Newcomer / Intro How do I keep up in Combat?

SixthVG

SixthVG
I want to love combat, but I have the hardest time trying to keep. I've got a nice little starter ship in a Viper Mk 3! It feels like for 90% of the fight it's spent boosting and doing U-Turns to try and locate my target again.

Is there any tricks to stick to a target and not have to constantly be boosting and trying to locate them? It's the only turn off for in combat.
 

Codger

Codger
Practice, experience, learning to read the radar...there's no real secret to it. You just need to develop some situational awareness, which comes with time.

Try just following the police ships that fly around and around orbital stations. Get behind them. Stay there as they patrol. Get used to how they look in your view, and on the radar. You'll catch on if you spend the time.

Good luck out there!
 

aRJay

aRJay
As @Codger says ship handling is down to time and practice.

A suggestion I saw once was to head to a planetary ring then while facing one of the rocks try to fly around it using your thrusters while keeping pointing at the rock, this was supposed to help you practice coordinating your controls.
 

SMcA

SMcA
SixthVG said:
I want to love combat, but I have the hardest time trying to keep. I've got a nice little starter ship in a Viper Mk 3! It feels like for 90% of the fight it's spent boosting and doing U-Turns to try and locate my target again.

Is there any tricks to stick to a target and not have to constantly be boosting and trying to locate them? It's the only turn off for in combat.
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Slow down, don't give it "full speed ahead" all the time. Start your U-turn using FA Off before your opponent passes you. That way you will be behind it before it starts his turn. Use your vertical and lateral thrusters to make yourself harder to hit. I generally don't have any pips to Engines in combat. Oh! PIP control is very important too.
 

Chrystoph

Chrystoph
Just a re-emphasis on the radar, especially when you lose visual. If you are locked on, that is the only ship on the radar that has the <o> style of marking.
 

Chaparral

Chaparral
The NPC AI is set to prefer jousting rather than orbiting as a combat style.

This is why you find yourself charging shooting on the pass, and trying to make a sharp U turn to face the opponent again.

You didn't mention it, but do you have your hat set to manage directional thrusters?

It is possible to toggle FA off and on , use directional thrusters and boost to try to laterally orbit your opponent rather than joust. This will allow you more time on target.

You can also track the position of the selected opponent on your radar, which you can manipulate for closer range and more distant targets.

A newbie trick is to have one turreted beam laser as one of your topside hardpoints which will sort of work as an indicator beacon to show the direction to change facing. It will lose lock when they chaff, but it will point the way most of the time. Once you fire with a turreted weapon on a target, it will continue to fire on that target without your direct trigger input as long as you have it set up on your trigger properly.
 

Tyres O'Flaherty

Tyres O'Flaherty
I find it easier to move around and get on the target when at 50% thrust. They do like to joust and fly past so pitch, yaw, climb etc to move them back into line is quicker at non-full speed. If they are too close and you can't get them into line, thrust turn.

EDIT PS FAoff is the best tactic but I've never used it as I'm crap.
 

aRJay

aRJay
Tyres O'Flaherty said:
I find it easier to move around and get on the target when at 50% thrust. They do like to joust and fly past so pitch, yaw, climb etc to move them back into line is quicker at non-full speed. If they are too close and you can't get them into line, thrust turn.

EDIT PS FAoff is the best tactic but I've never used it as I'm crap.
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There is a region on the throttle/speed display that is blue keep the throttle in that region for best manoeuvrability. 50% thrust will be in the middle of this band.
 

Krieger

Krieger
As said above, the NPCs will try to turn every fight into a joust. So a good tactic is to beat them at their own game. What will help is to keep an eye on the target hologram on the left side of the sensor disk. It lets you see the direction your target is turning to when you can't see it (e.g. during a U-turn). This way you can react early and turn to "cut the corner" and get a good firing position. It takes some practice to read the left hologram because your ship's own movements also influence it.
 
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McGyverCP

McGyverCP
As stated above, situational awareness is a big thing. I, as being one who's computer gaming roots go back to Aces of the Pacific (an old DOS WWII flight sim) and other Flight Sim games, the more you fly, the more you start to develop an inner eye for where your enemy is at in relation to your own craft. It may take a bit, but you will develop a sense of "Where they went and Where they are going'...once you can see it in your head, then all that is left to do is get your hands to coordinate with it.

Also, as others have also said, Flight Assist (FA) Off/On, will help you get better at swinging the nose around to get the pointy bits aimed at the bad guy faster. There are videos online made by Commander Moxen Wolf who is a Jedi Master at FA Off flying. He takes you through several videos to teach Commanders how to fly around in places I wouldn't try WITH FA On...Dude is GUD.

Best of luck Commander on your future battles, and here's to solid shields and weapons that never run dry!

Take care and check six Commanders o7

Michael Charlie Golf, signing off
 

GeoJase

GeoJase
Don't boost during combat (unless you're trying to get to the next target). Keep throttle in the blue and use bursts of 100% forward thrust to maintain distance.

Also keep an eye on your opponents vector and use lateral/vertical thrusters to stick on their tail pipe
 

Vetinari

V
All good answers above so will only add practice against a bigger ship sub-targeting a module. Its easier to stay in their blind spot or close to them, fighters are much more nimble and can turn quicker so harder to practice against. eg Go for a Python or Conda and youll find it much easier at first even though its counter-intuitive to practice against a larger ship its much easier. When they boost turn to try use thrusters to counter them and stay in the right spot and youll find they are doing circles around you while you fly inside their turning circle.
 
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