THE JUMPGATE DEFINITIVE GUIDE - Tripod

Realspace Combat - Evasives/Under Fire
NB, when I refer to slow ships I generally mean slow and non-agile.
Fast-ish Ships: If I get hit, the first thing I do is hit last aggressor, and whack on the AB. I then assess
the threat the target presents. If I am 1.6k away from a laser ship and travelling perpendicular to it (use
the vector indicator in the yellow circle below your aiming reticule, as well as the speed at which you
are escaping), I can comfortably presume that I will be out of the way soon enough - I just juke a bit,
and get out of range.
If the enemy is flashfiring on me, or is on the same vector as me and in reasonable range, the best
thing to do is generally to turn and head back towards the enemy ship. The most effective way to
ensure that you will escape from its weapons range is to fly right through the ship. This is inadvisable
from the point of view that you will present them with an easy target, and possibly get divebombed, so
fly towards them at an angle. This should get you out of range - although if they persistently flashfire
after you may be forced to FF yourself. In this case, turn towards them before flashfiring, as you will
gain a lot of ground on them.
While evading, always add a little juking, barrel rolling, or anything a bit unpredictable that you can
think of. It will give your target a much harder time hitting you. It's up to you at what shield point you
will flashfire at. In a fast ship I will try to make sure to waste at the very least one of my enemy's
flashfires before doing so myself. I'll generally not hit the FF before about 20 shield, unless the ship
following me has extremely high damage weapons and I don't think I can evade it.
Slow-ish Ships: Slower ships obviously have fewer evasive options than the fast ones. One of the
biggest factors is that you are usually engaged by other ships, rather than the other way around. This
isn't too bad a problem in most cases, but when you are engaged by a faster ship with significant
firepower (Typhoon, Monsoon, etc.), they have the initiative (the time you spend reacting and turning
to engage), and the ability to hit you hard. For this reason, I am generally freer with my FFs in a slow
ship - if I get hit by a ship with significant firepower I will often FF out, and use the rest of the FF to
come back in and engage. This will often save 50 shields or more, and can be very much worth it.
Last Aggressor/Nearest Target: While going evasive, make extensive use of these features. It will let
you keep track of what the pilot who attacked you is doing, and also possibly if he has any friends with
him.
Evasive Mentality: Don't be afraid to go full evasive if you have lots of enemies on you. If you pull
three enemies away from the biggest action, you're giving your fleet a big numbers advantage - they
only lose one, your enemies lose 3. Equally, don't get too far away - if you get into real trouble you're
going to need help to be close by.
Secondly, if you're going evasive on just one or two people, and they aren't being too aggressive, try to
shoot at people in passing. The distraction is a bonus to your fleet, and you may end up with an even
bigger trail of enemies following you.
Profile: Be very aware of your profile, and how you are presenting it to your enemies. For example,
when in a Typhoon (or to some extent the Chiroptean) you want to show the huge topside as little as
possible, as you become very vulnerable to being hit. Try to keep thin edges pointing toward your
enemies at all times.
To stay ahead of an enemy, even if it's slightly faster than you, fly in arcs. If they start predicting your
arc, switch to a different direction arc and you will make up even more ground.
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