Amateur's Guide to Tier 8

Cyrus Leung · 20 Feb 2020, 9:57AM

Introduction

This guide is designed for those who currently own a full fleet of Elite Valrayvns. If you do not, please refer to my Beginner's Guide to Fast Progression on how to obtain such a fleet from scratch.

In this guide, you will learn where and how to obtain the vast majority of Tier 8 technology starting with only your Valrayvn fleet.

Scroll to the bottom to view the changelog.

You can discuss about the guide and ask questions in this thread: https://www.kixeye.com/forum/discussion/768734

Overview of Tier 8 Technologies

First off, here is an overview of what you are going to obtain by the end of this guide. Tier 8 technologies can be classified as follows: core, dreadnought and trigger.

Core Technologies

These technologies make up the main content of Tier 8. They include:

Ships of the fighter, titan and ranger roles (e.g. Valrayvn)
Ship weapons (e.g. Nova Driver)
Ship defenses (e.g. Ablative Carapace)
Ship armor (e.g. Parasitic Armor)

Tier 8 ships can be obtained as blueprints. Once the blueprint is obtained, you can construct the ship as many times as you want. In order to upgrade a ship, you need to obtain enough materials, craft the upgrade credit in the Workshop, and apply it to a ship of the previous level (e.g. you can only apply a Mk IV credit to a Mk III ship). For Tier 8, there are a total of 6 levels, ranging from Mk I (omitted from ship name) to Mk VI (Elite).

Both non-weapons and weapons have 4 levels, the first two levels being blueprints while the last two being reusable items. Reusable items are unlike blueprints, in that you can only have a limited number of them equipped at the same time. In order to obtain reusable credits for the level III version, you have to combine its fragments in the Workshop. Level IV reusable credits are obtained by fusing a level III reusable credit with the appropriate element. Elements can be purchased in the event store of any Tier 8 event, or farmed from various NPC Targets in the Tier 7 Strikes which run every Tuesday.

Blueprints for Tier 8 ships and their tech can be found in the 24/7 Deep Space sectors for the corresponding faction. Ship upgrades and reusable item fragments, however, can only be obtained through crafting events which happen irregularly (mentioned in the Beginner's Guide).

Extra Technologies

These technologies were released on a separate schedule. This includes:

Dreadnought-class ships (e.g. Leviathan Dreadnought)
Trigger credits (e.g. Positron Bolt)

Dreadnoughts and their upgrades can be obtained through farming challenging targets that appear regularly within the 24/7 Deep Space sectors for the corresponding faction.

Trigger credits such as the Positron Bolt are limited-use items that can be equipped to the Trigger slot of a ship. Refer to this post on how to use them. While they are very powerful, they are also quite difficult to obtain (see below), and thus should be used sparingly.

Co-op targets that drop instant credits for these technologies appear sporadically in any of the 24/7 Deep Space sectors for the RPS factions. These targets are very challenging and meant to be taken on jointly by two players with maxed-out fleets. Successive levels of a given trigger are generally introduced every two weeks.

Fleet Setup

Valrayvns

As mentioned in the introduction, you will be making use of your Elite Valrayvn fleet. In case you did not read the prequel of this guide, here is the initial fitting of each ship:

4x Nova Driver III
3x Ablative Carapace III
2x Parasitic Armor III
1x Sunder Thruster III
1x Spectral Warheads III
1x Explosive Resistor III

This setup is sufficient for obtaining many regular Tier 8 technologies. You can further improve on this setup by replacing each Nova Driver III with Astral Driver III, and Spectral Warheads III with Phased Magnets III. Trigger technology is meant for PvP and thus its use (but not acquirement) will not be considered in this guide. Do not use Blight weapons until you obtain Mk IV Vectors, otherwise you may run into problems when fighting enemy Umbra fleets.

Vectors

While Valrayvns are highly versatile as will be shown in the next section, Vectors have even greater potential than Valrayvns (as you may have noticed if you have followed Path B of my Beginner's Guide). Your next goal should be to obtain a full fleet of Elite Vectors as soon as possible, by using your Valrayvn fleet to upgrade them to Mk IV, then use Mk IV Vectors for the remainder. The setup for each Mk IV Vector is a follows:

2x Plasma Astral Driver IV
3x Mesh Screen II
1x Vertex Armor II
1x Binary Thrusters III
1x Phase Charge Relay III

(You can obtain Phase Charge Relay III fragments from defeating Pharmakon Titan Strike (98) during Pharmakon Strike.)

And the final setup for Elite Vectors is:

4x Plasma Astral Driver IV
3x Mesh Screen III (or Blight Mesh Screen IV)
2x Vertex Armor III (or Blight Vertex Armor IV)
1x Binary Thrusters III
1x Phase Charge Relay III

In general, you can use this setup against any Umbra or Pharmakon target to aid you in obtaining regular technologies. The alternative choices in brackets are highly recommended when farming targets that heavily focuses on Blight damage, such as those required for the Leviathan Dreadnought Mk V-VI.

Tier 8 Dreadnoughts

If and when you obtain a Tier 8 Dreadnought, you may wish to fit it with (Kinetic) Astral Driver, speed it up with Iridium Magnets, and use it as a kiting ship. (You may also want to equip a couple of close range weapons to guard against Fighters.) This is a very powerful build that can trivialize the vast majority of targets. Simply rotate your ship such that the enemy fleet just touches either the clockwise or anti-clockwise edge of your firing arc, and keep moving away from the enemy. You may also wish to build 5 Vindicator Cutters equipped with Harmonic Chase Thruster (no weapons, to avoid being aggroed) to speed up your Dreadnought. Since the strategy is pretty much the same for all targets, it will not be covered in this guide.

Fleet Commanders

Derrin Clay is arguably the best fleet commander for any fleet that uses exclusively Explosive damage. Otherwise, Dr. Kobus Chiron and Victoria Onin are the preferred default due to their massive health bonus, which increases your effective fleet health such that you get less repair time for the same absolute amount of damage taken. While Dr. Kobus Chiron can be obtained in the weekly Umbra Strike, Victoria Onin only appears on an irregular basis across Tier 8 events, and as such, is difficult to obtain. Richard Gowd is also a solid choice if you are using a Kinetic damage fleet to hunt Pharmakon targets, but he is just as hard to obtain as Victoria Onin. For a full Plasma damage Pharmakon fleet fighting an Umbra fleet, Victus Noir is the best choice - he can be found in Pharmakon Strike.

The easiest way to quickly upgrade fleet commanders is to attack Umbra Overseer (150) in the Umbra Sector using your Valrayvn fleet on full auto. Despite its level, it is actually very easy to defeat. Since fleet commander XP gain is based on the difference between the enemy's fleet level and your commander (not fleet) level, you can quickly obtain a large amount of XP for minimal damage taken.

The AI

You might have already noticed from experience that the biggest source of damage dealt to your Valrayvns is not from enemy ships with the Fighter role, but those with the Ranger role. This is because Fighters are usually destroyed before they even manage to get close, while Rangers can deal as much, or even more damage at long range. As a result, the first skill you must master is fighting NPC Rangers.

The most important thing you need to know when dealing with NPC ships in general is how the AI actually works. If you understand the AI well, you can take advantage of its predictability to turn the battle in your favor.

Movement

In general, movement behavior has three distinct modes: dummy, rush+strafe and flank. Dummy mode is only used for low-level cargo fleets. The rush+strafe mode is used by the AI of frigates, cutters, destroyers, dreadnoughts, as well as ships with the Fighter and Ranger role. On the other hand, the AI of corvettes, cruisers, battleships, carriers, flagships, as well as ships with the Titan role apply flank mode. Here is an outline of the hierarchy of rules governing each mode:

Dummy
1. Let X be a proportion of the ship's maximum range (usually around 0.75x.)
2. Repeat the following every fraction of a second:
2.1. If the distance to the target is greater than X, attempt to travel directly towards the target.
2.2. Otherwise, remain in place and face the target.

Examples:

The orange circle has a radius of X.

The green dotted line indicates the heading of the target.

The yellow arrows indicate the instantaneous velocity of the ship.

This behavior is identical to using the "pursue and attack target" command with AI turned off.

Rush+Strafe
1. Let X be a proportion of the ship's maximum range (usually around 0.75x.)
2. Repeat the following every fraction of a second:
2.1. If the distance to the target is greater than X, attempt to travel directly towards the target.
2.2. Otherwise, attempt to circle towards the rear of the target by strafing.
2.3. Perform the following:
2.3.1. Update whether to circle clockwise or anticlockwise.
2.3.2. If the distance to the target is smaller than X, increase the backward component of strafing in an attempt to restore the distance X.
2.3.3. Face the target.

Examples:

The orange circle has a radius of X.

The green dotted line indicates the heading of the target.

The yellow arrows indicate the instantaneous velocity of the ship.

Point 2.3.1. is most important, as it implies that the heading of its target will influence the direction of strafe - every time the heading of its target passes through the ship, the ship's direction of strafe will readily change.

Flank
1. Let X and Y be proportion of the ship's maximum range (usually around 0.75x and 1.25x respectively.)
2. Repeat the following every fraction of a second:
2.1. Attempt to circle towards the rear of the target by moving forward.
2.2. If this is the start of battle, or if the distance from the target is equal to some variable Y:
2.2.1. Update whether to circle clockwise or anticlockwise.
2.3. Repeat the following every fraction of a second:
2.3.1. If the distance to the target is equal to X, attempt to face the direction that is perpendicular to the line from the ship to the target.
2.3.2. Otherwise, adjust the above direction to be more parallel to the line such that moving forward would change the distance to be closer to X.

Examples:

The orange circle has a radius of X.

The green dotted line indicates the heading of the target.

The yellow arrows indicate the instantaneous velocity of the ship if they circle in the clockwise direction. For the anticlockwise direction, the pink arrows instead apply.

Point 2.2.1. is most important, because, again, it controls the direction of circling of the ship. Unlike in the rush+strafe mode, the direction of circling can be somewhat sticky and hard to change if the distance is not close to Y. You can also take advantage of fleet formations in order to set the direction of circling at the very start of battle.

Targeting

This is pretty straightforward. Just remember the following points:

The AI will never target unarmed ships (not base modules) unless they are the only ones left.
The AI sets its target primarily based on threat value, which is a function of mainly distance and, to some degree, the setup of the ship.
The AI has a small degree of randomness that affects its target selection.
The AI has sticky targeting, meaning that it tends to lock on to the same target for at least a while.

The most important takeaway here is that decoys must have a weapon equipped to be effective - even a Pulse Ray can work!

Predictive Aim

Destroyers, base modules, as well as certain weapons have the ability to aim ahead of its targets, thus improving their accuracy. Technically, this is not really AI because it is just simple extrapolation of the target's movement. It is also important to note that the relevant calculations are done shortly after, not when, the next burst of projectiles is fired.

Predictive Aim makes smaller adjustments to the trajectory of the fired projectile if:

The target is close to the maximum targeting range
The speed of the projectile is slow relative to the target's speed

This brings out two methods to avoid such aimed shots:

Stay near the edges of the enemy's outer firing arc and travel in a straight line.
Move closer to the enemy, but change direction just before or shortly after the burst is fired.

The question remains: how to take out NPC Rangers with your own Rangers? First, it is important to know that most weapons used by Rangers have Predictive Aim, including Nova Driver and Astral Driver. Second, ships with the Ranger role have high strafe speed as well as acceleration and thus can easily dodge incoming projectiles. Below is a very reliable way to 1v1 another Ranger:

Always keep the enemy Ranger on the same half of your firing arc, turning only when necessary. That way, it will not change its strafing direction, allowing your aimed shots to land true.
Strafe your own Ranger left and right alternatively so that the enemy cannot land hits on you.

The Umbra Obsidian target is the perfect training arena for this. Here is an example video.

Cyrus Leung · 21 Feb 2020, 6:36AM

Obtaining Regular Technologies

Here is a table showing which technologies can be obtained for each NPC Target level, with I, II, III etc. referring to the level of the technology obtained:

NPC / Tech	Ship	Non-Weapon	Weapon
100*	I
102*	I	I	I
104*	I	I-II	I-II
104 (Blitz)		III
106 (Blitz)			III
103	II
105	III
107	IV
109	V
111	VI

*Subtract 6 levels for Valrayvn, Operator and Ajax-related technologies

When farming for regular technologies, most people are concerned about repair efficiency - the amount of repair time received per NPC Target defeated. This is because regular technologies only appear during events in general, thus you have a limited time frame to obtain them. Here is a very simple calculation of how many targets you have to defeat in order to max out a regular Tier 8 ship:

First, there is the cost of obtaining the blueprint for the ship. The blueprint has a total of 8 pieces, and you can obtain 4 pieces per level 104 (or 98) defeated. Therefore, you need to defeat exactly 2 targets to obtain the blueprint.

Next up is upgrading the ship. Each upgrade credit requires between 4(N -1) and 5(N -1) targets, or an average of 4.5(N-1) targets defeated, where N is the upgrade level. Assuming that you can obtain the required Mk II materials from the event store, in order to upgrade a ship from Mk I to Mk VI, you need an defeat average of 4.5(2+3+4+5) = 63 targets.

Finally, you have to equip the ship. Let us assume that a Mk VI ship has a total of 10 slots that can equip reusable items, and that these slots are fully equipped with reusable items (a valid assumption since you cannot max out the mass otherwise). Most reusable items require 150 fragments per credit. Applying the drop rate of the level 106 targets (25-50, or an average of 37.5 fragments per target), the number of targets defeated would be 150 x 10 / 37.5 = 40 targets. Note that this is an underestimation since level 104 targets only drop 15-30 fragments (an average of 22.5) per target.

Summing up these three components, the total number of targets defeated in order to max out a ship is 2 + 63 + 40 = 105 targets.

Each month, there are three 4-day Tier 8 events, running for a total of 4 x 3 = 12 days. Assuming that you do not repair your fleet between events, and time your repairs perfectly so that your Fleet Bay is always repairing a fleet, this is theoretically the amount of repair time you can afford to have per month without having to spend coins on repairing your fleet (in practice, this is lower due to the second assumption not being valid). 12 days is equivalent to 288 hours. If, say, you wish to have three fully-maxed out ships per month, then the average repair time across all of the targets you hit cannot be more than 288 / (105 x 3) = 0.914 hours, or 54.9 minutes. In other words, your average repair efficiency has to be better than 54.9 minutes per target. Since the repair time of a full Tier 8 fleet is 12 hours, this translates to (0.914 / 12) x 100% = 7.6% of your total fleet health. Keep this calculation in mind when determining whether you are on track towards achieving your goal.

Blueprints and Reusable Items

Your Valrayvn fleet should be easily able to defeat the level 100-104 (or 94-98) targets that drop blueprint pieces as well as the level 104-106 Blitz targets that drop fragments for reusable items, even on full auto for most cases. You may have to be more careful when dealing with Pharmakon targets though - if you're having trouble, consider mixing in a Spectral Shell Renascence Battlecruiser to shut down their Phasing ability (refer to Path B of upgrading Valrayvns in my Beginner's Guide for details).

A note regarding Blitz targets, which are marked with a lightning icon on the map: when defeated, you get the option to instantly repeat the battle (hence triggering another round of loot drops) at the cost of spending coins equivalent to the amount of repair time you currently have on your fleet (there is a minimum and maximum cap for the coin cost). The action of repeating the battle is known as "Blitzing". Even if you are not interested in spending coins, it is important to know that these fleets regenerate to full health if not defeated in one battle, as players could otherwise chip away the fleet to allow a less advanced player to Blitz it at a lower cost.

No example videos here, as they are not worth my time.

Ship Upgrades

You have to actually pilot your ships if you are to obtain more than a few mark upgrade sets per event without spending coins on repairs. I have included one effective strategy per level 111 target - you can easily generalize it to lower level variants. For an example video of each strategy, click on the link in the corresponding sub-header (videos involve Valrayvns when possible, otherwise they involve Vectors). Unlike those in my Beginner's Guide, I will explain the rationale behind each action so that you can better come up with your own strategies in the future.

Your Elite Valrayvns can efficiently farm Valrayvn, Operator, Ajax and Amarok targets. They may also farm Vector targets up to level 107 (for higher level materials, you will in turn need Mk IV Vectors), as well as Orion targets up to level 109.

Your Elite Vectors can efficiently farm Valrayvn, Operator, Amarok, Vector and Orion targets.

Keep in mind that Mk II materials for Tier 8 ships can be purchased from the event store, and as such, there is no need to farm the level 103 targets - you will naturally earn enough event points after farming the higher level variants to purchase the required Mk II materials.

Valrayvn Mk II-VI Materials: Altairian Skirmisher (link to same video as that in the Beginner's Guide)
Want another Valrayvn Elite fleet? Use the same strategy as before and observe the sheer difference in power between Mk IV and Elite ships.

Here is an explanation of the strategy: the decoying at the beginning exploits the AI's circling direction and tendency to stick to targets such that they run right into your shots. You prioritize the Bastion Cruisers on the right because they are circling your ships in the clockwise direction towards the bottom right of the battlefield, making it difficult for your ships, which are moving in the same direction, to kite them. Afterwards, you move towards the top right of the battlefield, which serves the purpose of gaining distance from the Bastion Cruisers circling your ships in the clockwise direction: it is more preferable to get in range of the smaller group at the top right than the huge group behind you. Also, chances are that the Inquisitor Destroyers will be destroyed in the Alien Nebula Fields because for some odd reason, they lack resistance to them. The rest is pretty straightforward.

Operator Mk II-VI Materials: Umbra Obsidian (link to same video as that in the previous section about the AI)
Use box formation. At the start of battle, bunch up your ships and strafe backward so that the Operators travel directly towards your ships no matter which particular one they are targeting, and thus, into your shots. As long as you consistently land hits, the Operators should be destroyed in a matter of seconds.

The rest is the reason why I recommended this target as a training arena in the previous section. Send a single Valrayvn and 1v1 the rest of the fleet, dodging as many shots as possible. In order to save time, you should get the enemies to circle you in the anticlockwise direction so that your ship naturally moves towards the top of the battlefield. If you use more than one Valrayvn, enemy movements become less predictable as they are prone to randomly switching targets, which may actually cause you to take more damage despite the increase in firepower.

Ajax Mk II-VI Materials: Pharmakon Defragmenter (video)
Use box formation. At the start of battle, bunch up your ships and move backwards by around 8,000 m before turning around. That way, the enemy Operators of the first wave should barely be in your firing range when they exit Phase State, giving you plenty of time to shoot them down. The Trojan Cruisers can be easily defeated by simply strafing backwards. If you mess up and allow an enemy to enter your minimum range, don't worry - turn on AI and don't target any particular enemy so that your ships automatically spread out.

Next, go through the hole in the Plasma Nebula Fields close to the bottom of the map and engage the closest group of enemies. Try to time the activation of the enemy ships so that they exit Phase State the moment they enter your firing range.

After the second group is gone, the remaining enemies have so little Screen Energy remaining that defeating them becomes a trivial task. You should spread out your ships in order to dodge the Plasma Kaon Drivers from the Plexus Carrier though.

Amarok Mk II-VI Materials: Altairian Diplomat (video)
Use box formation. At the start of battle, bunch up your ships and shoot at the Ajax to activate their Fortify overdrive which slows them down. Make sure you take out the Cavalier Cutters before they enter your minimum range. Meanwhile, you should strafe your ships towards the bottom right of the battlefield. This increases the distance the enemy ships have to travel before reaching you, which serves two purposes: to buy yourself time; and to get them to converge such that you are no longer surrounded. Be careful not to activate the group of ships at the bottom right corner!

After the first wave has been destroyed, make your way back towards the bottom left of the battlefield, since attacking the ships in the next wave will trigger the ships at the bottom right. When you enter the range of the enemy Sovereign Carrier, destroy it as soon as possible as its Enguard Overdrive increases the shield defense of other enemy Altairian ships, which makes it harder to take them out.

Now that you are no longer surrounded by enemies, kiting the rest of the fleet is somewhat trivial.

Vector Mk II-IV Materials: Umbra Kyanite (video)
Elite Valrayvns are sufficient for this target up to level 107.

Use line formation. Before the start of battle, assign all of your ships to the same number and select them as a group to avoid breaking formation when the Dislocate overdrive is partially activated.

At the start of battle, rush forward to give yourself more space to retreat later, and tighten your formation to better concentrate your firing arcs. Ignore the missile launchers and continue moving forward until you open fire at the lead Amarok. Then, kite all three Amaroks while staying out of range of the Valrayvns. Afterwards, meet the Valrayvns while strafing backwards such that the enemy shots land short of their target but your shots connect, due to the fact that you are moving away from the shots while the enemy Valrayvns are literally running into them. If the Valrayvns get too close, turn around and move away before turning back to shoot at them.

Move towards the closest side of the second wave near the bottom of the battlefield and take out the ships in a similar manner. Now head towards the other side and take out the other half of the second wave. Once the Valrayvns of the second wave are gone, move on to the third wave and defeat them.

After all enemy ships have been destroyed, send one ship towards each side in order to take out the missile launchers, dodging as many missiles as possible. To minimize the probability of a piloting error, you should only control one ship at a time.

Vector Mk V-VI Materials: Umbra Kyanite (video)
The level 109 and 111 versions of this target are too difficult even for Elite Valrayvns. Instead, you have to upgrade your Vectors to Mk IV and use the indicated build (refer to the Fleet Setup section) to tackle this target. You should also upgrade your full fleet to Mk V and fit another 2x Plasma Nova Driver IVs on each ship before taking on the level 111 target for Mk VI materials, as the extra weapons will greatly speed up your farming.

Throughout this target, to reduce the amount of damage taken, you should avoid being hit when not in Phase State. Also, be reminded that Pharmakon ships are vulnerable to Alien Nebula, so you should never come in contact with them!

Use box formation. At the start of battle, condense your formation and move forward. Take out the first wave similar to what you have done with your Valrayvns, except that you might have to get closer to the enemy Valrayvns in order for your ships to hit them reliably (remember how to deal with the AI?) When dealing with the first half of the second wave, another difference is that you should try to position your ships as close to the right as possible. This causes the enemies to converge towards the right side which gives you more space for what you are about to do: once the Valrayvns in the other half of the second wave get somewhat close, rush your ships towards the bottom center of the battlefield, taking hits if necessary. Ideally, you would enter the range of enemy ships the moment you enter Phase State, but this is somewhat situational and difficult to control without forward planning (as you can see in the video, I ran out of space and had to face the worse case scenario).

Linger at the bottom center of the battlefield for as long as you can avoid being shot at, in order to get the enemies to converge towards the center (you will see why shortly later). Then, circle around the enemies by getting the Valrayvns to start to strafe around you while you are in Phase State, and exit through the gap between the Alien Nebula Fields. You are no longer surrounded by enemy ships!

For the remainder of the fight, kite the enemy ships (including the Valrayvns now that you are no longer pressured to take them out before you run out of battlefield space), while simultaneously moving towards and destroying the missile launchers in order to save time.

If you realize that you do not have enough time left to defeat the target in one battle, try not to reduce the overall enemy health to below 10% in the first battle. Otherwise, subsequently finishing off the target will earn you zero event points, though you may still obtain crafting materials.

Orion Mk II-V Materials: Pharmakon Parsec (video)
Elite Valrayvns are sufficient for this target up to level 109.

At the start of battle, form a loose line formation to dodge incoming shots from the enemy Vectors, assign your ships to the same group in order to avoid breaking formation, and rush forward such that you open fire on the enemy Operators the moment they exit Phase State. If done correctly, the Operators will be stuck out of Phase State long enough for you to destroy them. If you use mainly Energy, Explosive or Kinetic, weapons, you should occasionally fire on the Trojan Cruisers or Daemon Battleship to drain the enemy's Phase Energy in order to prevent them from entering Phase State, as those ships have Blight Screen as opposed to Mesh Screen on the Operators and Vectors. When the enemy enters Phase State again, run away for a while and turn around to fire at the enemy Vectors once they exit Phase State (ignore any remaining Operators for now, chances are that they will run into your shots and be destroyed anyway). Focus fire them until they are destroyed. Afterwards. if any Operators remain from the first wave, focus fire them and turn on AI. Otherwise, kite the remainder of the fleet.

Next, reorient your loose line formation so that you are facing the right-most wave, and activate them as they enter Phase State. Deal with them in the same manner you did the first wave.

The final wave should be trivial as the enemies have little Phase Pool remaining, which allows you to overpower their Phase Charge easily.

Orion Mk VI Materials: Pharmakon Parsec (video)
You need Elite Vectors for this. The strategy for the first wave is similar to that above, but remember to take out the Plexus Carrier at the end of the first wave without activating other enemy ships, dodging the incoming Kaon Drivers. Also, if you run out of battlefield space to kite the enemy, you can rush through them towards the other side of the battlefield when you are in Phase State.

Afterwards, attack the middle wave before the right-most one, which is the reverse of the ordering mentioned above. Unlike the case with the Valrayvns, it is better to first attack the largest wave here because you have a higher chance of hitting multiple enemies with your piercing and ricocheting shots, thus draining their Phase Energy more efficiently.

Cyrus Leung · 22 Feb 2020, 1:35PM

Obtaining Extra Technologies

Here is a table showing which technologies can be obtained for each NPC Target level, with I, II, III etc. referring to the level of the technology obtained:

NPC / Tech	Dreadnought	Trigger
120	I
130	II	I + II*
140	III	II + III*
150	IV	III + III*
160	V
170	VI

*There is a small chance of an extra drop of the indicated level. For example, I + II* refers to a guaranteed level I drop plus a small chance of a level II drop.

Dreadnoughts & Upgrades

For each Tier 8 dreadnought, there are three different targets that drop the same set of materials. Once you have accumulated a lifetime total of 1,000 fragments/patterns for a particular ship and level, the targets that drop those materials will instead drop elements for that faction (Element: Xeno for Altairian, Element: Blight for Umbra, Element: Plasma for Pharmakon.)

Due to the high target difficulty, it is impossible for a single fleet setup to farm every dreadnought-related target. The recommended setup, with reference to the Fleet Setup section, will be stated clearly at the beginning of each sub-section.

Leviathan Mk I-IV Materials: Umbra Monstrosity (video)
Use your Elite Valrayvns.

Use the default line formation throughout the battle. Group your ships together so that they remain in formation even when only part of the fleet activates Dislocate overdrive. Rush forward to give yourself space to retreat. Upon coming in range of the lead Valrayvn, begin strafing backwards off to the side while trying to keep your fleet somewhat centered with respect to the enemy fleet by alternating the horizontal direction of strafe. Take care to not let any of the enemy Valrayvns flank your fleet! Note that unlike the Umbra Kyanite target, the Valrayvns in this one are Mk V, thus their projectiles are fast enough to reach your ships before exploding at maximum range. Therefore, you should try to adjust the horizontal direction of strafe so that the projectiles pass between your ships.

Though intimidating, the Behemoth Dreadnought will naturally be destroyed long before it reaches your ships due to its poor manueverability, slowing it down every time it switches its target which changes its movement direction.

Leviathan Mk I-IV Materials: Umbra Miasma (video)
Use your Elite Valrayvns.

The strategy is basically identical to that for the Umbra Monstrosity except that instead of the Behemoth Dreadnought, you have to take out the Aericos before they get too close to your fleet.

Leviathan Mk I-IV Materials: Umbra Infester (video)
Use your Elite Valrayvns.

The strategy is somewhat different than that for the other two targets because the Valrayvns in the Umbra Infester are spread out. Start out the battle by moving towards the bottom of the battlefield and take out the lead Valrayvn. Afterwards, strafe towards the right side of the battlefield and take out the rest of the Valrayvns as they get in range, remaining out of range of the Ogre Battleships all the while.

Once all of the enemy Valrayvns are gone, you can start focusing on the Ogre Battleships.

Leviathan Mk V-VI Materials: Umbra Monstrosity (video)
Use your Elite Vectors. If you do not have Blight Mesh Screens, be extremely careful as a single misstep can easily result in the loss of your entire fleet!

Use a compact box formation. At the start of battle, fly towards the bottom of the battlefield. Once the Valrayvns get somewhat close, follow the perimeter of the battiefield in the anticlockwise direction and do not look back!

If you do this correctly, you should no longer be surrounded by enemies when you reach the top side of the battlefield. The rest is just a matter of repeating the following procedure: shoot at the enemy as you are about to enter Phase State, avoid being hit even in Phase State (by moving away from the projectiles such that they explode at maximum range before reaching your ships), and gain distance as you are about to exit Phase State.

Since the enemy fleet is symmetrical, you can repeat this strategy but with the movements mirrored (i.e. go to the right first, then circle in the clockwise direction).

Leviathan Mk V-VI Materials: Umbra Miasma (video)
Use your Elite Vectors. If you do not have Blight Mesh Screens, be extremely careful as a single misstep can easily result in the loss of your entire fleet!

The strategy is essentially the same as that for Umbra Monstrosity, but you can try to snipe the Valrayvns outside of maximum range by shooting at the Aericos and the spawned Myrs - the shots may pierce through and travel onwards to damage the Valrayvns behind them! Note that your Fracture overdrive is ineffective as all enemy ships have Counter-Ricochet.

Leviathan Mk V-VI Materials: Umbra Infester (video)
Use your Elite Vectors. If you do not have Blight Mesh Screens, be extremely careful as a single misstep can easily result in the loss of your entire fleet!

Again, same strategy as that for Umbra Monstrosity and Miasma, but now the Ogre Battleships can serve as targets for your Fracture overdrive since they lack Counter-Ricochet. However, they have Counter-Pierce, so you are unable to pierce through and hit the Valrayvns behind them.

Trigger Credits

Each trigger credit drops from a single target type, which is named as "X Envoy" where X is the first word of the equipment's name. For example, "Positron Envoy" drops instant credits for the Positron Bolt.

All of these targets are co-op targets, which are marked with interlocked reticles. Co-op targets are targets that can be jointly taken on by two players. Although the second player can join in at any time, the time limit for the battle is calculated with respect to the first player. Moreover, players who contribute less than 20% of the total damage dealt to the enemy fleet (of any source, including those done by Nebula Fields) will receive partial event points and no loot drops. Like Blitz targets, co-op targets must be defeated in one battle, or else they will regenerate to full health afterwards.

Also note that you can restrict who can join your co-op battles by visiting the Settings menu and adjusting the settings "Allow Public Assistance in Group Play" and "Enable friends assistance in combat". If you uncheck both the first and second options, nobody can join your co-op battles. If you uncheck the first option but check the second, only members of your alliance and your friends can join the battle. Otherwise, anyone can join your co-op battles. Allowing anyone to join your co-op battles is a risky move because some players might send underequipped fleets and force you to carry their weight. In general, you should uncheck "Allow Public Assistance in Group Play" and check "Enable friends assistance in combat". If you want a stranger to join your battle, simply add them to your friends list temporarily.

Before continuing, keep in mind that Envoy targets are among the most difficult co-op targets in the game. Due to the time constraint of 5 minutes, it is highly recommended that both players join the battle at the same time. Anyone with a fleet lower than level 110 will probably be a burden, making it almost impossible to finish the target within the time limit. Do not allow them to join your battle!

Note: If there are only spawned ships remaining on the enemy's side at the end of combat, the battle is still counted as a victory and you will receive normal loot drops.

Since the unfolding of co-op battles can vary greatly depending on the actions of your co-op partner, the strategies below will be kept vague. The most important skill you need here is experience against different enemy types, so that you can better react to unexpected situations.

I have included strategies for both Valrayvn and Vector users (except for Azide Envoy 140/150 because they are so poorly balanced that they are near-impossible to defeat without a dreadnought). It is recommended that you only aim for the level 150 targets because both players start near each other, which reduces the amount of variability in the battle.

For the level 130 targets, the video labelled as "1st" was taken by the first player who joins the battle, while that labelled as "2nd" was taken by the second player. I have made two videos per strategy for these targets because the first player is more likely to attract the majority of the ships in the first wave. However, the overall strategy is still similar.

Valrayvn Users: Positron Envoy 130 (1st, 2nd)
Use line formation. At the start of battle, adjust the position of your Valrayvns if the Operators are moving towards your fleet so that they would not be inside your minimum range when they exit Phase State; otherwise, rush towards the enemy fleet. Kite the Operators as much as possible. If the Operators ever get inside your fleet's minimum range, turn on AI and focus on them one by one. Do not shoot at the Plexus Carrier until you have taken out the nearby Operators, otherwise it will send the Operators into Phase State every time you hit it, causing the Operators to repeatedly trigger its Rupture overdrive. When engaging the Plexus Carrier, try to dodge its Kaon Drivers. Then move on to the Altairian ships - kite the Zeuses, dodge the Lancer Drivers from the Inquisitor Destroyers, and take care to take out the Sovereign Carrier in one volley so it does not get to fire Cyclotron Beams at you.

After taking out the Altairian Barrels (the base modules that cause huge collateral damage), monitor the remaining Operators as they may turn around at any point. If they do, simply perform the same strategy as above. Once the Operators are all gone, you can move on to the Umbra section. Take out the lead Umbra Combat Module (do not bother dodging the Eclipse Driver Turrets from the Combat Modules because they are homing), then strafe backwards and kite all of the Umbra ships, including the Valrayvns.

Once all of the Umbra ships are destroyed, or when the battle timer only has one minute remaining, rush forward to take out the Altairian Citadel and Altairian Spawners. Do not forget to take out the other two Umbra Combat Modules along the way.

Valrayvn Users: Positron Envoy 140 (link)
Use line formation. At the start of battle, rush into the first wave - the enemy ships will be destroyed before you even enter their range arcs.

The next point is extremely important. Mouse over the Operators in the second wave to view their activation range. Ensure that both players enter this range at the same time! Otherwise, some of the Operators and even the Ajax may turn around and aggro the other player, making it an absolute pain to take them out because they can hide behind walls while shooting at you. Moreover, this ensures that both players attack the Operators at the same time, enabling your Valrayvns to take them out before they enter your minimum range. If you fail, turn on AI mode and make adjustments to your ships' orientations to prevent the Operators from hiding behind walls. In the video, you can see the havoc that even a single Operator can wreck on them. If the Ajax is aggroed at you, kite it while moving towards the Umbra Combat Modules at the end of the corridor - your shield bypass or Blight weaponry should take care of it easily enough. Turn around and shoot at the Umbra Combat Modules behind you when the Ajax has its Fortify overdrive active to save time (since you cannot damage the Ajax anyways). Then, take out the Operators that are shooting Omega Beams, which are hidden inside Plasma Nebula Fields, before doing the same to the Umbra Combat Modules in front of you.

You can now move on to the third wave, which consists of even more Operators as well as a Plexus Carrier. Again, try to activate the wave at the same time as the other player to take out the Operators efficiently, though note that this wave is not shared across players, so you would not have the issue of ships aggroing the other player. Similar to the L130 strategy, only attack the Plexus Carrier once the Operators are gone, and dodge its projectiles.

You are now ready to move on to the final wave. Try to activate the wave together with the other player, but fall back upon doing so in order to take care of the enemy Valrayvns. Orient your ships in order to prevent the enemy from strafing behind the walls, and stay out of range of the Leviathan Dreadnought because it can apply 100% stasis to your ships, completely immobilizing them. Once the Valrayvns are gone, engage the Leviathan Dreadnought, dodging the incoming Nova Drivers (if you fail, dodging becomes literally impossible so do not bother with it anymore). Finally, take out the remaining Altairian modules in the center region of the map.

Valrayvn Users: Positron Envoy 150 (link)
Use line formation. If you have fewer non-Blight weapons than your partner, go for the Umbra ships; otherwise go for the Altairian ships.

Umbra side: Try to kite them as much as possible. Once the enemies are too numerous for you to handle, turn on AI and target one ship at a time, making adjustments so that the target does not strafe outside the walls which would prevent you from damaging them. When the Leviathan Dreadnought is activated, send one ship to decoy it until you have taken out the other Umbra ships (or when you mess up and receive 100% stasis on your decoy, in order to prevent it from being destroyed).

Altairian side: Like the Umbra side, try to kite them as much as possible, shooting at the ships that are closest to you. If they overwhelm you, just turn on AI mode. Once no more Altairian ships are active, assist your buddy. Do not trigger the second half of the Altairian ships until the Umbra side is done!

Once all Umbra enemies have been destroyed, if you have less than 2 minutes remaining, one of the players should send a Valrayvn through the Nebula Fields to snipe the Altairian Barrels, which will destroy all of the Altairian Spawners. The rest of your ships should jointly kite the remaining Altairian enemy ships. The Sovereign Carrier and Mothership deal a fair bit of damage, so be sure to take out all of the protecting Ajaxes before engaging them separately.

Valrayvn Users: Azide Envoy 130 (1st, 2nd)
Use line formation. Rush towards the enemy at the start of battle, only strafing backward when the enemy comes in range. Try to dodge any incoming projectiles from the two carriers and the Medusa Destroyers. You should be easily able to take out the Altairian and Umbra ships that way.

After most of the Altairian and Umbra ships are gone, take out the lead Umbra Combat Module, which should activate the Pharmakon ships. Ignore the Operators and focus on kiting the Daemon Battleships while strafing left and right to dodge the Astral Drivers from the Vectors. Then, turn on AI mode and focus fire on one Operator at a time.

Once all of the Umbra ships are destroyed, or when the battle timer only has one minute remaining, rush forward to take out the Altairian Citadel and Altairian Spawners. Do not forget to take out the other two Umbra Combat Modules along the way.

Valrayvn Users: Azide Envoy 140 (link)
Without perfect coordination with your co-op partner to prevent the enemy Operators from entering Phase State, Valrayvns are easily destroyed by them. Your best hope is to pair up with someone who has an Orator Dreadnought to apply Phase Hacking, equipped with Plasma Shell to tank the Operators.

Take out the Iron Star ships and the first two Umbra Combat Modules. Then, change to box formation and stay just out of activation range of the Ajax until your co-op partner has applied enough Phase Hacking to prevent the enemy Operators from going into Phase State (the Orator should try to do this as soon as possible by activating the first wave of Pharmakon ships using offensive mode, otherwise you may be hard-pressed to complete the target in 5 minutes.) Once that happens, kite the Ajax and Operators (prioritizing the latter when it gets in your firing range), and destroy the third Umbra Combat Module. If Phase Hacking has worn off at this point, wait until your co-op partner has activated and applied Phase Hacking to the second wave on their side before you activate the second wave of Pharmakon ships on your side. Kite out the Operators before going for the Plexus Carrier, and subsequently, the pair of Umbra Combat Modules behind it.

The two Inquisitor Destroyers should pose little threat, but be wary of their Ballista Overdrive and try to avoid getting your entire fleet pierced by Eclipse Driver shots. Afterwards, if you have more than 1.5 minutes remaining, take out the modules at the top of the map with your whole fleet. Otherwise, send one ship down to activate the Leviathan Dreadnought and bait it towards the rest of your fleet to save travelling time. Other than the Leviathan Dreadnought, do not forget to take out the Operators that are shooting Omega Beams before the timer is up!

Vector Users: Positron Envoy 130 (1st, 2nd)
Use box formation. The strategy for Vector users is essentially the same as the one for Valrayvn users, with an additional note to avoid getting hit when not in Phase State.

Vector Users: Positron Envoy 140 (link)
Use line formation. The strategy is pretty much the same as that for Valrayvn users, but you should not rush right into the first wave. While you may have an easier time kiting the Operators, unless you are using a build with Shield Bypass, the Ajax will take forever to destroy (should still be able to destroy it before running out of space to retreat though!)

Vector Users: Positron Envoy 150 (link)
Make sure at least one player has either shield bypass or Blight weapons, otherwise it will become almost impossible to take out the Altairian ships.

The strategy is pretty much the same as that for the Valrayvns - go for the Umbra side if you do not have shield bypass, and be sure to stay out of range of the Ajaxes in order to avoid being Phase Hacked. You should also try to exit the Leviathan Dreadnought's range when not in Phase State to avoid being locked down by stasis.

Vector Users: Azide Envoy 130 (1st, 2nd)
Do not attack this target unless you have at least some non-Plasma weapons, because the Orions are basically immune to Plasma damage thanks to their overdrive. Moreover, due to the lower DPS of Vectors in Phase State, make sure your co-op partner is not using Pharmakon ships nor Titans of any faction, otherwise you risk not being able to defeat the target in one attack.

Use box formation. The strategy is similar to that of Valrayvns at the beginning, but if you're having trouble with the Orions, turn on AI and have the ships with non-Plasma weapons focus fire on them. After the Altairian and Umbra ships are mostly destroyed, keep your box formation and kite the Pharmakon ships, firing at them constantly to drain their Phase Energy.

Finally, take out the Umbra Combat Modules, Altairian Spawners and Altairian Citadel.

Vector Users: Azide Envoy 140 (link)
Without perfect coordination with your co-op partner to prevent the enemy Operators from entering Phase State, Vectors are easily destroyed by them. Your best hope is to pair up with someone who has an Orator Dreadnought to apply Phase Hacking, equipped with Plasma Shell to tank the Operators.

The strategy is basically identical to that for Valrayvn users.

Cyrus Leung · 22 Feb 2020, 2:34PM

But what about the rest?

You may have noticed that quite a few NPC targets are missing from the guide, especially the later ones. Note that most of them cannot be done with Valrayvns / Vectors, and some are blatantly overpowered. Here are the recommended fleets (not by KIXEYE, but by players) and overall strategy for each of them:

Basic Technologies

Wendigo Mk II-VI Materials - Altairian Baron: Elite Leviathan Dreadnought (full auto)
Artemis Mk II-VI Materials - Pharmakon Vortex: Elite Orion fleet (move Orions to dodge Operators and target one Vector per ship with AI on)
Monitor Mk II-VI Materials - Umbra Serpentine: Elite Vector fleet (kite)
Ancient Reaper Mk II-VI Materials - Alchemist Envoy: Elite Valrayvn fleet (kite)

Dreadnought Technologies

Zettabyte Mk I-VI Materials - Pharmakon Proxy: Elite Orion fleet (target one Vector per ship with AI on)
Imperator Mk I-VI Materials - Altairian Bulwark: Refer to Umbra Infester.

Trigger Technologies

Azide/Omni/Empyreal Envoy 150: Two Elite Operator fleets (stick together and target a different enemy per Operator, other than the dreadnoughts which need to be focused upon)
Omni/Empyreal Envoy 130: Refer to Positron Envoy 130 but do not use full Plasma damage, otherwise it will be a pain to get rid of the enemy Orions. Having an Artemis will make quick work of the Pharmakon enemies.
Omni/Empyreal Envoy 140: Both fleets should have either shield bypass or Blight damage. The main threat are the Orions, otherwise it is not that hard.

No videos here, sorry!

Changelog

Feb 26, 2020

Updated Vector fittings and related comments.
Updated ETA for the Vector Upgrades sub-section, as well as that of the Obtaining Dreadnought Technologies section.

Feb 28, 2020

Completed the Obtaining Basic Technologies section with respect to the content in February 2020.
Completed the Obtaining Dreadnought Technologies section with respect to the content in February 2020.

Mar 4, 2020

Moved note about the setting "Hold Formation for Grouped Ships" to my Beginner's Guide.

Mar 13, 2020

Added strategy for Positron Envoy 130-140 for Valrayvn users, and Positron Envoy 130 for Vector users.

Mar 16, 2020

Added strategy for Positron Envoy 150 for Valrayvn users, and Positron Envoy 140 for Vector users.

Mar 17, 2020

Added strategy for Azide Envoy 130 for Valrayvn users.

Mar 21, 2020

Completed the Obtaining Basic Technologies section with respect to the content in March 2020.

Apr 4, 2020

Added strategy for Positron Envoy 130 and Azide Envoy 130 for Vector users.
Added strategy for Azide Envoy 140 for both Valrayvn and Vector users.
Added notes on Azide Envoy 150 for both Valrayvn and Vector users.

Apr 25, 2020

Added note on Altairian Baron.

May 1, 2020

Added note on Tier 8 Dreadnoughts in Fleet Setup sub-section.

June 3, 2020

Added note about using Vindicator Cutters with Tier 8 Dreadnoughts in Fleet Setup sub-section

August 4, 2020

Added summary of the remaining NPC Targets in a separate section just above the Changelog.

August 15, 2020

Updated guide with respect to the Season of Spectre.

Feb 17, 2021

Edited the guide to account for Altairian Skirmisher targets no longer appearing in weekly PvE events.

Cyrus Leung · 28 Feb 2020, 3:38AM

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1: How do I obtain an Elite Valrayvn fleet?
A1: Refer to my Beginner's Guide, which is essentially the prequel to this one.

Q2: I am stuck at N fragments/patterns; the target that normally drops them is now dropping elements instead. What should I do?
A2: This problem should be exclusive to Tier 7 dreadnoughts, stemming from the fact that there once used to be a market where players could exchange crafting materials for various items - the lifetime counter fails to take this into account. This market has been removed long before Tier 8 ships were released. But anyway, you should contact KIXEYE support via this link to remedy the issue: https://vegaconflict.zendesk.com/hc/

Q3: I cannot find a strategy for an NPC Target. Where is it?
A3: It should be listed in the section "But what about the rest?" just above the Changelog.

Cyrus Leung · 2 Mar 2020, 6:16AM

Discussion

Refer to this thread: https://www.kixeye.com/forum/discussion/768734

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