If this is the case, they have severely underestimated our capacity to nod and smile as we suffer.
Fighting thargoids has become miserable since update 15
- Thread starter Maxxor399
- Start date
Yeah that was part of the plan. I hoped I could get >5km distance so I could low-wake out. I got close a few times. 4.7 km was the best I got. Reverski manoeuvre + heat sinks did prolong my time-to-live but I couldn't high or low wake out before my ship was disabled. And the one time I got away the ship was in desperate need of repair. My exploration trips into occupied areas in the Cobra are over. I think my rescue Orca will do slightly better as it has more hit points and heat sinks. Rebuy is a lot more though.
Glaives don’t like silent running. Yesterday, I was interdicted by one close to Maelstrom Oya - as soon as I dropped out, I hit silent running and boosted away. Seeing how I cleared its mass lock in a few seconds and it went off my sensors pretty quickly, I don’t think it bothered giving chase. No damage taken either.
I suggest trying that on the next Glaive encounter.
I tried silent running + boosting against Glaives and it worked on one occasion but I was destroyed on the next two occasions. It seems initial distance is very important. The one time I got away was when a Glaive dropped in on me while I was scooping materials in a Cap Ship Distress Call. It was 5 km away and it took me 2-3 seconds to retract the scoop, hit silent running and boost. The closest it got was 4 km. The other two were a hyperdiction (two Glaives at once!) and an interdiction. When I dropped into normal space they were already close at 1-2 km as is normal after hyper/interdictions. I hit silent running immediately and boosted but apparently they spotted me already.
Hm. Alright. Would’ve been too easy if it worked consistently…
Glaives seem to be not very interested in me so my only two experience points were an interdiction and getting spotted by one by the Titan.
In the latter case, when I engaged SR at a distance of about 3 km, the Glaive just turned away and gave up the chase. I turned it off at 7km, it turned back in my direction immediately, while rapidly closing distance, and did the same turning away when I shut the heat vents again.
Out of curiosity, what was your initial heat level after the interdiction? Not the hyperdiction, since it will always be at around 60% when pulled out of a jump.
I didn't pay attention to heat during the interdiction but the normal heat level for that Cobra is 30%. I submitted to the interdiction so I think heat didn't go up much.
Just to let everyone know: Glaives are survivable.
Last night, I survided three Glaive hyperdictions while flying this into Taranis.
Same MO as usual: FA off, boost away, pop heatsinks until you get out. Not one time did my hull get below 85%.
I swear I'm not making this up. It is doable.
Glaive encounter number two (Thargoid controlled space) :
Flying my bubble Phantom which isn’t strictly designed for (stealthy) Thargoid stuff so it runs an armored powerplant. Not sure how useful the heat sink I had with me really was other than making the FSD reboot missile spin in a funny way. Maybe prevented caustic missile volley.
Made it out with ~30% shield on a biweave(size 6 thermal res, two heavy duty boosters, other slots reserved for sink and SFN) left after taking two lightnings, then getting enough distance to low wake out and get to the planet. Definitely need to learn how the Glaives fly to avoid them better. RIP FSD booster.
Also thinking I’ll have to rethink the Python evac build. Not sure that thing as I have it now would survive a run-in with a Glaive, even with its shield… seeing as it’s only really designed to take a few wayward hits from an interceptor, or a few scouts getting cranky at me on the way to the pad.
Flying my bubble Phantom which isn’t strictly designed for (stealthy) Thargoid stuff so it runs an armored powerplant. Not sure how useful the heat sink I had with me really was other than making the FSD reboot missile spin in a funny way. Maybe prevented caustic missile volley.
Made it out with ~30% shield on a biweave(size 6 thermal res, two heavy duty boosters, other slots reserved for sink and SFN) left after taking two lightnings, then getting enough distance to low wake out and get to the planet. Definitely need to learn how the Glaives fly to avoid them better. RIP FSD booster.
Also thinking I’ll have to rethink the Python evac build. Not sure that thing as I have it now would survive a run-in with a Glaive, even with its shield… seeing as it’s only really designed to take a few wayward hits from an interceptor, or a few scouts getting cranky at me on the way to the pad.
The point I was trying to make is that for a small but fast ship the Glaive is a show stopper. It's no fun anymore to go nosing around in Thargoid occupied areas. Something I like to do because the abandoned settlements have an eerie atmosphere with the Interceptors and scouts flying overhead while you walk around there.
I am flying this just 308 hitpoints as opposed to the 3569 your AX Clipper has. If I went there in my AX Krait mk 2 I would survive easily but that was not my point.
The speed of the Cobra made it possible. The appearance of a fast Basilisk every now and then made it scary and I did take massive damage sometimes and even an occasional rebuy. With the Glaive around its a rebuy 4 out of 5 times. No fun anymore. I think the Glaive is overkill and its appearance blocks gameplay that was perfectly fine before. Interceptors + swarm + scouts were enough of a challenge already.
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I went in another time and I think I can confirm the 3km you mention. I failed to get away after an interdiction despite switching to Silent Running immediately but... with SR on I timed my reverse-and-boost manoeuvre with the Glaive switching off its lightning weapon (drag effect) and I managed to get 3+ km away and then the Glaive just gave up and flew away! I had 8% hull left, malfunctioning FSD and Thrusters but managed to limp back.
Try using a Low Emission Powerplant?
Everytime a Glaive has hyperdicted me, I immediately drop a heatsink and boost...they always leave me alone. (I think it's just a matter of being cold enough to avoid the initial agro...then staying that way)
Alternatively, I've found that AX-Missiles absolutely wreck Glaives. Once their shields drop, a single volley from a Cutter makes them pop.
And therein lies the rub … we all need to be flying fast, large ships with enough spare hardpoints to pack AX missiles / MCs in order to deal with these new ships in addition to whatever loadout we need for whatever we actually wanted to do.
Which means we all need Cutters!!
Talk about "blaze your own trail" experience...
Can you please post your Cobra mk3 build? Here is build I want to test myself: https://s.orbis.zone/mi7v ... for HS add there that one from Sirius megaship and for empty utility slot add caustic sink launcher (ideally engineered). I think this one (build) should be enough survivable for AX vistas purposes. You can also try swap MRP for HRP for testing purposes with more hull and less modules protection or add lvl1 MRP instead guardian HRP for even better modules protection. 2 MRPs worked perfectly even for previously super agressive scouts, so it should work against Glaive too.
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To be fair, I keep a stash of Shard Cannons on my carrier ready to quickly reoutfit.
I'll take missiles into Maelstroms, but Shards for general AX combat (always gotta keep a pair of beams for venting though!)
I also have a Chieftain and Krait MkII exclusively for Maelstroms - and a Vulture, Phantom, Cobra, and FAS for AX combat.
I only recently started using a Cutter, but I have to admit, I love the versatility of it (especially when you can carry around your stored modules with you!)
Yes...the war has taken a turn...and best not to enter the War Zone in a ship one knows is not going to do well. I still go nosing around in Thargoid occupied areas in both my medium fast ship and a small fast ship....but have now re-engineered them to run very cold (and with one Point Defence Turret which seems to help a tiny bit...could be wrong...still testing) so they have a fair chance of surviving in the current War Zone conditions. I like that the War Zone is dynamic and not the same old same old. Much better this way, IMO
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My AX builds tend to involve 3x Mod Shards and then however many EAX MCs I have hardpoints left for. I actually prefer the “action” of the Mod Plasmas but eventually had to admit the shards are just more effective against Interceptor hearts. Especially three of them!
The ships I ended up sticking with are a FAS and a Cutter, but if we need non-Guardian weapons to take out Glaives, having double the number of MCs on the Cutter will make a huge difference. Which is a shame because I much prefer flying medium ships and the Cutters off-centre pilots seat is far from ideal. Never mind it’s manoeuvrability!!
It’s crazy that when faced with this existential crisis, the navies aren’t retro-fitting medium ships with additional utility slots and hardpoints to increase effectiveness.
I know, it’s a game … but still …
I have no need to be living on FDev's bleeding edge of software development.
Fdev has a history of introducing updates with bugs and poorly thought out aspects. Therefore an ongoing narrative with frequent changes and updates I expect to be inherently bugged and/or not well tested. And because I have low tolerance for random unexpected bugs and poor gameplay.... I simply avoid. I have no desire to be a beta tester for gaming software getting pushed out the door.
The functional aspects of the game are fantastic. Anything new is suspect, and has the possibility of being frustrating or waste of time. Its just how it is.
Do I participate in the Thargoid war? No. There are lots of other things ingame that either work properly or the bugs and weird aspects are known... so I don't need to get frustrated. Is this really bad considering the Thargoid War is the primary focus of game development and marketing? Yep.
Fdev has a history of introducing updates with bugs and poorly thought out aspects. Therefore an ongoing narrative with frequent changes and updates I expect to be inherently bugged and/or not well tested. And because I have low tolerance for random unexpected bugs and poor gameplay.... I simply avoid. I have no desire to be a beta tester for gaming software getting pushed out the door.
The functional aspects of the game are fantastic. Anything new is suspect, and has the possibility of being frustrating or waste of time. Its just how it is.
Do I participate in the Thargoid war? No. There are lots of other things ingame that either work properly or the bugs and weird aspects are known... so I don't need to get frustrated. Is this really bad considering the Thargoid War is the primary focus of game development and marketing? Yep.