Killing a Xenon I Class Ship Easily and Cheaply

To succeed, you only need one M Class Ship and 700,000 credits, which is rounded up. So yes, you can do this all by yourself without having to bring a fleet. This is easiest if you have a a ship that has the ability to change your Cover. These are ships like the Katana that the Terrans reward you with or the Envoy. Although I believe that any M Class ship with work as long as you can get into position without dying. If you are using a ship with the Cover ability, make sure that it is set to Yaki. I will note that this will make normal friendly factions look hostile since you look like their enemy.

Once you have the M Class ship, fill it with Mines. Plain Mines will work as you do not need any tracking. You don't technically need all 100. I have tested now and 90 should work. I used 80 and failed to destroy it. So you don't need the full 100. I know that you need more than 50 as I try around 40 original at that knock it to around 40% shields . So an S Class ship won't work. You do need to make sure that all of the mines hit at the same time as the shields recharge fast.I would also suggestion saving before hand in case things go back and you are still trying to learn this.

Once loaded up, you can go after the I Class solo. You now need to fly your ship directly in front of it. And slow down or come to a complete stop under the "Nose". When positioning yourself, take note of the direction that your ship deploys mines. Like the Envoy launches them out of the top of the ship. You will then want to pause your game. Then launch all of your mines. You want it to fly into the mines. Then unpause and get yourself out of there as the ship is going to blow. Also a side note, these are regular mines and you can blow yourself up if not careful.

You could technically be able to do this to any part of the ship as long as you can get the mines to hit at the same time. I just found the front the safest spot to do it as there seemed to be fewer guns and easiest spot to make sure that the hit the ship. After some additional testing, this strategy works primarily for I Class that are heading to or are attacking a station. But it is still possible to do in Xenon territory, but you will definitely need cover here.

If you have Satellites, you may see them lingering around defense station. You will need to change your tactics a little bit here as they ships aren't moving fast. You will need to be in cover so that you can scout the ship. The 2 that I tested on were moving very slow, So I had to watch their movements Both were turning very slowly while they circled the station. So you need to position yourself to launch the mines so that they turn into the mines. I didn't test, but if you want to pay the extra, tracker mines would probably make this easier. They just need to all hit at the same time.

So comparing this to the cost for a fleet approach. I wouldn't be surprised if you lost a fighter or 2. You may be dealing with cost to repair you capital ships. You would probably be spending money to replace and torpedoes or missiles used. Compare that to the 700,000 Credits that you spent on mines.

For those who do not have a DLC the give you cover to make Xenon neutral or have trouble pulling the above off, you can make a cheap suicidal M Class ship. All you need to do is get the ship next to the I Class and make sure that your mine launcher is pointed at the enemy, You will blow both of you up and you will get ejected into space in your space suit. Make sure that you have somewhere to teleport to as the capital ship explosion can kill you out in your space suit. I believe that this will work as I did kill myself and the I Class ship in a few of the test.

I know that some will disagree with this method. I did try to use this method verses stations, but it not work. Consider this an approach to help those in early game and can't afford a fleet yet or are fresh to the game like me. I will note that I did not find this online and discovered it myself. In my game, the Xenon had already destroyed the Teladi Wharf. The Xenon I Class was was attacking their trading station when this idea hit me. So this was on the spot idea that worked and am sharing with others.