Devari and Djadjok's Medium Security Settlement List and Guide
Finding Modified Embedded Firmware
Since Engineers launched I've really been enjoying the class 3 multicannons on my Python. To upgrade to the high-grade overcharged mods however you need Modified Embedded Firmware and like most players I had found my search for MEF to be quite frustrating. MEF is one of the hardest materials to gather (the only material I've had more difficulty finding is Exquisite Focus Crystals) although hopefully this will improve with the adjustments that are planned for mat drops in the patch next month. At this point MEF can occasionally be obtained from mission rewards or from scanning the data points at High security +++ settlements, however, missions that offer MEF are quite rare and the High security bases are well defended and require an orbital assault with a heavily-armed ship. Fortunately it turns out that it is also possible to get MEF (and other mid-high grade data) by scanning the data points at Medium security +++ settlements without firing a shot or getting any bounties. This is a combination of a settlement list and guide to help with getting MEF from these bases.
Medium Security Settlements
Medium security +++ settlements with Industrial, Exploration and Scientific layouts all restrict ships from entering their "airspace" which is usually between 1-2 km distance depending on the base and the surrounding terrain. If you loiter in this "trespass zone" long enough with your ship you will get fines/bounties and eventually be attacked by the base and/or base defence ships. However, if you land outside this area with your ship you can drive your SRV into the base without any difficulty. There are certain areas within these settlements that will trigger a security response if you loiter in them with your SRV (resulting in fines/bounties/combat) but you don't need to enter those areas to do the the data point scans. You just drive your SRV into the base and scan all the orange data points within the timer limit before they reset (between 3-5 data points depending on the layout). If you can't make the scans in time the data points will just reset and you can start over with a new scan and keep trying until you succeed.
Extraction Layout Bases
It turns out there's another type of settlement that can be used to obtain MEF which are the Extraction layout bases. Despite being listed as medium sized ++ settlements in the game Djadjok has identified them as being equivalent to as large sized +++ settlements for data drops regardless of the listed size of the base. This means that Medium/High security ++ Extraction bases can both drop MEF despite not being "large" settlements. Like the Medium security +++ settlements you can complete both security versions of these bases without actually shooting anything or getting bounties. The Medium security ++ Extraction layouts have a total of 5 data points that are all located in the "core" part of the base with no security areas that limit SRV driving. The High security ++ Extraction layouts have a total of 4 data points but only one is the "core" of the settlement and this is located on the rooftop with multiple security areas which will trigger when your SRV enters them. The other three data points are located in the remote "extractor" areas with the clusters of automated mining extractors. These "remote" data points are located several km distance from the main "core" of the base but the timers for each data point are 300 seconds giving you plenty of time to drive between them. The roof data point on the High Security ++ Extraction bases can't be scanned from ground level and you need to boost/drive onto the roof while avoiding the multiple security areas so it's best to scan the roof data point at the start of the run and then scan the "remote" data points.
Settlement List
We have been working on a list that includes all the Medium security +++ and Extraction layout ++ settlements we've identified so far that can be used for these data point scans. The list is categorized by settlement layout and also includes links to Djadjok's settlement maps. Two of the maps also have an efficient scan path marked that starts on the rooftop for the first data point. I've listed a total of 36 bases that I've personally visited and collected drop rate stats for the MEF. Djadjok has also compiled a spreadsheet with a much larger list of settlements that can also be visited for data point scans, including a distance calculator feature to make it easier to determine the closest base.
Settlement Spreadsheet with Additional Bases https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1IVPYPqXbqC7pYY2UggEXLSO0CMaE0ksZMB2Ejlh0aYI/edit#gid=0
Settlement Maps from CMDR DJA Sidenotes https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets...gid=1190305853
Industrial Layout - Overview Map http://i.imgur.com/AqlTEBZ.jpg - Scan Path Map http://i.imgur.com/ORyskBy.jpg
70 Ophiuchi - Richardson - Leckie's Claim
Ayu - 1D - Escobar Reach
B2 Carinae - A5B - Alvarado Reach
Gabraceni - 7C - Ampere's Inheritance
Gender - A1 - Thollon Horizons
Gliese 900.1 - A11D - Hamilton Landing
Imani - B4 - Qian Point
Kagudi - AB4 - Spinrad Settlement
Kokary - 3 - Sawyer Beacon
Kruger 60 - B1 - Ehrenfried Kegel Horizons
Wiknariu - 1F - Cheranovsky Stop
Wolf 397 - Trus Madi - Gibson Prospect
Exploration Layout - Overview Map http://i.imgur.com/Ib1iNwE.jpg - Scan Path Map http://i.imgur.com/d7W5vLG.jpg
89 Leonis - 7D - Burgess Holdings
89 Leonis - 7D - Payne's Inheritance
Altair - 1 - Galvani Depot
Auschauts - A4 - Dummer Plant
Du Shas - A2 - Mouhot Plant
HIP 41844 - BC2 - Petaja Depot
Khwathis - A2 - Elvstrom Holdings
LHS 2541 - A3 - Burnham Terminal
Luguls - 2 - Penrose Works
Murare - 1 - Boucher Holdings
Scientific Layout - Overview Map http://i.imgur.com/LyvaP8S.jpg - Settlement Map http://i.imgur.com/PbBRCm3.jpg
B2 Carinae - A4D - Ricci Vision
CD-54 9671 - 5F - Caillie Terminal
G 173-53 - 2 - Thurston Terminal
HIP 116460 - B6 - Nagata Landing
LFT 992 - B5A - Scithers Beacon
LP 672-42 - B10C - Blaschke Base
Raksaka - 3F - Garan Horizons
Wyrd - Lister - Gulyaev Vision
Extraction Layout - Medium Security Settlement Map http://i.imgur.com/hiexv3K.jpg
Auschauts - A3 - Fernao Do Po Point
Nyx - B1 - Thompson Horizons
Prthautas - A3 - Clebsch Horizons
Extraction Layout - High Security Settlement Map http://i.imgur.com/TPWFWIV.jpg
HIP 24968 - A4 - Crichiton's Inheritance
HIP 53537 - A3 - Fidalgo Survey
Chick Bara - D2 - Tall Works
Data Point Drops
Scanning all of the data points gives you a total of 5-7 units of data (usually mid-high grade) and also gives a small amount of credits as a Data Point Intel Package (usually 5k-10k credits). You can get multiples of a given data type from a single base run (I have gotten up to 3 MEF at a time from a single base) so the drops can be quite random. Other types of firmware in addition to MEF also drop frequently from data point scans so these bases are also a good source of firmware for other mods as well. Data drops can include:
Very Common Data (Grade 1): Unusual Encrypted Files
Common Data (Grade 2): Tagged Encryption Codes
Standard Data (Grade 3): Cracked Industrial Firmware, Classified Scan Databanks, Open Symmetric Keys
Rare Data (Grade 4): Security Firmware Patch, Divergent Scan Data
Very Rare Data (Grade 5): Modified Embedded Firmware, Classified Scan Fragment
Core Data Terminal
In addition to scanning the orange data points you can also scan the grey-colored Core Data Terminal. This can be done separately from the regular data point scan and so I usually do this at the start before I scan the orange data points since it isn't on a timer. This gives you a Core Data Package that is usually worth between 600-750k credits. Both the Core Data package and the smaller Data Point Intel Package (from the regular data point scan) can be turned in at the Contacts tab at any station regardless of faction (if you have multiple data packages the total value will be listed once as the Core Data Package value).
Average MEF Drop Rates
I got a total of 25 MEF from visiting all the bases on this list, with 15 of the 36 bases I visited giving MEF drops. That works out to an average of 42% of the bases I visited giving out MEF with an average yield of 1.7 MEF/base when it did drop. This means you should expect to see MEF drop in about 1 out of every 2-3 of the Medium security bases that you visit and when it does drop it tends to give an average of 1-2 MEF. Other players have reported different drops from these bases and it can be quite random what any given base might drop but it seems that any of the bases on this list (i.e., any Medium security +++ or Extraction layout ++ settlement) have the potential to drop MEF.
MEF Drop Rates by Layout Type
I had noticed that for the Medium security +++ bases I've generally gotten the highest MEF drop rates from Exploration layout bases, moderate drop rates from Industrial bases and the lowest from Scientific bases and so I've also broken down my results by settlement layout. I actually think my sample is far too small for these trends to mean much and it's also worth noting that other players have reported quite variable results so I wouldn't put too much emphasis on the type of layout. At the same time if you only need 1-2 more MEF for an upgrade you might want to try nearby Exploration bases first, then Industrial and then Scientific based on these results. The Extraction layout bases generally gave good MEF drops but the numbers are far too small at this point to draw any conclusions from.
Industrial Layout: 5/12 bases = 42% drop rate, 8 MEF/5 bases = 1.6 MEF/drop
Exploration Layout: 5/10 bases = 50% drop rate, 9 MEF/5 bases = 1.8 MEF/drop
Scientific Layout: 2/8 bases = 25% drop rate, 3 MEF/2 bases = 1.5 MEF/drop
Extraction Layout (Medium Security): 1/3 bases = 33% drop rate, 1 MEF/1 base = 1 MEF/drop
Extraction Layout (High Security): 2/3 bases = 67% drop rate, 4 MEF/2 bases = 2 MEF/drop
If anyone is wondering which bases gave me a "high" yield of MEF (although again I think this is far too random to mean much of anything), these are the individual results I got from each of the bases that dropped MEF:
3 MEF: 89 Leonis (Payne's Inheritance), HIP 53537 (Fidalgo Survey)
2 MEF: Gender (Thollon Horizons), Wiknariu (Cheranovsky Stop), Wolf 397 (Gibson Prospect), Auschauts (Dummer Plant), Du Shas (Mouhot Plant), B2 Carinae (Ricci Vision)
1 MEF: Ayu (Escobar Reach), B2 Carinae (Alvarado Reach), 89 Leonis (Burgess Holdings), LHS 2541 (Burnham Terminal), LP 672-42 (Blaschke Base), Prthautas (Clebsch Horizons), HIP 24968 (Crichiton's Inheritance)
Effort/Reward Analysis
So far the list includes a total of 30 Medium security +++ bases and 6 Extraction layout ++ bases for a total of 36 bases. This gave me a total of 25 MEF plus around 25 million credits from the core data point packages. Visiting all of the settlements on the list and running through the data points took me a total of around 12 hours so this worked out to approximately 2 MEF per hour plus approximately 2 million credits/hr from the core data points in addition to the other data drops. A typical base run took me around 30 minutes per base but this can obviously vary quite a bit depending on how good you are at SRV driving, your experience with the base layouts, difficulties with high gravity worlds, travel time between the settlements, and so on. I used my multipurpose combat/trading Python which has around a 24 ly range and I didn't visit the bases in an efficient manner at all so flying a long-range Asp and using an efficient route could cut this time down to as little as 20 min/base or less which would be closer to 8 hours to visit all the settlements on the list. An "optimal" run through the list would probably get you over 2 MEF per hour on average which is quite decent. For comparison, I have been frequently checking the mission boards to look for missions that offer MEF and have been making a point to frequently check with factions I was Allied with, and despite this I only got 4 MEF from missions in the past 4 weeks which is 1 MEF/week on average compared to the 25 MEF/week using this settlement list.
Base Resets
According to FD the data points on bases are supposed to "reset" after approximately one week so you should be able to run through these bases again to repeat the data point scans. I had been checking the first settlements I tried at 89 Leonis and they didn't reset until two weeks after I originally visited them. It looks like the bases do reset after a few weeks, it just takes somewhat longer than FD had indicated. Interestingly the core data terminals at 89 Leonis, which I went back and scanned about a week after I originally scanned the data points, had not yet reset which suggests that they are on separate reset timers. It look like the bases are definitely resetting although the reset cycle seems to be every 2 weeks instead of every week and it appears to be on an individual timer for each base that you scan instead of a "global" reset timer where all the bases reset. So assuming a reset timer of 2 weeks and an average of 25 MEF total for all 36 bases this means we can "farm" these bases for an average of around 12 MEF/week. Another interesting note is that the second time I scanned these bases I got 0 MEF from Payne's Inheritance and 1 MEF from Burgess Holdings compared to 3 MEF from Payne's Inheritance and 1 MEF from Burgess Holdings the first time I ran through these bases so it appears that the MEF drops are quite random and there are no consistently "high yield" or "low yield" bases for MEF.
Updates
The list will continue to be updated as we identify more bases or get more information on how the data drops work. In the meantime hopefully this list will help players get the MEF they need to start putting overcharged mods on their multicannons.
Changes in 2.1.05 Patch
The blueprints have changed significantly in the 2.1.05 patch and now you only need 1 MEF for the Grade 5 overcharged modifications instead of 2 MEF. According to the 2.1.05 patch notes the drop rates for the data point scans have also been "rebalanced". Since the 2.1.05 patch I've ran though 12 settlements in total and 5 bases dropped a total of 6 MEF units which each counted 3X for a total of 18 MEF. That gives me a drop rate of 42% of bases dropping MEF but with each drop actually giving 3 MEF the yield of MEF per base works out to an overall yield of 1.5 MEF/base visited on average. Prior to 2.1.05 I saw an identical drop rate with 42% of bases dropping MEF on average but each base gave an average of 1.7 MEF for an overall yield of 0.7 MEF/base visited on average. So my yield of MEF/base has roughly doubled from 0.7 MEF/base prior to 2.1.05 to 1.5 MEF/base after 2.1.05. The drop rate itself doesn't seem to have changed in terms of the chance of a base yielding MEF (around 42%) but the total of MEF "units" that drop per base has roughly doubled. In addition the new blueprints in 2.1.05 only require 1 MEF for a Grade 5 roll so the MEF now goes twice as far. The end result of all of this is that effectively means that you get double the MEF per base and your MEF goes twice as far, meaning you only have to do 25% as many base runs to make a single Grade 5 overcharged roll.
Changes in 2.2 Patch
The value of the CDT scans has decreased dramatically with the 2.2 patch by a factor of around 100X and they are now worth around 5k-10k credits instead of 600-750k credits per scan. There are no longer any Data Point Intel Packages that used to give you a small amount of credits when completing the Data Point scans. This means that the base runs are only really useful for data drops now as the CDT scans are no longer a significant source of income.
Ok just went through part of this list. Here was what I found as of 2.3 engineers update yesterday and today. In case you want to update your lsit or use it for statistics or whatever.
(x) at the beginning of each line Is how many MEF I got at each location. If I have (1) it means I got 1 if I have (no) it means I got none.
(No)70 Ophiuchi - Richardson - Leckie's Claim / L1M
(1) Wiknariu - 1F - Cheranovsky Stop / L1M
(no)Auschauts - A3 - Fernao Do Po Point / M5M
(2) Auschauts - A4 - Dummer Plant / L2M
(1) Luguls - 2 - Penrose Works / L2M
(no)Ayu - 1D - Escobar Reach / L1M
(1) Du Shas - A2 - Mouhot Plant / L2M
(1) Prthautas - A3 - Clebsch Horizons / M5M
(no)Murare - 1 - Boucher Holdings / L2M
(no)Gender - A1 - Thollon Horizons / L1M
(1) HIP 116460 - B6 - Nagata Landing / L3M
(2) Gliese 900.1 - A11D - Hamilton Landing / L1M
(no)CD-54 9671 - 5F - Caillie Terminal / L3M
(no)Nyx - B1 - Thompson Horizons / M5M
(no)Imani - B4 - Qian Point / L1M
(no)Kagudi - AB4 - Spinrad Settlement / L1M
(1) G 173-53 - 2 - Thurston Terminal / L3M
Untested:
Kokary - 3 - Sawyer Beacon / L1M
Kruger 60 - B1 - Ehrenfried Kegel Horizons / L1M
Altair - 1 - Galvani Depot / L2M
Gabraceni - 7C - Ampere's Inheritance / L1M
Raksaka - 3F - Garan Horizons / L3M
B2 Carinae - A4D - Ricci Vision / L3M
B2 Carinae - A5B - Alvarado Reach / L1M
LP 672-42 - B10C - Blaschke Base / L3M
Wyrd - Lister - Gulyaev Vision / L3M
LFT 992 - B5A - Scithers Beacon / L3M
LHS 2541 - A3 - Burnham Terminal / L2M
89 Leonis - 7D - Burgess Holdings / L2M
89 Leonis - 7D - Payne's Inheritance / L2M
Wolf 397 - Trus Madi - Gibson Prospect / L1M
HIP 41844 - BC2 - Petaja Depot / L2M
Khwathis - A2 - Elvstrom Holdings / L2M
