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Catch Gas Huffing
Introduction
Gas sites can be divided into two broad categories, WH gas and K-space (regular space) gas sites. WH Gas is used in the creation of T3 Cruisers and destroyers, and is found only in WHs. K-space gas sites are used in the creation of combat boosters aka. drugs. In general, WH gas is more valuable than K-space gas by volume, but the process of harvesting the gas is very similar. For the purposes of this guide, it will be assumed that you are harvesting the K-space gas in Catch, Lime Cytoserocin.
Why should I huff gas?
The equipment required to huff gas is fairly cheap, with a fitted Venture currently costing roughly 12 Million ISK. This will easily be made up after just one load of gas huffing, making huffing an extremely good return on investment. Huffing can be ideal for newer players who cannot afford more expensive ratting or mining setups to be able to make the isk they need to enjoy other aspects of the game.
What are the drawbacks to huffing gas? What's the catch?
- The gas harvesting skillbook represents a significant initial cost, with the skillbook going for roughly 24 million isk. The dojo does have this but requires a 24 million isk donation. Exceptions apply.1)
- Gas huffing in Catch has one major risk not present for wormhole gas, the gas has a chance to explode on each attempt at harvesting the cloud. This means your fit must differ from a wormhole gas fit (fits below) and you may find it difficult to huff in groups.
- The loss of ventures should be expected as you go about your huffing adventures. Luckily they are cheap, so don't get too attached!
General Information
In our Catch home constellation of 9HXQ-G there exist three types of STATIC gas sites. Static means there will always be a set number of them at ANY time and the moment one despawn, another will respawn somewhere in the constellation to take its place. The 3 different statics differ greatly and each have their own benefits and tradeoffs.
| Duo Nebula | Leopard Nebula | Rimy Nebula |
|---|---|---|
* Always 2 in 9HXQ-G
- 3,000 units (500 + 2,500)
- 1,000 EM + 1,000 Thermal damage very often (Groups beware!)
- No Rats
</WRAP> | Leopard Nebulas are the motherlode of Lime Cytoserocin. The site has many Sansha battleship rats and webbing towers, but killing the rats can be worth it because the site's single cloud has 9,000 units of gas! The Leopard nebula cloud explodes much less frequently and only does 1,400 Explosive damage, making it a breeze to tank with even a single explosive hardener. Huffing in groups in these clouds can be much more doable. A video guide on how to clear the site can be found here: (to do.) <WRAP>
- Always 1 in 9HXQ-G
- 9,000 units
- 1,400 Explosive damage less often
- Sansha Battleship rats & webbing towers (VNI's beware!)
</WRAP> | Rimy Nebulas are the bastard son of the 9HXQ-G constellation. Housing a measly 3,000 units of gas (same as duo nebula), the site is disproportionately protected by many Angel, Mordus, and rogue drone rats making it difficult to do these sites effectively. It is not recommended to run these considering the other ones respawn instantly. <WRAP>
- Always 1 in 9HXQ-G
- 3,000 Units (1,500 + 1,500)
- Unknown damage types
- Mixed Battleship rats
</WRAP> |
Prerequisites
Before you can gas huff you'll need to have some prerequisites as well as some basic game mechanics under your belt.
- An exploration ship. Ship fits here.
- Familiarity with exploration mechanics by using the probe scanning window and probe scanner. Click for more info.
- Being able to use external site mapping tools such as Deepsafe or Pathfinder. Click for more info.
Gas Huffing Procedure
Before you can start huffing gas you must find a gas site. Gas sites are similar to relic or data signatures; Gas sites must be scanned down using core scanner probes. One way you can more easily track down these sites is to ask other explorers if they've spotted any nearby or use a signature tracking website such as https://afowl.si/deepsafe/ or https://pathfinder.bravecollective.com/ . Once you have found a gas site that you want to huff, grab your venture and get ready to go!
Fits
| Venture Fits | |
|---|---|
| This venture fit should be cheap and effective. A good starting point is: | Once you've trained up your skills but still cant fly a Prospect hull, then try this next fit. (If you're having fitting issues, swap one or both of the Medium Shield Extender II's for the compact variant.) |
[Venture, Minimum Skill Duo Nebula] Type-D Restrained Shield Power Relay Medium F-S9 Regolith Compact Shield Extender Medium F-S9 Regolith Compact Shield Extender Limited 'Anointed' EM Ward Field Gas Cloud Harvester I Gas Cloud Harvester I Small Anti-EM Screen Reinforcer II Small Anti-Thermal Screen Reinforcer II Small Anti-Thermal Screen Reinforcer II | [Venture, T2 Harvesters Duo Nebula] Shield Power Relay II Medium Shield Extender II Medium Shield Extender II EM Ward Field II Gas Cloud Harvester II Gas Cloud Harvester II Small Anti-EM Screen Reinforcer II Small Anti-Thermal Screen Reinforcer II Small Anti-Thermal Screen Reinforcer II |
Gas Huffing Class Recordings
| 10.02.2018 | Sun-Li Sakamoto | Intro to Gas Huffing and why your mother told you not to |
Duo Nebula
This is the easiest site for a newbie to get into and huff. Follow the following steps to get into a Duo Nebula and start huffing today. The clouds do 1000 EM and 1000 thermal, you should not do the same cloud with another venture.
- Go to https://afowl.si/deepsafe/ and login
- Click Search All systems
- On the far right switch to Catch Region
- In the middle switch to Gas Sites
- Find the signature name of a Duo Nebula in a Brave system
- Add a probe launcher and probes to your venture fit or do this before in an exploration ship.
- Go to the system with the Duo Nebula
- Tether on a structure and scan down the correct Signature ID from deepsafe. (Scanning Guide)
- Warp to the gas site and bookmark it (recover probes and return with a venture if you aren't in one)
- Pick one of the two Lime Cytoserocin in the Misc or mining tabs of the overview and warp to it.
- Turn on EM hardener.
- Select both gas harvesters at once and then target the gas cloud.
- Mine until you're full.