Thargoid Titan

Thargoid Titan
Overview
Manufacturer	Thargoids
Years Produced	Unknown-Present
Type	Capital Ship
Specifications
Dimensions	Approximately 13,000 Metres Diameter

The Thargoid Titan is a Capital Ship manufactured by the Thargoids. Thargoid vessels of this size had not been sighted since the First Thargoid War, but have been spotted recently residing in the cores of the Thargoid Maelstroms

Overview

The Thargoid Titan is a colossal vessel found at the core of the Maelstroms. It is larger than a Thargoid Surface Site (although has a very similar structure on the hemisphere opposite its 'maw') and 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 Interceptors, Caustic Generators, Scouts and Hunters. 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. 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 the same class of ship as the Titan.

In mid-3303 a number of vast 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 theorised 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, where 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 on a way to destroy the Titans, conducted by Professor Palin and Ram Tah, resulted in the development of Guardian Nanite Torpedo. This weapon targets Heat Vents on the Titan's hull, forcing it to expose a heat 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 travelled 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.

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.

Weaponry

The Thargoid Titan emitting its blue distruption 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 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 Titans 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 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 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

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.

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	Col 285 Sector BA-P c6-18; incoming Sol	8 December 3308; arrival at Sol unknown	4th	Active	0	Is incoming Sol .
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.

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

Gallery

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