Thargoid invasion - Next target systems?

For @Starsong and @Medi0cr3, and perhaps also @KuzSan, the above needs to be noted quite quickly! By all means pause any stored progress, with which we are very much ahead, for with an approximate halving of Peripheral progress we will need a M. Taranis focus much sooner than planned!

Additional: There is also another reason why we need a fast completion—if the rate has changed, I am wary of the possibility that the maximum percentage may have changed. Granted, this would not make sense given that 85% appeared to be chosen so that the highest-strength systems match the known individual completion rates, but not everything makes sense and we need to know swiftly whether it is still 85% and not 80%, for example.
With progress on Swakhu as high as it is already (DCoH reports the Ascension Light as 10,677 samples now) I'm suspecting my time may be better spent doing Titan rescues to push the progress bar up.
 
With progress on Swakhu as high as it is already (DCoH reports the Ascension Light as 10,677 samples now) I'm suspecting my time may be better spent doing Titan rescues to push the progress bar up.

Definitely, thank you—the storage concern is minimal given that we are at around 43% completion for a two-week process which has barely begun, meanwhile Titan and Spire activity is now much, much more important!
 
Definitely, thank you—the storage concern is minimal given that we are at around 43% completion for a two-week process which has barely begun, meanwhile Titan and Spire activity is now much, much more important!
AXI official announcement moving to Taranis coming soon.
 
Posted and the team is moving now to give the enemy hell. We'll be standing on their doorstep soon enough.
Going to try to finish the sample number tonight so we can strictly focus on spire site activity with the sample team. Other thoughts of transitioning to rescue pods has been brought up, but with how much the difficulty slider just moved not in our favor, pods maybe a last ditch effort if something gets fouled up on the front line losing that finite resource.
 
Is probably worth noting that anyone who can do pods well should do pods - Dark Session's numbers show they are significantly better for any commanders who can harvest them efficiently, but of course Spire combat is something a lot more people can actually do.
 
Dark Session also reported that if 10 people get on the Orthrus killbond, its supposedly like killing 10 Orthrus.

That has been the case since the beginning, such as with Orthrus bonds for Alert systems or with the Hydra and Conflict zone completion bonds in Invasion systems, but indeed it is always good to have demonstrations of that still working! Between Spires and Titans we have definitely a nice range of options.
 
Ascension Light Demand sits at 2336. Once it his 0, we will have accumulated 'Swahku' requirements.
 
Last edited:
Dark Session also reported that if 10 people get on the Orthrus killbond, its supposedly like killing 10 Orthrus.
yes, seems it works like it works with invasions/controls. When we were testing each kill value with Yttrbio this april, also noticed wing kill counts as few kills
 
Victories in Pegasi Sectors DG-X c1-6 and NN-S b4-4, Col 285 Sectors UH-C b13-2, NG-E b12-3 and KA-G b11-0, and HIP 2422!

M. Indra is just about on-course for a completion with a bit of time to clear some very weak systems, and M. Taranis has hastened a bit to become now only a day or so behind, granted that a large harvest drive is soon to become a large Peripheral drive. Given that Operation Deleted has 46% prepared for week 50 and over 56% ready in total, I think I need to leave Hupang unfinished and switch to Titan rescues if it will lend just a few more percent.

If I may suggest, except for clearing the Matrix systems, the process weakening the Peripheral systems is no longer feasible until the inner ~15 Ly at a Maelstrom—for example, unless one needs to remove HR 1358 at M. Indra, it would be faster just to clear its Periphery normally.

Peripheries at 09:10 4th November 3309:
Eight systems with 28%Indra 22–23 Ly, 1 matrix + 1 inhabited, 473–2324 strength
Six systems with 12%Thor 18–19 Ly, 1 inhabited, 1313–5896 strength
Nine systems with 12%Taranis 11–21 Ly, 2 matrix + 2 inhabited, 5422–33.7k strength

Alerts:
Ebisu Alert 68% *68.4%Taranis 21 Ly, 358 Ls starport, 63 Ls outpost, 105 Ls planet, Peripheral system
Nu Guang Alert 24% *25.2%Raijin 19 Ly, 44 Ls starport, 44 Ls planet
HIP 20890 Alert 24% *24.5%Indra 22 Ly, 1609 Ls outpost, 6876 Ls planet

Clean-up:
Arietis Sector XJ-R b4-2 Alert 60% — Leigong 21 Ly, Peripheral system
Arietis Sector XJ-R b4-1 Alert 58% — Leigong 18 Ly, Peripheral system
Col 285 Sector KM-V d2-109 Control 54% *54.2%Cocijo 22 Ly, 383 strength, Peripheral system
Trianguli Sector CA-A c15 Alert 50% — Taranis 16 Ly, Peripheral system
Col 285 Sector PM-B b14-3 Alert 32% — Hadad 21 Ly, Peripheral system
HR 1358 Matrix 28% *29%Indra 22 Ly
Col 285 Sector SH-B b14-4 Control 18% — Hadad 18 Ly, 1692 strength
Hyades Sector DQ-O b6-0 Matrix 12% *13.9%Taranis 12 Ly
 
Looking at the map, it wouldn't be too big a problem if Taranis could only get to 85% or so this week - the outer Matrix sites could be cleared with the head start the following week, and the final matrix site deliberately left incomplete (something which is now easier, at least!) for the week after that to get Swahku.
 
Is it just me, or does the Taranis progression for the spires seem to be awfully slow?

Of course, 12 ly from the Titan for an unpopulated system is still nothing to laugh at, but I was expecting things to have gone a little further than just under 20%(at this point in time), with the change in focus from AXI.

Is it possible that the progress metric is based off of the closer-in spire rather than the one further out, with two of them ‘exposed’ in this cycle?

(Or maybe there is just still more hitting of the spire site at Indra going on, and I wrote my thoughts down for not much of a reason.)
 
Total spire progression across all eight is 83% so far, which is not much more than 2.5x the "first 24 hours" total, so it looks like about the same global rate allowing for a small bit of a weekend speed-up now.
Since AXI moved from a Raijin/Taranis split to focusing solely on Taranis, the rate of Raijin+Taranis addition hasn't changed much either - despite Raijin's periphery being a lot further out.
(Raijin+Taranis currently 27%, Indra currently 32%, I think all this reflects is as you say the Indra team being slightly faster at getting indirect progress)
 
M. Taranis is accelerating at least; from being just shy of 14% earlier it is now just shy of 20%, which is a good sign! A new trajectory involving 6% over an afternoon is genuinely good and ought to keep us on schedule, and I am trying to repeat that fact to myself enough times to suppress feeling disproportionately worried.

I did some Titan visits this afternoon which ought to be worth around a half-percent, albeit while still meddling with modules and observing when the onlooking Thargoids attack or not:
  • Staying a bit back from the maw seems good, and I think they get confused (usefully!) by having limpets around if the starship is cold enough, based on the Glaives which attacked immediately when the final Collector expired.
  • Is there a best shielding arrangement for Titan rescues? I settled a bit on 7C Bi-weave, but I could use class 6 shield and class 8 cargo, and I have the modules around for going loud with class 8 Prismatic if that has a better prospect.
 
Staying a bit back from the maw seems good,
Depending on where the sub-surface storage chambers are located around the Titan, it can happen that Thargoid vessels struggle to enter attack range. They seem to be reluctant to go past a certain point near it, for one reason or another, even if there is little risk of friendly fire occurring.

I’ve noticed this when I had a Glaive on me, but it kind of just… refused to come into range to fire if I hugged the Titan closely enough. Unfortunately depends on the placement of the storage chamber(s).

Otherwise? I have not noticed limpets confusing them. If anything, they appear to attract more attention until an interceptor or Glaive establishes visual contact(the latter can do so up to six kilometers away near a Titan, even if silent running is active) and begins to attack your ship. Limpets suck at stealth and have a far more noticeable signature to onlookers than you would expect them to.

Where shields are concerned, I have no real experience, as I’ve used a Krait MKII running shieldless for Titan recoveries. I suppose one benefit, no matter how small the shield might be, is that any pesky Scythes coming out to look for scattered pods will not launch breach drones at you while it is active. (And they generally tend to ignore your presence enough to not fire if there are pods to pick up.) I suppose Cutter users might know better here.

RE aggro, one thing I have seen mentioned but been unable to observe, is that blowing out a storage chamber supposedly has a chance of causing a patrolling Thargoid to come by and investigate. As by that time, you’re likely to be using limpets, which can attract some attention.
 
Where shields are concerned, I have no real experience, as I’ve used a Krait MKII running shieldless for Titan recoveries. I suppose one benefit, no matter how small the shield might be, is that any pesky Scythes coming out to look for scattered pods will not launch breach drones at you while it is active.

While a tap of the ECM is ready for that at least, having a Shield seems to reduce much of the module damage from Titan energy pulses! If that hits while unshielded it becomes time to leave, otherwise four seem fine before the malfunctions start. Staying close but away from the maw and visiting between a few of its arms, I just now managed this with minimal hassle:

Pods.jpg
 
If you manage the titan aggression levels properly, Green (idle - only time turrets retract), Alert( yellow[low alert] / orange[high alert] ), and Red Alert (Only time turrets deploy), you can stay there a very long time. Hiding under the branch and staying out of the LoS of the Titan Turret nearby will grant you Green (idle) over time, validating by 3rd person camera. It will never come out of yellow alert if a bio-pod gets stuck somewhere, escape-pods from destroyed scythe are detected, scythe pings on loose bio-pods, or a goid stuck bouncing off the inner maw wall. Fdev granted a fun mechanic, but has a massive amount of flaws.
Drilling to deep will increase player threat significantly. Often straight to Red Alert or least worst Alert ( orange ).
Spent quite a few weeks dissecting the mechanic and debating with fellow commanders of the 3 manageable stages Idle,Alert,RedAlert. Hope you enjoy the titan content, its definitely fun.
 
What exactly makes the difference between a ‘Titan Turret’ and all the other contacts, anyway? Or are they all just treated the same? I don’t recall ever seeing a Titan Turret in my contacts even when it got annoyed through a Glaive (or Interceptor/Scythe) spotting me.
 
Victories in Col 285 Sectors KW-M c7-31, SH-B b14-5, RM-B b14-8, PM-B b14-3 and SH-B b14-2, Hyades Sectors LX-U d2-95 and MY-I b9-0, Ebisu and Cephei Sectors AF-A c21 and AF-A c22!

M. Taranis is not really seeing a weekend boost thus far; at just shy of 30% it is now just under one day behind, and at this point a more realistic plan seems to be to extend the entire recapture by two weeks and use 66% per week. Assuming from earlier that difficulty has almost-doubled, is participation also now something like one-third?

Peripheries at 08:30 5th November 3309:
Eight systems with 38%Indra 22–23 Ly, 1 matrix + 1 inhabited, 409–1937 strength
Eight systems with 28%Taranis 11–16 Ly, 2 matrix + 1 inhabited, 4436–27.3k strength
Six systems with 14%Thor 18–19 Ly, 1 inhabited, 1284–5627 strength

Alerts:
Nu Guang Alert 60% *60.8%Raijin 19 Ly, 44 Ls starport, 202 Ls outpost, 44 Ls planet
HIP 20890 Alert 58% — Indra 22 Ly, 1609 Ls outpost, 6876 Ls planet
Vistnero Alert 16% — Raijin 21 Ly, 147 Ls starport

Evictions:
HIP 21918 Control 40% — Indra 22 Ly, 1937 strength, Peripheral system

Clean-up:
Hyades Sector JN-K b8-3 Alert 92% — Leigong 18 Ly, empty
Arietis Sector XJ-R b4-1 Alert 92% — Leigong 18 Ly, empty
Arietis Sector XJ-R b4-2 Alert 76% — Leigong 21 Ly, empty, Peripheral system
Trianguli Sector CA-A c15 Alert 74% *74.6%Taranis 16 Ly, empty, Peripheral system
Col 285 Sector KM-V d2-109 Control 56% — Cocijo 22 Ly, empty, 368 strength, Peripheral system
HR 1358 Matrix 38% *38.6%Indra 22 Ly, empty
Hyades Sector DQ-O b6-0 Matrix 28% *29.7%Taranis 12 Ly, empty
Trianguli Sector BA-A d85 Matrix 28% *29.7%Taranis 11 Ly, empty


Drilling to deep will increase player threat significantly. Often straight to Red Alert or least worst Alert ( orange ).

Indeed—although hiding and waiting surely is not the best for rescues per time! At present I am staying where Thargoids mostly watch rather than attack, while Thermal Vent directly on the Titan keeps the starship too cold for its turrets and the Collector limpets can operate.


What exactly makes the difference between a ‘Titan Turret’ and all the other contacts, anyway? Or are they all just treated the same? I don’t recall ever seeing a Titan Turret in my contacts even when it got annoyed through a Glaive (or Interceptor/Scythe) spotting me.

There are some named "Titan dual-fire turret", and there is also a missile variant. If deployed they appear close to the top of Contacts, and are quite easy to destroy if needed!
 
M. Taranis is not really seeing a weekend boost thus far; at just shy of 30% it is now just under one day behind, and at this point a more realistic plan seems to be to extend the entire recapture by two weeks and use 66% per week.
With Taranis expected to place four outer Alerts this week (targeting five, no usable backtracks) then this is going to suggest recapturing one of HIP 23816 or (easier) Hyades Sector GB-N b7-0 anyway - Taranis then uses the other of the two to place a fourth Alert, but is down one Control, so the inner edge of the perimeter stays in the same place at Trianguli Sector BA-A d85

How that affects week 3 is harder to predict since it depends on whether Njorog goes to Invasion or not (on the assumption that Invasions count as part of the perimeter) but if it doesn't include Swahku at that point there's an option to take it to 66%, clear the Hupang cluster and other isolated nodes from there, then collect more samples for Swahku to end it.
 
Back
Top Bottom