Thargoid Combat: Difference between revisions

[[File:Legacy-Thargoid-Ship.png|250px|right|link=Scout]][[File:Thargoid Interceptor Cyclops.png|200px|A Cyclops Interceptor.|right|alt=Cyclops]] [[File:Thargoid Interceptor Basilisk.png|200px|A Basilisk Interceptor.|right|alt=Basilisk]] [[File:Thargoid Interceptor Medusa.png|200px|A Medusa Interceptor.|right|alt=Medusa]] [[File:Thargoid Interceptor Hydra.png|200px|A Hydra Interceptor.|right|alt=Hydra]]

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. This makes them the easiest to defeat out of all Thargoid vessels, and combating them can be done with traditional PvE ship builds.

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 ships and players. However, if they scan a player carrying Guardian or Thargoid materials, they(which willaren't warnimmediately -dropped andafter thenscanning), attackare -attacked, theor player in questionrammed, as well as any bystanders in the area. Theythey will also attack immediately ifbegin anyglowing scoutsred areand inengage the areatarget. Fighting them is far more complex than fighting human vessels. Before destroying them, players must first destroy their '''hearts'''.

== How to Kill ThargoidsInterceptors ==

== ThargoidInterceptor Special Abilities ==

=== Thargoid Shields ===

== ThargoidInterceptor Special Attacks ==

TheAll ThargoidInterceptors haspossess 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 (respectively).

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 forcescauses 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, stating, "Energy Surge Detected". The Interceptor will also visibly glow teal or blue before firing off the pulse.

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 desynchronzieddesynchronsied. Do keep in mind that multiple ThargoidsInterceptors can deploy consecutive shutdown fields, so holding it for several seconds after the initial pulse can allow the player to negate subsequent pulses if fighting a group.

The second way is to boost away from the Thargoid and turn Flight Assist off when the warning message is seen. 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. Do note that the reboot time is fairly significant, so not utilizing the previous method can drastically increase the amount of time needed to end a fight.

== Anti-ThargoidXeno Ships ==

While players often tend towards Large ships for standard PVE content, they are oftenconsidered 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-ThargoidAX 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.

Repeat this process until allthe heartssecond areto destroyed.last Onheart; theafter lastits heartdestruction, the Interceptor will attempt to deploy a shield,shutdown althoughfield massive(can alphabe damagecountered beforeby itthe methods above). Not properly addressing this can deploylead willto a swift death for any AX pilot, regardless of what ship is killbeing itused.

At this point, the player will be armed with all of the information needed to kill a Thargoid Interceptor. Do keep in mind that rebuys, repairs, and rearming will be frequent, regardless of how well prepared or skilled anyone is.

With time, patience, and proper preparation, youra pilot's first kill should come soon enough.

Good luck!, and o7 Commanders.