Is Timelines the only way to get Xenon blueprints?

[thegazbeard]

I have all the DLCs except Timelines. I did not buy it because of the reviews it got on Steam.

In my current game, I have a fleet of captured Xenon ships - most of them are missing some or all weapons, some are missing one or more engines, and some are missing shields. The only thing I seem to be able to repair is their hulls.

How/where do I get the blueprints for their modules so I can re-equip them in my wharf? I did some googling and several (Reddit only) posts said I need to complete the Timelines missions. Nowhere else gave any pointers.

So, is it true that only a paywall DLC gives the ability to re-equip ships captured from the most prevalent enemy in the game?

[conrado.lacerda]

You don't need the dlc for that; when killing the new Xenon H capital ship, there's a chance to get a new type of drop (forgot the name - but you'll be notified when acquiring one) that enables a new research project on the HQ that, once completed, gives you blueprints for Xenon equipment that you can use on your wharves/shipyards.

[Pathogenic]

I think you should give Timelines a chance and ignore for now the negative reviews. It is not that expensive, opens up several nice new sectors, gains access to several cool new ships, and does have in my opinion a pretty interesting story.

[Doom]

Originally posted by thegazbeard:

Is Timelines the only way to get Xenon blueprints?

You need Xenon Quantum Shard that drops from H, that'll unlock the research for Boso Ta. With Timelines it'll be easier to get said H. You shouldn't need Timelines.

[jedi.khan]

As Doom and Conrado said, the Xenon H (a smaller capital ship than the K and I) drops a bit of loot that enables a research project from Boso, without needing the Timelines DLC. I don't think it unlocks the full Xenon tech library, though, only bits of it. I don't have a shipyard/wharf myself yet, but when building stations, I have the option to add Xenon shields but no Xenon turrets. I'll have to wait till have I have a shipyard/wharf to see what is available to add to ships.

[Dr.doom]

yea timelines wasnt that bad if u wanted more backstory of the older games mostly and some bonuses to the main game after

[Doom]

Originally posted by jedi.khan:

I don't think it unlocks the full Xenon tech library,

It unlocks all guns and shields you can install on xenon ships you can capture, which are H, PE and SE (and also F and B). However, there are few other xenon engines you won't be able to build, and I think it is from older xenon ship models that you can't cap. The research does not unlock those.

The rule of the thumb is, if you check equipment in encyclopedia, it uses raw ore, raw silicon and xenon build method, then those recipes won't be unlocked.

[joeball123]

Originally posted by Doom:

Originally posted by jedi.khan:

I don't think it unlocks the full Xenon tech library,

It unlocks all guns and shields you can install on xenon ships you can capture, which are H, PE and SE.

Also F and B.

[Doom]

Originally posted by joeball123:

Originally posted by Doom:

It unlocks all guns and shields you can install on xenon ships you can capture, which are H, PE and SE.

Also F and B.

Right. That's correct. I'll adjust the comment.

[Zloth]

Has anyone ever found one of these Xenon ships to be useful?

[Pathogenic]

Originally posted by Zloth:

Has anyone ever found one of these Xenon ships to be useful?

Personally, there is nothing super awesome about them. Except the SE, that's kinda cool because it can carry a good amount of both solid and container goods.

[VoiD]

The main issue is that the gameplay of timelines is absolutely torturous, and it has nothing to do with the actual game, it's a bunch of isolated missions.

Which would be fine if you could just ignore them, but all of the actual content is locked behind completing those tedious tasks, so you're forced to do them.

i've downloaded somebody else's file to try and do it and now my game's market as modified, so that screwed my game, it's a shame, I came back to enjoy x4 and see what was new but this DLC alone made me uninstall, I don't know if I'll ever feel like checking it out again, it's that bad.

[Zloth]

First, the missions ARE the main content. If you aren't buying for that, don't buy at all.

Second, if you don't like the missions, don't play them. Just forget you bought the whole thing if you can't return it. You aren't forced to play it.

Third, I don't know how you managed to make all your saves modified by mucking around in the save files, but that's on you.

[joeball123]

Originally posted by Zloth:

Has anyone ever found one of these Xenon ships to be useful?

What's your standard for "useful?" I wouldn't call any of them amazing or go out of my way to obtain them, but it's still a free ship if one happens to bail (go offline? shut down?) and isn't too much trouble to recover, and the SE is a passable medium miner/freighter hybrid.

I'll also comment that the H looks like it could be interesting as a universal freighter when playing around with mining stations, or perhaps as a light destroyer along the lines of the Barbarossa that also has the drone capacity to act as a pseudo-carrier, but I don't think that boarding them is worth the bother.

[Doom]

Originally posted by Zloth:

Has anyone ever found one of these Xenon ships to be useful?

Their primary purpose is looking cool. Meaning they're usable as player ships.

PeaceMaker seems to have been enjoying his H. Some people experimented with it for fun as well trying out drones. I remember people using PE for traders, and complaining about SE not mining.

I really like look of F and B myself.

The problem, however, is that stats are subpar on all of them, you can't mix it with other equipment, and they tend to be flimsy and slow. Because you can't rebuild them easily, losing one hurts and they end up collecting dust. I have screenshots of stats of modde F and B and those aren't great.

[SirProsik]

In One game I modded an H with slasher mods on the turrets and it was a beast in pre 7.50. I could take out K's in it easily. Did not try an I yet. Maybe in Beta once turrets can hit stuff again :)