At left, a very badly damaged ship.
At left, a very badly damaged ship.
Be sure your shields are up! This sounds simple, but... Turn shields on before you enter a sector with an enemy ship. The enemy could be right next to your ship when you fly in, and get off a few rounds before you have time to react. The long-range scan shows the number of enemies in the surrounding sectors.
Don't be afraid to run away. Once it's over for you, it's over. Better to live to fight another day. When one critical system (engines, defenses or weapons) is damaged, leave the sector.
Be sure your ship is at full strength before engaging in combat. Use the star bases to refuel. Star bases are not available to enemy ships; enemies regenerate no faster than 100 energy units a turn. At a base, you can regenerate 1,000 units.
Use torpedoes at longer distances. Phasers are effective only halfway across the sector.
Until you are used to the game, don't let the enemy ships get too close. At close range, an enemy ship has the advantage over a novice user.
If the enemy ship runs away, follow firing.
Your enemy's tactics depends on the game level you are playing. How quickly the enemy ship carries out those tactics depends on the game speed. It is a good tactic on your part to start a new game level at a slow speed. The tactics on all levels are essentially the same; what changes is the enemy's tenacity.
Tactics are influenced by three factors,
When any torpedoes are in the sector, the enemy will turn on a defense system, shields or cloak.
When the enemy is badly damaged, it will run away.
If the distance is greater than three squares from you, the enemy will fly towards you (in a random, evasive pattern). Within five squares, the enemy will turn on a defense system, shields or cloak. Within three squares, the enemy will circle your ship or move randomly around your ship. Each turn while flying around your ship, the enemy will decide to shoot or move. The enemy will fire torpedoes until out of torpedoes, then use phasers.
An enemy that is badly damaged and unable to move will fire wildly at you or at a star to blow themselves out of the quadrant.
Enemies at the easy level are fairly stupid. They are more likely to:
Average level tactics are midway between easy and difficult tactics.
At difficult level, enemy ships will:
Remember, at this level, enemy ships have nearly as much (if not more) energy than you do.
Since the safety regulations of stardate 2043.87.621, all star ships come equipped with self-repair modules. In the control area listing which systems are damaged, the ship will also list the number of turns to repair the system.
When you are docked at a star base, repair time will be five times faster. If a damaged system requires more than 100 turns to repair, the crew at the base will replace components in the damaged system (reducing repair time by 50 turns for each component) until the repair time is below 100 turns. (I.E., if the system requires 210 turns to repair, in the first component replacement will reduce repair time to 160 turns, the second component replacement to 110 turns, the third to 60 turns. This will take place over three turns. Thereafter, the system will require 60 turns to repair, reduced by a factor of 5 to 12 turns.)
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