If you are thinking of exploring wormholes there are a few things you must get right first to minimise any chance of becoming trapped or killed. This advice is based on my experiences so far and is subject to change based on that experience.

Before reading this guide you should already know how to use scan probes and your on-board scanner to locate the 'door' (wormhole) into w-space. You can review this video by clicking this link: Apocrypha Scanning Tutorial

Clones
Do not take your best clone. Too many pilots are entering wormhole space from Empire in their best clones, fitted with implants and hardwired skills. This is understandable as many feel safe in Empire, but wormhole space is lawless, even more so than 0.0. No-one owns this space and to make matters worse there is no criminal flagging. Any hostile activity carried out there is not recorded, except on kill mails. So take an expendable clone and be prepared to lose it.

Ships
Only take what you are prepared to lose. Try not to take faction fitted ships or unnecessary items in your cargo hold. Chances are you may lose everything. Pirates are preying successfully in wormhole space on pilots eager to explore the 'unknown.' You may also want to fit a Warp Core Stabiliser(WCS) or two, not something I normally recommend, but it could be the difference between life or death as the Sleepers will disrupt you en-mass.

Try to use a ship which requires no ammunition or take plenty of it. Bear in mind that you may want to salvage and/or loot when you get there so on-board cargo space will be at a premium. Most Amarr faction and some Gallente ships are best suited to explore this space as they require no ammunition at all and can run indefinitely.

Fittings
The Sleepers, the enemy NPCs found in wormhole space, attack your tanks lowest resistance. If you're shield tanking, an omni passive tank is your best friend. The sleepers like to Energy Drain(NOS) extensively so your capacitor may become drained very quickly so active tanks will be harder to manage effectively.

If you are armour tanking then make sure you have enough of an armour buffer to absorb the attacks if your capacitor dies and you need to escape. Again, an omni tank is your best choice, get your resists as high as possible using passive armour modules. This will help preserve your capacitor should you need to warp out.

I also recommend an After-Burner(AB). They are very useful if you need speed and distance to get out of disruptor range as some Sleepers will Disrupt and Webify you. If Disrupted by more than a single enemy ship and you don't have WCS fitted, primary the Webifiers and destroy them quickly, then AB out of Disruptor range(20km) and warp to a safe-spot if needed.

Remember speed is life, as the Sleepers tracking is not great so orbit close and they will miss you enough, enabling you to tank them more effectively. I wouldn't recommend an exclusive speed tank, if you want to speed tank then fit a modest shield or armour tank at least, just in case you get Webified.

Always fit a Damage Control(DC) unit. This works with your AB by allowing you enough of a hull buffer to escape Disruptor range should your tank fail. If your tank fails in wormhole space it does so spectacularly.

You will also need a scan probe launcher with plenty of probes. Try to bring a selection, depending on your intentions. At a cost of 220 cpu, the launcher itself does not need to be online permanently, just as long as you can bring it online if needed by switching off non-essential systems. Take a small Capacitor Booster if you want to boost your Capacitor to bring the Scan Probe Launcher online quickly.

You may or may not want to bring a cloak. Again this depends on your intentions. Fitting both a cloak and WCS will seriously compromise your ability to target quickly so decide early on what your mission is and stick to it. You can always come back again fitted differently.

Work together and assist fleet members with Armour, Shields or Capacitor. Make sure you bring either Maintenance Bots or Transfer Arrays to acheive a spider tank.

Do not use Electronic Counter Measures(ECM) modules on the Sleepers as the enemy AI will primary you. Save your jamming equipment for other 'encounters.'

Gas clouds and most of the rarer asteroids can be found within these virginal 'unkown' systems so you may want to bring Mining Lasers, Mining Drones and/or Gas Cloud Harvesters. Keep close to protect your mining drones as enemy spawns are likely.

Fleet
Bring a Covert Operations frigate to aid with the exploration and exploitation of this new frontier. This may not always be possible, but it should be first choice for any fleet. If you don't have this option then you will need your own scan probe launcher. This cannot be stressed enough. You will need scan probes to return to normal space if the wormhole collapses. And there is little indication as to when that could be, only a vague warning from the infromation gathered from the wormholes icon. If you don't bring any probes then you could end up becoming trapped indefinitely.

Okay...thats enough advice for one day. As I voyage further down the spiral I will post some more. Do what you will with the information, this guide is based on my experiences so far and is only meant as a rough guide. Above all else, remember your probes, stick together and heed the nature of this alien landscape, for it is a perilous road you travel full of awe and wonder.

We'll see you on the other side.

For part 2 please follow this link:
Wormhole Exploration and Survival Guide - Part II

Related Links
Apocrypha Scanning Tutorial
Advanced Scanning Techniques

This is the second part of my guide to surviving wormhole exploration in EvE Online.

For part 1 please follow this link:
Wormhole Exploration and Survival Guide - Part I



Your fleet is ready, you are at the wormhole and you are about to embark on an adventure unlike any you have seen before.

Entering
Upon entering wormhole space immediately boomark the wormhole, then set about marking a few bookmarks as safe spots. Try to make at least 3. Scan the system for other ships as soon as you can. Then scan the system with both your probes and if you like, your on-board scanner to locate possible exploration sites. It's important to note that even if you do not read any other ships in the system, this does not mean that it is empty. Cloaked ships will not show on your scans so always be vigilant and ready to take the appropriate action if required. Try to remain aligned at 75% thrust to a safe spot and never leave your ship unattended, unless you have a cloak fitted, and even then it isn't condoned.

Engaging the Sleepers
The sleepers will attack you in force and will Webify, Disrupt and NOS you so be prepared to become locked down. In addition to this they posses smart AI, priority target acquisition. This means that, unlike during missions or when ratting, they will change their primary targets depending on certain threat factors. No-one is safe while engaging them so all ships and pilots should be prepared to assist each other. Stick together and use spider tanking to aid fleet members when required. Battleship sized targets should be engaged at close range, this will be under their weapons optimal and will help tank the spawns. In addition, if the DED has turrets, such as found in missions or guarding stations and jumpgates you must destroy them first as the Damage Per Second (DPS) output is large enough to obliterate targets smaller than a cruiser and will seriously dent the tank on most ships.

De-clutter your overview so you can identify hostiles quicker and keep aligned and moving as much as possible.

Leave all but one enemy ship alive and clear the area of wrecks, loot and salvage before destroying the final target. Upon destruction of the final target, a re-spawn is likely so clear the battlefield of valuables before moving onto the next spawn.

Escaping
Before warping to the wormhole scan ahead and take the appropriate action depending on what you find there. It's difficult to judge other ships intentions, but under no circumstances talk in the local channel as this will give you away to anyone else present and may invite hostiles to your position.

If the wormhole has collapsed there are only a few options available to you.

1. Suicide. You should be prepared for this eventuality. It's important to weigh up your options first as this should be treated as a last resort. Without any loot or salvage the mission is a failure as the Sleepers do not provide bounties.

2. Ask for help in local. This is not recommended as more than likely, as there is no criminal flagging, you will become the victim of opportunists and may be killed anyway. You can ask for help from fellow Corporation members, but the likely hood of them being able to find you are nigh on impossible.

3. Scan down a new wormhole exit. Persistence is the key here. Keep scanning and your fingers crossed. If you find another wormhole, check where it goes first by sending through a single ship before the fleet.

4. If you have no scan probes, see options 1 and 2.

This concludes my rough guide to wormhole exploration and survival. There is much more to learn from w-space but I will leave that in your capable hands. Fly safe(ish)...

For part 1 please follow this link:
Wormhole Exploration and Survival Guide - Part I

Related Links
Apocrypha Scanning Tutorial
Advanced Scanning Techniques



 The exploration of wormholes is a hazardous occupation. The dangers contained within are deadly and can and will kill you very quickly. If the Sleepers don’t get you, the pirates may.

There is a very good reason why w-space is so dangerous; it’s full of riches to make even the Tash Murkon family jealous. With the correct approach and equipment it is possible to make a tonne of isk in a relatively short amount of time. Here follows a guide on some of the methods that I have used to make isk in w-space.

In all cases never forget to field a Scan Probe Launcher and carry plenty of probes just in case you are caught inside a collapsed wormhole and need to find an exit, without committing suicide and failing the mission.

For guidance on the exploration of wormholes please read this guide:
Wormhole Exploration and Survival Guide Part I

Mining
There are many wonderful ores to be found within w-space. Unfortunately there are no surveyed asteroid belts in the local area so they will have to be scanned for. Generally this is the safest way to make isk in w-space as it requires little confrontation.

To mine in w-space you will need a mining vessel. I would only recommend using a Tech I mining vessel and not a specialised ship such as mining barges, because of the inherent risks involved, but this is ultimately up to your discretion. It’s okay to fit Tech II mining lasers as the increase in yield helps compensate for the increase in costs. Any mining operation is best conducted with at least two pilots. This minimises the risks and maximises the intel available to the operation.


You will also need storage. The best solution is to take a hauler. Fitted with a cloak this can act as a giant secure container just a little way from the main mining operation. Mine into a jet-can named after whatever asteroid you are mining and then have your hauler remain cloaked until required to recover the ore from the jet-can. The hauler should also field a tractor beam to assist the recovery of the ore.

The longer the operation can remain cloaked the better as there is no local beacon, hostiles in the area can not be determined without regularly scanning the system for ships. It is safe to assume that your ship is being sought at all times by opportunists therefore it’s wise to maintain an active scan of the system. Be aware that although no ships may show on your results, this is no guarantee that there are no ships in the area, bearing in mind that the on-board scanner only scans your local space and cannot cover an entire system.

When it’s time to leave; have the hauler exit first in-case the wormhole collapses. The loss of a Tech I mining vessel is not such a hard loss to bear but if the hauler is lost along with the ore then the whole operation will be a failure.

Camping
Wormholes are some of the best campsites available to budding pirates because they are natural star-gates without rules or regulation. This means that any crime committed on the w-space side will not be considered on the normal space side allowing one to attack a target in w-space without any detrimental effect on your security status or aggravating a criminal flag.

As per usual it is good practice to have intel on the normal space side relaying information to the fleet on the w-space side about the targets imminently arriving through the wormhole. Try not to make the fleet too large as the tonnage may close the wormhole. Field ships with high DPS fittings and Remote Repair abilities but be aware that any target attempting to explore w-space will also possess a decent tank to cope with the large amounts of damage dealt by the Sleepers (enemy NPCs).


The fleet should target any incoming ship as quickly as possible and Web (Stasis) and Point (warp scramble/disrupt) to prevent the targets escape. The target is unlikely to field a WCS (warp core stabiliser) so a single point is all that should be necessary. The most important effect should be to prevent the targets retreat back through the wormhole so a strong Web is required, a minimum of two should be used, as well as the use of a Warp Scrambler to disable the targets Micro-Warpdrive, if fitted. It's also a good idea to try and 'bump' the target away from the wormhole itself further preventing escape.

The destruction of the targets ship and POD should then proceed in earnest, as well as the ransoming of the target if necessary. Remember that any crimes committed here will not be carried through to normal space, therefore anything goes.

If a particularly good haul is dropped from the victim(s) it’s wise to deliver it through the wormhole as soon as possible, because if the wormhole collapses or you become the victims of retaliation, the mission will be a failure.

NPC Harvesting
This is the method where-by a small fleet engages the indigenous life forms; Sleepers, and recovers the items dropped by the NPCs for sale or production of Tech III ships.

Firstly a DED site will need to be scanned using a Scan Probe Launcher. Once located warp to the site and prepare your ships for tanking the inevitable hostile fire. Sleepers like to attack in force and will concentrate their fire on your tanks lowest resistance therefore an omni-tank is preferred for this type of work. In addition to this intelligence Sleepers will use almost every type of electronic warfare to lock you down, this includes Webs, Scrams and NOS. They will also attempt to disrupt your weapons by jamming their tracking abilities or dampening range so a wide choice of ammunition is advised. Personally I use lasers as they have a broad selection of optimal ranges and require no ammunition, or sentry/combat drones as they do not require ammunition but do require careful monitoring to avoid careless destruction.


DED's regularly house turrets much like you would find in an Empire mission. The turrets are by far the most dangerous targets and should be engaged first. Order your fleet to concentrate their firepower to take them down as quickly as possible. When all the turrets have been destroyed focus the fleets firepower on the remaining Sleepers, leaving only a single enemy ship to prevent any re spawns. This will give your fleet time to recover all the wrecks on the field and give your group time to recharge their tanks/ammunition/capacitor.

When all your cargo holds are brimming with salvage it's time to leave. A bold practice is to remain within the wormhole for 24 hours where the Sleepers will re spawn so they can be 'harvested' once more. It's wise to note however, that unless the salvage returns to normal space the mission is a failure should the fleet become lost or victims of pirates.

Above all else ensure that you return from w-space alive and with your loot. And do not under any circumstances forget to field a Scan Probe Launcher, backed up by a healthy number of probes.

This concludes my guide to W-Space Harvesting. I trust you will learn much more as you practice the art of survival and prospering within a wormhole.

Related Links
Wormhole Exploration and Survival Guide Part I
Scan Probe Launcher Operation Tutorial
Advanced Scanning Techniques