I've been out of the Elite: Dangerous universe for quite awhile. Before I left, the Thargoids had just started showing up.
Back then, they would occasionally interdict pilots during hyper-jumps in certain regions of space. During these "hyper-dictions", the ship's systems would malfunction for about a minute as the Thargoid ship scanned them and then left peacefully. Near the end of the encounter, the ship would reboot and return to normal functionality.
Or, at least, that's what I've heard on GalNet. Since I spend most of my time nowhere near inhabited space, I never had an encounter of my own. Even when I did return to The Bubble, shortly before I stepped away from the game, I still wasn't in the areas known for Thargoid activity.
Last night, I finally got back in the cockpit of my trusty Asp Explorer. Before I did though, I got caught up on the GalNet news I'd missed while I was away. That's when I found out that the Thargoids weren't just scanning ships any more – they'd turned hostile.
This presents a bit of a problem for me, as I generally play non-combat roles such as Explorer, Fuel Rat, or Miner (in that order of preference). I nearly never fly with any weapons (other than mining lasers, if you can count those) or counter-measures, and I even dump my shields now and then for power/weight savings. When I do have shields, they're the lowest class and size that I can fit on the ship – just enough to handle the occasional scrape with a mail slot, or planetary landing missteps.
I don't plan to wander near regions known for Thargoid activity any time soon, but the news I've read seems to indicate they're spreading. So, now I'm wondering what I should expect when I eventually do run into a Thargoid.
- Are there any conditions where Thargoids are known to be friendly, or at least non-hostile after you've encountered them?
- If all Thargoid encounters are hostile now, what do I need in order to survive (preferably with little to no damage) without weapons?
Best Answer
I know you asked about current ongoings. I just can tell how it was when I left E:D about 4 weeks ago for a break. Nevertheless I think that this information can help a little:
At that given time the thargoid would attack you if you had cargo of interest (f.e. thargoid probe) or ram or attack him. But otherwise he would turn away and leave you (tried it multiple times).
Following this and/or avoiding the pleiades area would keep you safe from any thargoid trouble.
I don't know about the changes of the last 4 weeks, but I'd be surprised if that had changed completely. I don't think FDev wants to annoy players that want to ignore the thargoids and follow other ambitions.
Something different:
Note that this fall there was some sort of treasure hunt developing, where you can visit old INRA outposts, read and listen to old logfiles and get vectors to systems where other outposts (with more information) exist. The outposts just have been hard to find for their first discover, because the planet body was known, but without coordinates. It's quite an interesting story to discover and you normally don't get attacked (if not by griefers in "open") going there.
If you want to discover that story just visit INRA Base 1 at System Hermitage, Planet 4a, Coordinates : -53.75, 157.61.
Stefan
PS: The latest developement I noticed -4 weeks ago- have been Thread 7 USS where you would encounter stronger Thargoids (5 instead of 4 hearts - this is relevant to CMDR that attack them).
PPS: They don't follow you to supercruise, so I guess you could run away at an encounter. Did that once, because the Thargoid rammed me (!) and got angry.