Thargoid Combat: Difference between revisions

[[File:Golden Elite logo cropped.png|250px|right|link=Pilots Federation]]

'''Thargoid Combat''' is the most difficult content available in ''[[Elite Dangerous]]''. It requires a combination of advanced ships, specialized modules, and high-skilled piloting to be successful, but in return it is one of the most lucrative activities in the game, and was central focus of the Second Thargoid War before its conclusion with the destruction of Titan Cocijo in 3310.

This guide is designed to help players learn the details of ''getting started'' in Thargoid combat.  

'''Thargoids''' are an ancient race of ammonia-based aliens, who spend most of their time in [[Witchspace]]. They enter the Milky Way to seed systems with their [[Thargoid Barnacle|Barnacles]], and periodically return to tend them for unknown reasons. These barnacles create [[Meta-Alloys]], a substance with incredible durability and material properties. Humanity's harvesting of these alloys has led to conflict between the two races, and as a result the Pilots Federation has placed hefty bounties on any confirmed kill.

== Thargoid Types ==

The smallest and weakest Thargoid is the '''[[Scout]]'''. Scouts are small, agile, and always aggressive. Scouts come in four subtypes; Marauders (the most common type, with a caustic main gun and the ability to fire small, fast caustic missiles), Regenerators (capable of healing nearby Thargoids), Enciters (capable increasing the speed and agility of nearby Thargoids), and Berserkers (capable of increasing the damage of nearby Thargoids and prompting them to launch additional missiles). All scouts have significant damage resistance to human weapons, but still take approximately 33% damage from all human weaponry.

Hunter-class vessels are a new creation by the Thargoids, and are a middle ground between Scouts and Interceptors. While they lack the powerful defensive capabilities of Interceptors, they have far more firepower and durability than Scouts, and are particularly effective at taking down medium-class vessels. There are two varieties of Hunters. Scythes are weaker and slower and completely ignore most targets unless they are carrying Escape Pods, which they will attempt to steal for unknown purposes. The second type is the far more dangerous Glaive, which can move at up to 750m/s, can steal shields to replenish its own, fire missiles that cause FSD reboots, and have an anti-Guardian field, rapidly damaging Guardian modules and weaponry on nearby ships. While dangerous, these vessels can be taken down effectively via gimbaled Enhanced AX Multicannons.

The next four varieties are all described as [[Thargoid Interceptor|'''Interceptors''']]. Interceptors are much more durable than scouts, taking 1% damage from standard human damage types, requiring the use of specialized 'anti-xeno' weapons. They are also not always aggressive; often they can be encountered simply minding their business, largely ignoring nearby players. However, if they scan a player carrying Guardian or Thargoid materials, they will warn - and then attack - the player in question, as well as any bystanders in the area. They will also attack immediately if any scouts are in the area. Fighting them is far more complex than fighting human vessels. Before destroying them, players must first destroy their '''hearts'''.

== How to Kill Thargoids ==

== Thargoid Special Abilities ==

=== Thargoid Shields ===

== Thargoid Special Attacks ==

When attacked, Interceptors will deploy a swarm of '''Thargons'''; small, independent drones, capable of firing their own caustic projectiles. The most dangerous aspect of the swarm is its powerful '''phasing damage.''' While Interceptors do a standard 10% of their damage through shields, Thargon Swarms have a much more potent effect, dealing nearly 40% damage directly through shields onto the hull. As a result, shielded targets will suffer extreme amounts of hull damage due to the phasing damage, as well as being a larger target compared to unshielded vessels.  

The Thargoid has an unlimited number of these missiles, but will only fire one per target it can see. These missiles cannot be shot down by [[Point Defence Turret|Point Defence Turrets]] or disabled via countermeasures, so players wishing to counter caustic missiles should bring turreted multi-cannons or a fast ship to either shoot down or outrun the missiles.   

Following the destruction of the second to last heart, the Thargoid will employ a Shutdown Field rather than a Caustic Missile; this is an EMP-like pulse that forces all ships in a 10 km (3 km on [[Elite Dangerous: Odyssey|Odyssey]]) radius to shut down and reboot, leaving them helpless under the Thargoid's fire. This will always be announced via a warning message on the player's HUD.  

There are two general ways to deal with this. The first is to employ a Shutdown Field Neutralizer, a utility module that cancels the shutdown field entirely. This must be properly timed, because it heavily drains Distributor power while active. The general best practice is to count to three after the warning message, and then activate the Neutralizer until after the wave has passed over. In multiplayer instances, it may be wise to hold it slightly longer, in case the player is desynchronzied. Do keep in mind that multiple Thargoids can deploy consecutive shutdown fields, so holding it for several seconds after the initial pulse can allow the player to negate subsequent pulses.

The second way is to boost away from the Thargoid and turn Flight Assist off. This will cause the player to drift away from the Thargoid until the ship reboots, keeping them safe until their weakness has passed. This has the benefit of allowing the player to use the utility slot for other purposes, such as additional Heat Sinks or a Xeno Scanner.

== Anti-Thargoid Ships ==

While players often tend towards Large ships for standard PVE content, they are often a poor choice for Thargoid combat. Their large size and slower speed make them an easy target for Thargoids, and they cannot take full advantage of their higher number of hardpoints, due to the experimental weapons limit. More often, players choose Medium ships, which have better speed and agility, as well as a smaller profile to avoid enemy damage.

The '''[[Alliance Chieftain|Chieftain]]''' is the most common choice among expert players. It has incredible agility and speed, especially in its lateral thrusters, which makes maneuvering to avoid Thargoid fire much easier than other choices. However, this comes at the cost of hardpoints, and it will typically run with two medium weapons and two smalls, leaving room for either a cooling beam or a flak launcher. However, many find its excessive agility frustrating to control.  

*Special Note: Most anti-Thargoid weapons fall under the category of ''Experimental Weapons''. These weapons have a special limit of 4 weapons per ship - this can be increased to 5 or 6 via the Experimental Weapon Stabiliser. Some experimental weapons, most notably the Flak Launcher, do not count towards this limit.

Largely ineffective except against the weakest of Thargoids, the AX Missile Rack and the AX Multicannon (and their enhanced versions) are human AX weapons initially developed by [[Aegis]], being further enhanced later on by the [[Engineers]]. These can be purchased freely from many stations and megaships, and were the first line of defense against the Thargoids before the Guardians were discovered. The main benefit of these weapons are cheapness and ease of access; the only obstacle to accessing these weapons are credits. Unfortunately, due to their low damage, they are mostly effective against Scouts and Hunters, requiring great skill to kill even a Cyclops using them. Killing a Basilisk using human AX weapons is considered to be one of the most difficult tasks in-game.  

* '''WARNING:''' Ship-Launched fighters are controversial in the AX community, largely due pre-3.4 lag in multiplayer instances. It was commonly believed that they cause lag and desynchronization in group settings; this seems to have been fixed post-3.4, but ALWAYS check beforehand if SLFs are allowed, and be sure to check and comply with any group rules.[[File:Guardian-Fighters-Ships-Trident-Javelin-Lance.png|453x453px|right|frameless]]

The meat and potatoes of Thargoid combat is based on a practice known as '''Cold Orbiting'''. Thargoid Interceptors, just like human ships, have a hard time targeting very cold targets. While they can still see them visually, they lose the ability to predict their direction of movement, instead firing directly where they appear to be. Since their weapons have travel time, if a player is able to move laterally(sideways) fast enough, their projectiles will pass harmlessly by. There are three primary ways to maintain low enough heat.

*'''Thermal Vent''' experimental engineering on Beam Lasers can be used to maintain low heat indefinitely. This is an excellent way to practice cold orbiting when first starting. However, guardian weapons need full usage of a player's distributor, so using a beam laser at the same time is typically a bad idea. The best engineering for this is Long Range, because thermal venting capability is reduced alongside damage; being able to vent at full capacity at longer ranges is critical for survival!

While this sounds simple in theory, in practice can be substantially more difficult. Thargoids will attempt to match velocities with the player so their projectiles can hit, and during later parts of the fight, they will use alternative weapons such as lightning and caustic missiles. Players will need to maintain a distance between 800m(maximum lightning range) and 1500m while sustaining fire to break the Thargoid's regeneration and/or destroy the heart.  

An often-forgotten aspect of Thargoid combat is fire groups, specifically in relation to heat. While Heat Sinks can counteract almost any amount of heat generation, they cannot stop the heat from appearing in the first place. If a player fires too many hot weapons at once, their heat will briefly spike over 20%; more than enough for the Thargoid to briefly see them, and potentially deal heavy damage. While a brief few seconds of damage might seem insignificant, it can really add up over a prolonged fight!

To prevent this, players should split their weapons between their primary and secondary fire buttons. By splitting fire groups, and never firing all weapons at the same time, it allows time for heat to be reduced, keeping the pilot below that crucial 20% heat threshold, over which Thargoids can see you!

=== Approaching your first Thargoid. ===

Once the Thargoid has been located, it will approach the player and scan them. This is your opportunity to scan it in return, if you choose to carry a xeno scanner. If not, the attack can begin.

Start by moving to a distance just shy of your maximum range, and tag the interceptor with your weapons, making it hostile. Immediately turn and boost away; the Interceptor will deploy its swarm before giving chase, giving time to move well out of range.  

At this point, you should boost one more time, disable Flight Assist, and reverse orientation. You will now moving backwards, and looking in the direction of the Thargoid. Select the Flak Launcher, target the swarm, and begin the process of taking it down. Be aware that the last few thargons can be tricky to finish off, and that the target may not disappear immediately when the last one is killed!

With the swarm now eliminated, it is time to engage the Interceptor. Slow down to allow the thargoid to catch up to you. When it is about 3500m away, activate your first heat sink and begin moving laterally - up, down, left, or right, depending on your preference. The Thargoid will drift past, attempting to target you, and when it begins to drift out of range, it will adjust course and start to give chase. It is at this point that the Cold Orbit can be initiated.  

* Be careful! Attempting to initiate a Cold Orbit on a Thargoid moving at full speed can lead to disaster! It is much more difficult to outpace a full speed thargoid than one that has come to a rest. Be patient and give it a chance to slow down before engaging. It may be wise to use a cooling beam to practice Cold Orbiting a few times first, before planning to go all the way and kill the Thargoid.

While staying cold and moving laterally, begin to use forward thrust to approach the Thargoid, until under 1500m of range. At this point, begin firing, alternating between both fire groups of divided weapons.  

If done properly, the Thargoid will soon exert, and one of its hearts will begin to glow! Stay calm; this is the most critical point. Target the heart and fire, destroying the heart.

When the heart is destroyed, immediately boost away! The thargoid will activate a shield and give chase while glowing, attempting to use its lightning attack. If it begins to get too close, in an emergency, it is possible to boost directly past the thargoid, moving in and out of its range fast enough to avoid being tagged - but do this in emergencies only!

* IMPORTANT NOTE: Moving too far from the Thargoid can result in the Interceptor jumping away! Be careful not to move much further than 5000m from the thargoid.  

After getting close enough to engage the attack, or after about 30 seconds, the Thargoid will give up and swap back to its normal behavior, deploying another swarm. Be warned that this lightning attack remains available to the thargoid for the rest of the fight!

Destroy the swarm and repeat the procedure from the previous heart. Killing the second heart is typically considered the hardest, so if you succeed at killing it but die, don't despair! You're ''almost'' there.  

Repeat this process until all four hearts are destroyed. Unlike previous hearts, this is the time to strike! There is a brief window before the final shield is deployed, during which time the Interceptor can be destroyed, saving time waiting for the last shield to decay. This is the time to throw caution to the wind and fire all weapons, hoping to destroy it once and for all!

Finally, when the interceptor has been destroyed, be cautious! Even in death, Thargoids are dangerous. They leave behind a spreading cloud of caustic enyzmes that can stack in unlimited quantity on your ship. Staying inside this cloud is guaranteed death; instead, target one of the dropped thargoid materials(not the heart), and wait for its integrity to reduce to 50%. At that point, the cloud should have fully dissipated.  

Congratulations! You've killed your first Thargoid Interceptor, and completed one of the hardest challenges in Elite Dangerous! All that remains is to practice, as you progress your way to higher and higher variants, each more difficult than the last!

You are now ready to approach your first Thargoid. However, this is only enough to get started, and there is far more to learn about Thargoids. Please remember that this is the hardest content Elite Dangerous has to offer, and expect rebuys the first few times; death is part and parcel of the Anti-Thargoid experience.

With time, patience, and proper preparation, your first kill should come soon enough.