¶ Introduction
First things first: Speedrunning is not for newcomer pilots to Anti-Xeno combat.
We generally recommend CMDRs attain at least the Serpent’s Nemesis rank (Medusa solo) before they focus on learning the advanced techniques involved in speedrunning.
¶ Speedrunning Ranks
There are two ranks associated with speed kills: Myrmidon and Caduceus’ Glint
¶ Myrmidon - “Silver” color
Myrmidon is the “Vanguard” equivalent rank for speedrunning kills. Whereas Vanguard requires you to do a complex or off-meta kill, but gives you no time limit, Myrmidon allows you to use a meta ship, but gives you a strict time limit.
Time limits, for a solo Medusa kill,are as follows:
- 24’00’’000’’’ - Small Ship
- 12’00’’000’’’ - Medium Ship
- 6’00’’000’’’ - Large Ship
Applications are to be submitted using the form below:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSf5BGMqarMg3eQnDsvu0PcPq8NaLWjH6lKlbjSHO_RaTrTSnA/viewform
¶ Cadeceus’ Glint - “Gold” color
Caduceus’ glint, or glint for short, is the “Ace” equivalent for speedrunning kills. It is one of only two “competitive” ranks - as in, you can lose this rank.
Only up to 9 glint CMDRs can exist at any one point, and typically (because a CMDR can hold a record in more than one category) there will be fewer than 9.
Glint is awarded for the fastest small/medium/large ship kill on Basilisk, Medusa, and Hydra. Cyclops do NOT award a Glint rank.
The speedboard with the latest rankings is available here:
https://www.antixenoinitiative.com/leaderboards/speed-kills
Applications are to be submitted using the form below:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSf5BGMqarMg3eQnDsvu0PcPq8NaLWjH6lKlbjSHO_RaTrTSnA/viewform
Feeling skilled? Try to see if you can collect them all nine golden rings …
¶ Speedrunning Theory
Speedrunning is about killing a Thargoid in the shortest amount possible, without resorting to bugs or unintended mechanics (e.g., “gibbing”).
In order to get started, the first thing you’ll want to understand is the detailed behavior of Goid AI upon heart distruction. Understanding this is critical to avoid triggering “panic shields”:
¶ Speedrunning Techniques
¶ Shield Ramming
Shield ramming can be used in any type of speedrun whether it's cold orbiting or stunlocking. Ramming interceptor's shield most of the time implies triggering special attack as a result of violating minimum range for:
· Lightning if interceptor is active;
· Caustic missiles if interceptor is in sleep phase;
· Shutdown field if it's second to last sleep phase (along with caustic missiles).
Let's break down most common shieldrams.
1) Shield after first heart.
After destroying first heart interceptor initiates a lightning chase which:
· Encourages us to ram it's shield;
· Blocks interceptor's ability to deploy panic shield regardless of how fast this shield will get destroyed.
Lightning does insignificant amount of hull damage because of it's low AP so it's a common trade of ship hull for instant shield removal.
To successfully ram shield off you need to:
· Back off a little bit from interceptor after destroying it's first heart;
· Line up and boost into the interceptor so you ram shield before zap kills your momentum.
Usually lightning duration is enough to exert and destroy next heart after successful shieldram.
2) Shield after all other hearts.
As we already know, after every heart destruction except first one, interceptor falls into sleep phase meanwhile deploying new shield. If you want to ram this shield off, you should expect interrupting sleep phase because of violating minimum detection range (roughly 700m).
And that's where it's getting more complicated, because without full knowledge on how panic shields are triggered, you will end up causing exactly that.
To successfully ram shield off you need:
· Count to 7 (every second) from the moment when shield got deployed (cue: green dots and lights along with "exhale" noise)
· Trigger caustic missiles and wait until ALL of them are released (cue: after releasing all caustic missiles, interceptor petals stop glowing bright red)
· Line up for the ram and boost
Without those steps one may end up triggering panic shield either due to overwhelming shield damage or countermeasure deployment.
In case of shieldramming in second to last sleep phase, you should expect triggering shutdown field which implies that you have shutdown field neutralizer equipped.
¶ Silent Running firing “SR Max”
TBD
¶ Heart “underpopping”
TBD
¶ Aggro Switching (duo fights only)
¶ Speedrunning builds
See speedrunbuilds
¶ Speedrunning Tutorial
TBD