Fearless Xeno Hunter Guide

How to defeat dozens of Xeno Ships in Ten Years

SECTION 100 – Setup

110 - INTRODUCTION – The Xeno are one of the most terrifying enemies you will face in Star Traders Frontiers. If you’re not well-prepared they can tear you to shreds in both Ship Combat and Crew Combat. Premature Xeno encounters have led to more permadeaths than any other event.

However, with the right build you can turn the tide on these galactic scourges. The rewards for taking on the Xeno are immense – if you’re successful you will be showered with Faction Rep, Cash, Xeno Artifacts, Scientific Intel, and Experience. This guide will show you how to create a ship and crew that can consistently defeat the Xeno in Ship Combat and Crew Combat.

120 – THE GOAL – Defeat dozens of Xeno Ships by the start of Year 11 (221.01).

130 – STARTING TEMPLATE – For the first ~5 Years of the game you are going to follow the ZETTE FAEN FAST START GUIDE that I’ve previously written. This will get you started with a highly effective Combat Ship / Combat Crew and give you access to Max Level Specialist Gear:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2932475019

Here are the adjustments I recommend to the ZETTE FAEN FAST START GUIDE. This build is for a Crew Combat Xeno Hunter Captain who will serve as a Slot #1 Xeno slayin’ machine:

A – ATTRIBUTES

• Strength = 14 + 16 = 30
  
• Quickness = 14 + 10 = 24
  
• Fortitude = 14 + 16 = 30
  
• Charisma = 14
  
• Wisdom = 14 + 10 = 24
  
• Resilience = 14

B – SKILLS

• Rifles +10
  
• Command +5

C – CONTACTS

• #1 – Xeno Hunter –Xeno Hunting Missions, Xeno Hunter Recruits, Buy Sci Intel.
  
• #2 – FDF Commander – Military Missions, Military Officer Recruits, Introductions.
  
• #3 – Military Commander – Military Missions, Engineer Recruits, Introductions.
  
• #4 – << ANY >>

D – SHIP – Reach Vindex

E – EXPERIENCE – Xeno Hunter

140 – LAUNCHING THE GAME – Use the following settings when launching your game:

• CHANGE MAP – Use any Map of your choice.
  
• CHANGE FACTION – Pick any Faction of your choice.
  
• CHANGE DIFFICULTY – Pick any difficulty of your choice. I typically play on HARD, because it allows for all Unlocks but is a bit more forgiving of minor mistakes than IMPOSSIBLE.
  
• Click “YES” for MANUALLY ASSIGN TALENTS.
  
• Skip the Intro if you want.
  
• Prepare your captain’s appearance however you want.

SECTION 200 – Ship, Crew, & Officers

210 – SHIP – Start with the Wolf Vector design outlined in the ZETTE FAEN FAST START GUIDE.

220 – CREW – Your Crew after five years will be exactly the same as described in the ZETTE FAEN FAST START GUIDE:

• 5x Crew Dogs
  
• 5x E-Tech
  
• 2x Mechanics (can be replaced with high-level Engineers)
  
• 10x Military Officers
  
• 2x Navigators
  
• 5x Pilots

230 – OFFICERS – Your ship will include a Crew Combat Captain, 3x Crew Combat Officers, and 2x Non-Combat Utility Officer:

1x Captain (SLOT 1) – Xeno Hunter (5) / Shocktrooper (11) / Soldier (X)

What’s more “fearless” than putting your Captain in Slot 1 with minimal Melee Defense? With max Fortitude + Strength and a Trait-based Armor bonus your Captain is designed to be the ultimate high-damage tank. Put 5 levels into Xeno Hunter for the Talent Here Be Monsters and 11 levels into Shocktrooper for some fantastic Rifle Attacks. Pour your remaining levels into Soldier to maximize your Rifle and Evasion Skill. Equip your Captain with your most powerful Shotgun and Heavy Armor.

• Here Be Monsters (XH5) – Patrolling -> Xeno Ship Risk Card.
  
• Roaring Barrels (S1) – Rifle Attack.
  
• Rapid Bandage (ST1) – Healing Talent.
  
• Retaliation (ST1) – Rifle Attack + Counter.
  
• Titan Shell (ST 11) – 2x Rifle Attack.

1x Support Shocktrooper (SLOT 2) – Soldier (X) / Shocktrooper (8) / Exo-Scout (8)

Your Slot 2 Shotgun-welding Officer is designed to play a supporting role for your fearless captain. Use Stand Strong to fortify your frontline warriors. Drop significant debuffs on your Xeno foes with Burrowing Shots and Know Thy Enemy. Equip this Officer with a low initiative cost Shotgun and Heavy Armor.

• Stand Strong (ST1) – 2x Buff Talent.
  
• To The Front (ST8) – Re-position Combat Crew.
  
• Burrowing Shots (ES5) – Rifle Attack.
  
• Know Thy Enemy (ES8) – Rifle Attack.

1x Tank Healer (SLOT 3) – Military Officer (5) / Pistoleer (5) / Combat Medic (X)

The Healer’s job is to keep everyone alive during battle. This crew member should rapidly heal allies while de-buffing front-row enemies with Damning Aim and Tricky Gunplay. I recommend a hard-hitting Pistol and Heavy Armor.

• Tactical Edge (MO1) – Re-position Combat Crew.
  
• Damning Aim (MO5) – Pistol Attack.
  
• Tricky Gunplay (P5) – Pistol Attack.
  
• Cleaning Purge (CM1) – Healing Talent.
  
• Flatline (CM8) – Healing Talent.
  
• Lifeline (CM8) – Healing Talent.

1x Back-row Rifleman (SLOT 4) – Soldier (X) / Xeno Hunter (8) / Bounty Hunter (5)

Classic back-row Xeno Hunter / Bounty Hunter build. I prefer to equip this build with Standard Armor and a Sniper Rifle for quick killing. Unfaltering Ire is great and Irid-Laced Resolve is a must-have against Xeno.

• Irid-Laced Resolve (XH1) – Group ON INIT Buff when fighting Xeno.
  
• Unfailing Stand (XH5) – Healing Talent.
  
• Here Be Monsters (XH5) – Patrolling -> Xeno Ship Risk Card.
  
• Death Haunt (XH8) – Healing Talent.
  
• Steadfast Aim (BH1) – Rifle Attack.
  
• Unfaltering Ire (BH5) – Debuff Talent.

2x Utility Officers – <<OTHER>> / Xeno Hunter (5) / Scientist (11)

Recruit any high-level officer of your choice and raise them to Rank 5 Xeno Hunter to get Here Be Monsters and Macabre Harvest. Then, put 11 Ranks into Scientist to get Genetic Sequencing, Signature Recording, Behavioral Analysis, and Laboratory Triage. Last, put all remaining Ranks into Xeno Hunter to eventually unlock Exalted Hunter and Eradication Prize.

• Daunting Presence (XH1) – INTIMIDATE Skill Save
  
• Here Be Monsters (XH5) – Patrolling -> Xeno Ship Risk Card.
  
• Macabre Harvest (XH5) – Xeno Artifacts when killing Xeno.
  
• Exalted Hunter (XH 11) – Increase payments for Xeno Hunting Missions.
  
• Eradication Prize (XH 15) – Exp / Rep / Cash boost when Salvaging a Xeno Ship.
  
• Experimental Treatments (S1) – DOCTOR Skill Save.
  
• Genetic Sequencing (S8) – Sci Intel when killing Xeno.
  
• Signature Recording (S11) – Sci Intel when encountering a Xeno Ship.
  
• Behavioral Analysis (S11) – Sci Intel when Salvaging a Xeno Ship.

SECTION 300 – How to Find the Xeno

310 - THE HUNT BEGINS – Once you have a battle-ready ship and a solid combat crew you’ll want to find some Xeno ships to destroy. Here’s the best ways to hunt them down.

320 – XENO HUNTING MISSIONS – Sometimes, your Xeno Hunter Contact will offer you “Lurking Terrors” Missions, which require that you Patrol a specific planet and destroy a Xeno Ship. THESE MISSIONS ARE FANTASTIC! They pay very well and guarantee a Xeno Ship battle upon drawing a Mission Success card. You’ll want to accept as many of these Missions as possible. Use the Military Officer Talent Guardian Vigil to increase your chance of drawing the Mission Success card during the flip. In addition to Xeno Hunter Contacts, these Missions are also offered by Contacts with the Xeno Obsessed or the Heritage Hunter Trait.

330 – HERE BE MONSTERS TALENT – This talent replaced any Risk Card with a Xeno Ship Risk Card during Patrolling. This gives you at least a 20% chance of drawing a Xeno Ship during the flip. With this build you have 4x Officers with this talent available and with a 3-week Cooldown you’ll be able to use it almost continuously during Patrolling. If you want to increase the up time of this talent feel free to replace a crew member or two with Xeno Hunter Recruits.

340 – RUMORS – There are two types of Rumors that can increase the chance of encountering a Xeno Ship. The Xeno Fleet Quadrant Rumor increases the chance of encountering Xeno Ships across an entire Quadrant while the Xeno Spores Planet Rumor increases the chance of encountering Xeno Ships over a specific Planet. Both of these Rumors greatly help you goal of destroying Xeno Ships. Be sure to pair these Rumors with the Here Be Monsters Talent to maximize your chance of encountering a Xeno Ship.

SECTION 400 – End-Game Ship

410 – BUILDING FOR PERFECTION – As you start to defeat the Xeno fleet the cash will pour in from Mission Payments and Salvage Rewards. Here’s what I recommend for an End-Game Ship designed for destroying Xeno in Ship-to-Ship Combat. Generally, I blast the enemy with Ship Weapons until a hull breach is imminent then I finish it off with successive board runs to maximize the returns!

411 - LARGE COMPONENTS

• Any Engine of your choice
  
• Fuel-Cargo Hold 4 (De Valtos specific) – WITH SHIP PURCHASE

412 - MEDIUM COMPONENTS

• Any Hyperwarp Drive of your choice
  
• Battle Barracks 4 - $388K
  
• 2x Tactician’s Annex (Thulun specific) - $284K/each
  
• 2x Xelios X2 Railgun Array - $250K/each

413 – SMALL COMPONENTS

• Scout-Vanguard Bridge 5 (Steel Song specific) - $1,237K
  
• 2x C-Tak Interceptor System 4 (Zenrin specific) - $317K/each
  
• Weapons Locker A6 - $344K
  
• 4x Defense Pattern Matrix 4 (Javat specific) - $154K/each
  
• Mass Modulator 3 - $73K
  
• Officer Cabin - $9K

SECTION 000 - My Guides

Here’s a full list of all the guides I’ve written for Star Traders: Frontiers so far. Check them out and let me know what you think!

Starting Quadrants with Three Starting Faction Planets
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3144777870

Millionaire Explorer Guide REVISITED https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3135971608

Marauding Pirate Guide https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3125832745

RTG Smuggler Guide https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3120120607

Zealot Guardian Guide https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3112677227

Non-RTG Merchant Guide https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3110793982

First Blood Commander Guide https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3051041316

Weapon Scavenger Guide https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3043945414

Relentless Bounty Hunter Guide https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3032494871

Fearless Xeno Hunter Guide https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3023912897

Prize Ship Patrol Guide https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3021370224

Love Boat Diplomat Guide https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3015590564

Mad Scientist Guide https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2973898874

Devastating Shock Trooper Guide https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2972421188

Max Contacts Guide https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2971490805

Simple Spy Guide https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2969465004

Deadly Assassin Guide https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2965252564

Millionaire Explorer Guide https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2960277415

Zette Faen Fast Start Guide https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2932475019

[burnhj]

If you don’t have the FDF Commander unlocked, try recruiting Zealots from the Ex-Mercenary.

The Xeno Hunter Starting Contact is difficult to replace, because very few contacts offer Xeno Hunting Missions. Try to complete the Unlock before starting a full-blown Xeno Hunting run.

[V3NOM]

Any suggestions for contacts if you don't have the unlocks for xeno hunter and FDF commander?

[burnhj]

Let me know if you have any feedback!

[n0ph0bia]

Another good guide! Playing it through right now.