Tips and Tricks

This page is meant to contain all tips and tricks for Everspace to help out newer players and avoid cluttering the rest of the wiki. This way, players can go to one page and read everything there instead of looking around the entire wiki.

If you would like to add something to this page, please go to Tips and Tricks/Suggestions to suggest a new section or anything else you want added to this page. Please remember to sign your posts with " ~ ". Once approved, they will be added to this page. For discussion of current tips, please go to Talk:Tips and Tricks.

General

 * If playing in Hard or Hardcore, make sure to manage your time well, so you don't get interrupted by the Okkar.
 * Don't be afraid to use consumables and secondary weapons in fights - faster battles usually means less damage taken.
 * You don't have to kill every single enemy, but you miss out on possible rewards.
 * High risk = high reward.
 * Prioritize comm hubs if there is one in a zone - they will often reveal containers or other loot you may not have seen without them, as well as letting you prioritize more rewarding parts of a zone.
 * Mines will often spawn in scrap fields and near derelicts - if you're in a tight location, scout around with the action freeze to look for any nearby mines you might trigger.
 * Stay calm - panicking will often get you killed.
 * Crafting consumables and secondaries and using them while pausing is very useful in fights.
 * The Okkar that jump in after taking too long in a zone can drop fuel and occasionally credits, but otherwise they won't drop anything.
 * After completing the story, Colonial warships will stop jumping in, and there will only be three waves of Okkar ships.

Movement / Combat

 * Once you get a feel for the movement, try to master circular forward or backward dodging. Alternate strafing left/right and hovering up/down - this will make it very hard for enemies to hit you. It also saves energy, as boosting is not needed.
 * Be careful when boosting in combat - it helps with dodging damage, but firing and boosting at the same time quickly depletes your energy
 * Use cover often
 * Try to get behind enemy fighters - they can't shoot at you, but you can shoot at them.
 * Check out the G&B, Okkar, and Outlaw pages for enemy ship info.

Energy

 * Energy recharge doubles when not moving or firing (after a short delay).
 * Don't be afraid to stop while exploring - use freelook to look at your surroundings and plan where to go next while your energy core recharges.

Perks

 * A good pilot perk to focus on leveling up first is Credit Loot Bonus, which will let you progress much faster. The energy and speed perks are also very important.

Resources

 * In the early game, save your access keys for getting Subroutines from derelict Colonial stations
 * Scrap is the most common resource and is yielded from all equipment when salvaging.

Ship Specific

 * No one ship is the best. Find a playstyle that suits you!
 * However, don't let yourself get bored too quickly. Be sure to try out all the different playstyles and equipment combinations you can.


 * Check out Ships comparison

Colonial Interceptor

 * The Interceptor is the first ship you get and it could be possibly the strongest. This is due to having the unique device Weapon Overdrive - make sure to use it often
 * A popular combination for the Interceptor is combining any easy aiming weapons such as the Flak Cannon, Beam Laser, Thermo Gun, and the Coil Gun with said Weapon Overdrive.
 * It also has considerable hull 450 (non-upgraded) and strong shield possibilities with Shield and Shield XC Mk3 (though it is best not to use the XC type unless it's MK2 or MK3).
 * This ship, like the others, benefits greatly from energy injectors and energy perks, so be sure to prioritize those perks.

Loadouts

 * A: 20 Light Missiles and Weapon Overdrive make the A loadout a great choice for hard and hardcore, as you will be able to quickly mine with them and quickly kill Okkar fighters. The Pulse Laser + Gattling combo is not exceptional but it is dependable for the first few sectors, and because of their fire rate you'll score crits more often. Invest in a better shield and primary weapons sooner rather than later, though, as the basic Pulse Laser and Gattling don't benefit much from upgrades compared to other primaries simply because of their lower stats.


 * B: The M3 laser makes the B loadout exceptional at dogfighting in early sectors, especially against smaller groups of enemies, and will be useful all the way to the end. A full stack of Corrosive Missiles easily allows you to deal with any early corvettes that pop up or fight G&B fighters if you want to anger them for more rewards. This loadout struggles at quick resource mining at first, though you can make up for lost time with its Energized Boost. It might be wise to swap to an XC Shield if you plan on keeping the Energized Boost so that the shutdown duration is much shorter, and to find other primaries for fights with large groups of enemies.


 * C: With very short range weaponry and an XC shield to start, the C loadout favors very aggressive dogfighting for rewards. The Scatter Gun may not seem impressive at first but with so many projectiles crit chance and crit damage gets insane against hulls, and the shower of projectiles when fully charged is huge. Coupled with a Shield Disruptor normal units don't stand a chance against the Interceptor C, and even early Elites will quickly be mowed down. A full stack of Plasma Torpedoes will quickly wreck any early corvettes or allow you to rob G&B transports for additional resources, gear, credits, etc.

Colonial Scout

 * The Scout's incredible speed allows much easier circular forward/backward dodging and kiting, which compensates for its low shield and hull strength.

Loadouts

 * A: The first loadout for the Scout exemplifies what makes it stand out. An XC Shield coupled with its naturally strong evasion makes it nearly untouchable for the first two sectors if you don't pick fights with the G&B. Its Shock Rifle allows you to easily thin out larger groups of foes at a distance, and the Beam Laser provides ample DPS for smaller engagements with normal foes. A full stack of Energy Injectors really helps it early on, as the Scout has a smaller energy core capacity than the other ships. Its Drone Overrides keep it from being overwhelmed by large groups of Outlaws and their drones if you enter a sector right into the thick of them. The Cloak lets you disengage, which is a great time to stop the ship and recharge energy at 2x speed, and Stasis Missiles will both immobilize any hostile fighter or drone and prevent them from firing. It is a pretty safe and strong loadout overall, and it can get pretty far without upgrades or swapping its gear out.


 * B: The Scout B takes after the loadout for the Interceptor A. The Thermo Gun lets you focus on evasion rather than aiming when fighting Okkar units, and the Gattling provides solid DPS against hulls and turrets. Its Shield Breaker Missiles really put it over the edge when fighting Okkar or even G&B fighters. 4 Damage Limiters and Shield Charge Drones along with a normal Shield make it really tanky for its class, so it's a good choice for pilots that find they dislike the fragility of the hull and XC Shields. Lastly, it has a Teleporter, useful for getting behind enemies and avoiding incoming missiles. You'll want to swap the Thermo Gun with a more suitable anti-shield weapon however, as the smaller energy core on the Scout makes it difficult to use in prolonged engagements effectively.


 * C: With a Coil Gun as its only primary weapon, this loadout can be really frustrating to use without upgrading the ship's energy core considerably or using the Daredevil subroutine. The Time Extender is a great boon, however, as it's one of the stronger active devices in the game for dogfighting, and it pairs well with its XC Shield. A stack of Corrosion Missiles helps it out in a pinch, and lets it fight G&B fighters for extra rewards if you'd like. Worth noting however is that the spread on Coil Guns makes them unsuitable for sniping fighters and drones, so you will want to fight closer than the max range might lead you to believe. The Coil Gun is quite good at fighting Corvettes and Frigates at a distance though! It lacks consumables that directly help in combat at first, instead carrying a Jump Stabilizer and Nano Kit.

Colonial Gunship

 * The Energized Boost device is a great way to speed up exploration of a zone, and it has no downsides on the Gunship.
 * The unique Front Shield Generator device is your best friend - use it often, especially when recharging energy while stationary.
 * The lightning field natural hazard is very beneficial to the gunship, as it only damages shields, but recharges energy.
 * It can be fairly difficult for the Gunship to get Dark Matter and Dark Energy from black holes, but it is doable (especially with maxed perks). Pick one of the resources to grab and boost towards it, while constantly turning your ship/crosshair away from the black hole (but with an arc that will still get you the resources) and you should be able to get it. If you find yourself slipping in, you can craft an emergency Energized Boost to get out.

Loadouts

 * A: The first loadout of the gunship has the most raw firepower of the three. Its Fusion Blaster will melt right through shields, making Okkar units a breeze, and the Flak Cannon counts as an explosive weapon for mining, so it will instantly extract all resources like a Light Missile would, so it makes up for its slow speed when exploring somewhat. It comes with 4 Combat Drones; you can upgrade drones in the gunship perk tree to give them armor and shields, as well as have more active at once. This can make the Gunship A loadout really really tough in the mid-game of Hardcore mode if you decide to hold on to them, and makes the A loadout very strong in the normal mode. It carries 10 Heavy Missiles, which can one-shot many of the fighters and drones in the game, including a lot of Elite enemies. It also has a stack of Mine Clusters which can be difficult to use but are pretty potent against larger targets, particularly Corvettes. You'll want to use the Damage Limiters when fighting 3 or more foes, as the Gunship struggles to evade incoming shots, especially when its speed is not upgraded. The Gatling Turret has pretty limited range, so you'll want to close in to make the most of it.


 * B: The B loadout is more well-rounded, using a Pulse Laser to bring shields down at range and a Scatter Gun 2880 to finish off hulls up close. It's the only loadout in the game that starts with an Arc-9000, so if you find yourself totally outnumbered and overwhelmed or against an early corvette it has an out. 20 Light Missiles speed up the process of mining and killing Okkar fighters, and it has a Laser Turret, which has a noticeably longer range than the Gatling Turret does. 4 Webber Drones help make the most of the Scatter 2880 against enemy fighters and help a lot against Light G&B Fighters if you've decided to anger them. Like the A, it carries 2 Damage Limiters as well.


 * C: A bit of an oddball, the C variant starts with an M3 Laser Beam and Gattling, both of which need to charge up before firing. This leaves you without a dedicated anti-shield weapon at first, and very slow at mining and opening containers in Hardcore mode. It also doesn't start with a turret. However, this loadout starts with a Front Shield Generator and 4 Anti Missile Drones, giving the slow ship some much needed defense in the early sectors, making it a good choice for pilots that find they struggle to get started in the gunship without an early Front Shield Generator. 8 Corrosion Missiles and 5 Mine Clusters make it really potent against larger targets in the early sectors as well, and the Anti Missile drones and Front Shield make it very easy to fight the G&B with the M3 Laser Beam. Finally, it starts with 2 Nano Injectors, so lost hull is easy to replace, allowing you to save up your nanobots for later.

Colonial Sentinel

 * The Colonial Sentinel is reliant on secondary weapons and device usage due to it's lack of primary weapon slots.
 * General-purpose primary weapons such as the Beam Laser, Lightning Gun, Coil Gun, Shock Rifle, and possibly the Plasma Thrower work well as you cannot have two different weapons specializing in hull and shield with only one slot, unlike the other three ships.
 * Because most general-purpose weapons have somewhat low DPS, using a damaging device such as Mainframe Override and/or Static Discharger is worthwhile. EMP Generator is also good, gives you some time to deal primary weapon damage without getting shot at.
 * The Sentinel has the most energy capacity and highest regeneration rate out of all four ships so don't be afraid to use high-cost devices

Builds
This is a list of user submitted builds that they like to use and have a good success rate with. However, these are built with mid or late-game status in mind. For early game equipment tips, see the loadouts section.

Enemy Specific

 * Always destroy drones first - they can do lots of damage, but are weak and easy to destroy.
 * Many points of interest in a zone will provoke an Outlaw or Okkar ambush
 * Before completing the main story, unkillable Colonial Warships will jump after several waves of Okkar ships if you take too long in a zone. It is best to jump out before this happens.
 * It is possible to destroy the turrets on the warships, but they cannot be fully destroyed.

Elite enemies

 * Elite enemies are just stronger versions of the normal variant. They are the main way to get access keys.

Ancient Wardens
These are the big baddies guarding Ancient Structures, and can be quite tough to take down if unprepared. Combat tips:
 * Always strafe to one side or the other. If you are fast enough, you should be able to avoid most of the homing projectiles. They do curve around and try to hit you again however, so be careful.
 * Keep track of where it is so you can be ready for the blinding pulse of light.
 * Secondary weapons like Light Missiles make the Warden teleport away, so they are not effective weapons against this enemy.
 * They only have a shield health bar, so weapons that deal lots of shield damage are effective.
 * Be sure to keep your distance when it dies or is close to it, as they quickly collapse into a short-lived (but still strong) black hole when they do.

Okkar

 * When destroying a Corvette or Frigate, Okkar reinforcements will often jump in as the ship is destroyed, so be sure to watch out for them.
 * Okkar fighters have strong shields, but weaker hulls.
 * Corvettes will often have multiple shield charge drones with it - use a Drone Override at the beginning of the fight to make destroying it a lot easier
 * Okkar Interceptors are very tough to take down (extremely fast recharge with a strong shield, combined with teleporters and cloaks), so it might be best to avoid them if your equipment isn't very good.
 * Use G&B fuel tanks and freighters as 'meat shields' to get the G&B to be aggressive against the Okkar, and possibly get loot (fuel/containers) without angering G&B.

Frigates

 * Focus on destroying the energy cores around the ship while strafing constantly to avoid the turrets and other ships.
 * The energy cores power the powerful ball charge attack, which is fairly easy to dodge.
 * Usually, you will be able to destroy the ship before you can destroy all the cores.

Outlaws

 * Most Outlaw ships have a weak shield, but a strong hull.
 * Outlaw Marauder Missiles are more agile than normal and often overheat components, but do less damage, so keep your distance.
 * Use Drone Overrides against Outlaw Bombers (they spawn with two Anti-Missile Drones usually)
 * Drone Carrier link drones are immune to the Drone Override.
 * The Flak Cannon, Lightning Gun, and Remote Energy Discharger are very effective against carriers and their link drones.

G&B

 * Looting G&B containers will agro nearby ships, but full hostility will not be triggered. A good strategy is to loot all G&B containers when done with a zone and then jump out.
 * If you're low on fuel but don't want to make G&B hostile when looting their fuel tanks, you can lure enemies to break the tanks open for you by hiding behind them. This is also useful for getting G&B to help you against Okkar, as they are neutral otherwise.

Equipment Specific

 * Most equipment/consumables have a multiplicative effect (such as Damage Limiters, Damage Booster), not additive
 * Don't forget to use your consumables and secondary weapons often - it is a waste to keep them saved up. You get restocked constantly.

Primary Weapons

 * Weapons that need to be charged for extra damage like the Shock Rifle and Scatter Gun will keep consuming energy while fully charged
 * Weapons that need to be charged before firing like the Gatling or Beam Laser M3 will not consume energy while pre-charging.
 * The Flak Cannon (and the 5-5 variant) are great at taking down link drones from Outlaw drone carriers, as well as mining resource deposits quickly. It can be used as a general-purpose weapon because of how easy it is to hit enemies with it.
 * The Lightning Gun is also good for taking down an Outlaw drone carrier and its link drones. Targeting the carrier will chain the lightning to the drones.
 * If you have the slots, it's a good idea to have weapons that specialize in either shield or hull damage. Certain weapons are better for shield/hull than others, such as the Gatling for hull and Fusion Blaster for shield. There are also general-purpose weapons like the Beam Laser which are a good choice for a primary weapon slot.

Ancient Weapon

 * This weapon is ineffective in close fights and is best used at a distance. It also may not be very effective versus Okkar frigates, due to how many times it might have to be fired.
 * Every shot counts, so be sure to aim well. If your crosshair turns red, that means your crosshair is hovering directly over the enemy you're targeting.
 * The Colonial Gunship is recommended for the ship to use with this weapon. It has the most hull hitpoints and has increased armor which lowers the damage from each shot. Also, turrets and drones make up for the loss of other weapons and make close-range fights a lot easier.
 * It deals less than five damage to the hull with the gunship - armor decreases the damage taken from it.


 * Using this weapon can be kind of boring.
 * If your hull is at 1, it will not kill you if you fire it.

Secondary Weapons

 * Light Missiles are meant to be often crafted and used, as they are very cheap.
 * To save time in Hardcore, you can also use them to instantly mine resource deposits.
 * Shield Breaker Missiles are the same way.


 * Heavy Missiles are great for one-shotting fighters or severely damaging even tougher enemies, but is more than twice the cost of a Light Missile.
 * In Hardcore especially, they can be used to instantly mine resource deposits (if you don't have an explosive weapon already, like the Flak Cannon) - this saves time and energy.


 * Plasma Torpedoes are relatively cheap and very powerful against Okkar Corvettes and other large ships. Trying to hit normal fighters and drones with them is difficult.
 * Destabilizer Missiles are cheap, strong, stack with damage boosters, and work on all forms of damage.
 * Corrosion Missiles are great combined with Destabilizers, and because of the shield bypass, it is best to save these for Okkar Corvettes, as they have very strong shields.
 * Seeker Missile Batteries are incredible for taking out large groups of enemies. Unlike other missile secondaries, it might be best to save these for more extreme situations as they are more rare and expensive.
 * Stasis Missiles are very good for disabling a very potent threat, especially M2 Marauders, Mk3 Fighters, Mk2 Bombers, and Elite Interceptors. Pulling them out of the fight and making them super vulnerable goes a long way, depending on the situation and other enemies nearby.
 * Mine Clusters:
 * Each mine deals 200 damage, slightly less than a normal Plasma Mine.
 * That number is both the shield and hull damage. So if an enemy has less than 200 shields, they would take X shield damage (depleting it completely) and then also take 200 hull damage.
 * Useful for setting a trap for random Outlaw and Okkar ambushes.
 * Charging it and direct-firing it at Okkar Corvettes or Frigates can cause massive damage, as the ships are very large and will detonate most if not all of the mines that are created. You can also detonate the mines with an explosive weapon.
 * Mines will explode after a while if they are not triggered.

Devices

 * The Drone Disassembler is great for getting a ton of resources and nanobots, and for instantly destroying pesky drones
 * G&B Mining Drones, Okkar Shield Drones, and Outlaw Link Drones do not drop any resources


 * If you're having difficulty dodging, it is better to use the normal Shield (or Shield ST on the Sentinel). Otherwise, the Shield XC might be a better choice.
 * Cloak:
 * Great for getting out of fights that are too difficult to handle, or throwing off enemies.
 * It is possible to disable jump suppressors and use comm hubs while under cloak.


 * The Energy Discharger is better combined with Energy Core Extensions and backup Energy Injectors

Consumables

 * The Drone Override is great for Okkar Corvettes as they can spawn with four Shield Charge Drones and Outlaw Bombers which can spawn with two Anti-Missile Drones.

Enhancements

 * Leech, Equalizer, and Jump Repairs offer hull restoration without Nanobots.
 * Daredevil turns off your shield in favor of infinite energy, which gives you an extra device slot that the shield would have taken up otherwise.
 * The Ancient splitters spawned by the Ancient Friends glyph can be easily farmed for dark energy, as they do not attack you if you attack them

Modifications

 * Fire Rate Mods: An increased fire rate also results in increased total energy consumption since the weapon is firing faster, although the energy consumption rate is unchanged by the mod