Fighting Thargoids - An Introductory Guide to AX Combat

This guide is no longer being updated. I have not played the game since January of 2022.

This guide will serve as an introductory lesson into the field of AX (Anti-Xeno) combat. AX Combat is a late-game PvE activity in Elite Dangerous which requires special weapons and tactics. It’s recommended that you have a good grasp on piloting in combat and have access to most of the engineers before proceeding further, as you will need extensive engineering on your AX ship.

Chapter 1: Building an AX Capable Ship

Required Experimental Modules

Medium & Small Guardian Gauss Cannons (How To Obtain[forums.frontier.co.uk])
Gauss cannons are your primary means of dealing damage to Thargoid Interceptors. They are vital for exerting and killing hearts. (Which we will cover later in the guide.) If you are new it is recommended to have materials available to synthesise additional gauss ammunition.

Guardian Hull & Module Reinforcement Packages (How To Obtain[forums.frontier.co.uk])
While not entirely necessary, GMRPs and GHRPs increase the overall survivability of your build which can mean the difference between victory and defeat.

AX Remote Release Flak Launcher (Unlocked by Default)
The RRFL is used to deal with Thargon Swarms, which are released by Thargoid interceptors. While it is possible to fly flak-less, this is an advanced flying technique that makes fights significantly harder, so learning how to properly use flak is highly recommended.

Other Useful Experimental Modules

Xeno Scanner
Xeno scanners, while not necessary, can be helpful to subtarget and identify hearts more easily, as well as keep track of the interceptors shields and health.

Shutdown Field Neutraliser
SFNs are good for slower ships which struggle to either avoid triggering the Interceptors EMP or don’t have enough speed to safely drift away while rebooting using flight assist off. On faster ships such as the Chieftain, they are not necessary.

Other Key Modules

Thermal Vent Beam Laser
In AX combat, keeping your ship cold is vital to avoid taking damage from the interceptors primary armament. TV Beams help to achieve this in the Interceptors shielded phase, and also help to whittle away at the shield itself.

Heatsinks
Heatsinks are a vital module for AX to cover attack runs, as Gauss generates a lot of heat when firing. They can also be used in conjunction with silent running to break off an attack run or escape from a mistake. Depending on the Interceptor class and your build, you will want to have materials to synthesize more of these.

Auto Field Maintenance Unit
Interceptors and Thargon Swarm missiles both do a large amount of module damage - even with MRPs. AFMU’s can help to repair damaged modules or preferably restore the health of your MRP’s to continue benefiting from them.

Repair Limpet Controller & Accompanying Cargo Rack
Repair limpets are useful during downtime phases in the fight to repair both your canopy and hull should you have taken any damage from the interceptor during either your orbit or attack run.

Hull & Module Reinforcement Packages
While Guardian HRPs provide caustic resistance, they cannot be engineered for additional hull value like standard human ones. This makes standard HRPs a must have for any AX vessel, with one or two GHRPs in smaller slots.
Guardian MRPs consume power, and depending on your build, you may not have the excess power to use them, in which case you would use standard MRPs.

Recommended Beginner Ship Builds

• CMDR Mgram’s Shieldless Alliance Chieftain - https://s.orbis.zone/5vmm
  
• CMDR Aranionros Stormrage’s Shieldless Alliance Chieftain - https://s.orbis.zone/5e_1
  
• CMDR Aranionros Stormrage’s Shieldless Krait MkII - https://s.orbis.zone/clzc
  
• A.X.I Imperial Cutter - https://s.orbis.zone/3wbf

Full A.X.I. build list available here.[www.antixenoinitiative.com]

Why shieldless?

While it is not uncommon to have shielded builds recommended for newer players, ultimately shields are not used for more advanced interceptors and solo progression, as they consume a large amount of power and are counterproductive considering that you will make use of silent running. This makes them a crutch which I would suggest you avoid using early on. The removal of shields also frees up pip management to a large degree, as you will only need power in your SYS capacitor for your heatsinks, freeing up more pips for WEP or ENG as needed.

Chapter 2: Know Your Enemy

Thargoid Scouts

Scouts are smaller and more agile than interceptors, but also susceptible to conventional weapons, meaning you do not need Gauss in order to kill them. (However, Gauss is highly effective.)

Scouts are instantly aggressive upon you entering an instance with them, and if they are accompanying an interceptor, the interceptor will also be hostile as well. They are usually in groups of varying number, and similarly to interceptors, come in 4 different classes:

• Marauder Class
  • Standard Scout with no special abilities.
• Berserker Class
  • A much stronger variant that provides an aura which increases damage of other scouts nearby, and can trigger the firing of caustic missiles.
• Regenerator Class
  • Provides an aura which repairs nearby scouts.
• Inciter Class
  • Provides an aura which increases the movement speed of nearby scouts.

Thargoid Interceptors

Interceptors are the general focus of AX combat, and make for powerful and challenging opponents. They possess an array of armaments and abilities which makes them difficult to deal with without adequate knowledge and training. Their primary armament is a powerful burst fire cannon with a range of 3km, which does a large amount of hull and module damage, however this can be evaded by orbiting the Interceptor while running below 20% heat - more commonly referred to as Cold Orbiting (which will be explained later on). In addition to this, they also possess several additional abilities and armaments which will be covered in the following section.

Cyclops Class Interceptor
The weakest and most common Interceptor variant, the Cyclops is the first real test for any would-be AX pilot. Don’t let that deceive you however, a steady hand and a sharp mind is still needed to defeat one. They can be found in Threat 5 & 6 Non-Human Signal Sources.

• Hearts: 4
  
• Swarm Size: 32
  
• Enrage Timer: 6 minutes
  
• Total HP & Regen: 800 | 3.2/s
  
• Lightning Damage & Duration: 800 | 8s
  
• Top Speed: 450m/s
  
• Shield Decay Time: 1m35s
  
• Cannon Shots per Volley: 4
  
• Rearm Time: 10 Seconds

Basilisk Class Interceptor
While considered weaker than the Medusa and Hydra, the Basilisk is a large hurdle in terms of solo progression - its speed is higher than that of any other interceptor, along with increased stats over the Cyclops, this makes it severely punishing to AX pilots who have not yet mastered the basics of AX combat. They can be found in Threat 6 & 7 Non-Human Signal Sources.

• Hearts: 5
  
• Swarm Size: 64
  
• Enrage Timer: 7 minutes
  
• Total HP & Regen: 1800 | 7.2/s
  
• Lightning Damage & Duration: 1700 | 10s
  
• Top Speed: 530m/s
  
• Shield Decay Time: 3 minutes
  
• Cannon Shots per Volley: 8
  
• Rearm Time: 15 Seconds

Medusa Class Interceptor

A beefed up version of the Cyclops, the Medusa requires solid aim & ammo management, as well as patience to overcome. You will likely require many synth materials for your first Medusa kill for both heat sinks & gauss ammunition. They can be found in Threat 7 & 8 Non-Human Signal Sources.

• Hearts: 6
  
• Swarm Size: 96
  
• Enrage Timer: 7 minutes
  
• Total HP & Regen: 2500 | 10/s
  
• Lightning Damage & Duration: 2800 | 12s
  
• Top Speed: 450m/s
  
• Shield Decay Time: 4 minutes
  
• Cannon Shots per Volley: 12
  
• Rearm Time: 10 Seconds

Hydra Class Interceptor

Presenting the ultimate challenge for any AX pilot, the Hydra is a stat-wall that is difficult to scale. Its regen can outpace your damage if your range control and aim are not near-perfect, while its own armaments are devastating and will punish every mistake you make with impunity. They can be found in Threat 8 & 9 Non-Human Signal Sources.

• Hearts: 8
  
• Swarm Size: 128
  
• Enrage Timer: 8 minutes
  
• Total HP & Regen: 3200 | 12.8/s
  
• Lightning Damage & Duration: 4400 | 14s
  
• Top Speed: 450m/s
  
• Shield Decay Time: 5m20s
  
• Cannon Shots per Volley: 12
  
• Rearm Time: 5 Seconds

Thargoid Interceptor Mechanics

Thargon Swarms
Thargon swarms are deployed in varying sizes based on Interceptor class, and can be one of the deadliest weapons at their disposal. They have a relatively weak primary attack, which consists of each individual Thargon firing a small shield penetrating weapon.

The real danger is when Thargon swarms become agitated, this causes them to convert to a suicide-missile mode, which does large amounts of hull and module damage. This can be avoided by preventing the swarm from passing over your ship while orbiting, or preferably, by killing the swarm using a remote release flak launcher. If the Interceptor has reached the enrage timer (which we will discuss further later) the entire swarm will become kamikaze missiles, ending the fight in their favor rather decisively. Once a swarm is killed, a new one will be deployed either if the Interceptor reaches or has reached the enrage timer, or if a heart has been destroyed. If a swarm is present when a heart is destroyed, the next swarm will still be deployed upon expiration of the current one. For more information on swarms and how to deal with them, I highly recommend watching this guide by CMDR’s Will and Kate:

Lightning Pulse Attack
Once a heart has been successfully destroyed, the Interceptor gains access to an energy based lightning pulse attack. This attack is devastating to shields, and while not as effective against your hull, the attack applies a drag effect which slows you down a large amount, and causes random module reboots. The result from this is usually a few easy cannon shots for the interceptor. The attack can be avoided by exploiting its short range of 800 meters, making range control of utmost importance.



Caustic Missiles
For every heart killed following the first, the Interceptor will fire caustic missiles which move at approximately 350m/s, which makes them easy to avoid in an agile ship such as the Chieftain. Should they hit you, they deal a large amount of hull damage and apply a caustic effect, which damages your hull further over time. The effect can be removed by either burning off the substance by running between 130-160% heat, or by using a decontamination limpet. You can build up heat quickly by simultaneously firing all your gauss repeatedly with silent running toggled on, and then once the caustic substance is removed, you can pop a heat-sink to prevent any serious heat damage.

Energy Surge (EMP)
After killing the second-to-last heart, the Interceptor will attempt to fire off its EMP and disable all ships within 10km. The field travels very fast and is quite difficult to escape once it goes off, however the danger can be negated by running cold or using silent running to get further than 3km away, preventing the EMP from triggering. Alternatively, should the EMP trigger (your COVAS will warn you of this) you can boost away while flight assist is off, and the momentum should carry you far enough that the Interceptor will not be able to capitalize on your vulnerable state until your systems have been restored.

Chapter 2: Know Your Enemy (Cont.)

Interceptor Fight Phases

Phase 1: Exerting & Killing the Heart
Once an Interceptor is fired upon, it will immediately deploy its Thargon Swarm and subsequently begin firing its main cannon. A shield is not present at this stage, however the first heart of the Interceptor is always the hardest to kill, as in order to exert a heart it requires you to do 20% of the Thargoids remaining hull health, meaning that hearts become progressively easier to exert and kill as the fight goes on.

During this phase you will be using your Gauss to exert the hearts after dealing with the swarm - do not use your beam laser at the same time as this will deplete your WEP capacitor and increase your heat generation. Once you have exerted a heart, the Interceptor will make an audio cue and one of the petals will glow, and radiate caustic gas. That is the exerted heart, which needs to be focused down quickly before the hull regenerates and the heart becomes protected again.



Once the heart has been successfully killed, the petal will break off along with some salvage visible on your radar. The Thargoid will play another audio queue and go into a sleep phase while it brings its shields up, taking us to Phase 2.

Phase 2: Post-Heart Mechanics & Shield
It’s important to remember the number of hearts you have killed, as in the beginning of the shield phase, the Interceptor will attempt to execute one of the special mechanics we covered earlier.
During this time it is advisable to put full pips into your ENG capacitor and boost away from the Thargoid, should you have sufficient speed to outrun it. You can use this time to synthesize additional heatsinks, gauss munitions, and recover some damage with your repair limpet & AFMU.

Shortly after the heart is destroyed the Interceptor will bring its shields online, the strength varying based on Interceptor class. It is important to note that all Interceptor classes have a shield decay rate of 25mj/s, which can be used to calculate time to decay. It will also deploy a new swarm provided the previous one was destroyed, otherwise it will bank it for when the current swarm dies. It is recommended to kill the swarm while the shield decays, and once they are dealt with, you can use your beam laser to remain cold and simultaneously whittle away at the Thargoids shield health.

When the shield expires, there will be a visual and audio cue, and you will be able to see even without the use of a xeno scanner, as your beam laser hitmarkers on the Interceptor model in your cockpit will change from blue to orange. Thus we return to Phase 1 of exerting & killing a heart, and repeat until the Thargoid is dead.

Enrage Phase: Worst Case Scenario
The enrage timer is constantly ticking down after aggro, and resets upon heart destruction. This means that should you fail to kill a heart within the allotted time (varying based on class), the Interceptor will enter an enraged state, which means two things:

• It will immediately respawn a swarm if the current one is dead, and immediately replace all swarms that die afterwards, regardless of hearts being killed or not.
  
• Should the swarm enter missile mode - every Thargon will become a Kamikaze missile, as opposed to a small portion of the swarm. This barrage does a massive amount of damage which is not survivable even in the toughest of ships.

While it is possible to complete an encounter after hitting the enrage phase, it is significantly harder, as you will need to avoid agitating the swarm and triggering missile mode for the remainder of the fight, which is very disruptive to orbiting the Interceptor at an appropriate speed for proper range control.

Chapter 3: Flight Mechanics & Tactics

Cold Orbiting

Cold Orbiting is one of the key mechanics used in AX combat, as it allows skilled pilots who employ it to avoid damage from the Interceptors deadly main cannon. While sounding simple on paper, it does require some trial and error to learn if you’re not familiar with orbiting mechanics.

To cold orbit effectively, you need to keep your ship below 20% heat at all times while using your vertical & lateral thrusters to keep moving, and your throttle to control range. This can be achieved by using heat sinks or your thermal vent beam, as mentioned earlier. Ideally you want to use the heat sinks to remain cold while firing your Gauss, and your beam to remain cold while whittling down the shield phase. Remaining below 20% heat does not mean you cannot be hit at all. What it means is that the Interceptor will fire at where your ship is, not where it will be, so if you orbit at sufficient speed and distance, the cannon shots will lag behind and miss you entirely.

For a more detailed explanation and guide to cold orbiting, I highly recommend watching this guide by CMDR’s Will & Kate:

Wing Aggro

When fighting Interceptors in a wing, one key thing to note is that the Swarm & the Interceptor can aggro separately. If the swarm is not aggroed onto you, it can be incredibly difficult to use flak effectively as the flight path they follow is not predictable based on your own movement.

Another key mechanic to note is that when the interceptor switches aggro, it is locked to that target for 30 seconds, and cannot switch. This means that with effective aggro switching between wingmates, more reckless tactics such as ramming can be used relatively safely. It is a common tactic among AX pilots to ram the interceptor while aggro is locked on another pilot in order to either cause significant damage to its shields or to exert a heart very quickly. This does however require good communication and timing.

Chapter 4: Miscellaneous Information & Tips

• Non-Human Signal Sources can be located in or near:
  
  • The Pleiades Nebula
    
  • The Witch Head Nebula
    
  • The Coalsack Nebula
• When searching for Non-Human Signal Sources, you can tell if it has guaranteed Scouts or Interceptors by the additional icons next to Xeno-Hunting.
  
  • If it has a salvage icon, it is a guaranteed Interceptor of the appropriate threat level. (The weakest available Interceptor for that threat level)
    
  • If it has a piracy icon, it is guaranteed to be Scouts.
• When orbiting for an attack run, you want to try and maintain a range between 1.5 - 1 km between yourself and the Interceptor. This is to maximise damage dealt by your gauss and speed up heart exertion. Harder variants such as the Hydra virtually require this at all times due to high armor value and passive hull regeneration.
  
• For purposes of solo progression of Interceptors, it’s recommended to be able to fully complete an encounter of the previous variant with only the use of basics.
  
• Combat Bond Payouts:
  
  • Scout (Any Variant): 40,000 CR
    
  • Cyclops: 8,000,000 CR
    
  • Basilisk: 24,000,000 CR
    
  • Medusa: 40,000,000 CR
    
  • Hydra: 60,000,000 CR

Closing Chapter: Additional Resources & Thanks

In closing, AX combat can be one of the most enjoyable and fulfilling progression curves in Elite Dangerous. It is a challenging activity that rewards patience, practice, and mastery. I thoroughly recommend reading or watching additional guides to get as much information as possible. A few good places are linked below:

Additional Resources

• The Anti-Xeno Initiative Discord Server[discord.gg]
  
• The Anti-Xeno Initiative Wiki[www.antixenoinitiative.com]
  
• CMDR’s Will & Kate on YouTube

Thanks to

• The Anti-Xeno Initiative for all their great resources linked in the guide
  
• CMDR Katie Byrne for allowing me to link her videos
  
• The EDC Mentor team for proofreading and advice

For any corrections, errors, or missing credits, please contact me on Discord: SwingLifeAway#0001.

[TCGJoe]

Thanks for the guide!

[SwingLifeAway]

Corrected. Hydra is the most difficult I am aware of, however guide may be out of date. I am no longer playing the game.

[中国汉字]

What's the ultimate challenge for an AX pilot? Is there one above Hydra? It says penultimate and then mentions nothing else after that. Enrage perhaps?

[Girlscout88]

Great guide but I was really hoping for a guide along the lines of.....weapons go pew enemy dies. I love those ones

[Girlscout88]

great guide my fellow cmdr

[OFF]

Good detailed content. Thanks.