Part 29

Frigate Combat: Force attack frigates directly to destroy them quickly, but monitor their health as sustained fire can be damaging.

Salvaging Kadeshi: Destroy all fuel pods on the world ship, then send in salvage corvettes. Kadeshi will fire briefly before evading; wait for them to run out of fuel.

Fleet Engagement Tactics: While fighters are agile, they are vulnerable to frontal assaults, especially against destroyers' ion cannons. This applies to the first pass for fighters and frigates, assuming turrets are in their standard positions.

Attacking Support Frigates: These have minimal firepower. Kushan support frigates have 1 turret on the bottom, sides, and front, with 0 on top. Taiidan support frigates have 2 turrets on top, 1 on the sides, and 2 on the front, with 0 on the bottom. You can often sit a scout next to one with minimal damage.

Attacking Assault Frigates: Aim for the rear if possible. Kushan assault frigates have turrets in the following order of vulnerability: Top (1 turret), Bottom (3 turrets), Sides (2.5 turrets, depending on elevation), and Front (4 turrets + plasma bombs). The top turret is the only one that can fire upwards, and the side turrets leave a V-shaped gap. Taiidan assault frigates have 2 turrets on top, 2 on the bottom, 2 on the sides, and 4 on the front (plus plasma bombs), offering more balanced coverage from all directions except the rear.

Attacking Ion Cannon Frigates: Attack from any side except the front, as the ion cannon can easily destroy your strike craft.

Attacking Destroyers: Both Kushan and Taiidan destroyers have a large coverage hole underneath, requiring them to turn to fire in that direction. The front is extremely dangerous due to 2 turrets and 2 ion cannons. They have 2 turrets on top and 2 on the sides, with 0 on the bottom.

Attacking Heavy Ships: Kushan heavy ships have 5 turrets on top, 4 on the sides (+ possible 4 ion cannons), 3 on the bottom, and 4 ion cannons with 6 turrets on the front. Taiidan heavy ships have 4 turrets on top, 3 on the sides (+ possible 4 ion cannons), 4 on the bottom, and 4 ion cannons with 6 turrets on the front. Attack from the sides or rear to minimize exposure. Ion cannons on heavy ships have a long turning time, making them less of a threat from the sides.

Attacking Drone Frigates: These have 50% coverage in all directions, increasing to 100% when you get close.

Avoiding Scuttle Damage: Retreat your ships a few runs before an enemy capital ship explodes, as players often wait until the last second to scuttle. Use scouts or bombers to finish them off after they believe their capital ship is safe.

Multiplayer Strategy: Spend resources (Rus) effectively. Consider corvette or gravity well research paths. Adapt to human opponents, who are unpredictable. Counter fighter-heavy players with corvette walls, and use gravity wells to trap hyperspaced fleets. Cloak gravity wells to counter probes or cloaked fighters, and move your mobile base (MS) often.

Multiplayer Achilles' Heel: Target enemy resourcers and research ships, as their loss cripples ship production and technological advancement.

Multiplayer Game Settings: Fun games often have infrequent resource injections, medium starting resources, crates off, bounties on small, and research on.

Multiplayer Opening Moves (Research On): Set resourcers to harvest. Decide on a capital ship or fighter path and research it. Build additional research ships. Deploy several groups of 5 scouts to patrol 30km away from your MS to intercept enemy scouts and probes. Use scouts to locate and harass enemy resourcers. Escort your own collectors with scouts, though they are not ideal for this.

Multiplayer General Advice: Research and invest in a few capital ships, as gravity wells can be devastating. If focusing on capital ships, use corvettes to defend against fighters. Prioritize destroying enemy resourcers and controllers. In research games, target enemy research ships as they are expensive, slow to build, and their loss hinders technological progress. Hide your own research ships.