o7 CMDRs, I wanted to offer some information regarding unlocking guardian weapons and modules that many guides leave out, that I think will tilt more players toward unlocking the guardian equipment they want. This is aimed at newer players, and players like myself who assumed this would be a slog.
I've been playing since launch, and I've been exploring the vast majority of that time. What little engineering/unlocking I had done was exploration-based, and I hadn't bothered with anything else. Like a lot of you, I ran back to the bubble for the Proteus Wave event, and had planned on kitting out a ship for the inevitable invasion, until I saw the reliance on Guardian weapons and engineered components. I put it off until this last weekend, and this is what I learned:
- Getting Guardian blueprints and the materials and data needed to unlock them is not time consuming. There aren't that many materials, and unlike engineering, you only need to unlock an item once, then you can just buy it (meaning you only need the materials once, and you don't need that many. Refer to CMDRS-Toolbox for how many materials you need for any given unlock). Re-logging a Guardian site a few times will net you almost everything you need. Data is the real grind there, but even that can be done quickly if you find two active oblelisks close together, you can scan them, and re-log.
- Guardian sentinels are very easy to kill. If you were worried about having to fight them, or think you're bad at combat, you'll appreciate the fact that nothing in this game is as bad at combat as the Guardian sentinel is. Set weapon pips to 4, and systems to 2 and then blast them. They melt fast, and they've never come close to breaking my shield.
- The "time limit" for completing the pylon charging game is incredibly generous. It starts at 7 minutes for the first charged pylon, and each of the pylons you charge adds more time to that. I had worried this was going to be the worst part, but it wound up being nothing to worry about.
- Pylons won't raise until you've raised the pylons by the altar. Every Guardian site has an altar where you will deposit an ancient relic or key once all of the pylons are charged. The pylons will not pop out of the ground until you've activated the one(s) near the altar. After that, find the others, and once they are all raised, then start charging them. Its much easier to find them in a hurry if you've already gotten them to raise.
- You probably don't need an ancient key, but you should visit a Guardian beacon anyway. I went to three different sites for weapons, and each of them took relics as well as keys. So while you don't need to visit a beacon, you should anyway. They are pretty neat, and the pylon charging game is quick and easy, and the transformation of the beacon is fun to watch.
- With a 50 ly jump range, it will take you 16 – 17 jumps to reach most of the guardian sites, depending on where you left from. I left from Jameson Memorial with a 53 ly jump range, so how long it takes to get to any Guardian sites may be more or less depending on where you call home.
Total time spent gathering materials and data was approximately 4.5 hours, however, I did not do any blueprints for the fighters. (I did 6 module blueprints, and 3 weapon blueprints, plus material/data gathering)
I really hope this helps. I think had I known any of this prior to this last weekend, I probably would have tackled the Guardian unlocks sooner. Now I just need to unlock the rest of the engineers.