Combat Operations

Combat Operations

Combat operations are common operations a player conducts during combat. These operations can be divided into moving commands and using attachments. Details will be covered respectively in the following.

 

Free Moving

 

There are 2 types of moving commands, one being free moving at the player's will, the other being directional moving with certain logic through operational buttons.

 

How does free moving work? The simplest way is to double tap any point in the space. The ship would move towards that point straightly.

 

There is another way of free moving, somewhat similar to how a RTS game is played. First tap the tactical view button on the right side, the camera will zoom out and an "ecliptic" will be displayed in the middle.

 

The "ecliptic" can be regarded as the ground in a RTS game. Double tap any point on the screen, the ship would move towards that point straightly.

 

Directional Moving

 

Besides free moving, there is also directional moving with certain logic, namely Approach, Leave and Orbit.

 

The logic of Approach command is to move towards the target at full speed, and follow the target at the target's speed after catching up.

 

The logic of Leave command is to move away from the target at full speed, in the direction where the process is fastest.

 

The logic of Orbit command is to orbit the target, where the orbit radius could be the current distance to the target or a customized distance by the player. The ship will automatically choose an optimal way to cut into the orbit.

 

 

Warping

 

Warping commands are for when the ship is in a situation where the target can't be reached through ordinary moving commands, usually due to long distance. There might be different icons available depending on the target. Enter Station and Cross Stargate can also be available without the need of warping.

 

Warp is the simplest command, there is no additional operation besides the warping itself.

 

Enter Station is only available when the target is a space station. The operation is to enter the space station after warping.

 

Cross Stargate is only available when the target is a stargate. The operation is to cross the stargate after warping.

 

Using Attachments

 

The attachments a ship can use in the space are divided into shipboard weapons, shipboard devices, standard devices and superdevice.

 

Shipboard weapons are weapons installed on the ship. When an attackable target is selected in the combat overview and within a weapon's range, tapping the weapon icon will fire it and then the weapon goes into cooldown.

 

Shipboard devices and standard devices are both devices, and share the same logic. If the device targets the ship itself or multiple targets in a range, it can be used whenever it's off cooldown. If it targets a single target, it can't be used unless the target is within its range.

 

Superdevice is the ultimate weapon built in with the ship, it recharges throughout the combat and is ready to use when fully charged. Its icon is generally in one of the 3 states below:

 

Auto Combat

 

The contents above are manual combat operations. The game also offers the option of auto combat to help players through easier fights. Players can tap the Auto button on the right to switch on auto combat mode. When the auto combat is on, there will be a breathe lighting effect on the Auto button.

 

When auto combat is on, shipboard AI always selects the target with highest threat nearby, choose an optimal orbit, and automatically fires the shipboard weapons. In the meantime, the player can manually move the ship without interrupting auto combat. But if the target becomes too far away, shipboard AI will take over the navigation again and pull the ship back to the appropriate orbit.

 

Players can change a game setting to prevent AI from taking over navigation.

 

During auto combat, the player can also manually switch the target to attack by selecting the new target in the combat overview and then tapping the Lock icon at the bottom right corner of screen. After that, shipboard AI will pilot the ship into the orbit of the new target and start firing with shipboard weapons.

 

At last, holding the Lock icon will pop a Hold Fire button near the Auto button. Tapping it will cause all weapons to stop firing and exit auto combat.

 

Conclusion

 

Common combat operations are moving commands and using attachments. Moving commands include double tapping for free moving, moving in tactical view, directional moving and warping.

 

When using an attachment, one needs to decide if the target, distance and cooldown are appropriate. All attachments, including superdevice, go into cooldown after activation, and won't be available until it's off cooldown again.

 

The game offers two types of combat control: manual and auto combat. In auto combat, shipboard AI automatically controls the attachments and navigation. Players can turn off AI's control on navigation through game settings, and manually switch targets to attack in auto combat mode.