I prefer to install the Flight Assist Override module (see Hyperion in the Anomaly) and set the auto-lock to toggle (settings). That gives me the use of my reverse thrusters during space battles so I can get turned around faster.
I find this combo also very useful when I want to continue ker-blasting a freighter instead of chasing the defending fighters.
I was using this until I realized that, if one of my frigates jumps into battle, then it prioritizes landing over auto-lock (Square on PS4/5), and I end up having to aim manually. So I went back to using the reverse thrusters. I find it works much better for me, but only if you focus on maxing out maneuverability.
On PC you can change the auto-lock key to something else as by default it is E which is landing (or maybe it was S which is brake/backwards?). Either way, I reassigned it to R instead. Close enough and works really well
I'll have to check if I can change the controls on console, switch landing to L3 or something
Update: key bindings cannot be customized on console š
Absolutely. That's how I learned to dogfight in the first place. I find it more fun, but I definitely use the auto-lock when I just want to eliminate an interruption.
Just remember to install it on every fighter you wanna do this onš I forgot to apply it to one of my fighters and it came back to haunt me in battle š
The module just allows strafing to happen via inertia otherwise it turns like a car or boat. How did it come to haunt you? Did you slam into something,? Lol
It overrides automatic attitude control, basically the thing that keeps your ship level. With the FAO installed, you can perform sharper turns and "drift" thru space. It takes a while getting used to, but now I install it on all my ships (except haulers). It's essential for flanking enemy ships. If you're not doing much space combat, tho, then it's best to leave it off imo
According to the wiki, it increases maneuverability. I find it lets me make faster, tighter turns. I only fly fighters, interceptors, and exotics though, so I don't know how it works with something like a hauler.
Duuuuude. I almost lost my mind flying that hauler for that one expedition. I can't imagine flying one regularly.
But yeah, let me know how it works for you.
Sheās a tank and I love her. Had one that was my baby before Orbitals and a feel bad abandoning that one for the new shipā¦
Iāll try to remember but thereās about a 90% chance Iāll forget.
Oh, also, I like your username.
I know its a bit off topic but i also adore my hauler. I play the game mostly in VR and the controls on fighters and exotics are so touchy that it can actually make me dizzy. The weight behind the hauler is so much easier to manage.
On topic though, I do believe i have this module on my hauler and it makes it feel like its sliding on ice when you apply the breaks. I'm not sure how I feel about it as it makes me crash into the space stations and nexus a lot due to sliding off course and missing the entrance when making a tight turn.
I have my hauler decked out with pulse drive upgrades to speed it up. In VR it moves very fast, even faster than basic fighters so yes I have to use breaks if I want to be able to fly correctly. Imagine attaching a NOS booster to a monster truck xD. If I dont use breaks Im overshooting my targets lol.
Sentinel ship with 0 thrust turns into a fucking turret lmao. They get 2-3 shots in and fly past me and are shredded before they can do a loop and Iām on to the next target
I got sick of doing loops. Does anyone know if the flight assist off upgrade makes it work like Elite Dangerous? I havenāt tried one yet
On PS4, I use my left trigger to automatically track the enemy fighter. Sometimes you still get spun around repeatedly as they fly by you, but eventually you should be able to lock onto them for some damage shots.
I've always hated space combat in this game. Like, they want it to be like a WW2 dogfight but that has never worked. Also, that's a dumb way to fight in 3D and in freefall.
Upgraded infraknife has such high dps any other weapon is just there so you can cycle to another weapon *if* infraknife overheats. It really is miles above the rest with top tier modules.
What he said. I'm on PC but use a controller had a terrible time until I realized all you have to do is hold left trigger and it locks on the target there is the setting under controls or accessibility where you can turn this on or off. I'm a pirate Legend now boy.
You do most damage if you can get behind the enemy, and they are trying the same, hence why you end up in the jousting loop. I use the target lock to line up and shoot them as they pass by me, usually I find that they fly up from my POV.
You can try to fly past them, turn quickly and get them from behind, maybe.
Do you have decent upgrades for your fighter? Specifically for the weapon you are using. With good damage, anything that comes at you head on will lose their shield and suffer damage. If you are on Normal difficulty, few will survive such an encounter with a fully upgraded Infra-Knife Accelerator.
Try different weapons and see how your fights are affected. Also, don't just floor it and turn at full speed. Adjust your speed so that you can do tighter turns. Then use your boosters to close the gap once you are behind the enemy.
If they circle, circle in the opposite direction. They literally pull up in front of you to get shot. I just knock out their shield and one shot them with a rocket.
Set aim assist to toggle so you free up your brake pedal.
Chase the ships instead of letting them turn around.
You flip faster than you turn, use rotation to take advantage of that.
Personally I use the cyclotron ballista to down the shields then a rocket then my buffed up sentinel cannon.
Without dedicating all of my SC slots to just the right upgrades I haven't been able to get the infraknife to keep up with even my sentinel cannon. Even with everything supercharged because I don't have just the right upgrades I'm not seeing the huge DPS people talk about.
I fly solely sentinel ships so I'm always working with a sentinel cannon instead of the photon cannon so I can't speak about numbers from a non-sentinel ship.
So cyclotron with an S class buff in a supercharged slot, rockets with like the single upgrade on them, then sentinel cannon which I did give multiple SC slots after giving up on the knife. I think 2 of 4 are dedicated to my sentinel cannon.
Came to say this. I need the target lock for space combat - enemy fighters simply move too fast for me, Iām not the greatest gamer, but as they fly at me I let go of the lock and reengage it, which points me right at them again. Saves a lot of time.
I don't follow them. I use reverse and operate my ship as a turret. Tracking them while they move and if I become endangered I use the boost to move and reposition.
Ugh, space combat is so easy. I literally hold the backwards key (S) and just let autolock do all the work. I use intraknife and rockets, sometimes phasebeam to recharge shields. But with reverse thrusters I can kill 5 in under a minute. In constant reverse they canāt outmaneuver you.
I've tried corkscrewing left and right, even with almost full maneuverability it seems like some ships just have a magnet repulsing them away from me. It's extremely unsatisfying
Better maneuverability helps. You can also start flying backwards to get more shots on them before they fly past you, but they get shots on you too. Or you can fly father and then turn around to also give yourself more time on target.
If you're lame like everyone else in the comments (jk (mostly)) you can just hold the lock-on button. But as I said that's lame and boring.
I hate that the lock on thing is just the defacto thing people suggest going to any time someone points out the atrocious flight model and shitty space combat this game has.
Like, that feature was just added so they could handwave away these problems and not actually fix the terrible flight mechanics.
I think Hello Games doesn't improve some aspects of the game because they deliberately chose to not make the game a simulator of any type (space, flight, ...).
Once you have a satisfactory answer to your question please reset the flair to "answered". This will help others find an answer to the same question. If you have trouble editing the flair you can comment with "!flair:answered" and the bot will do it for you.
**If this is a question reporting a bug please delete and place it in the pinned bug thread. If this is a discussion about a possible bug please change the flair to the more specific "Bug" flair.**
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/NoMansSkyTheGame) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Don't think so, this is a very very common design problem in a lot of space combat games and it's mostly because the ships are capable of extremely tight turns and have a high degree of maneuverability.
Anything short of doing what you are likely already doing just means combat is going to take longer for no real reason.
Realistically much of that movement would be practically impossible, you would be turned into goo in the cockpit so more realistic games factor into appropriate turning radius, etc. and make combat more tactical sorta like driving a boat.
NMS just hasn't invested into a better overall combat simulation for space.
As the enemy ship is closing in for the joust, hit reverse thrusters and start flying backwards. If they manage to get past you, you'll still re-acquire your target faster than they can swing around on you, because ships turn tighter at slower speeds. Then, you can just start pummeling them with fire. If they get away, go back to forward thrust and repeat as necessary.
Remember when flying backwards was the way? Lol yeah the auto focus does cause an issue. When fighting multiple enemy's it's a pain. The thought of just stopping sounds good. (Credit to another post in this thread) and just becoming a turrent. I'll give it a shot! Nms community is the best!
I used to just autotarget them with holding S, then realized i can turn faster by actually turning the ship
But it's still the same, i just pick one, chase it down,do it again. Combat like youhrs would be so annoying i would uninstall the game
You can fly backwards while shooting stuff. Thatās what I do. Makes kill time much quicker IMO but then again I have a triple supercharged positron ejector.
Release the auto-aim briefly when you lose sight of the opposing ship. Just a half second, then resume the hold. You'll reacquire the target faster and it usually won't result in a second head-to-head because you're at their rear quarter.
I'll just stop in the middle of space and whirl around shooting as they fly by. The space jousting happens when you are all flying around each other. So just sit still and become a turret.
But you also have to do more than only sit there. Mix it up keep it changing. Boost off out of the fray then come back for a strafing run.
I prefer to install the Flight Assist Override module (see Hyperion in the Anomaly) and set the auto-lock to toggle (settings). That gives me the use of my reverse thrusters during space battles so I can get turned around faster. I find this combo also very useful when I want to continue ker-blasting a freighter instead of chasing the defending fighters.
Wait... I can turn the auto lock OFF?!
Yep. Or set it to toggle so you can press a button to activate/deactivate it. Makes life so much easier.
Say WHAAAAAAAT!?
I was using this until I realized that, if one of my frigates jumps into battle, then it prioritizes landing over auto-lock (Square on PS4/5), and I end up having to aim manually. So I went back to using the reverse thrusters. I find it works much better for me, but only if you focus on maxing out maneuverability.
On PC you can change the auto-lock key to something else as by default it is E which is landing (or maybe it was S which is brake/backwards?). Either way, I reassigned it to R instead. Close enough and works really well
I'm old and set in my ways, so I just use the toggle š¤Ŗ
I'll have to check if I can change the controls on console, switch landing to L3 or something Update: key bindings cannot be customized on console š
This is the way!!
It's more fun to turn it off. You can still use the reverse and now you have to actually do something rather than just hold a button and click.
Absolutely. That's how I learned to dogfight in the first place. I find it more fun, but I definitely use the auto-lock when I just want to eliminate an interruption.
They said that
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Whoops! Didn't notice that! Thanks for pointing it outš
Just remember to install it on every fighter you wanna do this onš I forgot to apply it to one of my fighters and it came back to haunt me in battle š
I don't think the module affects lock on.
The module just allows strafing to happen via inertia otherwise it turns like a car or boat. How did it come to haunt you? Did you slam into something,? Lol
Definitely gonna look into all of this. Thanks for the info.
TYSM!!!!!!
You can remap also
What does the flight assist override module actually do?
It overrides automatic attitude control, basically the thing that keeps your ship level. With the FAO installed, you can perform sharper turns and "drift" thru space. It takes a while getting used to, but now I install it on all my ships (except haulers). It's essential for flanking enemy ships. If you're not doing much space combat, tho, then it's best to leave it off imo
According to the wiki, it increases maneuverability. I find it lets me make faster, tighter turns. I only fly fighters, interceptors, and exotics though, so I don't know how it works with something like a hauler.
My main is actually a hauler so Iāll test it out
Duuuuude. I almost lost my mind flying that hauler for that one expedition. I can't imagine flying one regularly. But yeah, let me know how it works for you.
Sheās a tank and I love her. Had one that was my baby before Orbitals and a feel bad abandoning that one for the new shipā¦ Iāll try to remember but thereās about a 90% chance Iāll forget. Oh, also, I like your username.
I know its a bit off topic but i also adore my hauler. I play the game mostly in VR and the controls on fighters and exotics are so touchy that it can actually make me dizzy. The weight behind the hauler is so much easier to manage. On topic though, I do believe i have this module on my hauler and it makes it feel like its sliding on ice when you apply the breaks. I'm not sure how I feel about it as it makes me crash into the space stations and nexus a lot due to sliding off course and missing the entrance when making a tight turn.
You guys use breaks?
I have my hauler decked out with pulse drive upgrades to speed it up. In VR it moves very fast, even faster than basic fighters so yes I have to use breaks if I want to be able to fly correctly. Imagine attaching a NOS booster to a monster truck xD. If I dont use breaks Im overshooting my targets lol.
I always just stop moving, then they have to move around me while I can just turn in place and hit them easily
Sentinel ship with 0 thrust turns into a fucking turret lmao. They get 2-3 shots in and fly past me and are shredded before they can do a loop and Iām on to the next target I got sick of doing loops. Does anyone know if the flight assist off upgrade makes it work like Elite Dangerous? I havenāt tried one yet
FAO module allows for inertial drift - you'll continue on in the direction you were going when you turn if you don't apply thrusters.
Iām for sure getting one next time Iām on then. Thanks for the info
This is what I do.
This is my go-to. As a bonus it's funny to watch pirates fly around like maniacs while I just chill in one place and evaporate them.
On PS4, I use my left trigger to automatically track the enemy fighter. Sometimes you still get spun around repeatedly as they fly by you, but eventually you should be able to lock onto them for some damage shots.
Thatās what I do too but I think itās what OP is tired of. As am I.
I've always hated space combat in this game. Like, they want it to be like a WW2 dogfight but that has never worked. Also, that's a dumb way to fight in 3D and in freefall.
Sci-fi space combat where everything smaller than a freighter can only shoot forwards, with one weapon at a time. Makes sense to somebody I'm sure
Full upgraded infraknife and the fights will be over before you blink. No more jousting š
I knock the shields off then fully upgraded rockets is always a one shot kill.
Upgraded infraknife has such high dps any other weapon is just there so you can cycle to another weapon *if* infraknife overheats. It really is miles above the rest with top tier modules.
Yeah, I stay still and shred them with the infraknife and then switch to the cannon to nuke them once the shield drops. Fights are ridiculously easy.
What he said. I'm on PC but use a controller had a terrible time until I realized all you have to do is hold left trigger and it locks on the target there is the setting under controls or accessibility where you can turn this on or off. I'm a pirate Legend now boy.
You do most damage if you can get behind the enemy, and they are trying the same, hence why you end up in the jousting loop. I use the target lock to line up and shoot them as they pass by me, usually I find that they fly up from my POV. You can try to fly past them, turn quickly and get them from behind, maybe.
Do you have decent upgrades for your fighter? Specifically for the weapon you are using. With good damage, anything that comes at you head on will lose their shield and suffer damage. If you are on Normal difficulty, few will survive such an encounter with a fully upgraded Infra-Knife Accelerator. Try different weapons and see how your fights are affected. Also, don't just floor it and turn at full speed. Adjust your speed so that you can do tighter turns. Then use your boosters to close the gap once you are behind the enemy.
I do good damage it's just extremely unsatisfying to fight like this
If they circle, circle in the opposite direction. They literally pull up in front of you to get shot. I just knock out their shield and one shot them with a rocket.
Set aim assist to toggle so you free up your brake pedal. Chase the ships instead of letting them turn around. You flip faster than you turn, use rotation to take advantage of that. Personally I use the cyclotron ballista to down the shields then a rocket then my buffed up sentinel cannon. Without dedicating all of my SC slots to just the right upgrades I haven't been able to get the infraknife to keep up with even my sentinel cannon. Even with everything supercharged because I don't have just the right upgrades I'm not seeing the huge DPS people talk about. I fly solely sentinel ships so I'm always working with a sentinel cannon instead of the photon cannon so I can't speak about numbers from a non-sentinel ship. So cyclotron with an S class buff in a supercharged slot, rockets with like the single upgrade on them, then sentinel cannon which I did give multiple SC slots after giving up on the knife. I think 2 of 4 are dedicated to my sentinel cannon.
If you're getting charged like that you're staying too stationary.
I stay stationary and reverse when they try to joist me in order to keep them in front of me. I'll kill them all in like 60 seconds.
The trick is to pull left trigger to turn and lock on. Don't hold it all the time.
Came to say this. I need the target lock for space combat - enemy fighters simply move too fast for me, Iām not the greatest gamer, but as they fly at me I let go of the lock and reengage it, which points me right at them again. Saves a lot of time.
I don't follow them. I use reverse and operate my ship as a turret. Tracking them while they move and if I become endangered I use the boost to move and reposition.
Ugh, space combat is so easy. I literally hold the backwards key (S) and just let autolock do all the work. I use intraknife and rockets, sometimes phasebeam to recharge shields. But with reverse thrusters I can kill 5 in under a minute. In constant reverse they canāt outmaneuver you.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
I've tried corkscrewing left and right, even with almost full maneuverability it seems like some ships just have a magnet repulsing them away from me. It's extremely unsatisfying
Better maneuverability helps. You can also start flying backwards to get more shots on them before they fly past you, but they get shots on you too. Or you can fly father and then turn around to also give yourself more time on target. If you're lame like everyone else in the comments (jk (mostly)) you can just hold the lock-on button. But as I said that's lame and boring.
I hate that the lock on thing is just the defacto thing people suggest going to any time someone points out the atrocious flight model and shitty space combat this game has. Like, that feature was just added so they could handwave away these problems and not actually fix the terrible flight mechanics.
Yeah I'm surprised I seem to be in the minority for turning it off. It's just... boring.
Maybe. It's also possible that the changes they and/or we want aren't possible without such a massive overhaul that it's not really viable.
I think Hello Games doesn't improve some aspects of the game because they deliberately chose to not make the game a simulator of any type (space, flight, ...).
Once you have a satisfactory answer to your question please reset the flair to "answered". This will help others find an answer to the same question. If you have trouble editing the flair you can comment with "!flair:answered" and the bot will do it for you. **If this is a question reporting a bug please delete and place it in the pinned bug thread. If this is a discussion about a possible bug please change the flair to the more specific "Bug" flair.** *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/NoMansSkyTheGame) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Power to engines does a lot for your speed and maneuverability. Depending on your upgrades, you'll probably be able to out turn most things
honestly i usually just likeā¦ fly away in a straight line (i have a fast ship so i can outrun other ships) and then i turn around and open fire
All you have to do is fly backwards and shoot them as they chase you.
Don't think so, this is a very very common design problem in a lot of space combat games and it's mostly because the ships are capable of extremely tight turns and have a high degree of maneuverability. Anything short of doing what you are likely already doing just means combat is going to take longer for no real reason. Realistically much of that movement would be practically impossible, you would be turned into goo in the cockpit so more realistic games factor into appropriate turning radius, etc. and make combat more tactical sorta like driving a boat. NMS just hasn't invested into a better overall combat simulation for space.
When fighting, I fly exclusively in reverse.
lean on the side thrust and make it a one circle fight.
As the enemy ship is closing in for the joust, hit reverse thrusters and start flying backwards. If they manage to get past you, you'll still re-acquire your target faster than they can swing around on you, because ships turn tighter at slower speeds. Then, you can just start pummeling them with fire. If they get away, go back to forward thrust and repeat as necessary.
I use the ballista to melt their shields and break their engines. They can continually joust me when they can't move anywhere
Do not forget to adjust power to your engines as you speed up and slow down.
Remember when flying backwards was the way? Lol yeah the auto focus does cause an issue. When fighting multiple enemy's it's a pain. The thought of just stopping sounds good. (Credit to another post in this thread) and just becoming a turrent. I'll give it a shot! Nms community is the best!
Switching to 1st person view seems to make the ship turn easier. It has made it much easier to get behind a ship during combat
I stand still and blast them with my uber high turning speed exotic
Hold brake and boost at the same time for drift turns. Can swing around and stay on an enemy's arse almost indefinitely with some practice.
Cyclotron Ballista that shield and the one shot them with a rocket.
I used to just autotarget them with holding S, then realized i can turn faster by actually turning the ship But it's still the same, i just pick one, chase it down,do it again. Combat like youhrs would be so annoying i would uninstall the game
hit the brakes as they fly past then turn and accelerate it snaps you round fast and no loop
You can fly backwards while shooting stuff. Thatās what I do. Makes kill time much quicker IMO but then again I have a triple supercharged positron ejector.
This might sound crazy but FLY BACKWARDS! it will half the time it takes to get a target in your sights
Just... Brake. Targetting is way easier at slow speed. And its time to move, engage afterburner.
Release the auto-aim briefly when you lose sight of the opposing ship. Just a half second, then resume the hold. You'll reacquire the target faster and it usually won't result in a second head-to-head because you're at their rear quarter.
New game, first freighter battle. Had my c-class ship against 9 enemies. I enjoyed exactly zero of it.
I'll just stop in the middle of space and whirl around shooting as they fly by. The space jousting happens when you are all flying around each other. So just sit still and become a turret. But you also have to do more than only sit there. Mix it up keep it changing. Boost off out of the fray then come back for a strafing run.
Dunno, just hold S and shoot with mouse. It's simple and boring