Wormhole combat sites guideWormhole combat sites: what C1 to C3 Sleeper sites pay

What changed on 22 September

The Cradle of War Major Update (22 September 2026) rebuilt the Sleeper combat anomalies in C1–C3 wormholes. From the patch notes:

• Sleepers split their targeting, damage and EWAR alike, between the capsuleers in the site.
• They no longer attack drones. Since 24 September they also leave capsules and the Zephyr alone.
• Better microwarpdrive use; smarter orbits and warps around the site.
• The Info Panel tracks your objectives and progress through the site.
• New visuals and fewer collidable objects; the warp-in pop-up is now a one-off transmission.
• A 25 September fix stopped NPCs respawning in these sites.

CCP's announcement adds two things the patch notes don't spell out: "more intelligent use of electronic warfare", and "the ability for capsuleers to use energy neutralization against their opponents". Sleepers had unlimited capacitor before, so neuts did nothing. Neither text says what draining a Sleeper's capacitor does now.

The same section of the patch notes changes Unsecured Frontier Receiver, a C3 data site with Sleepers: its Sleepless Defender must now be destroyed, not just shot, to bring the fourth wave. C4–C6 sites are unchanged; CCP says C1–C3 feedback will shape what happens to them.

Four sites per class

Each of the twelve anomalies has three waves; killing a wave's trigger brings the next. The payout is blue loot at fixed NPC buy prices, so these values don't move with the market. The Rampant Drone Fabricator, a fifth site spawning in every class since July 2026, has its own rewards and isn't covered here.

Full clear at fixed NPC prices, from the community-maintained Rykki guide (change log to 25 August 2026). Excludes salvage and the optional extra Sleeper in Solar Cell, The Oruze Construct and The Ruins of Enclave Cohort 27. EVE University gives lower figures for four sites: Phase Catalyst Node 7.4M, The Line 10.4M, Sleeper Data Sanctuary 10.4M, The Oruze Construct 41.6M. All of these figures predate the 22 September update.

C3 anomalies pay 41M to 45M: about 4.4 times the C1 average of 9.8M and 3 times the C2 average of 13.9M. C2 to C3 is the big step. C3 also brings the Sleeper Drone AI Nexus (5M ISK), which EVE University says drops mostly from battleships in C3 and up.

The Sleeper relic and data sites you scan down and hack (see the exploration guide) pay as much or more per run of waves: 9.2M to 12.8M in C1, 19.1M to 26.7M in C2, 75.1M to 92.5M in C3. Half have a fourth wave; the last wave of Forgotten Frontier Recursive Depot does 1,424 DPS.

What each site throws at you

A site is as hard as its toughest wave plus its EWAR. Toughest wave: 155 to 302 DPS in C1, 307 to 424 in C2, 593 to 814 in C3.

Toughest wave: raw DPS of every Sleeper in that wave summed, before your resists. Sleeper EHP: the whole site. Both from the Rykki guide; EHP counts the optional extra Sleeper where a site has one. EWAR columns: whether any Sleeper in the site has that module. Down the Chain, a third-party site, says it rechecked the rosters on 24 September and found them unchanged.

Battleships set the bar: one to three Sleepless battleships in every C3 anomaly, one or two in every C2, none in C1.

Three C3 sites have Preservers, Sleepers that repair each other. Solar Cell is the only C3 anomaly with warp tackle: the Emergent Preserver in wave 1, which is also that wave's trigger. EVE University's picks: Outpost Frontier Stronghold if your fit can't run without capacitor (no neuts), Fortification Frontier Stronghold if escape is the worry (nothing tackles).

Which ship

C1 statics pass ships up to 62,000,000 kg, so battlecruisers and smaller. C2 and C3 statics to known space take up to 375,000,000 kg, enough for battleships. EVE University by class:

• C1 and C2: one battlecruiser with Tech II modules, solo: "a passive-tanked Drake can easily run any and every anomaly in a Class 1 and Class 2 system solo."
• C3: one battleship, preferably a Rattlesnake, though a well-fitted Praxis also works; or a small battlecruiser gang, each with a Tech II active tank or with logistics behind them.

CCP points the same way: the Wormhole Pilot Expert System, added on 22 September, lends a character for 7 days the skills for a C3-fitted Praxis, a gas-harvesting Venture and the Covert Ops frigates.

Hull prices: 30-day average traded price in The Forge, to 3 October. Praxis 87,000,000 kg, Rattlesnake 99,300,000 kg: neither fits through a C1 static. The Tengu and Legion need Omega.

The pick for a first trip is the Drake: at 51M ISK the cheapest hull EVE University names, with cap-free missiles and a passive shield tank that leaves a neut no repairer to shut off. EVE University's rule applies: treat every ship you bring in as already lost.

No full fit here: none of the sources has a tested C1–C3 fit with its EFT text, and the Sleepers changed on 22 September. Fit to the points below and test in a C1 first.

Fitting for the new Sleepers

Omni-tank. Sleeper lasers deal EM and thermal, their missiles kinetic and explosive. Their armor resists every damage type equally, so use your weapons' best damage type.

Every ship needs its own tank. Damage and EWAR now split across the capsuleers in the site. Solo you still take all of it; in a group, one heavily tanked ship drawing every Sleeper's fire won't work as before.

Drones are safe. EVE University's pre-update advice was to launch only after drawing aggro, or lose them in a few volleys. In C1–C3 combat sites Sleepers no longer attack drones, which makes a drone boat such as the Gila a simpler choice than it was.

Expect neuts. Watchmen, Upholders and the Sleepless Outguard drain your capacitor. EVE University warns that the last wave of The Line, five Awakened Watchmen, "will most likely neut you out" and recommends a passive tank. Missiles and shield extenders run on an empty capacitor; lasers, hybrids, hardeners and repairers don't.

Your own neuts are an experiment. CCP says they now work on Sleepers but not what they do to a Sleeper's guns, reps or EWAR. Don't build your tank around one until you've tested it.

Expect them to close in. Webs run from the Emergent Escort in C1 to the Sleepless Defender in C3, which EVE University says webs out to 30 km. With better MWD use and smarter orbits, older range and kiting advice may no longer hold.

Mind the C3 reps. Preservers repair the Sleepers around them, so focus one target until it dies. But per EVE University, killing the Preserver in the last wave of Fortification Frontier Stronghold or Solar Cell, or the Sleepless Upholder in The Oruze Construct, ends the site early and the Sleepers still alive vanish with their loot. Kill those last. These notes predate the update.

Selling blue loot

NPC buy orders pay the same fixed price in every station that has them. Each item is 0.1 m³: even a 45M site paid out entirely in 200k items is 23 m³.

NPC prices from EVE University, confirmed on ESI: in the last 30 days every unit traded in The Forge went at exactly these prices. Drop sources from EVE University's Sleepers page. Jita 4-4 column: best buy order in the station on 4 October.

The NPC orders sit in 241 stations across 24 regions, 99 of them in highsec, but not in Jita 4-4, where the best buy orders pay 7% to 14% less. Highsec buyers: CreoDron, Emperor Family, Thukker Mix and Zainou stations, plus two Eifyr and Co. and two Secure Commerce Commission ones. Nearest to each trade hub:

Sales tax, per EVE University: 7.5% untrained, 3.375% with Accounting V. On an average C3 anomaly that is 3.3M ISK, or 1.5M with Accounting V.

Salvage comes on top; EVE University calls it highly variable, so this guide puts no figure on it. In Jita, Ancient salvage averaged anything from 511 ISK a unit (Electromechanical Hull Sheeting) to 219k (Neurovisual Input Matrix) over the last 30 days. Many Sleeper wrecks in C3 and up need salvage rigs or Salvaging IV or V.

Getting in and out alive

The Sleepers are only half the danger. EVE University's wormhole guide: "there's no fleet that can't be ganked in W-space", and a wormhole gives you less warning than anywhere else.

• Delayed Local. A pilot shows only after typing in it. Spam d-scan (14.36 AU); it won't show a cloaked ship.
• Your site is everyone's anomaly. A hostile entering the system sees it as soon as you did. Stay aligned; warp out the moment an unknown ship or combat probes show on d-scan.
• Bookmark your entry hole as soon as you land.
• Check the hole before you jump. Lifetime: less than 1 day, less than 4 hours, less than 1 hour, expired. Mass: more than 50%, less than 50%, less than 10% left. EVE University advises against an end-of-life hole without another way home.
• Holes collapse. Statics last 16 or 24 hours, and residents roll theirs by jumping heavy ships through until the mass runs out. The static respawns elsewhere in the system and has to be scanned down.
• Carry a probe launcher and at least four probes to find another exit if yours closes. If you're stuck, Signal Cartel's EvE-Scout Rescue runs free rescues.
• Polarization: you can't jump the same wormhole in the same direction twice within five minutes.

Skill plan

Three blocks, in order, for the Drake EVE University recommends for C1 and C2. Import each with "import from clipboard" in the Skill Queue; one level per line, prerequisites first.

Spaceship Command 1
Spaceship Command 2
Spaceship Command 3
Caldari Frigate 1
Caldari Frigate 2
Caldari Frigate 3
Caldari Destroyer 1
Caldari Destroyer 2
Caldari Destroyer 3
Caldari Cruiser 1
Caldari Cruiser 2
Caldari Cruiser 3
Caldari Battlecruiser 1
Missile Launcher Operation 1
Missile Launcher Operation 2
Missile Launcher Operation 3
Light Missiles 1
Light Missiles 2
Light Missiles 3
Heavy Missiles 1

Power Grid Management 1
Power Grid Management 2
Science 1
Shield Upgrades 1
Shield Upgrades 2
Shield Upgrades 3
Shield Upgrades 4
Power Grid Management 3
Tactical Shield Manipulation 1
Tactical Shield Manipulation 2
Tactical Shield Manipulation 3
Tactical Shield Manipulation 4

Missile Launcher Operation 4
Heavy Missiles 2
Heavy Missiles 3
Heavy Missiles 4
Heavy Missiles 5
Heavy Missile Specialization 1

Times assume a fresh character, no implants, 20/20 attributes: 1,800 SP an hour on Omega, half that on Alpha. Plan 1: a Drake with Tech I heavy missile launchers. Plan 2: Tech II Large Shield Extender and Multispectrum Shield Hardener. Plan 3: Tech II Heavy Missile Launcher. Heavy Missiles V alone is 632,000 SP, about 351 hours. Every skill here trains on Alpha.

Can I run C1 sites in a cruiser?

In a small cruiser gang, easily, per EVE University. Solo, its pick is a battlecruiser, which can solo C1 sites; the Gila can also run low-class wormhole sites.

Do I need a battleship for C3?

Not with a gang. EVE University's options: one battleship (preferably a Rattlesnake, or a well-fitted Praxis), or a small battlecruiser gang with Tech II active tanks or logistics.

Do Sleepers still shoot drones?

Not in C1–C3 combat sites since the 22 September update. The patch notes didn't change C4–C6, where EVE University's old advice still applies: draw aggro before you launch.

Can I neutralize Sleepers now?

In C1–C3 sites, per CCP, but it hasn't said what an empty capacitor does to a Sleeper. Test before you rely on it.

Where is the nearest place to sell blue loot?

Hirtamon (2 jumps from Jita), the Amarr trade hub station itself, and Lirsautton (2 jumps from Dodixie). NPC buy orders pay the full fixed price; player orders in Jita 4-4 pay 7% to 14% less.

What if my wormhole closes behind me?

Probe another exit with the launcher and probes you brought. Failing that, Signal Cartel's EvE-Scout Rescue helps stranded pilots for free.