FAQ

For any suggestion, new questions, corrections, please visit the dedicated thread on the forum. Q&A will be added to this page.

THIS FAQ IS NOT UP TO DATE. WORKS IN PROGRESS.

Using the game interface

If you have questions regarding account management or technical requirements, please check these detailed articles: account management and technical requirements.

Can I change my name?

To change your Name, right click on it in the Hangar and select "Change player name".

Be careful as choosing a new name can only be done once for free. Every subsequent attempt will cost some Galactic Standards!

Any offensive names can lead to ban or having your name edited by a GM.

How do i setup my Xbox controller/joystick?

Support for console controllers and joysticks is enabled. Just go into your Settings to enable them.

How do I map my control keys?

You can map your keys in the 'key binds' option of the menu.

How do I open the squad chat?

First you need to enable "show Chat" by pressing the eye button in the lower right corner of the chat window. You can then switch to squad chat by clicking the squad chat :tab.

In the hangar

Ships

Open the Ship Tree by clicking on the Ships icon in the top menu, by pressing F3, or from the left screen platform tabs where the selected ship will have an arrow pointing to the right.

How do I sell a ship?

Right click the ship in the ship tree then left click the Sell command.

Its sell price will be 25% of its usual buy price. It will be stripped of modules which will land in your warehouse. The ship you sell will always be available for re-purchase at 80% of its original buy price. If you buy it back for 80%, it will be the ship with the same synergy level you previously sold. Also, this ship re-purchased at 80% will have no modules.

If a ship is an elite ship which augments fleet strength, its value will be removed from fleet strength if sold.

How do I select another ship for battle?

You can select a ship by selecting a ship slot on the left side of the Hangar and then selecting a ship from the Ship Tree.

How do I remove a ship from a slot?

You can remove a ship from a slot by selecting the same ship in another slot.

Are premium ships better than normal ships?

Premium ships come with a maxed out synergy upon purchase and as such they are better than the corresponding regular tree ships when brand new, but when maxed out the normal ships are slightly better.

Additionaly, premium ships don't get the faction specific version of their respective Special Weapons.

Steam DLC ships are slightly better then other ships of the same type due to the addition of a passive slot and offering a different missile loadout composition.

What is the ship's Synergy Level?

Synergy is the gradual, extra empowerment of a ship which comes over time by flying it. As you gain ship synergy, there will be indicators in the hangar telling you it is qualified for a level-up. When leveling up a ship, the stats of your ship will increase some, and some ship bonuses will be unlocked. On each ship's wiki page, you will find a table giving the ship's stats for each synergy level.

Maximum synergy levels are :

Ship Rank	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15
Synergy Levels	5	5	6	7	8	8	8	9	9	10	10	10	10	10	10

If I buy a sticker, will I be able to place it on any ship ?

Yes, if you buy a sticker from the sticker shop (accessible via the ship's "Equipment" tab, you will be able to put it on any ship of any tier. There is no limit to how often you can use a particular sticker after having bought it once. You can buy Stickers with GC or Credits.

Can I use the ships of other Factions ?

Yes, once you've reached the required rank in that faction you can buy their respective ships. See below for Faction ranking.

Weapons

What is the best weapon?

This question can't be answered, because it depends a lot on your gameplay.

What's the difference between a laser, a plasma canon and a railgun ?

Those are the three main weapon groups.

Lasers deal thermal damage (or EM with a microwave lens), Plasma deal EM damage (or kinetic with a needle module), Railgun deal kinetic damage (Thermal with antimatter shells).

In general, kinetic damage is most effective against hull, EM damage is most effective against shields and thermal damage offers a balance between the two. Resistances can be tweaked using passive modules tho, so this does not always apply.

Lasers offer the fastest projectile speed, but lowest damage output (exception being the pulse lasers), Kinetic having the second fastest projectile speed with moderate damage and plasma offering the slowest projectile speed at a high damage output.

Why does it seem that lasers are much less effective at dealing damage as a whole than the others?

Lasers have the smallest projectile size, in fact they shoot tiny beams. Hitting shields with them is as easy as with any other weapon but when it comes to damaging the hull itself, the beams need to hit the hull precisely rather then the sphere around it. Shields are about 2 times as big as the ship itself.

When using persistent lasers you need to stick on the target for 100% of the time to reach the optimum damage output. Furthermore all of your beams have to hit. If say only 3 of 4 shot beams hit the enemy ship, you will only get 3/4 of the damage -> Less time on target deals less damage. Pulse and long-range lasers do not fit into the persistent category and as such this does not apply to them.

What are special modules ?

Special Modules or special functions are unique abilities available only on the ships of the respective factions only.

	Interceptors	Fighters	Frigates
	Microwarp engine	Ship overdrive	Disintegrator
	Plasma web	Chameleon	Combat Drones
	Tachyon cocoon	Phase shield	Guided torpedo

What is the name of this sniper weapon ?

It is not a weapon but a special module for the empire frigates. It is called Disintegrator.

When can I get pulse or long range lasers?

Weapons such as long range or pulse lasers as well as their counterparts in other weapon categories are accessible from T2 onward only. Heavy weapons unlock at T3.

Since a wipe has not been done yet in order to remove obsolete items from previous versions of the game, some of these Weapons still exist in lower Tiers. This will be fixed in the near future.

How can I replenish my missiles in a match? How can I fit more than the given maximum number of missiles?

You can't. Maximum number of missiles only increase with ship tiers.

Modules

What is the hierarchy of modules efficiency ?

	Mk I They are unlocked at the first level of the tier (level 1 for T1, level 4 for T2, level 7 for T3, level 10 for T4)
	Mk II Unlocked at the same level, more efficient but more expensive.
	Military or MK 2.5 You find them on the battlefield after wining a battle (loot) (previously called overcharged)
	Mk III (also called Faction) Unlocked at the higher levels of each tier (level 2&3 for T1, level 5&6 for T2, level 8&9 for T3, level 11&12 for T4).
	Premium Same stats as faction items, but you can buy them with GS as soon as you unlock mkI items.
	Experimental Most effective modules. Loot only.

How do I sell my looted items?

Items you loot after a battle can be fit into 3 separate categories.

The white-coloured items are sold automatically and only serve to increase your income.

Overcharged(green) or Experimental(purple) items are automatically put in your warehouse. You can either fit them on ships of the appropriate Tier, or sell them (keep in mind that some of the loot can not be bought for their respective Tier).

You can access your loot by clicking on the "My Items" tab in the Warehouse accessible via the top menu.

I looted a T2 module after a battle but I can't fit it on my ship.

Modules and ships are associated by their tier. Modules of a specific tier can only be fitted on ships of the same tier

Are premium modules better than normal items?

Premium modules have the same stats as the Mk III modules, but they can be bought without reaching the required rank of a faction.

Is there a way to exchange items with other players?

No, there is no such way at the moment.

It may be implemented in the future.

Can you give someone GS or modules ?

See above

How can I remove a module and leave the slot empty ?

Just drag&drop the item out of the slot

Skills (implants)

Do skills apply to all ships?

No, the skills only have an effect on the ships of the same rank or above.

For example, the Jericho factions level 3 Implant 'Neurocontroller SR Mark 2' adds 25 resistance points to the shields of all ships rank 3 and above, but has no effect on ranks 1 or 2. As such a "Hercules 2" of the empire faction would get the bonus while the "Hercules" would not.

Ranking

What is the difference between my Race and Faction?

In short, your pilots's race determines the bonus you get in/after a match, whereas your faction determines which equipment and ships you can buy.

What are the different racial bonuses?

Racial bonuses are the following:

	Empire bonus 5% loyalty bonus 1% damage on main weapon
	Federation bonus 5% income bonus 1% to hull and shield
	Jericho bonus 5% experience bonus 1% to missile damage

Do I have to change my race if I want to level with another race?

No, your race only determines your player's bonus (see above). If you change your faction (via contracts), you will begin ranking up in the race associated with your faction.

How do I change my race?

You can change your race by buying a Forged Id for 300 GS in the warehouse (Office/Licenses)

How does ranking work?

After each battle you get experience, reputation and loyalty. Experience is for your ship's synergy level, Loyalty for your faction's rank, Reputation for your faction's race.

Experience > Synergy level
Reputation > race rank (not your pilot's rank)
Loyalty > faction rank

Why should I change my faction?

By changing your contract faction, you will be able to develop along another branch of faction items. By changing your contract race you can develop along another line of ships.

Can I change my contract faction without loosing my current faction rank ?

Yes. You will have to pay a small fee to change your long-term contract(faction) tho.

How can I change my faction?

You can change your faction in the contracts window. You will have to pay a compensation fee for resigning your long-term contract.

You can only change your faction once you reach at least rank 2.

What does reward bonus(previously development bonus) mean when hovering over a ship in the ship tree?

It is a bonus to the experience you gain after a match.

I can't finish a contract even tho I fulfilled its requirements.

Sometimes a contract asks you to have a ship of a minimal tier: "To fulfill the contract you need T2 ships or higher".

This is the case if an item only unlocks in a higher tier making it impossible to finish it before reaching said tier.

Can I finish a contract of Armada with a Jericho ship?

Unless specified otherwise yes, the ship you use doesn't matter.

Matches

Battle Modes

What's the difference between Arcade and Regular modes?

In Regular you only possess 1 of each ship. In Arcade you have no limit on ship respawns.

What are the different game modes ?

Detonation, Domination and Combat Reconnaissance. More info on the different game modes can be found on the Game Modes page

Matchmaking

Matchmaking mechanisms are quite simple. Your matchmaking level depends on the Tier and rank selected.

To understand the leveling mechanisms, turning on the matchmaking queue graph is a good idea. The command is /set cl_showMmQueueInfo 2

Piloting your ship

What is the difference between the basic and expert pilot modes?

Basic mode allows for full view around ship while lacking fine-tuned control mechanics. The camera will quickly turn to follow your mouse cursor and your ship will rotate towards it as fast as it can. Shooting your guns at extreme angles is easy to do in Basic mode.

Expert mode allows for less view while increasing ship control. The camera will remain behind your ship, looking directly ahead. When you move your mouse to the edges of the screen, the ship will turn. It is more difficult to see and shoot at extreme angles in this mode.

Battle rewards

I want to know how many points I get for which action.

Game type	Action	Points	XP
Combat reconnaissance	Wining the game as captain and staying alive	750
Combat reconnaissance	Killing the enemy captain	600	253-353
Detonation	Arming the EMP bomb	500	0
Domination	Capturing a beacon	300	472-668
Detonation	Killing an enemy holding the EMP bomb	250
Domination	Killing an enemy capturing a Beacon	200
Detonation	Taking the EMP bomb	150	0
All	Killing an enemy	100	87-803
All	Damage assist	80	87-642
All	Debuff assist	60	134-418
All	Buff assist	30	31-255
Scenario	Killing a bot	30	0-26
Scenario	Damage assist on a bot	15	0-21
Domination	Killing a drone	12	24-35
Domination	Assist to drone kill	10	15-21

Additionaly doing objective based assists gives the following modifiers:

Game Type	Objective	Modifier
Combat reconnaissance	Captain	+300
Detonation	Bomb Carrier	+100
Domination	Enemy capturing Beacon	x2

How is the credit reward calculated at the end of a battle.

A fixed amount is divided into the player of each team according to the efficiency of each player. It doesn't depend on whether you win or loose the battle.

For example, if your team loose and you're the only one in your team that made a good score in efficiency, you will gain a lot of money. If you made a great score, but are tied with your teammates, you will gain little money.