LeDoyen wrote:Now that i think of it i once found a high grade signature right in the middle of a system after 3.0, cant remember which... Maybe they changed the way these spawn and i"ve now been searching in the wrong direction?
Didn't they say in a stream that they would tweak that, along with the introduction of material traders?
Could just be bad luck with RNG, but i start to wonder.
HGE might spawn in shipping lanes and even right after jump-in these days, but that is even more rare than a regular HGE USS. If you need PI and do not want to trade them at a 6:1 ratio, hunting for HGE USS in outbreak systems is still the way to go in 3.0. However, the problem is that an old bug has returned and not every system marked as being in state outbreak on the galmap is actually spawning HGE USS with PI inside.
One part of the problem is the BGS tick and the state changes it introduces. Depending on when the system switched to outbreak state, when you logged in, and when you have jumped, the information in galmap might be inaccurate. The counter-strategy for this is to check the history of the controlling faction on ROSS (the back-end of EDDB) to see when the faction went into outbreak. If it is less than 2 days ago, there is a good chance that HGE USS with PI will not spawn.
Your game mode might also have an impact here. If you keep an eye on the Order of Mobius orders, you will see the reminder that CZ might not spawn in big private groups for the first day(s) of a war and that people should use their own private groups for winging up. This was also an issue during the current combat CG, with CZs jumping around the system from day to day. Counter-strategy is to go solo or to your own private group if the spawn rates are bad.
Relogging into the same game once you are in deep space also seems to help, but this is not a guarantee.
Another part of the problem is that the status of other faction might override the outbreak state of the controlling faction. For example, EDDB currently tells me that of all the systems in state outbreak and with allegiance independent, HR 8792 has the highest population, which would normally make it a good hunting ground for HGE USS with PI in them. However, EDSM tells me that while three faction in that system are in a state of outbreak, two others are in a state of civil war, and I have frequently seen that a war/civil war overrides the outbreak state.
There is no good counter-strategy for this. The only thing you can do is to fly to the system and check for secondary indicators before you go USS hunting. If a statement is truly in outbreak, there should be convoy POIs (note: POI, not USS!). If you do not see those in your nav panel, the system is probably not seen as really being in outbreak, and HGE with PI in them will not spawn.
Last but not least, deep space does not depend on an absolute distance value, deep space is when your panel says you are in deep space. I had some unpleasant surprises in both single star and multi-star systems where I was 20k LS or more out from the arrival star, and the panel still said "<system name>" or "<system name> AB" as area rather than deep space.
And with a very huge grain of salt because of the potential for confirmation bias: When I hunt HGE and get another type of USS (degraded, encoded, weapons fire, distress call, ceremonial comms, ...), I approach that USS at very slow speed, typically 25% throttle because there is a key binding for that value. Frequently, another USS spawns while doing this, and this is often the wanted HGE.
In summary
- use system with allegiance independent or alliance
- high population is better
- avoid systems where other factions have a war/civil war
- check for refugee convoy POI before going USS hunting
- do not rely on distance but on the "deep space" indication
- change game modes if you do not hge within 30 minutes of being in deep space
