This page covers the controls and what happens in a battle. Everything here can also be practised in the first campaign mission, First Light, which is a guided tutorial.
Flying your capital ship
You pilot one capital ship, your flagship. Fly with W A S D or the arrow keys, aim with the mouse and hold the left button to fire the main gun. Space, Shift or the right mouse button boosts you forward; during a boost you cannot be hurt, so a well-timed boost dodges a heavy shot. Capital ships are big and turn slowly, so think a little ahead.
Your hull is the health bar that matters: if your flagship is destroyed, the mission fails. Shields soak damage first and recharge when you are out of fire.
Abilities, the Surge and the jump drive
- Abilities (1–4 or Q E R F): every ship has four. They cost energy and have a cooldown. Slot 4 is the ship’s ultimate power, its biggest move.
- Fracture Surge (Z or 5): kills fill your resolve meter. When it is full, the Surge slows the enemy and powers up your guns for a few seconds.
- Hyperspace jump (J): jump to the cursor; escorts close to you jump with you and the arrival sends out a shockwave. M or a click on the minimap opens the jump map so you can pick an exit anywhere.
Commanding your squads
Up to six squads of fighters, bombers and gunships fly with you. Each has a duty: escort (stay with you), attack (go after a target), defend (guard something), hold (stay where they are), intercept (chase enemy small craft) or objective (do what the mission needs).
- G sends every squad at the target under your cursor; C or H calls them all back to escort or hold.
- Tab opens command mode: time slows almost to a stop. Pick squads with 1–6 (0 for all), choose a duty (E escort, T attack, F defend, H hold, I intercept, O objective) and click a target.
- B cycles the formation and N uses the formation’s own skill. K fires every ready crew skill at once.
Other keys
| X | Cycle which part of an enemy capital you aim at: engines, weapons or reactor |
|---|---|
| V, mouse wheel | Camera view and zoom |
| Esc, P | Pause |
Gamepad and touch
With a gamepad, the sticks fly and aim, the right trigger fires, A boosts and X, Y, B and RB are the abilities. The View button opens command mode. On a phone or tablet the game shows on-screen controls: drag to fly, tap the ability buttons, and use JUMP to open the jump map.
Winning a battle
Every mission has one objective, shown at the top of the screen: destroy the enemy fleet, keep a station alive, get a convoy to the gate, reach a jump gate, or kill a boss. Side quests sometimes appear during a battle and pay extra if you finish them. After the battle you get credits, experience, reactor cores, materials and sometimes mods or relics.
