Welcome, new (or perhaps not as new) officers!

Spazticus here, usually referred to as "Spaz" in the Quintet Teamspeak server or in the game's chat. I've been playing Quintet since the Kickstarter campaign, and I'm part of the dev team. We're a team of three, as some of you will have read by now in the tutorial. Typically you'll see me flying in the Prometheus, and it's usually a Trio. If you want help learning the game, that's what this guide is for. This guide also assumes that you've already gone through the tutorial at least once, and it goes much more in depth.

Maybe you've run The tutorial and/or When Drones Attack a few times by now. Perhaps you have already discovered (the hard way!) just how difficult it is to manage a Quintet ship on your own...this is a teamwork-based game, after all! Maybe you haven't even started flying yet, and are looking for a guide like this one. No matter your level of experience, this guide may prove useful for you. After two years of playing Quintet, and dreaming up some of the most difficult scenarios in the game (namely Mothership, Hive Home World, and Desperate Defense) I thought it was time to share some of my experience with those just starting out. Prepare for a LOT of information here; I'm making this as comprehensive as I am able.

Note: Some of the information below may be subject to change. This information is accurate up through the current version (14.0) Since the last version of this guide was written for version 4.5, we went from FOUR playable ships and ONE playable race, to 25 playable ships, and FIVE playable races. A lot has happened in the last two years!

A warning: This is a TEAM game, and communication is absolutely essential. Most of the scenarios are team-oriented, whether they're PvE or PvP. By the time many of you will be reading this, in-game voice chat will have been implemented. (As of the writing of this guide, it's still being worked on, and is about to go live.)

Humans are an "average" race, in terms of both ship speed and weapon damage. In game terms, they are the base line for stats. Their ships have no significant weaknesses, but also lack the specializations of the other races. They are considered diplomatically neutral by default to the other playable races, although they bear an intense hatred toward the Hive, just as the other playable races do.

Zurna are the fastest race in the game, though they also have the weakest weapons as a tradeoff. Their ships are truly designed for pure speed and maneuverability, to the extent that more than any other race, they are the most adept at dodging volleys of torpedoes. Zurna ships feature both Cloak and Push Force abilities, allowing them to attack mostly undetected, or violently disrupt enemy formations. Their archenemy race is the Davul.

Davul have the slowest ships in the game, by far - but they have the strongest weapons to make up for it. They alone have access to the Energy Ram ability, which does massive damage to any hostile targets upon which it can be brought to bear. Ironically, many ships have the ability to get out of the way when you attempt to ram them, so a good deal of skill and timing (and perhaps some luck) will make the difference between a successful ramming attempt and an abject failure. As noted above, the Zurna are their archenemies.

Santoor ships specialize in the production of D.A.T.s - deployable mines, jammers, turrets, and drones of various types. Their ships are the second fastest in the game, but their weapons rank as only slightly stronger than the Zurna. In a prolonged fight, the D.A.T.s they can produce have the potential to whittle down or even overwhelm a numerically superior opponent. They have been known to turn the tide during intense PvP fights, as well. I've personally used D.A.T.s to great effect in PvP, and can vouch for their effectiveness. The Santoor Trio is the only ship that has the capability to repair the hulls of nearby friendly ships, with its Multi-Repair ability. The Udu are the archenemies of the Santoor.

Udu ships have the second strongest weapons in the game, but are just slightly faster than the Davul. Their ships feature damage reduction abilities - Force Field (Solos only) and Phase Shift (on everything else.) Phase Shift gives 15 seconds of invulnerability to all weapon attacks, although hull damage from impacts can still be a problem. The Udu Quintet has an ability called the D.A.T. Buster, which can destroy any hostile D.A.T. on which it is used. Given that the Santoor are the archenemies of the Udu, it is fitting that the Udu have a unique ability to counter their D.A.T.s.

The Hive are hostile to everyone, and that hostility is mutual. The individual Hive ships are weaker than their player counterparts - but they usually have strength in numbers. Their numerical advantage allows them to swarm and overwhelm their targets from multiple angles. AI ships from the other races tend to redirect their attacks when the Hive show up, and focus on them. Most of the scenarios in the game have players fighting against the Hive.

With the races covered, here's a rundown on the player ship classes and their individual capabilities, as well as some basic strategies to optimize your effectiveness. Extrapolate your own counter strategies with this information.

A single seat, highly maneuverable fighter, with a beam laser and a torpedo launcher. Its weapons have a lock on time of two seconds, and a single 30 point shield. Optimal for engaging smaller targets or hit and run attacks, its maneuverability and small size can allow it to hide behind asteroids or other objects, and break an enemy's lock on. They may often have trouble taking on anything Trio/Cruiser size or larger while unassisted, though a skilled Solo pilot can be more than a match for a fully crewed Quintet. One of the best uses for Solo ships is to swarm the target from multiple directions, quickly overwhelming their shields. Solos that are damaged will very slowly repair their hull and shields; the repair rate increases when the ship isn't taking damage.

Solo Strategies:

Human Solo: It's the only Solo that can cloak, and you can fire while cloaked. It's not a perfect cloak, however. Cloaked ships can still be tracked by their engine exhaust, and player ships don't need a lock before they can fire. Anyone who has flown a Solo in PvP learns that lesson very quickly. Use your cloak wisely, to sneak toward an unsuspecting target, or to retreat from clusters of enemy ships.

Zurna Solo: You're fast, ludicrously fast. Speed is life, and sitting still is suicidal, so you should try to never do that in combat. Hit and run attacks are your forte. You also have Push Force, so try to use it against enemies that fly too close to asteroids or other large objects. You might get some collateral damage out of it, if they collide.

Davul Solo: What does the slowest Solo in the game have going for it? The strongest weapon damage for its class, and...Blink. It's an instant 5k teleport, and it can get you into or out of weapons range as the situation dictates. Granted, you can't outrun anyone in a drag race, and dodging torpedoes without using Blink is improbable at best, but you are dangerous even to larger ships, if they stay within your weapons range.

Santoor Solo: The 10 second Temp Boost you have is the same that the Duets get. With this set to Engines, you can outrun the fastest ship in the game (the Zurna Solo) at full speed, for that 10 seconds. The Temp Boost makes your ship versatile, despite the lack of a specialized ability like the other Solos.

Udu Solo: You have a Force Field, which makes you literally invincible to both weapons and impacts while it lasts. This does indeed mean that you can ram into enemies with it, making it both offensive and defensive in nature. Just be sure to cut your speed before the "bubble" disappears, or you'll probably end up taking a lot of hull damage.

Equipped with a turret, this two seater has a ten second Temp Boost buff the Tactical can use, plus a race-specific ability the Captain can use. The Captain flies the ship, while the Tactical station controls the beam laser and torpedo in the turret. The Tactical officer can traverse the turret with the A and D keys, as well as aim up and down manually with the W and S keys, for manual homing in on those pesky cloaked targets. The turret does not allow for a true 360 degree firing arc; it's more like a wide horizontal ring. Coordination of fire can be difficult with the Duet, as a result. Solid teamwork can use its turret to great advantage, however. Duets feature fore and aft facing 30 point shields. Like the Solo and Quartet, the lock time of the Duet's weapons is two seconds. Like the Solos, the Duets have a slow auto-repair function.

Duet Strategies:

Human Duet: You can Teleport in addition to your Temp Boost, so make good use of them together to get in or out of combat. Boosting weapons or shields can also be useful. Kiting tactics are standard operating procedure for all Duets, so use them whenever you can.

Zurna Duet: You can cloak, with all of the tactical possibilities that implies. Use that along with your superior speed to your advantage, and do things like fly underneath a target with your turret facing aft, or bob and weave to dodge torpedos as you kite your target.

Davul Duet: You have the Energy Ram, as well as the ability to Temp Boost your engines - if you don't try to use these two abilities together, you're doing something wrong. Against a target that is focused on another friendly ship, and sitting still...your Energy Ram can be used to its greatest effect. Note that the Ram also blocks all incoming fire from in front of you, making it a limited-effect Force Field, in addition to a powerful melee weapon.

Santoor Duet: You can drop Mines, which cloak when an enemy gets close, are triggered by proximity, and deal splash damage to nearby enemy targets upon exploding. Splash damage always ignores shields, and pushes the target slightly. A favorite tactic with this ship is to time the dropping of a mine just as you are about to pass by the target. Your mine will push you away from the target without damaging you, and if timed well, will severely damage the target's hull.

Udu Duet: Phase Shift is great on this ship, especially against cloaked targets. They cloak, and you run right up to them and Phase Shift, deadfiring the beam all the way. Phase Shift does let you sit still and take hits, which I normally wouldn't suggest. Even if you can't destroy them before the ability runs out, you can deal significant damage in that time, with almost no chance to miss.

My personal ship class of choice, this support class has three stations (Captain, Engineering, and Science) but may easily be flown by just its Captain. I can safely say without any doubt that I have more flight time with the Trios than anyone on the planet. As I've said in the Quintet Teamspeak on more than one occasion, "It's not at all rare to see me in a Trio. It's much more rare to see a Trio that isn't me." Armed with a "donut" beam laser and torpedo, Trios fly like a Solo, but have area effect support abilities that no other ships have. Far from being a Pay to Win ship class, they greatly rely on the skill of the Captain to put them to good use, or they WILL explode just as easily as any other ship. While yes, you CAN fly them alone, and I often do, they truly shine when fighting alongside a friendly fleet, dodging salvoes of torpedos as they boost their allies (or debuff their enemies.) Trios feature four 30 point shield facings - Fore, Aft, Port, and Starboard.

Trio weapons have a three second lock time, like the Quintets. Kiting with the donut laser from close to maximum beam range is standard operating procedure on all the Trios, and you should take advantage of it to increase your rate of survival whenever you can. Since the Captain is also the Helm and Tactical, they don't need to constantly call out to two other stations when they need to switch torpedos fore or aft, or make a torpedo attack run. It's more of an organic experience. Keeping your Thrust boosted most of the time is also standard, because speed is life. All Trios have a Science station, Remote Interface, and Scanner. Their Science station can also use the Shield Focus panel to boost the efficiency of one of their shield facings at a time. This boost increases the rate at which it absorbs damage and recharges lost power.

Trio Strategies:

Human Trio: With a Force Field, Shield Transfer, Teleport, and AoE Weapon Jam abilities, this is one versatile ship. You can ram enemies with the Force Field, drain or send shield power with the Shield Transfer ability, and use the Weapon Jam to hack the weapons of every hostile ship in a 3k radius, for a ten second duration. You can pair the Weapon Jam with the Remote Interface and Force Field to completely nullify a single target's ability to damage you, WHILE stealing their shield power via Shield Transfer...and even ram them while you're at it!

Zurna Trio: Kiting with this ship is easier than with any other Trio. So is "jousting" - switching the torpedo between fore and aft as you make repeated high speed passes against a target. As with all Zurna ships, speed is life, and few ships can dodge torpedos as easily as this ship. You can Cloak, use Push Force, employ a forward facing Energy Shield to block incoming weapon damage, and the Multi Engine ability instantly boosts the engine power of all friendly ships within 3k, for ten seconds.

Davul Trio: This ship may be inherently slow, but it can cloak, Blink, and use its Multi Weapon ability to boost the weapons of every friendly ship within 3k, for ten seconds. It can Tractor targets into firing range, as well. It can't kite targets as well as the other Trios can, but it still packs a significant punch. Cloaking will certainly make up for some of the lack of torpedo avoidance, while Remote Interface will let you take their weapons down for a while.

Santoor Trio: I use this ship frequently in PvE, because it's the only ship that can repair the hulls of friendly ships. When your fleet contains ships that very slowly repair themselves, i.e. Solos and Duets, this ability is a literal life saver for them. Its Multi Repair ability has a 3k range, and instantly repairs some hull damage on every friendly ship within that radius. In addition to this, it has three D.A.T.s to choose from: a TorpDrone, beam Turret, and Jammer. This ship boasts an impressive survival rate, given the Multi Repair ability, its D.A.T.s, and the fact that it is fast and agile enough (with engine thrust boosted) to dodge about 50% of the torpedos fired at it while kiting targets.

Udu Trio: This ship can Phase Shift its way toward (or away from) groups of enemies before kiting them. This ship has the unique EMP ability, which will disable a random system (Engines, Weapons, or Shields) on every hostile ship within a radius of 3k, for ten seconds. This is equally useful as an opening move in a fight, or as a panic button when you are surrounded. It also works well when your allies have the attention of the enemy, and you can sneak in to disable them. Shield Transfer is invaluable for draining shields from your enemies as you move in for the kill. Note that you can drain the shields of AI opponents that you're not yet firing upon, or transfer some of your own shield power to an ally under heavy fire.

Quartets are fearsome frontline ships, when in the right hands. They seat four crew: A Captain, Helm, Tactical in a turret, and an Engineer. If the ship isn't fully crewed, the Captain usually takes over either Tactical or Engineering. If the ship is fully crewed, then the Captain's primary role is to select and highlight targets for the crew to prioritize, while visually scanning for new threats. To fly a Quartet effectively, you need at least two people - one to control the helm, and the other to use the turret. Like the Trios, Quartets feature four 30 point shield facings: Fore, Aft, Port, and Starboard.

What makes the Quartets so deadly is their Large Cannon, (LC) which is capable of tremendous burst damage, and can cause the target to tumble when hit. One shot from an LC can potentially take down a fully charged shield facing, and still push or tumble the target (or both!) When its cooldown is boosted, an LC takes only 15 seconds to cooldown, instead of the usual 30. Quartets are the only player ships that currently carry this weapon, in addition to their beam laser and torpedo. Like the Solos and Duets, Quartets have a weapon lock on time of two seconds. Many of the strategies that apply to Duets also apply to Quartets, due to the turret.

Quartet Strategies:

Human Quartet: The Human Quartet is the only Human ship to use D.A.T.s - in this case, a beam-equipped Drone, and Mines. It also has Teleport. Teleporting behind a target while having the turret already facing aft is a fun strategy. The teleport also allows you to make hit and run attacks: Get in close, fire the LC, drop a mine, and then teleport away. Mines can be very useful for area denial, such as in CTF or King of the Polyhedron.

Zurna Quartet: The Zurna Quartet is able to cloak, like almost all Zurna ships. This will usually give you more time to line up LC shots against AI ships, from point blank range. The Firewall is an interesting defensive ability; it gives you 30 seconds of invulnerability to Scans and Remote Interface hacking. Against AI targets, high speed kiting while your cloak cools down can be insanely effective, provided that your Helm knows to swing in close for quick LC shots, and weave back to regain distance while it cools down. Against other players, this isn't quite as effective, because they can and will use Remote Interface and Scan on you whenever they get the chance.

Davul Quartet: This Quartet may lack speed, but its LC can more than make up for it. The key to this ship is burst damage in spades. Anything that gets with Blink range of this ship might end up on the receiving end of three LC shots in less than a minute, not to mention the beam and torpedo fire on top of it. You can't kite very well at all, but you should still keep your Thrust boosted most of the time. You're well suited to fighting most Zurna ships and Hive Cruisers, due to your Cloak Disrupt ability.

Santoor Quartet: Now this is my favorite Quartet to use, because it has D.A.T.s - not just any D.A.T.s, but one of my favorites to use in combat: The Seeker. This little baby chooses the closest hostile target to quickly chase, and rams itself against the target if it can. When it explodes, it deals splash damage to any hostiles within range, and knocks them back. Splash damage ignores shields, and directly damages the hull. When you're being pursued, Seekers may delay your pursuers.

In addition to this, the ship has a TorpDrone (which moves slowly and dumbfires torpedoes) and a stationary Turret (equipped with a beam laser.) These two D.A.T.s are useful for area denial, or for adding a little extra DPS in a pinch. You also have a Firewall, just like the Zurna Quartet. You're not as fast as the Zurna, but you're definitely fast enough to dodge torps with a little skill. The D.A.T.s are wonderful, but don't neglect your own turret's weapons. Even still, this ship excels in prolonged fights.

Udu Quartet: Phase Shift and Teleport are this ship's abilities, and they're fun to use with the LC. Treat this ship like a bigger, stronger Udu Duet, and apply the same basic strategies - except that you factor in the Teleport to get you in or out of danger.

The titular ship class has seats for all five stations. Provided you have at least three people to control it, it is the powerhouse of the player fleets. Do not fly this ship on your own, except in perhaps the Tutorial, so you can get a feel for each station. Flying this ship alone in a scenario like Transport Escort could doom you (and perhaps your whole team) to fail, because you have to choose whether to fly the ship, or fire - and you can't do both at once! Even two players on it can be difficult, though it is possible if they know what they're doing. So have at least three; one to fly the ship, one on Tactical, and the third on Engineering/Science as needed. It's often best for the Captain to take that "floating" role, so they can micromanage both as needed. My advice? Let the most experienced player on the ship take the helm, and let them do their thing without too much interference. More so than any other role, an experienced player at the Helm will make or break a Quintet's success. Just about every other task's efficiency is determined by the skill of your Helm officer.

While they can't perform the same level of tricks the Trios can, they're tough ships, with 100 hull and six 30 point shield facings (Fore, Aft, Port, Starboard, Top, and Bottom.) It boasts a donut beam laser, and two torpedo launchers which can be independently switched between fore/aft facings. While they can't debuff/boost systems at the distance the Trios can, they can do so within a respectable 2k of the target. The Scanner is standard on the Quintets, and it's good practice to use it often. Also of interest is the Shield Focus panel, which is standard on Quintets.

Quintet Strategies:

Human Quintet: The poster child ship of the game, it's rather adept at handling multiple types of targets. It can use Shield Transfer, Disrupt Cloak, Teleport, and Tractor Beam. You have lots of tactical options, from kiting to jousting to telporting in/out of battle, and you can use Shield Transfer to drain a secondary target as needed. The Disrupt Cloak ability is worth having when fighting Hive Cruisers, or Zurna ships. Kiting and jousting will likely be your favored tactics, as they are usually reliable against most opponents.

Zurna Quintet: You'll want to kite with this ship, most of the time. Jousting is your best secondary tactic. As fast as you already are, you can't Teleport, but you won't really need it. The Firewall is quite effective when facing Trios, or other Quintets. Push Force is great to use against clustered enemies, especially if it's boosted. When fighting Davul ships, Scan them, and then target their engines - an already slow opponent can't ram you if their engines are disabled.

Davul Quintet: Perhaps it is unsurprising that the same tactic I just gave for the Zurna Quintet also applies to the Davul Quintet, but for a different reason: Disable the target's engines, so you can ram them mercilessly. The Energy Ram also blocks incoming fire, but you'll want to wait for the last second to trigger it. After all, the more time you spend slamming it into the other ship's hull, the more likely it is to explode without your own hull taking damage. Beyond this, use your Turret D.A.T.s for area denial, and Scan larger targets frequently so that Tactical will have a better chance at disabling them before destroying them.

Santoor Quintet: This ship has a great mix of D.A.T.s: mobile beam Drones, Mines, and the Bully. Now, the Bully is the toughest D.A.T. in the game, despite its slow speed. They explode easily, just like all D.A.T.s, but if they are allowed to sustain fire on a target, they add significant DPS to your team. This ship also features a Firewall, Tractor, and Instant Lock, which negates the lock time for 10 seconds. That might not sound so great, but when a target is flying circles around you, it will help you a great deal. Use your speed to kite and joust when possible, and even fly under your opponents while triggering a Mine drop...then continue to joust.

Udu Quintet: This is the only ship in the game to feature the D.A.T. Buster ability. As it sounds, you use it to quickly destroy any single D.A.T. in seconds. This is perfect against Seekers or Bully D.A.T.s, allowing your Tactical to keep their focus on a primary target. Phase Shift is always useful, and you have Teleport and Tractor Beam to use as needed. Always Scan larger targets as you kite and joust.

Hive Ships Overview: Hive ships fight primarily with their numbers, and prefer to swarm targets from several angles. The real danger with Hive ships is not in fighting the one that you're currently kiting, but all the others that will also be shooting at you as you kite. It's much harder to dodge torpedos that are being fired from multiple angles. As noted above, AI ships may turn their attention away from their current targets if the Hive show up.

Hive Targets:

Hive Drone: The smallest of the Hive ships, they are slightly weaker than a Solo, but you will often find them in swarms. You don't really have to kite them, since the beam and a few torpedo shots will kill one easily.

Hive Fighter: Fighters are slightly weaker than a Duet, but are tougher than Drones. They still swarm you. The same tactics as for Drones above apply here.

Hive Cruiser: These ships are slightly weaker than a Trio...but they can cloak. This makes them very dangerous if you are trying to fight them while cloaked, and you lack the Disrupt Cloak ability. In all seriousness, I would rather take on 10 Hive Battleships than 10 Hive Cruisers, if I were flying on my own. I'd stand a better chance against the Battleships. When fighting Cruisers without Disrupt Cloak, you have two basic choices: Get far away, and engage another target that has aggro on you, only to turn back in once the cloak is gone. Or, you can sit still, and use a defensive ability like Cloak, Phase Shift, or Force Field, and then hope to kill it before your ability isn't protecting you any longer.

Hive Destroyer: These are the equivalent of a Quartet, and are heavily armed. You can and should kite them, if possible.

Hive Battleship: These are one of the toughest ships in the Hive fleet, and they not only Scan you, they use Tractor Beams to pull you into weapons range. They will match your shield frequency after a Scan, so modulate shields as needed. Kiting is almost essential to survive a straight up fight with them, as they are rarely seen alone.

Hive Mothership: This big bad Mother...ship doesn't chase after you, oh no. She fights in two ways: If you get close to her, she'll Scan and Tractor you into weapons range; her weaponry is formidable. Also, every thirty seconds, she creates two D.A.T.s - a beam-equipped mobile Drone (not to be confused with the Hive ship of the same name,) and a Seeker. Both of these go after the nearest target, and she will keep making them until the soft cap for AI ships is reached. Ideally, you want a fleet for support, and whittle down her defenders as you creep in slowly toward her. Overwhelming her from multiple angles is effective, once her defenders are eliminated.

Contrary to the belief of some players, on the Quartet and Quintet, whoever has the helm is actually the one dictating the next target you must engage. If they're good, they will line up the target so that even if the lock is lost, the Tactical's deadfire shots will still hit the target. Generally speaking, they should find and target the -nearest- enemy, NOT one that is in view, but well out of weapons range. Sorting the Target List by distance helps with this. They can prioritize further for cruisers and other capital ships, as the situation demands. Suffice it to say, ignore close drones and fighters if there's a capital ship close and inbound. That exemption aside, the nearest enemy is often the one that will have aggro on your ship...so it's often unwise to go chasing after a new target while one or more ships are already attacking you.

Likewise, if you're in Transport Escort, keep the ship near the transport, even if there are other ships already guarding it. Let the enemies come to you, instead of trying to chase them down. It's important to note that the more player ships present in TE, the greater the number of AI ships that spawn. It's surprisingly easy to see the transport become overwhelmed, simply because too few ships were defending it.

The Captain has to trust the person at the helm, and they can help by dictating the next target, even if they're busy on another station. It's the Helm's job to prioritize targets, and line up the shot so that the Tactical can hit...especially when the target is a ship that cloaks. You can deadfire at a cloaked target, and use the beam to walk your shots into it. Watch for the impacts on the shields first, then for the (very tiny) red impact as its hull melts away. Fine adjustments and a low speed will help, but your Tactical has to know to keep firing the beam, then add the torpedo(s) and/or large cannon when the enemy ship stops moving. As long as the beam hits dead center, the other weapons should, too. The same basic tactic works with any other ship, as well. The worst thing you can do when fighting a cruiser is to get its aggro, then turn away slowly after it cloaks...unless you like getting your ship blown up needlessly. Inexperienced players make that mistake all the time though, so don't do that. Teleport away if your hull is severely damaged, but don't simply turn away from it and go after another target. Disrupt the cloak if you can, or just get out of its weapon range ASAP. Alternatively, use a defensive ability, stay on target, and do as much damage to it as you can.

Regarding turning, high speed turns while trying to find a target behind or to the side of you will give you a wide turning radius. In effect, it's more time for them to shoot at you before you can even get a lock. So how do you counter that? Put the ship in reverse - full reverse, preferably - and this will cut your turning time significantly. Low speed turns (under 25% speed) are also effective for short duration turns, and then you can increase your speed as needed. The point is, unless you're kiting, or your turn will get you behind cover quickly, stick to low speed turns, regardless of what ship you're flying. Managing your throttle in the heat of battle can mean the difference between destroying your target, and becoming space dust.

With any ship other than the Solos, you're likely to be doing a LOT of kiting. Contrary to the advice above, kiting requires you to be at near maximum beam range, and at full throttle. The reason for this is simple: Even though you might not be able to bring your heavy weapons to bear as easily (that's what jousting is for) you can still evade their torpedos, with enough distance and some well timed weaving maneuvers. The closer you are to the target, the more likely their heavy weapons can hit you. So, let them fire theirs, hope they miss, and then you turn in toward the target to launch your heavy weapons.

You might think I'd just write "point and shoot until it blows up" here, right? No, it's a lot more nuanced than that. On the Solo and Trio, coordination with the Helm isn't so much of an issue, because you control both the Helm and Tactical. For the Duet and Quartet, your Captain doesn't have to be able to see the target, as long as you can. Then they just have to keep that target at the right firing angle so you don't lose your lock. Sometimes, toggling views (default: V key for the desktop versions) can really help, especially for manual targeting of cloaked ships. Coordination with the Helm is key here, and Teamspeak/in game chat helps significantly.

For the Quintet, the advice is much the same as the Trio. Your helm should try to lock in the target so that if you were to deadfire without a lock, you'd still hit it. If they can do this for you, consider yourself fortunate. If they can't do this for you, hope for a better pilot next time. When engaging Cruisers/Destroyers/Battleships/Motherships, your Science station should be scanning those targets, and giving you their shield frequency. Then you can match your beam frequency to it, and your beam will cut through the shields and directly to the hull...at least until they modulate their shields. This tactic is deadly in both PvP and PvE, for obvious reasons. It should be noted that Hive Drones and Fighters are not worth scanning, since they tend to explode before a scan can complete...so tell your science officer to not bother with them, if they should do so.

If you're on a desktop version (browser or downloaded client,) use your keybinds! The space bar will keep all weapons firing, if it's held down. You may not want to do that, unless you're sure you have a lock on the target at all times. Any weapon system will also fire the moment its ready, if you hold the appropriate number key (1, 2, 3.) That leaves you free to select targets with the mouse. Just be aware that you might waste a torpedo or large cannon shot if you hold the key down.

You can't boost everything on your ship, but you can become efficient at switching on the fly (depending on your other crew, and what needs they may have.) You can boost one item in each column. It might seem that boosting shields is a great idea in combat, but it's actually suboptimal. You are typically outnumbered, and outgunned. The best way I find to turn the tide is to boost engine thrust and the beam laser, interspersed with Teleport or other abilities as needed. Put simply, "Destroyed ships don't fight back." When there are no enemies within 8k of your ship, or if you're running away to repair for a while, only then should you boost the shield recharge. Just note that if your Captain knows what they're doing, they may override your boost selection. That's okay if they do - but whoever has less experience should defer to the advice/orders of one who does. I find I often have to tell my Engineers to keep the engine thrust and beam boosted, instead of the shields, because we will take less overall damage that way. There's something to be said for killing targets quickly, before they can deal too much damage. On a Quartet, that usually means you boost the engine thrust, beam damage, and LC cooldown.

Regarding repairs, you can repair the hull or a single subsystem at a time. Once it reaches 100%, it stops automatically, but won't start repairs on anything else unless you select something to repair.

Regarding the teleport, and this goes for all Engineers: Unless you know with 100% certainty that it's absolutely required in that split second, do NOT use the teleport UNLESS it is called for. I cannot stress this enough, without feeling the need to unleash some caps lock fury on you (or the eject button, for that matter.) I'll repeat: Do NOT engage the teleport unless it is specifically called for, or absolutely necessary. People can and will eject you for doing so.

As mentioned earlier, the primary job of the science officer is to Scan the larger targets, or friendly ones in case they might need a boost. It is crucial to call out the shield frequencies of every cruiser/destroyer/battleship you scan, and let your Tactical officer decide whether to modulate the beam frequency to match it. Generally they will, but it's fine if they don't. Sometimes it's just more efficient to maintain fire, especially if the target's shields are already down.

The Shield Panel is interesting. You can focus the shield in a particular facing, to increase the rate of absorb/recharge for that facing. This is even better when the shield recharge rate is boosted in Engineering. You can also modulate the shield frequency, which is critical for reducing the damage taken to your hull and systems.

As for the Remote Interface, it should be obvious that hacking the weapons of any Hive Cruiser/Destroyer/Battleship/Mothership is a huge help. Ten seconds of NOT getting shot by beams, torpedoes, and/or a large cannon? Great! But under most circumstances, you want to avoid hacking drones and fighters. What some people don't know however, is that you can hack the engines of the huge torpedoes in Incoming, Doing this will buy you more time to destroy that particular target. On the other hand, repeatedly boosting the engines on the transport in Transport Escort will shorten your mission time significantly. Multiple ships doing so (in conjunction with liberal use of the Tractor Beam and Push Force to push it) can cut the time almost in half.

Regarding the Tractor Beam, this is a fun feature on several ships. The push function has its uses - either pushing the transport forward in Transport Escort, or moving a too close target away so you maintain a lock. Yes, pushing targets into other objects can also cause hull damage, which is a fun way to eliminate AI drones and fighters. Pulling will get a target into firing range, and may even move it out of firing range on its current target. As mentioned, it becomes a defensive weapon when combined with the Human Trio's force field, or the Davul Quintet's Energy Ram.

Use the in game voice chat, or our Teamspeak server, if you can. Communication is crucial for success, this is a team and communication based game. It's impossible to type and fly the ship effectively, even though we have the Macros for ship chat to help out. Out Teamspeak server: ts.quintet.us:5

Ejecting people just for joining on a station that you prefer to use is bad form. If say you want to be both Captain and on Helm, then put a password on your ship. If you're opening up a spot for a friend, at least have the courtesy to apologize for ejecting someone.

Defer to those with more experience, and learn from them. They may not always be right, or see everything that you see, but more often than not, their experience lends itself to fostering good teamwork. We have a good community, for the most part; let's keep it that way.

If you have questions, ask them in the lobby or the Teamspeak. If you want to get some practice with the ship stations, some of us who have been around a while may be willing to show you the ropes, when we have the time. I'll generally help anyone who wants to learn, and isn't a griefer. Fairly simple criteria, really...that's why I wrote this guide, after all.

Good hunting, all.