Every system hides cosmic signatures: derelict data caches, Choir shrines, pirate camps and stranger things. Your ship's on-board scanner lists them, but it can't tell you where they are. For that you launch scan probes, spread them through the system, and squeeze them down on a signature until it reaches 100 %. Then it becomes a site that only you can see and slip to.
Steps
- Train Astrometrics to level I. Queue itPlay to try this
- Fit an Ostrava Seer-2 Probe Launcher in a high slot. Show mePlay to try this
- Carry scan probes in your cargo. Buy scan probesPlay to try this
- Undock, press P to open the Probe Scanner, and launch. Launch probesPlay to try this
- Scan, move your probes onto what you find, shrink them, and scan again until a signature hits 100 %. ScanPlay to try this
What you need
Requires Astrometrics IScan probes are sold at every station, in the Charges & Probes category of the market. They aren't used up: you recall them after a scan and launch them again. You lose them only if you jump out of the system or your ship is destroyed while they're out. Docking brings them home.
You can launch up to 4 probes, or 5 with Astrometrics III.
The Probe Scanner
P opens the Probe Scanner: a 3D map of the system with planets, gates, stations, your ship and your probes as glowing spheres. Activating your Probe Launcher opens it too, and launches a full set if none are out.
- Drag a probe to move it. Shift-drag moves the whole formation.
- Wheel on a probe changes its radius. Radii step from 0.25 AU up to 32 AU. Show mePlay to try this
- Launch, Scan and Recall sit together in the scanner's controls. Show mePlay to try this
- On a phone: drag the formation with one finger, pinch to resize every probe, tap a probe to move it alone.
A scan takes 10 seconds. Better skills shorten it.
Formations
Two buttons place all your probes at once around their centre. Show mePlay to try this
- Spread sets them wide apart, their spheres just overlapping in the middle. Use it to sweep a big volume.
- Pinpoint pulls every probe in so every sphere covers the centre. Use it to triangulate one signature.
Reading results
Each result's shape tells you where to look next.
| Seen by | Result | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| 1 probe | A sphere: it's somewhere inside that probe. | Move more probes over it. |
| 2 probes | A ring where the two spheres meet. | Centre a third probe on the ring. |
| 3 or more | A point with an error circle. | Pinpoint on it and shrink the radius. |
Strength rises with how many probes see a signature, how close it sits to each probe's centre, and how small the probes are. Small probes are stronger but cover less. At 25 % the group shows (Data, Relic, Combat, Ore or Span). At 75 % the site name shows. At 100 % it's yours. Show mePlay to try this
The loop: spread wide, find the sphere, collapse onto it, shrink the radius, repeat.
Signatures by band
| Band | Signatures |
|---|---|
| Core | 1 or 2, data caches only, weak loot |
| Frontier | 3 to 5, of every group |
| Void | 5 to 8, and harder to scan |
Data sites are the easiest to scan down, then combat, ore and relic sites. Span signatures are the hardest. A signature lasts a few hours, and a finished site fades soon after.