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Deep Dive: Hunter Glaive

Overview

The newest vessel to be seen deployed by the Thargoids, the Glaive is the first variant in a new class: Hunters. While other variants can only be speculated on, they seem to fulfill a role in between full Interceptors and Scouts. Glaives can be encountered in nearly all active Thargoid zones, being found in AX Combat Zones, patrolling Maelstroms, protecting the Titans, and pulling CMDRs out of hyperspace and supercruise.

Glaives are usually encountered either alone or in pairs, but wings of up to three can be seen. When encountered, they are instantly hostile, firing a FSD disruptor missile before opening fire with their main cannon.

Characteristics

Like Scouts, Glaives have no hearts, and therefore do not have natural hull regeneration. They are the fastest of any known Thargoid vessel, moving somewhere around 750m/s. Initial estimates place their hull at roughly as durable as a Cyclops, but their lack of regeneration makes them significantly easier to kill. They have an estimated 99% resistance to conventional human weapons. Unlike Interceptors, their aim is not deterred by staying below 20% heat. When killed, they drop various Thargoid materials, including the new Caustic Shards that can be found scattered throughout Maelstroms. The Pilots Federation will grant a bond of 4,500,000 credits for a successful kill.

Special Abilities

The Glaive comes with four special abilities: FSD containment missiles, caustic missiles, a unique lightning attack, and an anti-Guardian field similar to the Orthrus Interceptor.

• The FSD containment missiles are similar to those employed by human pirates, and unlike most Thargoid weaponry can be affected by human deterrents. Electronic Countermeasures are especially effective, with Point Defense Turrets being functional but not very effective.


• The Glaive will periodically firefour caustic missiles simultaneously. Their payload is weaker than those of a standard interceptor. These missiles can be evaded with careful maneuvering, but packing Caustic Sinks are recommended to effectively neutralize their effects. As with all Thargoid caustic missiles, ECMs and PDs are useless against these.


• Glaives possess a unique lightning attack, which they will use whenever they get within 1km of their target. Considering their speed, this will happen often even with careful piloting. This lightning, while not particularly damaging, has the unique property of regenerating the Glaive’s shield. While they are using this attack, they become effectively invulnerable due to the high regeneration of this effect.


• The last special property of the Glaive is the anti-Guardian field. Similar to Maelstrom systems and Orthrus Interceptors, this field will slowly deal damage to any guardian modules mounted on your ship. Due to this, it is advised to either prioritize killing Glaives or to avoid using guardian technology at all. They deploy the field when attacking, and don't turn it off unless they eliminate all targets.

Recommended Tactics

There are two main tactics that have been discovered to effectively deal with Glaives.

When encountered in a hyperdiction or interdiction, enabling silent running quickly will prevent Glaives from getting a target lock. Without this lock, they will merely pursue you at a slower speed, allowing you to wait out your FSD cooldown and make a safe escape. If the Glaive gets a lock, there is nothing you can do to deter them, as they are not deterred by usual cold orbiting mechanics.

The second tactic is more relevant to wing combat. While charging their lightning attack, Glaives open up a weak spot near their rear engine. Hitting this spot with sustained fire will stun the Glaive, allowing for massive damage to be dealt in a short amount of time.

Due to their anti-Guardian field, using human-derived AX weaponry is advised. It should also be noted that should they ram you, they have a surprisingly high mass, which can lead to unexpectedly high collision damage.

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