Killing Scouts without the Guardians Grind

DNA-Decay

DNA-Decay
Hey All,

So I finally asked the question:

Can I take on Thargoids in a standard combat ship?

And someone said - "Yeah Scouts".
And someone elee said -"They're actually a pretty good way to build combat rank"

Now Ross 129 is a system I care about - It was the first "Directed expansion" by any player group, and it's now under attack by Thargoids.

So I'm giving it a go.
With my engineered hull-tank frag-Krait.

I'm not going to go and do the Guardians grind because:
"Ain't nobody got time fo that."


So my question is:

What should a CMDR think about in terms of load out and outfitting and engineering,
in order to be able to take down Thargoid Scouts efficiently?

(Also asking for a friend)


Also if you haven't had a go at these wriggly little scouts - get on up to Ross 129 and have a bit of pew pew for ya ranking.
You don't need anything special, but do remember to bail before you get under 10% because the caustic damage keeps on happening on the drive home and you'll lose a few percent.
USS >> NHSS Threat detected.
55323x1285.jpg


Now my question is:
 

Stigbob

Stigbob
Grind free scout splatting requires a chieftain (nice and maneuverable) and set of AX-multi's (2x3, 1x2), stick in a xeno scanner so you can check hull damage. Aside from that shield boosters, and hull reinforcements.

Pop three small railguns into the small slots, these don't do much against the scouts but you can spike your heat level with them in silent running after combat and burn off the caustic effect with only low amounts of hull damage from caustic effects.
 

DNA-Decay

DNA-Decay
And some tips?

For example they sometimes have this green sphere around them.
Is that like a shield?
Should I bother hitting it - it only seems to last for a short time.


And defences - do my point defences do anything against their missiles?
DOes chaff?
Does Silenet running or dropping a heat sink?

And an AX scanner - I've got one, but haven't shipped it up here yet - is it worth it, does it help?

WHat can I do to optimise what I am doing without doing anything from the guardians?


Stigbob said:
Grind free scout splatting requires a chieftain (nice and maneuverable) and set of AX-multi's (2x3, 1x2), stick in a xeno scanner so you can check hull damage. Aside from that shield boosters, and hull reinforcements.

Pop three small railguns into the small slots, these don't do much against the scouts but you can spike your heat level with them in silent running after combat and burn off the caustic effect with only low amounts of hull damage from caustic effects.
Click to expand...

Wait - AX Multis are standard kit?
I can just buy them off the shelf at a reputable retailer?

Scanner does it just show their hull damage? Nothing else?
Like - I don't really care and I'd rather have something that is actually doing some work like point defense or heat sinks or something that does something.
If I get useful encoded data or something fine, but I keep shooting until my hull is below 20% and ten I'll go refresh.

And uh I don't want to re-engineer my Krait. (not a chieftan - I've got one, but uh you know "this is my ship, there are thousands like it but this one is mine")
Everyone hates my Krait build.
I have no shields, just heaps of HRPs and MRPs.
And it's way engineered for cold running, so I'm not planning to burn off caustic dameage.
But if I take time to re-kit the CHieftan for Scouts I'll keep that in mind.
 
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Stigbob

Stigbob
With a xeno scanner you get hull level indicator so you can open a gap up before they explode and avoid the caustic cloud. You also see what type of scout it is.

The regenerator scout repairs all damaged scouts (that's the green sphere repairing them) with a xeno scanner you can ID it and take it out first, which makes everything easier.

I've never bothered with avoiding the missiles I just use heat to burn off the caustic effect whilst scooping their bits after the fight. They don't do much hull damage its the effect that's bad, so keeping shields up is more important (for me).

Hull reinforcements mean you can stay in the fight longer, maneuverability is good for keeping fixed ax-multi's on target.

You can get some nice mats from the aegis ships for scout hunt missions.

If you do decide to do some guardian stuff fixed plasma chargers can two shot a scout, its all you need.

Edit : AX weps are like the xeno scanner straight off the shelf. I'd try the Krait with 3x3 ax-multis and a pair of rails (for heat) only the missiles have caustic effect and their guns have phasing sequence so shields may not be a necessity. Give it a bash and see what happens.

Without spiking heat you can't get rid of the caustic effect, even in a cool build you can do that via silent running and chain firing the rails.
 
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Factabulous

Factabulous
Once you have the scanner you can find the Scout types (there are several) as listed near the bottom of this page https://canonn.science/codex/thargoids/. Seems we needa guide if people are still unaware of the options. Been taking out scouts for the last year and still using ax weapons, guardian weapons certainly not need.
 
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Arkadi

Arkadi
Stigbob said:
Edit : AX weps are like the xeno scanner straight off the shelf. I'd try the Krait with 3x3 ax-multis and a pair of rails (for heat) only the missiles have caustic effect and their guns have phasing sequence so shields may not be a necessity. Give it a bash and see what happens.
Click to expand...

AX weapons are not really "from the shelf"...

There are only some places selling them. Shinrata, Brestla and planetary military bases. That's where you get that stuff. But else no "grind" whatsoever involved.

Also you might like a decontamination limpet controller (from the shelf, really), if you want another way to get rid of caustic contamination but toasting yourself by driving your temperature over 160...

edit: also getting some weapon blueprints for the gauss cannon isn't that much of a grind if you know what you do.
 
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Stigbob

Stigbob
Arkadi said:
AX weapons are not really "from the shelf"...

There are only some places selling them. Shinrata, Brestla and planetary military bases. That's where you get that stuff. But else no "grind" whatsoever involved.

Also you might like a decontamination limpet controller (from the shelf, really), if you want another way to get rid of caustic contamination but toasting yourself by driving your temperature over 180...

edit: also getting some weapon blueprints for the gauss cannon isn't that much of a grind if you know what you do.
Click to expand...

I've got all the non-turret guardian stuff unlocked, I used AX to see if I liked it enough to go do the unlocks.

I don't put limpets in combat builds as a rule, doing it the heat way you lose 3-4% hull per engagement so your ammo's gone long before your hull. You also have railguns handy for human targets.

Off the shelf in limited places is still off the shelf.
 

Arkadi

Arkadi
Hey Stig, I was more adressing DNA who asked and sayd he has no time for the guardian stuff :p

And limpets are an option, there are always options. I am doing target practice with 2x L Plasma and 2x S Gauss at the moment to prepare to combat the Interceptors. The gauss ammo is realy limited and I don't want to waste it for heating my ship. But that's just me, and I am not after the most efficient tactic usually, just trying things.
 

Stigbob

Stigbob
Arkadi said:
Hey Stig, I was more adressing DNA who asked and sayd he has no time for the guardian stuff :p

And limpets are an option, there are always options. I am doing target practice with 2x L Plasma and 2x S Gauss at the moment to prepare to combat the Interceptors. The gauss ammo is realy limited and I don't want to waste it for heating my ship. But that's just me, and I am not after the most efficient tactic usually, just trying things.
Click to expand...

I only changed the weps on my chieftain when I switched from solo'ing wing assassinations to scout hunting. I have other less fighty ships with limpets for less dakkaesque stuff.

I find one gauss for long range and two plasma chargers makes a good wep loadout for the scouts in a chieftain.
 

pzykozomatik

pzykozomatik
If you at some point want to fit shields on a tharg hunter, remember that damage types mean nothing to our insectoid friends, so the best engineering option would be reinforced (and heavy for the SBs).

And for the guardian stuff - as it stands now the only weapon you'll ever need to unlock if you were to do so is the gauss cannon; obligatory for interceptors, fun against scouts on a maneuverable ship. Pity there's still the limit of four experimental weapons per ship, a Krait with three AX MCs and two gauss would be perfect as a scout killer (but normal rails do the job too, lke Stigbob said).
 

Factabulous

Factabulous
pzykozomatik said:
If you at some point want to fit shields on a tharg hunter, remember that damage types mean nothing to our insectoid friends, so the best engineering option would be reinforced (and heavy for the SBs).
Click to expand...

Hmm, always been told that Biweave + Fast Recharge was best, as the main thing is when the shields go down they need to come back fast.
 

zebcarter

zebcarter
Most importantly for scout hunting: USE DECON LIMPETS. They change this into a totally relaxing experience. I have killed probably 1000 scouts in the meantime and it's a really great way to build up your combat rank. But only if you can relax after you killed them all, watch your limpets repair your hull and get ready for the next bunch 😎
 

pzykozomatik

pzykozomatik
Factabulous said:
Hmm, always been told that Biweave + Fast Recharge was best, as the main thing is when the shields go down they need to come back fast.
Click to expand...

That's just what I read on here, but as always it should depend on the build (shield tank vs hybrid) I think - aren't you supposed to be the Thargoid expert? :p

Edit: Also, Biweave + Fast Recharge + Reinforced aren't mutually exclusive...
 

Stigbob

Stigbob
zebcarter said:
Most importantly for scout hunting: USE DECON LIMPETS. They change this into a totally relaxing experience. I have killed probably 1000 scouts in the meantime and it's a really great way to build up your combat rank. But only if you can relax after you killed them all, watch your limpets repair your hull and get ready for the next bunch 
Click to expand...

Not needed if you double silent running up with scooping their mats.
 

Factabulous

Factabulous

Oss133

Oss133
This is all very interesting information. I have not fought any thargoids so far. I thought they all needed special weapons to defeat them.

Hopefully, this is the sort of thing the codex covers so you can find out these things in-game in future.

So looking forward to 3.3 going live and getting back into the game.
 

DNA-Decay

DNA-Decay
So many great responses here.

Really enjoying this bug hunt and I've called in the Chieftan but realistically, it's like four days away from being engineered.

Just wanted to say that I wish when ASTRA says: "Caustic Substance Neutralised!" that actually a bunch of crew in Haz Mat suits run onto the landing pad and hose you down with something Orange and nasty looking. But they do it super fast like one of those Formula One tyre changes.

Plus - uh can we have some AX missions?
Like this particular persistent NPC - Jailyn Francis, is a drinking buddy of mine. And like we've been allies for years, surely she's got some "kill 15 bugs for us and you can chuck tuppence in the poorbox for our influence"



Oh and HEY!

Brentnor Base has a full kit of AX weapons and modules and they're right in system - not even far.

Okay - here's a new question:

Can Todd The Blaster modify AX weapons?
Like can I get them tuned overcharged with some sort of heat bonus because the Thargoids love cold?
 
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