Table of Contents [Hide/Show] 1. Missiles     1.1. Missiles description     1.2. Loading launchers     1.3. Using missiles in Space     1.4. Tactics with Missiles 2. Countermeasures

By now you are familiar with the basic components. We are going to now add a powerful offensive and an equally powerful defensive set of components to your datapad to assist you in flight: The missile launcher and the countermeasure launcher. Edit

1. Missiles

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1.1. Missiles description

Missiles come in various types. They are all homing projectiles that stand a great chance of hitting your target.


Each type of missile is designed to do damage to different parts of a ship. For example, Concussion missiles are designed to work on the shields of a ship. Proton missiles strike a balance of against shields and armor. The trick to utilizing these powerful weapons is to load them into the correct launcher.

Launchers and missiles must match in type in order to be used. As you shop the bazaar for launchers, keep in mind your component level that you are certified to. At this point you are likely not yet concerned about mass, so focus on the highest level launcher you can get your hands on.

Once you have selected a launcher, then it’s time to get missiles. If you pick up a Proton II launcher, you must get Proton II missiles. It’s that simple. Missiles, however, come in various strengths and counts. You may find a shipwright that can give you a magazine of 10 missiles with 3k damage. You may find another that can get you a magazine of 8 missiles at 3500 damage. The choice is yours to have more missiles or higher explosive yield from the warhead.

Pay attention to how many launchers fit on your ship. To find this out, open your ship management tool and see how many times you see “Ordnance” on the bottom left of the component list. Standard Y-Wings have only 1 slot, Y-Wing Long Probes have 2.

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1.2. Loading launchers

To load the launcher, follow the same procedure as when loading any other component onto your ship. After loading the launcher, click on “Ammunition” in the component list. This will display all of the ammo packs you have on you. Select a magazine of missiles that match the launcher you just loaded, and click the load button. You will get a system message that you loaded the missiles into your launcher. To confirm this, highlight the “Ordnance” tab on the component list. The status window will let you know how many missiles are loaded.

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1.3. Using missiles in Space

Use of your missiles in space is simple. Identify what button you use to launch, and find a mob to attack. Amy mob will do, but avoid something you wouldn’t want to dog fight. These missiles come out to the same amount of damage that two or three blasts of your guns would do, so don’t count on a missile taking out a Tier 5 gunboat.

Target your mob, and get within cannon range. Your missiles will operate at the same range as your guns. As your crosshairs approach the target reticule on the HUD, you will get an audible tone as your missiles attempt to lock on the target. You will see a special bracket surround your target, indicating that you are attempting missile lock.

When the tone changes pitch, you are locked. Fire at will. If you lose the lock (moving the crosshairs off target will break lock) then you will have to reacquire. Remaining missiles in your launcher will be shown on the right side of your radar and displayed as “M: X” with X equaling the number of missiles left in the launcher.

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1.4. Tactics with Missiles

Missiles have a high chance of hitting their target. If you cannon aim is shakey, and you need to do damage to this target quickly, missiles are the way to go. As stated before, a missile does as 2 to 3 times the damage that your blasters do so it makes for a nice opening attack.

Be mindful of the type of missile you use, and what it affects (shields or armor). If you have take out the shields of a ship and only have shield damaging missiles, then don’t waste the missile. Use it as an alpha strike. If your missiles are armor eaters, then use them only after you take out the shield with your cannons. Proton missiles are most common since they do damage to both, in which case use them as you want to.

There are two schools of thought when using missiles:

Who cares how much each shot costs? and Each shot is expensive! Many want to conserve their missiles. That is fine, but every time you load a new magazine of missiles, and missiles in the old magazine will be lost.

Others ensure they burn out all missiles once they use the first one, that way they have to reload every time they land on the ground, and thus have a full pack of missiles when they take off again. This is purely a personal preference, and no one method is preferred over the other.

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2. Countermeasures

These items are designed as a defensive weapon used to spoof or confuse a homing missile. Like missiles, you need to by a launcher and a countermeasure pack that match types. They are also loaded in the same fashion that missiles are.

It’s use, however is quite different. They are only effective against a missile that has been fired at you and is already homing.

You know when a missile is fired at you because your entire screen will begin to flash and give you an audible warning. It is at this time that you should fire off a countermeasure. If successful, your countermeasure will stop the missile from hitting you.

You know it was effective if the warning stops sounding and no damage is shown on your shield or armor indicators. Please note that you can use a countermeasure at any time, but it is only effective against homing missiles.