Cadet I/Miner defense

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Miner defense

When a miner is under attack you can either nan it, or kill the attacker. Since miners die fast, killing the attacker typically requires good firepower and great aim, and otherwise the miner will die first. Here we'll focus on the nanning part.

Loadout

1. Take a nan, obviously
2. Proximity mines. Fill your cargo with them, perhaps unless your defending against stealth fighters. In that scenario, dumbfires (or quickfires, depending on which is at a more advanced level) are an option if you don't intend to be camping alephs.

Miners outbound

At this point you should be flying in front of the miners using your scout's sensors to sweep for hostiles ahead. Destroy any probes you encounter to keep the miner from being seen. Don't venture too far away from your miner if you are facing stealths.

Once you make it to the destination sector the miners will split up and head to the various He³ asteroids in the sector. This is where your job gets tough because the HE rocks are usually spread far enough apart that you can only cover one miner at a time. The challenge is picking which miner is going to need the cover. Normally a good bet is to cover the rock closest to enemy controlled territory. Depending on layout, you can also split the difference and stay between two or more miners. Finally, against stealths, you can also camp alephs if you are sure they won't be coming through another route, or not already in the sector.

If you discover a probe too late and think the miner was eyed, say so on team chat.

Miners mining

Your miner is at the rock mining merrily. You need to be at your most alert now because a stationary target is the easiest to hit. Furthermore the enemy will quickly detect the drop in HE and do their best to interrupt your mining operations. Be prepared. Keep turning your scout around so your powerful forward sensors cover all approaches, especially the miner's rear where its own sensors are the weakest.

Action stations (Small attack)

Your scanners have picked up a small incoming enemy attack group, say 2 to 3 fighters. Stay back from the fight, try to avoid eye, and wait until the miner's shield is at about 10%. Then rush in and repair it. For small assaults, by the time you need to start repairing your escort should have killed at least one of the attackers.

When the attackers start shooting at you, lead them as far from the miner as possible if they stop attacking the miner. Otherwise continue nanning the miner and deploying prox. The best reaction is to start doing flybys. Head away from the miner for 2-3 seconds then turn to face it again. Nan it as you pass it. Keep going out the other side then turn and do another pass. Keep moving in a S pattern repairing on each pass.

Tip: A stationary scout is a dead scout.

Battle stations (Large assault)

For larger assaults the scenario is the same, but you need to first make sure the commander knows to move the miner. If the miner hasn't started to retreat by the time a large assault has started against few defenders, it's usually toast. While it heads back to base trail it closely and start dropping prox mines.

Rinse cycle

Once you're on miner D you're on miner D until your commander tells you otherwise. The enemy will NOT give up the assault on your econ, and you should not give up the defense. Miner defense wins games, just like miner offense.

Defense and Offense Recap

The other side of the coin of course is miner offense. For a brief but comprehensive overview see Miner o/d for afs

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