PREFLIGHT CONSIDERATIONS:
1) It is essential to have a joystick of high quality (M/S Precision Pro, Thrustmaster, Cyborg 3D Digital, etc.). This stick should be equipped with a thumb hat and several additional programmable buttons. These high quality joysticks can improve your skills by 30-50 %. They allow you to do things with one hand while devoting full to the battlefield situation.
2) Pilots should also have a complete understanding of their craft and it’s power redistribution systems as well as the enemy craft.
3) Turn graphics down, sound off and as many details to low as possible during practice and battle. I know all those nice midi-files and that big pretty 3-D graphics cards are just going to waste! Tough! Many players have cable (T-1, T-3) connections to the Internet. This gives them an advantage in combat, known as Ghost - Shots. basically means your firing where your computer tells you their ship is! On your computer you see a direct hit. (But to your frustration no damage). By the time your firing information gets to their machine, their machine (much faster, 10-20 times) shows the ship in another location. Your shots record as misses. Lag (your machine is lagging behind in the TRUE information) Generally displays their ship one or less seconds behind were it really is. Leading the shot should take care of it. But lag changes, so you have to change your point of aim with the lag. To them you seem to be going in slow motion and are easier to target and destroy. Notice that all the top players on ladder ranking systems have cable or advanced connections. Hit ALT+D at the beginning of each game to put details at their minimum. The less resources your machine uses, the faster it processes information (faster frame rate) creating a slight buffer at least. Use every advantage you can. They will and do.

Video Cards like Voodoo II unlike Voodoo frees up CPU usage causing smoother game play due to the faster frame rate.

RANK

Don’t let a players rank intimidate you. Editors are out there that can make any pilot any rank they choose. Also, by flying the right melees on the Zone for about three days you can be a Jedi and never face any real competition.
CRAFT
Different craft have different scoring values attached to both the kills you obtain and the deaths you receive. Gunboats score the highest and in a skilled pilots hands can achieve them 80,000 points a game. Get good in the ships that score well for they are the ships usually flown in Wars. Go to the TFA War Page to read a discussion of ships and their scoring attributes. Avoid flying mixed ships, such as one T/I and one X-Wing on each team. This usually means the pilots with the weaker ship are going to have a harder time scoring equally.

Lasers Have a maximum effective range of 1.5 kilometers. Don’t waste power shooting at targets beyond this range. However, if flying head on start shooting was 1.8 kilometers, the speed of the closing ships will narrow distance and allow for hits. Remember fully charged lasers cause approximately 35% more damage per hit. So recharge em as often as possible. If your ship has shields and they are sufficiently charged, hitting the ; key will recharge your lasers back too full ! Three or four fully (linked) laser blasts will take out almost any craft.

Most players have two main settings. Which, they will use many times by a press of a button. Shift-9 and shift-0 are two presettings. They record the speed and the laser/shield charge. One should be laser recharging and the other everything to be redirected to engines Laser recharging should be a combat mode (lasers ¾, shields redirected engines.) The other mode is useful in turning and to get away from the fire.

TRAINING for COMBAT:

It is vitally important that each pilot train specifically for these types of engagements. Important skills necessary for success are:
1. Piloting skills
2. Ship awareness and maintenance (keeping the lasers charged)
3. Battle field situational awareness. Where Exactly are the opponents. Don’t get killed trying to help your wingman. Do so only when the enemies wingman is out of range. Easiest kill is when the enemy is coming after your wingman. You can usually predict the enemies move.
4. Two player vs. two player team skills, require different strategies than playing the game single player or 1 on 1 melees.

Below are some specific exercises and suggestions for obtaining and increasing these types of combat skills.

MELEE TIPS:

1- Inside of 1.8 miles never fly straight. Move constantly. Taking brief opportunities to fire a rapid shot at oncoming opponents.
2- Shoot in a box pattern around the oncoming ship. All good pilots move also and will very often fly into your shots.
3- Don’t use the same successful approach and maneuver two and three times in a row.
4- Remember the most maneuverable any ship can be is when set as 1/3 speed. Melees involve close dog fighting and require rapid turning. If you stay on their tail, you win and vice versa. The fastest turns are 1/3 throttle with lasers and shields set to full engines. This will drain all laser power very quickly and unless their in the same mode, you will come around onto their tail. You may have to re-adjust laser recharge rate to shoot, but you will be behind them. Reset lasers to full and fire away. In two vs. two, going into a prolonged Turning War is not that wise. You will be turning but moving very slowly, that will make you an easy target for your opponents wingman.

At beginning of a melee opponents are usually 3+ kilometers away. Have your proper craft configuration memorized and immediately activate it. Full laser and shield recharge is desirable as first options. Then cockpit mode, link weapons to double/quad, full shields forward and select opponent (F-9, F-9, F-10, F-10, X, X, S, S, P, period). At this point, your opponent is still 2.5 + km away. As you close distance, you will be building strength even if flying slower than usually desirable. A single (F-10) will put all shield recharge to engines and move you up in speed considerably. Both lasers and missiles have a fixed speed plus the speed of the craft. At approximately 1.9 km, output all shields to engines you will greatly increase the speed your lasers or missiles are traveling, if your opponent is traveling slower, fire and move slightly. He may be unprepared for the extra speed your weapons are traveling.

PRESET SETTINGS:

Shift-9 and shift-0 are two programmable pre-settings. Most players have two main settings which they will use many times in a game. One pre-set should be set to laser recharging mode and the other set to all power redirected to engines Laser recharging should be a combat mode (lasers ¾, shields redirected engines.) The other mode is useful in turning and to get away from the fire. By using the pre-sets you can effect quick changes in your ships configuration settings with the push of a single button.

In two on two melees, if you or your wing-man destroys an opponent, wait until the additional wave (if any) enters (remember ships frequently enter at very close attack distances. If your going to help your wing-man you will be a sitting duck. If however, your opponent enters 2.5, - 4 km out, turn quickly and double up on your wing-man’s target. This can go back and forth in the spirit of cooperative teamwork and be extremely effective. Use caution to avoid getting too caught up in the heat of battle and let your assigned opponent get too close and pick you off.

ADDITIONAL TIPS AND STRATEGIES

1) Hosting is a disadvantage in one on one matches. In 2 vs. 2 matches , hosting is an advantage, especially if the hosts wingman has a bad connection.
2) Keep moving 100% of the time when within 1.6 km of a hostile ship.
3) Never fly directly at a person for prolonged periods.
4) Don’t fly in a straight line. Keep moving, weaving, ducking and dodging in between your shots.
5) Lay down suppression fire if you don’t your opponent will simply retarget you and have a free shoot. Put them on defensive and let them stress.
6) Shoot in a rapid box pattern (single and double). Fire just to sides, top and bottom of opponent. This way when they adjust to avoid flying straight you should get some hits. If you fire directly on them; by the time your lasers get there, they will have ducked, dodged, or moved out of the way, causing a miss. If your opponent is inexperienced he may not know to move well. If that is the case shot dead on !
7) Frequently when additional waves first appear, they are facing away from you and are initially disorientated as the attempt to find you, re-adjust their ship, and attack. Use this initial three or four seconds to your advantage. Be ready. Target immediately. Fire rapidly (great time to use shield power to fully recharge lasers tactic). It is absolutely demoralizing to appear with a fresh ship and be destroyed again without even getting a chance to find your opponent. When very close to approaching opponent who is critically weakened within .15 km, veer to the side and don’t allow him the opportunity to ram you, killing you both. (This is a frequent melee tactic). By the way, use this tactic to destroy your opponent if you can, especially if he has a reasonably undamaged ship. To be down to 5 or 6 shield strength, red and limping and wipe out an undamaged ship is a terrific payoff. Also if you have lost all lasers to damage Ram if close. Don’t waste 15 seconds trying to get your lasers back on a ship with a heavily damaged hull !

BEGINNERS SUGGESTIONS:

It takes time to become a good pilot, usually 6 months of improving will make a decent pilot.. Nevertheless, people change tactics, so you have to be flexible all the time too. The various aspects of piloting a craft must be mastered to obtain a high combat alertness level necessary for survival. New/Intermediate pilots should spend time (single player) committing these skills to a subconscious memory level.
1. There are two pilot cockpit views for each ship (. key toggles them between the modes). Know exactly where the various instrument indicators are located!
2. The front and rear sensor displays are critical to success. You must be constantly aware of your opponent’s location and direction of travel. Practice following ships in close combat situations using the sensor display while monitoring the additional environment with your peripheral vision.
COMBAT MULTIVIEW DISPLAY (CMD)
This sensor provides valuable information regarding your opponent and his ship status. The opponent must be targeted to be in your sensor display. The targeted ship rotates in 3-D to reflect its current orientation in relationship to your craft. This will tell you if his weapons are aligned and he is capable of firing. This sensor proves three readings of your opponent’s status that are important to you.
1. It’s distance in km from your ship.
2. The hull strength; listed numerically from 1-100 and color coded (red) critical, (yellow) moderate damage, (green) strong hull strength).
3. The ship’s orientation to your craft provides you with information regarding its direction of travel.
COCKPIT MODES
The (HUD) heads up display mode maximizes your view of the external environment by removing much of the cockpit interior. The CMD, sensors and critical data is still visible to you. This is the preferred cockpit mode for most pilots. It provides for maximum field of view over the battlefield during close quarters dog-fighting. All necessary sensors and monitors are available in this mode.
TARGETING HEADS UP DISPLAY (HUD)
This instrumentation cluster provides you with extremely valuable information. During battle that must be instantly known (and rapidly acted upon) in order to make the proper decisions and adjust your crafts systems to increase survivability. The Outside Threat Indicator Array (OTIA) is part of this cluster. It tells you if your lasers, ions, or missiles are the currently selected weapon, whether weapons are in single, double, or quad link mode. (READ PAGES 27-31 IN THE XVT INSTRUCTION MANUAL). Along the top of the (OTIA) are four warning lights (numbered 1-4, left to right).
# 1 (Far left) - Lights up when you have been targeted by an enemy starfighter and are within its range. EXTREEMLY IMPORTANT#
#2 Targeted by a capitol ship.
#3 Indicates a beam weapon is currently affecting your ship.
#4. (Far right) Will blink yellow when an enemy craft has targeted your ship and is attempting to get a missile lock on you. The light will turn solid red when he has a positive missile lock.

Well as you can imagine having these types of information available to you in the heat of battle are very important. Combat awareness means constantly being aware of and analyzing all these variable bits of combat data. Summing up there combined influences and utilizing the totality of the information to make the appropriate choice of action.

A very good way to practice developing combat awareness is melees (single player) at the hard level utilizing all weapons. Create and additional player to practice with. Don’t worry how bad his statistics are going to turn out. You can always delete him. Your only objective in these training sessions is to practice utilizing all of your available combat data to make various combat decisions.

No one is born with excellent combat awareness. It’s a skill that must be learned. Anyone who tries can. Minefield melees can greatly increase rapid target acquisition and accuracy. As you fly these practice sessions, concentrate on what your enemy does, what you do, and what happened as a result. After each ten minutes melee, spend a few minutes analyzing the battle. What can you do different to increase your results. All good pilots go through this constant evaluation and improvement process.

Another excellent training exercise for development of combat awareness is the custom dogfight. Fly past two containers (X and A or T/A & T/GW). This will get real intense very quickly, but it sure provides you with lots of combat data to analyze. Good luck on this one!

BEHAVIOR AND CONDUCT

Pilots are Officers, and as such should act as gentlemen. Don’t use profanity directed at players or other teams. Don’t brag, or insult others piloting skills in open chat areas. Defend yourself and respond, but be better than they are, Beat them with tact and brains. (I’ve responded to several foul mouth braggarts that their mommy’s should have spent more money on their charm school). At this point other players join in and hehe the poor guy. He will settle down usually or leave. You win and in tactful and honorable way! And to all you new players, may I add, The game, as in life, is enjoyed most; by those who prepare properly, play fair, maintain their dignity, and deal with others honorably. You will develop an on-line reputation very quickly . . . Make it a good one. First impressions last a long time and do reflect on your RBL team mates as well.

MORE NEW PILOT INFO

New pilots should complete all the single player exercises that are specifically designed to train you in the basics of starfighter combat. They are challenging set at the hard level. Start off on easy level for the first 6-10 missions. Then start over at the hard level and play through all of them (except eight player missions). Repeat each one until you receive an award patch of at least good.

STAR-FIGHTER CRAFT

Power systems are fixed at a specific point. The energy output flows into three important systems.
1. Engines - Affect the speed of the craft.
2. Shields - Affect their recharging rate.
3. Laser type weapons - Affects their recharge rate (remember fully charged produce more damage). The three systems are affected (strengthened or weakened) by the amount of energy they receive. You control which systems get how much energy.

Example (shielded craft) 1. You have a total power output of 100. Normal distribution of energy would be 33% to each system. To increase the rate your lasers recharge, you might want stronger lasers in a dogfight. If you increased the laser recharge rate to maximum, you are redirecting the normal use of the energy from one of the other two systems to allow for this to happen. An increase in one area creates a decrease in energy available to the other. The transfer of energy either slowed the ships speed OR weakened the shields.

Example Let’s say you’ve been hit by enemy laser fire and your shields were weakened to 20%. At this point, it’s a strong possibility you could be killed by the next laser hit. If you divert all laser energy to the shields, the stored energy in your lasers is used to increase your shields! Jumping to 50%, shield strength by this tactic can greatly increase your current chances of survival, and in turn, victory. Remember the basic principal that the winner is the one that survives the longest to inflect the most kills and receive the most points !

special thanks to RBL Aslan fot these training tips.