The Setup:

When you first begin attacking capital ships, you will need to pay attention to this phase as it is what will determine the feasibility and success of the actual attack run. The purpose of the setup is to allow you to assess your situation, and position yourself for an attack run. This phase is where you allow yourself to put the situation under your control. It is imperative that you dictate the flow of combat at all times as you are the underdog in these confrontations.

The setup phase has several stages of execution - analysis, testing, and positioning. Generally, you will only test on your initial close-in strafing run.

In analysis, you will gather information on your target ship and your surroundings, primarily the presence of any other hostile forces which would affect your attack. You need to know if your target ship is moving, and if so, at what speed. If the target is moving, it will affect how you execute the attack, break, and retreat phases of the attack. This is achieved by flying out of range from the target’s defensive systems and having your flight computer match the speed of the target. This may be done by pressing [Enter] on the keyboard. In addition to the target's speed, you also need to be aware of the target's orientation and if it is likely to change. Capital ships generally will not change their orientation unless following a flight path or moving to engage a particular target. It is important that you be aware of its orientation relative to you, as this affects its defensive position against you. It may expose more defensive positions to you, or, most common, put you in the firing plane of its defensive emplacements. When gathering information on your surroundings, this includes, but is not limited to other capital ships, defensive fortifications, and enemy fire that may hit your warheads.

In testing, you will gather information on its defenses as to allow you to select the approach vector which will expose you the least to defensive fire. Testing is executed by flying just in the range of the defensive emplacements such that they open fire on you, but you are not at a risk of being hit. Testing will generally be done prior to the initial strafing run. You will need to orbit the enemy vessel to allow you to test its defenses on all three(3) primary planes of dimension. You may need to orbit multiple times to allow yourself to get complete information on the target vessel. As you gain experience with each type of capital ship, you may find that you do not need to test its defenses as you are already aware of the aproach you need to take in the attack.

The final stage of execution for the setup phase is the positioning stage. This leads directly into the attack phase. In positioning yourself, you are aligning yourself for your attack run. When positioning yourself, you may initially find yourself "drifting" too close to the target. Do not hesitate to fly back out to allow you to position yourself. It is imperative that you enter from a "clean" position. A clean position is defined as one where you are settled in and are not in doubt as to your position. You're "settled in", on target, and ready to go. When you position yourself, do so that you are comfortable with the incoming fire you will encounter. Some people will find that they are more comfortable having the lasers pass under them, others, above. You may need to roll your craft as to allow the lasers to pass as you are comfortable with and yet allow you to break off by pulling back or pushing forward, whichever is most comfortable to you.

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