another den, I had a boss drop a 44 million isk Shadow Serpentis Sensor Booster.

March 3, 2021
Running a Serpentis Forlorn Hideaway. Shadow Serpentis Agent dropped Mid-grade Snake Delta implant worth 117 million, and a Shadow Serpentis Thermal Armor Hardener 3.2 million.

March 26, 2021
Got a 126 million drop in another Forlorn Hideaway from a Shadow Serpentis Patroller:

• Shadow Serpentis Assault Damage Control 71,531,038
  
• Mid-grade Asklepian Beta implant 53,595,787

March 27, 2021
Running a Serpentis Den in 0.5 security space. Got a Shadow Serpentis Chief Scout with a 375,000 isk bounty that dropped virtually no loot, which is odd.

June 27, 2021
Best drop ever…in a hisec Hidden Hideaway. A Shadow Serpentis Agent dropped this!

October 24, 2021
In a 0.4 system, a Shadow Serpentis Agent dropped into a Hidden Hideaway and dropped Shadow Serpentis Intertial Stabilizers worth 83 million. Last time I got this particular item was January 30, 2021.

April 28, 2022
Found 3 Serpentis Dens in a 0.5 system. The first and third were unremarkable, but the second one dropped a 203 million implant and a Vigilant BPC!

May 23, 2022
Ran five Serpentis Dens in a single hisec system. In the last one, a Shadow Serpentis Watchman in a Serpentis Den in hisec dropped another 200 million isk Mid-grade Snake Epsilon implant.

May 11, 2021

These hisec combat anomalies are like a box of chocolate. You never know what you're gonna get. I ran three of these in a 0.6 site today in a brand new Gnosis - my first time flying it. The ship was received as part of a daily giveaway today, but I had to outfit it at a cost of about 100 million ISK after using a few trinkets I already had in inventory.

When done with the first site, a Den, I got an escalation to a DED 5/10 in 0.4 space. I've only been in a DED 5 site once, and that was when invited by someone to join them in the fight. I was in a VNI at the time. Both of us had to warp out to repair multiple times, and didn't quite finish the site. Regardless, the loot and bounties were good. However, I don't think I'll take the Gnosis in there, regardless of it having lots more DPS and EHP than the VNI…'cause two of us had a heck of a time.

In the second site, another Den, I got a Serpentis Shadow boss, who had a 375,000 ISK bounty, and dropped fantastic loot!

In the third site, a Forsaken Hideaway, I got another boss, a Shadow Serpentis Watchman, with a low bounty, but who dropped this loot …

August 12,2021

Got this drop from a Shadow Serpentis boss in a Den in 0.5 space today.

August 12, 2021

Both of these activities can generate isk and improve your security status. Only Combat Anomalies can give you escalations and spawn bosses that have the potential to drop great loot. However, you always deal with multiple spawns, and can't always find combat anomalies when you want them. When ratting in belts, what you see is what you get. Once on grid, I've never seen additional spawns. You can still get great isk. Some ships in lo and nulsec have 1+ million isk bounties, and can drop decent loot.

September 4, 2022

This is an unrated drone site scanned down in high or low sec. You need to deal EM and/or Thermal damage. A VNI with Hammerhead II and Hobgoblin II does fine. If you're lucky you'll get a Rogue Drone 46-X Nexus Chip. Otherwise, the rewards are meager. Worth running. It can be run quickly.

These sites are easy to run in a properly fit Tengu. You'll need a Data Analyzer. I've found that the Missile Guidance II computer I'd had in a mid slot was unnecessary. Put a Data Analyzer II in that slot.

YOU CAN IGNORE the text below re strategy. In this Tengu, you can burn straight to the cans and hack them without firing a shot. You can tank all damage.

Group all launchers, use Scourge Rage missiles, and destroy all missile batteries first. There are a number of them. Then destroy all but one of the ships with 3 launchers on each. If you destroy the last ship, a wave of 6-7 more will show up. That one remaining ship won't scratch this Tengu fit. Fighting that additional wave just wastes time and missiles.

Now hack and loot the cans. Occasionally, on hacking a can successfully, two or three rats will spawn. Destroy only those rats else you can't loot the can. Leave the one ship you didn't destroy earlier alone.

Bounties are 4-6 million.

Fit is below. As an aside, this same fit can handle a DED 5 Serpentis Hydroponics site just fine. Simply replace the Data Analyzer with a Missile Guidance Computer II as the analyzer is unnecessary for those.

[Tengu, 5]
Ballistic Control System II
Ballistic Control System II
Ballistic Control System II

Pith C-Type Shield Boost Amplifier
Gistum A-Type Medium Shield Booster
Pith C-Type Thermal Shield Hardener
Gist X-Type Kinetic Shield Hardener
Data Analyzer II
10MN Y-S8 Compact Afterburner

Covert Ops Cloaking Device II
Heavy Assault Missile Launcher II
Heavy Assault Missile Launcher II
Heavy Assault Missile Launcher II
Heavy Assault Missile Launcher II
Heavy Assault Missile Launcher II
Heavy Assault Missile Launcher II
Sisters Expanded Probe Launcher

Medium Hydraulic Bay Thrusters I
Medium Hydraulic Bay Thrusters II
Medium Rocket Fuel Cache Partition II

Tengu Core - Augmented Graviton Reactor
Tengu Defensive - Covert Reconfiguration
Tengu Offensive - Accelerated Ejection Bay
Tengu Propulsion - Chassis Optimization



Scourge Javelin Heavy Assault Missile x5000
Missile Range Script x1
Missile Precision Script x1
Sisters Combat Scanner Probe x16
Scourge Rage Heavy Assault Missile x7000
Sisters Core Scanner Probe x16
Relic Analyzer II x1
Missile Guidance Computer II x1

My record for loot from one of these sites was about 156 million isk, on October 2, 2022.

September 14, 2022

I completed a Core Runner Exile Distribution Base in low sec, docked up, and came back in a Buzzard to hack the cans where the loot lies. I should have known better, but some guy came at me with a Tengu and nailed me. To my surprise, he gave me 50 million isk as compensation.

Then he hit me with a chat request, and long story short, we both took Tengus into a 10/10 site in null. I've never even entered one of them before. I'm surprised I only ended up with 28 million in bounties, but at some point there was a cargo container he urged me to loot. It had a 511 million isk item! Neither of us had time to finish this and an 8/10, but I made a new friend, and got an excellent hunk of loot.

September 26, 2022

After watching this video, I knew I could run this site solo. The fit is shown below, which as of this writing would cost about 1 billion isk. I traveled to the site with a covert configuration, and refit with a mobile depot to that fit. I also usually carry an interdiction nullifier in cargo, and an interdiction nullifier subsystem. You could keep cost down by eliminating those things, and the probe launcher and probes, but I would not want to do so. Bounties amount to about 80 million isk.

Bring 9000+ Scourge Rage missiles, and maybe 2,000 Scourge Javelins.

This is a five room site, and should take 28-30 minutes to complete. You should be cap stable, and run all mods at all times.

Room 1 - Group all launchers, kill all battleships first, then put 3 launchers on each of the remaining ships till the room is cleared.

Room 2 - Group all launchers, kill all battleships first, then put 3 launchers on all battlecruisers, then destroyers till the room is cleared.

Room 3 - Group all launchers, and kill and loot the Shadow Serpentis Chief Guard first. Then clear the room in the same way as the previous rooms.

Room 4 - Group all launchers, and kill and loot the Shadow Serpentis High Admiral first. Then clear the room as you did the others. Before going thru the acceleration gate to the next room, load your range script and Scourge Javelin missiles, as your targets will be at range.

Room 5 - Hit the stasis tower(s) first, then the Shadow Serpentis Big Boss. Burn toward him immediately. He will likely web you. When he gets within range (about 48km with the range script), switch to Scourge Rage missiles and continue burning toward him. Kill and loot him, then warp out. He's guaranteed to drop 20th tier overseer effects worth 61 million isk, and may drop much more.

I ran this site for the first time today. The first two rooms had already been cleared by someone, and the Shadow Serpentis Chief Guard in the third room had been looted. I destroyed all remaining ships and finished the site with no issues.

The loot was disappointing, totaling about 131 million. Better luck next time!

[Tengu, 6]
Caldari Navy Ballistic Control System
Ballistic Control System II
Ballistic Control System II
Ballistic Control System II

10MN Y-S8 Compact Afterburner
Pithum A-Type Medium Shield Booster
Pith C-Type Shield Boost Amplifier
Pith C-Type Kinetic Shield Hardener
Pith C-Type Thermal Shield Hardener
Missile Guidance Computer II

Heavy Assault Missile Launcher II
Heavy Assault Missile Launcher II
Heavy Assault Missile Launcher II
Heavy Assault Missile Launcher II
Heavy Assault Missile Launcher II
Heavy Assault Missile Launcher II

Medium Rocket Fuel Cache Partition II
Medium Hydraulic Bay Thrusters II
Medium Hydraulic Bay Thrusters I

Tengu Core - Augmented Graviton Reactor
Tengu Defensive - Amplification Node
Tengu Offensive - Accelerated Ejection Bay
Tengu Propulsion - Chassis Optimization



Scourge Javelin Heavy Assault Missile x2000
Missile Range Script x1
Missile Precision Script x1
Sisters Combat Scanner Probe x16
Scourge Rage Heavy Assault Missile x10000
Sisters Core Scanner Probe x16
Interdiction Nullifier II x1
Covert Ops Cloaking Device II x1
Sisters Expanded Probe Launcher x1