Elite: Game talk
07 Sep 2024, 6:44pm
I'm building the "basic" gauss cannon Chieftain, mostly following what's shown on AXI and elsewhere. Once I have that build ready, I just find a thargoid system on the map? Or is there a method to find a good candidate system on here?
(I assume it would be silly of me to take even my best human weapon build to face off with a thargoid ship, as they are mostly immune to those weapons, correct?
07 Sep 2024, 6:51pm
Miseriyou know there is this function I have that lets me toggle FA off and on quickly, and i dont know if thats what everyone does or if im just a crazy person, cuz I dont know anything about how to combat tbh, im not a combat pilot
I toggle it on and off depending on the situation. If I want a steady shot, it has to be on. If I need to run and shoot backwards while doing so, it's off. Also when turning fast (FA off, boost, turn, landing gear drop, stop turning, FA on, pew pew pew). Flying completely with FA off is not feasible for me, especially not when playing with a controller.
07 Sep 2024, 7:05pm
Indy
(I assume it would be silly of me to take even my best human weapon build to face off with a thargoid ship, as they are mostly immune to those weapons, correct?
Yes. Scouts are an exception in taking slightly more damage (77% reduction vs 99% for Interceptors and Hunters, if memory serves), but you won't learn fighting the other types of Thargoid that way.
As for where to look, I would suggest starting out at planetary port conflict zones - for one, you will have nearby rearm/repair from a station, and there will be no Thargon swarms to annoy you. There is a few populated systems under Thargoid control which currently have a reactivated ground port around Raijin(roughly west side of the Bubble), where you may also find other players. Look for the angry red icon and purple arrow, or consult https://dcoh.watch with appropriate filters set (Controlled, Raijin, hide unpopulated systems or 'ground port under attack' feature).
Only beware Glaive spawns because they will ruin Guardian weapons unless they have the anti-Guardian field treatment (which requires components you may not have an easy time getting as somebody new to Thargoid stuff) from Ram Tah. (AX NPCs may eventually kill the Glaives for you if you don't want to repeatedly land for weapon repairs until they are dead).
If you want to avoid Glaives, visit either low or medium intensity conflict zones in open space, or outpost conflict zones, however those will have Thargon swarms present. Two such outpost CZs can be found in Humarala and Sugalis around the above-mentioned Titan. All of the others are surface ports.
07 Sep 2024, 8:16pm
Fresh CZs appear on Thrusdays, and tend to be won by the weekend, so plan your gaming sessions accordingly. Look at Inara Thargoid War Locations for planetary stations that have state of "Under Attack". There is also the Inara Thargoid War Conflicts tab which shows you the progress and percentage of players active in that system. Pick the most popular one unless it's about to complete, the more popular the zone the easier it is to find an active CZ and join with others. People can solo it, but I find 4+ players makes it safely safe to complete, including the Hydras. Get double that and you make a lot of credits as Interceptors are popping all over the place. Just make sure you damage them all, even if it's just a tap for the reward.
As it's 100% co-op you don't need a special ship loadout, but make sure the station has a landing pad big enough for your ship. Ground ones are usually fine but space stations will only have mediums if you did want to try space combat.
You can stand back a bit, throwing repair limpets at people will always be appreciated. I'd start with AX Multi-Cannons as they are gimbled and very good against Scouts and Glaives. Once you get the hang of them go with the direct weapons that are better against Interceptors. I fly an Anaconda with a mix of weapons to take them both on. You aren't going to solo stuff, so no need to go for the uber-builds you'll see on AXI sites.
Run cold or hot as you prefer, once you get damaged just land/repair/get more missions, and take off. Just don't linger on the pads as there can be people waiting to get a badly damaged ship repaired.
Always turn OFF the "report crimes" switch, as there will be friendly fire splashing about. If someone gets a fine they can't repair at the station and it really messes up their session as they have to leave the CZ to pay it off.
07 Sep 2024, 8:41pm
Aunty SledgeFresh CZs appear on Thrusdays, and tend to be won by the weekend, so plan your gaming sessions accordingly.
Adding a little of my own… this week, Cocijo’s invasions have lasted up until now and there are eight Counterstrike systems in formerly populated space held by Raijin with a reactivated port around which you find the same thing as an invasion conflict zone, except for the missions. They also favor surface ports when one is available to turn back on.
None of those control systems have yet been cleared in this cycle. That feature is relatively new-ish to since Indra became vulnerable and was limitedly available around Thor. Raijin holds/held a lot more populated controls however, so in turn the populated counterstrikes with a reactivated station are much more numerous.
I am pointing those out specifically as they don’t seem to stand out from the standard unpopulated control systems, or simply where ones with no active stations present, on Inara’s war summary/details page, but they are no different to invasion port attacks in difficulty or spawns.
(And my reason for referring to open space CZs is mostly with regard to the Glaives, but I would certainly favor ground stations as a new player to AX… having gotten a good bit better I don’t mind the harder zones now. Space ones will only spawn two interceptors at a time even in high intensity, but there’s plenty more Basilisks and Medusas to throw around.)
07 Sep 2024, 10:23pm
Glaives aren't such a problem, a couple of AX-MCs sort them out. Guardian items can now be protected, but even if they aren't you just land and repair.
How do you find the swarm in space CZs? I hate them with a passion, so them being absent on ground CZs make it fun for me. I know it's a skill thing, but I just don't enjoy the darn things.
07 Sep 2024, 10:57pm
And I don’t think dealing with them is even that much “skill”. It’s more a matter of reflexes and needing luck (the most fun and enjoyable part of a game, sarcasm) that it is not literally facing straight toward you while you’re heading directly toward it. Or that it does not decide to launch missiles point blank.
… and just forget the flak launcher when it only holds 32 ammo for reloads while there will be at least 8 swarms per CZ if you do not kill the interceptors all the way until the bar is so full it will not spawn any more. And you can’t exactly ignore a Medusa massacring NPCs while it is surrounded by Scouts.
Interceptor spawn variation is the one irritation with planet CZs. Too many Cyclops and Hydra, not enough Basilisk and Medusa.
You don’t know how much I agree with that (you probably do). It is just as bad with the outpost CZs, there’s just a spam of 99% Cyclops and it gets boring, but the Hydras are just a little too spongy to be frequently enjoyable imo. And most players will also either run from them or not exactly be capable to take those things on, especially with the Thargons involved.
Apparently the conflict zones around a Coriolis/Orbis/Ocellus are more Basilisk and Medusa spawn happy, but the majority of the time you’ll only see one if an invasion goes into its second-last week. And that has happened a grand total of no times for like, probably a year at this point. Then with those there’s also the problem with that ridiculous bug of everything rotating with the station when a player enters it having rotational correction enabled. Because apparently coding is difficult (it probably actually is but seriously, how do you not separate the NPC ships outside from the rotation of a port?).
08 Sep 2024, 4:21am
I'll keep building my Chieftain and look forward to taking all of this advice into account.
Thanks again, everyone. :-)
08 Sep 2024, 12:02pm
Aunty Sledge.
Always turn OFF the "report crimes" switch, as there will be friendly fire splashing about. If someone gets a fine they can't repair at the station and it really messes up their session as they have to leave the CZ to pay it off.
Absolutely this! I had to leave CZs twice last session having incurred bounties for 'blue-on-blue' strikes. Normally, in most combat situations, I would be able to avoid that but the AX activity around an Interceptor is extremely crowded, especially when the majority are packing shards which are short ranged weapons.
*Note to self; make sure to go into VR for AX zones! Maybe I'll see ships before they scud across my bows
08 Sep 2024, 12:46pm
10 Sep 2024, 6:05am
MeowersFA-off is a valid approach, but not the only one as some people may think.
FA—off is the easy approach to cold orbiting. Aiming with mouse and kbd is easier however it requires some mental gymnastics in switching to rotation correction. Easily done with some practice around stations or in asteroid belt. The only real challenge is around strong gravity planets.
P. S. FA-off is way cheaper on heat sinks and synth mats.
10 Sep 2024, 8:41am
10 Sep 2024, 9:22am
Maybe I'll even start engineering my suits now.
10 Sep 2024, 11:01am
EpisparhP. S. FA-off is way cheaper on heat sinks and synth mats.
… exactly how is it? And if you’re busy clearing out Thargoid systems at the moment you either fight around a port (meaning free rearm/repair is usually an arm’s length away) or get so many materials thrown at you the synth costs are… mostly rendered irrelevant. So I wouldn’t necessarily see it as a particular talking point for it unless you still insist on the old style of Thargoid fighting. Which is, out in a nebula.
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