Guardian Power-Up
Unlocking Guardian Modules
This Alchemy Den Academy event focuses on unlocking the Guardian FSD Booster, an optional module useful to every pilot on a wide variety of ship builds.
Optionally, it also extends to unlocking a Guardian ship-launched fighter.
As a general note, don't forget to use your Composition Scanner on every Guardian object you encounter, as you'll get Codex entries and some credits when you turn them in at a station.
Prerequisites
You'll want to be able to restock your SRV in the field for this. That means a little bit of Sulphur, Phosphorus, Iron, and Nickel. They're all grade-1 common raw engineering materials. Ask around if you don't have them yet. 10-20 of each type is sufficient.
Additionally, you'll need 24 Focus Crystals to unlock the Guardian FSD Booster. Getting them is a thing you can do solo just fine, so if you've already got them, that lets us save a waypoint. You can do Dav's Hope as explained below or take a mission that rewards Exquisite Focus Crystals (common in delivery and passenger missions) and then manufactured materials trader at LP 620-3, Jensen Enterprise, to trade down. 3 ExFCs will get you the necessary 24 Focus Crystals.
Engineering Material Quantities
Right-Hand Panel, Inventory Tab
Ship Requirements
For this event, you will need a ship with at least 8 tons of cargo capacity (a 3E cargo rack), a Detailed Surface Scanner, an SRV bay, and a top-mounted Point Defense utility module. A fuel scoop, a shield, and an advanced docking computer are also recommended but not required.
If also unlocking the Guardian fighter, your ship additionally needs a laser and we strongly recommend a Collector Limpet Controller.
Small ships (including the Type-6, which has the landing footprint of a small ship) that meet these needs are the Adder, the Viper IV, the Type-6, the Dolphin, the Diamondback Explorer, and the Imperial Courier. The Diamondback Scout and the Viper III also meet the requirements if you're OK skipping the docking computer. At left is a sample build for the Adder that costs $2M. Here is the build in EDSY, in Coriolis, and where it can be bought at single stations centered on 59 Virginis.
Example Basic Adder Build
Running through why your ship needs things for this event:
8 tons of cargo (3E rack or larger) is needed because the FSD Booster requires 8 tons of a commodity to unlock; you must be able to deliver all of it to the technology broker at once.
The Detailed Surface Scanner lets you target and fly to planetary waypoints (technically not required if you're doing this in a wing with another CMDR who has the DSS)
The SRV bay is needed because the Guardian planetary sites are SRV-based.
At least one Point Defense module mounted on the upper half of your ship is useful for your ship to be able to defend your SRV at the Guardian sites. Physical orientation matters for the PD module! This is why the Cobra III isn't on the recommended list; its utility slots are all on the bottom of the ship.
The fuel scoop is recommended because the Guardian sites are 900 light years from 59 V. Yes, you're riding a carrier, but it's good practice for any sort of long trip.
The shield is recommended because you're landing on a planet, and it's easy to bump.
The docking computer is recommended for your convenience. It's not a requirement.
The laser is used to unlock part of the Guardian technology for Guardian fighters only. It is not needed to unlock Guardian modules or weapons.
The collector limpet controller is used to gather part of the Guardian technology for Guardian fighters only. You can scoop the item manually, but it's tricky and much easier to do with a limpet. It is not needed to unlock Guardian modules or weapons.
Itinerary
Depart from 59 Virginis
Go to Synuefe NL-N c23-4 planet B 3
Get the module blueprint at the Guardian site
Gather material components at the Guardian site (solo)
Visit the Ancient Ruins site to see data obelisks
If doing the Guardian fighter
A. Gather data components at the Ancient Ruins (solo)
B. Go to Synuefe KU-F B44-4
C. Run the Guardian Beacon to obtain the Ancient Key
D. Go to Synuefe EU-Q C21-15 planet A 1 (47 LY from Beacon)
E. Run the Guardian site for the ship blueprint
If group needs to gather Focus Crystals
I) Go to Hyades Sector DR-V c2-23 planet A 5 (Dav's Hope)
II) Gather Focus Crystals (solo)
Go to Technology Broker: LHS 28, Flade Enterprise
Buy HN Shock Mounts from carrier
Redeem items at Technology Broker
Module Blueprint
We travel to Synuefe NL-N c23-4 for the blueprint fragment needed for the Guardian FSD Booster. Fly to planet B 3 and scan the planet to find the Guardian Structure, fly down, and land.
When running a Guardian Structure, you'll spawn Guardian Sentinels -- floating SRV-like enemies that will shoot at you with plasma weapons and occasionally missiles. The missiles will give your SRV a bad day, but Point Defense on your ship will try to shoot them down. This is why we equipped PD, and we want to land close to the edges of the site for good coverage (but not in the site where it disables our SRV turrets). Bringing small ships helps us land close in.
Map of Module Blueprint Site
In combat, set your SRV pips to 2/0/4, or 4/0/2 if you're riding out a missile salvo. You can also engage your handbrake to help keep your SRV from being tossed around by the missile explosion. Driving around, switch back to 1/4/1 for best boost performance as jumping about the Guardian Structure is sometimes necessary. Shooting in Turret mode is also useful, so bind a turret key and turret movement in controls. I like to use my mouse to aim the turret and fire (left/right buttons) with the space bar as a target key.
Before starting the site run, we first grab an Ancient Relic. These are big glowy blue prisms atop towers that rise up from the ground; shoot them to get the relic to fall down to where you can scoop one into your SRV. With that done, navigate up to the "top" of the site where the Guardian Machine ("Ancient Orb" on the map above) is located.
Once at the Machine, we start triggering the six Pylons that rise from the ground when an SRV approaches. Shooting the glowing blue orb at roughly turret level charges the Pylon and begins a timer to complete charging the others; each additional Pylon charged extends the timer. The time isn't an issue provided you've got a rough idea of the site layout. When the sixth and final Pylon is charged, the timer goes away and there is no time limit to complete the Machine.
However, with each Pylon charged, Guardian Sentinels will spawn, and should be destroyed before they overwhelm you. When destroyed, the Sentinels drop components that are used for Guardian Weapon unlocks as well as the two Guardian Fighters we're not targeting in this event -- scoop them up if you like, but we're not worried about farming them today.
When the Sentinels are defeated, drive directly over the hole in front of the machine and eject the Ancient Relic into it. The Machine will open and present an Ancient Data Terminal orb that can be scanned with the Data Link Scanner to give you a Guardian Module Blueprint Fragment. You need 1 of these per module you're unlocking (today, just one for the FSD Booster). Scanning the orb will also spawn one last wave of Sentinels, so shoot them down.
You can now re-activate the Pylons without triggering new Sentinels in order to cycle the Machine -- each player in the instance can get one copy of the blueprint this way. If a player wants more than one blueprint, you have to cycle to a new instance by logging out.
A Relic Tower, with Ancient Relic, is shown above at left
Guardian Machine, Pylons, and Ancient Relic/Key Drop Point (from a Ship Blueprint site)
This is a Pylon ready to charge
This site yields a Guardian Module Blueprint Fragment, which is useful to unlock six available Guardian modules. In order of relevance, they are: the FSD Booster, the Shield Reinforcement, the Module Reinforcement, the Hull Reinforcement, the Hybrid Power Plant, and the Hybrid Power Distributor.
The FSD Booster provides a flat increase to jump range, increasing as you increase the size of optional slot. Great for everybody. There is no human equivalent to this module.
The Shield Reinforcement provides a flat increase to shield strength. There is no human equivalent to this module.
The Module Reinforcement adds some Corrosive damage resistance, which is good for fighting Thargoids, though it does consume power. Worth considering if you're going to fight Thargoids.
The other three are not particularly interesting if you have engineering access -- they're at best on par with grade-4 engineered modules, but can't themselves be engineered further.
After gathering blueprints, we'll enter Solo mode for this site repeatedly to gather the Guardian material components needed to unlock our modules. Many Guardian material components are located on the Angled Towers around the perimeter of the site (see the picture of the Relic Tower above for reference) behind Destructible Panels; others are located behind such panels on some of the overhang architecture. If you're just unlocking the FSD Booster, you'll need 21 each Guardian Power Cells and Guardian Technology Components; if also getting a fighter, you need 46 of each. As with all engineering-type materials, each item you gather has 3 of its thing, so that's 7 drops for the Booster alone or 16 drops for both items. Use this guide I've written based on this module blueprint site. Run the site in Solo so you are not competing with the rest of the group for drops and can properly reset the instance. So long as you stay in the "southern" half of the site, away from the Guardian Machine, the core drop locations I've highlighted should not spawn any Sentinels to oppose you.
Obelisk Data
Most modules (all but the FSD Booster) and all of the Guardian Fighters also require Guardian Pattern Obelisk Data as part of the unlock. Fortunately, it's available at this planet. We'll run through the process even if we're not doing the Guardian fighter itself so that you're familiar with how it works.
Select the "Ancient Ruins 1" POI on this planet and fly over. Use my guide to Obelisk Data farming for this, and as with gathering the material components, run it in Solo. Illustrated here is my recommended landing location, close to two scannable obelisks so that you can maximize the turnaround of logging in, scanning, scanning, and logging out. It's dull but effective.
Map of Ancient Ruins Site
Landing Zone Inset
This site has no Sentinels and so there's no danger-based delayed logout. You can re-log in your SRV without re-entering your ship. Unfortunately, the Pattern Epsilon Obelisk Data needed for fighters is the rarest drop, and so this will take a while. You need 26 (9 drops) for each fighter. The XG7 Guardian fighter we're targeting for this also requires some Pattern Beta Obelisk Data (18), which is very common -- I guarantee you'll have it well before you have the Epsilon Data. If you scooped up Sentinel Weapon Parts and/or Guardian Wreckage Components from the Sentinels, you might also have the things on-hand for the XG8 or XG9 fighters.
When done, return to the carrier.
Note that many modules other than the FSD Booster also require Obelisk Pattern Data. You can check the requirements for technology broker unlocks at the Inara Technology Broker page.
Ship Blueprint
For the Guardian fighter blueprint, we'll travel to Synuefe KU-F B44-4 and go to the Guardian Beacon POI to get an Ancient Key item needed to unlock the next step. The Guardian Beacon is in space and requires a laser, 1 ton of cargo space, and preferably a collector limpet controller.
When the carrier arrives, buy 3 or 4 limpets from the carrier (they're cheap; have extras -- you can even sell them back to the carrier now) and then fly to the Guardian Beacon. If you prefer, it's 160 LY from the module blueprint site to this system, so you can grab your limpets and fly yourself.
To unlock the Ancient Key, charge the three energy pylons with a laser, and then scan the Guardian Beacon orb with your Data Link Scanner. That will cause the Beacon to eject an Ancient Key item, which you can scoop manually or collect with a limpet. You must have one Key per player per fighter; the Beacon resets itself without requiring a logout.
Map of Ship Blueprint Site
Pylons in Red
We then travel to Synuefe EU-Q C21-15, which is 47 LY from the Beacon system. The carrier will make this jump, but you're free to fly yourself; it'll be faster. Scan planet A 1 to find the Guardian Structure, fly down, and land.
When you deploy your SRV, go to your right-hand panel, Inventory tab, Transfer item at upper right, and transfer the Ancient Key into your SRV's cargo bay. We use this Key instead of the Ancient Relic at the module site, and you can't collect a Key at the ship blueprint site directly.
After that, this site runs just like the module site described above. Find the Guardian Machine, charge the pylons, destroy the Sentinels, and then eject the Ancient Key to activate the Ancient Data Terminal. This site yields a Guardian Ship Blueprint Fragment, which is useful to unlock three available Guardian fighters. If you didn't finish gathering components at the module site, you can enter Solo and gather them at this site, too.
Dav's Hope
If we need to get Focus Crystals for people, we'll jump to Hyades Sector DR-V c2-23 (two carrier jumps from the Guardian sites). Scan planet A 5 and fly down to the "Dav's Hope" POI and land. This is a site with 10 drop points of various mid-grade engineering materials. Run it in Solo to keep the instance clean, doing the loop until you have at least 24 Focus Crystals (8 drops). You can re-log in your SRV without re-entering your ship.
Dav's Hope is a great spot to get a variety of mid-grade manufactured engineering materials generally.
Map of Dav's Hope
Technology Broker
To wrap up, the carrier jumps to LHS 28. Buy 8 HN Shock Mount commodities from the carrier and fly to Flade Enterprise, a station with a Guardian Technology Broker.
Land, go to Contacts and then Technology Broker. Redeem your items for access to the FSD Booster and a Guardian Fighter. You now have permanent access to buy the Booster (all sizes 1-5) and the Fighter at any station with a Guardian Technology Broker. This particular one is in Li Yong Rui space, so the items have an additional 15% discount here.
If you unlock the Shield Reinforcement module at some point, note that the game sorts it into the Hull Reinforcement category. Weird, I know.
Credits and Links
Module Blueprint Site Map: Reddit u/Mnemoch
Dav's Hope Map: CMDR Loch147
Video tutorials from CMDR Exigeous / EDTutorials: