The Single Player

Exploring and critiquing games and media, not just as entertainment but as a discipline and art form.

“Path of Exile” Review: An Optimization Challenge

Posted on 2 May, 2023 by Anthony Langsworth

Path of Exile is an action role playing game and a proud Diablo II clone. At almost ten years old, Path of Exile has ballooned from its original three acts. It now groans under the weight of ten acts, different game modes, seasons and crafting. It is “free to play” but, thankfully, not “pay to win”.

Path of Exile is not the typical game type I play or review. I prefer role playing or adventure games with dialog, characters, settings and stories that I can analyse and deconstruct. However, as an old-time Diablo player and with Diablo IV on the horizon, it was time to hark back to a genre that I sank many hours into years ago.

For those unfamiliar with the Diablo formula, Path of Exile‘s setting is a magical fantasy world consisting of connected, randomly-generated maps. You control a single character’s movements and abilities via a fixed, isometric camera. You kill monsters and upgrade gear, occasionally levelling up, allowing you to defeat more powerful monsters and equip better gear. You play online to mitigate cheating and allow optional interactions with other players.

Path of Exile follows not just the Diablo formula but its style. Few games will match that haunting musical motif and unmistakable gothic vibes from the town of Tristam back in Diablo I. However, Path of Exile comes close, whether it be the claustrophobic shadows revealing maze-like passages or the pseudo-Christian iconography.

That said, Path of Exile is also distinct from Diablo. Different upgrade items are used as currency instead of gold. Potions refill with damage dealt instead of being consumed on use. Abilities, represented as gems socketed in items, can be easily swapped out. The number, type and connections for item gem sockets are almost as significant as the item’s various enhancements and bonuses.

I initially approached Path of Exile as I would an RPG. I took my time to explore each randomly generated map, making sure I missed nothing. I collected and sold all the dropped gear. I spoke to each NPC and absorbed the lore. I often spent too long in lower-level areas, trying to ensure I could handle whatever the game threw at me next.

However, there are better ways to approach Path of Exile. Like most RPGs, many will say Path of Exile is a power fantasy about defeating endless swarms of creatures while saving the world. That is only superficially true. Death is a temporary setback outside hardcode mode, respawning you a short distance away without losing life or equipment. Quests are few, and bosses serve only to gate progression. The names of NPCs and the various opponents matter little. Most gear dropped is trash.

Instead, Path of Exile is closer to a factory game like Satisfactory or Factorio. You construct a factory (your character) to convert raw materials (gear, abilities and skills) into increasingly complex processed goods (better damage and survivability). In both game types, players are motivated by speed and efficiency and enjoy tinkering with new tactics to eke out increasingly small improvements.

The only actual failure state in Path of Exile is a character that cannot progress due to poor skill and gear choices. While you can refund some individual skills purchased via level-ups or some quest rewards, the designers intentionally made rebuilding difficult, if not impossible. Perhaps better factory game analogies are those less forgiving of early mistakes, like Frostpunk or Ixiom.

Path of Exile also suffers from many of Diablo‘s inherent problems. Items are randomly generated and dropped liberally, often filling the screen with useless gear. Creatures, spell effects, and darkness can devolve fights into indistinguishable chaos, making important details hard to discern. The game does not explain its mechanics, relying on experimentation or third-party guides. Its randomly generated maps provide some exploration opportunities but do not increase replayability.

Path of Exile also often introduces side content in the early or midgame, like Delves or Heists. This timing means players can only progress through them a little, and their rewards are unclear. It sometimes requires metagame thinking to distinguish them from the main quest.

These problems make Path of Exile challenging for new players. For example, the passive skill tree and the number of interacting mechanics are meme-worthily huge. The choices can paralyse novice players. Creating an underpowered character whose progression grinds to a halt midgame is easy.

However, that challenge is just the way that hardcore players like it. Path of Exile is a game unapologetically designed for players that enjoy creating new characters, spending ever-decreasing hours to speed them through the game and test them against the end-game challenges. The designers aimed at those who enjoy spending hours farming rare drops to find that minor upgrade.

You can still play Path of Exile as a power fantasy, at least until the last few acts, and it is worth the price, considering it is free. The game can be fun for a quick, meditative play session or longer, such as when starting a new character.

However, Path of Exile is due for an overhaul. Its systems need streamlining, and its plot is straining under the weight of numerous expansions. Path of Exile II, currently in development, will likely address these.

“Deliver Us the Moon” Review

Posted on 9 April, 2023 by Anthony Langsworth

An astronaut and robot standing in front of a lunar landscape.

Deliver Us the Moon is a first-person interactive fiction game similar to Tacoma, Event[0], The Station or Stardrop. You play an astronaut blasting off an environmentally-devastated, near-future Earth to restore the energy transmission from the moon after it mysteriously shuts off.

Deliver Us the Moon could be called a walking simulator, a genre uncharitably named for its simplicity and monotony. Like many walking simulators, much of Deliver Us the Moon involves the lone player exploring their immediate area, finding notable objects to scan or historical scenes to review then solving simple puzzles to unlock progress to the next area. There is no branching narrative or progression.

However, unlike some walking simulators, Deliver Us the Moon packs variety. It includes multiple mini-games like docking spaceships, driving moon rovers, repairing robots or aiming radar dishes. Its space scenes impart the feeling of weightlessness, potentially disorienting the player with “up” only denoted by the occasional sign, screen or seat. Limited oxygen makes scenes in space or on the lunar surface tense. Sometimes you lose yourself staring at the desolate but beautiful lunar surface. Sometimes you are just desperately surviving. It is more What Remains of Edith Finch than Dear Esther.

Like many interactive fiction games, Deliver Us the Moon is short, taking seven to eight hours to finish. However, given its weighty story, it feels about the right length. Its brevity and economy contrast with unending contemporary live service games. It also becomes more accessible – you complete it in a few gaming sessions.

The success of an interactive fiction game depends on how well it resonates with the player. The key is the adage, “Show, don’t tell”. Rather than telling you how you or some player surrogate acted or felt, it places you in that situation, drip-feeding you background and context. When the game finally asks you to care, it feels natural after surmounting challenges and discovering lore organically.

At first, Deliver Us the Moon‘s setting and premise may seem far-fetched. Climate change is a genuine problem. However, Deliver Us the Moon‘s world exhausts natural resources and desertifies sooner than even pessimistic climate projections. Extended stays in space or on the lunar surface require huge, Earth-side teams to support them. Given our understanding of physics, beaming sufficient energy from the moon to power the Earth is impractical.

However, Deliver Us the Moon is not a game about environmentalism, technology or space. Its puzzles are never hard enough to frustrate or block progress.

Deliver Us the Moon is about how personal connections drive us, such as protecting family or camaraderie. It is about how alienating disconnection can be, even when the world is a stake. Amidst space’s vastness, alienness and hostility, the small things matter.

Deliver Us the Moon will appeal to those who enjoy empathising with a good story and can relate to its themes. You will enjoy Deliver Us the Moon if you enjoyed Firewatch or Gone Home but want more interactivity, some tense moments or a science fiction setting. Like other interactive fiction games, those looking for something challenging, action-filled or longer should look elsewhere.

“Greedfall” Review: How Focusing on Strengths Creates a Great RPG

Posted on 6 April, 2023 by Anthony Langsworth

The silhouette of a tricone hat wearing, saber wielding figure overlooking a misty Celtic forest with a volcano in the background

Greedfall is a third-person, action role playing game set in a unique world reminiscent of colonial, magical-filled seventeenth century Europe. You, de Sadet, accompany your cousin to Teer Fradee, a newly discovered island. You act as an ambassador, investigator and troubleshooter to help him manage and expand the colony while dealing with other factions and native inhabitants. You also seek a cure for the Malichor, a disease ravaging the continent’s populace.

The standout aspect of Greedfall is its setting. Beyond the tricorne hats, flintlock pistols and galleons, colonial Europe is a time of contradictions. Great advances in science and technology promise much, but religious and social views evolve much slower. Greedfall embraces this contradiction instead of safely shying away from it.

Greedfall‘s world contains several main factions. These include the Bridge Alliance, a mix of Arabia and India that pursues science above all else. It wars with the highly devout Theleme, which has clear influences of Spain and Italy. The Congregation of Merchants, de Sadet’s faction, is a pseudo-France, sitting politically between and trading with each. Teer Fradee is an England-like island populated by natives with a Celtic-inspired language.

The setting and factions create a stage for Greedfall’s cutting commentary. The Bridge Alliance grapples with the ethics of its research, Theleme struggles with zealotry and the Congregation with bureaucracy. Watching Theleme’s Ordo Luminous slaughtering innocent people under the false accusation of heresy, the Bridge Alliance comparing human test subjects to lab rats, and wealthy merchants from the Congregation dismissing laws as obstacles bypassable by modest bribes are all confronting.

Greedfall is also clever and respects its inspiration. It depicts organized crime as intelligent and insidious, not something solved by defeating the nearest “bad guy”. The native inhabitants of Teer Fradee have different reactions to the newcomers. Some fight them. Some ignore Some trade with them. Some use them as pawns in their own political games. This pluralism creates interesting dynamics between the various tribes and factions.

Greedfall also knows that constructing emotional investment in characters and a setting takes time. It takes time to build relationships and drip-feed exposition. When the game finally asks you to care, it feels natural and not forced.

Many play RPGs for their tactical combat. You control persistent characters through multiple combat encounters who improve over time. The enjoyment comes from mastering the mechanics and overcoming the challenge.

Unfortunately, Greedfall does not deliver in-depth combat. It hints at a more action-oriented parry and riposte-style melee combat. However, at least when playing as a magic-wielding character, abilities like Stasis and Storm quickly relegate most fights to mere speed bumps — fun but probably not what the designers intended.

The exceptions are the fights against Nadiag (“guardians”). These add an unexpected, welcome, but initially frustrating challenge. When you first encounter one, none of the fights beforehand prepare you for discerning telegraphed attacks, careful positioning and resource management.

A higher difficulty setting will likely flatten the difficulty curve or increase the challenge. A melee-oriented character might have been a different experience, too. However, those seeking a combat-oriented RPG should look elsewhere.

Between quests and fights, you spend much time exploring Greedfall‘s world. Teer Fradee is split into discrete areas, unlocked as you reach the edge of known ones. Crafting ingredients are spread liberally around the map. Alleys and scaffolding in cities reward the curious.

Your character, de Sadet, is joined by several companions. Each hails from a different faction and fulfils a combat archetype. Each also has a unique quest line and can be romanced. You can have up to two at a time but can switch them when fast travelling or at camps. However, their perspective and hints are most useful, especially when taking a companion on their faction’s quests.

Non-combat skills, or talents, provide multiple ways to solve most quests. For example, you may rescue someone from prison by using your “lockpicking” talent to pick the lock, “intuition” to convince the jailor he should let the prisoner go or by using your “science” talent to brew and place an alchemical mixture to blow a hole in the wall.

However, talents are all about early- and mid-game trade-offs. While some items, upgrades, and befriending companions help, you obtain talents slowly, and not every one is helpful in every situation. Otherwise, you may be forced into reputation decreasing threats or violence.

Graphically, Greedfall is no Cyberpunk 2077. It lacks ray tracing and DLSS. A 4K display resolution is unkind to some models and textures. Looking down on grass reveals three flat surfaces arranged like an asterisk.

However, for a non-AAA RPG initially released in 2019, Greedfall is still a pretty game. The game uses light/dark contrast heavily, such as the moment it takes to adjust to the dim lighting indoors or the pale shards of light illuminating caverns. I often stopped to admire the detailed rigging on the moored tall ships. Sunbeams shone down from the golden afternoon sun through the trees or buildings, shedding a warm red glow between the shadows or reflecting from puddles.

Greedfall‘s music is ambient and atmospheric. The encounter music with Teer Fradee’s native inhabitants focuses on percussive and woodwind instruments, giving a musical shorthand to help identify who and where you are. The voice casting is excellent, and only a few strange pronunciations using native accents mar the collective vocal performance.

Some have complained about Greedfall‘s glitches and bugs. Post-release patches may have fixed these, but I counted only a few in my playthrough. Most were low-resolution textures or an NPC struggling to walk around an obstacle – nothing significant or immersion-breaking.

Some have also complained about the lack of animations for minor events. Instead of an NPC drinking a potion or a magic seed growing into a tree, the game fades to black and then shows the result. I do not see this as significant. There needs to be sufficient cost benefit for a small studio to animate these.

For a non-AAA RPG, Greedfall focuses on its strengths to punch above its weight. Greedfall will not satisfy those seeking boundary-pushing graphics, a thumping soundtrack or consistently challenging combat, at least not at the normal difficulty level. However, the novel setting, meditative exploration and great quest design made my sixty hour playthrough thought-provoking and reflective.

“Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves” is Finally a Good D&D Movie

Posted on 4 April, 2023 by Anthony Langsworth

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves is a comedy and action fantasy movie based on Dungeons and Dragons (D&D), the tabletop role playing game. You follow Edgin and his adventuring band as they attempt to rescue Edgin’s daughter. They are betrayed, then drawn into something larger and more insidious that threatens the whole city of Neverwinter within the Forgotten Realms.

One challenge with bringing D&D to the screen is that D&D is a game system upon which different locations and characters are built and played. It is not a single place with known characters. Even the game’s themes vary with different settings, such as Dark Sun’s post-apocalyptic rebuilding, the pseudo-Middle Earth of Greyhawk and the intrigue-filled Forgotten Realms.

Another challenge is what makes D&D successful and enjoyable, like the many tabletop role playing games that followed it, is active participation. While there is a Dungeon Master that guides play, D&D is about cooperative storytelling and spontaneity over fixed character development arcs and well-developed plots. It is camaraderie. It is living popular tropes, not just passively consuming them.

By comparison, fantasy and science-fiction movies and novels usually adopt the setting to disarm the reader for some form of social commentary. For example, J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit was about conflict between the English upper, middle and lower classes. Robert E. Howard’s Conan warned against the evils of unrestrained technology. Characters develop and events occur to support that aim, all under the director’s or author’s strict guidance.

Previous D&D movies and many novels failed because they took the settings or signature creatures, spells and classes from D&D and put them in heroic and epic but themeless fantasy stories. They inherited the disadvantages of both D&D and movies or novels without either’s advantages.

Thankfully, Honor Among Thieves learns from these mistakes and recent successes, like the Marvel franchise. It works for four reasons.

The first is respecting the soul of D&D. D&D is about heroic fantasy, where inspiring good and terrifying evil exist. Players raise sword and spell to defend those who cannot.

However, the players or audience need to feel emotionally invested. It has to be personal. Without emotional grounding, gravitas becomes self-importance and the solemn becomes cringeworthy. Honor Among Thieves starts at the most basic, with a husband pining after his wife and daughter, routes through betrayal and only then ups the ante to something epic. The movie has heart.

The second reason is respecting D&D as a beloved, forty-year-old IP. Players will recognise iconic spells, classes and creatures. Those familiar with the Forgotten Realms setting will enjoy the references, from the overt, like Baldur’s Gate and the Harpers, to the subtle, like Selune’s Tears. The adventurers from the 1980s Dungeons and Dragons cartoon appear in the arena. There are not one but two dragons.

Honor Among Thieves feels like a D&D “campaign” or sequence of play sessions. It is long at around two hours but keeps the pace moving, jumping locations quickly without labouring. Locales include medieval cities, the Underdark and eponymous dungeons. The swerving plot gives the feeling of spontaneity and improvisation. The special effects and fight choreography are on point, giving each character a chance to shine. The final climactic battle demonstrates the power of the adventuring group at its satisfying culmination.

To be fair, Honor Among Thieves is not always faithful to the D&D rules. Paladins making Handle Animal skill checks and druids wild shaping into The Incredible Hulk-like owlbears will leave D&D rules lawyers shaking their heads. Under the guise of a relatable audience surrogate, the movie strips Edgin’s bard of his magic and combat prowess. However, these transgressions are minor and forgivable.

The third reason is not taking itself too seriously without being disrespectful. Often, an unexpected joke or an Instagram-worthy lousy dice roll can be a highlight of the session. Honor Among Thieves contains plenty of humour, from accidentally setting off traps, underestimating the literal wording of spells or the questionable tastes of intellect devourers. Without it, this movie would be a sequence of action-heavy fights having to one-up itself each time. It keeps the tone light.

For example, Xenk, the Paladin, could easily be overplayed to the point of ridicule. He literally and metaphorically does not swerve from his path of righteousness. However, his misunderstanding of irony is endearing. His aloofness opens room for forgiveness. He simultaneously contrasts the more chaotic nature of the rest of the party and inspires them toward greatness. Edgin, his adventuring band and the audience want to make fun of Xenk but cannot.

The fourth reason Honor Among Thieves works is its themes. Like Guardians of the Galaxy and The Avengers, it deals with family and self-realisation. You know the good guys are going to win. The question is how and whether they can overcome their relatable self-doubt and dysfunction to realise their potential. Seeing heroes struggle with the same fears as us brings the audience and players closer, humanising the heroes and subtly suggesting that we can all be heroic.

Honor Among Thieves is fun. It is fast and flashy enough to keep the audience’s attention and sassy enough to be credible without disrespecting D&D. You will enjoy Honor Among Thieves if you like the recent Marvel movies, heroic fantasy or play any tabletop role-playing game. If not, it will continually imply that you are missing something. Honor Among Thieves will not win any awards but is a solid cross-over that players have been waiting decades for.

“Sable” Review

Posted on 13 March, 2023 by Anthony Langsworth

Sable is an exploration and light platforming game developed by Shedworks. You play the titular character during her “gliding”, a coming-of-age ritual. Sable leaves her tribe to explore the desolate desert world and its people to determine her future and satiate her wanderlust.

Sable is a game about exploration and curiosity. It is about discovering new areas and finding dusty corners. It is about uncovering the lore and history of the world. It is about Sable finding her future place in society.

Thankfully, Sable‘s world is intriguing and wonderful. Visually, the world’s deserts are beautiful and varied, from sterile flat salt fields to the Utah-like eroded towers of red sandstone. Zipping around on your hoverbike, a technological marvel teasing what you can discover about the world’s history, is fun and relaxing.

Mechanically, Sable relies on familiar game loops like fetch quests and collection challenges with optional fishing. The quests are interesting and unique, like climbing through a gigantic wyrm, collecting precarious lighting crystals or gathering beetle poo. Sable restrains itself, avoiding the blatant exploitation of people’s curiosity and completionist instincts in other games.

Two things make Sable stand out. The first is its distinctive and vibrant cell-shaded, cartoon-like art style. The solid blocks of colour and black outlines simplify the landscape and scenes, immediately drawing attention to points of interest. It also gives the world an unreality, reinforcing Sable and her journey as fable of self-discovery.

The second is that everyone wears masks, signifying their place in society. Sable starts with a child’s mask but earns new ones by completing others’ tasks. She chooses one to wear when she finishes her gliding.

Interestingly, Sable glosses over the depersonalisation that such a practice would bring. Sable can still recognise people and see smiles or other facial expressions beneath the masks. The game ignores possible commentary on Western society’s fixation with employment as identity or portraying fake versions of yourself.

Avoiding such commentary is a good decision. It would have been too heavy. Sable is self-driven and self-paced, placing little pressure on the player. There is no combat, death, failure state or even conflict.

This decision means Sable fits nicely into the “wholesome game” genre. It also means the game has a positive and uplifting vibe. The world is not scary. Something interesting could always be around the next corner.

One minor gripe is the game’s graphics default to thirty frames per second. Unfortunately, some animations, such as Sable’s running, are limited to that rate. This noticeably contrasts with swaying grass and wind effects that are not.

Sable‘s content also gets more obscure as it progresses. The game may be unchallenging, but you need to work hard, be very curious, or both to complete everything.

That said, Sable does not encourage or require you to do anything. There is no main questline or overarching story. Sable’s mask, and her future, is her decision to make. She can return after getting her first mask or take as long as she wants.

Instead, the focus is on how Sable’s meanderings transform her. Her conversations with her tribe mates at the end are very different to those at the start. As the menu theme’s lyrics say, Sable eventually returns to her tribe as someone else.

Sable is a game for those that enjoy self-guided exploration on multiple levels. It does not outlive its novelty at eight to twelve hours to complete. Those wanting something challenging, story-driven or longer may get bored. However, those looking for something introspective, meditative, uplifting, and positive will enjoy it.

“Wednesday” Review

Posted on 23 January, 2023 by Anthony Langsworth

Many were curious when Netflix previewed Wednesday as a reboot of the 1960s black and white The Addams Family. The Addams Family poked fun at those who are different, subtly reinforcing American cultural superiority during globalism’s infancy. Recent versions softened this stance but reduced the central family to a travelling freak show. Would Wednesday repeat the same mistakes?

Wednesday begins as Wednesday Addams starts at a new boarding school, Nevermore Academy, after being expelled from yet another traditional American high school. Her parents, Gomez and Morticia, also went to Nevermore Academy. Their legacy threatens to smother Wednesday’s emerging identity under her parent’s shadow. Meanwhile, Wednesday struggles to define herself in a world that wants to force her into a mold.

The first few episodes introduce the characters while entertaining the viewer with succinct and acerbic dialog, particularly from Wednesday herself. The main plot then starts to assert itself. A supernatural mystery threatens to overwhelm Nevermore Academy and the nearby town. Wednesday takes it upon herself to solve the mystery, guided by her psychic premonitions.

Jenna Ortega portrays the unblinking, monochrome titular character brilliantly. Wednesday outwardly revels in her isolation. She even convinces her nemesis that she cares little for others’ opinions. However, her black, frozen heart predictably melts after a visit from her uncle Fester, her feelings for Thing and young love.

Thing, Wednesday’s disembodied hand companion, is the most transformed character from the original The Addams Family, both by special effects and a new purpose. Thing moves from a recurring gag to the perfect companion and sidekick: loyal, competent, occasionally comedic but never taking the spotlight from Wednesday.

Enid, Wednesday’s werewolf roommate, plays Wednesday’s foil. Enid represents everything that Wednesday is not: colourful, energetic, warm, forgiving, technically savvy and extroverted. This tug of war plays out in the not-so-subtle contrast of their shared dorm room between Enid’s rainbow and Wednesday’s gothic drabness.

Wednesday eschews almost all classroom scenes typical to the Harry Potter-like genre. Weems, the stoic, long-suffering headmistress played by Gwendoline Christie, vacillates between dominance, patience and political correctness.

For original series fans, Wednesday subverts many tropes from The Addams Family, like snapping fingers twice or the adoring love between Morticia and Gomez. However, some merely lighten emotional moments and strengthen the bond between characters. Wednesday and Pugsley, her brother, casually fishing using hand grenades is a good example.

However, Wednesday has its frustrating flaws, too. Wednesday’s character sometimes veers into the Mary Sue trope. Her knowledge of macabre topics, archery or the cello is unmatched, dismissively besting others. Wednesday’s friends’ affection is unrequited and undeserved.

Wednesday also touches on the Chosen One trope. Her constant self-righteousness and lack of remorse grates. She would have been expelled and arrested for her actions in any other context.

Wednesday will resonate with young adults. It deals with social status, love triangles, the struggle to find one’s identity, the bravado and self-righteousness of youth and the changing relationship with parents from a dependent child to a semi-independent teen.

Wednesday is unashamedly feminist. Women play most main roles. The series reduces Gomez from a 1960s-style family head to a love-struck doter. Pugsly is a pot-purri-eating weakling constantly needing Wednesday’s protection. However, the series loses little from doing so, and the new perspective is refreshing and fundamental to the story.

Underneath that, by moving the spotlight away from the Addams family and onto Nevermore Academy, Wednesday can examine diversity and inclusion. The ridicule of Nevermore’s student “freaks” by the nearby town’s “normies” will appeal to anyone bullied or victimized.

The town’s financial dependence on Nevermore Academy forces an uneasy truce, preventing the resentment from escalating into open conflict. This arrangement gives more credibility and context while giving key characters more depth.

However, the series is sometimes one-sided. No one sympathizes with those Wednesday belittles or harms. The nearby townspeople are right to be wary, given the recent murders and Nevermore Academy’s students’ powers.

Wednesday is aimed at a modern audience, who consider a show a competition between writers and viewers. The plot moves quickly, never dwelling on any scene or character more than necessary. It foreshadows enough for the audience to feel clever predicting the next event, only for the plot to swerve at the last moment.

Ultimately, the original series riffed on medieval or occult tropes for comedic effect. Wednesday uses a modern lens, crisp dialog and a fast-paced, economic plot to tell a different story. It appeals differently but successfully to both newer and older generations. However, the latter may find Wednesday a tad self-righteous and superficial.

Beginner Anti-Xeno (AX) Krait Mk II

Posted on 16 January, 2023 by Anthony Langsworth

An Elite Dangerous ship platform supporting multiple builds aimed at those new to Thargoid combat.

A detailed explanation of Thargoids and Thargoid combat is beyond the scope of this post. The Anti-Xeno Initiative (AXI) wiki has the best documentation about them, tactics, and ship builds.

Goals

Create a ship to:

Perform one or more roles when fighting Thargoid Interceptors, Thargon Swarms and Thargoid Scouts, such as those found in AX Conflict Zones.
Be self-sufficient, including removing the damage over time debuff from caustic missiles and neutralizing Thargoid shutdown fields. This means the ship can be viable solo or in random groups.
Require no unlockable modules, reputation or rank. This makes it easier to build for newer players.
Outrun and outmaneuver most thargoid interceptors, scouts and caustic missiles. This is unlikely to include the Basilisk interceptor, whose maximum speed is 530 m/s, but should include all others.
Land on a medium-sized pad. This ensures it can land at all outposts and stations, including ones under active Thargoid attack. Medium-sized ships’ purchase and rebuy prices are also generally lower than large-sized ships.

Build

Krait Mk II blueprint by CMDR-Arithon (https://swat-portal.com/forum/gallery/image/9624-krait-mk-ii/)

The new large gimballed Enhanced AX Multi-Cannon is the best AX weapon that does not require unlocking. This replaces the turreted version. Unfortunately, the limit of four AX weapons still applies. The Python and Krait Mk II both have three large hardpoints, the most for a medium ship, but the Krait Mk II is faster and more agile, making it the best medium-size AX ship for new commanders.

That said, many ships make viable anti-xeno or anti-thargoid builds. For example, the Alliance Chieftain is also effective but more so against interceptors than scouts. It is more manoeuvrable but has less hull integrity and shields.

These builds are also guidelines. Feel free to experiment but note this build’s goals and motivations.

While you can run AX builds without engineering, Thargoids are intentionally difficult opponents. Unengineered ships are harder to use. Having to repair frequently may leave your team without a needed role. Unlocking engineers and grinding for materials is time-consuming but worth it. You do not need to max out the engineering to be viable, grade 3 or 4 is sufficient, but more engineering means an easier fight.

General:

Maximize Hull: All thargoid damage is phasing, meaning a portion bypasses shields. All thargoid damage is Caustic, meaning traditional resistances like thermal, kinetic and explosive are useless. The damage over time debuff from caustic missiles directly damages hull irrespective of shields. Therefore, while shields help, maximizing hull integrity is imperative to survivability.
Caustic Debuff: Being hit by caustic missiles or entering a destroyed scout or interceptor’s cloud will put a caustic debuff on the ship. Either use a decontamination limpet or overheat to at least 120% to eliminate it. Use the AFMU during downtime to repair malfunctioning modules.
Thargoid Shutdown Field: Interceptors create a pulse that temporarily shuts down ships when (1) they enter the instance or (2) on their last heart. Use the Shutdown Field Neutralizer to prevent you and nearby allies from being shut down.
Finding Targets: AX Conflict Zones tend to spawn scouts at long ranges. Interceptors can travel far away from the centre of a conflict zone during combat. Therefore, A-rated sensors help find scouts or interceptors at extended ranges. AX builds focusing on Non Human SIgnal Sources can operate well with D-rated.
Lo-Draw Shield: The shield has Lo-Draw rather than Fast Charge. Fast Charge draws too much power if the shields ever drop, meaning there will be no power for the Shutdown Field Neutralizer or Decontamination Limpet Controller. However, Lo-Draw slightly decreases the recharge rate.
Speed and Agility: While not as fast as a Basilisk interceptor, this build can outrun other Thargoids, including caustic missiles.

Anti-Scout

Build: Coriolis (Coriolis does not support the enhanced AX multi-cannons yet, so those slots are shown as turretted) or EDSY. Have your preferred one open as you read the guide for easy reference.

You can purchase the Enhanced AX Multi-Cannons from any Sirius megaship.

Weapons: Three large and one medium Enhanced AX Multi-Cannons form the foundation for scout killing. The enhanced versions have a high shot speed. The gimbal allows limited auto-aiming, minimizing missing due to scouts’ manoeuvrability. The Long Range beam laser helps “tag” scouts and interceptors at long range. The Thermal Vent experimental effect reduces heat when striking a target or increases it when missing, helping to burn off the caustic debuff.
Setup: Assign the multi-cannons and laser to the primary fire button and the decontamination to the secondary fire button in the same fire group. Assign a key to the Shutdown Field Neutralizer. This build’s Power Plant and Power Distributor are more than sufficient, meaning pip micro-management is optional.
Target Selection: Engage regenerators first (because these heal nearby scouts), berserkers (because they buff nearby scouts and cause them to fire caustic missiles), inciters (because they buff nearby scouts) and then marauders last. The Xeno Scanner identifies scouts and their health.
Engaging: Engage scouts at a range of one to two kilometres. This is within the AX multi-cannon minimum range but not close enough for scouts’ agility to make them hard to target.
Swarms and Interceptors: Get a hit or “tag” on an interceptor to share in the bonds for killing it but avoid them if you are dealing with scouts. For interceptors, ensure someone in the wing gets a scan so you can target hearts effectively. Avoid using AX multi-cannons against shields, which may trigger the interceptor’s caustic missiles.

Mixed Anti-Swarm and Anti-Scout

As Anti-Scout, above, but replace two of the Enhanced AX Multi-Cannons with Remote Release Flak Launchers. Put the Remote Release Flak Launchers in side hardpoints to maximize the area covered by exploding flak.

Setup: Put the Remote Release Flak Launchers in one fire button, the Enhanced AX Mutli-Cannons and Laser in another and the Decontamination Limpet Controller in another in a separate fire group.
Scanning: Using the Xeno Scanner identifies the interceptor type and allows targeting of exerted hearts for you and everyone in your team. Once you get used to visually identifying interceptors and their hearts, you can replace the Xeno Scanner with another shield booster.
Target Selection: Thargon swarms are your priority because only Remote Release Flak Launchers can meaningfully damage them. Prioritize swarms attacking other team members or, failing that, larger swarms first. Otherwise, prioritise scouts as mentioned above, particularly those attacking team members.
Interceptors: Get a hit or “tag” on an interceptor to share in the bonds but prioritize other targets. While scouts are a nuisance, a single hit can destroy a needed attached limpet or stop an ammunition synthesis.

Anti-Interceptor

As Anti-Scout, above, but equip four 2B Guardian Gauss Cannons (or the salvation versions) and one 2D Long Range Beam Laser with Thermal Vent. Unfortunately, Guardian Gauss Cannons require unlocking.

Once you get familiar with interceptor combat, experiment with other Guardian weapons. However, Guardian Gauss Cannons are the most effective against Thargoid interceptor hearts.

Setup: Placing all four Guardian Gauss Cannons on a single fire button and the Beam Laser on the other. While Guardian Gauss Cannons can fire frequently, they will spike your heat. Use the Beam Laser liberally to minimize heat but be careful not to exhaust the weapon capacitor. Avoid using gauss and other weapons against Thargoid shields, because it may trigger the firing of caustic missiles.
Alternate Setup: Put two adjacent Guardian Gauss Cannons and the Beam Laser in one fire button and the other two Guardian Gauss Cannons and the Beam Laser in the other fire button. This reduces the heat impact of firing all four gauss cannons at once. Grouping the gauss canons into smaller groups with good convergence can make heart sniping easier. Hold the fire button to keep the laser firing to reduce heat.
Range: Guardian Gass Cannons are most effective at the 1 to 1.5 kilometre range. The cannons still do maximum damage, the angular motion of interceptors is minimized and the slight auto-aim feature of fixed weapons is most effective.
Engaging: Stay at least one kilometre from the interceptor unless you use the Xeno Scanner. This helps your Gauss Cannon accuracy, keeps you out of range of the lighting attack and helps any dedicated tanks keep the interceptor’s focus. Also, avoid using Gauss Cannons on shields. They are not very effective and can trigger an interceptor’s caustic missiles.
Scouts: Leave scouts for those with AX Multi-Cannons. Targeting scouts with fixed weapons is harder than against the larger, slower interceptors and gauss cannon ammunition is limited.

Variants

Unlockable modules: Replace the Module Reinforcement Package with the Guardian version to increase module protection. The double-engineered 5A Frame Shift Drive purchased from a Human Technology broker will slightly increase jump range. Replace the 4E Cargo Rack with the corrosive-resistant version if you want to scoop up hearts.
Shieldless: I do not recommend running this build shield-less unless you focus on interceptors. Cold orbiting does not work against scouts or Thargon swarms. Missiling Thargons will quickly disable or destroy hardpoints without a shield. However, to do so, replace the 6C Bi-Weave Shield Generator with a 5D Module Reinforcement Package and the two 0A Shield Boosters with Heat Sink Launchers with Ammo Capacity, preferably the double-engineered versions.