Is the CytoPlasmaConda the BEST Orthrus hunter?

i mean, you have like 2-5 people shooting a suicidal flower. basically anything is decent at killing them.

what matters is handling corrosive damage and weapon fire from everything around them plus interdictions from Hunters, etc. being able to tank all that other stuff so you are around to get some shots in on each orthus that shows up while noobs shoot the wrong ones and cause disable pulses right as you are boosting to one... sending your ship into the ground at high speed. and having enough hull left to survive the potential interdiction getting your winnings to the nearest carrier to turn in.
 
for all the talk about how hunting these things down around spire sites is free money... in the last 8 years i can count 1 time npc's have killed me. that was doing this. no other instance of whatever credit farming option ever even comes close to the risk you take doing this.

not having the right weapons and defenses to handle the hunters by yourself is where you need to be concerned with. not attacking the one thing that isn't going to do anything to hurt you besides create a cloud of corrosive farts behind it. equip to survive dual hunters and you'll be fine.
 
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I hate this typical gamer-y behavior, meta-ing everything. Same with the shard condas for Interceptor hunt. Maybe if you want to hunt the Orthrus solo and/or your only goal is maximum gib and cr/h. Otherwise, I wouldn't fly such a Conda if I got it for free. Orthrus hunting at the spires is more or less a group activity. As said, ideally you have multiple ships attacking it, and you run the risk of panic shielding it anyway when everyone brings too much DPS, so why bring a met build? If you get to the spire that is, because chances are a Glaive hyperdiction will mop the floor with that slow moving whale, because your Guardian weapons have a very limited lifetime, and even when you kill it before they die, you have to go back and repair. Yes, I've seen that the build above brings three AFMUs, but before I wait for six Plasma Chargers to be repaired, I'd rather go back and repair and try again.

Shooting Orthrus at a spire site is already borderline boring. Se when I do it, I already usually just tag them and then break off to clean up the Scouts. I bring a Krait with four MCs, a long range laser and loads of caustic sinks. If I encounter a single Glaive, it minces it quickly, it's great for mopping up scouts, and the LR laser allows me to tag every Orthrus the Conda guys try to gib. That's some action, and I still find it borderline boring.

Yeah, yeah, old man yelling at clouds and all that. Thumbs down for meta gib builds.

for all the talk about how hunting these things down around spire sites is free money... in the last 8 years i can count 1 time npc's have killed me.
I cannot remember my last "normal" NPC death (leaving aside on foot). All my rebuys come from Interceptors and the occasional Glaive.
 
I hate this typical gamer-y behavior, meta-ing everything. Same with the shard condas for Interceptor hunt. Maybe if you want to hunt the Orthrus solo and/or your only goal is maximum gib and cr/h. ... As said, ideally you have multiple ships attacking it, and you run the risk of panic shielding it anyway when everyone brings too much DPS, so why bring a met build?
This is an interesting juxtaposition since the whole point of being in a group of multiple ships is for maximum gib and cr/h.

Incidentally, I use all-shard builds where it's not at risk of being melted not because of gib, but because up-close fighting is more fun than the cold-orbit stuff (ymmv)
Shooting Orthrus at a spire site is already borderline boring.
The thing is, this build shouldn't work at all... it only works because of the bug with Orthrus at spires not actually reacting to aggression, and therefore not engaging their anti-guardian field.

Unfortunately, FD is now way too late in heading this one off.
 
This is an interesting juxtaposition since the whole point of being in a group of multiple ships is for maximum gib and cr/h.
Who says I need to be coherent and consistent ;)? I just said in my post above that I'm basically Abe Simpson :). So take everything I say with that grain of salt.

I've experienced two more or less distinct kinds of group play when fighting Thargoids and Orthrus specifically; the one where everyone is just there for the one-shot gib (and by extension the cr/h), and the one where it's basically a big group giggle about the shooting-fish-in-a-barrel and let's-bully-some-goids scenario, where the cr/h is a side product because, honestly, nobody in the group needs the credits, or you're helping people who need them to make some.

The former is the one that annoys me a bit, and is where I usually leave the instance (or did when ground CZs still existed - the spire thing I usually do in a more or less predefined group). You're in a nice CZ with a few players, you work together on bringing down the Interceptors, and in barge two players with their meta Condas, park their nose in the face of the goid, and either gib it in seconds or, more often than not, panic shield it. I can't shoot the goid anymore because it is surrounded by Condas, and even if I could, I can't see the goid anymore because someone brought six chargers that hide the goid in a colorful puff of smoke. And then, to top it off, you meet the occasional fool who didn't turn off their crimes. That's what annoys me about meta ship gameplay.

And it's the same with meta Condas at spire sites. One is tolerable, the second one usually ruins the fun, because for one they constantly panic shield the goid, and also they go for every Orthrus instead just the ones arriving (no matter how much you all agree on leaving the ones leaving the spires alone), so naturally the instance fills up with Scouts and the occasional anti-guardian field. At least they can't park the Condas in the Orthrus' bum because of the caustic wake.

So yeah. It's a group activity, but it's a double edged sword.

The thing is, this build shouldn't work at all... it only works because of the bug with Orthrus at spires not actually reacting to aggression, and therefore not engaging their anti-guardian field.
The ones arriving are sort of bugged and just sit there apathetically, but the ones leaving the spires call for backup (Scouts) and do deploy the anti-Guardian field on occasion. I don't know why they don't do it consistently though.
 
Oh, and in contrast to the post the other day, in the group I did it in, where we do it for the fun and the playing together more than for credit efficiency, we didn't make 2 billion per hour. It's more like 1.5 to maybe 2.5 billion per play session (like four hours or so). That's still a lot (375 Mcr/h and up), but nowhere near the fantasy numbers if you meta it.

Meta isn't fun. There, I said it.

Old man rant over ;).
 
I hate this typical gamer-y behavior, meta-ing everything. Same with the shard condas for Interceptor hunt. Maybe if you want to hunt the Orthrus solo and/or your only goal is maximum gib and cr/h. Otherwise, I wouldn't fly such a Conda if I got it for free. Orthrus hunting at the spires is more or less a group activity. As said, ideally you have multiple ships attacking it, and you run the risk of panic shielding it anyway when everyone brings too much DPS, so why bring a met build? If you get to the spire that is, because chances are a Glaive hyperdiction will mop the floor with that slow moving whale, because your Guardian weapons have a very limited lifetime, and even when you kill it before they die, you have to go back and repair. Yes, I've seen that the build above brings three AFMUs, but before I wait for six Plasma Chargers to be repaired, I'd rather go back and repair and try again.

Shooting Orthrus at a spire site is already borderline boring. Se when I do it, I already usually just tag them and then break off to clean up the Scouts. I bring a Krait with four MCs, a long range laser and loads of caustic sinks. If I encounter a single Glaive, it minces it quickly, it's great for mopping up scouts, and the LR laser allows me to tag every Orthrus the Conda guys try to gib. That's some action, and I still find it borderline boring.

Yeah, yeah, old man yelling at clouds and all that. Thumbs down for meta gib builds.


I cannot remember my last "normal" NPC death (leaving aside on foot). All my rebuys come from Interceptors and the occasional Glaive.
This is what happens when two Glaives interdict one of these ;)

Two Glaives INSTANTLY REGRET hyperdicting a plasmaconda
Source: https://youtube.com/shorts/GsacCajKsWY?feature=share
 
This is what happens when two Glaives interdict one of these ;)

Two Glaives INSTANTLY REGRET hyperdicting a plasmaconda
Source: https://youtube.com/shorts/GsacCajKsWY?feature=share
Good on you mate. I'm not trying to take anything away from you; enjoy your meta Conda (I mean it). But your example also feels a bit cherry picked - the two Glaives look downright lethargic. I've had similar dual Glaive encounters with my AXMC Krait where I just minced them and got out with barely a scratch (relatively speaking), and some where I got totally my ass handed within seconds. Also (genuine curiosity): How much damage did you Guardian modules take?

Edit: I know you AXI guys are a bit cocky and very proud on your meta builds, but from a non-AXI player's perspective those meta builds, be it plasma or shard Condas, are just dominating anti-social instance hoggers who are not fun to play with (unless all you care about is credits per hour and you're fine with just tagging stuff - which I am not on both accounts), which is why I usually leave (or play in solo or PG in the first place) once too many of them turn up.

Second edit: It is hilarious that the forum software allows "ass", but the milder form with "r" and "e" gets blanked. Awesome :D!
 
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Those Glaives ran into the bug that began to occur roughly around U15(to my knowledge) where a hyperdicting Thargoid fails to get a proper target lock after the drop (more often than not) and does not do anything but follow you around flashing red, until they come to within roughly a kilometer(then their AI kicks in properly). Even if your heat level is 60+%.

So I don’t think this is an accurate representation of the likely outcome of a dual Glaive hyperdiction, in an Anaconda of this setup.
 
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Those Glaives ran into the bug that began to occur roughly around U15(to my knowledge) where a hyperdicting Thargoid fails to get a proper target lock after the drop (more often than not) and does not do anything but follow you around flashing red, until they come to within roughly a kilometer(then their AI kicks in properly). Even if your heat level is 60+%.

So I don’t think this is an accurate representation of the likely outcome of a dual Glaive hyperdiction in an Anaconda of this setup.
Which might also explain the wildly different experience stories about how hard or easy it is to escape a Glaive hyper-/interdiction.
 
Good on you mate. I'm not trying to take anything away from you; enjoy your meta Conda (I mean it). But your example also feels a bit cherry picked - the two Glaives look downright lethargic. I've had similar dual Glaive encounters with my AXMC Krait where I just minced them and got out with barely a scratch (relatively speaking), and some where I got totally my ass handed within seconds. Also (genuine curiosity): How much damage did you Guardian modules take?

Edit: I know you AXI guys are a bit cocky and very proud on your meta builds, but from a non-AXI player's perspective those meta builds, be it plasma or shard Condas, are just dominating anti-social instance hoggers who are not fun to play with (unless all you care about is credits per hour and you're fine with just tagging stuff - which I am not on both accounts), which is why I usually leave (or play in solo or PG in the first place) once too many of them turn up.

Second edit: It is hilarious that the forum software allows "ass", but the milder form with "r" and "e" gets blanked. Awesome :D!

On this interdiction

Part of it is how you handle it - pop a sink immediately on drop (you can see them deploy some 10 seconds after the drop), boost opposite the scanner signals, hit FA Off, turn around - that forces them to get close to lock you which gives you time to charge your first shot.

With that kind of encounter I had my guardian modules at 85%. Still above malfunction threshold, and an extremely quick repair.

On this build

May I counter that we are hardly proud and cocky about our meta builds … if anything we are the proudest of our off-meta feats (check out Eagle vs Hydra as an example.)

Personally, I’ve had a ton of fun in a group with these Condas. You coordinate fire on outbounds - and time SFNs so everyone dodges the field. And the setting of the fight is downright beautiful.

Toxic behavior is unrelated to builds. You can jerks show up in a sidewinder, or in a meta chief.

But hey - I also mean it when I say in the video, anything goes and you should fly whatever you fancy. Part of the beauty of spires is that pretty much ANY build works.

I found these Condas to be tons of fun with friends. If that’s not your experience, by all means fly something else! :)
 
On this interdiction

Part of it is how you handle it - pop a sink immediately on drop (you can see them deploy some 10 seconds after the drop), boost opposite the scanner signals, hit FA Off, turn around - that forces them to get close to lock you which gives you time to charge your first shot.
Oh I know how to handle Glaive interdictions. That's not the issue I tried to point out (and at least Kira Goto seems to agree somewhat). Those Glaives look like they don't react at all; I've had similar ones. But I've also had other ones where the usual tactics you descibe don't work, because the Glaives immediately catch up and are agressive as hell and much, much more mobile. No amount of running cold and/or SR or reversky would help, because they'd just fly circles around you. Those kinds of interdictions seem to have become a bit rare though...?

On this build

May I counter that we are hardly proud and cocky about our meta builds … if anything we are the proudest of our off-meta feats (check out Eagle vs Hydra as an example.)
Well stuff like the effectiveness of shard/plasma condas is still boasted a lot about. I'd call that a bit cocky and proud. There's nothing wrong with being a bit cocky and proud. Just so we're clear :) .

Personally, I’ve had a ton of fun in a group with these Condas. You coordinate fire on outbounds - and time SFNs so everyone dodges the field. And the setting of the fight is downright beautiful.

Toxic behavior is unrelated to builds. You can jerks show up in a sidewinder, or in a meta chief.
I get what you mean; but even if the player doesn't want to jerk up an instance, but those meta condas are pretty much auto-jerks to the instance they show up in. They take over the dynamic of the instance, no matter if the other players agree or not. Not like they are asked anyway. You play the meta conda way if one shows up, or you leave. No other choice. That's what I dislike.

But hey - I also mean it when I say in the video, anything goes and you should fly whatever you fancy. Part of the beauty of spires is that pretty much ANY build works.

I found these Condas to be tons of fun with friends. If that’s not your experience, by all means fly something else! :)
I I do fly something else, and I enjoy it :). Just so we're on the same page: My remarks about the meta condas are in no way a stab at you, and I'm not saying any player turning up in a meta conda is a jerk. Just that the meta conda has some intrinsic jerk-ness by nature ;). Also, I would never tell a shard conda player to leave; I might get a bit salty, but I would leave the instance instead.
 
And another thing, just to make my initial reply a bit more clear: I hate about the meta that, soon after it becomes public, every player seems to adopt it. Heck, it's a meta after all. But even a meta demands some skill, and I've been in so many instances where those meta condas were in the hands of less skilled pilots, who maybe didn't learn about the basics of Interceptor combat too much, who were constantly pelting and panic shielding the goids. That's what I meant with "I hate the typical gamer-y behavior". As soon as there is a possible meta, they run after it.

Sorry, I tend to ramble out of fear I don't really get expressed what I really mean :).
 
This seems like the time to ask just what does meta mean here.

Being on the old fashioned side my default definition is something like self referential, or like in the case of metadata it is data about the data.

I presume it is an initialism, like NASA, but I haven't come up with one that seems flattering enough to apply.
I mean I really doubt it stands for Most Easily Targeted Anaconda or Most Extremely Tedious Approach.
 
This seems like the time to ask just what does meta mean here.

Being on the old fashioned side my default definition is something like self referential, or like in the case of metadata it is data about the data.

I presume it is an initialism, like NASA, but I haven't come up with one that seems flattering enough to apply.
I mean I really doubt it stands for Most Easily Targeted Anaconda or Most Extremely Tedious Approach.
Meta is you hear something at the forum, in the discord, through the grapevine. Then grind your back hunched up and creaky until you have all the parts and then you have no idea how to use it.
 
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