Well Ceti Sector BQ-Y b4 and Hyades Sector NT-I b9-4 matrix site systems are now complete.
Thargoid invasion - Next target systems?
- Thread starter Aleks Zuno
- Start date
It will be quite fine if a cleared Matrix site continues to do whatever it was going to do originally, just without being Control as far as the war is concerned! More specifically, without being able to attack other systems. I imagine it possible that somebody decides otherwise and just changes it back to Control again, although such a meddling action would become a perfect example in favour of removing these systems from the war and designating them differently as with Titans, for they have very clearly different needs unmet by being normal Control systems¹.
I imagine that Maelstrom targeting priorities will gain a new aspect of importance here; if a cleared Matrix system turns out to be meaningful for stopping its attacks, guarding it against further Alert ought to be considered!
1. I noted this in Inform Commanders promptly of any Thargoid War systems which cannot be recaptured.
Thank you for this check; considering every activity that way has helped a lot! I presume an outstanding question for the moment is whether the progress is divided or duplicated, the former having interesting potential to clear a strong system very quickly later on.
Adding a little to make Ian's point more visual—the idea of systems at a distance means imagining a spherical surface, or equivalently a spherical shell with some depth, which represents or contains some number of systems. That measure is proportional to the squared radius¹, which means it shrinks very quickly as we approach the Maelstrom, so the strength density has to increase very sharply even just to maintain the same total strength measure at each radius. In practice it increases beyond that, of course.
1. Even for a shell volume; that is because the shell depth is fixed, so the highest-order change depends on the surface area. You can choose any fixed depth you like!
I imagine that Maelstrom targeting priorities will gain a new aspect of importance here; if a cleared Matrix system turns out to be meaningful for stopping its attacks, guarding it against further Alert ought to be considered!
1. I noted this in Inform Commanders promptly of any Thargoid War systems which cannot be recaptured.
Thank you for this check; considering every activity that way has helped a lot! I presume an outstanding question for the moment is whether the progress is divided or duplicated, the former having interesting potential to clear a strong system very quickly later on.
Adding a little to make Ian's point more visual—the idea of systems at a distance means imagining a spherical surface, or equivalently a spherical shell with some depth, which represents or contains some number of systems. That measure is proportional to the squared radius¹, which means it shrinks very quickly as we approach the Maelstrom, so the strength density has to increase very sharply even just to maintain the same total strength measure at each radius. In practice it increases beyond that, of course.
1. Even for a shell volume; that is because the shell depth is fixed, so the highest-order change depends on the surface area. You can choose any fixed depth you like!
Well, let’s just see what happens. If Frontier does not revert the state of these systems, I’d be rather surprised to not see some kind of GalNet about Aegis, Azimuth or whoever launching a research expedition to the sites when it is safer to do so, without Thargoid presence, or at least without as much of it.
I’ll certainly take a look at one in an empty system next week, should they be allowed to transition to a cleared state.
Edit - Just as I say that… https://www.elitedangerous.com/news/galnet/scientists-study-thargoid-barnacle-matrix-sites
I’ll certainly take a look at one in an empty system next week, should they be allowed to transition to a cleared state.
Edit - Just as I say that… https://www.elitedangerous.com/news/galnet/scientists-study-thargoid-barnacle-matrix-sites
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That'd be an interesting one - if a Matrix Alert can't be directly fought either, there'd be no choice but to let it proceed and come back round on the counterstrike list.
For the recaptures at Leigong that's not an issue - those two were isolated already (interesting impact on the border radius, though) ... conversely at Indra there might be the opposite problem, where the likely recaptured Matrix systems at the current rate are too close to Indra's dense bulk to be effectively guarded - of course, with multiple waves of counterstrike recaptures possible due to the cooldown, that might be slightly easier than it currently looks.
So is any progress from pods at Leigong wasted now (it has no more counter-attacks left?) or does it overflow somewhere else?
I would assume it’s wasted.
If Frontier wants to prevent a waste in this case they'd need to make that specific Titan stop releasing pods for the week. Then at the next week it resumes spawning pods - perfectly explainable by the scythes finishing a new set of human harvests at every weekly tick. Otherwise I don't see why it won't stop just going well over 100% on its counterstrikes.
Still, this has all been a very interesting development, with the pods being instantly meaningful to the war progress.
Still, this has all been a very interesting development, with the pods being instantly meaningful to the war progress.
Yes but also no - the figure of abducted people ranges in the millions, maybe tens of millions(I don’t quite recall the specifics of the Aegis statement on the matter), so those pods aren’t going to run out anytime soon regardless of which Titan you’re looking at.
Well, but like the evacuations that can greatly exceed a system's population (or insignificant if it's a billion-pop one but will progress regardless), it'd be a decision for gameplay reasons. I've liked all of their design choices to prevent waste, iirc including notifying when a system is complete and stopping CZs. Plenty of other systems to be worked on, or in this case Titans. Especially as the counterstrikes will go inevitably very deep over the next weeks.
Oh, sure. But it’s more likely the people that are going to keep doing it aren’t the ones who would care for such ‘waste of progress’, rather than continuing with an activity they enjoy participating in. Which I would likely be even if it didn’t particularly contribute to any system progress, given the lore reasoning for how many people are kept on the respective Titans*.
*I was not one of those who stayed in a completed invasion/alert system, mind you. Different case to Titan pod recovery, where I’d see the addition of supporting both populated and unpopulated counterstrike systems as a bonus. Though, it seems a lot more useful for clearing uninhabited controls than formerly populated.
There’s also the factor that some people have a preferred ‘spot’ to stay in. In my case, that would usually be Oya, though I occasionally venture out to the others depending on whether an activity of interest pops up at a specific one. Such as the two-week invasion in Omumba providing a damaged port scenario which hadn’t existed for a good few months, by that time.
We tested at Leigong (with 2 counterstrike systems) and Indra (with something like 30) and the results were the same, so I'm guessing duplicated
Had a cursory look around the barnacle matrix sites in the two cleared systems, as I was curious - all seems to be fine so far. Received the standard ‘This system is cleared’ message upon initiating the jump, matrix locations are still present. Also almost no notable Thargoid presence(more below).
Game does not present any issues upon visiting, as activity is standard with Revenants and coral sap spawning, on top of the spear roots still doing their… thing. Also no crashes, if it was not entirely obvious.
Now, for some light curiosities… I had a camera drone stay near one of the ‘barnacle matrix’ emplacements, rather than the spear roots, and find that the sounds it gives off, aside from its rumbling, are oddly reminiscent of liquids dripping and splashing around in a cavernous space. I find that curious, given this mention in GalNet -
The other curiosity? The planet (C 3) with the barnacle matrix in Hyades Sector NT-I b9-4 still had an AX CZ, as did the landable atmospheric moon C 4 A. Moon 8 C in Ceti Sector also still holds an AX CZ, equally being a thin atmospheric body that is landable, though the barnacle matrix location does not. It could mean something, but most likely doesn’t and these conflict zones(not the matrix sites themselves) will go away when states switch on the next Thursday. They also don’t appear to be functional, though they spawn AX NPCs anyway.
I also plan to have another look around when they do go to cleared, which I’m getting relatively convinced that they will. Providing no statement to the contrary from Frontier, of course…
Game does not present any issues upon visiting, as activity is standard with Revenants and coral sap spawning, on top of the spear roots still doing their… thing. Also no crashes, if it was not entirely obvious.
Now, for some light curiosities… I had a camera drone stay near one of the ‘barnacle matrix’ emplacements, rather than the spear roots, and find that the sounds it gives off, aside from its rumbling, are oddly reminiscent of liquids dripping and splashing around in a cavernous space. I find that curious, given this mention in GalNet -
Now I’m not gonna throw any theories or speculation out about caves and whatnot, but I get a feeling something rather large with big open spaces is down below.
The other curiosity? The planet (C 3) with the barnacle matrix in Hyades Sector NT-I b9-4 still had an AX CZ, as did the landable atmospheric moon C 4 A. Moon 8 C in Ceti Sector also still holds an AX CZ, equally being a thin atmospheric body that is landable, though the barnacle matrix location does not. It could mean something, but most likely doesn’t and these conflict zones(not the matrix sites themselves) will go away when states switch on the next Thursday. They also don’t appear to be functional, though they spawn AX NPCs anyway.
I also plan to have another look around when they do go to cleared, which I’m getting relatively convinced that they will. Providing no statement to the contrary from Frontier, of course…
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Come to think of it I did make Elite (0) in combat just recently, on account of all the AX fighting... Could that be it? Wait...
Oh well... maybe it's time to put my lightweight in storage and build a real AX ship.... I don't see how else I can keep (casually) fighting in the war...
Yeah, maybe I was wrong, now that I think about it, there might have been Medusas in the past, and it might not have always been in a low int CZ. Maybe I was dropping in another CMDR's session? I remember I was meeting other people in CZs a lot, back when invasions were everywhere. But this scenario where 2 of them drop always at the second wave is definitely new.
Was the activity progress from Titan rescues shut off amid Frontier's working day today? The previous movement rate seems to have stopped since several hours, and it has very much the feel of noticing the Matrix system mistake and panicking.
I believe the systems around Indra have seen some gradual progress throughout the day, but perhaps not quite as intense as the original spike. It might simply have been from people testing the new gameplay loop en-masse, though I admittely am curious why it largely took place around Indra, rather than Taranis, which seems to be popular in large part due to being the ‘first’ of the Titans to arrive.
Time will tell if a correct observation, though, of course.
Time will tell if a correct observation, though, of course.
So—at this very moment, the top Control system shown in the Thargoid War Information is Hyades Sector EX-H a11-1, at 27 Ly from M. Indra and without a Matrix. Our full check earlier at 17:40 showed 48%, and its present progress at 00:40 is only 50%. That initial 48% was gained steadily, around 24% yesterday evening and 24% again this morning. It may have gained one more 2%-point another way, but in effect that has obviously stopped!
If so, and if this concerns those two Matrix systems completed, I can point Frontier only to my repeated suggestion that Matrix systems are given a new, non-Control classification.
If so, and if this concerns those two Matrix systems completed, I can point Frontier only to my repeated suggestion that Matrix systems are given a new, non-Control classification.
Victories in Hyades Sectors EG-N b7-0, EX-H a11-1, PN-T c3-5 and PN-T c3-7, HIPs 9137, 20527 and 23069, Col 285 Sectors ZE-P c6-15 and UN-H b11-3, and Arietis Sectors OH-V b2-5, WJ-R b4-0 and WJ-R b4-2—plus the Matrix systems Hyades Sector NT-I b9-4 and Ceti Sector BQ-Y b4! Many more empty systems are approaching completion due to Titan rescues, so very well done to all involved!
Whether the Matrix systems were intended for completion via Titan rescues remains unclear; I have classed them separately and chosen another colour, as Frontier ought to do so that I can use the official colour, for checking more easily later. Empty Alert systems are moving spectacularly and inhabited Alert systems steadily; Holvandalla looks quite fine, as does the final defence at Unktety before we guard it away. The direct attacker is HIP 19198, for which an attacker in-turn is Vaipacnali below.
Alerts at 08:30 7th October 3309:
Holvandalla Alert 60% — Raijin 21 Ly, 86 Ls starport, 19 Ls outpost, 43 Ls planet
Unktety Alert 46% — Thor 25 Ly, 92 Ls outpost, 38 Ls planet
Vistnero Alert 22% *22.5% — Raijin 21 Ly, 147 Ls starport, 521 Ls outpost
Evictions:
Vaipacnali Control 54% — Thor 19 Ly, 3487 strength
Clean-up, skipping twelve implicit Control completions at M. Indra:
Cephei Sector FB-X b1-1 Alert 96% — Oya 20 Ly, empty
Col 285 Sector WN-Z b14-5 Alert 82% *82.2% — Hadad 21 Ly, empty
Hyades Sector DX-H a11-1 Matrix 74% — Indra 24 Ly, empty
Cephei Sector AV-Y b0 Alert 56% — Oya 24 Ly, empty
HR 1358 Matrix 50% *51.2% — Indra 22 Ly, empty
HIP 22350 Matrix 50% — Indra 22 Ly, empty
Thank you again for the extra test, and apologies for the premature suspicion! Indeed a few hours after falling asleep, an amount representative since Friday afternoon has appeared all at once. One wonders whether a few large transport Carriers are serving everyone!
Whether the Matrix systems were intended for completion via Titan rescues remains unclear; I have classed them separately and chosen another colour, as Frontier ought to do so that I can use the official colour, for checking more easily later. Empty Alert systems are moving spectacularly and inhabited Alert systems steadily; Holvandalla looks quite fine, as does the final defence at Unktety before we guard it away. The direct attacker is HIP 19198, for which an attacker in-turn is Vaipacnali below.
Alerts at 08:30 7th October 3309:
Holvandalla Alert 60% — Raijin 21 Ly, 86 Ls starport, 19 Ls outpost, 43 Ls planet
Unktety Alert 46% — Thor 25 Ly, 92 Ls outpost, 38 Ls planet
Vistnero Alert 22% *22.5% — Raijin 21 Ly, 147 Ls starport, 521 Ls outpost
Evictions:
Vaipacnali Control 54% — Thor 19 Ly, 3487 strength
Clean-up, skipping twelve implicit Control completions at M. Indra:
Cephei Sector FB-X b1-1 Alert 96% — Oya 20 Ly, empty
Col 285 Sector WN-Z b14-5 Alert 82% *82.2% — Hadad 21 Ly, empty
Hyades Sector DX-H a11-1 Matrix 74% — Indra 24 Ly, empty
Cephei Sector AV-Y b0 Alert 56% — Oya 24 Ly, empty
HR 1358 Matrix 50% *51.2% — Indra 22 Ly, empty
HIP 22350 Matrix 50% — Indra 22 Ly, empty
Thank you again for the extra test, and apologies for the premature suspicion! Indeed a few hours after falling asleep, an amount representative since Friday afternoon has appeared all at once. One wonders whether a few large transport Carriers are serving everyone!
Seems quite likely that at least some people are storing them on their carrier prior to bulk hand-in, rather than make the journey back and forth every time a run is completed. I can certainly understand why, from a convenience standpoint, and there are no real/significant constraints as the pods are non-corrosive.
I’m quite curious what the precise effect this will have on system clearing is. Even putting aside potential effects on targeting from removing matrix sites(within reasonable/feasible limits) from Thargoid control, there’s no denial that for the weaker radius of unpopulated controls, pod recovery is fairly potent as a tool of mass-clearing. As opposed to high-efficiency singular focus of sampling.