Flight manual

Keep one ship alive. Your five-ship squadron enters from the edge on a course through the middle. Watch each maneuver, then take five full seconds to plan the next one. When only AI squadrons remain, turns run continuously every half second.

Plot your course

The arrow starts at your ship's center; its tip is that center's predicted next position. It hides during movement and returns for planning. Drag the arrow tip forward to build speed. Intact stock ships reach full speed in four turns. Pull back toward the ship's center to brake; brakes shed speed 2.5 times as fast as thrust builds it. Once stopped, pull behind the bow to back up while keeping your guns facing forward. Shorten and bend the arrow for a tight turn. Faster ships travel wider arcs but still have useful steering. Damaged rear engines weaken braking and acceleration; damaged side jets limit the bend. While dragging, the dot marks your coast and the outline shows reachable arrow tips.

Fire forward

Select an installed weapon, then press Space or its Fire button. Q / E cycles mounts. A Siege trigger fires all four barrels in succession; one Pepperbox trigger fires a six-round belt. Bomb and missile launchers are separate parts with fixed ammunition. Fire ready queues all available mounts. Every weapon spends the following turn reloading, so you can stagger separate guns across turns. A single trigger starts halfway through the move; multiple weapons phase their fire in selection order. Dashed lines show each muzzle’s launch bearing. Losing a mount interrupts its burst. Magazines are shared by ammunition type; a partial Siege salvo can use the final shells.

Read the arena

Thin arrows on nearby ships show their current coast, not their next orders. Hull paint identifies the squadron; projectile color identifies the weapon. Small squadron numbers match the fleet list; each weapon keeps its own shape. Missile tracks remain visible while planning. Left-click and drag outside the arrow tip to pan. Scroll to zoom. Choose Follow flagship to return to your ship, or Full arena for the entire battlefield.

Friendly fire

Rounds, beams and flak can damage your wingmates. Every projectile can hurt you, regardless of its color. Seekers track enemies, but any other ship crossing the flight path can take the hit. Guns clear their own hull plating. Keep firing lanes clear.

Recognize incoming fire

Cyan needles are light missiles; violet cruciforms are guided missiles. Yellow twin-pronged Forktails curl across their lane. Green diamond Wakehounds chase exhaust. Pink ringed Hoppers coast before relighting. Orange broad-nosed Cyclones arrive in six-shot ripples. A pale green aiming line warns of a charging Sundering cutter; leave its path before the beam opens.

Missile fuel

The dashed firing lane shows how far the motor burns. Standard light missiles burn for 290 units and guided missiles for 580. Lancer’s Needle rails extend a light missile’s burn to 350 units and trim toward contacts ahead. All physical rounds inherit the ship’s full velocity at launch, including sideways motion. When the flame goes dark, the missile keeps its speed and last heading until it hits a hull, terrain or the arena edge. Crossing that line of flight is still dangerous.

Armor and generators

Deck guns fire over their own hull plating. Put armor ahead of a gun to absorb incoming fire; repeated shots through the breach can still knock the gun out. Losing an exposed jet weakens your turn on that side. A reactor booster adds 5 MW and requires a clear vent. Losing it detonates the hull.

Hull contact

A head-on collision stalls both ships. A glancing collision costs less speed. Both ships keep their headings. Contact only changes motion. Components take no collision damage.

Command wingmates

Escort keeps wingmates near you. Attack at will orders them to pursue. Independent lets each pilot choose range and engagement.

Eject pilot

Choose Eject pilot to launch a small escape pod at the start of the next maneuver. You can cancel before the clock reaches zero. The abandoned hull leaves combat without firing. Click a surviving wingmate to take command.

Orbital battery

Four-player skirmishes have a two-gun outpost behind a single armor ring. The full arena has a twelve-gun fortress behind five rings. Concentrate fire on one facing to open a breach. The fortress can transfer command between three bridges. Destroy every bridge, disable every reactor, or silence every gun port to open the capture zone. Keep more ships inside than any rival for three consecutive turns to replace a destroyed ship. A tie resets capture. Each slot has one reserve.

Asteroids

Grey contacts on the radar mark solid rock. Asteroids stop rounds and beams, and a direct collision sheds speed. Use them for cover. Your white course arrow previews contact and dashed gun lanes end at the rock face.

Closing ring

The safe circle starts shrinking on turn 22 in a four-player skirmish and turn 14 in the full arena, then stops at 2.5 fortress radii, pushing survivors into the station's gun range. Ships outside it take component damage each turn. Use Center to inspect the starbase or capture zone, or Full arena to see the boundary.

Spectate

Select Skirmish or Full arena, then choose Spectate AI to watch four or 24 AI squadrons. Watch another AI battle repeats the same arena. To watch friends, enter their room code and choose Watch. Select a squadron, then a ship to follow; drag to pan or use Full arena to pull back.

Hold the field

Empty magazines and disabled launchers leave a ship on the field. You can still maneuver, hold the zone, or eject. The last squadron with a ship on the field wins. If everyone ejects or is destroyed, the match is a draw.

Audio mix

Hear nearby weapons and damage. Only your wingmates speak on squadron radio.

Audio starts when you choose Audio on. Spectating plays effects only.