...this is why:
First, I would like to ask for everybody that posts opinions on this thread, to restrain itself to only talk about this matter and to have a polite approach to the situation to avoid rudeness and name-calling...
Now that this request has been made, I can focus on the matter at hand.
I am an average AX pilot that never got involved in killing Thargoids until the Bubble Invasion begun. The only time I had previously destroyed them was because of being attacked by Scouts when visiting the Pleaides, back in 2018. I was even hyperdicted several times there by Interceptors and I never attacked them, finding that
"First Contact" experience fascinating and although the Interceptors were intimidating, they never seemed threatening.
Since early January 2023, because of the Bubble Invasion, I started developing my AX Combat skills and learned the AX procedures regarding maneuvers, ship builds and engineering, to get involved in AX CZs. I went from only destroying Scouts and running away at the sight of Interceptors, to soloing Cyclops and Basilisks with FAOFF Cold Orbiting techniques armed with just AX Missiles/MultiCannons/LR TV Beam in Space AX CZs, as well as killing Medusas and Hydras after getting Guardian Weapons and joining other CMDRs in battle.
Currently, after having killed my 3 first Glaives in a planetary AX CZ and getting interdicted by another one in space, I can safely say that Glaives (Hunter Class > surelly more variants to come), despite being somewhat more vulnerable than Interceptors, are actually more dangerous than them.
"Why is that?", you might ask incredulously. And I say it is because, in most cases, while you have two options against Scouts and Interceptors (engagement or retreat), you really only have one against the Glaives, which is to fight.
This is because Glaives (Hunter Class) have all the good capabilities of Thargoid tech without almost any of the weaknesses, contrary to the Scout or Interceptor class ships.
Let's check its characteristics:
- Extremely Fast (CMDRs reported between 750 and 800m/s at peak speed) >>> Only dedicated highly engineered Fast Maelstrom Explorers or Pure Racers can escape by running away faster;
- FSD Reboot Missiles >>> All targets hit are forced to fight because they are unable to Low or High Wake;
- Mass Lock Factor of 20 >>> All ships with the exception of T10, Imperial Cutter, Federal Corvette and Anaconda are unable to Low Wake, even if they have miraculosly avoided the FSD Reboot missiles;
- Shields >>> Almost always on (currently 90% of the time the shields are on), negating the only weakness - the hull - the Glaive might have;
- Frequent salvos of 4x Caustic Missiles (currently salvos are launched every 5-10 seconds) >>> Ships hit are always suffering caustic damage, even if they are able to burn it off, since they are being hit all the time;
- Frequent Lightning Attack, due to its ability to approach the CMDR at ease >>> All ships, fast or slow, are hit most of the time and get almost permanent random reboots in their modules;
- Guardian Degeneration Field >>> Within 1,5km (?) - therefore almost always, due to its speed - all your Guardian Modules (except Guardian Hull Reinforcements that have no Integrity) get 1-2% damage/second and became useless in 60s or less;
- Are present in Maelstrom, Control and Invasion systems, often in packs of 3, doing Hyperdictions, Interdictions and fighting in AX CZs.
So, what are the consequences of having all these abilities and no weaknesses (except weak hull, that gets negated because of its shields being always on) ?
- Specialized Fast Maelstrom Explorer or Pure Racer builds, optimized for escaping any trouble, will have only one option which is to run (SR+HS compulsory), as long as they can be faster than 800m/s. If not, they are dead;
- Experienced AX CMDRs, with AX Meta Builds and Guardian Weapons, have to kill them in 60s or less, high wake (very difficult) almost as fast or sacrifice Guardian Weapons to have a few AX Missiles/Multicannons in reserve to deal with them. If not, they are dead;
- Average AX CMDRs, with Specialized Human AX Builds (exclusively AX Missiles/Multicannons), have the same options as mentioned above, except they will not suffer degeneration from their weapons but will probably react worse to the situation;
- Newbie AX CMDRs, with unoptimized AX builds and very little experience, will be unable to escape, unable to avoid damage and get killed fast. 90% chance of death;
- Multirole ships. Only very experienced and cool-headed CMDRs will survive (SR+HS compulsory). 95% chance of death;
- Mission Runner ships. Only very experienced and cool-headed CMDRs will survive (SR+HS compulsory). 95% chance of death;
- Passenger/Refugee ships. Only very experienced and cool-headed CMDRs will survive (SR+HS compulsory). 95% chance of death;
- Trader ships. Only very experienced, cool-headed and very lucky CMDRs will survive (SR+HS compulsory). 99% chance of death;
- Explorer ships. Only very experienced, cool-headed and very lucky CMDRs will survive (SR+HS compulsory). 99% chance of death.
If any CMDR gets Hyperdicted/Interdicted by Scouts or Interceptors, they have the choice to run or fight. A Basilisk will make running almost impossible for most ships, but there is always the possibility to High Wake and survival will depend on the skill of the CMDR.
If one gets interdicted by a Glaive you do not have much choice, because, due to the FSD Reboot missiles and very high MLF, Low Wake becomes an impossibility and High Wake almost as much, denying survivability to any other than very specific Fast Maelstrom Explorer, Pure Racer or Human AX builds piloted by very experienced CMDRs.
As such, Glaives (Hunter Class) are now effectively denying Thargoid influenced space to +90% of the builds and probably to a even bigger percentage of CDMRs.
So, after all of these problems have been exposed, what can FDev do to avoid a
MASSIVE exodus of CMDRs from their beloved 2nd Thargoid War ?
Either:
- Reduce speed of all current (Glaives) and future Hunter class ships to allow for some ships other than Fast Maelstrom Explorer/Pure Racer builds to have a chance to escape >>> 600m/s top speed;
- Remove FSD Reboot missiles ability, to allow for some chance of High Wake to some ships other than Fast Maelstrom Explorer/Pure Racer builds;
- Reduce frequency of shield activation so that Glaives have some time with its hull exposed;
- Reduce frequency of salvos of 4x caustic missiles so that the CMDRs' ship is not hit every 5 seconds;
- Reduce range and damage/second of Guardian Degeneration Field to allow for 2-3 minutes of use for Guardian Weapons.
Or:
- Make them only available in Maelstrom and Control systems. If a veteran AX CMDR wants a challenge it is that CMDRs' choice to seek for it, not to be imposed to the rest of the CMDRs who are trying to run Refugee Missions/Salvage and do not seek insane AX challenges.
This is my personal view and opinion on the matter and I know that many hardcore veterans will intervene saying
"Where is the challenge after that nerf?"...
That is why I explained that such content should be, either generally available and catered to the abilities of a sufficiently large number of CMDRs, or restricted to areas where super-duper CMDRs can go and have their kicks...
Opinions on this are welcome...
EDIT: Typos and layout
