Advanced Bumping

You can destroy a Moth by bumping into several times. When you kill someone like this, you don't get put on anyone's enemies list. In addition, you conserve power for a quick getaway.

There's no real special technique for bumping. Just ram your target. You'll quickly notice that your sheilds and structure will be equally damaged. Don't beat yourself to death. Run to a nearby hangar to quickly raise your shields to full power and return to bumping.

Because you'll often have to replenish your shields by ducking in a hangar, you'll want to begin the bumping near a handy hangar. AI pilots tend to freeze and get confused when bumped repeatedly. This might freeze them long enough for you to duck in the hangar and come back with full shields to continue bumping.

Bumping comes in handy for two very common situations. The first is when you're low on power. Say you've got a regular Cell that's only a quarter charged. You don't really have enough power for a dogfight and getaway. Bumping can make all the difference.

Start by stripping your target's shields and switching to your kill weapon. (I'm assuming you don't have missiles, which are handier for this.) Now, begin bumping your target. You should still have good shields and theirs are stripped. This gives you a huge advantage. Blast him if your shields get critical.

Remember that there may be pirates around if you've bumped your way into some booty. Your shields will be low. Scan the area with Radar Range. If you spot a pirate, try to get in a hangar to top up your shields before snagging the cargo. It all depends on how desparate and brave you are.

The second situation just made for bumping is in attacking faction transports carrying valuable booty. Using bumping, you can destroy the Moth and get the booty without getting on the faction's enemies list and being immediately attacked by their patrols.

A common situation in Alpha and Gamma is that a pirate attacks a faction transport. If you join in the attack with hopes of gaining quick amnesty by killing the original attacker, you'll probably be disappointed. Either the Patrols will kill you first or, kill the other attacker leaving you with no quick amnesty.

Bumping can get you around this situation by never putting you on the faction's enemies list at all. When you come across one of these dogfights, target the transport. The original attacker will have damaged the shields to some degeree giving you a "bumping" advantage.

Bump the damaged transport to death and pick up the booty. Try to beat the faction patrols in killing the original attacker to pick up some good bounties.

The key to this is that the original attacker has already done a lot of damage to the transport so only a few bumps will destroy it. What if you want to attack a faction transport that's in good shape?

You can do this type of bumping attack with no weapons at all. First, try to follow the transport to a handy area near a hangar. This will give you somewhere to duck into to top up your shields. Don't let the transport get too near the hangar it's trying to enter.

Now start bumping. Try to bump the transport into the ground or odd space or corner of a building. This will insure that it takes him some time to get back to his flight path.

Top up your shields by ducking in a hangar as needed. Now get right back to your target and begin bumping again. I've killed several transports right in front of the hangar doors as they tried to enter.

This bumping technique is especially useful in Gamma and Riverside where Klamp transports carry valuable weapons worth the risk and time of a bumping attack.

Remember that you have one, and only one, shot at any ship without being put on an enemies list. This is sort of a "friendly fire" rule. Take advantage of this during bumping by giving a single laser blast after the target's shields have dropped. A missile is better. Every advantage helps.

If you can get your target near a tunnel or crater wall, you can bump him into it and he'll get twice the damage you're getting. Bounce them off buildings, too.

I also like to bump almost every target one time when I'm in a slower Moth. This "freezes" the target for a second or two so I can get in some more shots before they run. This comes in handy if you hit the target as they've slowed to make a turn. You can also bump a target's nose before he gets you in his sites to save yourself from taking fire.

Don't get carried away with bumping. It's no replacement for a regular dogfight when considering the cash made over time and the damage you recieve. Don't bother with bumping regular traders unless the cargo is quite valuable or you're desparate.

Look for the classic situations for bumping -- a damaged faction transport and getting in a dogfight with low power.

Tagging

"Tagging" refers to hitting your target once or twice just so they'll stop what they're doing and target you. This comes in handy in a variety of situations that require that your target moves from where he is.

The key to tagging is that attacking an AI Moth will cause it to target and attack you back. You can use this to lead him wherever you want within limits. They give up after awhile and go back to their original destination. When leading a target like this, don't go so fast that they can't keep up.

My favorite tagging technique is to wipe out the target's shields with a Plasma Kannon if I can. As few as two or three laser blasts is all it really takes to get their attention.

There are five common situations that tagging can turn from losses to profits. The first is when you have a full pod. I hate passing by a trader carrying Narcotics when I'm full of Ore, ConstMat, etc. I don't really want to drop my current cargo, but I desparately want the trader's cargo, too. This is a good time to tag.

Begin by attacking the target normally, but only lower their sheilds. Now head toward a building where you can sell some of your cargo to make space in your pod for the target's cargo.

Keep an eye on your target throughout this and make sure he's chasing you. He will be. Don't go so fast that the target drops off your radar screen. They may forget you.

You don't want to enter the hangar until the target is right on top of you. You can take some hits because your shields will be replenished by entering the hangar. Enter the hangar, sell some stuff to make pod space, and rejoin the attack.

Exit the hangar and kill your target. He's probably gotten back on course, but there's a good chance you'll catch up with him. Remember, he's already damaged by your first attack. Kill him and take the cargo.

Another common situation where tagging and leading comes in handy is when your target is over water. If he drops his cargo over water, it sinks and cannot be salvaged.

To prevent this, attack your target until his shields are down and then head over land. Let the target follow you. Now gun him down over land where you can easily salvage his goods. Note that you may end up with a head-to-head dogfight, but you'll have the advantage that your target's shields are stripped.

The third circumstance where tagging comes in handy is when a Moth is entering a hangar. We all know this sad story. We find a good target and he gets in a hangar before we can kill him. Often we just let this go.

Instead of moving on, attack the target anyway. Go for broke. Hit him with all you've got and bump him. You may kill him outside and get his goods. Otherwise, stop the attack when he's in the airlock. Cargo jettisoned in air locks is generally lost.

By some fluke of the game, if you seriously attack a trader entering a hangar, he'll come right back out to fight without selling his cargo. So wait around until he exits the hangar. He doesn't always have the cargo, but he does most of the time. I don't know why he deosn't sell his cargo, I'm just glad he doesn't.

Remember you have to do him some real damage before he forgets to sell his cargo. Also remember not to kill him in the air lock or the cargo will probably be lost.

The fourth case where tagging can save the day is when you are very low on power. This has already been discussed so I'll only give it a brief review here.

You simply don't have the power for a dogfight and a trader carrying Laser Turrets is right in front of you. Attack him anyway. Hit him only two or three times until he targets you. Now run for the nearest Light Well making sure not to leave your target behind.

Now hover in the Light Well and attack him as best as you can while charging. Once you get about a quarter or so charge, leave the Light Well and finish him off.

Finally, tagging can separate your target from a crowd of Moths. This happens a lot when there's valuable cargo on the ground and tons of rats are trying to salvage it. If your target is in the crowd, take careful aim and tag him a couple of times to get him away from the rest of the crowd.

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