April 8, 2022

There are definitely some differences this year, in both the data sites and combat sites.

Data sites now have 2 rooms. You need a key to go thru the acceleration gate to the second room, where the typically much more valuable loot is located. The first room always contains four cans (Hunt Communication Towers). These are always green hacks, regardless of security of the system. The second room contains five cans (Hunt Mainframes). These are always orange hacks.

When you complete the first room in a data site, the site disappears off the probe scanner. That's a good thing. It means that unless someone has already scanned down the site, they're probably not going to scan you down with dscan. They'd have to use combat probes, and you'll know when those are around.

Don't take too much time in the second room. It seems that the cans will despawn after 10-15 minutes. Ask me how I know. I was sitting in one in losec, when combat probes popped up. I cloaked up just as he popped in near me. He warped out of the system, then came back in. It's a good thing I cloaked back up as soon as I saw him in local, as he warped right back to near me. He did this two or three times. By the time I got back to being ready to put the data analyzer to work, the cans disappeared.

Further, don't warp out of the site. I did that once to unload cargo. Went straight back to my bookmark, but the cans were gone.

Data sites are data sites…there's not much to say about them. These sites can pay very well. I picked up a very rare 1.8 billion item in a losec (0.4) system!

I had a much harder time this year with these sites until I came up with a better ship and fit. They seem noticeably more difficult. The cheap 10.5 million Algos fit I used last year survived the first several sites I ran this year, but barely. I mean…barely. On the second day of this year's event, I bought and fitted my first assault frigate, an Ishkur. Geared up, this ship was about 36 million isk. However, it handles the sites much better. I only had Assault Frigate level 3 when I started using this ship, but it's still good enough that I have a high level of confidence in being able to run these sites without fear of loss. Still, drones take a real beating. You need to micromanage them, may lose one here and there, and will surely be into armor or hull on many of them. You will be webbed and scrammed for almost the entire time you spend in the site.

Be generous with using boosters. Use 'em if ya got 'em. The edge they can give you may not be necessary, but they can certainly be helpful. The event drops enough of these in loot, daily login bonuses, and rewards for you to take advantage of them…that's their purpose!

Don't understimate the value of the inexpensive Small Ghoul Compact Energy Nosferatu on the Ishkur fit shown. I put it on every ship within range.

These sites are all named Guristas Hunt Outpost. They are combat anomalies that are visible with your probe scanner and do not need to be scanned down. Bring short range ammo/weapons. By and large, the Guristas ships come up on you fast, and being webbed, you can't kite them. You need to tough it out and tank the damage.

These sites have 2 rooms. The first room is accessed by an acceleration gate. You do not need a key to go thru this gate. Perhaps because of that, I see a number of sites where the first room has been emptied, but the second (much more lucrative room) is untouched. Paradoxically, that first room is the more difficult, by far, in my opinion.

The first room has several waves. Keep your drones on the ones most distant. Get up close and orbit each closer one in succession and put blasters, web and nosferatu it. These ships move fast and you will want to slow them down for better damage application from the blasters.

The first room has a boss that is always named Guristas Automated VHF-xx, where xx is usually 21. This ship almost only appears when the last ship in the last wave is destroyed. Loot him, but don't expect high value stuff. Out of the dozen or more sites I've run to date, only once did the boss drop in with the last wave. I didn't think I'd survive that wave, but it worked out.

The second room's boss is a Jackdaw. This is the ship with the real loot. On entry into this room, one key will be consumed. This room has several towers, each doing one of stasis, EM, thermal, kinetic, explosive and neuting damage. There are two approaches to this room, but only one is recommended. Either put drones on the towers in succession and focus blasters, web and nos on the Jackdaw, or simply put everything on the Jackdaw immediately. I encourage you to go straight for the Jackdaw and ignore the towers. Yes, ignore them. My drones take no damage in this room from those towers or the Jackdaw! Once the Jackdaw is destroyed, loot it and warp away. At that point, you're only webbed and can get away.

I found the loot in each type of site to be more or less equal. You'll get a lot of overseer effects, skins, decryptors, datacores and associated stuff, some very nice boosters, and occasionally a nice piece of equipment, like a C3-A 'Hivaa Saitsuo' Ballistic Control System (est value 8.6 million). I got three of those the first day of the event.

The estimated value of the skins is highly exaggerated in my opinion. This seems to be the case with all skins from all types of events. Yesterday I got a Raven Guristas Skin with an est value of 83 million. The best “buy” price on evepraisal is just 29 million, and you'd probably have to be lucky to get that. Hey, isk is isk!

Keep in mind that regardless of the value of any overseer effect, each takes up the same volume in cargo - 10m3. They can fill up an Astero or Ishkur hull quickly. More than once I've had to jettison stuff to make room, bookmark the cargo container, then go back for it. Alternatively, dock as needed and dump things into an item hangar before going on the prowl again.

See above … data sites are data sites … no need to show fits for those. As always in these sites, you're going to need to micromanage the drones. The bad guys will target them visciously.

Keep the armor repairer running as long as you can…you're gonna need it.

[Algos, Simulated Algos Fitting]
Drone Damage Amplifier II
Damage Control II
Small Armor Repairer II

Small Compact Pb-Acid Cap Battery
Small Compact Pb-Acid Cap Battery
Fleeting Compact Stasis Webifier

150mm Prototype Gauss Gun
150mm Prototype Gauss Gun
150mm Prototype Gauss Gun
150mm Prototype Gauss Gun
150mm Prototype Gauss Gun

Small Auxiliary Nano Pump I
Small Auxiliary Nano Pump I
Small Hybrid Collision Accelerator I



Hornet II x12

Thorium Charge S x1000
Antimatter Charge S x5000

This gives you breathing room compared to the Algos, but you still need to very much be on your game. Use the Assault Damage Control judiciously. With luck you may not use it at all. You will almost constantly run the armor repairer. The cap battery is important. I can't say how much value the nosferatu adds, but, hey, I had a free slot. Use the webifier generously.

The Hornets seem to be more effective and take less damage.

[Ishkur, Guristas Hunt]
Small Armor Repairer II
EFFA Compact Assault Damage Control
Vortex Compact Magnetic Field Stabilizer
Multispectrum Energized Membrane II

1MN Y-S8 Compact Afterburner
Small Compact Pb-Acid Cap Battery
Fleeting Compact Stasis Webifier

Small Ghoul Compact Energy Nosferatu
Light Ion Blaster II
Light Ion Blaster II
Light Ion Blaster II

Small Processor Overclocking Unit II
Small Capacitor Control Circuit I



Hobgoblin II x3
Hornet II x7

Federation Navy Antimatter Charge S x1000
Thorium Charge S x1000
Null S x2000
Antimatter Charge S x5000