Thargoid Titan

Thargoid Titan
Overview
Manufacturer	Thargoids
Years Produced	Unknown-Present
Type	Capital Ship
Specifications
Dimensions	Circa 13,000 meters diameter

The Thargoid Titan is a Capital Ship "manufactured" by the Thargoids, with initial sightings during the First Thargoid War. The Titans were discovered inside the cores of Thargoid Maelstroms in 3309.

Overview

The Thargoid Titan is a colossal vessel found at the core of the Maelstroms. It is larger than a Thargoid Surface Site (it has a similar structure on the hemisphere opposite of its 'maw'). It is estimated to be 13 km in diameter. It possesses a great number of weapons and defensive mechanisms.

The area around the Titan, the Maelstrom, is a caustic environment filled with patrolling Interceptors and Caustic Generators, which necessitate the usage of Caustic Sinks and either a cold running ship or Silent Running, to navigate. The caustic damage subsides at the centre of the Maelstrom, an asteroid field containing the Titan. The asteroid field is patrolled by Scouts and Hunters, as well as containing the Caustic Generators responsible for creating the caustic cloud. Interceptors may also be found nearby, docking with and departing the Titan via the 'maw'.

Firing at the Titan prompts retaliation by swarms of Hunters, the activation of the Titan Dual-Fire Turrets, and rarely (mostly with high damage), the activation of the Titan Field.

History

Titan close-up

During the First Thargoid War between 3125 and 3151, the Intergalactic Naval Reserve Arm facility Carmichael Point was armed with anti-Thargoid weaponry and disguised as an important military site to bait the Thargoids. Logs recovered from the location over a century later described the arrival of a huge Thargoid mothership. Carmichael Point and all INRA operatives present were destroyed or KIA. The mothership suffered minimal damage from the site's defensive batteries.

CMDR John Jameson's recovered ship logs mentioned that he got up close to the superstructure of a "hive ship" while on his mission to deploy the mycoid bioweapon and end the war. He claimed it had hyperdrives, and described it as amazing and beautiful. It is not currently known whether this is the same class of ship as the Titan.

In mid-3303, a vast number of structures of Thargoid origin were found in star systems containing high concentrations of Non-Human Signal Sources. More of these Surface Sites were quickly discovered through the use of Thargoid Link devices discovered within them. All of these structures appeared damaged and largely inert, seemingly being either repaired or dismantled by Thargoid Scavenger drones. Given their sheer size, star map facilities and critically damaged condition, it was theorized these structures were in fact crashed Hive Ships, killed by the mycoid virus during the First Thargoid War. This was supported by areas of biological damage on the remains that were consistent with those seen on decayed vats of Mycoid at INRA bases.

Following the failure of the Proteus Wave during the Second Thargoid War, eight Rogue Signal Sources made their way towards the bubble at superluminal speeds, eventually deploying eight Maelstroms within systems containing Ammonia Worlds. After a Maelstrom was established, vast Thargoid fleets commenced invasions of adjacent star systems, many of which being human populated. The core of these Maelstroms was unknown until May 9th 3309, when the Thargoid Pulse Neutraliser (commonly used on ships outfitted with Caustic Sink Launchers to mitigate the extreme corrosive damage) made it possible to see these vessels up close.

Analysis of the Thargoid Titans using the Pulse Wave Xeno Scanner confirmed the presence of human captives held inside storage chambers on all eight Titans. The Sirius Corporation and Aegis created the Sub-surface Extraction Missile to rescue these captives.

Research was conducted by Professor Palin and Ram Tah in order to figure out a way to destroy the Titans, which resulted in the development of the Guardian Nanite Torpedo Pylon. This weapon targets Heat Vents on the Titan's hull, forcing it to expose a thermal core which can be damaged by Enhanced AX Multi-cannons and Enhanced AX Missile Racks.

Taranis was the first Titan to be destroyed by commanders on March 2, 3310. Following extreme damage to the Titan's thermal core over the course of several days by AX teams, it entered a state of meltdown, during which its defenses failed and Thargoid vessels of all kinds were observed evacuating the structure. After a period of 24 hours, Taranis suffered a catastrophic structural failure, detonating in an explosion estimated to be at least 100km in diameter, greatly spiking the Maelstroms caustic levels. It took almost two weeks for caustic levels to drop low enough for commanders to safely enter the fading Maelstrom and inspect the wreckage.

The Titans' journey towards the Core Systems was of scientific interest, as the speeds at which the Titans traveled in normal space vastly exceeded the capabilities of human ships. Since 3309, Achilles Aerospace had been developing Supercruise Overcharge technology, having collected observational data of the Titans during their journey towards the Bubble. With the help of independent pilots, the company obtained Titan Drive Components from the wreckage of Taranis, thereby completing their research in April 3310. Later that month, Achilles introduced the SCO Frame Shift Drive to the market.

Invasion of Sol

Titan Cocijo in Sol

Over the course of 3310, seven of the Titans were destroyed after the systems they invaded were systematically retaken by AX forces. However when the Thargoids extracted information from Seo Jin-ae after isolating her connecetion to their hivemind, the 8th and final Titan - Cocijo - reformed it's Maelstrom back into a Rogue Signal Source and proceeded to leave it's control system on a course for the centre of the bubble. It arrived in Sol on 5 Dec 3310, positioning itself in orbit around Earth. Cocijo lead a Thargoid invasion fleet which devastated the capital system.Thousands of human AX ships were destroyed including the Farragut Battle Cruisers FNS Nero and FNS Erebus.

By 6 Dec 3310, the following rescue megaships were lost: Federal Haven in Sol, Rescue Ship Bertschinger in Sol, Rescue Ship Foerster in Sol, Rescue Ship Kisseih in Wolf 359, Rescue Ship Cavell in Alpha Centauri, Rescue Ship Yoshida in Barnard's Star, and Rescue Ship Seacole in Wise 1506+7027.

The systems that were occupied by Cocijo's invasion fleet were retaken by the concerted effort of many pilots. Cocijo became vulnerable on 12 Dec 3310 and exploded on 18 Dec 3310.

Capabilities

Hyperdrive

Thargoid Titan firing its Dual-Fire Turrets in Laser Mode towards an incoming player

It is assumed that the Thargoid Titan possesses a unique form of hyperdrive when it comes to the Thargoids. Normal Thargoid Hyperdrives operate on the principle of stable wormholes. However, the Titan appeared to have been capable of superluminal hypercruise between star systems at speeds unreachable by Human Supercruise. Whether Titans are incapable of entering Hyperspace (perhaps due to their incredible mass), or simply travel through normal space for other reasons, is currently unknown.

Remnants of destroyed Titans are known to contain fragments of their drive components. Research into the remains recovered from Titan Taranis were used by Achilles Aerospace to produce the first generation of Super Cruise Overcharge (SCO) Frameshift drives in mid 3310.

Weaponry

The Thargoid Titan emitting its blue disruption field in response to incoming fire. Credit: CMDR Lion12

The Titan deploys multiple forms of weapons. Dual-fire turrets found on the Titan's hull will fire projectiles that deal phasing damage, similar to weapons on Interceptors, Scouts and Hunters. Titans can also fire a large volley of seeker missiles at targeted ships, dealing explosive damage.

Electromagnetic pulse

The titan intermittently produces an electromagnetic shockwave that affects ships within the caustic cloud, pushing ships with enough force to remove them from the caustic cloud while causing light systems malfunctions. Ships that experience this shockwave will record Massive Energy Surge Analytics. The Thargoid Pulse Neutraliser is required to mitigate this shockwave. This shockwave does not affect any ships inside the asteroid field.

At the centre of the Maelstrom, the electromagnetic pulse can be seen up-close. The Titan forms blue lines that resemble a magnetic field in the shape of a torus, connected between the top and bottom centre portions of the Titan. This field damages ship hulls, disrupts ship systems/modules and causes visual glitches on the Head-Up Display. This disruption field can be evaded by moving out of range - there is a safe zone in the asteroids between the disruption field and the caustic cloud. Ships can also hide directly 'above' the centre portion of the Titan, at either the top or its bottom, as this will place them outside the torus-shaped field, thus leaving them unaffected.

When a Titan is destroyed, it releases a pulse wave with a yellow or orange glow. This pulse has far more energy than any pulses previously recorded, repulsing all ships from the area 150km around the Titan. Massive Energy Surge Analytics were recorded, identical to the analytics produced from a typical electromagnetic shockwave. Any Frame Shift Drive caught in the pulse will be forced to reboot for an extended period.

The Maw

The Maw of the Titan is a large, sometimes yellow, pool-like opening on one of its faces. This acts like a doorway for Thargoid vessels as they can be seen entering or exiting this opening when not engaged with human ships. This opening is theorised to be something called a "Phasing Membrane" as there is an engineering material able to be collected near it and similar openings, called "Phasing Membrane Residue". This suggests that the Maw, and the other glowing orange openings on the Titan's superstructure, are a form of phasing matter that can not only shift from solid to liquid, but differentiate the matter of human ships from Thargoid. When a Thargoid vessel approaches the Maw, the pool surface begins to glow and seemingly turn liquid or semi-solid, allowing the vessel to push through it. Once through the light fades and the surface appears to quickly become solid. Similar to Thargoid Wormholes, the Maw repels craft that approach it.

Additional smaller vents along the arms of the Titan appear to produce a similar glow when releasing Scouts and Hunters.

Vulnerabilities

Each Titan has 8 hearts and damage resistance. A Titan can be destroyed by bringing the hearts to 0% health.

Aegis produced Gaurdian Nanite Torpedoes to allow commanders to disrupt the heat vent nodules found on the eight 'fins' on a Titan's dorsal structure; once all eight have been bombarded, the Titan will initiate an emergency thermal vent that briefly exposes the vulnerable thermal core on its ventral side. Through continual assault, this thermal core can eventually be destroyed, forcing the vessel into a state of meltdown. The rate at which the core can be damaged, however, is dictated by the Titan's current Damage Resistance.

All Titans have a Damage Resistance rating (visible in the Thargoid War view for the specific Titan in the Galaxy Map) that ranges on a scale from 'Maximum' down to 'Compromised'. This governs how effective AX assaults on a Titan's thermal core are, and is affected by how many star systems the Titan currently has control over. In order to effectively attack a Titan, neighboring systems need to be cleared of Thargoid influence (in effect, cutting off its supply lines). While the exact impact is currently unknown, it is possible that nearby Thargoid Spire Sites also play a large role in protecting a Titan.

Guide

Main article: Thargoid Combat, Xeno Hunter

Outfitting a ship for attacking a Titan requires credits and materials.

1. Use the boost and FSD to flee when there is a hyperdiction, and interdiction
2. Use the Caustic Sink Launcher inside the Maelstrom to avoid caustic damage
3. Use the Thargoid Pulse Neutraliser inside the Maelstrom to avoid the shockwave
4. Use the Guardian Nanite Torpedoes to fire at the heat vents.
5. Use the AX Missile Racks or AX Multi-cannons to fire at the thermal core of the Titan.
6. Use the boost to flee.
7. Repeat step 4 till 6.

Recommended links

• DcoH Thargoid Overwatch - check the state of each Titan
• Thargoid Titans Status - to see the countdown before the meltdown of a Titan
• Maelstrom to learn how to visit Titans
• Three anti-Titan ship builds for Update 18 (2024) - some interesting builds against Titans
• Elite Dangerous Damaging a Titan - how to damage a Titan
• Elite Dangerous Titan Hadad Meltdown - the meltdown of a Titan
• Titan Hadad is vulnerable - the rewards for participating in the destruction of Titans

Materials

Thargoid Titan Graveyard

Special materials can be collected at a Titan Graveyard: The caustic clouds at old Titan graveyards have dissipated.

1. G1 "Hardened Surface Fragments" from "Coarse Hall Surface" fissures, retrieved with the Abrasion Blaster.
2. G2 "Caustic Shard" just floats around in an outer Maelstrom, you can pick them up.
3. G2 "Thargoid Carapace" occasionally float around a dead Titan.
4. G3 "Phasing Membrane Residue" from "Launch Tube Membrane Residue", around the Glaive/Scout portals, retrieved with the Abrasion Blaster.
5. G3 "Wreckage Components" occasionally float around a dead Titan.
6. G3 "Corrosive Mechanisms" come from destroying the Caustic Generators.
7. G5 "Heat Exposure Specimen" from "Heat Vent Abrasions", on the heat vents, retrieved with the Abrasion Blaster.
8. G5 "Titan Drive Components" occasionally float around a dead Titan.
9. G5 "Thargoid Organic Circuitry" occasionally float around a dead Titan.

Commodities

Special commodities can be collected at a Titan or a Titan Graveyard. The caustic clouds at old Titan graveyards have dissipated.

1. "Titan Deep Tissue Sample" occasionally float around a dead Titan.
2. "Titan Partial Tissue Sample" occasionally float around a dead Titan.
3. "Caustic Tissue Sample" occasionally float around a dead Titan or can be retrieved by Research Limpets attached to Caustic Generators.
4. "Bone Fragments" come from destroying "Bone Structure Fragments".
5. "Organ Sample" come from destroying "Organic Membranes".
6. "Cyst Specimen" come from destroying "Cyst Perls".
7. "Meta-Alloys" occasionally float around a dead Titan.
8. "Thargoid Bio-Storage Capsule" occasionally float around a dead Titan.
9. "Thargoid Sensor" occasionally float around a dead Titan.
10. "Thargoid Heart" occasionally float around a dead Titan.
11. "Thargoid Scythe Tissue Sample" occassionally float around a dead Titan.

Titans

The powerful signals of the Titans have been named for tracking purposes.

Name	Type	System	Arrival date	Number	Status	Systems controlled	Notes	Image
Taranis	Capital Ship	Hyades Sector FB-N b7-6	29 November 3308	1st	Destroyed	0	Destroyed on 2 March 3310.
Indra	Capital Ship	HIP 20567	1 December 3308	2nd	Destroyed	0	Destroyed on 9 July 3310.
Leigong	Capital Ship	HIP 8887	1 December 3308	3rd	Destroyed	0	Destroyed on 17 March 3310.
Cocijo	Capital Ship	originally Col 285 Sector BA-P c6-18; now Sol	8 December 3308; arrival at Sol 5 December 3310	4th	Destroyed	0	Reverted to a superluminal Rogue Signal Source and redeployed to the Sol system before becoming fully vulnerable. Destroyed on 18 December 3310 over Earth.
Oya	Capital Ship	Cephei Sector BV-Y b4	8 December 3308	5th	Destroyed	0	Destroyed on 21 March 3310. Deployed a fleet of Orthrus vessels after coming under community attack.
Thor	Capital Ship	Col 285 Sector IG-O c6-5	15 December 3308	6th	Destroyed	0	Destroyed on 18 August 3310.
Raijin	Capital Ship	Pegasi Sector IH-U b3-3	15 December 3308	7th	Destroyed	0	Destroyed on 24 October 3310
Hadad	Capital Ship	HIP 30377	15 December 3308	8th	Destroyed	0	Destroyed on 26 May 3310.

Naming conventions

The original names of the Titans are unknown thus Humans named the Titans after mythological deities. The first Titan that arrived on 29 November 3308 was named after the Celtic god of thunder Taranis. The 2nd Titan Indra was named after the king of the devas and Svarga in Hinduism. The 3rd Titan Leigong was named after the god of thunder in Taoism. The 4th Titan Cocijo was named after a lightning deity of the pre-Columbian Zapotec civilization of southern Mexico. The 5th Titan Oya was named after an Orisha (river deity in the Yoruba religion of West Africa) of winds, lightning, and violent storms. The 6th Titan Thor was named after a prominent sky and thunder god in Germanic and Norse mythology. The 7th Titan Raijin was named after the thunder god in Japanese mythology and the Shinto religion. The 8th Titan Hadad was named after the storm and rain god in the Canaanite and ancient Mesopotamian religions.

Notes

• Files datamined from the Elite Dangerous: Odyssey alpha mention two Installation-sized Thargoid craft, "Thargoid Seedship" and "Thargoid Titan", which may relate to the Thargoid Mothership.
• In the days leading up to Update 15 releasing, Frontier released information relating to the content in the update. Included in this was confirming that the Thargoid Surface Site is actually a downed vessel being deconstructed.^{[citation needed]} Due to the outwards similar appearance, it is theorised that these are dead Titans.
• in update 17 independent pilots already can perform Titan mining via specially developed module. Reason is the fact Thargoids started to harvest human refugees for unknown purposes, most likely a plan to continue their invasion.

Videos

Elite Dangerous INRA Base Attacked By Thargoids

Titan Taranis - Catastrophic Failure -CLIP-

EXPLOSION of Titan Taranis - ELITE DANGEROUS

ELITE DANGEROUS - The Destruction of Leigong

Supern-Oya Saturday (Elite Dangerous)

Titan OYA - Catastrophic Failure -CLIP-

The "Titan Killer" Krait Mk2

The Greatest In-Game Event You Have Never Seen

Elite Dangerous Cinematic - The Thargoid War - Part II

Imperial Courier Titan Bomber Build & Guide - Elite Dangerous

Elite Dangerous - Titan Cocijo Advances On Humanity

Elite Dangerous - Titan Presence In Sol

Elite Dangerous Update 18 "Titan Attack"

How to Take Down a Titan

Elite Dangerous - Thargoid War Epilogue

Gallery

Destroyed message

Titan Cocijo in Sol

Thargoid Titan Graveyard Dark