Gear Up to Fight Thargoids

I'll be honest -- I hate running Guardian sites. I've got a good handle on them, but the atmospherics are really well done and creep me out. I don't like surprise Sentinel spawns or negotiating weird terrain to reach the pylons or whatever.

Fortunately, gathering weapon blueprints is really easy. Only six Sentinels spawn, only one spawn is two at once, and none of them have to happen while you're on the clock. Which, since you'll have to run this a whole lot of times, is good. Let's get it done!

Clear Some Sentinels

A great thing about this site, noted above, is that no sentinels have to be killed while on the clock. To do this, we'll hit the three sentinels that proximity spawn in the legs. We go lower left and then clockwise (so Back, Left, Right on the map). Drive south toward the Back corner (1) with 4 pips to Weapons and 2 to System. The Sentinel usually spawns up the ridge behind the Back pylon, but sometimes is located in the thick of the pylon structure. Either way, it's a single Sentinel that you're expecting, and it's usually in the open. Burn it down.

Next head north to the Left pylon (2). This Sentinel sometimes spawns on the near side (probably popping up to your right) and sometimes behind the Guardian paraphernalia. Once it's gone, drive east to the Main pylons (3) but don't interact with them -- just make sure they rise from the ground. Keep driving east to the Right pylon (4); as with Left, the Sentinel alternately spawns in front of or behind the Guardian stuff. Stay on the relatively elevated bridge of terrain (it's in the shadow right of "12" on the map) to keep a clear field of fire.

Pylon Party

Three Sentinels down and there are no further proximity spawned Sentinels to worry about. Now we energize the pylons. Because we raised the main pylons at 3, the Right pylon will react as we approach (5). Shoot it to begin the timer.

Drive back west the way you came over, along the elevated terrain, until you reach the Main pylons (6). Shoot them both. Now drive further west back to the Left pylon (7); it's at the back of the hallway created by the pairs of obelisks. Shoot it, too.

Double back east to Main and then head south to the Center pylon (8) in a flat open area. Drive just past it as the open side is to the south. Turn west-southwest and drive down into the Back pylon area (9). The pylon is at the back bottom of this low area; shoot it to complete the charging process and end the timer.

A Few Sentinels More

Completing the pylons will spawn one Sentinel somewhere in the yellow circle. From the Back pylon, you're safely out of its sight, so get it selected and work your way back toward the center until you gain visibility. You can probably shoot this one down without it ever reacting to you.

Drive north to the machine. Once you scan the machine, two Sentinels will spawn, so let's prep for that. There are roughly four possible spawn points: two behind (south) of you in the Centerish area, and two north of you flanking the back of the machine, just beyond the rise in the ground (one northwest / left and one northwest / right). I like to set up to charge one of those two spawns to quickly take down an enemy and gain some cover. My default is to go left, but right works, too. Either way, after ejecting the Relic, drive up beside the pylon on the selected side, facing northish. Scan the machine to get the blueprint and then drop out of the turret to see where the Sentinels are.

• If one is directly ahead of you, get back in the turret and shoot it down.

• If the space ahead of you is clear, or if you've just shot down that Sentinel, drive straight ahead (slowly!) so that you gain the cover of the earthen berm.

• If the other side of the machine has a Sentinel, drive around the back of the machine to engage it; this keeps cover versus any Sentinels further south.

• Once the machine is clear, creep around the machine back towards the main area until you can see the remaining Sentinels. You should be able to shoot these down without them reacting to you.

Done! Gather materials if you like (the NovaForce map lays out the material spawns in better detail), then re-board your ship to re-log and reset the instance for another blueprint. If you're in a group with other CMDRs, you can reactivate the pylons without any additional Sentinel spawns to allow each CMDR to get a blueprint, but you'll all have to log out together to reset the instance after everyone has had a turn.