Games / Exploration

Hacking Simulator

The hacking minigame of Data and Relic sites: decrypt the network, find the System Core and destroy it before the defenses drain your virus.

HardT2 · Omega · 40 / 110

Container network

9 × 10 nodes

Virus pathReachableWalled by a defenseThe number on an empty node is the distance to the nearest utility, Data Cache or System Core (5 = five or more).

Rules rebuilt from EVE Hacking Simulator by Gerard Amatin, a simulation of EVE Online's hacking minigame. No loot here, sadly.

Hacking Simulator: the Data and Relic site minigame

Play EVE Online's hacking minigame in your browser: decrypt the network, beat Firewalls, Anti-Virus and Suppressors, use Kernel Rot and Self Repair, crack the System Core.

Hacking Simulator rebuilds the minigame you play on every Data and Relic site container in EVE Online.

Your virus enters the network on a node with few neighbours, decrypts its way through encrypted nodes and has to destroy the System Core before the defense subsystems drain its coherence.

Pick one of five difficulties, set the strength and coherence of your analyzer — or start from a preset, from a rookie Alpha to a Zeugma with a Blackglass implant — choose the size of the network and how many defenses, utilities and Data Caches it holds, and play as many hacks as you like.

There is no loot, but there is no cloaked Loki either, unless you switch it on.

How the hacking minigame works

Every click is a turn. Clicking an encrypted node next to a revealed one decrypts it: it can be empty, hide a defense subsystem, a utility, a Data Cache or the System Core. An empty node briefly shows a number — the distance to the nearest utility, Data Cache or System Core still hidden, capped at five — which is the only compass you get.

A revealed defense blocks every node around it until you destroy it. When you attack, your virus strikes first with its strength; if the defense survives, it hits back with its own. At the end of every turn the active utilities and the Restoration Nodes act. Destroy the System Core and the hack succeeds; let your coherence reach zero and it fails.

Defense subsystems and utilities

Firewall: high coherence, low strength — it soaks up hits
Anti-Virus: high strength — every turn it survives costs you
Restoration Node: restores 20 coherence to another revealed defense every turn
Virus Suppressor: lowers your strength by 15, never below 10, while it stands
Data Cache: half the time a utility, half the time a defense
Self Repair: 5 to 17 coherence per turn for three turns
Kernel Rot: halves the coherence of a defense or the System Core
Polymorphic Shield: absorbs the next two hits
Secondary Vector: 20 damage per turn for three turns on a target

Test an analyzer before you buy it

Strength and coherence are the two numbers that decide a hack, and they come from your analyzer, your hacking skills and your implants.

Put in your own numbers and play a few networks on Hard or Hardest: you will see quickly whether a Zeugma Integrated Analyzer or a Neural Lace implant is worth the ISK, and whether more strength or more coherence helps you more.

Because a defense that dies does not hit back, strength often protects your coherence better than coherence itself.

Where the System Core hides

The System Core is placed at least eight steps from the entry point whenever the network has at least three places that far — the rule hackers call "before 8 it is bait". Nodes surrounded by six neighbours are usually empty, except for the extra defense that always guards the Core when there is room.

Defenses and Data Caches never spawn right next to the entry point. Follow the numbers down, watch for walls of defenses, and keep a Kernel Rot for the Core.

Frequently asked questions

Is this the real EVE Online hacking minigame?

It is a rebuild of its rules, not the game client. The rules and the statistics of every difficulty come from EVE Hacking Simulator by Gerard Amatin, who measured them in game; a couple of rare interactions (the order of Secondary Vector and Restoration Node, for example) are educated guesses.

What strength and coherence should I use?

The presets cover the usual cases: Rookie 25 / 50, T1 Alpha 25 / 70, T2 Omega 40 / 110 and Zeugma with Blackglass 60 / 90. For your own character, use the virus strength and coherence shown on your analyzer with your skills and implants applied.

Does it save my progress?

Your settings and your record — hacks won, failed and your best streak — stay in this browser. No account is needed and nothing is sent to our servers.

Why do I sometimes find the System Core on the first click?

When the network does not have at least three nodes eight steps away from the entry point, the eight-step rule is dropped and the Core can be anywhere. In EVE it is the same, and it is where the "Core on the first node" stories come from.