So, I'm wanting to start thargoid Hunting as my home system has got some in it. I have no clue where to start though... Money ain't an issue but I don't want to be spending it on multi million kit to only be blown up and pay the insurance. So is there any cheaper but effective ships and weapons of going hunting?
Thargoid Hunting Help (Beginner)
- Thread starter JoeyTCat
- Start date
You can do scouts with anything. NHSS 4 and under should just be scouts, 5 and up can have scouts in them and sometimes just be scouts, but will usually have an interceptor as well. Any scout build should have some hull improvements, as you will be hit with phasing attacks as well as corrosive attacks which can be burnt off by raising ship heat to the point you'll also be cooking your modules, or with decontamination limpets. Gimbals or turrets can make hitting scouts a lot easier, and while they don't have to be Guardian or Ax weapons, it don't hurt to have those either.
NHSS 5 will usually just be one Cyclops, the weakest of the interceptors. I would not recommend building a ship for them without some engineering as well as Guardian Gauss Cannons and Remote Release Flak Launchers.
I would do a pretty subpar job of writing out a guide here, and there are good ones out there already, so I think the best advice would be do some research if you don't want to jump in blind and learn the old fashion way. So far as cheaper but effective ships, if you have the Imp Courier available, it's speed, handling and good shields make it a good learning ship. I tossed a gauss on its center hard point and 2 turreted Ax MC's on the outer hard points and had good success when I first got into scout hunting.
NHSS 5 will usually just be one Cyclops, the weakest of the interceptors. I would not recommend building a ship for them without some engineering as well as Guardian Gauss Cannons and Remote Release Flak Launchers.
I would do a pretty subpar job of writing out a guide here, and there are good ones out there already, so I think the best advice would be do some research if you don't want to jump in blind and learn the old fashion way. So far as cheaper but effective ships, if you have the Imp Courier available, it's speed, handling and good shields make it a good learning ship. I tossed a gauss on its center hard point and 2 turreted Ax MC's on the outer hard points and had good success when I first got into scout hunting.
I started out with a FGS, thats fairly cheap i guess.
If you want to hunt interceptors then you will really need to unlock gauss cannons. Then probably tinker with the build whilst shooting them at scouts on a NHSS 4 (this is how i learned to shoot fixed weapons).
Dependant of ship/available hardpoints running 2 turreted AXMC and 2 medium gauss will both chew through scouts via the MC's, whilst you practice aiming the gauss at a small nippy little target
When you hit a scout with gauss it does serious damage! This will help when you move up to a cyclops and have to target hearts to destroy them.Good luck, for more help come and visit the AXI, plenty of help and better advice from far superior pilots than me.
o7
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First, I recommend using AX multi cannon turrets (or fixed if you're good enough) to shoot some Thargon scouts. You don't even need AX weaponry, but it's more effective. They make a satisfying pop.
Then, for the interceptors, you should unlock the fixed class 1&2 Guardian Guass Cannons, and 1-3 Guardian Shard Cannons. These are the most effective weapons to use on interceptors.
Then you will probably die. A lot.
Don't worry too much about the xeno scanner. Good for showing Thargon health to avoid the corrosive explosions, but not much else. Too short range to scan an interceptor, as they back out of 500m too fast to complete a scan, and you'll take a shed load of unnecessary damage.
You will also need a decontamination limpet, plus cargo, for said limpets. These remove caustic damage.
It's also highly recommended you stack as much armour as possible, and decent shields, and make sure your ship can do 450+m/s, because that's how fast the Thargoids move, and you need to be able to Brave Sir Robin on them. Lol
When fighting an interceptor, shoot it until one of its hearts glows red. Then Guass the glowing heart to kill the heart, and repeat.
The shutdown neutraliser is mostly useless, as it requires split second timing, and still doesn't work. If you see/hear the pulse, boost away, and go FA off to drift once you're shut down, and hopefully get clear of most of the damage.
And if you survive all of this, the pay is crap. Lol
Good luck!
All thargoids leave a corrosive cloud behind upon explosion that starts eating away at your hull, just like their missile attack, until you either use a decontamination limpet on yourself or raise your heat above a certain threshold, or dock at a port. If you pay attention to the Scouts, they stop and release a "death cry" before exploding, so you can avoid flying through their remains. The cloud dissipates over time, which happens fast for scouts, but takes much longer for Interceptors (while also doing more damage iirc).
Shutdown field neutraliser is more useful in AXCZs. Against solo interceptors, just boost past the thing with FA-off and pop a heatsink (which you should do after every heart) - if you're out of range or cold enough by the time it brings its shield up, it won't release the pulse at all. As soon as it spawns the swarm, it's on the next phase and won't pulse.
You can use the same trick to avoid caustic missiles too - if it doesn't detect any targets within that window between losing a heart and the swarm going out, then it simply won't fire any.
You can use the same trick to avoid caustic missiles too - if it doesn't detect any targets within that window between losing a heart and the swarm going out, then it simply won't fire any.