Some AX Suggestions

I've been doing some AX combat recently. I've learned a lot, even learned how to hit something smaller than a moon with guass cannons. It's been a lot of fun.
But some things are a bit "off".

Here's a load of suggestions I've come up with based on my experience.
(In no particular order. )

Xeno Scanner Range.
It's terrible. Basically not fit for purpose, as a test, I tried to just maintain 500m or less from an angry Thargoid interceptor, while in my Challenger, just to try and complete a scan.

I died before it completed. Lol

The Thargoid AI seems to like to keep you at a trollish 550m minimum distance, moving away or around you using its unique agility.
Flying in without boosting, doesn't ever allow you to get close enough, and if you boost, it'll just zip around behind you.
I get it's supposed to be a challenge, but it's nigh on impossible.
My suggestion is simply double the range to 1km. It's still dangerously close, but it's doable in most ships.

AX Point Defence
Just a random idea I came up with. Thargon swarms can only seemingly be damaged by Remote Release Fletchette Launchers.
But RRFLs can't damage interceptors, and aren't particularly good at scouts either.
So on ships with limited hardpoints, you either just have to deal with the damage, or spend a good time trying to frag the swarm.
My suggestion is an AX Point Defence Turret.
It only has an absolutely tiny range of ~350m, but it'll rapidly fire off pulse laser type at the swarm, hoping to hit them
It's pretty awful versus the missiles, but it'll still try. Usually too late to do anything. Lol
This allows you to passively whittle the swarm down, providing your AXPDTs have sys capacitor power. Utilities are limited, so it's a choice of what type of defence you'd like.

AX Experimental Modification
I had the idea that Ram Tah (or someone else), could apply an AX Experimental effect to regular weapons, to make them quite good against interceptors, but not as good as AX or Guardian weapons.
The effects simply gives them X% amount of damage against Thargoid interceptors, and doesn't effect their human damage types at all, so can be used for both, just not as effective on Thargoids as dedicated weapons.
This modification allows players to be prepared in the event of an attack, without needing to refit (which you can't do of you're pulled from Hyperspace!), and maintains the horizon's only content for Thargoids.
It also paves the way for more "in your face" Thargoids, such as them showing up at damaged stations, nav beacons, res sites and, even in the middle of a CZ, and whatnot.

Allow Turrets To Fire On Interceptors
I'm not sure if this is a bug or not, but my (regular) turrets never seem to fire on interceptors. I have 2 thermal vent beams which I'd like to use to cool my ship while using hot guass cannons, but they'll only fire on scouts.
I'd like an option to override this, even though they'll do no damage.

Decontamination and Repair Limpets are Silly
Yes, they'll quite happily try to repair the scout or interceptor you're targeting. Lol
Can you code them (and only them) so if your target is hostile, they'll default to repair/decontaminate yourself?

Repair External Modules on Target
Subtargeting an ally should allow you to repair any external module that is either deactivated or fully damaged (0%). If the module or weapon is still active, the limpet will fail.
It won't shut down the module, because that could be used as a weapon to forcibly shutdown someone's engines or weapons.
This isn't really AX specific, but the most module damage takes place in AX zones.
If a subsystem is targeted, it won't repair any hull, just the module.

Finally, Allow 2x AX and 4x Guardian weapons at once.
AX multicannons are perfect for taking on scouts, but using them makes you significantly less effective Vs an interceptor, and you'll lack the DPS to take on anything bigger than a Cyclops entirely.
Maybe assign each ship 10 "AX Points".
AX weapons take up 1 point. Guardian weapons take up 2. That'd allow for some interesting combinations, letting players pick more AX or more Guardian. Or something like that.
Installing a guardian power plant and/or power distributor could add additional AX points.

Had a few more ideas, but I've forgotten them. Lol

Thoughts?
 
Last edited:
I would add to suggestions:

A "Quick Scanning" Xeno Scanner modification, to avoid exactly what happened to you along with other modifications, long range, wide field, etc. like other scanners.

Instead of an AX PDL, a anti-AX Ammo PDL modification, can have regular ammo or anti-AX modded ammo but not both eliminating the need for a second, discrete PDL.

I do not know about "AX modified weapons" but, how about "anti-AX ammo" for kinetic weapons that use physical ammo like MC, cannons, flak cannons, missiles, torpedoes, etc.?

I agree repair limpets should be allow to perform repairs on targeted "friend" ships.

AX weapon limits should be removed entirely. If I want to load up a T-10 (or any ship) with all AX weaponry I should be able to do it. As it stands now the arbitrary limit on AX weapons simply makes a ship like the T-10 very expensive and about worthless for its stated intended role.
 
Last edited:
Xeno Scanner Range.

I fully agree. More range of much faster scanning speed are necessary for the new content, where interceptors are in combat from the moment they turn up. An absolutely necessary upgrade, which can even be seen as a fix to a problem of the new AX CZs.

AX Point Defence

I like the idea. Would buy that module right away.

AX Experimental Modification

Unlike engineering AX weapons, upgrading human weapons to be able to hurt Thargoids is reasonable in my eyes. I'd like it, too.

Allow Turrets To Fire On Interceptors

I know what you mean. But as long as you can't make turrets shoot at subtargets, it won't make a big difference. Thus low priority in my eyes.

Decontamination and Repair Limpets are Silly

They repair scouts? I think i got an error message when i by accident tried to use it when having a scout targetet. Not sure, though. But i agree, something like that would be nice. Especially as deselecting a target can be a nuisance in a CZ. The only way to have no target selected is to use "select target ahead" But doing that in a full CZ quite often still gives you a target, even if it's like 8 km away. Annoying.

So yes, such a change would be nice. Also, it would be nice to have a "deselect target" button available.

Repair External Modules on Target

Mixed feelings here. Would be nice, but also a bit odd. Not sure about this.

Finally, Allow 2x AX and 4x Guardian weapons at once.

This one is what i disagree upon. Sure the current maximum of four is arbitrary. But it means that a lot of ships out there can bring adequate weapons. Opening that up to carry more actually would eliminate options. Less ships would be able to bring "full" firepower against Thargoids. Thus less ships would be seen as good choice.

So i actually think that the current limit of four, while seeming a bit strange, actually is good for the game.
 
As a player who do a lot of AX zones I totally agree on xeno scanner range. Now it is almost impossible to scan an interceptor (I could do it only once of like 10 or 15 attempts). That obliges you to use gaussian cannons.
 
One thing that puzzles me is I thought you could only put 4 experimental modules on a ship at once but it let me put more than that on my conda the other day. It let me put 2 large ax mcs, 1 medium ax mc, 1 medium flak, 1 large ax seeker missle turret and a GFDSB on my ship. Are those all not considered experimental modules?
 
Last edited:
I don't mind arguing... Oh wait, it's my thread.. lol

I can keep adding ideas though. :D

Stick to the good ones, though. You sometimes also have some really crazy ones... :D

One thing that puzzles me is I thought you could only put 4 experimental modules on a ship at once but it let me put more than that on my conda the other day. It let me put 2 large ax mcs, 1 medium ax mc, 1 medium flak, 1 large ax seeker missle turret and a GFDSB on my ship. Are those all not considered experimental modules?

The limit applies to AX weapons. And this does not include the flak.
So it really boils down to this: AX multi-cannon, AX missile, Guardian Gauss Cannon, Guardian Plasma Charger and Guardian Shard Cannon.

Effectively this means that for a long time 5 hardpoints were the standard for AX setups. Have less and you loose some potential, but any more won't do much good.

Anyway i see this is a thing of the past due to AX CZs. I use regular human weapons agains the scouts there, saving the precious ammo of the AX weapons for the Interceptors. Doing so allows me to kill two interceptors before i have to retreat. If i don't mess up, that is. The ammo might even last me for a third, but i am not good enough a pilot to go for it. Even if i do as well as i can, my hull is low after taking down two interceptors.
 
Stick to the good ones, though. You sometimes also have some really crazy ones... :D



The limit applies to AX weapons. And this does not include the flak.
So it really boils down to this: AX multi-cannon, AX missile, Guardian Gauss Cannon, Guardian Plasma Charger and Guardian Shard Cannon.

Effectively this means that for a long time 5 hardpoints were the standard for AX setups. Have less and you loose some potential, but any more won't do much good.

Anyway i see this is a thing of the past due to AX CZs. I use regular human weapons agains the scouts there, saving the precious ammo of the AX weapons for the Interceptors. Doing so allows me to kill two interceptors before i have to retreat. If i don't mess up, that is. The ammo might even last me for a third, but i am not good enough a pilot to go for it. Even if i do as well as i can, my hull is low after taking down two interceptors.

Ah I see now thanks for clearing that up for me. After I unlock lori I'll be done with unlocking the engineers(excluding the colonia crew) and move on to unlocking guardian tech, the GFSDB is all I got right now. While I'm doing that I can ponder whether I want to turn my vette or conda into a large antixeno ship. Already decided my krait mk2 would be my medium bug killer.
 
I've been doing some AX combat recently. I've learned a lot, even learned how to hit something smaller than a moon with guass cannons. It's been a lot of fun.
But some things are a bit "off".

Here's a load of suggestions I've come up with based on my experience.
(In no particular order. )

Xeno Scanner Range.
It's terrible. Basically not fit for purpose, as a test, I tried to just maintain 500m or less from an angry Thargoid interceptor, while in my Challenger, just to try and complete a scan.

I died before it completed. Lol

The Thargoid AI seems to like to keep you at a trollish 550m minimum distance, moving away or around you using its unique agility.
Flying in without boosting, doesn't ever allow you to get close enough, and if you boost, it'll just zip around behind you.
I get it's supposed to be a challenge, but it's nigh on impossible.
My suggestion is simply double the range to 1km. It's still dangerously close, but it's doable in most ships.

AX Point Defence
Just a random idea I came up with. Thargon swarms can only seemingly be damaged by Remote Release Fletchette Launchers.
But RRFLs can't damage interceptors, and aren't particularly good at scouts either.
So on ships with limited hardpoints, you either just have to deal with the damage, or spend a good time trying to frag the swarm.
My suggestion is an AX Point Defence Turret.
It only has an absolutely tiny range of ~350m, but it'll rapidly fire off pulse laser type at the swarm, hoping to hit them
It's pretty awful versus the missiles, but it'll still try. Usually too late to do anything. Lol
This allows you to passively whittle the swarm down, providing your AXPDTs have sys capacitor power. Utilities are limited, so it's a choice of what type of defence you'd like.

AX Experimental Modification
I had the idea that Ram Tah (or someone else), could apply an AX Experimental effect to regular weapons, to make them quite good against interceptors, but not as good as AX or Guardian weapons.
The effects simply gives them X% amount of damage against Thargoid interceptors, and doesn't effect their human damage types at all, so can be used for both, just not as effective on Thargoids as dedicated weapons.
This modification allows players to be prepared in the event of an attack, without needing to refit (which you can't do of you're pulled from Hyperspace!), and maintains the horizon's only content for Thargoids.
It also paves the way for more "in your face" Thargoids, such as them showing up at damaged stations, nav beacons, res sites and, even in the middle of a CZ, and whatnot.

Allow Turrets To Fire On Interceptors
I'm not sure if this is a bug or not, but my (regular) turrets never seem to fire on interceptors. I have 2 thermal vent beams which I'd like to use to cool my ship while using hot guass cannons, but they'll only fire on scouts.
I'd like an option to override this, even though they'll do no damage.

Decontamination and Repair Limpets are Silly
Yes, they'll quite happily try to repair the scout or interceptor you're targeting. Lol
Can you code them (and only them) so if your target is hostile, they'll default to repair/decontaminate yourself?

Repair External Modules on Target
Subtargeting an ally should allow you to repair any external module that is either deactivated or fully damaged (0%). If the module or weapon is still active, the limpet will fail.
It won't shut down the module, because that could be used as a weapon to forcibly shutdown someone's engines or weapons.
This isn't really AX specific, but the most module damage takes place in AX zones.
If a subsystem is targeted, it won't repair any hull, just the module.

Finally, Allow 2x AX and 4x Guardian weapons at once.
AX multicannons are perfect for taking on scouts, but using them makes you significantly less effective Vs an interceptor, and you'll lack the DPS to take on anything bigger than a Cyclops entirely.
Maybe assign each ship 10 "AX Points".
AX weapons take up 1 point. Guardian weapons take up 2. That'd allow for some interesting combinations, letting players pick more AX or more Guardian. Or something like that.
Installing a guardian power plant and/or power distributor could add additional AX points.

Had a few more ideas, but I've forgotten them. Lol

Thoughts?

I like the flack launcher, but would support having engineering modifications on it for long range (increases the speed) and larger AOE (for those times when the swarm moves away slightly)

I'll support anything that adds engineering modifications to experimental weapons and utilities.

I know it didn't get much support when I posted it, but I'd still like to see a new Armour type made of Thargoid tech that slowly repairs over time at the detriment of your powerplant.
 
I'll support anything that adds engineering modifications to experimental weapons and utilities.

I in contrast think that no engineering on the AX equipment is their biggest redeeming feature. Unlocking guardian gear already is quite a chore, we don't need to stack more grind on top of that. Also note that the absence of engineering makes balancing Thargoid content easier for FD. Add more grind based power creep and the power gap widens. A lot. Which will result in Thargoids ending up the same as regular NPCs: a huge challenge for those without top grade engineering and trivial for those who have engineered their equipment.

We don't need this to happen yet again. Thargoids should remain to be challenging content. Thus i think that AX weapons should remain non-engineerable. When existing AX equipment has any problems (see: scanner range), the item itself should be fixed. Engineering-to-fix-gear is a crutch, while just modifying the problematic values (in the given example: the range) is a direct and immediate fix.

As a bonus: the direct and better fix would even require much less developer time then implementing engineering blueprints. Thus i really think that direct fixes are a much better option than adding yet another batch of engineering blueprints.
 
Hmm, yea. This thread suffers the fate of all good suggestions. Nobody disagrees with them, nobody is fighting about it, so it doesn't get enough postings to be noticed. :(

I'll do my part and post. :) I agree with all suggestions. Even removing the AX limit. Yes, FD could level the field by making upper end Thargoids even tougher but that is ok - if you want to attack those, better bring in a tank bristling with guns (this one is actually already true except for the experts who can take on a Medusa in a Hauler) and preferrably not alone.

AX effect on regulars... This is what it should have been like from the start. Guardian weapons should be Guardian modifications.

Edit: Cosmic S, why is there no rep button for you? Have you reached the rep end? :D
 
Last edited:
AX Point Defence
Just a random idea I came up with. Thargon swarms can only seemingly be damaged by Remote Release Fletchette Launchers.
But RRFLs can't damage interceptors, and aren't particularly good at scouts either.
So on ships with limited hardpoints, you either just have to deal with the damage, or spend a good time trying to frag the swarm.
My suggestion is an AX Point Defence Turret.
It only has an absolutely tiny range of ~350m, but it'll rapidly fire off pulse laser type at the swarm, hoping to hit them
It's pretty awful versus the missiles, but it'll still try. Usually too late to do anything. Lol
This allows you to passively whittle the swarm down, providing your AXPDTs have sys capacitor power. Utilities are limited, so it's a choice of what type of defence you'd like.

It was a little hard to tell when I was chasing thargons around in a Viper, but I think it takes two to three medium AX multicannon shots to kill one drone. So I don't think point defence turrets would have enough firepower to do much to them. Better targetting would be a better solution I think, being able to target them individually if you have an AX scanner. Especially if AX multicannon turrets could do it and function as oversized point defence.
 
Back
Top Bottom