Anti Xeno Combat Initiative and Ship Outfit Suggestions for All
- Thread starter GluttonyFang
- Start date
Deleted member 110222
D
Eliteangerous. The game where you can't tell if its a bug or a feature.
In this case I'd say the bug is a feature.
I need some advice to help me solo a Cyclops. I've been trying in a heavily engineered Gunship but I keep running into three big problems:
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1) I'm a terrible shot with fixed weapons (I've been trying for years to improve but always have terrible time on target so I normally only use them as secondary weapons for snapshooting, mainly frags and rails). The turreted AX multicannons hardly seem to scratch a cyclops and are slow against hearts.
2) My SLF pilots die in seconds, so I am often focused on by the swarm. I'm so bad with flak cannons I harm myself more than the Thargons.
3) Most importantly, I've not been finding the process of fighting and getting slaughtered, or unlocking the Guardian gear, fun.
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I started out with two AX missile launchers and two AX multicannons but got nowhere, so I switched to one AX missile launcher and three AX multicannons for more damage and time on target, and finally managed to destroy one heart. The missiles mostly missed, except at point blank range, so I got the Guardian gear for Gauss Cannons and ran three of them, keeping the large AX multicannon turret and put a thermal vent beam on one of the small mounts (the other having a focused burst laser) and a gimballed shock cannon on the other class 2. I was able to destroy one heart more consistently and on one occasion destroyed two. I was missing too often, though, and the AX turret was hardly doing anything, so I went out again for more Guardian gear, to unlock the large fixed shard cannon. With this, I managed once to destroy two hearts and exert a third. It has been a painful experience, jumping in and out of megaship instances constantly hoping for a Cyclops, maybe getting one every 30-40 minutes, sometimes longer. I always get killed by missiles that knock out my power plant (on one occasion a volley of four did me in at 41% hull with my power plant at 90%+ and a functioning MRP remaining). My hull is about 2350 (reactive armour with G5 lightweight for a resistance boost, multiple HRP. meta-alloy HRP and two MRP) and shield strength about 460 (G5 thermal resist bi-weaves, with two G5 heavy duty shield boosters, minor room for improvement but need some more Antimony to max them).
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I have decided to give the Gunship a miss from now on. It has not been fun getting to this stage and I don't really enjoy combat much, I only do it because I don't see any other way of engaging with the storyline meaningfully - it's like the Matrix, and defeating Thargoids is like taking on the Agents. Everything that is happening, or which seems likely to happen, is going to involve blowing up something. So I have three options that I would like some comments/advice on:
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1) Buy a Krait and rig it for AX operations. With plenty of internal space, good speed and three large hardpoints, I can use three shard cannons and a Gauss cannon and have a SLF as well.
2) Switch to the Anaconda. I have one, engineered for multirole right now, I'd need more shield strength (no prismatics but I can use A-rated or bi-weaves and go mining for materials for shield boosters, of which it has six but pre-3.0 mostly). Four large shard cannons is then possible and it can have both shield and hull better than the Gunship to take more damage whilst it dishes it out.
3) Admit defeat and do something else. I feel like I want to give it one more go but I hate the way fighting Thargoids makes me feel: it's just like getting farmed in CQC (I struggled there for similar reasons). I might quit even if I can finally solo one, I don't know.
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I'm going to take a couple of days off before I decide, so I'm interested in hearing suggestions. Most people here seem to find it all so easy, but for me this is very hard. Everyone starts somewhere but I don't feel like I can do better with the Gunship and need to evaluate whether I want to keep going and how to progress.
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1) I'm a terrible shot with fixed weapons (I've been trying for years to improve but always have terrible time on target so I normally only use them as secondary weapons for snapshooting, mainly frags and rails). The turreted AX multicannons hardly seem to scratch a cyclops and are slow against hearts.
2) My SLF pilots die in seconds, so I am often focused on by the swarm. I'm so bad with flak cannons I harm myself more than the Thargons.
3) Most importantly, I've not been finding the process of fighting and getting slaughtered, or unlocking the Guardian gear, fun.
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I started out with two AX missile launchers and two AX multicannons but got nowhere, so I switched to one AX missile launcher and three AX multicannons for more damage and time on target, and finally managed to destroy one heart. The missiles mostly missed, except at point blank range, so I got the Guardian gear for Gauss Cannons and ran three of them, keeping the large AX multicannon turret and put a thermal vent beam on one of the small mounts (the other having a focused burst laser) and a gimballed shock cannon on the other class 2. I was able to destroy one heart more consistently and on one occasion destroyed two. I was missing too often, though, and the AX turret was hardly doing anything, so I went out again for more Guardian gear, to unlock the large fixed shard cannon. With this, I managed once to destroy two hearts and exert a third. It has been a painful experience, jumping in and out of megaship instances constantly hoping for a Cyclops, maybe getting one every 30-40 minutes, sometimes longer. I always get killed by missiles that knock out my power plant (on one occasion a volley of four did me in at 41% hull with my power plant at 90%+ and a functioning MRP remaining). My hull is about 2350 (reactive armour with G5 lightweight for a resistance boost, multiple HRP. meta-alloy HRP and two MRP) and shield strength about 460 (G5 thermal resist bi-weaves, with two G5 heavy duty shield boosters, minor room for improvement but need some more Antimony to max them).
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I have decided to give the Gunship a miss from now on. It has not been fun getting to this stage and I don't really enjoy combat much, I only do it because I don't see any other way of engaging with the storyline meaningfully - it's like the Matrix, and defeating Thargoids is like taking on the Agents. Everything that is happening, or which seems likely to happen, is going to involve blowing up something. So I have three options that I would like some comments/advice on:
.
1) Buy a Krait and rig it for AX operations. With plenty of internal space, good speed and three large hardpoints, I can use three shard cannons and a Gauss cannon and have a SLF as well.
2) Switch to the Anaconda. I have one, engineered for multirole right now, I'd need more shield strength (no prismatics but I can use A-rated or bi-weaves and go mining for materials for shield boosters, of which it has six but pre-3.0 mostly). Four large shard cannons is then possible and it can have both shield and hull better than the Gunship to take more damage whilst it dishes it out.
3) Admit defeat and do something else. I feel like I want to give it one more go but I hate the way fighting Thargoids makes me feel: it's just like getting farmed in CQC (I struggled there for similar reasons). I might quit even if I can finally solo one, I don't know.
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I'm going to take a couple of days off before I decide, so I'm interested in hearing suggestions. Most people here seem to find it all so easy, but for me this is very hard. Everyone starts somewhere but I don't feel like I can do better with the Gunship and need to evaluate whether I want to keep going and how to progress.
My experience has been that you need to find what works for you to some degree. There is a pattern to the thargoid interceptor behavior but there are options on your side to dealing with it.
My observations:
I found that fighting the scouts was good practice for me using the gauss guns (fixed weapons). I killed many many scouts. That, I believe, helped me to be able to hit the exerted hearts on the interceptors. You can sub target hearts for a tiny bit of help, but I haven't noticed a lot of difference between just shooting them and sub targeting them.
Thargoid fighting is a lot less twitchy than hummie pirate fighting. Humans are all over the place. Thargoids are very methodical.
Exercising all the combat skills will help. That is, keep your eye on all the monitors. As the RL fighter pilots I once worked with would say at the briefings, situational awareness is something you don't know you've lost until you get it back. Monitor your fighter health. Monitor your health. Switch your power capacitors as needed for the situation. Know where the targets are and where they are going (you want to stay out of the 1k zone as often as you can). It seems like a lot, but when you practice it all seems to be running in what some people call bullet time. You almost feel like you have forever between actions.
Go in with a plan. Find one that works. There were many wounded interceptors before I killed one the first time. The good news is that after that, they become what some call easy. They aren't actually any easier, it is just you have the skill to kill them. Since the first one, I haven't failed in an interceptor take down. That's because once you have the skill and a plan that works, it works. Like I said, the thargoids are very methodical.
You might not use a fighter. I first started trying to kill the swarm with flak. I can eventually get them but it takes me so long the interceptor berserks and you get a constant stream of thargons after that. I then tried the fighter distraction method and that works for me. Sometimes the fighter just smacks herself into the interceptor but I have two in the hangar. Now, my pilot is elite, so that probably makes a big difference. My thargoid shooting last night was the fastest one I have done and she never lost the ship. Usually I have to use 2 or 3 of them during the course of an encounter.
I didn't get my first thargoid cyclops kill until something like 3 or 4 weeks ago (maybe even 2). I am now to a point where I wonder if it is time to move up to basilisks. I wanted to solo kill the cyclops to say that I could. I've gotten a taste for it now. I hadn't intended to go further but it is a thought tingling in my mind.
Wait, almost forgot to give my plan:
I have 3k+ shields and 2k+ hull. I have a 2 fighter hangar bay with elite pilot. I use the imperial fighter, not because it is the most maneuverable, but because I like the looks of the imperial fighter. The fact that it is super maneuverable is just a bonus.
I found that I can use 3 guardian gauss guns centrally placed on the cutter to do the job. I've done what I can to mitigate the heat, but (and this is another thing) overheat will happen but it isn't the end of civilization.
I tried other combinations of weapons with less success. Your mileage may vary.
The action plan is to scan then take out heart #1. I boost away (twice is usually enough, fa off) to where the interceptor is over 3k distance. I launch the fighter and send her to the swarm. If she doesn't smack herself into the interceptor on the way, great. If she does, then I launch the next one. She usually doesn't do the smacking maneuver, but it happens.
Then I FA on and turn for all I can to face the interceptor while reverse thrusting. Let it come to you. Once within 3k I can start shooting. Its panic shield isn't gone yet but I'm a bit impatient so I just shoot that off while it is coming in. I then stay on it maneuvering to stay out of the 1k range until I get the next heart. Then boost away and repeat.
Continue until it is dead. Watch for missiles and the shutdown field on heart 3 - either be far away if the field hits you or have a suppressor, which I do.
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Thanks for the advice!
I have decided to give it one more go using the Krait MkII, as using my Anaconda would have meant repurposing one of the most versatile ships in my fleet into probably the most niche. The Krait also has the speed to disengage to recharge and repair and is more manoeuvreable, so hopefully it will be easier to get more shots on target. I'm going to practise with the Marauders first to get the feel of my new ship and what discover range works best for the three large shard cannons, although I also have one Gauss and an efficient thermal vent beam. I've done the engineering and my Krait is ready to go, with about 1.7k hull (G5 heavy duty reactive armour with deep plating and two MA HRPs) and just over 1k MJ shields (6A with G5 Thermal Resist and three 0A shield boosters with G5 heavy duty, albeit low power experimental to allow me to run a 3A fast charge SCB).
Really hoping I can get somewhere but I want to stick with what's fun and if I'm not enjoying it after this, I'll move on.
I have decided to give it one more go using the Krait MkII, as using my Anaconda would have meant repurposing one of the most versatile ships in my fleet into probably the most niche. The Krait also has the speed to disengage to recharge and repair and is more manoeuvreable, so hopefully it will be easier to get more shots on target. I'm going to practise with the Marauders first to get the feel of my new ship and what discover range works best for the three large shard cannons, although I also have one Gauss and an efficient thermal vent beam. I've done the engineering and my Krait is ready to go, with about 1.7k hull (G5 heavy duty reactive armour with deep plating and two MA HRPs) and just over 1k MJ shields (6A with G5 Thermal Resist and three 0A shield boosters with G5 heavy duty, albeit low power experimental to allow me to run a 3A fast charge SCB).
Really hoping I can get somewhere but I want to stick with what's fun and if I'm not enjoying it after this, I'll move on.
I've decided to give up trying to solo the Interceptors but there is a silver lining to this cloud.
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For a few days I have been practising with my Krait against the Marauders and it has been a blast - the most fun I have ever had in this game with fixed weapons. I have shot down the occasional NPC pirate as well but I've made almost 25% progress towards reaching Deadly just from the Marauders (HIP 30045 had better not get burned after this!). One of my regular fighter pilots has almost reached Deadly, being Master prior to this, and the other has gone from Expert to Master. It's noticeable that at Dangerous, she was able to last much longer against the Marauders. So this afternoon, after warming up with a few Marauders, I decided that I was ready for another attempt to solo a Cyclops.
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My first problem was finding one. There are no attacked megaships in the systems under threat this week and I have read that the missions from the Aegis ships to hunt them are unreliable (also I don't want to abandon a mission in the event I fail), so I had to hunt NHSS Threat 6. Most of these have about 10+ Marauders, which is too much for me even with other ships there to divide their fire, and only rarely do they have a Cyclops. I looked in both HIP 30045 and Magec but found higher-threat NHSS more often in HIP 30045; even so, I only encountered two Cyclops instances in about three hours. That's game-breaking by itself - it feels more like I'm playing Ludo and need a lucky roll to get out of jail and even start playing.
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OK, so I found two. At least that's a start. My plan was to take out the Marauders accompanying the Cyclops, without getting hit by caustic missiles (1.7k hull will dissolve long before I can shoot down the Cyclops) and then use hit-and-run to avoid lightning and the thargons, with my SLF distracting also the thargons. First time in I got hit almost immediately by a caustic missile, so I shot down the Marauders and tried to get as far as I could with the Cyclops, being able to destroy one heart and exert a second before running with 37% hull. My shield stayed up until just after I got the heart and I avoided the lightning so I thought that I'd be OK if I didn't get hit by a missile straight away. I felt that my aim was better and had an easier time hitting the heart, even without a Xeno Scanner to sub-target it. Second time around I got all the Marauders with being hit by a missile but the thargons had almost knocked out my shields in that time and I just got caught by the lightning: this is NOT just a shield-stripper. It is also a tractor beam that holds you in place (boosting didn't free me and had little effect) and whether it does module damage as well or allowed easier sniping of modules, it put a class 5 MRP down to 57%, with most modules near 90%. I managed to get one heart and high-waked with 33% hull. The thargons and corrosion got through my hull very quickly once my shields were down. So I have to say that the thargon swarm is one hurdle too many for me. Maybe I'd be able to pull my weight in a wing fight but if it targeted me I wouldn't last long. I'm not prepared to spend more hours looking for Cyclops like this to practise with flak launchers plus I tried them last week and couldn't stand them. So, since I'm not enjoying this I'm going to give it a miss. I just hope it doesn't become mandatory to be able to kill them in future.
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Sorry about the text wall.
TLDR: Ludo is not fun, I'm terrible at avoiding being shot, fighting Marauders is fun but I'm giving up attempting to solo Cyclops.
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For a few days I have been practising with my Krait against the Marauders and it has been a blast - the most fun I have ever had in this game with fixed weapons. I have shot down the occasional NPC pirate as well but I've made almost 25% progress towards reaching Deadly just from the Marauders (HIP 30045 had better not get burned after this!). One of my regular fighter pilots has almost reached Deadly, being Master prior to this, and the other has gone from Expert to Master. It's noticeable that at Dangerous, she was able to last much longer against the Marauders. So this afternoon, after warming up with a few Marauders, I decided that I was ready for another attempt to solo a Cyclops.
.
My first problem was finding one. There are no attacked megaships in the systems under threat this week and I have read that the missions from the Aegis ships to hunt them are unreliable (also I don't want to abandon a mission in the event I fail), so I had to hunt NHSS Threat 6. Most of these have about 10+ Marauders, which is too much for me even with other ships there to divide their fire, and only rarely do they have a Cyclops. I looked in both HIP 30045 and Magec but found higher-threat NHSS more often in HIP 30045; even so, I only encountered two Cyclops instances in about three hours. That's game-breaking by itself - it feels more like I'm playing Ludo and need a lucky roll to get out of jail and even start playing.
.
OK, so I found two. At least that's a start. My plan was to take out the Marauders accompanying the Cyclops, without getting hit by caustic missiles (1.7k hull will dissolve long before I can shoot down the Cyclops) and then use hit-and-run to avoid lightning and the thargons, with my SLF distracting also the thargons. First time in I got hit almost immediately by a caustic missile, so I shot down the Marauders and tried to get as far as I could with the Cyclops, being able to destroy one heart and exert a second before running with 37% hull. My shield stayed up until just after I got the heart and I avoided the lightning so I thought that I'd be OK if I didn't get hit by a missile straight away. I felt that my aim was better and had an easier time hitting the heart, even without a Xeno Scanner to sub-target it. Second time around I got all the Marauders with being hit by a missile but the thargons had almost knocked out my shields in that time and I just got caught by the lightning: this is NOT just a shield-stripper. It is also a tractor beam that holds you in place (boosting didn't free me and had little effect) and whether it does module damage as well or allowed easier sniping of modules, it put a class 5 MRP down to 57%, with most modules near 90%. I managed to get one heart and high-waked with 33% hull. The thargons and corrosion got through my hull very quickly once my shields were down. So I have to say that the thargon swarm is one hurdle too many for me. Maybe I'd be able to pull my weight in a wing fight but if it targeted me I wouldn't last long. I'm not prepared to spend more hours looking for Cyclops like this to practise with flak launchers plus I tried them last week and couldn't stand them. So, since I'm not enjoying this I'm going to give it a miss. I just hope it doesn't become mandatory to be able to kill them in future.
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Sorry about the text wall.
TLDR: Ludo is not fun, I'm terrible at avoiding being shot, fighting Marauders is fun but I'm giving up attempting to solo Cyclops.
Sometimes I get hit by the lightning, too. Sometimes it seems to hold me in place, sometimes not. I think the video I uploaded has me caught in it for a long time at one point.
If you decide to try again go around Maia/Merope. Lots of NHSS 5 with nothing but a Cyclops if you'd like to see how you get on without the marauders getting in the way.
To avoid the lighting make 1 close pass (2-250+ but not boosted) before turning back to face, it should have discharged the lighting and you'll have a window where you can just shoot without worrying about it.
As far as I know, AX turrets are just as powerful.as fixed AX MCs. I like fixed weapons and I always bring Gausses but as far as scouts go, turrets are simply better unless you are practicing your skills.
Cyclops’s are a joke!!! You’ve missed the point completely! For many of us they’re no joke, just another step in our evolving alien combat gameplay! Bighead or what?
I am sooooo looking forward to doing this. Just finishing a bit of engineering to my Conda and then it’s time to give it a go!
What point am i missed ?
Considering what weaponry we have right now and shield\armor values we can achieve, Cyclops's are a complete joke.
You can take a fat, engineered Anaconda, for example, find a Cyclops, put your pips to 4|0|2 and remove your hand from the throttle completely, you won't need that. Then just shoot that thing with 4 gauss or 4 shards and kill it in less than a minute. Or within a couple of seconds, in just two mags, if you use premium shards ammo. Ok, even without premium ammo, you can ignore absolutely everything, swarm, lightning, doesn't matter. Cyclops's damage is nothing against maxed-out large ship.
If you go to Training-Challenge Scenarios, then you will find, that every single one of them will provide you at least 2x time more challenge than a Cyclops.
If that's not a joke, then i don't what what is.
Cyclops fight can be a challenge only if you are using a small ship, so, basically, looking for the challenge itself, or if you don't wanna spent time on earning money for a large ship, engineer it and unlocking guardian stuff. Or jumping into a fight without knowing anything about Thargoid combat, without reading guides or watching videos.
So don't act like i'm bragging with my skills or smth, if you are not using the best tool for the job, and not specifically looking for a challenge.
Pretty much this. Cyclops are a joke once you get used to them. I haven't played in a while but I was bashing my head against Basilisks, the bigger swarm and more ship hp / defense on them made it harder to exert the hearts and I always ended in failure, the one time I came close myself was on a planet base being attacked by one, since they don't deploy swarms when in on a planet for some unknown reason it was MUCH easier to handle, unfortunately I got too far away after destroying a heart to recover shields and he despawned on me.
But yes, Pain is right Will, Cyclops are a joke, and once you get used to proper flying and handling them with Guardian weapons you'll see they are a joke as well. Hopefully with the new SLF guardian versions we'll also be getting a 7 or 8 heart Interceptor (it should go up to 8, the damn things have 8 petals). I feel like the new Guardian SLFs will actually be far more useful than the AX ones, especially versus the swarm. The Shard or plasma repeater one will be especially effective (guessing Shard will be best though).
Don't let these two belittle your accomplishment. This sort of thing happens in every game and in every life endeavor. Some people just think they were born soldiers.
I dont think Cyclops are jokes. I think some players become soo good in killing them and that combined with the hardware now available, a Cyclops becomes very easy to them. I understand that from their point of view, Cyclops feel like a joke, but from my point of view, that with only a fully armored and shielded Anaconda with 4 large Guardian Shard Canons, im capable of killing one, a Cyclops its still not a joke. And im sure its still not a joke to many other Elite players.
Because everyone has a different skill set and what is easy to someone maybe something very hard to others.
Because everyone has a different skill set and what is easy to someone maybe something very hard to others.
Amen to that.
Hello dear A.X.I.
As you may know, the Pilots Federation has locked Cone Sector FN-J B9-0 in fear that it is swarming with the new Hydra interceptors. As you may know as well, that's exactly the system where the Gnosis is planned to jump the 6th of September.
As a fellow Canonn Scientist, I would like to extend an invitation and a plea for some of you to join us on this may-be-one-way-voyage. Your experience facing the xeno threat will be very much welcome aboard the Gnosis.
Farewell, commanders.
As you may know, the Pilots Federation has locked Cone Sector FN-J B9-0 in fear that it is swarming with the new Hydra interceptors. As you may know as well, that's exactly the system where the Gnosis is planned to jump the 6th of September.
As a fellow Canonn Scientist, I would like to extend an invitation and a plea for some of you to join us on this may-be-one-way-voyage. Your experience facing the xeno threat will be very much welcome aboard the Gnosis.
Farewell, commanders.
Hey there,
in a turn of events it seems that the upcoming expedition of Gnosis to the Cone-Sector could need a "little bit" backup from some veteran bug splatters...
https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showt...ermit-Lock-!?p=6959270&viewfull=1#post6959270
https://community.elitedangerous.com/en/galnet
o7
Edit: Ninjad [noob]
in a turn of events it seems that the upcoming expedition of Gnosis to the Cone-Sector could need a "little bit" backup from some veteran bug splatters...
https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showt...ermit-Lock-!?p=6959270&viewfull=1#post6959270
https://community.elitedangerous.com/en/galnet
o7
Edit: Ninjad [noob]
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we're gonna need a bigger boat.