Anti-XenoActivity Guide

Anti-Xeno is combat against the Thargoids — a separate discipline from human combat because conventional weapons barely scratch Thargoid hulls. It demands specialised AX and Guardian weapons, a hard focus on heat and caustic-damage management, and a unique fight against the interceptors' regenerating "hearts." It was, for two in-game years, the most intense cooperative content in the game.

When it is active, the loop looks like this:

1. Survive the field

   Caustic sinks, run cold.

2. Neutralise the pulse

   Beat the shutdown EMP.

3. Expose the heart

   Damage until a heart surfaces.

4. Destroy & repeat

   Eight hearts, then the kill.

AX combat shares the flight engine with human combat but rewrites the weapon, heat and damage rules.

AX & Guardian weapons

Thargoid hulls resist conventional fire, so you need purpose-built kit:

• AX Multi-Cannons & AX Missile Racks — the baseline anti-Thargoid hardpoints; Enhanced versions hit far harder and are the standard.
• Guardian Gauss Cannons — high-damage charge-up fixed weapons, the workhorse of heart-cracking; they run hot, so heat discipline is everything.
• Guardian Shard Cannons & Plasma Chargers — Guardian-tech alternatives with different range/heat profiles.
• Flak / Remote-Release Flak Launchers — clear the Thargoid swarm (the small drones that orbit and attack you).

Heat & caustic survival

The interceptor "hearts" fight

Thargoid Interceptors (Cyclops, Basilisk, Medusa, Hydra, in rising difficulty) have regenerating armour and a set of internal hearts. The fight is a rhythm: damage the interceptor until a heart is exposed, destroy that heart, survive the shutdown pulse and swarm between phases, and repeat through all eight hearts before the final kill. Scouts — the smaller Thargoid craft — are far easier and the usual training wheels. The Xeno Scanner / Pulse Wave Xeno Scanner identify variants and points of interest.

These are the venues the role used during the war. With no active war states, most are currently inactive — listed here as the standby playbook.

Even dormant, you can prepare the role and engage residual content. The on-ramp:

1. Unlock the Guardian tech

   Visit Guardian ruins with Ram Tah's blueprints and gather Guardian materials to unlock Gauss, Shard and the Guardian reinforcement modules. This is the real prerequisite and is always available.

2. Build a starter AX fit

   A medium hull with Enhanced AX multi-cannons (gimballed are forgiving), a Heat Sink Launcher, a Caustic Sink Launcher and a Thargoid Pulse Neutraliser. The Anti-Xeno — Ship Comparison page will help you pick an appropriate AX ship.

3. Learn on Scouts

   Scouts are the gentle introduction — practise the swarm-clearing and heat rhythm before ever facing an interceptor.

4. Graduate to a Cyclops

   The weakest interceptor; work the heart fight slowly — expose, destroy, neutralise the pulse, repeat.

5. Respect heat and caustic

   Gauss builds overheat fast; caustic clouds tick you down. Sinks and cold-running are not optional.

6. Scavenge a Titan wreck (optional)

   For the curious, the inactive hulks remain — go cold, carry caustic sinks, and treat them as hazardous terrain.

The mid-game of AX — when it is live — is about handling the tougher interceptors and farming bonds.

Step up the interceptor ladder

Move from Cyclops to Basilisk and Medusa as your heart-cracking speed and heat discipline improve. Each tier has more hearts, faster swarms and harder pulses; a Gauss build and clean sink management are what carry you up.

Farm conflict zones (war-dependent)

With active war states, AX conflict zones — space and on-foot — are the bond farm, paying combat bonds for every Thargoid downed. Currently inactive, but this is where mid-game AX income lived.

• Hydra hunting — the toughest interceptor; the end-game test of an AX build and pilot, soloable only by the very well-practised and far easier in a wing.
• Titan offensives — concluded: cracking a Titan's thermal core with Nanite Torpedo Pylons and Enhanced AX weapons was the apex coordinated content. All eight are now destroyed.
• Titan wreck expeditions — the surviving end-game curiosity: approaching the caustic inactive hulks to scavenge and study them.
• Readiness — for many veteran AX pilots, the end-game now is simply keeping a maxed AX/Guardian ship on standby for the Thargoids' expected return.

Full ratings and AX fits live in the comparison dossier — shortlist below.

During the war these were substantial; most are currently dormant with the conflict concluded.

• Status check first. The war is over and there are no active war states — confirm current galaxy conditions on GalNet before planning an AX session.
• Conventional guns don't work. You need AX or Guardian weapons; everything else barely dents a Thargoid.
• Heat sinks and caustic sinks are mandatory. Gauss builds cook themselves and caustic fields tick you down — never fly AX without both.
• Carry a Pulse Neutraliser. It counters the interceptor shutdown EMP that would otherwise leave you helpless mid-fight.
• Learn on Scouts, climb the interceptor ladder. Scouts → Cyclops → Basilisk → Medusa → Hydra, in rising difficulty.
• AX loves a wing. Focused fire from multiple Gauss platforms cracks hearts far faster than soloing.
• Unlock the Guardian tech regardless. Even with the war dormant, those modules upgrade your human-combat and explorer ships.