Oh yeah, for the AX stuff people are definitely preferring Odyssey (if it's available) because you don't lose any bonds on death...
COMPLETED CG Support Federal Anti-Xeno Efforts in Sosong
- Thread starter Kietrax
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You can kill cyclops on your own which will put you way a head of a scount only players...
Instead of Shooting Power plants on pirates in haz res or CZ... you have to shoot hearts on thargoids cyclops or higher in NHSS 5 or higher or AXCZ...
And yes you can do it in the shield tank cutter...
Wings will pay more as you can go after bigger hitting interceptor classes...
But this numnuts can do cyclops... with out the gank it exploit...
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWILhlCIu2I
Instead of Shooting Power plants on pirates in haz res or CZ... you have to shoot hearts on thargoids cyclops or higher in NHSS 5 or higher or AXCZ...
And yes you can do it in the shield tank cutter...
Wings will pay more as you can go after bigger hitting interceptor classes...
But this numnuts can do cyclops... with out the gank it exploit...
That would explain a lot.
Well, I guess I'll tap the mat then. Somebody @ me when (if) we get a bounty hunting CG
o7
Dusted off my KraitAXer after 2 years(?) of AX inactivity. Started with scouts first, engineered some more and moved on to cyclops. At Sosong, I visit Dalton Station to accept a mission to kill cyclops, then I have to fly back to the star to scan the NAV beacon (2000 ls) before the Mission Target reveals itself 12000+ ls away (a simple discovery scanner ping doesn't do it). I then SC there (sometimes can be as far as 16000 ls away), kill the cyclops, jump to CG system Lesheima to turn in bonds, then jump back to Sosong and do it all over. Is this the most optimized way of doing this? There seem to be a lot of unnecessary supercruise time required?
P.S. Forgot to mention that dropping into a regular NHSS 5 that is not mission target, always turns up empty (or has scouts only)
P.S. Forgot to mention that dropping into a regular NHSS 5 that is not mission target, always turns up empty (or has scouts only)
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I can't help much, esp. with the AX stuff, but I can recommend that if the SC back to the nav beacon is taking more than 2 jumps worth of time (including a bit of mucking about in the gal map, say 2 minutes) then you're better off jumping to a nearby star and back.
You can use the FSS to find the mission target instead of scanning the nav beacon.
You can take multiple missions at a time.
You can go into AX CZs and kill multiple interceptors without requiring any missions at all.
You can accrue as many bonds as you want before turning them in (if you're in Odyssey you don't even lose them if you die).
These are just some of the ways to be more effective, you seem to have gone out of the way to find the least optimal method.
You can take multiple missions at a time.
You can go into AX CZs and kill multiple interceptors without requiring any missions at all.
You can accrue as many bonds as you want before turning them in (if you're in Odyssey you don't even lose them if you die).
These are just some of the ways to be more effective, you seem to have gone out of the way to find the least optimal method.
Thanks, yes as soon as I complete the mission, I jump to a different system and back instead of SC'ing.
Oh, ok. I didn't think about using the FSS, thanks!
I was stacking missions for the scouts but didn't think it would work for cyclops too. I'll try that. Even if not stack-able, it might still save me time if I can manage to keep my ship healthy enough to do multiple cyclops before returning for RRR. I was just worried I'd drop into a NHSS mission target and find multiple cyclops (one for each accepted mission). I haven't tried AX CZs yet. You mean in open, right? (so there is help from other commanders). I've only done solo so far because I wanted to strecth my AX wings first, since I had not fought Thargoids in years. Thanks for the tips!
The missions will stack if they're from different factions, just like pirate massacres. Missions to kill an "interceptor" rather than a specific type (cyclops, basilisk, etc.) work like wildcards and will complete for any type of kill.
The AX CZs are fairly random. The first wave is scouts only then you get a 100k bonus and two interceptors will jump in. They can be any combination of cyclops, basilisk and medusa but if you're lucky they'll both be cyclops. The NPCs will often exert hearts for you and will help take down the shields, but they won't take out the hearts unless they get a random lucky shot.
As the battle goes on there will usually be one or two more interceptors jumping in until the progress bar gets filled. Then you get a 5m bonus and a hydra jumps in. Kill that and you get a 10m bonus.
Decent AX pilots can usually solo up to the hydra (unless RNG hands you multiple medusas to deal with, can be difficult to rearm), the very good ones can clear the entire CZ but it's definitely a lot easier with other players helping.
The AX CZs are fairly random. The first wave is scouts only then you get a 100k bonus and two interceptors will jump in. They can be any combination of cyclops, basilisk and medusa but if you're lucky they'll both be cyclops. The NPCs will often exert hearts for you and will help take down the shields, but they won't take out the hearts unless they get a random lucky shot.
As the battle goes on there will usually be one or two more interceptors jumping in until the progress bar gets filled. Then you get a 5m bonus and a hydra jumps in. Kill that and you get a 10m bonus.
Decent AX pilots can usually solo up to the hydra (unless RNG hands you multiple medusas to deal with, can be difficult to rearm), the very good ones can clear the entire CZ but it's definitely a lot easier with other players helping.
Well, i guess dont qualify as decent.
I can consistently kill solo basilisks but i do require an average of 2 rearms for the flak and about 3 sets of rearms for the 3 heatsinks (that's 9 heatsink rearms) because of my rather bad aim. I have yet to seriously try a medusa (tried once some time ago, went sour instantly and i bailed out)
However, the AX CZ is a different sort of animal.
Only once i had the luck to get only cyclops and i managed to get the AX CZ up to the Hydra, but at that point there was only a couple of greens left and this is rather frustrating.
The scouts keep respawning but our guys die really fast against medusas and the they dont last much longer against basilisks either. And we dont get any respawns.
So the perma Scouts combined with basilisks and medusas make the AX Cz a no go for me as a soloer - ofc except as a hunting ground for an endless supply of scouts for stacked scouts missions.
Probably was a bit harsh, soloing a basilisk is a solid achievement.
For flak I just don't bother with it (same for most AX pilots I know), if the swarm sets their attention on you just boost towards some NPCs and hope they switch targets. If they start sending missile salvos, wait until just after they finish then hit silent running (to hide from the interceptor) and boost directly through the middle of the swarm to switch them out of their agitated state.
Heatsink synthing is pretty much mandatory, best practice is always synth at least once after each heart (for any interceptor higher than cyclops) so you've got one full supply, preferably with ammo capacity engineering. Temporarily switching to FA off for easier cold orbiting can help greatly to avoid taking fire and having the synth interrupted. The mats for heatsinks are trivial to get, completing one mission for 5 biotechs or exquisite focus crystals and trading down should be enough for close to 100 synths.
For flak I just don't bother with it (same for most AX pilots I know), if the swarm sets their attention on you just boost towards some NPCs and hope they switch targets. If they start sending missile salvos, wait until just after they finish then hit silent running (to hide from the interceptor) and boost directly through the middle of the swarm to switch them out of their agitated state.
Heatsink synthing is pretty much mandatory, best practice is always synth at least once after each heart (for any interceptor higher than cyclops) so you've got one full supply, preferably with ammo capacity engineering. Temporarily switching to FA off for easier cold orbiting can help greatly to avoid taking fire and having the synth interrupted. The mats for heatsinks are trivial to get, completing one mission for 5 biotechs or exquisite focus crystals and trading down should be enough for close to 100 synths.
Thanks for this. I can solo kill cyclops in an NHSS easy (not that it's a big accomplishment or anything). I tried the AX CZ in solo and I can clear scouts easy as well. When the interceptors drop in however, every xeno NPC seems to focus on me. Or maybe the friendly NPCs don't last very long. The traditional CZ tactic of staying along the edges of the CZ and only pick targets that are already being fired at by other NPCs doesn't seem to work. AX CZs are very confusing because you have scouts shooting you from all directions, plus the missiles they launch at you, while multiple interceptors send you their swarm and/or can hit you with their shutdown field. Again, I am fairly familiar with non-AX CZs and can kill cyclops in solo no problem, so I understand the basic mechanics, however soloing AX CZ has me stumped. I'll try and read up a bit and watch some videos to see if I can find is a specific tactic to follow. I tried open as well but there were no commanders.
If anything I've found Cyclops in AXCZ to be even easier because the NPC's take the shields down so quickly there's no hanging around between hearts.
In terms of soloing the zone, it depends on what your definition of solo is. I have success fighting in them solo, but I'll never win one solo.
I'll drop in, kill scouts until the first pair of interceptors spawn, neutralise the shutdown pulse and check the variants. Two Cyclops, I'll kill one then the other, and return to the scouts until something I don't like shows up then leave. One Cyclops and something else I'll kill that and then withdraw. If there's no Cyclops in the second wave I leave immediately and reset it.
If there are other CMDRs around I'll stick it out and assist by clearing out swarms and remaining scouts, with pot shots on the interceptor as the opportunity presents, but its not usually all that common for that to happen organicaly, better luck asking for a wing in system chat.
I can't say I've ever felt particularly overwhelmed (except when it's 4-5 vs a Hydra, but it decides it only has eyes for me), but then I never took to the whole cold orbiting thing, and I fly a Cutter built around tanking damage rather than avoiding it. Perhaps that's the difference. It limits my solo progress up the nasties chart, all my Basilisk, Medusa, and Hydra kills are assists, but I feel like I can ignore the scouts until it suits me.
I've not done as much CZ for this CG though, because while missions can make scouts just as lucrative as interceptors, with only the bonds counting the scouts just aren't worth it.
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Thank you. Maybe switching to a Cutter will be more forgiving and will give me more time to figure this out. Thanks for describing your approach.
I failed miserably trying to take basilisks in a Heavy shielded Cutter (8A prismatics with a pair of 8B+6B SCBs)
While i never fail in a cold Krait mk2
Anyway, i plan to rebuild my cutter to a less heavy build with a size 8 bi-weave for faster shield regen and no dependency of SCB but a heavier usage of heatsinks.
Probably it will be another failure
In an 1 vs 1 or in an AX CZ?Yeah, she's very effective with Cyclops but every Basilisk solo attempt has ended in a severe kicking and a single digit hull. I even have a fully engineered, never used, 'meta' Chieftan on my carrier but the Cutter is just so comfortable.I failed miserably trying to take basilisks in a Heavy shielded Cutter (8A prismatics with a pair of 8B+6B SCBs)
While i never fail in a cold Krait mk2
Anyway, i plan to rebuild my cutter to a less heavy build with a size 8 bi-weave for faster shield regen and no dependency of SCB but a heavier usage of heatsinks.
Probably it will be another failure
I'll get out my comfort zone, one day...
I just did my run with other two friends and killed tons of goid scouts,
was the most fun I had lately in ED!
Can't wait for more anti Thargoids missions
Just wish it was possible to save the ship loadout so I could do a quick switch between anti Thargoid loadout and standard one.
was the most fun I had lately in ED!
Can't wait for more anti Thargoids missions
Just wish it was possible to save the ship loadout so I could do a quick switch between anti Thargoid loadout and standard one.
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