 We're now less than a month away from the launch of update 14 into Elite Dangerous Odyssey and it's widely expected that the unknown interstellar anomalies or Stargoids will also arrive alongside it. In this video I'm going to talk about what I'd like to see from the Stargoids and from update 14 as a whole. If you enjoy our videos you know how this bit goes, like, subscribe and hit the notification bell to see all our future content. That stuff really helps the channel. You can also join our Patreon which directly supports the work we do here, links to that and everything else are below. As I speak these words Frontier have said little to nothing about update 14 or indeed the existence of the Stargoids. We've had no significant comment from the company about the content of update 14 since the high level roadmap was released for the year back in May and they've made almost no comment publicly whatsoever about the existence of the approaching Stargoids let alone their true nature or origin. The in-game, in-universe newsfeed Galnet has said almost nothing about the now eight in number mysterious swirly superluminal interlopers alluding as it has merely to flares detected in deep space. Essentially we the community as a whole are making some serious assumptions currently when discussing the Stargoids. Given the nature and timing of their appearance it's a generally accepted fact that they are likely Thargoid in origin and have been dispatched as a direct result of the events in HIP 22460 back in August when salvation fired the Proteus wave. That being the case then, what would I want to see from the Stargoids arrival? They have promised that the galaxy won't be the same after update 14 that's a bold statement and I've heard commanders banding around comments such as burn the bubble and whilst that might be cool to read about I suspect it would be a lot less fun to play a game in. I don't believe the bubble will burn when the Stargoids arrive but I do think it will likely not be quite as generally safe as it is currently. Human's actions in HIP 22460 had one major effect on the Thargoids that were in the system. It taught them how to neutralise the Guardian based weaponry that we'd been using to hold them back these last few years. Humans had gotten very very good at killing Thargoids to the point where no matter where they popped up they were quickly beaten down again. Salvation utilised the Thargoids own technology to amplify and project the Proteus wave in HIP 22460 and in doing so he appears to have taught the Thargoids how to turn that same technology against us simultaneously turning HIP 22460 into a no fly zone effectively allowing the Thargoids to hold territory in a way they'd not been able to do before. What I'd like to see and what I think is probably gonna happen is that the Thargoids newly acquired Capture and Hold mechanic will be utilised in multiple locations in the bubble via the arriving Stargoids essentially allowing the Thargoids to capture a large number of systems inside or on the edge of human occupied space creating a Thargoid nation if you will. I believe the Stargoids are one and the same as what we currently understand as Thargoids surface installations. Those surface installations are themselves either crashed or landed ancient Stargoids left over from the first Thargoid war. Once deployed to planet surfaces the current incoming Stargoids will be able to fence off an area of space each initiating a Proteus field like that seen in HIP 22460 marking their combined and connected territories as Thargoid owned. At that point there will be a new power in the bubble vying and jostling for space alongside the Alliance, Federation, Imperials and Independence. In order to capture terrain back from the Thargoids that deployed Stargoids surface installation at the heart of a Thargoid owned and controlled system will need to be neutralised and the only way to do that will be on foot. Going into the Thargoid hive on the surface and shutting down the Proteus field at the source. Once that is accomplished the regular AX ship to ship combat that we've become accustomed to will be able to recommence eventually clearing the system of incursion. And this is how I hope Frontier are planning to introduce on foot Thargoid combat. The derelict Thargoid surface installations we see currently are largely devoid of life. The newly deployed Stargoids I hope will be teaming with Thargoid foot soldiers all standing between you and the Proteus field off switch. I don't believe the current ship born AX weapons will become useless I just think they'll need the road opened up for them on the ground before they can be utilised in space again. Which leads me to on foot Thargoid combat. I do think new weapons and equipment will be needed by on foot players to effectively neutralise the surface dwelling alien horrors, the damage output of the currently fully upgraded on foot arsenal is impressive but thus far it's only been tested against human technology. Just like the space based counterparts I'm guessing the on foot Thargoids will require weapons with different damage dealing properties. The obvious source for these weapons are once again the Guardian sites and it's here that my next big hope for update 14 lies. I would like to gather the materials for on foot AX weapons whilst I'm on foot. I want to go into the Guardian ruins actually inside them like a sort of space based tomb raider crossed with an astronaut Indiana Jones. I don't honestly anticipate seeing live guardians inside their surface structures but booby traps and drone technology would make for an interesting wrinkle in the material gathering. If Thargoids are going to hold ground in the bubble the question remains over what happens to existing surface assets in those Thargoid controlled systems. Where a large Thargoid presence has remained in a system before it's resulted in burning space stations and rescue and repair operations from the player base. I'd love to see this kind of feature replicated on foot and I do think there is a larger question over gameplay loops for Odyssey players in the bubble that want to engage with the Thargoid storyline in a meaningful way but perhaps don't connect with combat or the existing anti-thargoid loops. The existence of human surface assets and on foot Thargoids in the same space does lend an opportunity for those Thargoids to infringe on surface settlements in person. Whilst that is undoubtedly something I'd like to see if it devolved into a capture point based FPS combat scenario the same as the current human v human surface conflict zones just with Thargoids instead I do think that would be a huge misstep. If the Thargoids become an established power in the bubble then there are opportunities for different non-traditional ways to engage with them and pro-Thargoid groups and Xeno advocacy is something that has become prevalent in the story via Galnet over the last few weeks. If players are to engage with the Thargoids in a meaningful non-destructive way then communication with them would need to be facilitated and we've speculated here on this channel about how that might be achievable in one form or another via the true chapters sect of the far god cult and their mysterious leader the first apostle. I personally would dearly love to see the first apostle become a go-between for our new alien neighbours giving those players that wish to commune with the greater Thargoid nation a conduit for that communication. I don't personally want to commune with the Thargoids but I'd love to see the player base have options. Elsewhere there is an opportunity with update 14 for us the players to get a read on how frontier feels about Elite Dangerous at this point in its life. It is after all a nearly 10 year old game now and it has just had its most technically and financially challenging period in its history. Any new content added to the game now requires significant development time and that in turn requires financial investment from the parent company. The nature and scope of any new features deployed now will speak volumes about where Frontier sees Elite Dangerous and what kind of support it can expect from them going forward. If you've been with Elite Dangerous for more than a couple of years then you'll already know that it's very much the master of the slow burn. I don't believe any new features with update 14 will arrive all at once on day one I think it will likely be a slow transition over a number of months with new features being added over time as this is very much the pattern we've seen before. Whatever the Thargoids are it's going to be a fascinating year ahead. What are you hoping to see arrive with update 14 what do you think the Thargoids true intentions are or do you just want to see the bubble burn? Let us know in the comments below. That's it for now. 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