XWA tips
This guide is to help you be the best you can be. There is no substitute for practice, but maybe there is some concepts in this that you have been overlooking. These are a few basic tips that don't take much to do, but will improve your game by allot.
I encourage everybody to read all the tips that you can. Check out the tips section at battlestats that has a few good tips. Find it at: http://www.battlestats.com/games/xwa/?tips. And you can allways go browse another squadron's academy to get their experience.
Remember, reading tips is only one way to improve your game, you must practice in order to really improve your skills. You may know all the details of how to "Tie the Knot", but you won't have the timing perspective needed to pull it off. Practice has it's rewards in FTS as well. If you report your practice runs on the Results Board you can accumulate TG towards your next promotion.
Starting melee settings:
| 0 Power to shields | * |
It is usless to preserve something you will lose so fast. Plus more power to the engines encreases manuverability |
| [ . ] | * |
Removes Cockpit: gets rid of lag, and gives you a better field of vision |
| [ x ] | * |
Link weapons: make your hits count when you make them |
| [ z ] | * |
Take off laser convergence: Optional and only works on some craft, but it will give your lasers a larger spread. It is also handy in close quarters in craft like X-wings so you can pull of shots when the person isn't even in your screen |
| Full throttle | * |
You will be harder to hit if you are moving fast |
On Approach:
| Fully charged Lasers deal more damage and shoot further, so you may want to recharge them before you head into an approach. |
| Set shields full forward in 1v1 (rebalance them after you pass each other) |
| Don't fly straight at your opponent when your seperation distance is smaller than 2km. |
If you are a good turn pilot, you will want to avoid crossing the line of fire (the line directly between you and your opponents ship) to often. Just fly randomly around in big turns, Quick Turns and rudders. Avoid making a series of short turns, because you will just stay in the same spot and wobble, making yourself a very easy target.
If you would prefer to avoid turning, you should fly an X-pattern or an figure 8. Crossing the LoF as much as possible, but not heading straight at your opponent. Practice this in the simulator to time your shots right, you don't want to spend any time in the LoF that isn't neccessary.
Turning power settings:
| 1/3 throttle | max manuverability |
| 0 power to lasers | max manuverability |
If you are losing the turning battle you can do 1 of 3 things:
| 1) Tie the Knot (TTK) |
| * | go to full throttle and roll away from the turn |
| * | when you are .5 km away turn around and quickly blast your opponent |
| * | Watch your HUD. If you see your opponent facing at you you should cut laser power and break immediatly. |
You can also TTK if you lose laser power. Just maintain the loop untill you regain power.
| 2) Rudder |
| * | Apply a little ruder in the opposite direction of your turn |
| * | this should be done quickly with the [1] or [3] keys on your num pad |
| * | only works when the turn is on an angle |
| * | using the rudder slows you down, so pull this off very quickly |
| 3) Fly past them |
| * | Don't try this if you have allready started the turn |
| * | Remain at full throttle and shoot past them then turn around at 1/3 |
| * | this is dangerous, but will probably work well against an opponent that loves turns |
Speed, Throttle and Acceleration
Speed is the actual velocity that your ship is traveling at. It is independant somewhat of throttle. When you change your throttle settings, your acceleration will kick in and alter your speed gradually. Your manuverability is at a maximum when your throttle is at 1/3, not necesarily when your speed is at 1/3. Using this concept you can pull something off called a Quick Turn.
| Quick Turn |
| * | Works well when traveling at Full Speed on the approach |
| * | Drop your throttle to 1/3 |
| * | Quickly turn and push the throttle back to full |
| * | You will have changed direction quickly without sacrificing your speed. |
| * | Use these Sparingly or you will lose allot of speed |
LAG
Ok, you shoot your enemy and their ship lights up with fire, but the HUD says they are still at 100%. What happened? Lag happened. The modems were not sending data fast enough, and the ship you just shot was an after-image or ghost. Here are a few tips to deal with lag:
Fire ahead of the ship:
Watch your HUD and see which direction the ship is headed. Fire in that direction. Aim at the front of the ship rather than the back.
5/5 Hosting
In a 1v1 match the host will suffer ALLOT worse from lag. To even up the game hosts will usually switch after 5 minutes. Here are a few ideas to use the "Host is Toast" situation to your advantage:
| * |
Be Defensive: Try to get in a nice big turn |
| * |
Avoid cutting accross the LOF frequently |
| * |
Be Offensive: Avoid endless turns. By breaking you may lose a life, but with the time you save you may pick up 3 or 4 kills |
| * |
Feel free to cross the LOF: if there a lag death when you get close it will usually be the host |
The Chase
This is usually happens in games with fast, manuverable ships like A-wings or T-wings. The chase is when one pilot is within 1 or 2 km but is "running away". The pilot isn't really runing usually, they are just trying to shake the person on their tale. If you actually turn around and run away from a match it is considered dishonourable, so don't do that. The best times to start a chase are either when you are the host of a 1v1 game, or when you are losing a turn battle. Here are a few ideas to help you with a chase.
| * |
Try to look for patterns in your targets flight. |
| * |
Start with linked weapons, but don't hesitate to switch to single fire. Most of the time the runner is at low health and one shot will do |
| * |
If using linked weapons you may want to hit [z] to turn off laser convergence. It will give your lasers a bigger range, and linked lasers are of little use in a chase. |
| * |
Put all energy to your engines. Your lasers are of little use at this point, and your shield energy should be diverted to the engines anyways. |
| * |
Fly at random. Don't let the Chaser predict where you are going |
| * |
Use Quick Turns when needed, but not too frequently or the Chaser will just lock you up in another Big loop. |
| * |
Put whatever shields you have fully aft. Most of the Chasers shots will hit you there especially with lag. |
| * |
Run if your losing a turn and you aren't confident in the Turn Breaking procedures talked about earlier. |
| * |
Run if your laser systems are broken. If you pump all energy to your engines, the chaser will have to dump their energy as well. When your lasers come back online you will have the same amount of charge in them as when they died, however your opponent will have lost some. |
| * |
When you are hosting and you want the time to run down but you aren't confident in your turning skills |
| * |
When you get about about 2k away you are no longer running a proper chase. Turn around and try to survive the approach. Avoid the LoF |
| * |
If Chasing is not getting you anywhere cut back to 1/3 throttle and stop firing. You will create a stand-off and your opponent will be forced to turn around or they will be playing a bad game. |
| * |
When systems that went down have regained function, pull a Quick Turn and blast your Chaser |
2on2 Tactics
Know your role -> read the NRN document on 2v2 tactics and determine the best role for you. You can find the document in their academy
Send/Take orders -> the worst thing you can do in a 2on2 game is to be on the same target while circling. Your opponents partner will be able to pick you off, or you could easily collide with each other.
Fly back to your partner if you are too far away for them to help you out and you are outnumbered. When flying to your partner, assign him a target (shift-A) and stay locked on that target. If the target trys to see who is attacking them they will get you on their HUD because you are closer. Also try not to fly directly into the path of you wingman, just in the general direction.
Only fire when you have a good shot. You do not want to harm your wingman by accident.
FFA
Try to pick off targets without locking on to them, they won't get any warning that you have them in your sites. This works well in 2on2 as well. A ship that isn't targeted in the HUD won't get any warning about incoming shots.
Fire repeatedly when you are in a turn, you may pick off the other players while chasing your target.
