What do I need to know about Thargoids?

[Butter of Sorrow]

Hi everyone, hopped back into Elite Dangerous again after a rather lengthy hiatus of... a few years.

I was looking for new things to grind since I got all the credits I could ever need and most of the engineers at G5 (I tried to make the trip to unlock Colonia engineers and after travelling 3700ly I just gave up and returned to the bubble) so I figured the next obvious focus point would be the Thargoid war. Hence I'm asking the following.

Where and how do I get AX/Guardian weapons?

What engineers do I need for them?

What else should I invest in?

Can I somehow support the cause besides by directly fighting the Thargoids?

Do I need Odyssey and is it worth buying yet?

Anything else I should know about?

Hope this game isn't dying out just yet, since I've heard rather grim talk of it lately, but then again I remember that kind of talk from as long as I can remember so nihil novi sub sole I suppose.
All input is appreciated!

 

[Ian Doncaster]

Where and how do I get AX/Guardian weapons?

Most of the AX weapons you can get from the Rescue Megaships, which have a map marker (you might need to turn this on in the map settings if you've not played for a while)

Guardian weapons mostly come from the Guardian Tech Broker; this works the same as it does when you left. There's a few "enhanced" versions of them available from the megaships of an organisation called Azimuth, which are obtained slightly differently (though also from a Guardian Tech Broker) - you don't need to worry about these for now, just get the basic stuff.

What engineers do I need for them?

Most of them can't be engineered, Ram Tah can stick a mod on most types of Guardian modules to make them resist a Thargoid countermeasure.
The usual drives/powerplant/shield/hull/thruster engineering for your wider ship can of course be very useful!

Can I somehow support the cause besides by directly fighting the Thargoids?

Yes. "Alert" and "Invasion" systems (yellow and orange on the Thargoid war map) can be helped very significantly by bringing in supplies and evacuating wounded (to the Rescue ships again). Invasion systems have a heavy Thargoid presence so you do need to be prepared to run away from Thargoids that you don't want to fight; Alerts are safer. Both types tend to get completed fairly early in the week so if you like that sort of thing Thursday-Saturday is the best time for it.

Search-and-rescue in other systems can also help a bit but isn't that effective; there are also other combat-included actions like Spire sabotage which don't involve going toe-to-toe with fleets of Thargoid ships.

Do I need Odyssey and is it worth buying yet?

You don't need it for most of the Thargoid war but it will give you access to the Spire sites and (from Wednesday) to the Python Mk II [1] which some people find very useful as an AX ship. It'll also get you access to the Type-8 (a new high-capacity trading ship) from November.

It's been reduced in price a bit and most of the serious bugs are fixed, so it's probably worth picking up now (or wait for the next sale if you prefer, it's on sale on Steam at least one week of most months) even if you're not that interested in the on-foot content specifically.

[1] Ignore the name when setting your expectations for what it does; it's much closer to a FDL than it is to a Python in terms of internals and capabilities.

Anything else I should know about?

If you've not otherwise heard:
- major Powerplay rewrite coming soon (probably September)
- they're making it easier to get hold of engineering materials from Wednesday, for all the new ships you might want to build for the AX content, so maybe hold off on a big engineering spree until then!
- some new feature planned for later in the year (or might slip into 2025), not much known yet
- Supercruise Overcharge (SCO) FSDs are now available - they have marginally better jump range than a normal FSD, but the main advantage is that you can hit the boost button in supercruise to go really fast. Very useful for getting around systems, or just zooming around with no particular purpose in mind
- two more new ships planned after the Python II and the Type-8, nothing announced yet on what they're going to be

Frontier have really picked up the pace of releases in 2024 so there may be more coming along as well in 2025, but no news on specifics yet.

 

[Butter of Sorrow]

- Supercruise Overcharge (SCO) FSDs are now available - they have marginally better jump range than a normal FSD, but the main advantage is that you can hit the boost button in supercruise to go really fast. Very useful for getting around systems, or just zooming around with no particular purpose in mind

Hot diggity, that sounds awesome. Maybe I'll get one of those and finally make that notorious Hutton Orbital pilgrimage.

Many thanks for the comprehensive answer, I was a little worried engineering all the anti-thargoid weapons would've been a hassle so I'm relieved that's not gonna be an issue. I'll probably try start with bringing supplies to the alert systems though since I've really missed all that casual spacetrucking I used to do.

 

[aRJay]

For rescues etc think cool running and extremely fast, a smuggler build.

Odyssey has been fine for a while as long as your PC is up to the job.

To get to Colonia I believe there is a Fleet Carrier shuttle service, if you have all the credits then consider putting 7-10 billion into setting up a carrier of your own,

 

[Jack Winter]

Nah, using a fleet carrier for transport to colonia is only cool if someone else is driving it, or if you have a lot of time and want to explore. Otherwise equipping an AFMU and taking the neutron star highway is fun. Only takes an hour or two to get there, and it's nice and exciting to play with those neutron stars, at least the first few times.

And yes there are weekly or biweekly carrier services between the bubble and colonia.

 

[Darrack]

Hope this game isn't dying out just yet, since I've heard rather grim talk of it lately

If you have heard grim talk from folks they probably haven't played for a long time, the game is very much alive and kicking, new stuff coming along all the time.
Welcome back.

O7

 

[Butter of Sorrow]

For rescues etc think cool running and extremely fast, a smuggler build.

Odyssey has been fine for a while as long as your PC is up to the job.

To get to Colonia I believe there is a Fleet Carrier shuttle service, if you have all the credits then consider putting 7-10 billion into setting up a carrier of your own,

Well damn, and I thought I was rich with a balance of 1,5 billion credits. Welp, there's something to grind at least.

Although I do recall hearing that carriers have quite hefty maintenance costs. How are they exactly? If I leave ED for a while and run out of money in the meantime would my carrier get foreclosed or something?

Otherwise equipping an AFMU and taking the neutron star highway is fun. Only takes an hour or two to get there, and it's nice and exciting to play with those neutron stars, at least the first few times.

Shame I happen to be absolutely terrified of neutron stars.

 

[r09u3]

Shame I happen to be absolutely terrified of neutron stars.

You are not alone. And white dwarfs shivers

 

[Jack Winter]

Well there's a system at the outskirts of the bubble called Jackson's Lighthouse where one could practice. I don't much like white dwarfs but neutron stars aren't dangerous once you know how to approach them to supercharge your FSD. 4x the jump distance really speeds up the travel to Colonia.

 

[Ian Doncaster]

Although I do recall hearing that carriers have quite hefty maintenance costs. How are they exactly? If I leave ED for a while and run out of money in the meantime would my carrier get foreclosed or something?

Maintenance costs depend on how many services you have running - between 5 and 25 million credits a week. That's a tiny amount (with modern earnings levels) if you're still playing - a single good mission could fund you for weeks or months - but will build up over time if you're not.

If you have the ability to earn the money for a carrier in the first place, and then keep playing for a least a little bit afterwards, it's very easy to build up such a stockpile you could take a break for a decade and still not lose it. If you just grind your way to the purchase price, then get burnt out and quit for another few years, then you might run out of cash.

(If the carrier does run out of money, it gets sold off, so you do get most of the 5 billion purchase price back at that point and don't end up that far down on the deal)

 

[aRJay]

Well damn, and I thought I was rich with a balance of 1,5 billion credits. Welp, there's something to grind at least.

Get Odyssey and a liking for Exobiology and it will barely qualify as a grind.

Although I do recall hearing that carriers have quite hefty maintenance costs. How are they exactly? If I leave ED for a while and run out of money in the meantime would my carrier get foreclosed or something?

Yes my fairly spartan carrier costs 14.7 million a week after my exploration and sampling trip to Colonia and back via the core it will get foreclosed in around 10-15 years obviously I am not too worried about it.

Keeping the beast fuelled with Tritium is a bigger issue potentially.

Shame I happen to be absolutely terrified of neutron stars.

That’s OK get a carrier and you can jump further with less risk to the undies.

 

[Butter of Sorrow]

That’s OK get a carrier and you can jump further with less risk to the undies.

Sounds great, I've been doing emergency supply missions on Aurus today and got my own share of Thargoid interdictions in both supercruise and hyperspace so my undies have been in significant risk already.

Probably worth mentioning I didn't get AX weapons yet so there's a small hole on my keyboard now where my TAB key used to be.

 

[aRJay]

• Zero throttle and submit
• locate and poise finger on boost button
• set 4 pips to Eng (really should be done already)
• arrive in normal space, press boost, look for enemy, press boost, turn away from enemy, press boost
• resume breathing and thinking
• press boost
• resume journey

 

[uncle bulgaria]

Well there's a system at the outskirts of the bubble called Jackson's Lighthouse where one could practice. I don't much like white dwarfs but neutron stars aren't dangerous once you know how to approach them to supercharge your FSD. 4x the jump distance really speeds up the travel to Colonia.

Agreed. Get a cheap-ish ship and practice there. I learned how to do it at the white dwarf near Jameson Memorial in a cheap sidewinder iirc - figured if I could do it on a white dwarf then neutrons are easy.

Once you’ve done it a couple of times it’s not an issue. Just need a repair unit to patch the FSD up if you’re doing colonia-bubble trip.