Exploration is one of EVE Online's most lucrative professions, and the implants used can make the difference between a scrub explorer and a pro explorer.

This guide is the third part of a series, and deals with the 'Prospector' series of implants, that are exploration themed, rather than combat or industry oriented. For more about implants in general (particularly combat implants) check out this Ten Ton Hammer guide. For industry and research related implants, see this other guide.

Why Use Prospector Implants?

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The combined effect of filling your implant slots with exploration implants is an amazing reduction in how long it takes to find a site.

The nice thing about the scanning portion of exploring is that it is usually done from a covert ops ship, and thus your safety is almost certain. This means that it is safer than usual to invest in more expensive implants, especially if you have a character for exploring and a separate character for actually running the sites. This is not that unusual for elite explorers, especially in pirate space or wormholes.

Prospector Implant Overview

Here is an abbreviated list of what the prospect implants can accomplish, in a handy text block:

• F Series (Slot 6): Reduces probe result maximum scan deviation.
• G Series (Slot 7): Reduces probe scanning time.
• H Series (Slot 8): Increases scanning strength.
• W Series (Slot 9): Increases analyzer success chance.
• X Series (Slot 9): Increases codebreaker success chance.
• Y Series (Slot 9): Increases salvager success chance.
• Z Series (Slot 10): Reduces time required per attempt to use an analyzer, codebreaker or salvager.

The Implants

Most implants in EVE Online have three versions, with each giving better bonuses and costing a correspondingly high amount. Be aware that some other implants only have one or two versions, however. The W, X, Y, and Z series of implants only have one version, each.

Note also that there are a few implant types not listed here that were introduced in-game, but do not have any functionality. These include the 'Draftsman' series of implants, also from Poteque, the in-game company that makes the 'Prospector' series of implants. Their in-game text claims that they improve invention chance, but in actuality they do not work or have any function at all. Poteque issue an in-game recall on them in the form of buy orders, but many players retained them as scamming tools or collector items.

What Implants Are Right For Me?

Unlike many other kinds of implants, the nature of exploration allows Prospector implants to apply many bonuses to a single activity. The implant bonuses are unusually generous, as well, with middle of the line and top of the line versions often giving incredible bonuses.

The F, G, and H series together will bolster any explorer's capabilities immensely. They can either make up for a skill deficiency, or push a well skilled explorer into "super explorer" mode. They are also useful for dedicated PvP characters whose role is to probe out ships within a solar system. The 10% bonus imparted by the high-end versions are particularly amazing, though expensive. Still, it may be worth it if the exploration is taking place in relatively safe space. If you were to only use one implant, the PPH series (scan strength) is probably the most powerful for explorers.

Full Prospector Implant List

Sorted by slot and fully expanded:

Slot 6

• Hardwiring - Poteque Pharmaceuticals 'Prospector' PPF-0: A neural Interface upgrade that boosts the pilots scanning skills. Reduces maximum scan deviation by 2%.
• Hardwiring - Poteque Pharmaceuticals 'Prospector' PPF-1: A neural Interface upgrade that boosts the pilots scanning skills. Reduces maximum scan deviation by 6%.
• Hardwiring - Poteque Pharmaceuticals 'Prospector' PPF-2: A neural Interface upgrade that boosts the pilots scanning skills. Reduces maximum scan deviation by 10%.

Slot 7

• Hardwiring - Poteque Pharmaceuticals 'Prospector' PPG-0: A neural Interface upgrade that boosts the pilots scanning skills. 2% reduction in probe scanning time.
• Hardwiring - Poteque Pharmaceuticals 'Prospector' PPG-1: A neural Interface upgrade that boosts the pilots scanning skills. 6% reduction in probe scanning time.
• Hardwiring - Poteque Pharmaceuticals 'Prospector' PPG-2: A neural Interface upgrade that boosts the pilots scanning skills. 10% reduction in probe scanning time.

Slot 8

• Hardwiring - Poteque Pharmaceuticals 'Prospector' PPH-0: A neural Interface upgrade that boosts the pilots scanning skills. 2% stronger scanning strength with scan probes.
• Hardwiring - Poteque Pharmaceuticals 'Prospector' PPH-1: A neural Interface upgrade that boosts the pilots scanning skills. 6% stronger scanning strength with scan probes.
• Hardwiring - Poteque Pharmaceuticals 'Prospector' PPH-2: A neural Interface upgrade that boosts the pilots scanning skills. 10% stronger scanning strength with scan probes.

Slot 9

• Hardwiring - Poteque Pharmaceuticals 'Prospector' PPW-1: A neural Interface upgrade that boosts the pilots exploration skills. 5% increase in chance of archaeological find.
• Hardwiring - Poteque Pharmaceuticals 'Prospector' PPX-1: A neural Interface upgrade that boosts the pilots exploration skills. 5% increase in chance of data retrieval.
• Hardwiring - Poteque Pharmaceuticals 'Prospector' PPY-1: A neural Interface upgrade that boosts the pilots exploration skills. 5% increase in chance of salvage retrieval.

Slot 10

• Hardwiring - Poteque Pharmaceuticals 'Prospector' PPZ-1: A neural Interface upgrade that boosts the pilots exploration skills. 5% reduction in cycle time of salvage, hacking and archaeology modules.

[PROTIP]There exists a set of implants, called the Virtue set, that can yield a significant additional bonus to scan strength. Like other faction implant sets, they impart a bonus both to attributes and a further bonus, and occupy slots one through six, the first five being normally used for attribute boosting, the so-called "learning implants". The idea behind these sets of implants is that they give a bonus to skill training, but also a secondary bonus, and that if the entire implant set is used at once, there is a further bonus.

Like other "low-grade" sets, the Virtue set improves each attribute by +2. Sub-par as far as learning goes, but well worth it on a dedicated exploration character. The aggregate bonus from the entire set is +33.83% to scanning strength. That is an immense bonus, and one that successful, professional explorers should consider. It costs hundreds of millions of ISK, but saves a ton of time. Especially when used in tandem with the other high-end exploration implants, though PPF series implants must be left out in order to make room for the "Low-Grade Virtue Omega".

To get the list of the set, just type "virtue" into the market browser and you will see the list. Be warned that they are sometimes sparse on the market.[/protip]