EVE: Valkyrie Guide



EVE: Valkyrie is a VR space dogfighting game with a cockpit perspective that takes place in the same universe as EVE:Online and EVE:Gunjack. Although there are some single player modes, online multiplayer is where this game shines.

Flight Controls

Left Stick: Yaw/Pitch

Right Stick: Roll (Cancel missile lock when pressed)

Left/Right Shoulder Buttons: Roll

Right Trigger: Fires primary weapon

Left Trigger: Fires secondary weapon (Missile lock/Buff beam lock) or Micro Warp Drive

D pad up: Place drone when near a control point

X: Activates equipment

Y: Selects a target

A: Increase speed

B: Decrease speed

Head tracking: All ships have a head tracked weapon of some sort. Missiles require lock-on while holding the appropriate trigger, while dumb-fire weapons such as the flak cannon fire where you are looking.

Equipment

ECM Equipment is activated by pressing the X button and possesses anti-missile effects.

Countermeasure

Anti-missile: Constant effect while active

Additional effect: none

Notes: The basic countermeasure fires chaff to the left and right sides of the ship and confuse missiles to the point where they self-destruct. This appears to be the only anti-missile equipment that works on missiles targeting nearby teammates.

EMS

Anti-missile: Constant effect while active

Additional effect: Cannot fire missiles while active. Primary weapons have a chance to give EMP status to enemy ships for a limited time. EMP status locks the ship in place, disables shields, weapons and countermeasures.

Notes: Use the EMS early in engagements in order to have a chance at removing the target's shields quickly and get an edge on any 'damage race.' This is particularly important when fighting heavies, which have a strong shields that can be removed in an instant by a lucky EMS shot.

EMP Mine

Anti-missile: Breaks missile lock on missiles active when activated

Additional effect: Leaves behind an EMP Mine that is proximity triggered by enemy ships. After charging for a moment it explodes, doing no damage but giving EMP status to any enemy ships in range.

Notes: The EMP Mine can be dropped in front of other ships flying too close behind you or in tight quarters inside structures where they are difficult to avoid. EMP mines allow for a maximum of three mines to be active at once. Placing a fourth mine while there are three mines active will cause the oldest mine to self-destruct.

Mine

Anti-missile: Breaks missile lock on missiles active when activated

Additional effect: Leaves behind a Mine that is proximity triggered by enemy ships. Explodes instantly, doing significant damage.

Notes: Useful in the same locations as the EMP Mine, except it does not take time to charge before detonating. This makes it even more effective against targets that are chasing you. Mines allow for a maximum of three mines to be active at once. Placing a fourth mine while there are three mines active will cause the oldest mine to self-destruct.

Spiderbots

Anti-missile: Breaks missile lock on missiles active when activated

Additional effect: Leaves behind a cloud of spider-like robots that appears red to enemy ships and blue to self and allies. On touch, the spiderbots trigger an animation on the ship that triggered the spiderbots and either damages or restores partial shield strength depending on whether it was placed by a foe or ally/self.

Notes: While they can be used as an anti-missile measure, it is useful to keep out as many sets of spiderbots as possible for self-healing purposes. Spiderbots allow for a maximum of three spiderbots to be active at once. Placing a fourth spiderbot cloud while there are three mines active will cause the oldest mine to self-destruct.

Weapons

Gatling Guns

Very rapid rate of fire forward shooting weapons that have very low damage per shot. Sustained fire is effective against both shields and hulls of enemy ships, making it very effective against Heavies that have both large armor and shield strength.

Auto Cannons

Forward shooting weapons with a slower rate of fire than the Gatling Guns but with a higher damage per shot. Cannot sustain fire as long as the Gatling Guns without rate of fire slowing down. More effective on hulls than shields. Auto cannons have a somewhat lower projectile velocity than the gatling guns.

Pulse Cannons

Forward shooting weapons with a slower rate of fire than the Gatling Guns that do great damage per shot against shields but significantly less damage against hulls.

Pulse Lasers

High velocity shots that do moderate damage and have a low rate of fire. These work particularly well against enemy fighters at mid-range. Use the Y button to highlight a target before firing; this allows for a mild aim assist to take place. The aim assist only works in the inner circle that is visible once you score a hit. Here is a screenshot demonstrating the Aim Assist Circle.

Magcannons

Forward shooting weapons that have partial aim assist and homing ability. Magcannons have low damage per shot but are capable of firing in bursts. The homing ability is quite significant, making for easy damage. Overall damage and ease of use is comparable to the phaser if simply firing in bursts. However, it is possible to prolong the burst by tapping the R trigger. The optimum rate of tapping is the trigger is displayed in the following video.

Flak Cannons

Come in forward firing and head tracked varieties. Both have proximity fuses and detonate with area of effect damage. Relatively low projectile speed, but effective against both armor and shields. Flak shells fire from alternating sides of the ship unless firing with head tracking to the extreme edges of the cockpit view. When this occurs, overall rate of fire is cut in half because only one of the cannons can fire. Flak Cannons have a large lead indicator, but often one needs to shoot further ahead than it, as shown in this picture.

Tri-Flak Cannons

A higher damage version of the Flak Cannons, available only as head tracked weapons on heavy ships. They work the same as regular Flak Cannons.

Phasers

Medium range weapons with a charge-up time, cool down time and very effective aim assist. Overall low damage per second. Effective against shields and hulls. Phasers act as the Support ships' rough equivalent of the Magcannon. Phasers can be blindingly bright to enemy players who have graphical settings set to Ultra.

Missiles

Head tracked weapons that very in performance depending on the ship using them. There is no difference in-game between the naming of different types of missiles. Low velocity missiles are good for harassing enemy pilots, while the higher velocity missiles are more for dealing damage to ships directly in front of your ship. If targeting an enemy at point blank range you need to specifically target the enemy cockpit for it to register the lock-on.

Missile Pods

Special weapon of the Phantom, capable of fire and forget and head tracked fire. Since both sets of missile pods reload and fire independently, the following pattern is useful: Lock on to an enemy, then tap the right trigger to launch a single fire and forget missile. If it does not immediately explode there are no enemy countermeasures active, so fire the rest of the fire and forget as well as the head tracked missiles. Several seconds later the next fire and forget salvo will be ready and should be enough to finish off a non-heavy ship. If the first missile immediately exploded, wait several seconds before trying again.

Mortars

Special weapon of the Maelstrom, the Mortar has slow velocity and very low rate of fire but potentially does extreme damage if a direct hit occurs. The Mortar has proximity detonation and creates a large cluster of secondary explosions, doing widespread area of effect damage. Total damage done per shot varies depending on how many secondary explosions hit a target. Mortar shells do not fire at the center of the aiming cursor; instead they fire at the lower surface of the sideways 'V' on either side. This makes it important to remember which side is going to fire next to maintain optimum accuracy. The shells fire from alternating sides unless firing at the extreme edges of your cockpit view. Maximum rate of fire is about one shell per 2 seconds, but this increases to over 4 seconds if only firing from one side.

Ships

There are three classes of ships, the Fighters, Heavies and Support. The first Heavy and Support are ships are unlocked by playing as fighters. Subsequent Heavy and Support ships are unlocked by earning EXP with any unlocked ship in their respective category.

Fighters

The fighters are the basic ships designed to be relatively easy to use and are the starting class.

Wraith



Maximum stats: Firepower: 2/10 Armour: 3/10 Shield: 2/10 Speed: 10/10

Equipment: Gatling guns, Head Tracked Missiles, Countermeasures

Upgrades: Shield Upgrade, Armor Upgrade, Energy Upgrade

Notes: The Wraith serves as the introductory multiplayer ship. This basic fighter is an well rounded ship with good durability, speed and firepower. It can fire its primary weapon for prolonged periods before overheating, making it very effective in targeting enemy Heavies. Prolonged fire is required to do significant damage, so the more maneuverable Fighter and Support ships are harder to destroy. In team play, the Wraith is capable of targeting any enemy but does best maneuvering behind Heavies and destroying them with prolonged primary weapon fire and a missile barrage. Missiles from the Wraith can course correct over 180 degrees.

Dominator



Maximum stats: Firepower: 7/10 Armour: 2/10 Shield: 2/10 Speed: 8/10

Equipment: Auto Cannons, Head Tracked Missiles, Countermeasures

Upgrades: Speed Upgrade, Shield Upgrade, Shield Damage Upgrade

Notes: The Dominator is another well rounded ship whose guns are less rapid fire than those of the Wraith and have somewhat slower velocity but do more damage per shot, giving an overall increase in potential damage over time. The more powerful shots allow for doing better damage to enemy ships during flybys when you only have time to get a few shots in. In team play, this ship plays an offensive role against any type of ship.

Accord



Maximum stats: Firepower: 7/10 Armour: 2/10 Shield: 2/10 Speed: 8/10

Equipment: Pulse cannnons, Head Tracked Missiles, Countermeasures

Upgrades: Shield Damage Upgrade, Armor Upgrade, Speed Upgrade

Notes: The Accord is considered an agile ship that excels in damaging enemy shields but is not so good at inflicting armor damage. It is recommended to use the pulse cannons to rapidly destroy enemy shields and then follow up with a missile barrage and continued primary weapon fire once the shields are down Do not fire missiles early in an encounter, as their shield damage is inferior to that of the Pulse Cannons and they take significant time to reload, making them unavailable when you need them most. In team play one can destroy the shields off of one target and then switch to another, letting teammates finish off the weakened opponents.

Assuage



Maximum stats: Firepower: 6/10 Armour: 2/10 Shield: 2/10 Speed: 7/10

Equipment: Auto Cannons, Head Tracked Missiles, EMS

Upgrades: EMS Cooldown Upgrade, EMS Duration Upgrade

Notes: The Assuage combines a rapid fire primary weapon with an EMS. The primary weapons do very little shield damage but good hull damage. This ship is well suited for countering heavies. Activate the EMS early in the engagement to have a chance of EMP stunning the enemy craft and instantly destroying the shield, then follow up with continued primary weapon fire and missile barrage. Use evasive maneuvering to counter missiles rather than the EMS so that you can always have it ready to focus on applying EMP to enemies when you are lined up correctly.

Aegis

Maximum stats: Firepower: 7/10 Armour: 2/10 Shield: 2/10 Speed: 7/10

Equipment: Flak Cannons, Head Tracked Missiles, Countermeasure

Upgrades: Hull Damage Upgrade, Flak Accuracy Upgrade

Notes: The Aegis is the only non-Heavy with a flak cannon. This weapon fires forward, but each shot has a proximity trigger and area of effect damage. This makes the ship easy to use, at it does not require precise aim. However, some pilots refuse to use it as one does not get used to lining up shots in a precise manner when using it.

Ascent

Maximum stats: Firepower: 5/10 Armour: 1/10 Shield: 2/10 Speed: 10/10

Equipment: Pulse Lasers, Head Tracked Missiles, Countermeasures

Upgrades: Hull Damage Upgrade, Rate of Fire Upgrade

Notes: The Ascent is the sharpshooter of the Fighter class. It's primary weapon is well suited to pit it against other Fighters as well as Support, but it does poorly against Heavy ships. With its rate of fire upgrade the Ascent fires about once per second. These shots have very high velocity and are very accurate, doing significant damage each. This weapon can overheat to the point where it completely stops firing, but this can be overcome by tapping the right trigger instead of holding it to fire continuously. In team play, the Ascent is best used to counter enemy Support ships at mid-range and any Fighters that harass your Heavies. Leave enemy Heavies to ships with a better rate of fire.

Spur

Maximum stats: Firepower: 2/10 Armour: 2/10 Shield: 2/10 Speed: 7/10

Equipment: Magcannon, Micro Warp Drive, Countermeasure

Upgrades: MWD Duration Upgrade, MWD Cooldown Upgrade.

Note: High speed craft with a seeking primary weapon and a Micro Warp Drive. This ship has very low damage output but unsurpassed speed. It is used to race between objectives and rapidly destroy enemy drones. On the Forge map, the duration upgrade the Spur can let you travel from one carrier to the other in a single warp maneuver. The cooldown upgrade reduces the wait from 9 seconds to 6 seconds between the end of one warp and the beginning of charging for the next warp. The primary weapon is weak but can easily hit evasive opponents with a sliver of health left as well as drones. The magcannon fires in bursts, then quickly overheats. Release the trigger to let the weapon cool, count to 3, then resume fire if needed.

Displacer

Maximum stats: Firepower: 2/10 Armour: 1/10 Shield: 2/10 Speed: 10/10

Equipment: Magcannon, Buff Beam, Countermeasure

Upgrades: Buff Beam Healing Upgrade, Buff Beam Range Upgrade

Notes: Minimal firepower, but incorporates a Buff Beam with a substantial upgrade to its healing rate. This allows for healing targets without having the support ship shields that take prolonged periods to recover. Note that Countermeasure can protect weakened nearby allied ships from incoming missile fire. The Displacer's buff beam does not damage enemy shields much, unfortunately. The magcannon bursts seem to do a little more damage than a phaser would and can hit enemies not directly in front of your ship.

Sentry

Maximum Stats: Firepower: 6/10 Armour: 1/10 Shield: 2/10 Speed: 10/10

Equipment: Pulse Cannon, Head Tracked Missiles, Mines

Upgrades: Mine Damage Upgrade, Mine Cooldown Upgrade

Notes: Anti-shield fighter that incorporates rapidly deployable mines. Unfortunately, it lacks the speed of the Accord. The quick mine cooldown can be used to counter multiple missile barrages in relatively rapid succession.

Heavy

The heavy ships are slow-moving but pack a punch. They typically have either strong shields and/or armor plating. This is the second class unlocked.

Spectre



Maximum stats: Firepower: 3/10 Armour: 7/10 Shield: 7/10 Speed: 5/10

Equipment: Head Tracked Flak Cannon, Microwarp Drive, EMS

Upgrades: Armor Upgrade, Shield Upgrade

Notes: The Spectre is the base form of the Heavies. It possesses both hull and shield defense along with an EMS. Its weapon utilizes a head tracked reticule and fires proximity detonating projectiles that have area-of-effect damage. It is capable of damaging both allies and enemies. Accuracy decreases if the weapon is fired continuously, but this mechanic can be mitigated by tapping the right trigger instead of holding it down to fire continuously. Projectiles can be fired from either side of the ship, but if the reticule is too far to the left or right then only the weapon on that side will fire. This greatly decreases your effective rate of fire, so keeping enemies near midline is important. Use your EMS when facing a missile bombardment or early in engagements with enemy Heavies to instantly destroy their shields.

Rhino



Maximum stats: Firepower: 6/10 Armour: 8/10 Shield: 4/10 Speed: 5/10

Equipment: Head Tracked Tri Flak, Microwarp Drive, Countermeasures

Upgrades: Armor Damage Upgrade, Shield Damage Increase, Rate of fire Increase

Notes: Possessing a stronger version of the flak cannon, it trades shield strength and EMS for increased firepower. Typically, the micro warp drive is used to move into position among enemy fighters and relies on its superior sustainable damage per second to destroy them. When teamed up with a support unit to help keep it alive the Rhino can produce very high kill counts. The Rhino is considered to be the optimum Heavy to use for grinding EXP for the Heavy tree.

Goliath



Maximum stats: Firepower: 8/10 Armour: 8/10 Shield: 4/10 Speed: 5/10

Equipment: Head Tracked Missiles, Microwarp Drive, Spiderbots

Upgrades: Armor Damage Upgrade, Rate of Fire Upgrade

Notes: Capable of firing a salvo of up to 7 missiles at once, the Goliath can bring most ships to a splinter of health almost instantly. Unlike the Spectre and Rhino, the Goliath is best uses as part of a team effort, destroying enemies from a distance that have already had their shields stripped by other teammates. In this scenario, the microwarp drive is used to keep distance from enemy units rather than to move into range among them.

Cyclone



Maximum stats: Firepower: 6/10 Armour: 4/10 Shield: 8/10 Speed: 5/10

Equipment: Head Tracked Tri Flak, Microwarp Drive, EMS

Upgrades: EMS Damage Upgrade, EMS Cooldown Upgrade, EMS Duration Upgrade

Notes: The Cyclone is essentially a Spectre that trades hull strength for better firepower and a more frequently usable EMS. The average time to target and kill an enemy and the cooldown time are comparable in this craft, allowing pilots to activate the EMS at the beginning of practically every encounter. In multiplayer, this is particulary useful to counter enemy Rhinos by taking out their shields early and reducing their availabe time to fire at you.

Storm



Maximum stats: Firepower: 4/10 Armour: 4/10 Shield: 8/10 Speed: 5/10

Equipment: Head Tracked Laser Gatling Cannon, Microwarp Drive, EMS

Upgrades: Weapon Overheat Upgrade, Weapon Spread Upgrade

Notes: As the sharpshooter among the Heavies, the Storm fires very high velocity bolts of energy that do decent damage and have high accuracy. However, they do not have the area of effect of the Flak and Tri-Flak.

Gorgon

Maximum stats: Firepower: 8/10 Armour: 8/10 Shield: 4/10 Speed: 5/10

Equipment: Head Tracked Missiles, Microwarp Drive, Spiderbots

Upgrades: Armor Damage Upgrade, Rate of Fire Upgrade

Notes: The Gorgon is the second Heavy missile ship. It locks on faster than the Goliath and its full salvo does the same damage but has a smaller maximum number of missile locks at a time. In general, it is used the same way as the Goliath. Having the same offense across a smaller number of warheads makes this ship somewhat easier to use.

Maelstrom

Maximum stats: Firepower: 7/10 Armour: 4/10 Shield: 8/10 Speed: 5/10

Equipment: Mortar, Microwarp Drive, EMS

Upgrades: Cluster Damage Radius Upgrade, Cluster per Shot Upgrade

Notes: The Maelstrom is the only ship to fire mortars capable of a small amount of area of effect damage or a large amount of damage if you manage to hit a ship directly with the projectile. Note that this large damage condition is applied inconsistently and may be lag dependent. This ship works well in survival mode for being able to destroy any ship with relative ease and speed, furthered by that mode's lack of lag.

Support

Agile ships with strong shields and weak armor, almost all support ships have a head-tracked Buff Beam that restores ally armor/shields or drains enemy shields. This is the third class unlocked.

Banshee



Maximum stats: Firepower: 4/10 Armour: 2/10 Shield: 4/10 Speed: 10/10

Equipment: Phaser, Head Tracked Buff beam, Spiderbots

Upgrades: Armor Upgrade, Shield Upgrade

Notes: The starting support ship uses a phaser, which has a significant degree of auto-aim and a long range. It has a charge time before it can be fired as well as an overall low rate of fire, yielding an overall low damage per second. While firing, it does continuous damage to the enemy ship. It is useful for finishing off enemy ships that only have a small amount of armor left or quickly destroying enemy drones. The buff beam can deplete enemy shields but cannot harm the armor. When used on allies, the buff beam restores armor and then shields. The buff beam can generate a significant amount of EXP when used to heal allies. Spiderbots can be deployed to counteract missile lock-on. When an enemy ship hits a cloud of spiderbots its shields are slowly depleted. When an ally enters it's shield will be partially restored. When using your own spiderbots to self-heal you must exit the cloud completely before reentering or they will not take effect on you.

Guardian



Maximum stats: Firepower: 2/10 Armour: 1/10 Shield: 3/10 Speed: 6/10

Equipment: Gatling Guns, Head Tracked Buff beam, Countermeasures

Upgrades: Buff Beam Range Upgrade, Buff Beam Heal Upgrade, Buff Beam Damage Upgrade

Notes: The Guardian replaces the phaser with a pair of gatling guns similar to those on the Wraith. This allows for more sustainable armor damage than the phaser is capable of. However, it is typically better to use the superior range of this ship's upgraded buff beam to strip enemy shields and heal allies from a distance rather than get close enough to effectively use the gatling guns.

Warden



Maximum stats: Firepower: 6/10 Armour: 1/10 Shield: 3/10 Speed: 6/10

Equipment: Pulse Cannon, Head Tracked Buff beam, Countermeasures

Upgrades: Buff Beam Damage Upgrade, Pulse Cannon Shield Damage Upgrade

Notes: This support ship specializes in stripping the shields from enemy units quickly in addition to its healing role.

Sentinel



Maximum stats: Firepower: 4/10 Armour: 1/10 Shield: 3/10 Speed: 6/10

Equipment: Phaser, Head Tracked Buff beam, Countermeasures

Upgrades: Buff Beam Damage Upgrade, Buff Beam Range Upgrade

Notes: The phaser combined with with long-range damage upgraded buff beam allow you to easily destroy enemy shields from a distance in addition to performing the typical healing duties.

Revenant



Maximum stats: Firepower: 2/10 Armour: 1/10 Shield: 3/10 Speed: 6/10

Equipment: Gatling Guns, Head Tracked Buff beam, Mines

Upgrades: Mine Cooldown Upgrade, Shield Upgrade, Mine Damage Increase

Notes: This support ship drops mines that do significant proximity damage. Up to three mines can be deployed at a given time. Area of effect damage from a triggered mine can damage yourself and allied pilots.

Siren



Maximum stats: Firepower: 5/10 Armour: 1/10 Shield 3/10 Speed: 6/10

Equipment: Phaser, Head Tracked Missiles, Mines

Upgrades: Missile Salvo, Hull Damage Upgrade

Notes: The first support ship that has no buff beam, the Siren features an upgraded phaser along with mines and more head tracked missiles than a fighter possesses. Essentially it functions as an agile mid-range fighter that is fairly easy to use but requires more time to begin shield recharge than a fighter would.

Phantom



Maximum stats: Firepower: 5/10 Armour 1/10 Shield 2/10 Speed: 6/10

Equipment: Missile Pods, Head Tracked Missile Pods, EMP mines

Upgrades: Missile Salvo Upgrade, Missile Explosion Radius Upgrade

Notes: The second support craft without a buff beam, the Phantom has EMP mines, fire and forget missile pods and head tracked missile pods. Both sets of missiles reload independently, with the head tracked missiles reloading much slower than the fire and forget missiles.

Legendary

Non-upgradable ships without minimum-EXP restrictions for using gold bonds to transfer EXP to different ship types. There is currently only one Legendary ship available to the public. The Founder Pack includes a legendary version of the Wraith.

S-33 Wraith

Maximum stats: Firepower: 6/10 Armour: 5/10 Shield: 3/10 Speed: 6/10

Equipment: Gatling guns, Head Tracked Missiles, ECM Countermeasures

Upgrades: N/A

Notes: Basically, do not use this ship unless you have already unlocked all the other Fighters. It cost Gold Bonds (real money) to transfer EXP from this ship to the Fighter, Heavy or Support trees.

Maps

Shipyard

The shipyard forms a complicated 3D structure with two areas of relatively open space. Viewed from the top down, it forms a box-like figure eight pattern. Heavies can take advantage of the two open areas and easily cover most of the space with flak cannon fire. Fighters and Support ships fare better flying along the side of or within the shipyard structures for better cover from said Heavies. Due to the abundance of cover, hit and run tactics are quite viable on this map. There is a control point near each carrier, with the third point being at a corner of the shipyard structure equally distant from both carriers.

Cathedral

The polar opposite of the Shipyard, the Cathedral is the map with the most open space. As such, hit and run tactics are not as effective here. All three control points are an equal distance from both carriers and line up with each other in the center of the map. The middle control point is in the 'cathedral,' a large structure with passages within it and a complicated shape on the bottom. The two outer control points are alongside smaller structures. These three structures make up the bulk of the cover for this map.

Necropolis

An asymmetric map littered with large and small fragments of destroyed ships. One control point is near each carrier, plus a third that is an equal distance between the two carriers. There is enough scattered debris that it is unwise to use a micro warp drive blindly, as collisions are likely. Several of the larger fragments have holes through them, allowing you to fly through them and use them as cover from enemy fire. Hit an run tactics can be effective on this map.

Forge

An asymmetric map that possesses an empty center, surrounded by asteroids of various sizes and artificial structures. Combat can be close quarters or in open space, depending on where the fights take place. All three control points are an equal distance from both carriers.

Modes

Tutorials

There are a total of four brief tutorials. The first one unlocked is a general tutorial, the completion of which unlocks the Fighter tutorial. Heavy and Support tutorials are unlocked when those classes are unlocked. Unfortunately, they are brief and don't really cover all the game mechanics.

Chronicles

The single player mode which lets you explore the maps and find hidden messages that provide backstory.

Survival

Each multiplayer map has a Novice and Pro Survival mode. Each mode for each map has its own leaderboard that displays score, waves survived and chosen ship class. Simply surviving will not help you score high, as the leaderboard is sorted by score. You spawn in a ship of your choice with only one life and a few hidden spiderbots on the map. Waves of 2-3 enemy ships spawn from the enemy carrier at a time. New waves spawn when the previous ships are destroyed or when a certain amount of time has passed, whichever comes first. These ships are AI controlled, but have lower shield regeneration and lower total health than normal. Support ships are not recommended as there are no teammates to heal and their shield regeneration is delayed, allowing for health damage to accumulate easier. Both heavy and support ships are viable, but positioning is key. Find a spot away from the enemy carrier that has cover and let the bots come to you. Focus on the non-heavy ships first, as the heavies take longer to kill and are more likely to damage you significantly. Cover is important so that you can hide when shield regeneration is needed. Definitely avoid taking health damage as there is no way to restore your hull.

TDM

Team death match is one of the core multiplayer modes. Two teams of 8 ships have a maximum of 30 respawns each, referred to as 'vat points.' First team to reach zero vat points loses. Alternatively, when ten minutes are up the team with the most remaining vat points wins. Depending on the number of players available, some ships will be controlled by AI. Matches with many AI pilots tend to form balls of ships circling each other closely, while player dominated matches tend to be more spaced out. Optimally, a team will have one or two ships with the Buff Beam so that hull damage can be recovered. More than two support ships is typically detrimental, as overall firepower of the team is lowered and two ships are normally enough to keep up with healing. When playing to win (as opposed to EXP grinding) it is advantageous for fighters and heavies to pair up into groups of two so that they can focus fire the same targets, taking them out before they can do much damage to either partner.

Control

A core multiplayer mode in which two teams of 8 ships start with 100 vat points. For each kill, the opposing team's vat points go down. There are three points labeled A, B and C that can be controlled on each map. Gain control of a point by pressing up on the D pad in proximity to a control point to drop a drone. A blue line will connect the drone to the control point, while red lines indicate enemy drones. Destroy enemy drones and place your own to make your enemies vat points drain over time faster than yours. A balance must be struck between spending time destroying enemy ships and placing drones. It is quite possible to lose a match despite having more kills if your team failed to pay attention to the control points. However, be careful not to 'guard' a control point for too long that nobody is contesting or you waste potential kills and EXP.

Medals

Common Medals

First Blood - 50 Obtain the first kill of a multiplayer match.

Double Kill - 30, Triple Kill - 50, Multikill - 100 Land the finishing blow on opponents within a short time of each other.

Ruthless - 50, Massacre - 75, Monster - 100 Kill streaks of 5, 10 and 15 kills within one life.

Kill Joy - 50 Land the finishing blow of a player on a kill streak.

Nemesis Kill - 75, When a player kills you several times in a row he becomes your Nemesis. Land the finishing blow on him!

Team Kill -100 Land the finishing blow against a teammate to lose 100 EXP.

Avenger - 20 Deal the finishing blow to an opponent shortly after he destroyed an ally ship.

Repair - 5 Per tic of healing from buff beam or your spiderbots

TDM Medals

Kill - 100, Assist - 50 Defeat or contribute to the defeat of an enemy ship.

Near Kill - 50 Deal the majority of damage to a target within 10 seconds of its destruction.

Control Medals

Kill - 75, Assist - 35 Defeat or contribute to the defeat of an enemy ship.

Near Kill - 40 Deal the majority of damage to a target within 10 seconds of its destruction.

Drone Destroyed - 10 Destroy an enemy drone.

Capture - 150 divided by the number of drones involved in the capture

Tips and Tricks

General Tips

The unofficial Discord voice channel is http://discord.nullsec.io/

Use of Discord to form squads is highly recommended, as a solo player with a team of bots is likely to fare very poorly against a human squad.

Support and Heavy trees are unlocked by playing as the Fighter class. It does not take a large amount of EXP to unlock them if playing alongside human squadmates.

Players who pre-ordered the Oculus Rift receive the founders pack, which has enough gold currency to purchase a 30 day exp boost that adds 50% exp to each match. It is highly recommended to purchase this to aid in unlocking ships.

There are two bars above enemy ships. The upper bar is the shield, which can regenerate over time as well as via allied buff beam and spiderbots. The lower bar is armor/hull/health and only regenerates when hit by an ally's buff beam.

Press the Y button repeatedly to cycle your cursor through all the visible enemy ships to find one with lowered shield/health and engage it to finish it off before shields regenerate.

Always have the enemy ship you are firing on selected with the Y button. The lead indicator is not very accurate, but is still useful for keeping track of direction changes.

Buff beams are balanced such that healing rate is comparable to most ships sustained damage per second. As such, a ship with a buff beam on it is unlikely to be destroyed by a single ship unless it only has a sliver of health left.

Although the map contains logos, text and carrier ships that are all on the same orientation, do not worry too much about 'up' and 'down.' 3D movement is a must in this game. However, learning where A B and C markers are on a given map can be very helpful for communicating with team mates.

When a Heavy is charging its MWD, there is a blue circle in front of it. This can indicate when a Heavy is trying to escape you. However, bumping the heavy will cancel its warp and prevent it from escaping.

Fighter Tips

Fighters have forward firing primary weapons of varying strengths. Note that ships such as the Accord that do not do good hull damage are not considered ideal for EXP grinding purposes.

The first two fighters are considered the most 'well balanced' by several top players.

When piloting fighters you may keep your head primarily forward as your primary weapons are forward firing.

Missiles can be fired at targets to the side but this is mainly used for harassment. Firing missiles at a target that is directly in front of you maximizes likelihood of hitting.

Heavy Tips

The micro warp drive can be initiated every 10 seconds. Do not forget to use it often to re-position!

The Rhino is considered the best heavy for earning exp as it's enhanced damage and rate of fire allow for rapid and consistent kills.

All heavies except for the Goliath and Gorgon have a penalty to left/right movement. If an enemy is directly behind you, it is advised to flip using up/down movement instead of turning sideways.

Although flak and tri-flak cannons can be fired at targets to the side it is recommended to rotate so that targets remain near center as much as possible so that both the left and right cannons can be uses. Otherwise, the fire rate is cut in half because the cannon on the opposite side cannot fire through your own ship.

Heavies with flak and tri-flak benefit greatly from use of selecting the target with the Y button. Often the lead indicator does not lead far enough, so shoot ahead of it for maximum likelihood of hitting. Keep an eye on where your shots are going relative to the enemy ship and adjust accordingly.

The Goliath and Gorgon are missile-only ships, making them situational support ships rather than primary damage dealers. This makes them less desirable when grinding for EXP or flying solo.

Support Tips

Support ships can gain a great deal of exp per match by healing allied ships. Spending time getting kills is sub-optimal for exp grinding purposes.

It is recommended that squads have 1-2 ships with buff beams. 3+ are typically not needed as one or two are typically enough to keep squadmates alive, and ships with buff beams typically have low damage output.

Heavies work well with support for grinding exp, as the support can get assist points while the heavies rapidly shoot bots.

Keep moving and try to stay out of the center of battle. Support ships have very little armor, but can fire support beams in any direction. Flying circles around battles and firing the buff beam to your side can be very effective for keeping yourself and your teammates alive.

Acknowledgements

Thanks to Wan5 for info in the Sentry.