History VideoGame / Starfarer

* LethalJokeCharacter: The Hound. It's one of the pirate faction's basic frigates, and is so ridiculously easy to kill that most players never even consider piloting one themselves. Just looking at the stats paints a pretty bleak picture: it has a flux pool a third the size of the average frigate, one small ballistic turret with a massive blind spot, a single medium ballistic forward facing mount that will max out your flux meter in about three seconds of sustained firing, two very large and easy to hit engines, and to top it all off, it's completely unshielded. But then you realize it's tied for the top speed of any pilotable ship in the game - with the 'augmented engines' hull mod, it [[BeyondTheImpossible outruns interceptor squadrons]]. It's pretty much built for kiting; being made of paper doesn't matter when the enemy can't hit you in the first place. It really shines when you rip out the default assault chaingun and install a long range, slow firing weapon such as a Hypervelocity Cannon or a Mauler, both of which deal significant amounts of damage and come with plenty of ammunition. It's fast and maneuverable enough to run ahead of a target, spin around to fire a shot, then turn and keep running, and your high speed means the single turret has plenty of time to take out any missiles they send your way. It takes a while, but you can eventually whittle down even destroyers [[OneManArmy singlehandedly]] with this tactic.

** There's also the Wolf-class Frigate, one of the possible random starting flagships and a solid contender for the best. It has three small energy mount turrets with obscenely wide coverage arcs, two small missile mounts, and a forward-facing medium energy mount. Wielding so many energy weapons means it can deal decent damage to any ship no matter what type of defense it uses. It has decent flux capacity, a decent top speed and good maneuverability, and uses a very efficient omni-shield with a wide arc. It's also rather inexpensive considering how useful it is. It was so useful that in a balance patch that buffed fifteen other ships, it was one of only four ships to get a nerf.

* LethalJokeCharacter: The Hound. It's one of the pirate faction's basic frigates, and is so ridiculously easy to kill that most players never even consider piloting one themselves. Just looking at the stats paints a pretty bleak picture: it has a flux pool a third the size of the average frigate, one small ballistic turret with a massive blind spot, a single medium ballistic forward facing mount that will max out your flux meter in about three seconds of sustained firing, two very large and easy to hit engines, and to top it all off, it's completely unshielded. But then you realize it has the highest top speed of any pilotable ship in the game - with the 'augmented engines' hull mod, it [[BeyondTheImpossible outruns interceptor squadrons]]. It's pretty much built for kiting; being made of paper doesn't matter when the enemy can't hit you in the first place. It really shines when you rip out the default assault chaingun and install a long range, slow firing weapon such as a Hypervelocity Cannon or a Mauler, both of which deal significant amounts of damage and come with plenty of ammunition. It's fast and maneuverable enough to run ahead of a target, spin around to fire a shot, then turn and keep running, and your high speed means the single turret has plenty of time to take out any missiles they send your way. It takes a while, but you can eventually whittle down even destroyers [[OneManArmy singlehandedly]] with this tactic.

** There's also the Wolf-class Frigate, one of the possible random starting flagships and a solid contender for the best. It has three small energy mount turrets with obscenely wide coverage arcs, two small missile mounts, and a forward-facing medium energy mount. Wielding so many energy weapons means it can deal decent damage to any ship no matter what type of defense it uses. It has decent flux capacity, a high top speed and good maneuverability, and uses a very fast and efficient omni-shield with a wide arc. It's also rather inexpensive considering how useful it is. It was so useful that it was one of only four ships to get a nerf in a balance patch that buffed over a dozen other ships.

* LethalJokeCharacter: The Hound. It has a flux pool a third the size of the average frigate, one small ballistic turret with a massive blind spot, a medium ballistic forward facing mount that will max out your flux meter in about three seconds of sustained firing, two very large and easy to hit engines, and to top it all off, it's completely unshielded. But then you realize it has the highest top speed of any pilotable ship in the game - with the 'augmented engines' hull mod, it's [[BeyondTheImpossible faster than interceptor squadrons]]. It's pretty much built for kiting; being made of paper doesn't matter when the enemy can't hit you in the first place. It really shines when you rip out the default assault chaingun and install a long range, slow firing weapon such as a Hypervelocity Cannon or a Mauler, both of which deal significant amounts of damage and come with plenty of ammunition. It's maneuverable enough to run ahead of a target, spin around to fire a shot, then turn and keep running, and your high speed means the single turret has plenty of time to take out any missiles they send your way. It takes a while, but you can eventually whittle down even destroyers with these.

* PointDefenseless: ''Strongly'' averted. A good point defense system can usually take out several missiles in a salvo, as well as wreak havoc against fighter squadrons. With a certain hull mod, even small weapons not tagged as point defense can auto-target missiles. This includes tactical lasers, whose long range, high accuracy, and decent damage make them [[{{Understatement}} very useful]] for this purpose.

** There's also the Wolf-class Frigate, one of the possible random starting flagships and a solid contender for the best. It has three small energy mount turrets with obscenely wide coverage arcs, two small missile mounts, and a forward-facing medium energy mount. Wielding so many energy weapons means it can deal decent damage to any ship no matter what type of defense it uses. It has decent flux capacity, a high top speed and good maneuverability, and uses a very fast and efficient omni-shield with a wide arc. It's also rather inexpensive considering how useful it is.

* SpaceMarine: You can hire them by the doznes, then use them to [[BoardingParty take over disabled enemy ships]].

* WithThisHerring: As the intro states, you start out with only a single frigate and a small amount of credits. The game takes pity on you by putting just enough Elite crew in the nearby space station to max out your ship, but doing so will bankrupt you.

* TacticalRockPaperScissors: Ships have up to three layers of defense: [[{{Hitpoints}} hull]], armor plating, and [[DeflectorShields shields]]. Only hull damage affects the ship, so most of a fight is spent breaching the other ship's defenses to get to the vulnerable crew inside. There are four types of weapons to help with this: [[ArmorPiercing high explosive]], which is excellent against armor but very weak against shields; [[KineticWeaponsAreJustBetter kinetic]], which is the opposite; [[EnergyWeapons energy]], which is [[JackofAllStats somewhat effective against all types of defense]], and fragmentation, which does little damage against any defense, but will tear hulls to shreds once those defenses are gone (also good against missiles and squadrons, since they rarely have much defense)[[hottip:*:missiles tend to be fragmentation, but deal massive damage to get past the 75% damage penalty - a direct hull hit is devastating]]. There are also ion weapons, which greatly raise the target's flux levels but do minimal damage.

* SpaceFriction: On the one hand, ships don't slow down if you let go of the 'forward' key. On the other hand, they do have a strictly limited top speed. How exactly that works is anyone's guess.

* SpaceFriction: Notably averted, opening a whole slew of tactical maneuvering possibilities.

* SpacePirates: [[MoreCriminalsThanTargets A surprising amount of them]]. They have fairly outdated tech, though, and are a great way to grind crew experience and loot. You yourself can do this with marines, boarding enemy ships and taking them over.

* {{BFG}}: Several kinetic and high explosive weapons under the large category. Some of the energy weapons fit this trope, even those found on [[PintSizedPowerhouse tiny ships]] - the antimatter blaster (which fits in a small energy slot) does two and a half times as much damage as a torpedo! They usually have very low firing rates, severe ammo limits, and max out your flux meter quickly.

You start your captaining career as a nobody, with nothing to your name but five thousand credits and a small crew manning a [[WithThisHerring single light frigate]]. Through blood and sweat (and trade) you will gradually build your army, earning control of fighters, bombers, interceptors, carriers to repair them in, various frigates, supply transports, fire support ships, battleships, destroyers, all the way up to massive capital ships. And almost every single one of these ships can be further customized to fit your needs.

Larger battles have an element of CaptureTheFlag to them, with control points appearing on the map that give bonuses when captured. Taking them could grant more command points, extra fleet points to call in reinforcements from your main army, or direct boosts to your fleet such as maneuvering bonuses and radar extension. Capturing these points early (and preventing your enemy from doing the same) helps to turn the tide of battle in your favor immensely.

* AllThereInTheManual: There's an in-game Codex that gives an absurdly high level of detail on every ship, class, and variant in the game, down to individual weapon systems, ship stats, and even the in-universe history of that particular model. Just about the only thing it doesn't tell you is the firing arc of weapons on a ship.

* AwesomeYetPractical: Salamander [=MRMs=], an EMP missile with AI that [[{{Roboteching}} automatically flanks ships]] and heads straight into their engines, disabling them. Incredibly useful even if it fails, since it forces the enemy to focus defenses on their rear, giving you a clear shot at their front.

* BoringButPractical: Energy weapons. They bypass the TacticalRockPaperScissors used by other damage types entirely. They tend to have decent range, and a cheap hull mod boosts this further. Beam types also don't use ammo, making them very useful for prolonged engagements. The only real downside is that they are somewhat micromanagement-heavy due to the gameplay mechanic mentioned under ChargedAttack below.

* DeflectorShields: Many ships have them, and they come in two types: omni and frontal. Omni can point in any direction, raise very quickly, and can be rotated towards threats, but tend to have a narrow arc of protection. Frontal [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin only point forwards]], raise slowly, but tend to have much wider coverage, sometimes up to 360 degrees. Shields work by transforming damage against them into flux. However, flux added from shield damage does ''not'' drain over time like regular flux, meaning ships have to drop their shields eventually or risk overload.
* DuelingGames: Screenshots will inevitably draw a comparison with SpacePiratesAndZombies. However, whereas S.P.A.Z. has very simple, arcade-like gameplay, Starfarer took the simulation route.
* EasyLogistics: Ammo and missiles are replaced for free after every engagement. Ship mods and refitting cost nothing but time. Also, any ship, no matter how damaged, can be (eventually) repaired provided there are enough generic "supplies" in your inventory.
** Averted with crew. It can be a lengthy side trip to replenish killed crew, and you can't use ships that aren't fully manned. It also takes a very long time to train them to elite status, so protecting ships carrying high-level crew is a priority. Also averted for squadrons, which get a ''massive'' penalty to repair time if there isn't an empty carrier or other ship with hanger slots in your fleet to repair in.

* OverclockingAttack: The defining trait of combat in the game. Ships have a stat called 'flux', which raises when they use certain weapons, take shield damage, are hit by ion cannons, etc, and drains slowly over time. If the flux hits capacity your ship overloads, leaving you to drift helplessly while very slowly venting flux. At any time you can vent it manually, causing it to drain several times faster than normal but disabling your weapons and shield for the duration. One-on-one combat against shielded enemies usually revolves around dealing kinetic damage to their shields to force them to either drop shields, vent flux, or cause an overload, then unloading everything you have into the now helpless ship. Venting speed borders on a OneStatToRuleThemAll, since it affects combat so drastically.
* OverDrive: If a ship has an empty flux meter and doesn't have their shields raised, they get a hefty bonus to top speed. This makes retreat feasible, as your enemy can't fire at you without losing their ''own'' speed bonus. There is also a hull mod that boosts your top speed and map travel speed, but it costs a ridiculous amount of build points, making it somewhat impractical.

* WeCannotGoOnWithoutYou: Averted. You don't even need to send your flagship into an engagement in the first place. Even if your flagship is destroyed, you can transfer command to any other ship. This is accomplished by escaping in a personnel shuttle, then flying across the map to dock with them.

You start your captaining career as a nobody, with nothing to your name but five thousand credits and a small crew manning a [[WithThisHerring single light frigate]]. Through blood and sweat[[hottip:*:and trade]] you will gradually gather an army, gaining control of fighters, bombers, interceptors, carriers to repair them in, various frigates, supply transports, fire support ships, battleships, destroyers, all the way up to massive capital ships. And almost every single one of these ships can be customized to fit your needs[[hottip:*:only squadrons (fighters, bombers, interceptors) can't be modified]].

Combat is hectic and extremely detailed. You only have direct control over your flagship, and use a tactical map to set objectives and standing orders for the rest of your fleet. Your AI officers will then assign available ships to complete those objectives, leaving your flagship to support the fleet however you feel is best. You have a limited amount of command points to set objectives with, and for the most part you can't regain them - once spent, the points are gone for the rest of the encounter. While this sounds like a ScrappyMechanic, it actually works well due to some rather good AI.

* AllThereInTheManual: There's an in-game Codex that gives an absurdly high level of detail on every ship, class, and variant in the game. It even goes as far as weapon systems, ship stats, and even the in-universe history of that particular model.

** Toned down a bit since the introduction of crew - most enemy ships will only have regulars manning them, meaning their AI is artificially degraded. However, that same update also gave another boost to combat AI - enemies won't fire heavy flux-generating weapons when near overload, and they keep track of such things as where your weapons are pointing versus how long it would take them to raise shields. Omni-shielded ships reach DemonicSpider levels sometimes.

** There's also the Wolf-class Frigate, one of the possible random starting flagships and a solid contender for the best. It has four small energy mount turrets with wide coverage arcs (enough so that any spot around the ship is covered by at least two of them), two small missile mounts, and a forward-facing medium energy mount. It has decent flux capacity, a high top speed and good maneuverability, and uses a very fast and efficient omni-shield with a wide arc.

* CripplingOverspecialization: Very possible with the customization system due to the limited build points on most ships. Many default ship variants can only perform one role, and get torn to shreds if they try to do anything else.

* OverclockingAttack: The defining trait of combat in the game. Ships have a stat called 'flux', which raises when they use certain weapons, take shield damage, are hit by ion cannons, etc, and drains slowly over time. If the flux hits capacity your ship overloads, leaving you to drift helplessly while very slowly venting flux. At any time you can vent it manually, causing it to drain several times faster than normal but disabling your weapons and shield for the duration. One-on-one combat against shielded enemies usually revolves around dealing kinetic damage to their shields to either force them to vent or cause an overload, then unloading everything you have into the now helpless ship. Venting speed borders on a OneStatToRuleThemAll, since it affects combat so drastically.

* PointDefenseless: ''Strongly'' averted. A good point defense system can usually take out two or more missiles in a salvo, as well as wreak havoc against fighter squadrons. With a certain hull mod, even small weapons not tagged as point defense can auto-target missiles. This includes tactical lasers, whose long range, high accuracy, and decent damage make them [[{{Understatement}} very useful]] for this purpose.
** Crew level has a large effect on point defense. Since crew experience affects accuracy, and missiles are small and hard to hit, an unskilled crew is very vulnerable to missile strikes. And since large ships have crew requirements an order of magnitude higher than frigates, they tend to be staffed with low level crew and thus have terrible point defense. This makes assigning point defense frigates as escorts very useful.
* ShowsDamage: Ships glow orange where their armor plating has been stripped away. Yes, you create your own [[AttackItsWeakPoint weak points]] in this game.

* TacticalRockPaperScissors: Ships have up to three layers of defense: [[{{Hitpoints}} hull]], armor plating, and [[DeflectorShields shields]]. Only hull damage affects the ship, so most of a fight is spent breaching the other ship's defenses to get to the vulnerable crew inside. There are four types of weapons to help with this: [[ArmorPiercing high explosive]], which is excellent against armor but very weak against shields; [[KineticWeaponsAreJustBetter kinetic]], which is the opposite; [[EnergyWeapons energy]], which is [[JackofAllStats somewhat effective against all types of defense]], and fragmentation, which does little damage against anything but hulls but has a decent area of effect (good against fighters, or for stripping armor off a wide area)[[hottip:*:missiles tend to be fragmentation, but deal massive damage to get past the 75% damage penalty]]. There are also ion weapons, which greatly raise the target's flux levels but do minimal damage.

* BoringButPractical: Energy weapons. They bypass the TacticalRockPaperScissors used by other damage types entirely. They tend to have decent range, and a cheap hull mod boosts this further. Beam types also don't use ammo, making them very useful for protracted engagements. The only real downside is that they are somewhat micromanagement-heavy due to the gameplay mechanic mentioned under ChargedAttack below.

** Toned down a bit since the introduction of crew - most enemy ships will only have regulars manning them, meaning their AI is artificially degraded. However, that same update also gave a boost to weapon priority handling - enemies don't fire heavy flux-generating weapons when near overload, for example.

* BoringButPractical: Energy weapons. They bypassing the TacticalRockPaperScissors used by other damage types entirely. They tend to have decent range, and a cheap hull mod boosts this further. Beam types also don't use ammo, making them very useful for protracted engagements. The only real downside is that they are somewhat micromanagement-heavy due to the gameplay mechanic mentioned under ChargedAttack below.
* CharacterCustomization: You can refit your ships with a wide variety of weapons, depending on what type of mounts it has (using a slot system reminiscent of [[MechWarrior MechWarrior 4]]). If you have leftover build points, you can use them to upgrade ship subsystems or flux capacity/venting speed. You will also be able to customize your character in a later version, but at the moment all you can change is the name and portrait.

* CripplingOverspecialization: Very possible with the customization system due to the limited build points on most ships. An example from a default loadout is the cheapest carrier, which has only two weapons: a long range missile launcher, and a single light machine gun for point defense. It's virtually helpless against any threat when its squadrons are out on assignment. Somewhat justified, as a carrier is meant to be placed behind the front lines, and you can assign escorts through the tactical interface.

* OverDrive: If a ship has an empty flux meter and hasn't raised shields, they get a hefty bonus to top speed. This makes retreat feasible, as your enemy can't fire at you without losing their ''own'' speed bonus. There is also a hull mod that boosts your top speed and map travel speed, but it costs a ridiculous amount of build points, making it somewhat impractical.

* StandardSciFiFleet: Ships are categorized as fighters, frigates, destroyers, and capital ships, though there are many further subcategories in each.
* SubsystemDamage: Most weapons can be disabled temporarily if enough damage is done to them. This also works against engines. If a ship has two engines and you disable one set, [[CrowningMomentofFunny the ship spins helplessly until the engine comes back online]].

** There's also the Wolf-class Frigate, one of the possible random starting flagships and a solid contender for the best. It has four small energy mount turrets with wide coverage arcs (enough so that any spot around the ship is covered by at least two of them), two small missile mounts, and a forward-facing medium energy mount. It has decent flux capacity, a high top speed and good maneuverability, and uses a very fast and efficient omni-shield with a wide arc. The close support variant has four tactical lasers, a graviton beam (the only beam that does kinetic damage, excellent against shields), and nimble yet damaging Harpoon missiles. It also comes with two hull mods: one that nearly doubles the missile payload, and one that significantly extends the range of all five beam weapons.

* CharacterCustomization: You can refit your ships with a wide variety of weapons, depending on what type of mounts it has (using a slot system reminiscent of [[MechWarrior MechWarrior 4]]). If you have leftover build points, you can use them to upgrade ship subsystems or flux capacity/venting speed.

* EasyLogistics: Ammo and missiles are replaced for free after every engagement. Ship mods and refitting costs nothing but time. Also, any ship, no matter how damaged, can be (eventually) repaired provided there are enough generic "supplies" in your inventory.

** Crew level has an incredible effect on point defense. Since crew experience affects accuracy, and missiles are small and hard to hit, an unskilled crew is very vulnerable to missile strikes. And since large ships have crew requirements an order of magnitude higher than frigates, they tend to be staffed with low level crew and thus have terrible point defense. This makes assigning point defense frigates as escorts very useful.

* TacticalRockPaperScissors: Ships have up to three layers of defense: [[{{Hitpoints}} hull]], armor plating, and [[DeflectorShields shields]]. Only hull damage affects the ship, so half of a fight is breaching the other ship's defenses to get to the vulnerable crew inside. There are four types of weapons to help with this: [[ArmorPiercing high explosive]], which is excellent against armor but very weak against shields; [[KineticWeaponsAreJustBetter kinetic]], which is the opposite; [[EnergyWeapons energy]], which is [[JackofAllStats somewhat effective against all types of defense]], and fragmentation, which does little damage against anything but hulls but has a decent area of effect (good against fighters, or for stripping armor off a wide area)[[hottip:*:missiles tend to be fragmentation, but deal massive damage to get past the 75% damage penalty]]. There are also ion weapons, which greatly raise the target's flux levels but do minimal damage.

Combat is both hectic and hands off. You only have direct control over your flagship, and use a tactical map to set objectives and standing orders for the rest of your fleet. Your AI officers will then assign available ships to complete those objectives, leaving your flagship to support the fleet however you feel is best. You have a limited amount of command points to set objectives with, and for the most part you can't regain them - once spent, the points are gone for the rest of the encounter. While this sounds like a ScrappyMechanic, it actually works well due to some rather good AI.

You start your captaining career as a nobody, with nothing to your name but five thousand credits and a small crew manning a [[WithThisHerring single light frigate]]. Through blood and sweat[[hottip:*:and trade]] you will gradually gather an army, gaining control of fighters, bombers, interceptors, carriers to repair them in, various frigates, supply transports, fire support ships, battleships, destroyers, all the way up to massive capital ships. And almost every single one of these ships[[hottip:*:squadrons (fighters, bombers, interceptors) can't be modified]] can be customized to fit your needs.

Combat is both hectic and hands off. You only have direct control over your flagship, and use a tactical map to set objectives and standing orders for the rest of your fleet. Your AI officers will then assign available ships to complete those objectives. You have a limited amount of command points to set objectives with, and for the most part you can't regain them - once spent, the points are gone for the rest of the encounter. While this sounds like a ScrappyMechanic, it actually works well due to some rather good AI.

** There's also the Wolf-class Frigate, one of the possible random starting flagships and a solid contender for the best. It has four small energy mount turrets with wide coverage arcs (enough so that any spot around the ship is covered by at least two of them), two small missile mounts, and a forward-facing medium energy mount. It has decent flux capacity, a high top speed and decent maneuverability, and uses a very fast and efficient omni-shield with a wide arc. The close support variant has four tactical lasers, a graviton beam (the only beam that does kinetic damage, excellent against shields), and nimble yet damaging Harpoon missiles. It also comes with two hull mods: one that nearly doubles the missile payload, and one that significantly extends the range of all five beam weapons.

* ContinuingIsPainful: If your fleet is wiped out, you lose everything and are reduced to a single very weak ship, which could be [[JokeCharacter anything from a personnel shuttle to a fuel tanker]]. You'd actually have an easier time starting over from scratch.

** Averted for squadrons, which get a ''massive'' penalty to repair time if there isn't an empty carrier or other ship with hanger slots in your fleet to repair in.

* MacrossMissileMassacre: To a much lesser extent than most examples (as even single missiles are exceedingly deadly in this game), but certain squadrons and some of the larger fire support ships can send multiple salvos of missiles (usually three per salvo) your way. Cue OhCrap.
* OverclockingAttack: The defining trait of combat in the game. Ships have a stat called 'flux', which raises when they use certain weapons, take shield damage, are hit by ion cannons, etc, and drains slowly over time. If the flux hits capacity your ship overloads, leaving you to drift helplessly while very slowly venting flux. At any time you can vent it manually, causing it to drain several times faster than normal but disabling your weapons and shield for the duration. One-on-one combat against shielded enemies usually revolves around dealing kinetic damage to their shields to either force them to vent or cause an overload, then unloading everything you have into the now helpless ship. Flux capacity/venting borders on a OneStatToRuleThemAll, since it affects combat so drastically.

* AwesomeButPractical: Salamander [=MRMs=], an EMP missile with AI that [[{{Roboteching}} automatically flanks ships]] and heads straight into their engines, disabling them. Incredibly useful even if it fails, since it forces the enemy to focus defenses on their rear, giving you a clear shot at their front.
** There's also the Wolf-class Frigate, one of the possible random starting flagships. It has four small energy mount turrets with wide coverage arcs (enough so that any spot around the ship is covered by at least two of them), two small missile mounts, and a forward-facing medium energy mount. The close support variant has four tactical lasers, a graviton beam (the only beam that does kinetic damage, excellent against shields), and medium range missiles. It has a high top speed and decent maneuverability, and has a very fast and efficient omni-shield with a wide arc. It also comes with two hull mods: one that nearly doubles the missile payload, and one that significantly extends the range of all five beam weapons.

** There's also the Wolf-class Frigate, one of the possible random starting flagships. It has four small energy mount turrets with wide coverage arcs (enough so that any spot around the ship is covered by at least two of them), two small missile mounts, and a forward-facing medium energy mount. The close support variant has four tactical lasers, a graviton beam (the only beam that does kinetic damage, excellent against shields), and medium range missiles. It has a high top speed and decent maneuverability, and has a very fast and efficient omni-shield. It also comes with two hull mods: one that nearly doubles the missile payload, and one that significantly extends the range of all five beam weapons.

* {{BFG}}: Some of the energy weapons fit this trope, even [[PintSizedPowerhouse those found on tiny ships]] - the antimatter blaster (which fits in a small energy slot) does two and a half times as much damage as a torpedo! They usually have very low firing rates and max out your flux meter quickly.
* BoringButPractical: Energy weapons. They have neither bonuses nor penalties to damage against any defense type, bypassing the TacticalRockPaperScissors entirely. They tend to have decent range, and a cheap hull mod boosts this further. They also don't use ammo, making them very useful for protracted engagements. The only real downside is that they are somewhat micromanagement-heavy due to the high amount of flux they generate.

* CripplingOverspecialization: Very possible with the customization system due to the limited build points on most ships. An in-universe example is the cheapest carrier, which has only two weapons: a long range missile launcher, and a single light machine gun for point defense. It's virtually helpless against any threat when its squadrons are out on assignment. Somewhat justified, as a carrier is meant to be placed behind the front lines, and you can assign escorts through the tactical interface.

* AwesomeButPractical: Salamander [=MRMs=], an EMP missile with AI that [[{{Roboteching}} automatically flanks ships]] and heads straight into their engines, disabling them. Incredibly useful even if it misses, since it forces the enemy to focus defenses on their rear, giving you a clear shot at their front.
* {{BFG}}: Some of the energy weapons fit this trope, even [[PintSizedPowerhouse those found on tiny ships]] - the antimatter blaster (which fits in a small energy slot) does two and a half times as much damage as a torpedo! They tend to have very low firing rates[[hottip:*:as in, once every ten seconds slow]] and max out your flux meter quickly.

* ChargedAttack: An odd example. Energy weapons get bonuses to damage the higher your flux meter is. This is the only situation where a high flux is good.

* TacticalRockPaperScissors: Ships have up to three layers of defense: [[{{Hitpoints}} hull]], armor plating, and [[DeflectorShields shields]]. Only hull damage affects the ship, so half of a fight is breaching the other ship's defenses to get to the vulnerable crew inside. There are four types of weapons to help with this: [[ArmorPiercing high explosive]], which is excellent against armor but very weak against shields; [[KineticWeaponsAreJustBetter kinetic]], which is the opposite; [[EnergyWeapons energy]], which is [[JackofAllStats somewhat effective against all types of defense]], and fragmentation, which does little damage but has a decent area of effect (good against fighters, or for stripping armor off a wide area). There are also ion weapons, which greatly raise the target's flux levels but do minimal damage.

* AwesomeButPractical: Salamander [=MRMs=], an EMP missile with AI that automatically flanks ships and heads straight into their engines, disabling them. Incredibly useful even if it misses, since it forces the enemy to focus defenses on their rear, giving you a clear shot at their front.

Combat is both hectic and hands off. You only have direct control over your flagship, and use a tactical map to set objectives and standing orders for the rest of your fleet. Your AI officers will then assign available ships to complete those objectives. You have a limited amount of command points to set objectives with, and for the most part you can't regain them - once spent, the points are gone for the rest of the encounter. While this sounds like a ScrappyMechanic, it actually works out well due to some rather good AI.

* CharacterLevel: The ship's crew gradually level up as you fight (Green - Regular - Veteran - Elite), becoming more accurate in combat, speeding up repairs, and even overclocking ship systems (represented by a slight boost to ship stats). You can reassign crew to different ships, [[UniversalDriversLicense where they will be just as proficient]]. There are also plans for officers and a customizable main character, who will presumable follow this trope as well.

* MacrossMissileMassacre: To a much lesser extent than most examples (as even single missiles are exceedingly deadly in this game), but some of the larger fire support ships can send a dozen or more missiles your way. Cue OhCrap.

* PointDefenseless: ''Strongly'' averted. A good point defense system can usually take out two or more missiles in a salvo, as well as wreak havoc against fighter squadrons. With a certain hull mod, even small weapons not tagged as point defense can auto-target missiles. Even the tactical lasers.