Exact
Thargoid hunt
- Thread starter Cmdr Isson Kiporto
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- help needed thagoids
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So, detailed rundown based on my experience:
Reinforced Alloy hull (unengineered)
You want to go for max absolute hull. This means Military Grade Alloys (cheaper than the equivalent alternatives) and Heavy Duty + Deep Plating engineering.
6A Guardian Hybrid Power Plant
While it might give you sufficient power, the efficiency of the Guardian Power plant is awful. You should go with a regular 6A Power Plant and engineer it.
6A Thrusters (unengineered)
Correct choice in module, but it needs to be engineered - preferably fully. Speed is crucial for medium AX ships.
5B Frame Shift Drive (Increased range g4, no experimental)
Possibly the worst choice available as it is the heaviest FSD you can fit, thereby slowing you down unnecessarily. If you want to keep a bit of jump range, going 5A is fine.
5B Life Support (unengineered)
As for the FSD, a really bad choice because of the additional weight. You will generally not need the extended minutes of air supply so 5D is fine here. If you really want the extended air supply, go 5A.
6A Guardian Power Distributor
Has a decent amount of WEP regeneration, but the capacitor size is abysmal. This means that you will generate heat unnecessarily based on how heat generation from weapons work (based on the capacitor charge after firing the weapon). Go with regular 6A and engineer for Charge Enhanced + Super Conduits.
4A Sensors (unengineered)
Debatable. 4D will generally do fine and has less weight.
5H Guardian FSD Booster
2A Fuel Scoop
1E Supercruise Assist
These are not combat modules. Discard immediately.
6E Shield Generator
Again, possibly the worst choice. You get all of the drawbacks of having a shield for basically no benefit in having shield strength. Either run a proper shield (biweave in the case of Chally) or no shield at all.
Cargo Racks
Fine if you are going to run a limpet controller, but I would distribute them differently.
3B Xeno Multi Limpet Controller
Useless. The only limpet type you actually get a real benefit out of in AX combat is a Repair Limpet Controller and you should run a bigger one (5D) if you do.
Reinforcement Packages
Can be discussed once you decide whether to go for a shield or repair build.
2B Remote Release Flak Launcher
There is no benefit to the turreted version. Use regular fixed version.
4x Guardian Gauss Cannons
2x 1G Pulse Laser (Long range g4, concordant sequence)
Useless. Install gimballed long range + thermal vent beam lasers.
2x Heat Sink Launcher (unengineered)
Engineer for increased capacity. Preferably install another one as well.
Xeno Scanner
Shutdown Field Neutralizer
Both of these are optional. Xeno scanner is useful when you are learning the fight though. Instead of bringing a shutdown field neutralizer, avoid triggering the shutdown field (or if you do, boost away in FA off and you effectively negate the negative effects other than losing 30 seconds).
Here is a suggestion in line with your current build: https://s.orbis.zone/i3k-
Reinforced Alloy hull (unengineered)
You want to go for max absolute hull. This means Military Grade Alloys (cheaper than the equivalent alternatives) and Heavy Duty + Deep Plating engineering.
6A Guardian Hybrid Power Plant
While it might give you sufficient power, the efficiency of the Guardian Power plant is awful. You should go with a regular 6A Power Plant and engineer it.
6A Thrusters (unengineered)
Correct choice in module, but it needs to be engineered - preferably fully. Speed is crucial for medium AX ships.
5B Frame Shift Drive (Increased range g4, no experimental)
Possibly the worst choice available as it is the heaviest FSD you can fit, thereby slowing you down unnecessarily. If you want to keep a bit of jump range, going 5A is fine.
5B Life Support (unengineered)
As for the FSD, a really bad choice because of the additional weight. You will generally not need the extended minutes of air supply so 5D is fine here. If you really want the extended air supply, go 5A.
6A Guardian Power Distributor
Has a decent amount of WEP regeneration, but the capacitor size is abysmal. This means that you will generate heat unnecessarily based on how heat generation from weapons work (based on the capacitor charge after firing the weapon). Go with regular 6A and engineer for Charge Enhanced + Super Conduits.
4A Sensors (unengineered)
Debatable. 4D will generally do fine and has less weight.
5H Guardian FSD Booster
2A Fuel Scoop
1E Supercruise Assist
These are not combat modules. Discard immediately.
6E Shield Generator
Again, possibly the worst choice. You get all of the drawbacks of having a shield for basically no benefit in having shield strength. Either run a proper shield (biweave in the case of Chally) or no shield at all.
Cargo Racks
Fine if you are going to run a limpet controller, but I would distribute them differently.
3B Xeno Multi Limpet Controller
Useless. The only limpet type you actually get a real benefit out of in AX combat is a Repair Limpet Controller and you should run a bigger one (5D) if you do.
Reinforcement Packages
Can be discussed once you decide whether to go for a shield or repair build.
2B Remote Release Flak Launcher
There is no benefit to the turreted version. Use regular fixed version.
4x Guardian Gauss Cannons
2x 1G Pulse Laser (Long range g4, concordant sequence)
Useless. Install gimballed long range + thermal vent beam lasers.
2x Heat Sink Launcher (unengineered)
Engineer for increased capacity. Preferably install another one as well.
Xeno Scanner
Shutdown Field Neutralizer
Both of these are optional. Xeno scanner is useful when you are learning the fight though. Instead of bringing a shutdown field neutralizer, avoid triggering the shutdown field (or if you do, boost away in FA off and you effectively negate the negative effects other than losing 30 seconds).
Here is a suggestion in line with your current build: https://s.orbis.zone/i3k-
Indeed, thank you very much for your help,
my status: in progress
my status: in progress
Awesome! Welcome to the front line 
I’m in Evangelis myself. We’ll have these bugs kicked back into their holes in no time
As others have said, taking down interceptors is hard. The Anti Xeno Initiative website and discord is the best place to go; they have a ton of really great advice, most of which is non-obvious.
I’d suggest taking your existing ships scout hunting in ax czs - join the fight, help push the thargoids out of Evangelis. This build might not be optimal for interceptors, but you can certainly still kill scouts in it, get the feel of the scanner, heatsinks, shutdown field neutraliser and flak, and maybe take a pot shot or two at a cyclops
The AX scanner will show you the interceptor type when you have it targeted - each curved ‘dash’ mark under the image is a heart; four for a cyclops, if it’s anything higher, you’re best off fleeing for your life / making a tactical withdrawal.
Good luck, hope to see you out there
I’m in Evangelis myself. We’ll have these bugs kicked back into their holes in no time As others have said, taking down interceptors is hard. The Anti Xeno Initiative website and discord is the best place to go; they have a ton of really great advice, most of which is non-obvious.
I’d suggest taking your existing ships scout hunting in ax czs - join the fight, help push the thargoids out of Evangelis. This build might not be optimal for interceptors, but you can certainly still kill scouts in it, get the feel of the scanner, heatsinks, shutdown field neutraliser and flak, and maybe take a pot shot or two at a cyclops
The AX scanner will show you the interceptor type when you have it targeted - each curved ‘dash’ mark under the image is a heart; four for a cyclops, if it’s anything higher, you’re best off fleeing for your life / making a tactical withdrawal.
Good luck, hope to see you out there
Your words ring true, but your nickname suggests you are a Thargoid sleeper agent ...Awesome! Welcome to the front line
As others have said, taking down interceptors is hard. The Anti Xeno Initiative website and discord is the best place to go; they have a ton of really great advice, most of which is non-obvious.
I’d suggest taking your existing ships scout hunting in ax czs - join the fight, help push the thargoids out of Evangelis. This build might not be optimal for interceptors, but you can certainly still kill scouts in it, get the feel of the scanner, heatsinks, shutdown field neutraliser and flak, and maybe take a pot shot or two at a cyclops
The AX scanner will show you the interceptor type when you have it targeted - each curved ‘dash’ mark under the image is a heart; four for a cyclops, if it’s anything higher, you’re best off fleeing for your life / making a tactical withdrawal.
Good luck, hope to see you out there
Some general observations...
- What they↑ said.
- A tip of my hat to you for trying a build with guardian internals. Sadly, they are not as effective as their engineered counterparts.
- Interceptor combat is no place for a multi-role fit out. If you don't have access to a carrier be prepared for shipping a lot of modules to your combat system, many jumps to get there or possibly both.
- Ship speed and hull strength are really important. You don't need jump range nor much cargo space. The builds in previous replies are a good guide (though I'd ditch those big FSD's on arrival for the smallest available in-system).
- Re-watch some of those youtube videos. Your added experience will likely allow you to glean more from them, maybe even that thing you've missed.
- Learn to fly combat with FA off or FA on/off (if you haven't already). Flying backwards at 400m/s is an essential basic for taking out thargon swarms. Generally, flying FA on will not allow this.
- Be prepared to refit your ship quite a few times as you learn what does and doesn't work.
- Be prepared to die quite a few times as you learn what does and doesn't work. Many who learn to fight interceptors die a lot more than four times.
- What they↑ said.
- A tip of my hat to you for trying a build with guardian internals. Sadly, they are not as effective as their engineered counterparts.
- Interceptor combat is no place for a multi-role fit out. If you don't have access to a carrier be prepared for shipping a lot of modules to your combat system, many jumps to get there or possibly both.
- Ship speed and hull strength are really important. You don't need jump range nor much cargo space. The builds in previous replies are a good guide (though I'd ditch those big FSD's on arrival for the smallest available in-system).
- Re-watch some of those youtube videos. Your added experience will likely allow you to glean more from them, maybe even that thing you've missed.
- Learn to fly combat with FA off or FA on/off (if you haven't already). Flying backwards at 400m/s is an essential basic for taking out thargon swarms. Generally, flying FA on will not allow this.
- Be prepared to refit your ship quite a few times as you learn what does and doesn't work.
- Be prepared to die quite a few times as you learn what does and doesn't work. Many who learn to fight interceptors die a lot more than four times.
Oh, one thing regarding this that I forgot to mention:
Be very careful in what YouTube videos you look at for advice. Typically the ”big” Elite content creators are not your best bet here as they are most often not AX specialists - Katie Byrne being the big glaring exception here. Look for content and tutorials from people who know what they are doing.
+1 for Katie and Will’s excellent AX tutorial videos. And all the crazy AX ship reviews of course
we can do that
we will try to do this when we are sure we have ships that hold up
I thought a ship had to have a different fit to either kill scouts or interceptors but not both?
Yeah, I'd ignore that one. There are better builds for scouts. You can kill scouts with gauss, but they are pretty fast so it's less fun, and won't teach you anything much about interceptors.
Gauss works for both; I used to run 2x axmc, 2x gauss, for conflict zones but I’ve switched to all gauss for everything and it’s ok. Still not as fast as 4x axmc on a krait, plus fighter, for me, but the practice time with gauss really helps with interceptors.
If you’re definitely committing to sticking solely to scouts, axmc turrets are the way to go for sheer low-effort bodycount.
At some point, when you feel more confident with your gauss aiming, you will be tempted to also use them against scouts.
I try every now and again and, since I have a terrible aim, when I manage to get one, it's soooooo satisfying!
Killing scouts for combat rank doubled as my gauss aim training.
Whaat?
Look at those babies tracking and firing... the best looking weapons in game.
Too bad the normal MC are so crappy looking and have that atrocious spooling delay
after testing on about twenty scouts, we manage to eliminate them easily
But scouts don't bring much, except some materials and some combat rank, 50000 cr is not much