I used my Clipper as a storage ship. I don't even remember why I bought it. Inara says I bought it at 30% discount, maybe some CG with a discount reward? I don't remember. I think I survived well because I was very scared and very cautious (I am not so much the gung-ho type of player). That won't happen again.
Voyage of discovery to the heart of the maelstrom
- Thread starter Alec Turner
- Start date
Well, then I am sorry. It felt like it was. Carry on, nothing to see here.
I was very cautious, just drifted a bit too close, a bit too warm, and didn't duck quick enough! BOOM went the generator!
I called myself some unprintable names...
The one lesson I learned from my fist visit: Moar limpets! I only took 32. Next time I will take a full cargo load 
.
.
You are right that for most of the Thargoids' vessels, you don't need to be that fast, but there is one specific vessel, that is said to be able to reach about 530 m/s and for some missions in those Thargoid infested systems, it is quite advantageous to be able to at least keep them at distance until you can jump.
I think the 20% "rule" for disecting those generators seeped over from the experience of those "professional" Thargoid fighters who do that circle dance around them... It worked there, so it should work here, too, you know how these things roll. Better be on the safe end if you don't like to see the rebuy screen.
A single, simple sentence can easily be misunderstood as it often lacks a lot of context.
Using multiple different limpets at the same time eats quite surprisingly quick though your stock of Limpets...The one lesson I learned from my fist visit: Moar limpets! I only took 32. Next time I will take a full cargo load
I learned that while learning to mine...
Day 5 - maelstrom madness
Behold, a new cover image for the voyage!
But I'm getting way ahead of myself. Rewind a couple of days and I'm parked at Kroehl Orbital in the Udegoci system, a high tech coriolis that's just one jump away from the Oya maelstrom and a good staging post to make any last minute repairs and outfitting changes before heading on in. I'm getting impatient now so I decide to settle for the sensors and limpet controllers I currently have and just swap the Guardian FSD booster for a bog standard 4E cargo rack which I fill with limpets. It's time to just try this thing out, I can always come back and tweak things later after I've figured out where the major weaknesses of this build lie.
Two jumps (including a hyperdiction which, for a ship that can boost to 530m/s, is little more than an irritation) and I'm on my way to the maelstrom. And this is where I discover my first mistake. By choosing the Oya maelstrom (pretty much at random I confess) I've unwittingly picked the one that has the second longest supercruise from the main star (5,847 light seconds). This is bad because, as I soon discover, that gives the Thargoids plenty of time to interdict me, which they do, frequently! It's actually kinda funny because there are two other commanders in the instance, both heading the same way as me, and all suffering frequent interdictions ... so it's like some kind of bizarre Buckyball race where we leapfrog one another as each ship in turn is sent tumbling out of supercruise just as they're taking the lead.
Anyway, eventually I arrive at Oya and drop in to the outskirts of its toxic orange cloud.
At this point I think I'll let some video tell the story of what transpires next.
Source: https://youtu.be/ISHBVeKy5D0
Eventually I do manage to collect all five caustic tissue samples (by playing it safe, burning off caustic damage with silent running high wakes and retreating back to Kroehl for repair when necessary) and then realise I've made another mistake. Without a fleet carrier to drop these off at for safe keeping I now have to chase down a further dozen caustic shards (materials found drifting in the maelstrom and/or left behind in caustic generator wreckage) without dying and losing my hard won tissue samples. I should have gathered all the mat's first (which are retained after ship loss) and left the tissue sampling until the end. Oh well, we live and learn (or should that be die and learn?). One mistake I do decide to rectify is my choice of maelstrom and a quick bit of research throws up the following list:
Thank god I didn't decide to start with Hadad! Anyway, join me later for a recap of day 6 where we head to Raijin and ... well, you'll just have to wait and see won't you!
Continued ...
Behold, a new cover image for the voyage!
But I'm getting way ahead of myself. Rewind a couple of days and I'm parked at Kroehl Orbital in the Udegoci system, a high tech coriolis that's just one jump away from the Oya maelstrom and a good staging post to make any last minute repairs and outfitting changes before heading on in. I'm getting impatient now so I decide to settle for the sensors and limpet controllers I currently have and just swap the Guardian FSD booster for a bog standard 4E cargo rack which I fill with limpets. It's time to just try this thing out, I can always come back and tweak things later after I've figured out where the major weaknesses of this build lie.
Two jumps (including a hyperdiction which, for a ship that can boost to 530m/s, is little more than an irritation) and I'm on my way to the maelstrom. And this is where I discover my first mistake. By choosing the Oya maelstrom (pretty much at random I confess) I've unwittingly picked the one that has the second longest supercruise from the main star (5,847 light seconds). This is bad because, as I soon discover, that gives the Thargoids plenty of time to interdict me, which they do, frequently! It's actually kinda funny because there are two other commanders in the instance, both heading the same way as me, and all suffering frequent interdictions ... so it's like some kind of bizarre Buckyball race where we leapfrog one another as each ship in turn is sent tumbling out of supercruise just as they're taking the lead.
Anyway, eventually I arrive at Oya and drop in to the outskirts of its toxic orange cloud.
At this point I think I'll let some video tell the story of what transpires next.
Eventually I do manage to collect all five caustic tissue samples (by playing it safe, burning off caustic damage with silent running high wakes and retreating back to Kroehl for repair when necessary) and then realise I've made another mistake. Without a fleet carrier to drop these off at for safe keeping I now have to chase down a further dozen caustic shards (materials found drifting in the maelstrom and/or left behind in caustic generator wreckage) without dying and losing my hard won tissue samples. I should have gathered all the mat's first (which are retained after ship loss) and left the tissue sampling until the end. Oh well, we live and learn (or should that be die and learn?). One mistake I do decide to rectify is my choice of maelstrom and a quick bit of research throws up the following list:
| Maelstrom | System | Distance (ls) |
| Taranis | Hyades Sector FB-N b7-6 | 132 |
| Indra | HIP 20567 | 3,342 |
| Leigong | HIP 8887 | 2,539 |
| Cocijo | Col 285 Sector BA-P c6-18 | 1,300 |
| Oya | Cephei Sector BV-Y b4 | 5,847 |
| Thor | Col 285 Sector IG-O c6-5 | 815 |
| Raijin | Pegasi Sector IH-U b3-3 | 397 |
| Hadad | HIP 30377 | 39,224 |
Thank god I didn't decide to start with Hadad! Anyway, join me later for a recap of day 6 where we head to Raijin and ... well, you'll just have to wait and see won't you!
Continued ...
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That is an excellent pic. And you changed it in the OP, too, which made me come look.Day 5 - maelstrom madness
Behold, a new cover image for the voyage!
But I'm getting way ahead of myself. Rewind a couple of days and I'm parked at Kroehl Orbital in the Udegoci system, a high tech coriolis that's just one jump away from the Oya maelstrom and a good staging post to make any last minute repairs and outfitting changes before heading on in. I'm getting impatient now so I decide to settle for the sensors and limpet controllers I currently have and just swap the Guardian FSD booster for a bog standard 4E cargo rack which I fill with limpets. It's time to just try this thing out, I can always come back and tweak things later after I've figured out where the major weaknesses of this build lie.
Two jumps (including a hyperdiction which, for a ship that can boost to 530m/s, is little more than an irritation) and I'm on my way to the maelstrom. And this is where I discover my first mistake. By choosing the Oya maelstrom (pretty much at random I confess) I've unwittingly picked the one that has the second longest supercruise from the main star (5,847 light seconds). This is bad because, as I soon discover, that gives the Thargoids plenty of time to interdict me, which they do, frequently! It's actually kinda funny because there are two other commanders in the instance, both heading the same way as me, and all suffering frequent interdictions ... so it's like some kind of bizarre Buckyball race where we leapfrog one another as each ship in turn is sent tumbling out of supercruise just as they're taking the lead.
Anyway, eventually I arrive at Oya and drop in to the outskirts of its toxic orange cloud.
At this point I think I'll let some video tell the story of what transpires next.
Source: https://youtu.be/ISHBVeKy5D0
Eventually I do manage to collect all five caustic tissue samples (by playing it safe, burning off caustic damage with silent running high wakes and retreating back to Kroehl for repair when necessary) and then realise I've made another mistake. Without a fleet carrier to drop these off at for safe keeping I now have to chase down a further dozen caustic shards (materials found drifting in the maelstrom and/or left behind in caustic generator wreckage) without dying and losing my hard won tissue samples. I should have gathered all the mat's first (which are retained after ship loss) and left the tissue sampling until the end. Oh well, we live and learn (or should that be die and learn?). One mistake I do decide to rectify is my choice of maelstrom and a quick bit of research throws up the following list:
Maelstrom System Distance (ls) Taranis Hyades Sector FB-N b7-6 132 Indra HIP 20567 3,342 Leigong HIP 8887 2,539 Cocijo Col 285 Sector BA-P c6-18 1,300 Oya Cephei Sector BV-Y b4 5,847 Thor Col 285 Sector IG-O c6-5 815 Raijin Pegasi Sector IH-U b3-3 397 Hadad HIP 30377 39,224
Thank god I didn't decide to start with Hadad! Anyway, join me later for a recap of day 6 where we head to Raijin and ... well, you'll just have to wait and see won't you!
I hope S&R found your escape pod and not some Thargoid!
Day 6 - a mean green maelstrom machine
Well, to cut a long story short (mostly comprising more of the same but with far less toxic death), a couple of cautious trips into the fringes of the Raijin maelstrom (why Raijin and not Taranis? ... 'cos I liked the name) and this has happened.
I unlock the caustic sink launcher and then head off to one of the rescue megaships where I buy (and store for later) a whole bunch of caustic sink launchers before finally fitting one permanently to my Chieftain (replacing one of the heat sink launchers which, to be honest, weren't nearly as essential as I'd expected!)
The next thing I want to do before trying this baby out is to get it engineered for increased ammo (using the same engineering recipe that can be applied to heat sinks). That means a trip to Ram Tah's base in the Meene system which in turn means a quick detour back to Kroehl Orbital to get my Guardian FSD back (because I'm missing my jump range). Next stop ... Phoenix base!
Source: https://youtu.be/cdK8D7uLv0I
o7 indeed and thank you kindly Mr Tah (no @psykit - I am NOT going to call him daddy Ram!).
That done Passion Aggressive now looks something like this ..
.. and is pretty much a mean green maelstrom machine (well OK, perhaps a bit more tinkering later but it's definitely getting there).
I head back out to the maelstroms to test it out, this time going for Taranis, variety being the spice of life and all that!
I don't appear to have recorded a specific instructional video on the use of the caustic sink (was probably having too much fun) but it's pretty straightforward. With one fitted (and while it still has ammo), any caustic damage goes into the sink rather than your hull, slowly filling the bar on your HUD. Once it's full it's then up to you to eject it (via a fire group button assignment) so a clean sink can take the full one's place before caustic damage starts spilling over into you ship.
You can see this in action in the following video where I ended day 6 pushing in towards the heart of the Taranis maelstrom in order to witness the shockwave (that's currently stopping us getting any closer) for myself.
Source: https://youtu.be/JZMPkGVIA7M
In the following days I plan to carry out more exploration of the maelstroms, try to get some better photographs and maybe even put a few bits of science to the test. This voyage is far from over yet!
Continued ...
Well, to cut a long story short (mostly comprising more of the same but with far less toxic death), a couple of cautious trips into the fringes of the Raijin maelstrom (why Raijin and not Taranis? ... 'cos I liked the name) and this has happened.
I unlock the caustic sink launcher and then head off to one of the rescue megaships where I buy (and store for later) a whole bunch of caustic sink launchers before finally fitting one permanently to my Chieftain (replacing one of the heat sink launchers which, to be honest, weren't nearly as essential as I'd expected!)
The next thing I want to do before trying this baby out is to get it engineered for increased ammo (using the same engineering recipe that can be applied to heat sinks). That means a trip to Ram Tah's base in the Meene system which in turn means a quick detour back to Kroehl Orbital to get my Guardian FSD back (because I'm missing my jump range). Next stop ... Phoenix base!
o7 indeed and thank you kindly Mr Tah (no @psykit - I am NOT going to call him daddy Ram!).
That done Passion Aggressive now looks something like this ..
.. and is pretty much a mean green maelstrom machine (well OK, perhaps a bit more tinkering later but it's definitely getting there).
I head back out to the maelstroms to test it out, this time going for Taranis, variety being the spice of life and all that!
I don't appear to have recorded a specific instructional video on the use of the caustic sink (was probably having too much fun) but it's pretty straightforward. With one fitted (and while it still has ammo), any caustic damage goes into the sink rather than your hull, slowly filling the bar on your HUD. Once it's full it's then up to you to eject it (via a fire group button assignment) so a clean sink can take the full one's place before caustic damage starts spilling over into you ship.
You can see this in action in the following video where I ended day 6 pushing in towards the heart of the Taranis maelstrom in order to witness the shockwave (that's currently stopping us getting any closer) for myself.
In the following days I plan to carry out more exploration of the maelstroms, try to get some better photographs and maybe even put a few bits of science to the test. This voyage is far from over yet!
Continued ...
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Damn - I wish I'd thought of that!"Next stop ...M A ELSTRO M S!"
All I hear is a distant "whooshhh"...
I know about the bobblehead layout in Passion Agressive's cockpit, but somehow, the joke doesn't kindle...
I know about the bobblehead layout in Passion Agressive's cockpit, but somehow, the joke doesn't kindle...
Something over your head? I didn't even hear it, lol.
I did.... :-(
Nooooo!
How long did it take to get there? (and was it worth it? anything special about that one ... aside from it's remoteness)
In fact that probably could be not always that bad from the point of view of numerous interdictions. I've visited for a few times the one in Indra - not the nearest one (3k ls). I don't know if the frequency of thargoid interdiction is somehow affected by temperature and/or other factors, however at least once - in a cold ship while supercruising way out of the ecliptic plane - I've managed to get there without being interdicted at all.Nooooo!
Anything special about Hadad... well..Nooooo!
It took about a dozen Interdictions to get there in total in a nice cold-ish Clipper https://edsy.org/s/vyxhzKV. Like you I managed to collect Tissues samples first, then discovered I needed more materials, so had to head all the way back... which was fun. Again.
I have a horrible feeling Hadad is the worst Maelstrom. Tonight some ...cmdr... is ramming Thargoids in his Corvette with "Report crimes against me on". One stray pellet from the shard cannons and it's fun over for a while. Oh and it gets worse, because the Factions are Federal...
but the detention centre is Imperial. So now I'm hunting for Interstellar factors while trying to avoid grazing the hull anywhere. Thankfully I was granted a few repair limpets from the friendly NPCS
So I'm at no hull, no jump range, 100Lyrs from combat hunting for an Interstellar factors.. At least I take solace in the fact I haven't rebought it yet...