Thargoid Combat: Difference between revisions
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''Effective hull is calculated using Cyclops Hardness as a baseline.''
== Special Attacks ==
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The easiest way to destroy the swarm is via the technique known as 'reverski'. The player should boost away, disable Flight Assist, and reverse their orientation so they are pointing backwards. The Swarm will give chase, but maintain a relatively stable position, allowing it to be destroyed effectively. Once the swarm is destroyed, the player can move in and begin to focus on the Interceptor.
===Lightning===
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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 damage profile to avoid enemy damage.
The '''[[Alliance Chieftain|Chieftain]]''' is the most common choice among expert players. It has incredibly 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.
The '''[[Krait MkII|Krait Mk.2]]''' is another common choice. It is slightly less maneuverable than the Chieftain, but makes up for it with a full complement of C2 weapons, paired with nearly perfect weapon convergence. Many players start with this ship. It can also mount a fighter bay, allowing for truly exceptional damage.
The '''[[Python]]''' is also a reasonable choice, with similar speed and agility, but it trades good weapon convergence and the fighter bay for hull integrity.
The '''[[Alliance Challenger|Challenger]]''' falls in a similar vein to the Python, trading agility for durability compared to the Chieftain. It also has the capability to mount four C2 weapons.
Other ships are become progressively more challenging to use. Some experts use alternative builds, ships, and methods, but they are beyond the introductory scope of this article.
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However, they do have two critical strengths; firstly, they are *not* experimental weapons. This means that a player can equip these *in addition to* their standard AX weaponry. Secondly, unlike the standard AX weapons, they can be engineered. This can easily make them substantially superior to the standard AX weapons.
=== Flak Launcher ===
One of the most important weapons for Anti-Thargoid combat, the Flak Launcher is a specialized weapon used to kill the Thargon Swarm. It has a unique means of attack; the player presses and holds the trigger to fire a missile, which will begin to beep as it gets close to the swarm. It will display a visual indication when in the optimum range, at which point the trigger should be released, generating a large explosion that will destroy any thargons inside its radius. Learning to use the Flak Launcher properly is a big part of learning to fight Thargoids; players must learn to anticipate the movement of the swarm, and not just aim directly at the reticle, as the swarm often changes directions. As a rule of thumb, aiming halfway between the reticle and the swarm will often give good results, but player skill plays a large role in success or failure.
* Important Note! There is another experimental weapon that has a similar effect and firing pattern to the Flak launcher, the Flechette Launcher. Be sure not to accidentally use this module instead, as it is designed to penetrate human shields, and is ineffective against Thargons!
== Guardian Technology ==
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* SLFs are particularly skillful at attacking smaller targets like scouts, which can be difficult to shoot down for newer players.
===Subtypes===
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Engineering is heavily encouraged for Thargoid Combat. While Guardian modules do reduce the engineering requirement for an Anti-Thargoid ship, players should still engineer the following modules:
*'''Power Plant''' - Armored, for lower heat, higher durability, and higher power generation.
*'''Power Distributor''' - Charge Enhanced, for higher regeneration on all modules.
*'''Armor''' - For maximum raw strength. Standard human resistances should be ignored.
*'''Engines''' - Possibly the most critical of all engineering, it takes a powerful engine to cold orbit; the more powerful the engine, the more easily the orbit can be maintained. Dirty Drives and Drag Drives are the only good choice.
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To prevent this, players should split their weapons between their primary and secondary fire buttons, staggering their fire to keep heat below that critical threshold.
=== 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!
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!
==Conclusion==
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