Exploring #thargoid #stunLock in #EliteDangerous
Yeah, this is me, with just 2% hull left.
<record scratch> <freeze frame>
You wonder how I ended up in this situation?
#Thargoids, a powerful invasive species in #EliteDangerous, were added way back in 2017.
These huge space beasts are as end-game as content can get.
They raged a year-long offence in 2024, ending their assault with an attack on the SOL system in December.
The strict focus on Thargoid warfare by the game designers exhausted quite a few players, but also made more powerful weapons available in-game, lowering participation threshold for those willing to join the battle.
These huge space beasts are as end-game as content can get.
They raged a year-long offence in 2024, ending their assault with an attack on the SOL system in December.
The strict focus on Thargoid warfare by the game designers exhausted quite a few players, but also made more powerful weapons available in-game, lowering participation threshold for those willing to join the battle.
Before the war, #Thargoid Interceptor space ships were battled in long-running encounters, by dancing around them in circles, slowly sniping at their hearts one by one, avoiding their deadly weapons, and breaking formations everyy now and then to deal with scathing swarms of drones they'd emit. These engaging one-on-one fights would take even experienced pilots 15 minutes and more.
But the new gear allowed for new tactics.
So de-dusted my Diamondback Scout and went out to practice, with quite a few Rapid Unscheduled Disassemblies.
The 2% hull situation at the beginning of this thread marks the first time I finished a Cyclops using stun lock.
The next run went better, with a comforting 62% hull left.
Why bother with a Cyclops? Thanks to improved weapons, they are now insta-kills for larger ships.
It's great for practice in inexpensive ships, goes easy on your in-game credits. And lessons learned transfer to large ships and more powerful thargoids.
Here's a full run (shaky VR) demonstrating stun-lock. It's quite messy, clearly needs more practice - the second heart needs to go before shield comes up. Heat sinks / silent running keep the stun-lock going.
Most importantly, getting #StunLock timing right allows to bypass the "caustic missile" (for hearts 2 and 4) and "shutdown field" (heart 3) special attacks.
The tactic requires pilots to move away ~700m when / after the second heart goes down, and either stay below 15% heat or use silent running for the remainder of the fight.
Getting the timing just right is key and takes practice. It's worth it I think, as it makes engagements much more exciting.