Combat

Now that you know the basics covered in the Quick Crash Course, let's get on with the good stuff.

Mechanics

Range

Look at your inventory screen (toggled with F4). The range of each gun and missile will be listed there.

Missiles in range and locked.

If you are in range of your target, a reticule will show for your guns and the missiles will start to lock on.

Tip: Fired missiles inherit the ships speed, increasing their actual range. However you will not get a good lock before in range, so this is useful against relatively stationary targets, or enemies moving straight towards you.

Aiming

This is possibly the hardest part for new pilots, due to the unusual handling of the "virtual joystick". Also space is vast and projectiles have a travel time, requiring you to "lead" the target, if it is moving. Finally, some projectiles inherit your own speed, complicating the "lead" situation.

Thankfully your spaceship provides an easy way to tell if you are aiming in the right direction: The reticle will turn from red to green:

Guns will miss.

Guns are likely to hit.

This will allow you to land quite a few shots, however it doesn't allow you to tell in which direction to correct your aim and still isn't accurate enough. What you want to do is, watch your fired projectiles fly towards the target and correct your aim to make sure they hit.

The spread of the bullets, due to the ship turning with the target's movement, is marked in red. At the white arrow, the shots should be impacting the target. So I know exactly how much higher I have to aim. Determining left/right corrections to the aim is not as easy. You have to watch closely to see if the projectiles pass in front or behind the enemy.

The Lead Indicator

If you are near a carrier or manning a turret in a bomber, those ships will provide you with a lead indicator. In that case, shoot right at it and your shots will hit, unless the enemy manages to dodge in the time it takes your projectiles to travel.

Evasive Maneuvers

Other pilots have the same issues trying to hit you. Make it harder for them by using your sidethrust keys as soon as they start landing shots.

Your sidethrust keys with the Blackdutchie-Keybindings. The forward/backward thrust keys, Space and S, use the full thrust, regardless of what you have currently set with the mousewheel.

If you have a longer range them them. (Typically if they are in an Interceptor) use your back thrust key S to stay out of their range longer, while firing at them. Once they closed, you can try to fly towards them instead and pass them right by, going out of their range again.

Tip: Roll your ship with Q and E.

Intercept Course

Fly to where your target will be instead of where it is right now. So if a miner flies towards an asteroid to mine, fly to it as well. Most of the time, you want to intercept a target in mid-space, so it takes some guess work.

Boosters

Fighters and Interceptors are equipped with boosters. They allow you to reach much higher speeds, while your fuel lasts. Activate them with Shift-Space.

They will also shake your ship up, making it very hard to aim. It can still be done, if you are very close already, or firing at a big target, like a carrier.

Visibility

Below the speed in your HUD, it shows your current signature rating. It determines, how far away enemy sensors will pick you up. When you fire a gun, or use the boosters, it increases for the duration.

When you see the eye symbol: next to your Energy gauge, it means the enemy has spotted you. Conversely it means, they can't see you, while it isn't showing. You can use this to sneak up on them unaware.

Tip: Asteroids block sensors. So you can hide behind one, or approach with an asteroid between you and your target.

Ship Types

Scouts

Scouts have great sensors. So having at least one in a group is a good idea to actually see the enemy.

They also can do some damage on their own. Equipped with enough dumbfire missiles (hard hitting, but slow turning), they have a chance to take out an enemy miner or constructor.

Another strength of the scout is its ability to carry a nan. When in a team fight, hang back, hiding behind your team-mates and once their shield is down, get in there and send them some nanites to keep their armor up. This requires good aim, just like firing a normal gun.

Finally, they can carry Proximity Mines. A potentially devastating weapon. The trick is to get your enemy to fly through them at high speeds. It takes about five seconds to activate after dropping.

• If you see someone boosting towards you, try to backpedal with S and drop prox in their path.
• The better version of the above is to use the Command View F3 to drop prox and lure them into it. This is quite hard to get right though.
• Drop it in front of an aleph enemies are likely to come through.

See Also

• Learn how to kill miners!