Newcomer / Intro Climbing the Combat ladder

Thwarptide

Banned
Avast & arrrrrrrr Cmdrs (I'm still stuck in TLPD mode)
I'm concentrating on doing the combat rank-up grind thing. (I think it's more of an accolade than rank)
I've just attained the Master accolade. I understand ranking points are gained by killing Npc's of higher rank.
I also understand that combat point values drop the higher you go. It appears that pickings might be getting thin.

Will the game be tossing me more higher ranked ships to kaboom or do I need to look for those concentrations elsewhere, such as low sec or anarchy systems?
 
Thargoid scouts are apparently one of the quickest...
Compromised nav beacons are also rather good, but you’ll be alone so make sure your ship can nuke things quickly.
A high res can also be good if you get the right instance, you want lots of high ranking sidewinder/eagle types...
 
Scout hunting is said to be the most efficient, but also can be the biggest grind, every scout is Elite ranked. Find the right USS near a station for restock. Need to respawn.
Comp Nav Beacon my favourite, usually do a bit when find one. Can shoot nearly everything and get range of ranks. If no cargo no hostiles except those you make. No need to respawn the instance, ships will keep arriving. All ranks are here but often get Master - Elite ships of most classes.
Anarchy Nav Beacons or Outbreak / famine beacons can get elite ships or security if you can handle it.

If your just gunning it then AX scouts, but if youre just fitting it in Comp Nav Beacons are more common in bubble, AX youll need to relocate while doing it.
 

Thwarptide

Banned
Thargoid scouts are apparently one of the quickest...
Compromised nav beacons are also rather good, but you’ll be alone so make sure your ship can nuke things quickly.
A high res can also be good if you get the right instance, you want lots of high ranking sidewinder/eagle types...
I've primarily been distributing the big KABOOMs in hi-res, concentrating on the higher ranked ships, usually ignoring lesser ranked ones unless of course they get nosey close and scan me. I know I don't get anything except the bounty, but 2-3 of those will more than pay for two hrs of ammo. If it's ranked above me I kill it. 99% are the smaller ships, but every once in a while I get to take on FDL's and Anacondas which is always fun.
In case you were wondering, the weapons complements of the krait include 2L beams (G5) 1L frag (G5) +corrosive, 2M frags (G5) one of the which has drag effect. (I love the set up especially the frags). Beam Lazers just love those small ship s. But when they chaff me and won't hold still, I frag em into a calm placid state and finish em off with the beams.

Scout hunting is said to be the most efficient, but also can be the biggest grind, every scout is Elite ranked. Find the right USS near a station for restock. Need to respawn.
Comp Nav Beacon my favourite, usually do a bit when find one. Can shoot nearly everything and get range of ranks. If no cargo no hostiles except those you make. No need to respawn the instance, ships will keep arriving. All ranks are here but often get Master - Elite ships of most classes.
Anarchy Nav Beacons or Outbreak / famine beacons can get elite ships or security if you can handle it.

If your just gunning it then AX scouts, but if youre just fitting it in Comp Nav Beacons are more common in bubble, AX youll need to relocate while doing it.
2 weeks ago, I completed my G5 engineering on everything I could in my ship. I'm very impressed with the performance. Since theres only been one instance where a wing of 3 vultures (masters) got through my Sheilds (hull only down to 96%) before I ended them.

However the krait mk2 is hardly set up for Thargoid scouts. I suppose I could decide on buying another type of ship and do the guardian ax grind, then learn how to fight the scouts. That's an entirely different type of combat to say the least; and after having adopted a few combat techniques that work well for me on the ps4 controller, I've become quite adept with these skills, but I seriously doubt they apply to GOID SCOUTS. But setting up a ship alone to ax outfit would be a big chore and I would not know where 2 start.
 
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Hazardous Resource Extraction Sites are pretty much equivalent to Compromised Nav Beacons in terms of lack of assistance and types of target.

The nice thing about Thargoid Scouts is that ordinary weapons work against them, not as well as the AX and other exotics will but they do work. The main tricks are learning not to fly through the corrosive clouds left by their detonated missiles or the scout exploding and learning how to deal with your corroding hull if you do get hit.

To stop corrosion you can visit a station, docking will fix things, you can use a Decontamination limpet, as long as you aren’t being shot at, you can briefly cook your ship to remove the corrosive, something like 180% heat is needed which is disturbing.
 

Thwarptide

Banned
The nice thing about Thargoid Scouts is that ordinary weapons work against them, not as well as the AX and other exotics will but they do work. The main tricks are learning not to fly through the corrosive clouds left by their detonated missiles or the scout exploding and learning how to deal with your corroding hull if you do get hit.

To stop corrosion you can visit a station, docking will fix things, you can use a Decontamination limpet, as long as you aren’t being shot at, you can briefly cook your ship to remove the corrosive, something like 180% heat is needed which is disturbing.

Sounds like a bit of a fun to grab a Chieftain or F-assault, put effort into some anti Zeno stuff and give it a whirl.

Note: I did return to the hi-res to see what spawned since I ranked up to master. More masters were showing up, a few more bigger ships than normal. It was rare to see Kraits, pythons (with respectable equal rank). Takes a bit more effort to pop em, but kaboom they go with not so much as a fuss. Yet still, they couldn't get through my G5 sheilds well enough to test my G5 hull tanks and MRP's.
Even if they were all elite (big and small ships) it would take a loooooong long time to rank up.
I supposed that's good game mechanics.
What value is a lofty goal if it can be attained easily? It would hold less value if it were easy.

Over all I think it's still pretty "yawnish" and maybe a new anti Zeno adventure would take care of that?
 
You'll get some combat xp (points if you like) for any wanted NPC you kill regardless of its rank (and regardless of yours). But lower level ones compared to your rank certainly give much less. And that's why the process takes longer as your own rank progresses, NPC's of higher rank get you less XP. The size of the ship makes zero difference, an Elite Sidewinder is worth the same as an Elite Anaconda.

This chart is out of date, as it is from the time when some NPC kills got you zero points, which is no longer the case, but it'll give you an idea...


As others have said, Thargoid scouts all count as Elite and you can usually dispatch quite a few pretty quickly in a single signal source, so your rank will scream up. That said, Elite combat takes a long time, and bear in mind, that when you reach Deadly, you are only half way to Elite... And those higher ranks, Dangerous, Deadly and of course Elite can take a long time.

My advice would be not to try and farm your way there. You will get there eventually, and will be less likely to bore yourself senseless by only doing one thing every time you log in. :)
 

Thwarptide

Banned
You'll get some combat xp (points if you like) for any wanted NPC you kill regardless of its rank (and regardless of yours). But lower level ones compared to your rank certainly give much less. And that's why the process takes longer as your own rank progresses, NPC's of higher rank get you less XP. The size of the ship makes zero difference, an Elite Sidewinder is worth the same as an Elite Anaconda.

This chart is out of date, as it is from the time when some NPC kills got you zero points, which is no longer the case, but it'll give you an idea...


As others have said, Thargoid scouts all count as Elite and you can usually dispatch quite a few pretty quickly in a single signal source, so your rank will scream up. That said, Elite combat takes a long time, and bear in mind, that when you reach Deadly, you are only half way to Elite... And those higher ranks, Dangerous, Deadly and of course Elite can take a long time.

My advice would be not to try and farm your way there. You will get there eventually, and will be less likely to bore yourself senseless by only doing one thing every time you log in. :)
Yeah I was looking at the chart a few hrs ago. Once you get to Master point values start to decline for every target rank. Drastically slows down progress as you rank up.
I've got an alternative to the grind boredom. Just get in my Fantom, get out of the bubble and make money (you sure aren't going 2 make the big bucks making ships go kaboom).
Grinding for mats, farming etc for a a couple months takes the adventure out of goals. I've only made about $32 mill in this time. I can pull that in in half a day of exploring.
I think I'll end up doing this in the next day or two.
 
However the krait mk2 is hardly set up for Thargoid scouts. I suppose I could decide on buying another type of ship and do the guardian ax grind, then learn how to fight the scouts.

I found the Chieftain to be an excellent Thargoid killer.

o7
 
I aint AX, I assisted ina couple of scout kills in Multi-Crew but didnt get credit for it in Codex or on XB so have decided that was a dream and I am clean. Scouts look absolutely awesome from an SLF cockpit, recommend everyone try this, dont shoot just look. ATM Im leaving these Thargs alone and if I ever go to AX sites it may be on the X side :) So thats me, but I do know:

Theres a lot of AX squadrons or people in Squadrons who do it, some groups in WHN and around PS will happily wing up and teach. Theres an AX Discord, not sure what it is, and look on the forums, plenty of people will help you get a build with what you have available or help you get it, in PG or Solo if preferred. Have a look.

And I hope you feel guilty!

P.S. Whoever designed those death cries in Frontier, every single time they get me, thank you.
 

Thwarptide

Banned
And I hope you feel guilty!
No chance.
Look Cmdr, it's quite simple. I don't feel guilty when I'm walking down the road/street and stomp a roach.
But then again, a few weeks ago I was driving when a dove struck my windshield, killing it.
Though it wasn't my fault, I felt a lil guilty. So to make up with my windshield latter I washed it, nurtured it and said kind, loving things to it. Our relationship is better than ever. 🤣🤪😜
 
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No chance.
Look Cmdr, it's quite simple. I don't feel guilty when I'm walking down the road/street and stomp a roach.
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