@@mariemonroe553 own research, trial and error, coriolis simulation, common sense, intelligence, sufficient time and determination. I have a Krait Mk2 AX build better than this Alliance Chieftain "Meta". At the end is also skill based combat.
@@wolf2k143 Research done in AXI yes you're right. I wish you well in your fights commander we need good AX pilots. Just a small side note - to this day there hasn't been a ship that has achieved as much as a chieftain I hope you try it some day and see how fun it is
@@mariemonroe553 the damage output is not enough for me, krait can achieve more. I did more in my krait than others in chieftan, for me, chieftan is in second place after krait as overall ax combat.
Just came across this video, as a new pilot who's only done exploration/exobiology - this guide is extremely helpful. Bonus points for just how well made the video is, makes you feel like this is an official guide from FDev. Community initiatives like AXI are what make Elite Dangerous stand out from the rest. o7, happy hunting.
Well… not really. I mean it’s not BAD but it cripples you ability to boost and is terrible for shielded (large) builds. So, no. Go charge enhanced (which has HIGHER wep recharge rate than even weapon focused!).
@@Astyrrean Oh of course, but I'm talking about specific builds. No shield, large distro draw. Frequent boost is not needed depending on your ship except to boost away and having more capacity means less heat spikes. So yes, high charge is better in most situations, but AX fight is the only occasion where WEP can be used. I don't say it is better, just another option that can be very good. I use WEP charge on my main AX-Chally, and I prefer it to high-charge. And actually I saw that on this very channel one of your top guys uses it too.
What an awesome video. Brilliantly edited and the mix of Commander’s voice overs is superb! Mankind comes together to beat the Thargoids! Next challenge on Planet Earth: Stop killing each other!
Thanks for making this - very useful for those starting out in AX combat. Just wish it was there a few weeks ago when I felt lost and overwhelmed. But even so - I still managed to get some good tips and lessons out of this video. Thanks again.
great guide, very informative for those new to AX. With that being said, I will continue to ignore AXI and continue face tanking in my shieldless vette and laughing at the pitiful bugs as they desperately try to strip my armor
Considering getting back to Elite and turning my lightly engineered explorer anaconda to a bug (and pirate) destroyer Armour is gonna be paramount, and at least some AX railguns and flak cannons Wonder if just filling all the slots with cannon or minigun turrets would work, talk about dakka And with heavy armour and hull/armour reinforcements, it would be near undestructible save for caustic damage so I might as well ram the goid No shields? No problem, silent run to burn off the caustic goop, while unloading broadsides into the damned bug Swarm? Eat flak, or just ram them with a 400ton ship Might not be meta, but I dont want to even touch engineers again, aside from easy mods, and you BET cosplaying as a imperium of man WH40K cruiser or a ww2 era battleship is a LOT of fun
There is also exo-biology, scanning life samples on planets that was added for odyssey players! Exploration is still cool, i haven't made any big trips yet but i have a diamondback explorer with a 63ly jump range that's tempting me to make my first trip to colonia
Good to see only the meta chief being recommended hehe Making it as clear as possible to what is better will help people avoid the funny boost needing ships and make their journey (and orbits) much smoother
Good stuff. Really significant point, perhaps needing more emphasis: in the cold orbit, you are getting the Goid to orbit you. Not vise versa. This is the first time I’ve heard this. Really important! Thanks for the super video.
@@stewie7 It’s an old movie reference to the film “Starship troopers” basically it’s a space film about humanity fighting some alien species which I think thargoids are loosely based on. In one of the propaganda adverts inside the film, there’s a young person who says “I’m doing my part!!!” And that’s basically where the joke comes from
All those are, essentially, easier takes on solo combat. In a planetary setting goids do not deploy swarms - so flak doesn't apply. In a station setting, you can repair and rearm, making everything easier... not much else to add!
Fresh as hell newbie here, video's pretty well made, should probs try my hand in AX combat for once, been doing evac's for days now and I'm itching for combat Time to show these octagons real math with damage numbers :)
I've noted at some points that Caustic effect is usually removed at or around 120-130% heat, but that may vary as I've only noticed it on the Python. Also, if you're part of a wing, Xeno Scanner data is shared over Datalink, allowing you to recieve this data even if you don't have a Xeno Scanner yourself.
Thing is caustic damage actually has “stacks” with more stacks being applied by eg a Hydra caustic missile versus a Cyclops one. Since actual stacks are never displayed in-game, it’s hard to tell when they are actually burning off.
This is good - not sure I can do it, kinda leads me back to sticking with scouts. I watched a cold orbit video before and noted no swarm but didn't know if that was a variant or something - didn't know you could (and should) actually destroy the swarm! Are the sirius heatsinks available for all or was that some community goal reward - if latter, I'd suggest mentioning it. Probably also worth saying why they're preferred (I've never heard of them till this video) Does the cold orbit technique work with the invasion around starports? I've been hit by the shutdown field a few times and no idea where it came from (once or twice I was only doing rescue missions). Would it be a case of stick to threat 5 source signals until you know what you're doing, and _then_ go to starports? Or are starports easier because you have NPC help? Is there some modified technique to apply with the starport attacks and NPC war response?
very good video ! love it ! ED on youtube needs more videos of this kind, very presice and detailed. could you do another one about the thargoid scouts for new pilots ? as they are easier targets, thargoid scouts could constitute a good introduction to ax combat
As a new AX pilot myself, I don't know that a guide for scouts is necessary... you can just shoot them with an AX multi-cannon and turn on silent running if you need to get rid of some caustic funk. I'm sure there's more nuance than that, but they really aren't much of an issue.
I would agree; essentially, there's four variants: Marauders (your "standard" version), Regenators (green - "heal" other scounts), Berserkers (red - hits harder and can fire caustics), and Inciters (pink - buffs other variants). All have 75% resistance to human weapons (interceptors, in contrast, have 99%), so while AX weapons are far more effective on scouts as well, human weapons are not completely useless either. They also use heat-based tracking so staying cold makes them miss most of their shots. There's different opinions on target prioritization; personally, I always go for Regenetors first, then just shoot what comes into my crosshairs. But in reality, the vast majority of the time I just ignore scouts; I'll only start shooting if I have no choice e.g., need to advance and AXCZ and there are no interceptors left. Waste of ammo otherwise in my humble opinion.
Awesome work CMDR‘s. Very informativ and interesting. Thx’s for that. As a complete FA-Off noob i could imagine the orbiting is VERY hard to learn. Especially because i prefer Hotas to control my ships. Is there even a single CMDR using Hotas with FA-Off? I‘ve heard KB/Mouse is the way to go.
Yes, plenty of CMDRs use FA Off and HOTAS. Control scheme is really a personal preference! Look at the linked (in description) guide to learn FA Off, believe it's best out there.
Hello! I use a HOTAS and have gotten to the point of soloing Hydras using one. Do not feel limited because of your hotas as it can do incredible things with some practice!
the reward was decreased cyclops: 6.5m basi: 20m medusa: 34m hydra: 50m enrage timer is if thargoid's heart was not destroyed for a set amount of time after the enrage timer is reached, the swarm will go kamikaze mode the thargoid will also regenerate the swarm instantly.
I have PTSD from seeing these battle scenes. so intense. I did my part, and thought for sure that mankind was headed for colonia an would be booted out of the bubble. I was in the witch head nebula when it was taken over. fought all over the place. with a ship that wasn't engineered No guardian, nothing! It was insane. Still with a good wing and a good bunch of guys and teamwork. ....Its possible to help out!
I want to join the Anti Xeno initiative but first I need to unlock the rest of my engineers and get better at combat and flying without Flight Assist. I don't want to put my potential squadmates at risk.
@TheMilkman62 I'm in the same boat, but I've realized that it'll take going in a little green to really be able to get a strong start. I've spent the last 3-4 days working on FA-off with my sticks. If you use sticks, it may be worth it to look into a way to set curves up. I don't know why ED doesn't have that function in-game, but it helps a TON if you're using joysticks or hotas. Took me an hour or so to figure out, but it's already saved me that much time slamming into scientific installations and coriolis bases
You'll be fine, those of used to fighting the goids wil be perfectly ok even with relatively new ax pilots around, just remember to turn crime reporting off in ax fighting, run as cold as you can and join in the fun. Enhanced ax weaps are available from the remaining rescue ships and tech broker's
Great vid. For myself, I've learned that patience is key to fighting interceptors. Don't panic! Take the shield down, get the hull damage to exert the heart, target the heart, destroy the heart, rinse and repeat, calm and cool like clockwork. This finally clicked for me last night at Jameson, and I started taking down Cyclops like it was nothing. In a shieldless Krait Mk2 armored tank, you can go toe to toe with interceptors for quite a while before needing to bug out (heh).
Nope. I'm still overwhelmed. Even after three years of joining the AXI and engineering both the Chieftain and the Krait Mk II. Most I ever did was destroy the first heart in three fights and die.
There should be a thargoid interceptor fight in the tutorial menu, at this state ax combat looks like a cash grab arcade game. But in this case it is worse because it grabs time.
Love the vids. More of a question to ALL... I see these missions that send me to eliminate or raid a place.. I get there and it's not a normal settlement. These sites warn you to stay away, and fire on your ship -- when I walk over, they have flying skimmer things and are like a big single rectangle building. How do I tackle these?
I just bought anaconda, equipped it with guardian shard cannons. Made some additional modifications so I wouldn't fall apart and just glued myself to the back of the thargoid and shoot. Worked alright but caustic damage is a bit of a problem. Took about 50% of my hull integrity. I managed to kill it tho. Probably the fastest way to kill a thargoid solo. I dunno it was my first kill and I'm looking forward to going to the spire maybe with a team.
Nicely made and fairly comprehensible (but not complete and up-to-date) video. Allow me to remark that it's absolutely impossible to do the same as a beginner.
Have a question: Do enhaced (or Azimut enhaced) AX multi-cannons are worth to use instead of Gauss? A nd thanks a lot for so great explained in details guideline
Qq pls: I have all thrusters on the right joystick. Means up down is twist, l r lateral and fwd rev y axis. Does it make sense to have all thrusters on one joystick or is there a better configuration ie some thrusters on l joy and some on r joy? OK 2nd q😊 is cold orbit possible and practical with fa on? My fa off is very poor. Thanks
1. Controls are a very personal thing. That being said, what you describe is atypical - most AX fights you will be using down-thrust a good chunk of the time, and with your setup you’d be flying with a twisted joystick which is hardly natural! Does your throttle have a thumbstick? That is a more common place to map your lateral thrust to. 2. Cold orbit is definitely possible in FA On. But a lot more practical in FA Off.
Nice great vid, very informative! Love the input from various individuals. But who at AXI requested Fdev to not make the god shard available anymore after the initial CG? :)
returning elite player, wanted to dabble in some xeno combat since its the current thing, but you had me until the engineering and guardian grind. nah man, i cant go back to that.
I don't understand how people think it's a grind. I just starting engineering like 2 days ago and have 90% of them unlocked and maxed already. Guardian stuff is even easier
@@vtubersubs3803 because it actually is a grind. You have to repeat the same process over and over to get the required materials you need, no matter in what way you choose to gather your materials you'll need to repeat that process a dozen - or more - times. That doesn't mean it's hard/difficult to do, in fact compared to other "MMO's" the grind in elite is fairly easy, tedious and repetitive but easy.
@arch_.. yeah it really is the core issue: its soul crushingly dull. Repeated activity can still be good if it is engaging to do. But material grinding is just RNG, going from point to point, and having to constantly close and reconnect to a session JUST to get the bare minium. This is basement tier engagement. Why the fuck do I need to do idle farming on a planet for 4 straight days to get stuff nessesary to fight the goids?
I only just recently came back for the new thargoid stuff and started using this build again. It worked pretty fine until I encountered 3 glaive interdictions in a row... right now I'm experimenting with the same build but with 2 class 3 gimballed multis just incase the same thing happens. Hunters are scary
The biggest thing you didn't mention is how powerful the phasing damage from the swarm is. The thargoid itself will only do the standard 10% through your shields, which is no big deal. The Swarm, though, does like 100% of its damage through the shield, and is a MASSIVE deal, and probably the biggest reason why shields are a bad choice.
Our tests with regular PD have not shown any ability of point defense to shoot down caustic missiles unfortunately. We’ll do also a few tests with the CG PD (if we can get a hold of it) although we don’t think it would make much of a difference - caustic missiles fly in an erratic pattern; PD simply misses them.
Guardian (modified) plasma chargers are very good weapons. Easiest to exert hearts with, a bit harder to snipe hearts with. (Large, Gimballed, Enhanced) AXMCs are great against weaker interceptors but struggle against harder ones.
This video is awesome, however, I developed my own AX combat style using my Krait MKII and I find it much easier than cold orbiting 👍🏻 I still want to build the meta Chieftain one day though, but it will take me much longer than it took to build my Krait, which I already managed to defeat a Basilisk with
Thanks for the video and thanks for the work and effort! Keep up the good work :) That being said, I have some mixed feelings about this. I have been playing Elite actively only for a couple of months now and I agree on unlocking the guardian hull reinforcements, guardian module protections and the engineers described. However the cold-orbiting and going after non-human signal sources is not for beginners. That is the end-end game in fighting thargoids. If you are a beginner, like me, you should start fighting Thargoid interceptors at planetary bases under attack. At these bases you are near the planet surface and basically cannot always cold-orbit effectively. The reasons why a beginner should start at planetary bases: - The interceptors at planetary bases do not use Thargon interceptor swarms for their protection. This means you have time to learn the other ins and outs of the interceptors before engaging with the swarms. The swarms make the encounters much harder. - You have multiple landing platforms at the base where you can heal and rearm your ship. You don't need to worry about hogging the only landing pad like at space stations from other fellow fighters. - You can modify your ship without the flak launcher, repair limpets, cargo rack, AFMU and make the ship a lot more durable with additional hull reinforcements etc. This makes the encounters more forgiving for beginners. The bases also send repair limpets for your aid. - As a beginner, the Gauss cannons are not necessarily the easiest weapons to start. You can more easily test other weapons, especially pre-engineered shard cannons and plasma chargers, against the interceptors to find your preferred weapons. In my opinion the easiest beginner weapons for interceptor hunting are pre-engineered shard cannons as they kill the hearts most effectively. With pre-engineered plasma chargers you can more easily control the weapon heat and don't necessarily need heat sinks at all. Plasma chargers are also good practice for gauss cannons later on. This war has changed the rules of fighting and the Thargoid encounters. We must evolve with the changes. You don't necessarily need anymore to be able to cold orbit to get into fighting with interceptors. Just take a couple of friends with you and head for a planetary base under attack to get started :) As we need Anti-Xeno pilots of all degrees in the fight, I wanted to tell my personal experiences in the matter. Hope this helps!
The NHSS's are the best way to get better at fighting thargoids. Learning in that space you can get the basics down and transfer it to the planetary bases much easier than learning at a planetary base (where you're missing mechanics) and transferring to nhss's.
it's ok to distinguish casuals and beginners and the way i see it this is more for those who want to go further beyond. these skills translate perfectly into what is going on now and solo combat is the simplest way to hone in on specific skill. it's ok to want to get into the fight as soon as possible but we all can take the time aside to improve and learn, if that's what you find fun, because i for one love trying to get better. i started learning this way and all of that i learned translated to what i do now mostly, i fly a krait mk2 with no flak; it has 4 modified shards and a beam which i use in AXCZs. if i would have started out this way instead of the meta chieftain i probably wouldn't have made it as far as i have and gotten so much enjoyment from pushing my limit.
I agree there are many ways to begin AX combat, the way we teach in the AXI is designed with the long-term in mind, we understand that if you ever plan to hunt solo hydras, you will benefit far more from beginning with the skills we discuss here. We could teach you how to gib goids with flak, but those skills are far less transferable down the road.
AxCZs and Wingfights wont teach you much about Soloing Interceptors or how you have to behave when the Goid is locked on you. You can die fast in the right moment if you dont orbit, while the Ceptor is facing you. That being said i think its still good to have the basics
We have a large ships guide which pre-dates the new shard cannons but is otherwise still extremely relevant; here: wiki.antixenoinitiative.com/en/large-ship-guide
I mean combat ships aren’t really meant to jump around - that’s what carriers and ship transfers are for. That being said, the meta is there for you to know about, you can always customize things to your heart’s content, just armed with information as to what works and why!
Well, I think the time for cleaning the dust off my Anaconda, getting some credits for a Chieftain, and acquring those Engineering Materials has come. No time to sleep, we have to defend the humanity's own existence. o7, CMDRs
They gotta increase the range of that xeno scanner... running turreted MCs is annoying as hell when fighting interceptors, constantly switching between Target Only and Forward Fire. Buff the Xeno Scanners range!!!
I agree. EAXMC gimbals absolutely shred Cyclopses (assuming range is kept and all that) but they need a scan to do anything to hearts. Great weapons, just impractical right now. Especially for AXCZs.
1) use fixed if you are gonna use mc 2) just dont use MC, go get your gauss and use the scouts as target practice, killing scouts aren't nearly as useful as killing the actual interceptors. 3) A good interceptor killer=a good scout killer, a good scout killer =/= a good interceptor killer.
I see this videos, all off them, a few times and after 1200hours off game, kill a thargoid look imposible to me, only to get frustrated and no fun at all.I unistall the game becouse of it just make me sad to keep trying.
Thargoid combat is hard. The rest of the game is easy. If your cup of tea is an easy, chill, relaxing game, then that’s what you should do in elite and not get frustrated with what you don’t enjoy!
Funnily yes. FDEV reduced the rewards before bringing them back recently to where they were after their most substantial 4x buff. So the rewards shown in this video are current for all except for the Orthrus - the latter was nerfed into the ground (from 40m to 15m).
Where are you found the one-to-one duel?! There are many Scouts near the Thargoid conflict zones and when you'll try to repair the ship, some Scout or another Interceptor will stop your repair. Better use more hull reinforcement packages and repair ship on the nearest stations(IMHO).
Good Video! Now I know: I won´t go into Battle with them and maybe not going on with this game at all... I just wanted some exploring and trading. Now there is not only pirates, but space MASTERENEMIES that take like hours to fight and to fight them, you need Guradiantech and so on.. Naw thanks.
I get killed by thargoids jeezz, i dont even know what is that at first, i just doing some exploration, when sudenly i get swarm but so many little thing that i dont even know what, and then died instantly :( The worst thing is i have so many planet scaned and all lost in an instant☹
This is a great guide, however you only need 120-125% heat to remove caustic damage, you don't want new players getting it up to 300 and needlessly be damaging modules.
It's a bit of a tradeoff. What is better - spending quite a bit of time at 125% heat, or spending less than a second at 300%? In the end, either works really.
@@Astyrrean I'm definitely a beginner at bug hunting so maybe I'm missing something, but I don't see much reason to get to 300 based on my experience constantly getting caustic cause I keep running into clouds lol
@@Zeralium caustic damage is a stacked effect, if you graze a caustic death cloud or get hit by a scout's missile, you'll be fine, but missile for a hydra for instance will take a long time at 125% to fully get rid of, so just be aware of that
My personal way to get rid of (scout) caustics is to fire the LRTV into the black while silent running. It'll heat you up like nobody's business, and is relatively quick to respond with the moment you burn off. Mileage may vary, I can usually avoid ceptor caustics, and well, just basically do what you prefer on this one.
It's the opposite for me. That guy so the only clear voice. Unfortunately the main guy's accent is too thick for me... Nothing he can do about it though, I just can't hear in general.
PLEASE SOMEONE, hello, hum, why is it so important to NOT use turreted mount flak launcher? I need explaination as i really want to use the pink festive flak launcher... Is it MANDATORY to use fixed flak??
![Krait Mk2 Guide vs Thargoids [2024]](/img/1.gif)
This is probably the best guide for beginners like me. Not overly complicated and extremely informative. Glory, to mankind!
@Citizen_Kate she knows more, and she has better builds than this
@@wolf2k143 Ask her where she learned AX
@@mariemonroe553 own research, trial and error, coriolis simulation, common sense, intelligence, sufficient time and determination. I have a Krait Mk2 AX build better than this Alliance Chieftain "Meta". At the end is also skill based combat.
@@wolf2k143 Research done in AXI yes you're right. I wish you well in your fights commander we need good AX pilots. Just a small side note - to this day there hasn't been a ship that has achieved as much as a chieftain I hope you try it some day and see how fun it is
@@mariemonroe553 the damage output is not enough for me, krait can achieve more. I did more in my krait than others in chieftan, for me, chieftan is in second place after krait as overall ax combat.
Just came across this video, as a new pilot who's only done exploration/exobiology - this guide is extremely helpful. Bonus points for just how well made the video is, makes you feel like this is an official guide from FDev. Community initiatives like AXI are what make Elite Dangerous stand out from the rest. o7, happy hunting.
Thank you! It was definitely a big team effort!
Great job! For the PD, new players should note that using weapon focused engineering is also a strong choice that works with most medium/big ships.
Well… not really. I mean it’s not BAD but it cripples you ability to boost and is terrible for shielded (large) builds. So, no. Go charge enhanced (which has HIGHER wep recharge rate than even weapon focused!).
@@Astyrrean Oh of course, but I'm talking about specific builds. No shield, large distro draw. Frequent boost is not needed depending on your ship except to boost away and having more capacity means less heat spikes. So yes, high charge is better in most situations, but AX fight is the only occasion where WEP can be used. I don't say it is better, just another option that can be very good. I use WEP charge on my main AX-Chally, and I prefer it to high-charge. And actually I saw that on this very channel one of your top guys uses it too.
What an awesome video. Brilliantly edited and the mix of Commander’s voice overs is superb! Mankind comes together to beat the Thargoids! Next challenge on Planet Earth: Stop killing each other!
Thanks for making this - very useful for those starting out in AX combat. Just wish it was there a few weeks ago when I felt lost and overwhelmed. But even so - I still managed to get some good tips and lessons out of this video. Thanks again.
Great job all, this is awesome! o7
although this video is a year old, im glad i found it, exactly what i needed and straight to the point!
Nice work for those who didn't care to visit AXI site already. As they say, picture is worth a thousand words, so thumbs up.
great guide, very informative for those new to AX. With that being said, I will continue to ignore AXI and continue face tanking in my shieldless vette and laughing at the pitiful bugs as they desperately try to strip my armor
Considering getting back to Elite and turning my lightly engineered explorer anaconda to a bug (and pirate) destroyer
Armour is gonna be paramount, and at least some AX railguns and flak cannons
Wonder if just filling all the slots with cannon or minigun turrets would work, talk about dakka
And with heavy armour and hull/armour reinforcements, it would be near undestructible save for caustic damage so I might as well ram the goid
No shields? No problem, silent run to burn off the caustic goop, while unloading broadsides into the damned bug
Swarm? Eat flak, or just ram them with a 400ton ship
Might not be meta, but I dont want to even touch engineers again, aside from easy mods, and you BET cosplaying as a imperium of man WH40K cruiser or a ww2 era battleship is a LOT of fun
This is a really comprehensive, well-made and informative video for AX combat. Well made
Getting back into the game, and am greeted with this "Thargoid War" thing on the map. Sounds like I have a new job in place of exploration.
There is also exo-biology, scanning life samples on planets that was added for odyssey players! Exploration is still cool, i haven't made any big trips yet but i have a diamondback explorer with a 63ly jump range that's tempting me to make my first trip to colonia
I been on and off this game for a few years ive never got to fight any of these things. I think ima try.
Great clip, gives a very good overview to get into AX-Combat! Great work, Fellas! o7
Good to see only the meta chief being recommended hehe
Making it as clear as possible to what is better will help people avoid the funny boost needing ships and make their journey (and orbits) much smoother
lurb alert
@@samplehandle that's lurb (LURB) to you
Krait slander smh (but yeah, the Chief is probably best to start with initially)
Lurb (LURB) of LURB squadron (LURB) alert.
Krait is awesome. Lots of dakka. But Chief is easier to learn. Lesson being, use Chief, then maybe Krait.
@@SGTcz90cz i love the krait and would never leave it, but damn i wish i did the chief first
Good stuff. Really significant point, perhaps needing more emphasis: in the cold orbit, you are getting the Goid to orbit you. Not vise versa. This is the first time I’ve heard this. Really important! Thanks for the super video.
Great timing! Just finished my Krait. I'm coming for them now too!
Thanks much.
I’m doing my part
underrated comment
anyone who doesn’t get this joke is uncultured
@@gkammy It is part cultural reference, part fact - I did do my part. 😊
@@gkammy explain the joke please
@@stewie7 It’s an old movie reference to the film “Starship troopers”
basically it’s a space film about humanity fighting some alien species which I think thargoids are loosely based on.
In one of the propaganda adverts inside the film, there’s a young person who says “I’m doing my part!!!” And that’s basically where the joke comes from
A superb guide - well done guys.
Just started playing, still have no idea what the hell is anti-xeno weapons and how to obtain it, great guide
Great video! Would love to see another that covers the new planet and station based fighting and how it changes the tactics.
All those are, essentially, easier takes on solo combat. In a planetary setting goids do not deploy swarms - so flak doesn't apply. In a station setting, you can repair and rearm, making everything easier... not much else to add!
this is a great video, thank you for taking the time to make it!
Great guide. Looking forward to getting into the AX part of the game.
Fresh as hell newbie here, video's pretty well made, should probs try my hand in AX combat for once, been doing evac's for days now and I'm itching for combat
Time to show these octagons real math with damage numbers :)
Fantastic video. I have not had any experience in AX combat, but I will use this guide to have a crack. Thanks guys!
Have fun!
Happy to have been able to contribute o7
Very clear summary of AX.
Good video.
Thank you Muquuu! And if ever would want to translate the subtitles into Japanese, let me know and I will gladly add them.
Wonderful guide, thank you so much!
I've noted at some points that Caustic effect is usually removed at or around 120-130% heat, but that may vary as I've only noticed it on the Python. Also, if you're part of a wing, Xeno Scanner data is shared over Datalink, allowing you to recieve this data even if you don't have a Xeno Scanner yourself.
Thing is caustic damage actually has “stacks” with more stacks being applied by eg a Hydra caustic missile versus a Cyclops one. Since actual stacks are never displayed in-game, it’s hard to tell when they are actually burning off.
@@Astyrrean Interesting, would explain why sometimes even at 120+ it'd still be caustic.
Excellent video! Well made guys.
Very well done. Really lets you know what you are getting into.
Wow, this video is basically all you need as AX intro! Very useful! O7
I know the Gausses are considered the best, but I'm gonna stick to my plasmas.
Though this is still a good guide to get into things.
Well Done! Excellent Guide!
This is good - not sure I can do it, kinda leads me back to sticking with scouts. I watched a cold orbit video before and noted no swarm but didn't know if that was a variant or something - didn't know you could (and should) actually destroy the swarm!
Are the sirius heatsinks available for all or was that some community goal reward - if latter, I'd suggest mentioning it. Probably also worth saying why they're preferred (I've never heard of them till this video)
Does the cold orbit technique work with the invasion around starports? I've been hit by the shutdown field a few times and no idea where it came from (once or twice I was only doing rescue missions). Would it be a case of stick to threat 5 source signals until you know what you're doing, and _then_ go to starports? Or are starports easier because you have NPC help? Is there some modified technique to apply with the starport attacks and NPC war response?
Those are a lot of good questions. Come join our discord and ask in #recruit_academy. You'll find the answers you seek!
Great tutorial, let's save humanity in our galaxy
very good video ! love it ! ED on youtube needs more videos of this kind, very presice and detailed. could you do another one about the thargoid scouts for new pilots ? as they are easier targets, thargoid scouts could constitute a good introduction to ax combat
As a new AX pilot myself, I don't know that a guide for scouts is necessary... you can just shoot them with an AX multi-cannon and turn on silent running if you need to get rid of some caustic funk. I'm sure there's more nuance than that, but they really aren't much of an issue.
I would agree; essentially, there's four variants: Marauders (your "standard" version), Regenators (green - "heal" other scounts), Berserkers (red - hits harder and can fire caustics), and Inciters (pink - buffs other variants). All have 75% resistance to human weapons (interceptors, in contrast, have 99%), so while AX weapons are far more effective on scouts as well, human weapons are not completely useless either. They also use heat-based tracking so staying cold makes them miss most of their shots.
There's different opinions on target prioritization; personally, I always go for Regenetors first, then just shoot what comes into my crosshairs. But in reality, the vast majority of the time I just ignore scouts; I'll only start shooting if I have no choice e.g., need to advance and AXCZ and there are no interceptors left. Waste of ammo otherwise in my humble opinion.
Awesome work CMDR‘s. Very informativ and interesting. Thx’s for that. As a complete FA-Off noob i could imagine the orbiting is VERY hard to learn. Especially because i prefer Hotas to control my ships. Is there even a single CMDR using Hotas with FA-Off? I‘ve heard KB/Mouse is the way to go.
Yes, plenty of CMDRs use FA Off and HOTAS. Control scheme is really a personal preference! Look at the linked (in description) guide to learn FA Off, believe it's best out there.
Hello! I use a HOTAS and have gotten to the point of soloing Hydras using one. Do not feel limited because of your hotas as it can do incredible things with some practice!
@@jurl2700, @Astyrrean: Thx‘s for the answer. That makes hope and sounds promising. I‘ll give it a try. Glory to mankind CMDR‘S.
the reward was decreased
cyclops: 6.5m
basi: 20m
medusa: 34m
hydra: 50m
enrage timer is if thargoid's heart was not destroyed for a set amount of time
after the enrage timer is reached, the swarm will go kamikaze mode
the thargoid will also regenerate the swarm instantly.
I have PTSD from seeing these battle scenes. so intense. I did my part, and thought for sure that mankind was headed for colonia an would be booted out of the bubble. I was in the witch head nebula when it was taken over. fought all over the place. with a ship that wasn't engineered No guardian, nothing!
It was insane. Still with a good wing and a good bunch of guys and teamwork. ....Its possible to help out!
Hello, is this manual still viable? I am referring to the issue of titans, needles and those latest events with the targoids.
Great video
Yes it is still viable for solo and AXCZ combat. For Titan combat, we have other more recent videos.
Great work Commanders!!
absolutely like the guide, kudos to such a great teamwork from everyone o7
- Cmdr Hannibal07 -
I want to join the Anti Xeno initiative but first I need to unlock the rest of my engineers and get better at combat and flying without Flight Assist. I don't want to put my potential squadmates at risk.
@TheMilkman62 I'm in the same boat, but I've realized that it'll take going in a little green to really be able to get a strong start. I've spent the last 3-4 days working on FA-off with my sticks. If you use sticks, it may be worth it to look into a way to set curves up. I don't know why ED doesn't have that function in-game, but it helps a TON if you're using joysticks or hotas.
Took me an hour or so to figure out, but it's already saved me that much time slamming into scientific installations and coriolis bases
You'll be fine, those of used to fighting the goids wil be perfectly ok even with relatively new ax pilots around, just remember to turn crime reporting off in ax fighting, run as cold as you can and join in the fun. Enhanced ax weaps are available from the remaining rescue ships and tech broker's
FANTASTIC JOB GUYS!!!
Glory, to Mankind.
The Ducc protects.
Great vid. For myself, I've learned that patience is key to fighting interceptors. Don't panic! Take the shield down, get the hull damage to exert the heart, target the heart, destroy the heart, rinse and repeat, calm and cool like clockwork. This finally clicked for me last night at Jameson, and I started taking down Cyclops like it was nothing. In a shieldless Krait Mk2 armored tank, you can go toe to toe with interceptors for quite a while before needing to bug out (heh).
Solo'ed my first Basilisk. That was ...a bit more hairy than a Cyclops, wow. Gonna need more practice on Cyclops before I try that again.
Amazing info!
Thanks very much! Been back for a year and looking to try something new for me the game. Very helpful guide😊
Nope. I'm still overwhelmed. Even after three years of joining the AXI and engineering both the Chieftain and the Krait Mk II. Most I ever did was destroy the first heart in three fights and die.
There should be a thargoid interceptor fight in the tutorial menu, at this state ax combat looks like a cash grab arcade game. But in this case it is worse because it grabs time.
Love the vids.
More of a question to ALL...
I see these missions that send me to eliminate or raid a place.. I get there and it's not a normal settlement. These sites warn you to stay away, and fire on your ship -- when I walk over, they have flying skimmer things and are like a big single rectangle building.
How do I tackle these?
well done guys. thanks!
Nice work, very clear instructions o7
thanks, awesome piece of work, and just what the doctor ordered. o7!
I just bought anaconda, equipped it with guardian shard cannons. Made some additional modifications so I wouldn't fall apart and just glued myself to the back of the thargoid and shoot. Worked alright but caustic damage is a bit of a problem. Took about 50% of my hull integrity. I managed to kill it tho. Probably the fastest way to kill a thargoid solo. I dunno it was my first kill and I'm looking forward to going to the spire maybe with a team.
Nicely made and fairly comprehensible (but not complete and up-to-date) video. Allow me to remark that it's absolutely impossible to do the same as a beginner.
Thanks! What do you mean “impossible to do the same as a beginner”?
awesome guide! Decent work guys! Glory to mankind!
o7
Thanks!
Have a question: Do enhaced (or Azimut enhaced) AX multi-cannons are worth to use instead of Gauss?
A nd thanks a lot for so great explained in details guideline
They are only worth using in the presence of anti-guardian fields, like in systems with Titans present. Anywhere else, gauss is superior.
@@Astyrrean Thanks
Qq pls: I have all thrusters on the right joystick. Means up down is twist, l r lateral and fwd rev y axis. Does it make sense to have all thrusters on one joystick or is there a better configuration ie some thrusters on l joy and some on r joy? OK 2nd q😊 is cold orbit possible and practical with fa on? My fa off is very poor. Thanks
1. Controls are a very personal thing. That being said, what you describe is atypical - most AX fights you will be using down-thrust a good chunk of the time, and with your setup you’d be flying with a twisted joystick which is hardly natural! Does your throttle have a thumbstick? That is a more common place to map your lateral thrust to.
2. Cold orbit is definitely possible in FA On. But a lot more practical in FA Off.
Nice great vid, very informative! Love the input from various individuals.
But who at AXI requested Fdev to not make the god shard available anymore after the initial CG? :)
Oh we never requested it. In fact, we were salty about it - either need it outright, or make it available to all, was the stance.
Very Nice!
returning elite player, wanted to dabble in some xeno combat since its the current thing, but you had me until the engineering and guardian grind. nah man, i cant go back to that.
edmaterials makes the grind pretty easy, compared to the past
I don't understand how people think it's a grind. I just starting engineering like 2 days ago and have 90% of them unlocked and maxed already. Guardian stuff is even easier
@@vtubersubs3803 because it actually is a grind. You have to repeat the same process over and over to get the required materials you need, no matter in what way you choose to gather your materials you'll need to repeat that process a dozen - or more - times. That doesn't mean it's hard/difficult to do, in fact compared to other "MMO's" the grind in elite is fairly easy, tedious and repetitive but easy.
@arch_.. yeah it really is the core issue: its soul crushingly dull.
Repeated activity can still be good if it is engaging to do. But material grinding is just RNG, going from point to point, and having to constantly close and reconnect to a session JUST to get the bare minium.
This is basement tier engagement. Why the fuck do I need to do idle farming on a planet for 4 straight days to get stuff nessesary to fight the goids?
I only just recently came back for the new thargoid stuff and started using this build again. It worked pretty fine until I encountered 3 glaive interdictions in a row... right now I'm experimenting with the same build but with 2 class 3 gimballed multis just incase the same thing happens. Hunters are scary
The biggest thing you didn't mention is how powerful the phasing damage from the swarm is. The thargoid itself will only do the standard 10% through your shields, which is no big deal. The Swarm, though, does like 100% of its damage through the shield, and is a MASSIVE deal, and probably the biggest reason why shields are a bad choice.
Come to our discord and type "/shields" ;) You'll get the full picture!
Can point defense shoot down caustic missles like regular missles? Or is that going to be future AX module, like 'AX Point Defense'?
Our tests with regular PD have not shown any ability of point defense to shoot down caustic missiles unfortunately. We’ll do also a few tests with the CG PD (if we can get a hold of it) although we don’t think it would make much of a difference - caustic missiles fly in an erratic pattern; PD simply misses them.
Nice guide, think you talked me out of it, but maybe in a future where I have more time
What about using enhaced AX multi or guardian PAC loadout?
Viable alternatives to rails?
Guardian (modified) plasma chargers are very good weapons. Easiest to exert hearts with, a bit harder to snipe hearts with. (Large, Gimballed, Enhanced) AXMCs are great against weaker interceptors but struggle against harder ones.
@@Astyrrean AXMCs, in my experience, only seem to be effective against Cyclops interceptors. i couldn't make a dent in the Basilisk with them at all.
@@bystandah9626 ruclips.net/video/GvH2nHbWpY8/видео.html 🙂
This video is awesome, however, I developed my own AX combat style using my Krait MKII and I find it much easier than cold orbiting 👍🏻
I still want to build the meta Chieftain one day though, but it will take me much longer than it took to build my Krait, which I already managed to defeat a Basilisk with
OUTSTUCKINFANDING VIDEO! Thank you for all of this crucial information. I'll begin practicing immediately
Welcome to the end game of Elite:Dangerous!
May not get answered, but should everything be engineered to max possible? highest tier, max generation?
Answered in the video in fact. There’s a “fully engineered” and a “G3 version” linked in the video description.
So I know only AX or Guardian weapons will damage/destroy the hearts, but are they the only way to exert the hearts too? Regular weapons don’t do it?
That’s right. You need AX damage to exert the hearts too. Regular damage is only good to accelerate shield decay (which decays on its own anyway.)
Can the caustic missles be shot down using point defence?
Technically yes. Practically PD can’t hit them reliably.
Thanks for the video and thanks for the work and effort! Keep up the good work :)
That being said, I have some mixed feelings about this. I have been playing Elite actively only for a couple of months now and I agree on unlocking the guardian hull reinforcements, guardian module protections and the engineers described. However the cold-orbiting and going after non-human signal sources is not for beginners. That is the end-end game in fighting thargoids. If you are a beginner, like me, you should start fighting Thargoid interceptors at planetary bases under attack. At these bases you are near the planet surface and basically cannot always cold-orbit effectively.
The reasons why a beginner should start at planetary bases:
- The interceptors at planetary bases do not use Thargon interceptor swarms for their protection. This means you have time to learn the other ins and outs of the interceptors before engaging with the swarms. The swarms make the encounters much harder.
- You have multiple landing platforms at the base where you can heal and rearm your ship. You don't need to worry about hogging the only landing pad like at space stations from other fellow fighters.
- You can modify your ship without the flak launcher, repair limpets, cargo rack, AFMU and make the ship a lot more durable with additional hull reinforcements etc. This makes the encounters more forgiving for beginners. The bases also send repair limpets for your aid.
- As a beginner, the Gauss cannons are not necessarily the easiest weapons to start. You can more easily test other weapons, especially pre-engineered shard cannons and plasma chargers, against the interceptors to find your preferred weapons. In my opinion the easiest beginner weapons for interceptor hunting are pre-engineered shard cannons as they kill the hearts most effectively. With pre-engineered plasma chargers you can more easily control the weapon heat and don't necessarily need heat sinks at all. Plasma chargers are also good practice for gauss cannons later on.
This war has changed the rules of fighting and the Thargoid encounters. We must evolve with the changes. You don't necessarily need anymore to be able to cold orbit to get into fighting with interceptors. Just take a couple of friends with you and head for a planetary base under attack to get started :)
As we need Anti-Xeno pilots of all degrees in the fight, I wanted to tell my personal experiences in the matter. Hope this helps!
The NHSS's are the best way to get better at fighting thargoids. Learning in that space you can get the basics down and transfer it to the planetary bases much easier than learning at a planetary base (where you're missing mechanics) and transferring to nhss's.
it's ok to distinguish casuals and beginners and the way i see it this is more for those who want to go further beyond. these skills translate perfectly into what is going on now and solo combat is the simplest way to hone in on specific skill. it's ok to want to get into the fight as soon as possible but we all can take the time aside to improve and learn, if that's what you find fun, because i for one love trying to get better. i started learning this way and all of that i learned translated to what i do now mostly, i fly a krait mk2 with no flak; it has 4 modified shards and a beam which i use in AXCZs.
if i would have started out this way instead of the meta chieftain i probably wouldn't have made it as far as i have and gotten so much enjoyment from pushing my limit.
I agree there are many ways to begin AX combat, the way we teach in the AXI is designed with the long-term in mind, we understand that if you ever plan to hunt solo hydras, you will benefit far more from beginning with the skills we discuss here.
We could teach you how to gib goids with flak, but those skills are far less transferable down the road.
AxCZs and Wingfights wont teach you much about Soloing Interceptors or how you have to behave when the Goid is locked on you. You can die fast in the right moment if you dont orbit, while the Ceptor is facing you. That being said i think its still good to have the basics
Okay, now that I’ve got an AX ship build I need to pull the trigger and fight a thargoid. 😢
Good luck!
Any training for shard cannons with larger/slower ships?
We have a large ships guide which pre-dates the new shard cannons but is otherwise still extremely relevant; here: wiki.antixenoinitiative.com/en/large-ship-guide
Is there an alternative for fitting in a guardian FSD booster?
I mean combat ships aren’t really meant to jump around - that’s what carriers and ship transfers are for. That being said, the meta is there for you to know about, you can always customize things to your heart’s content, just armed with information as to what works and why!
How do you aquire a detailed scan of a thargoid now that they are instantly hostile with the new war?
Only way is to get quite good at hugging them - or bring a friend (detailed scans are shared across the wing)
Can gimbal gauss cannons be used or is fixed mandatory?
Alas, gauss cannons, much like railguns, are only fixed. There is no such thing as gimballed gauss cannons.
The secret technique is to use Turreted Gauss Cannons, obviously xD
I play on Xbox and I'm stuck on horizons, is everything in this loadout in horizons or is some stuff odyssey exclusive?
None of this content from the Academy video is Odyssey specific.
Well, I think the time for cleaning the dust off my Anaconda, getting some credits for a Chieftain, and acquring those Engineering Materials has come.
No time to sleep, we have to defend the humanity's own existence.
o7, CMDRs
How bad of an idea is it to make a chieftain with mix of axi cannons and gauss with the new stabilizers?
You get the worst of both worlds ... I mean it's usable; it's just that it isn't very good
Epic
I have a question how do you get to the thargoids with so little fuel
What do you mean "so little fuel"?
it seems a little troublesome
They gotta increase the range of that xeno scanner... running turreted MCs is annoying as hell when fighting interceptors, constantly switching between Target Only and Forward Fire.
Buff the Xeno Scanners range!!!
I agree. EAXMC gimbals absolutely shred Cyclopses (assuming range is kept and all that) but they need a scan to do anything to hearts. Great weapons, just impractical right now. Especially for AXCZs.
1) use fixed if you are gonna use mc 2) just dont use MC, go get your gauss and use the scouts as target practice, killing scouts aren't nearly as useful as killing the actual interceptors. 3) A good interceptor killer=a good scout killer, a good scout killer =/= a good interceptor killer.
I see this videos, all off them, a few times and after 1200hours off game, kill a thargoid look imposible to me, only to get frustrated and no fun at all.I unistall the game becouse of it just make me sad to keep trying.
Thargoid combat is hard. The rest of the game is easy. If your cup of tea is an easy, chill, relaxing game, then that’s what you should do in elite and not get frustrated with what you don’t enjoy!
I have reach 500mil credits after mining for 2 days with my type 9, and now, im ready to try kill some bug, wherto find guardian ruin?
This is the best explanation: ruclips.net/video/RcWVQf0NUag/видео.html
@@Astyrrean owh thx, i've watch it, one question tho, m i need to expect some thargoid intercepting me while gathering those guardian blueprint?
@@Localnimation There's no Thargoids at guardian sites, no.
Can this be done with mkb?
I use MKB, so yes :). ruclips.net/video/uyrNtOEqpzE/видео.htmlsi=GeroIx5fl9bAxXG6
Rewards are updated?
Funnily yes. FDEV reduced the rewards before bringing them back recently to where they were after their most substantial 4x buff. So the rewards shown in this video are current for all except for the Orthrus - the latter was nerfed into the ground (from 40m to 15m).
can i use shard cannon to
The medium fixed *modified* guardian shard cannons. All other shards are not that great.
@@Astyrrean oh welp than i need to fly back to a Guardian structuur haha
Glory, to Mankind!
Follow the meta to learn AX combat, but don't be tied to it, try new things as soon as you feel comfortable.
Where are you found the one-to-one duel?! There are many Scouts near the Thargoid conflict zones and when you'll try to repair the ship, some Scout or another Interceptor will stop your repair. Better use more hull reinforcement packages and repair ship on the nearest stations(IMHO).
One on one duels can be found in many Non Human Signal Sources (NHSS) and at select Distress Call points of interest (for example, the one in HR1185).
Good Video! Now I know: I won´t go into Battle with them and maybe not going on with this game at all... I just wanted some exploring and trading. Now there is not only pirates, but space MASTERENEMIES that take like hours to fight and to fight them, you need Guradiantech and so on.. Naw thanks.
I was informed that this no longer works this way anymore.
Not sure who informed you, and what they informed you of :). Most of the content in this video is still quite actual.
I get killed by thargoids jeezz, i dont even know what is that at first, i just doing some exploration, when sudenly i get swarm but so many little thing that i dont even know what, and then died instantly :(
The worst thing is i have so many planet scaned and all lost in an instant☹
Learn to fight back and join the war effort!
Exellent guide!
This is a great guide, however you only need 120-125% heat to remove caustic damage, you don't want new players getting it up to 300 and needlessly be damaging modules.
It's a bit of a tradeoff. What is better - spending quite a bit of time at 125% heat, or spending less than a second at 300%? In the end, either works really.
@@Astyrrean I've always gotten caustic damage to remove immediately once I get to the 120-125 range, you save a heatsink and limit module damage.
@@Astyrrean I'm definitely a beginner at bug hunting so maybe I'm missing something, but I don't see much reason to get to 300 based on my experience constantly getting caustic cause I keep running into clouds lol
@@Zeralium caustic damage is a stacked effect, if you graze a caustic death cloud or get hit by a scout's missile, you'll be fine, but missile for a hydra for instance will take a long time at 125% to fully get rid of, so just be aware of that
My personal way to get rid of (scout) caustics is to fire the LRTV into the black while silent running. It'll heat you up like nobody's business, and is relatively quick to respond with the moment you burn off.
Mileage may vary, I can usually avoid ceptor caustics, and well, just basically do what you prefer on this one.
Great - but couldn’t understand a word the second guy said
It's the opposite for me. That guy so the only clear voice. Unfortunately the main guy's accent is too thick for me... Nothing he can do about it though, I just can't hear in general.
PLEASE SOMEONE, hello, hum, why is it so important to NOT use turreted mount flak launcher? I need explaination as i really want to use the pink festive flak launcher... Is it MANDATORY to use fixed flak??
Festive Flak does 1% of the damage of the usual flak, so you wouldn’t want to use it anyway in combat.
Hmm.... guess there isnt much time to into the current thargoid war then?