Combat Maneuvers

Combat Maneuvers
Now, I find that combat usually follows a certain pattern depending on the scenario, and I decided that I would write down all the tactics I could think of for the sake of noobs as well as for the sake of a badge. (Note I will hopefully update this over time).

1v1s
A 1v1 follows a predictable pattern due to there being only 2 elements to the fight. Several possible flight patterns might arise.

Orbit
The most basic flight maneuver is to orbit your opponent and fly in circles around each other, trying to get into a blindspot if possible. Also sometimes only one player will orbit and the second one will be in the middle trying to turn in place and keep up with the orbit of the first one.

Drifting
Drifting is what usually sets the noobs apart from the pros. Drifting might take some time to learn and you won't always get a perfect drift every time. In order to drift, it's best to start at top speed and click, note click not drag, a certain point 90 degrees from your current velocity. Immediately after clicking press and hold q or e depending on which way you want to drift (q to drift facing right, e to drift facing left.) To turn while drifting, continue holding q/e and click a new point of focus. If you don't understand that just try for yourself and it will eventually make sense. While drifting, 2 patterns usually arise from the fight-Orbiting and Sliding. Orbit occurs when both players are drifting in the same direction making them revolve around a certain point. Sliding occurs when both fighters slide in one collective direction in 2 parallel lines, this is usually easier to sustain than orbit because neither party has to turn, meaning they cannot overdrift and collapse the distance in between them. Drifting is also a very effective siege method if you are using a small fast ship with a decent hull hp because the orbital lasers will usually be able to hit you no matter what.

Weaving
Since most ships have all their turrets on top and no underside defense what usually happens is orbit will start followed by a downward weaving pattern where both players will slowly spiral downwards trying to get under each other. This is where turn speed becomes an important attribute as a high turn speed means your orbit will be tighter so u can lap your opponent and come up behind and below them and wreak havoc.

Micro Warping
Mirco warping is usually employed during a dead 1v1 or in a fight where spinals are the biggest source of dps. What it is, is warping 400-1k and turning around to try to get behind your opponent in an orbiting fight, or turning to deliver a head-on spinal attack. What also might happen, is a warp and flip. What that means, is after you warp to gain a bit of distance, you turn upwards so that all your topside turrets can get a line of sight at the enemy behind you. Mirco warping can also be used when your opponent is drifting in a spinal based ship. By warping right behind or next to them, you force them to stop drifting and also spare yourself from the spinal fire for a few seconds. Note: Micro Warping hard-counters drifting if you opponent is spinal based and you are turret based.

Other 1v1 Maneuvers

 * Counter Orbit: When you find that your opponent is running circles around you in an orbiting battle, stop, and start turning the other way. Hopefully, they have too much momentum to stop before being right in front of you ready to take spinal punishment.
 * Ram: If you are a spinal based ship and your opponent is going to fast for you, forget all flight patterns and head-on attack and try to make them bump you so they stop moving and you are facing them with spinals blazing.
 * Blindspot Pirating: If you have a ship with fast turn speed and decent turrets, and are fighting a ship with only topside turrets and slower turn speed, get underneath them and focus on staying below rather than getting all your turrets to hit or hitting your spinals. Since they can't hit you with any turrets or any spinals, eventually they will be forced to warp out, at which point you can unload all your fury upon them.

Siege
The best siege ships are ships with lots of long-range heavy-hitting turrets like LRs and Railguns, as well as large or huge spinals or torpedos. Ideal ships for sieging are Archeon, Judgement, Ridgebreaker, and Kraken. There are many more but those are the most common. Usually, it is best to have someone using a Viper to distract base turrets while the big ships siege so that the siege ships don't have to tank the fire from the base. It is also good to bring an AA ship in your siege fleet, such as a Loyalist or an Ampharos so that your bad accuracy siege ships don't get swarmed by multiple destroyers or fighters. Also, a fun way to get rid of any anti-siege ships is to slowly back away and lure them from their base, because once it's behind them they might start to lose track of how far they traveled. Once they've been lured far enough, say 4-5k or so, warp back in, to the edge of base range and beat the living hell out of them.

Anti-Siege
Anti-siege tactics resemble those of siege tactics in most aspects. The goal is not necessarily to kill but to scare off your enemy.

Anti-Siege Fleet
The typical anti-siege fleet is very similar to the siege fleet, the goal is to shoot your opponent from afar with the help of your base turrets. The criteria for a good anti-siege ship is the same as a good siege one, lots of long-range turrets and big spinals.

Make Them Tank the Base
The first thing you should do to stop a siege is kill the viper if the siege fleet is not strong enough to tank the base long enough to kill it. Good ships for viper killing are Ibis, Cobra, and Python, since they are fast and have many high accuracy turrets, while still being cheap and insignificant enough to go pretty much unnoticed. After the viper is dead the enemy fleet will be forced to tank base fire which is anything but easy is the base is a high enough level.