Guides

New players should start with How to play and the beginner’s guide. The guides below go deeper.

Where to start

Each guide answers one question and is written from the numbers the game itself uses, so the stats, prices and cooldowns match what you see in the hangar. If you have just finished First Light, read the best ships for beginners before you spend your first credits, then squad command: your six squads do most of the fighting, and giving them the right duty wins more battles than any upgrade.

Stuck on a mission? The boss guide covers all nine bosses phase by phase, and difficulty and Threat levels explains what each of the six difficulty steps changes. When you start collecting gear, mods, catalysts and crafting and doctrines and play styles show how to turn drops into a build. The guides are updated with the game; the patch notes list what changed.

All guides

• The best ships for beginnersWhich warship to buy first, and which ones suit your style.
• Squad command: duties, formations and crewsSix squads, six duties, eight formations and fourteen crews explained.
• How to beat every bossAll 9 bosses: what they do, and how to bring them down.
• Mods, catalysts and craftingTiers, every mod, catalysts and the fabricator.
• Meridian Station guideStation builds in any order, the power priority, the beacon and raids, and the trophy hall.
• Ship upgrades explainedThe five upgrade tracks and what each level changes on the hull.
• Battlefields and hazardsThe six battlefields of the campaign and how to use their hazards.
• Difficulty and Threat levelsSix difficulties and ten Threat levels for players who want more.
• Doctrines and play stylesSix doctrines, five play styles built around unique mods, and the best pairings.