SWTOR Galactic Starfighter Guide and Best Builds (2024)

A complete and very thorough guide to absolutely everything you need for SWTOR Galactic Starfighter, aka GSF: Intro, UI, Mechanics, Ships, Builds, Maps, Tips!

The guide is up-to-date for Patch 7.5

Introduction to Galactic Starfighter (GSF)

Starfighters have been an iconic part of Star Wars as they decided the fates of the entire galaxy time and time again ranging from the Battle of Yavin where Luke Skywalker destroyed the Death Star to Revan ending the Mandalorian Wars above the planet of Malachor V.

Now you’re likely seeking to get in on this action but wouldn’t you know it? Piloting a Starfighter can come off as confusing and intimidating. This is what this guide is for, to guide you on the various controls and mechanics of flying a starship! If you’re here looking for quick build recommendations for ships, please refer to the “Starships in GSF” portion of the guide. If you’re looking to greatly improve your dogfighting capabilities then do read on!

FAQ

Here are some common questions that you may have with their answers.

“Is my ship something I choose upon loading in or something I maintain outside the minigame?”
Any changes made to your ship are done outside of the minigame and you cannot change these options while queued up for a match.

“Is your ship’s stats deterministic? (IE: Is every Flashfire exactly the same)”
Yes and No. While the base stats are shared among the same models of ships, their stats can differ depending on the Crew Passive abilities chosen by the pilot.

“Is friendly fire on?”
No, you cannot hurt allied ships with your weapons.

“Is there an objective beyond blowing up your opponents?”
That depends on the game mode. There are currently two game modes, Deathmatch and Domination. Deathmatch you just kill enemy starships while in Domination you seek to control Satellites for as long as possible until a score cap is hit.

“What does each stat do and how do they scale?”
Please refer to the “Mechanics of GSF” portion of the guide for this answer.

“Can I use a Flight Stick to play GSF?”
No, you need your mouse to control the crosshair for your primary weapon as well as control your pitch and yaw.

“Are cosmetics and Cartel Market Ships I unlock shared across my Legacy?”
Unfortunately no and I’m surprised this has never been fixed. Paint job styles, paint job colors, engine colors, blaster colors, and ships purchased with Cartel Coins will only be unlocked for the character you bought them on. There appears to be no option for a Legacy Unlock.

Hangar Window Overview

By default, the key to bring up the GSF Hangar is the “H” key, alternatively you can click the starship icon around the border of your minimap and under the “Explore” tab in your Menu Bar.

By default, the key to bring up the GSF Hangar is the “H” key, alternatively you can click the starship icon around the border of your minimap and under the “Explore” tab in your Menu Bar.

The Launch Tab

This is the first tab you’ll see when you open your hangar. At the top you can find Ship and Fleet Requisitions. Requisitions are a type of currency you gain for playing Galactic Starfighter and you can spend this to upgrade your ship.

Ship Requisition is requisition that can only be used for the ship you have selected while Fleet Requisition can be used to purchase upgrades on any ship you own. It is best to use

Fleet Requisition for purchasing Crew Members and Starships first and foremost as this is the only currency that allows you to purchase those things. You can convert Ship Requisition into Fleet Requisition by converting it with Cartel Coins using the button with the Green and Fuschia Chevrons.

To the right of the Requisitions, you find two additional buttons. The Downward Chevron is your Battle Record. This provides all kinds of useless stats you can use for bragging rights. The Question Mark will give you the option to launch the Tutorial level of GSF. This is a great option if you want to get a feel for GSF without putting yourself in danger.

The left panel will display which Ship Components your selected ships are outfitted with along with passive stats gained from your Crew. The right panel provides a brief description of the ship, the stats of the ship, and the Launch/Group Launch buttons. You can queue for a GSF match by yourself by clicking the Launch button or bring your group with the Group launch Button. Alternatively, you can do this by using the PvP tab of the Activity Window.

At the very bottom you have your hangar of ships that will be available in a GSF match. You are only able to have up to 5 ships when you queue so choose wisely. To change the ships available for you in a match, click one of the boxes and press the “Select Your Ship” button to bring up a menu.

From here you click a ship not currently in your roster and it will replace what was in the box. You’ll notice that a ship in your roster can have a purple x2 corner, this means that you can gain up to 500 extra requisition for flying this ship in a match.

The Ships Tab

The Ships Tab will allow you to view currently available and unavailable starships at your disposal. The left panel has dropdown menus for Strike Fighters, Scouts, Bombers, and Gunships. Details about the Strengths and Weaknesses of each ship type will be available in the “Starships in GSF” portion of this guide.

The right panel will display the description of your ship as well as a list of any components that can be equipped to this ship. Be sure to scroll down the right side in order to see all components available and currently equipped on a ship. Currently equipped components are written in Yellow while unequipped components are written in White.

The Components Tab

The components tab will show the components that your ship can use. These may require you to unlock through Ship or Fleet Requisitions. It is generally good practice to use your Ship Requisitions for this as those are easier to come by. The types of available components depend on the model of your ship. Some ships will have more offensive, defensive, or utility choices. No ship has everything otherwise it would be too powerful.

On the left side are the component options currently available for your ship. If you select one of these options, the panel on the right will show you upgrades available along with options to augment the way your component functions. Above that is a description of the component. For a more in-depth look at ship components, please refer to the “Ship Components” portion of the guide.

The Cosmetics Tab

Options within the Cosmetics tab are primarily purchased with Cartel Coins. On occasion, you may be able to unlock some cosmetics like paint jobs through event vendors such as the anniversary vendor on the fleet.

On the left panel you’ll find Primary Weapon Color options, Engine Color options, and Paint Job options. When selecting a paint job, available color schemes will appear on the right panel with the option to invert the color’s placement on the ship. You can preview options without purchasing them.

The Crew Tab

The Crew Tab shows the Crew currently outfitting your ship. All crew members are a companion available to your class along with some available to other classes.

You can choose up to 4 crew members with one of each being from the Offensive, Defensive, Tactical, and Engineering options. Each crew member adds 2 passive stat buffs to your currently selected ship allowing you to fine tune it to your tastes.

Additionally, you can choose one of the four crew members you’ve selected to be your co-pilot where you can access their active ability while in GSF.

The left panel features dropdown menus of the various crew categories along with the crews belonging to those categories. On the right you can get a description of the companion and their active ability.

Hovering over the active ability will provide a tooltip describing the ability. A list of Crew Passives and Active abilities are available in the “Crew Members” portion of the guide.

GSF HUD Overview

Below is how you will see the Heads Up Display (HUD) by default. I would recommend moving things into a more compact formation so your eyes can do less darting around the screen and more focus on the combat at hand.

You can do this outside or in a GSF match though I would say the best place to set it up is in the Tutorial Level. You can accomplish this through the Interface Editor which can be brought up by pressing Esc and clicking the Interface Editor option. From there you select the second dropdown menu and select Galactic Starfighter to change your GSF HUD layout.

From here you may move the GSF HUD elements as you see fit though I suggest keeping them compact. Below is a variant I use, it’s compact and keeps relevant info close for me to look at without darting to different corners of the screen for information while still providing me a good view of what’s ahead of me.

Now let’s look at the HUD in a simulated combat scenario. We’ll be looking at the Scoreboard, Minimap, Firing Arc, Targeting Computer, Ship Status, Power Status, Weapon Status, and Ability Bar.

Scoreboard

Below is the scoreboard you’ll see while in a Galactic Starfighter Match. When you’re in a Deathmatch, the A with the circles around it won’t be there.

When you are in a Domination match, there’ll be two more letters with circles around them, B and C. The A, B, and C markers indicate Satellites in a Domination Match. They will appear blue when they are neutral, green when your team controls it, and red when the enemy team controls it.

The three circles above the letter indicate how many Defense Turrets have spawned around your Satellite. If you see these indicators turn off, it means that the satellite is under attack as someone destroyed its Defense Turrets.

The bottom bar will fill up with green when your team scores points and the enemy’s bar on top will fill with red when they score points.

Points are gained by getting kills in both Deathmatch and Domination, but in Domination they are also gained when your team has control of a Satellite.

On the left of the scoreboard is the timer that indicates the amount of time left in a match. Once it goes out, the winning team will be determined by who currently has the most points.

Minimap

The minimap allows you to have a quick look of the map you’re currently in. In it you can see any physical terrain, satellites, allies and enemies.

Ally ships will appear as green arrows while enemy ships will appear as red arrows. You’ll also be able to see in which direction allied and enemy ships are currently facing so it’s useful to know if an enemy is heading your way.

Things like defense turrets, defense probes, mines, and other stationary deployables will appear as circles with green circles being allied and red circles being hostile.

How far you can see depends on the Sensor Range and Communication Range of your own ship and your allied ships. For an in-depth look into the function of Sensor and Communication Range, please refer to the “Mechanics of GSF” portion of the guide. If you wish to view the full sized map, the hotkey for that is set to M by default.

Firing Arc

This below is the firing arc and is the most likely culprit of intimidation alongside starship movement to newcomers in GSF.

Let’s break it down piece by piece so you can know what you’re looking at as afterall, the source of fear is a lack of knowledge about something. The yellow bar on the left is your Weapon Power Pool. This is the pool of energy used to fire your primary weapons and if it is empty, you will not be able to fire any shots until it gains enough charge to allow primary weapon fire.

The purple bar on your fight is the your Engine Power Pool. This pool is used when you use your Boosters or Engine Abilities.

To the right of that is your speed indicator though in the example above, I turned off my engine so it’s empty. When your ship is active, your speed will be set to medium but you’ll be able to increase or decrease your speed with your Accelerate and Decelerate keys.

To the right of the engine speed indicator, you have the Mystery Rectangle. As far as I can tell, this does nothing and is likely a remnant of the GSF development phase that probably had a planned use but nothing was ever done with it.

Then in the circle in the very center of the HUD is your firing arc. You’ll notice how there’s one large circle and a smaller circle within it. The larger circle indicates the area in which you can fire your primary weapons and the smaller circle within it indicates the area where you can fire your secondary weapons.

The exact size of these firing arcs depends on the currently equipped weapons and any buffs to your firing arcs you currently have applied. To provide a better visual example, I’ll highlight the areas in the same picture.

Lastly, you’ll notice a little crosshair that moves around with your mouse. You use this crosshair to aim at your target within your firing arc and use your Primary or Secondary Weapon buttons to fire.

The stationary circle formation in the center indicates the area in which you will suffer from no Accuracy Tracking Penalty when using your primary weapon. The farther you are away from this circular area, the less accurate your weapons will be.

You will learn more about Firing Arcs and the Accuracy Tracking Penalty in the Mechanics of GSF portion of the guide, which is further below.

Targeting Computer

Below is your Targeting Computer, this screen will show you your target’s positioning relative to your ship as well as its distance from you, shield health, hull health, and of course their name.

At the very top will be the target’s name whether it’s an NPC such as a Defense Turret or Defense Drone deployed by another player. Right below the name lists your target’s current target letting you know if they are focusing on you or an ally. At the very bottom it lists their distance to you up to your Sensor Range radius.

The sides will show you the current health of your target. While in this example, the left side says “0” and has nothing in the bars. When you target a ship, these will be blue to indicate shield health.

The top blue bar indicates the target’s front shield health with the bottom bar being the target’s rear shield health. The right side indicates the target’s hull health percentage ranging from 1-100 meaning their percentage health remaining. The red bar is another visual indicator of their current health and will deplete when they take hull damage.

In the examples above, you can see how you’ll view enemy targets in your HUD. As you’ll notice, enemies that you are actively targeting will gain a circle and four lines around them.

When your current target is off-screen, they’ll appear as a red diamond on your Firing Arc. This diamond points you to the direction you’ll need to face in order to see them on-screen again.

Ship Status

This is the indicator of your ship’s shield health, hull health, and the little portion on the right indicates your shield settings. By default, your buffs and debuffs will be shown directly above your ship status so if you decide to move things around from the default setting, I highly suggest keeping that status bar near your ship status.

Shield Health and Shield Settings

Your shield health is indicated by 2 arcs on both the front and the rear of your ship’s hull health indicator. Taking damage from in front of you will lower the front shield’s health whereas getting hit in the back will lower your rear shield’s health.

Your health can easily regenerate in time by either avoiding damage or by using shield abilities to reinforce your shield’s strength. By default, your shield’s health will appear as a deep green color though it can change depending on your power settings or your shield settings if you’re using a directional shield. From full health to low health, your shield’s color will appear as follows…

Blue > Deep Green > Light Green > Yellow > Orange > Red

To the right you’ll see the settings for your shield. The only shield that makes use of this is a Directional Shield which allows you to focus more power to the front or rear of your ship. By default, it is balanced as indicated by the two lines. If the Up Arrow is lit up, shield power is being focused towards the front and if the Down Arrow is lit up, shield power is being focused towards the rear.

Hull Health

Your ship’s hull is indicated by the outline picture of the ship you’re currently flying. At full health, it will appear as this deep green color. As it takes damage it’ll change colors which are as follows from full health to low health…

Deep Green > Light Green > Yellow > Orange > Red

In order to regain health, you’ll need the appropriate abilities such as the Nullify Co-Pilot ability or by staying near an allied Repair Probe.

Power Status

Above are the various power settings you can use on your ship. By default, it’s set to the balanced state in which all aspects of your ship are receiving equal amounts of power. By focusing power to one of your ship components, you can increase the efficiency of that component.

Diverting power to your weapons will increase your primary weapon damage and increase your primary weapon pool’s regeneration rate. Focus power to your weapons when you are taking the offensive against an opponent or if you’re using a railgun on a gunship.

Diverting power to your shields will increase your maximum shield health as indicated when they turn blue as well as increasing your shield health regeneration rate. Use this setting if you need to regenerate shield health after a battle or if you expect to take heavy blaster fire.

Diverting power to your engines will increase your engine speed and increase your engine power pool regeneration rate. Use this setting if you need to get to a point as fast as you can. Using your Boosters can increase your speed by 320% but be sure to leave some engine power left for engine abilities if you’re entering a heated situation.

Weapon Status and Ability Bar

The Weapon Status icons indicate your currently equipped Primary and Secondary Weapons. Some ships allow you to switch your currently equipped primary weapon or secondary weapon depending on the model.

Below the weapon icons is your ammunition. Since your primary weapon uses energy from your Weapon Power Pool, it can be regenerated so its ammo count is listed with an infinity symbol. Many secondary weapons have a limited ammo pool, so those that use an ammo pool will no longer function if this reaches 0. Ammunition can be regained when respawning or an allied effect that resupplies ships with ammunition.

The ability bar lists currently available abilities determined by the ship you’re piloting and what it’s outfitted with. You activate these with the 1, 2, 3, and 4 keys by default. You can find any System Abilities, Weapon Switching Abilities, Engine Abilities, Shield Abilities, and Co-Pilot Abilities here.

GSF Controls and Movement

To view and change controls, you’ll need to press the Esc key and go to “Preferences”. From there, select the Starfighter Key Bindings tab on the bottom of the window. I will be listing the default controls below but feel free to change them to your liking.

If you have access to an MMO Mouse with the 12 buttons on the side, this can help improve your efficiency with adding key binds to those buttons, though an MMO mouse is just extra and you can get by perfectly fine without one.

Modification Control

These are the bindings that allow you to adjust your ship’s power options as mentioned in the Power Status section above.

• Weapon Power Conversion – F1
• Shield Power Conversion – F2
• Engine Power Conversion – F3
• Default Power Conversion – F4

Weapons and Abilities

These are the keys used for your ship’s ability bar.

• System Ability – 1
• Shield Ability – 2
• Engine Ability – 3
• Copilot Ability – 4

Mobility shortcuts

These will be your most important keybindings as your movement is what will keep you alive in dogfights by outmaneuvering your opponents. Visual examples of movement and how it functions in the XYZ Axes will be explained after we finish reviewing controls.

• Accelerate – W / Up Arrow
• Decelerate – S / Down Arrow
• Toggle Throttle – X
• Boosters – Space
• Roll Left – A / Left Arrow
• Roll Right – D / Right Arrow
• Strafe Up – Shift + W / Ctrl + Up Arrow
• Strafe Down – Shift + S / Ctrl + Down Arrow
• Strafe Right – Shift + D / Ctrl + Right Arrow
• Strafe Left – Shift + A / Ctrl + Left Arrow
• Auto Roll – V

Targeting

• Select Target Under Cursor – E
• Cycle Nearest Enemies – Tab
• Free Look Camera – F
• Target Camera – C
• Toggle Mouse Mode – Shift + Z
• Hold Mouse Mode – Z
• Cycle Last Attackers – R

The following keys allow you to quickly look around your ship at preset camera angles. This can be useful for tracking targets around you without having you turn and to get a good bearing on your surroundings.

Now you might be wondering what the colors mean. This will make more sense in the next section where we talk about the X, Y, and Z axes. If you already know what these mean, Green is for the Z Axis, Red for the X Axis, and Blue for the Y Axis.

• Quick Look Forward Left – 7
• Quick Look Left – 4
• Quick Look Rear Left – 1
• Quick Look Rear – 2
• Quick Look Rear Right – 3
• Quick Look Right – 6
• Quick Look Forward Right – 9
• Quick Look Up – 8
• Quick Look Down – 2

Movement explained

Now let’s discuss the X, Y, and Z axes you’ll have to come to be familiar with if you want to understand free movement in a 3D space like that found in Galactic Starfighter.

This is one of the key things that confuses people when they start playing GSF and are not familiar with video games where you move in a 3D space.

If you’ve played games like Star Wars: X-Wing, Star Wars: TIE Fighter, Star Wars: Squadrons, or Elite: Dangerous then you should be familiar with movement in a 3D space like this. But for those who haven’t played those games, let’s discuss the axes.

First off, chances are you want to know how to reorient yourself to the “Ground”. You can achieve this with the Auto Roll Key (V) and let it reset your position. Though in time you’ll need to let go of your concept of the “ground” and face it by default as your X, Y, and Z planes are relative to your current position and orientation. To put it simply…

• The X Axis is your plane of movement when moving Horizontally Left and Horizontally Right.
• The Z Axis is your plane of movement when moving Forwards or Backwards.
• The Y Axis is your plane of movement when moving Vertically Up or Vertically Down.

The most basic movement you can make in GSF is moving forward. If your engine is on, you will be moving forward. You can Accelerate or Decelerate to adjust your speed, or if you want to cancel all movement you’ll need to Toggle Throttle.

Any residual movement will push you forward until you hit a complete stop when you toggle your throttle. To move forward again, Toggle Throttle again or hit the Accelerate or Decelerate keys.

There is no option to go backwards unless you have the Retro Thrusters, visual examples of this and other engine abilities will be featured in the “Ship Components” portion of the guide.

Your Pitch movement is affected by your mouse when you move your mouse to the edge of your firing arc towards the top or bottom of the arc. This will point your ship upwards or downwards on the Y plane and has a faster turning rate than your Yaw turning rate.

Your Yaw movement rotates your ship on the XZ Planes, essentially turning your ship left and right. You can use this to adjust your view but in a dogfight you’ll want to rely more on your Pitch movement to follow your target as your Yaw turning rate is much slower compared to your Pitch turning rate.

When you Rotate, you spin your ship in a clockwise or counterclockwise manner. This is used to manually adjust your orientation and can be used in unison with Pitch turning and Yaw turning to quickly reposition to face a target.

Using your rotations can allow you to readjust to confusing terrain such as a satellite. Kiting an enemy around a satellite while in the upright position can be a bit confusing as it seems cramped, though you just have to rotate 180 degrees.

You’ll find that it is now more manageable to weave through the structures of the satellite. Changing your perspective of your terrain can improve your efficiency and make you more slippery for opponents to track.

Strafing will allow you to move horizontally on your X and Y axes. The speed at which you strafe will be rather slow and is more often used by Gunships to fine tune their position to peek over terrain or by Bombers to hide in the nook of a satellite. You can also strafe while using your Yaw and Rotate functions to more efficiently track a target in a dogfight.

Starships in GSF

Now it’s time to look into the fun stuff, the starships you’re able to pilot! Now you might be wondering why you would want to choose a Strike Fighter, Scout, Bomber, or Gunship in a given scenario.

What are their pros and cons? Which components does a specific ship work with? I will be touching on the different niches and the different types of ships in each category.

Each category of ship has a ship you can purchase with Cartel Coins. These CC Ships are a carbon copy of one of the other ships in terms of their stats and outfitting options. This allows them to act as a secondary outfitted option if you enjoy the ship it copies.

So while there are several differences between the various ship categories, I will be touching on the primary buff each ship gets within their category.

Strike Fighters: +15% Primary Weapon Range
As Strike Fighters are the kings of dogfighting in GSF, it only makes sense that they would have the best Primary Weapon Range. An extra 15% may not seem like much but it scales much better on Primary Weapons such as the Ion Cannon, Heavy Laser Cannon, and Quad-Laser Cannon. Pair this with a Range Capacitor and you’ll be able to take down opponents while their weapons may be out of range!

Scouts: +10% Evasion and Highest Base Sensor and Sensor Focus Range
Scout ships are meant to dart across the map to provide support to allies in need. Though this speed often comes at the cost of having weaker hulls and shields. Instead, Scout ships must use their speed and maneuverability to defeat their opponents by hitting them from behind. With Deflection Armor and Crew Passives, Scout ships can have the highest base Evasion Chance of all ship categories with an Evasion Chance of 33%. Scouts also have the highest base range of their sensor systems out of the starfighters so they’re great to use if you want to have more map awareness.

Bombers: Highest Base Health of the Starfighter Classes
Bombers may be slow but they are built to be tough and durable. With their high base health and 10% base damage reduction, Bombers can take a beating before they are taken down leaving ample time to deploy their mines, missiles, and drones.

Gunships: +20% Missile and Torpedo Range
If you’re looking to blow things up, Gunships are your go-to as they possess a much larger Missile and Torpedo range than other ships. Pair this with a wide firing arc, few opponents will be able to escape your sights and be blown into stardust! Gunships are also the only ships able to equip Railguns to snipe their opponents from thousands of kilometers away!

In the following section, various ships may be referred to as T1, T2, or T3. This is an acronym for Type 1-3 ships. This can be said in chat to quickly identify what kind of ship your teammates should watch out for and act appropriately to that ship. So now that you have a taste for what you’re in for, let’s look into the ship categories and some quick builds for them!

• Strike Fighters
  • T1 Strike Fighter: Star Guard / Rycer
  • T2 Strike Fighter: Pike / Quell
  • T3 Strike Fighter: Clarion / Imperium
• Scouts
  • T1 Scout: Novadive / Blackbolt
  • T2 Scout: Flashfire / Sting
  • T3 Scout: Spearpoint / Bloodmark
• Bombers
  • T1 Bomber: Rampart Mk IV / Razorwire
  • T2 Bomber: Warcarrier / Legion
  • T3 Bomber: Sledgehammer / Decimus
• Gunships
  • T1 Gunship: Quarrel / Mangler
  • T2 Gunship: Comet Breaker / Dustmaker
  • T3 Gunship: Condor / Jurgoran

Strike Fighters

Strike Fighters offer a great balance between offense, defense, speed, and maneuverability. You can never go wrong with these ships as they’re great to have in any scenario whether it’s taking satellites or focusing down priority enemy targets.

They each have a decent base Damage Reduction and Evasion stat so they can scale with numerous defenses. Though their greatest strength when compared to other starfighters is that they have an additional 15% bonus range on primary weapons. Due to this, getting down your aim is important to make the most of your strike fighter. Now let’s look at some example builds!

T1 Strike Fighter: Star Guard / Rycer

Beginner Friendly Build

Components

Crew

The T1 Strike Fighter is the poster child of Galactic Starfighter as it is a strong choice to have in any scenario. This is due to its great speed and maneuverability options along with its ability to equip two different kinds of primary weapons.

In this particular build, you’ll be able to attack safely from a distance with the Heavy Laser Cannons, Ion Cannons, and Proton Torpedoes while remaining a significant threat to your opponents.

Since the T1 Strike Fighter has no Armor option, having the Quick Charge Shields here helps make up for that so you can quickly bring up your defenses at a moment’s notice.

You’re going to be under a lot of fire from behind so the Retro Thrusters helps you deal with people chasing you. If they’re close enough behind, you’ll end up being the one behind them!

The Cartel Market Strike Fighter is a carbon copy of the T1 so you may use it as a secondary loadout if you’re a fan of the T1 Strike Fighter.

T2 Strike Fighter: Pike / Quell

Beginner Friendly Build

Components

Crew

The T2 Strike Fighter is the best ship for capturing a satellite surrounded by mines in Domination. When properly outfitted, it can gain 99% damage reduction for a small period of time allowing it to sweep up a minefield and defense turrets unscathed. Though this will not work against ships that can ignore armor or have armor penetration like those found on enemy pilot’s ships.

This particular build is is excellent for absolute beginners in GSF as it offers great range, two forms of missiles serving offensive and utility purposes, and being rather self sufficient. Start with this build to get a feel for GSF before trying more niche builds like the maximum damage reduction build you can pull off with the T2 Strike Fighter.

T3 Strike Fighter: Clarion / Imperium

Beginner Friendly Build

Components

Crew

The T3 sacrifices some offensive capability in favor of utility. This does not mean that the T3 isn’t a formidable fighter in combat. Having access to things like Combat Command, Repair Probes, and Shield Projector, the T3 increases the capabilities of their allies in a dogfight.

This build allows you to act as a Combat Support Fighter that will always be useful in any scenario. This is due to the Repair Probes you have equipped. Keeping your allies alive is very important in GSF so having the Hull Repairs with the Ammo Refill will never be unappreciated.

Scouts

Scouts sacrifice some hull health in exchange for a 10% Evasion Chance, high engine speeds, and access to unique utilities to boost their allies ability to perform both actively and passively. While they can’t fight a Strike Fighter head on, they instead must use their speed and maneuverability to outflank their opponent to catch them at vulnerable positions.

Due to this ability, they can make great interceptors to quickly take down a priority target such as a strike fighter, gunship, or bomber. If you like acting as a nimble support or want to leave your opponents eating cosmic dust left by you, then you’ll want to try out Scout Fighters!

T1 Scout: Novadive / Blackbolt

Beginner Friendly Build

Components

Crew

The T1 Scout seeks to have the middle ground between combat and support capabilities. Due to this, it can be a great ship to use as a support in heavy dogfight zones such as a satellite in a Domination map.

Though the biggest strength of this ship is that it is the one of the only ships able to equip an EMP Field generator in its Systems component slot. This is a very useful AoE that inhibits the abilities of enemy ships within a 4,500 meter range. The EMP Field has options to disable an enemy’s shield or engine abilities for 10 seconds and has the choice to make you and up to 3 of your allies immune to missile lock-ons for 3 seconds.

I’m sure you can see why this ability is rather powerful when properly used, though keep in mind that the 4,500 meter range is considered short in GSF. The short range of this ability is why I recommend it as a combat support for dogfights where enemies will be clumped together more often.

With the Rocket Pods, you can quickly take out stationary targets such as Defense Drones and Sentry Drones. Aim to be an annoyance and take out drones and mines to support the Strike Fighters in your squad.

T2 Scout: Flashfire / Sting

Beginner Friendly Build

Components

Crew

The T2 Scout has the strongest dog fighting capabilities of the scout as it has access to more powerful weapons. You can use it as an interceptor to outflank and chase down opponents or even use it as a starship assassin through use of the Sabotage Probe.

This is my personal ship of choice as I love the speed and combat power allowing me great flexibility in whether I want to fight at a satellite or book it to another point to provide support for my allies.

This build is best suited for Close Combat where you’ll need to be on your enemy’s tail. With the wide firing arc of the Burst Laser Cannon, you’ll be able to hit your target even as they try to out maneuver you. Pair that with a Damage Capacitor and Blaster Overcharge, your target will be space debris in no time.

The Cartel Market Scout is a carbon copy of the T2 so you may use it as a secondary loadout if you’re a fan of the T2 Scout.

T3 Scout: Spearpoint / Bloodmark

Beginner Friendly Build

Components

Crew

The T3 Scout is the most utility heavy scout and can be used as a support that can repair the hulls of allies through the Repair Probes or repair the shields of allies with a Shield Projector.

This particular build is best used in Domination as this is built for speed and taking out enemy bombers. At the start of the match, it’s a race to see which team gets to the satellites first so giving all your allies a speed boost with the Tensor Field is a huge boost to their headstart.

Meanwhile you yourself are built for speed so with this build, you’ll need to focus on taking out enemy bombers on their way to one of your team’s satellites. You can easy outrun and outmaneuver them. Take out their shields with your blaster cannons and finish them off with the thermite torpedoes!

Bombers

Bombers come in for the heavy duty jobs such as setting up minefields, defense drones, or repair damage done to their allies. Due to their sluggish nature, they’re nowhere near as nimble as a strike fighter or scout but this is made up for with their high base HP and base 10% damage reduction from their thick armor.

Mines and drones are excellent for setting up defensive positions or adding environmental hazards for enemies in a combat heavy area of the map. When it comes to dogfighting, bombers take on a heavy duty support role with their drones and hard hitting laser cannons. If you want to hit hard and make the terrain dangerous for the enemy to even get near, then the bomber is the right ship for you!

T1 Bomber: Rampart Mk IV / Razorwire

Beginner Friendly Build

Components

Crew

The T1 Bomber is the go-to ship for creating a minefield. It is best utilized in a Domination map to defend one of the side satellites as the middle one will have constant combat. Anything short of a T2 Strike Fighter with Max Damage Reduction build will be very apprehensive at even coming close to a satellite guarded by this bomber.

Regardless, you must be prepared for combat when it comes. Ideally you’ll be hiding in a nook of the satellite with your thrusters off to blend with with your Dampening Sensors and let the minds do the work. If need be, you’ll need to come out and strike a target like a gunship that can take out the mines from a range. We’re using the Heavy Laser Cannons for this build as it’s the longest range primary weapon available for this ship and can ignore all armor.

The Hyperspace Beacon is an engine component unique to the T1 bomber. This nifty component creates a spawn point for allies so it’s good to place it near the satellite. Try to keep it a bit out of the way behind some cover so it isn’t an easy target. The speed boost on the beacon helps allies reach you even faster to provide reinforcements for your satellite. When guarding a satellite, remember to keep an eye on your map for any incoming enemies and call “X Incoming Y” with X being the amount of enemy ships and Y being your location.

T2 Bomber: Warcarrier / Legion

Beginner Friendly Build

Components

Crew

The T2 Bomber is a great option if you need a versatile bomber that can defend a satellite, aid in dogfights, or somewhere in between. This build allows you to create a “Pit Stop” of sorts in GSF to let your allies recover from a battle. Your Railgun Sentry Drones and Heavy Laser Cannons will allow you to pick off enemies from a distance to protect your Repair Drone and allies.

When you create your pit stop, try to put it somewhere where there’s cover like a large wall or in between some debris, or inside a destroyed capital ship. Make sure there’s ample space to get out in the event you or your allies need to retreat, but with enough target practice you should be fine as you dispatch opponents from a distance.

Though the greatest threats to you are Gunships and Proton Torpedoes. There isn’t much you can do about gunships which is why I recommend cover while Proton Torpedoes can be stopped during the lock-on sequence with your Shield Power Converter ability. Though this is a temporary fix and will require that you find cover to avoid getting locked onto again.

The Cartel Market Bomber is a carbon copy of the T2 so you may use it as a secondary loadout if you’re a fan of the T2 Bomber.

T3 Bomber: Sledgehammer / Decimus

Beginner Friendly Build

Components

Crew

The T3 Bomber has the best dogfighting capabilities of the bombers available in GSF due to its access to a thruster component to increase speed and turning rate. With this build, we’re aiming to be a beefy, critical hitting, missile launching machine. The beauty of this build is that the EMP Field will allow you to prevent enemy ships from using their engine abilities meaning they can’t break missile locks leaving them open to critically hitting missiles and cannon fire with Aric’s ability.

For this ship, you’re not necessarily aiming to destroy enemy ships, rather you’re trying to freak out the enemy pilots to weaken their morale. The EMP Field does this easily enough by limiting their ability to escape missile locks without engine abilities. The cluster missiles help you live up to your Bomber title by relentlessly firing missiles. While they’re rather weak, the constant upkeep of them on a target will have them waste engine abilities to dodge missiles making them exposed to more powerful missile locks like that of a Proton Torpedo.

Gunships

When you want to pack a punch up close or out of reach of your opponents, the gunship will do that job! Some of the most iconic ships in Star Wars were gunships such as Boba Fett’s Firespray gunship, the Slave I, and Din Djarin’s Razor Crest from The Mandalorian.

As such, you can expect these ships to hit hard at the cost of being less mobile than a strike fighter or scout. Gunships have the highest range on secondary weapons as they receive a 20% increased range on them. For example, a strike fighter could have a max range on a Proton Torpedo of 11,500 meters. Meanwhile, a gunship can have a Proton Torpedo with a max range of 13,800 meters. Taking out an opponent from nearly 14,000 meters is nothing to scoff at.

The most prominent feature of gunships in GSF is that they have access to the Railgun secondary weapons. When used, you swap to a Scope view and your charge shots and unload on targets with near instant travel time of the projectile. They’re great for taking out priority targets, destroying a satellite’s defenses, and providing aid for allies in a dog fight by deleting ships and reducing the effectiveness of enemy squads.

The downside to this is that while the railgun is active, your engines are turned off and you become a sitting duck so Dampening Sensors and use of cover are vital for sniper build gunships.

T1 Gunship: Quarrel / Mangler

Beginner Friendly Build

Components

Crew

Do you want to feel like a bite sized Death Star? If so, then this is the gunship you need to fulfill that fantasy! The T1 Gunship is the go-to gunship for sniping enemy opponents as it has access to Slug, Ion, and Plasma Railguns and with the option for Rotational Thrusters, this ship can easily keep on target whether that target is 15,000 meters away or 500 meters away. Though a Barrel Roll is also great for getting some distance if a Scout gets on your tail.

If you wanted to, you can swap out B-3G9 with HK-51 or Qyzen Fess and use the Increased Critical Hit Chance option on the Slug Railgun to utilize a critical based build. I prefer Accuracy over Critical Rating however due to the nature of firing arcs as more accuracy allows me to more reliably land shots away from the center of the firing arc.

The Cartel Market Bomber is a carbon copy of the T1 so you may use it as a secondary loadout if you’re a fan of the T1 Gunship.

T2 Gunship: Comet Breaker / Dustmaker

Beginner Friendly Build

Components

Crew

If you need a gunship that can snipe opponents with a railgun but to also be ready to throw down when an enemy closes in on you? The T2 Gunship can do just that. It is also the only gunship able to equip Proton Torpedoes so you can to take advantage of that due to the 20% increased range on all secondary weapons.

If someone is getting too close, you’ll have 13,800 meters to work with to lock onto them and either destroy them or scare them off. As for the railgun, the Plasma Railgun is a solid pick as it’s useful in any scenario.

T3 Gunship: Condor / Jurgoran

Beginner Friendly

Components

Crew

The T3 gunship becomes the dog fighting gunship with access to thruster options, and as usual we’ll be taking turning thrusters for this build. If you find that someone is getting a little too close, you can use an Interdiction Missile to slow them down and open fire with your Burst Laser Cannon. This build is good for long range sniping and some close quarters combat, though do try to keep your distance whenever you can.

Ship Components

We’ll be going over the various ship components found in Galactic Starfighter in this chapter. I will be providing a summary of what they do and different occasions to use them!

Primary Weapons

Burst Laser Cannon

The Burst Laser Cannon is basically a laser shotgun for your ship in that it shoots out a spread shot. It has solid damage, ignores 100% of armor when upgraded at level 3, at level 4 it can increase the firing arc or get shield piercing, and has the typical increased hull or shield damage at level 5.

Though the greatest strength of the Burst Laser Cannon is that it has the lowest tracking penalty of all the primary weapons with -.50% per arc away from the center. This means that it has a high chance at hitting targets with the low loss of accuracy which can be upgraded with the Improved Firing Arc and Tracking choice at level 4.

This weapon does require a certain degree of skill due to its low rate of fire, short range, and large power draw. You’ll need to land your shots to make the most effective use of this weapon but it’s great for dealing with scouts that are flying circles around you.

Don’t let that scare you though as it’s a highly effective close quarters weapon! I feel this is best used on Gunships that need to pick off scouts flanking them or scouts looking to burst down priority targets quickly.

Heavy Laser Cannon

The Heavy Laser Cannon deals large damage with the longest range available for primary weapons. At level 4, it can gain a slightly increased critical hit chance or ignore 100% of armor, and at level 5 it can bypass shields or deal increased shield damage.

It’s best used at a long range where shots are easier to land as it consumes a lot of power and missing shots can leave you an easy target. It’s an excellent choice for a Strike Fighter to gain long ranged attacks and is a staple for bombers as it allows them to dispatch targets before they get too close.

The ability to ignore armor with shield bypass works extremely well with a Co-Pilot’s Bypass ability to ignore a third of the opponent’s shield and hit them where it hurts.

Ion Cannon

The Ion Cannon is exclusive to the T1 Strike Fighter as this weapon requires something to back it up as it’s primarily used against shields. Its damage against hulls is pathetic but it deals incredible amounts of damage to shields.

On top of that, it can reach a range of 6,613 meters with 102% weapon accuracy at that range making it a very reliable weapon. At level 4 it can get increased range or drain engine power with hits and at level 5, it can drain weapon power or drain shield power with hits.

As you may have noticed in the builds, I typically favor Increased Shield Damage options on weapons because the sooner you can bypass the shield the sooner you can do meaningful damage to the hull. With the Ion Cannon, your opponent can kiss their shields goodbye.

Laser Cannon

The Laser Cannon is a good mid-point all around. It has a decent range, decent damage, decent firing arc, you can’t go wrong with it. It can often be overlooked in favor of more specialized laser cannons but if you need a reliable weapon when you’re out of secondary weapon ammo then you’ll want this. At level 4 it can gain increased critical hit chance or reduce power consumption while at level 5 it can deal increased hull/shield damage. Its simplicity is its strength and should not be underestimated.

Light Laser Cannon

The Light Laser Cannon is often found on ships with weapons that will be less accurate. When it is available, it provides a safe choice for a weapon as it will typically be the most accurate weapon available for that ship. At level 4 it can gain increased critical hit chance or an improved firing arc and tracking. At level 5 it has the standard increased hull/shield damage. This is a solid weapon for short ranged combat and beats out the Laser Cannon in terms of DPS output in close range.

Quad Laser Cannon

The Quad Laser Cannon is a popular choice among skilled pilots. Between levels 1-3 it gains increased rate of fire, range, and damage making it pair well with any capacitor.

At level 4 it can gain increased critical hit damage or reduced power consumption, and at level 5 it can deal increased hull damage or have increased critical hit chance. As it’s the only primary weapon that has the ability to deal increased critical hit damage, it’s the perfect weapon of choice for a critical hit build on a starfighter. Its firing arc is limited and it has a poor accuracy tracking penalty making shots away from the core more inaccurate compared to other weapons aside from the Heavy Laser Cannon.

The Quad Laser Cannon also consumes a large amount of power so being able to hit your target is key. If you feel you have a good handle on aiming in GSF, I would highly recommend this weapon for its sheer power and versatility.

Rapid-fire Laser Cannon

The Rapid-fire Laser Cannon is a close range weapon that has the lowest damage per shot but offers the highest rate of fire available for primary weapons.

At level 3 it ignores armor on a ship, at level 4 it can gain increased critical hit chance or an improved firing arc and tracking, and at level 5 it has the standard increased hull/shield damage. This is actually my preferred weapon of choice as it works really well on scouts who rely on flanking their opponents.

With its low power consumption, it’s a good choice if you prefer to allocate ship power to shields or engines more often than weapons. If you get your aim down, targets you focus on will melt and it may be hard to go back to other close range weapons.

Secondary Weapons

Seeker Mines

Seeker Mines are your basic space mines made to blow up spacecraft. They’ll lock onto a target that enters a 4,000 meter radius of them which can deter ships with short ranged weapons from going into the area such as a satellite you’re defending.

Alternatively, you can hide in a nook or covered area such as inside part of ship debris to force anyone wanting to attack you to be within range of the mines. At level 4 it gains the option of doubling its speed or gaining another 500 meters in range. At level 5 it can deal 50% damage to enemy ships within a 2,000 meter radius or you’ll have the option to plant an additional mine for a grand total of 3.

If you’re wondering what you want to choose, that depends on how you’re using the bomber. If you’re dog fighting or in a heavy combat zone such as the center satellite in domination, you’ll want the increased speed and area damage as many ships will be within close proximity of one another. If you’re defending a satellite, go with the increased range and additional mine options to provide an even stronger defense for the satellite.

Seismic Mines

Seismic Mines deal slightly less damage than Seeker Mines but they have the benefit of ignoring all shields and hitting all enemies within the blast zone (3,000 meters).

The downside to this is that only one seismic mine can be placed at a time and it has a short activation range of 1,500 meters. Due to this, it’s better used as a support mine during dog fights or to deter people on your tail within cramped areas.

At level 4, you have the options of having targets affected by the seismic mine having their speed reduced by half for 3 seconds or giving it an additional 500 meters in activation range. At level 5, it can gain increased critical hit chance or deal damage over time after the initial detonation. This allows the seismic mine to scale well with either critical hit builds or damage over time builds.

Cluster Missiles

You might recognize Cluster Missiles from the opening scene in Episode 3: Revenge of the Sith, where the droid fighters launch numerous missiles with a blue trail. While not the hardest hitting missile, their strength lies in their quick lock-on time of 1.3 seconds (1.1 seconds with efficient targeting).

Due to their quick rate of fire, it’s a good choice for harassing enemy ships as nothing makes a pilot panic more than the lock-on sound going off. At level 4 it can gain increased range or 4 more ammunition while at level 5, it can deal 30% more damage at the cost of 50% less ammo or deal 15% of the damage as additional damage over 5 seconds.

The improved ammo capacity pairs well with the double volley as 50% less ammo hurts. If you go double volley, I highly recommend an offensive crewmate that adds additional ammunition. Alternatively you can go with a damage over time build to deal with swift targets by utilizing the increased range, plasma warheads, and the Lingering Effect copilot ability.

Concussion Missiles

If you want to hit hulls very hard and ignore some shields, then the concussion missile is your choice. At level 1, it gains 8% Shield Piercing with a total of 28%. This pairs nicely with Bypass copilot ability which can grant it 46% shield piercing. While it is often outshone by the Proton Torpedoes, its advantage over those is that it has a wider firing arc and better reload speeds.

At level 4, it can gain increased range or ammo while at level 5 it can reduce a target’s speed by 30% while draining their engine power or ignore all the target’s armor. The slow can make this feel more oppressive than the proton torpedo due to its ability to cripple a ship.

EMP Missiles

The EMP MIssile is often found on ships that take up support roles. When it hits a target, it will also affect all enemy ships within a 4,000 meter radius.

This will also disable mines and drones for 10 seconds while dealing damage to their hull. Ships hit by this only receive half the damage and have their system ability disabled for 10 seconds. At level 4 it can gain increased range or damage while at level 5, it can disable a target’s engine or shield ability for 10 seconds.

At a glance it can appear weak due to its poor damage, but this is a support weapon and works best when used in group combat. This is excellent for disabling environmental hazards like the mines or drones allowing you or others to dispatch them safely.

Alternatively, you can use this to cripple an enemy ship by removing their ability to use engine abilities. This is very dangerous as they’ll be unable to dodge hard hitting lock-on projectiles from your allies such as concussion missiles or proton torpedoes. I would say that 9 times out of 10, go with the engine suppression over the shield suppression.

Interdiction Missiles

The Interdiction Missile is primarily used to slow down a target by 50% for 8 seconds. The only ship able to equip Interdiction Missiles is the T3 Gunship. This is likely to offer a weapon to deal with scout ships or strike fighters that are bothering them, opening them up to become easy targets.

At level 4, it can gain more ammo or increased range while at level 5 it can drain engine power or weapon power.

The weapon power drain may be more useful as the target will already be slowed and if they were hit by this missile, chances are they already used their engine ability to dodge a previous one. In this scenario, reducing their ability to fight back while slowed will be more useful.

Ion Missiles

Ion Missiles are good for attacking an opponent’s shields while offering some secondary effects such as draining engine and weapon power. At level 4 it gains increased ammo or increased range while at level 5 it slows the target by 40% or it slows the target’s power regeneration by 50% for 6 seconds. It’s similar to an EMP missile but trades in utility and area of effect damage in favor of single target damage.

Ion Railgun

The Ion Railgun is specialized at destroying enemy shields while draining weapon and engine power at the cost of low hull damage. Most people are concerned with only dealing damage and they will often overlook the Ion Railgun in favor of the Plasma or Slug Railguns.

Don’t let that dissuade you from choosing this weapon as it’s a great weapon to quickly take down an opponent with two well placed shots. The first shot will use the Ion Railgun to take down a target’s shields while a quick followup shot from a Plasma Railgun or more preferably, a Slug Railgun, to dispatch an opponent with ease.

At level 4, the Ion Railgun can hit up to 4 more enemies within 6,000 meters for 55% of the damage or hit up to 3 enemies within 5,000 meters while draining 10 engine and weapon power. At level 5, you have the options of having targets affected by the Ion Railgun having their speed reduced by 40% for 8 seconds or having their energy regeneration reduced by 65% for 6 seconds.

The 40% slow is what makes this weapon perfect for followup shots as your target will now be easier to hit in the center where you have the most accuracy. This is a great weapon if you’re good with followup shots or want to act as a support to cripple groups of enemy pilots.

Plasma Railgun

The Plasma Railgun is the most popular choice of railgun as it deals equal damage to hulls and shields, it has the best accuracy and firing arc of the railguns, offers critical hit chance and damage over time.

At level 4, it can offer the choice of increased accuracy and tracking or slowing targets affected by the DoT by 10%. At level 5, it can bypass shields or deal increased burn damage. There’s not much else to it other than that it hurts, it continues to hurt, and it’s useful in any situation!

Slug Railgun

If you’re looking to immediately hit where it hurts, you’ll want to use the slug railgun.

When upgraded to level 2, it has a total of 28% shield piercing (46% with the Bypass copilot ability) making it the best railgun for ignoring shields. Along with that, it will ignore all armor at level 3 making it good for taking down drones and defense turrets. At level 4, it has the option to deal increased hull damage or consume less power while at level 5 it can gain a whopping 16% critical hit chance or deal 10% additional damage.

If you like critical hit builds, the Slug Railgun is excellent for that. Oh, and did I mention this has the shortest reload time of all the railguns? This is a solid choice and since this fires physical projectiles, this makes it the classic railgun and where can you go wrong with the classics?

Rocket Pods

Rocket Pods are instant fire projectiles instead of being lock-ons. These are best used against stationary targets such as mines, drones, defense turrets, and unsuspecting gunships.

With these, you can harass enemy satellites by quickly taking down their defense turrets forcing them to split their numbers. This in turn can allow another satellite to be captured by your time. When being used against a stationary gunship, one can’t help but laugh at how powerless the stationary gunship is to stop you. While you technically can use it in dogfights, I wouldn’t recommend it as the projectile speed is much slower compared to missiles and torpedoes.

At level 4, it can gain increased accuracy and tracking or gain more ammo. At level 5, it can gain increased range or deal damage over time. If you’re destroying environmental hazards, I’d go with the increased range while you’d use the damage over time for enemy pilots. With the ability to store up to 52 rockets and a rate of fire of 97 RPM, you’ll be able to quickly blow defense turrets and drones into smithereens.

Sabotage Probe

The Sabotage Probe is exclusive to Scout ships that can specialize to act as an interceptor. This includes the T1 and T2 Scouts. When fired onto the target, the target will receive some damage over time and have their evasion score reduced by 50% for 6 seconds.

At level 4, it can disable engine abilities or gain increased range while at level 5 it can slow the target by 35% or reduce power regeneration by 30% while the probe is active.

More often than not, you’ll want to disable engine abilities with the slow as this will provide no escape. The target’s only hope to survive is if you have a bad aim (which you shouldn’t when using this probe). Sabotage Probes can be one of the most frightening effects one can receive while in GSF and can make one paranoid of more when they respawn.

Proton Torpedoes

The Proton Torpedo is by far the most popular choice of secondary weapon in GSF.

It has a base range of 10,000 meters, it deals solid damage that ignores all shields and armor, applies a damage over time effect, and offers a 10% critical hit chance at level 2. At level 4, it offers increased projectile speed or a wider firing arc while at level 5, it gains increased ammo or increased range. With all these options, it’s easy to consider these overpowered and everyone will hate you for using them.

But let’s be honest, why shouldn’t it be overpowered? The Proton Torpedo is an iconic part of Star Wars as it was this projectile that blew up the Death Star! The downsides to this weapon is that it has a very small firing arc compared to other secondary weapons, it has a long lock-on time, and a long reload time.

Thermite Torpedoes

Thermite Torpedoes are best used on targets whose shields you’ve taken down and can keep down. This will deal 150% damage to hulls so anything short of a bomber will be blown up. The first half of the damage is instant while the second half is dealt as damage over time over 15 seconds.

Damage reduction is reduced by 100% during this time and 20% of the damage will bypass shields while the DoT is active. At level 4, it can gain increased projectile speed or a wider firing arc while at level 5 its effects last an additional 3 seconds or it can deal additional damage over time. If you want to apply a lot of pressure to your enemy, then the Thermite Torpedo is a good option.

Armor

Deflection Armor

When fully upgraded, Deflection Armor can grant +20% damage reduction at a base level. While taking 20% less damage seems great, it really isn’t that useful in many GSF scenarios due to many weapons being able to ignore armor such as upgraded Rapid-fire Laser Cannons, Heavy Laser Cannons, Burst Laser Cannons, and the most dreaded weapon in all of GSF, the Proton Torpedoes.

I wouldn’t go for this unless you’re opting out as support to take out defense turrets or looking to become near immune to mine damage like the Buster Bunker T2 Strike Fighter listed above.

Lightweight Armor

Lightweight Armor can grant +9% Evasion rating meaning 9% of Primary Weapon and Railgun shots against you will miss. This is best used in conjunction with ships that already have some evasion rating as a default such as Strike Fighters and Scouts. Though in order to make good use of it, you’ll need to invest solely in evasion as just going for something like 15% evasion rating is rather weak. It’s useful and I’m particularly fond of it with my T2 Scout and not a bad choice.

Reinforced Armor

With the abundance of armor ignoring weapons, you can never go wrong with reinforced armor. This can grant an extra 20% HP making it a solid choice for any ship though bombers can make the best use of it as they already have the highest base HP. If you’re not sure what to get in a build, go for Reinforced Armor.

Capacitor

Damage Capacitor

When fully upgraded, the damage capacitor increases primary weapon damage at all ranges by 10%. It’s a solid choice and helps hard hitting weapons such as the Quad Laser Cannon, Heavy Laser Cannon, and Burst Laser Cannon hit even harder. If you’re good at landing shots then go with this as your good aim will be well rewarded.

Frequency Capacitor

At max level, the Frequency Capacitor increases your primary weapon rate of fire by 15%. This works well with close range weapons such as the Rapid-fire laser cannon, Laser Cannon, and Light Laser cannon. You’ll be getting a DPS increase with the higher rate of fire however this does also increase your power consumption so keep that in mind.

Range Capacitor

The Range Capacitor will increase your primary weapon’s range by 10% at max level. This allows you to shoot a bit farther before damage falloff kicks in which can be good to give a little extra room for short ranged weapons. Though this works really well with weapons that already have a long range such as the Ion Cannon and Heavy Laser Cannon as they scale much better with this than say a Rapid-fire laser cannon.

Engines

Note: Many Engine Components increase either Speed or Turning rate by 10% at 3rd level. The general rule of thumb is to go for engine speed if you like to dash around the map providing support when needed. Otherwise, go for an increased turning rate so you can fare better in dog fights.

Barrel Roll

“Rolls the ship 360-degrees while speeding forward, increasing evasion from direct-fire weapons by 24% and preventing missile locks for 4 seconds. Evades lock-on missiles while activated.”

This is a solid engine ability to avoid lock-on missiles and increase your evasion for a bit, you can’t go wrong with the classic barrel roll especially if you’re a beginner.

Though do be mindful of any terrain in front of you so you don’t crash into it. This will also put some distance between anyone behind you as during my tests, it came out dashing forward about 5,000 meters when using this engine ability. At level 3, it can increase your engine speed or turning rate by 10%.

Hyperspace Beacon

“Drops a hyperspace beacon with a 180 second (3 minute) lifespan at your current location to serve as a respawn location for your team. The beacon will cease functioning if your ship is destroyed.”

This fun device is unique to the T1 Bomber. Use this to put a respawn point near a satellite you’re guarding, a fellow bomber’s pit stop area, or if you’re feeling co*cky place it near the middle satellite to summon quick reinforcements.

At level 3 you can have the beacon increase ally movement speed by 15% when they are within 3,000 meters of it. Alternatively, you can increase its hull strength by 20% and damage reduction by 17% which would grant it a total of 34% damage reduction.

The second option only buys you another couple seconds at best and would be best used for high conflict zones as it can buy you those couple seconds to have more allies come in. But in most instances, the increased speed will be better overall so allies can sooner reach an objective.

Interdiction Drive

“Triggers an immediate 50% increase to speed for 6 seconds, while reducing the speed and turning rate of all enemies within 3,000 meters by 20%.”

This engine component is found primarily on bombers and gunships but it can also be found on the T3 Strike Fighter and T3 Scout. As such, this takes on more of a support role for combat.

A 50% increase to speed sounds nice but it honestly doesn’t feel like much for a bomber or gunship which are already pretty slow. Instead, it’s used to aid yourself and allies in high conflict zones to reduce enemy speed and turning rates.

At level 3, it gains the option of reducing the enemy turning rate by another 10% (30% total) or having the ability last for another 3 seconds. Take the first one for dog fights and the second one if you have an ally that can tensor you to make the most out of your speed buff. This can make it so that a bomber or gunship you’re piloting get to an objective more quickly at the start of a match.

Koiogran Turn

“A 180-degree vertical turn, boosting evasion from direct-fire weapons by 24%, increasing accuracy on primary weapons by 50%, and preventing missile locks for 4 seconds. Evades lock-on missiles when activated.”

This turn is good for more experienced pilots who can take advantage of the increased accuracy. An additional 50% is nothing to scoff at and can allow shots at the very edge of a firing arc to hit far more reliably than normal.

You’ll be turned upward and head in the reverse direction on the Z axis when you use this, taking you back about 1,700 meters once the ability is finished. At level 3, it can increase your engine speed or turning rate by 10%.

Power Dive

“A 90-dewgree vertical turn, boosting evasion from direct fire weapons by 24% and preventing missile locks for 3 seconds. Evades lock-on missiles when activated.”

The Power Dive is a good way to throw off enemy ships as you go straight down in an upside down L shape on the Y axis. Though personally, I’m not too fond of it as the change of axis throws me off as well but if you can get past that, it’s a good way to confuse enemies. The distance gained with the power dive is approximately 6,500 meters. At level 3, it can increase your engine speed or turning rate by 10%.

Retro Thrusters

“Accelerates the ship in reverse for a short duration, boosting evasion from direct-fire weapons by 24% and preventing missile locks for 3 seconds. Evades lock-on missiles when activated.”

This ability is simple yet powerful and is my favorite maneuver. It reverses you backwards about 3,500 meters and allows you to stay oriented as you were previously. This is good for a couple things, such as when you have someone on your tail and you want to be the one behind them instead.

Alternatively, when going head to head and you need more time to fire, you reverse granting yourself some more shots before you pass each other increasing your odds of taking them down. At level 3, it can increase your engine speed or turning rate by 10%.

Rotational Thrusters

“Rapidly turns your ship to face your currently selected target within 15,000 meters.”

This engine component is exclusive to gunships as these ships can make the best use of it. It’s great for one of two scenarios.

Scenario 1: You’re sniping targets with a railgun and you want to target them at the center of your screen where you have the most accuracy so you use this to center in on them.

Scenario 2: A scout or strike fighter is circling around you and using this allows you to immediately target them in front of you.

At level 3, it can increase weapon power regeneration rate by 45% for 6 seconds when you activate the thrusters. Alternatively, it can increase your ship’s turning rate by 10% regardless if the thrusters are activated.

Shield Power Converter

“Transfers 20% of the engine’s power to the shield power pool and shield power pool regeneration rate is increased by 10% for 8 seconds.”

This one is straightforward, consume 20% of your engine power for stronger shields for 8 seconds. With a 9 second cooldown, you can use it again if you have the engine power 1 second after it ends.

At level 3, it can increase your passive shield power pool and engine power pool by 8%. Alternatively, it can allow you to disable any enemy missile lock-ons currently targeting you when you use this ability. The cooldown is increased to 15 seconds however and it only stops missiles currently locking onto you before they are fired.

Snap Turn

“A quick 180 degree lateral turn, boosting evasion from direct-fire weapons by 50% and preventing missile locks for 5 seconds. Evades lock-on missiles when activated.”

This engine component is exclusive to the T1 and T3 Scout and offers the longest duration of anti-missile locks at a whopping 5 seconds. It’s a simple one that rotates you so you’re facing what was previously behind you.

If someone is close behind, you can use this and book it in the other direction using your natural scout speed. At level 3, it can increase your engine speed or turning rate by 10%.

Weapon Power Converter

“Transfers 20% of the engine’s power to the weapon power pool and weapon power pool regeneration rate is increased by 6% for 6 seconds.”

This one is straightforward, consume 20% of your engine power for 6% more weapon power and weapon regeneration for 6 seconds. With a 9 second cooldown, you can use it again if you have the engine power 3 seconds after it ends.

At level 3, it can increase your passive blaster power pool and engine power pool by 8%. Alternatively, it can allow you to disable any enemy missile lock-ons currently targeting you when you use this ability. The cooldown is increased to 15 seconds however and it only stops missiles currently locking onto you before they are fired.

Magazine

Efficient Targeting

At maximum level, Efficient Targeting reduces lock-on time of projectiles by 10%. This is good for things such as the Proton Torpedo or Thermite Missile as when those two are fully upgraded, they have a base lock-on time of 2.4 seconds. With Efficient Targeting, they have a 2.1 second lock-on time. While it may not seem like much, it makes a world of difference in a combat scenario where every second counts.

Munitions Capacity Extender

The Munitions Capacity Extender increases your ammo pool size by 50% at max level. This stacks really well with crew members that add an additional 30% ammo pool size making the combo provide an additional 95% ammunition, nearly double the base amount of munitions you have. This is best used for those who love their explosives whether they be missiles, torpedoes, or mines.

Power Pool Extender

At max level, the Power Pool Extender increases your weapon power pool by 20%. This makes it useful for weapons with a high rate of power consumption such as the Quad Laser Cannon, Heavy Laser Cannon, and Burst Laser Cannon. It’s good for when you utilize hit and run techniques or if you don’t expect close combat often and need a good amount of energy ready such as when you’re a bomber defending a satellite or a gunship needing to take down a fighter on you.

Regeneration Extender

At max level, the Regeneration Extender increases weapon power regeneration rate and weapon power recently consumed regeneration rate by 20%.

What is the weapon power recently consumed regeneration rate? Truth be told I have no idea, the devs don’t like explaining features in GSF which is why people like myself and other GSF guide authors do our best to explain things. I’m going to assume that recently consumed power that regenerates is slightly less than it would be in a scenario where you haven’t fired shots recently.

Anyway back to the Regeneration Extender. This one works well with weapons that have lower power consumption such as the Rapid Fire Laser Cannon, Laser Cannon, Light Laser Cannon, and works well with Railguns. It’s also a good component to rely on in dog fights as having a good weapon regeneration rate allows you to actually make attacks at your opponents.

Reactor

Large Reactor

At max level, the Large Reactor increases your shield power capacity per arc by 20%. 20% stronger shields is always a solid pick especially if your build is built around having a large base shield. Though with a higher base HP, it will take longer than other shields to regenerate fully.

Regeneration Reactor

At max level, the Regeneration Reactor increases your shield power regeneration rate (per arc) and recently consumed shield regeneration rate by 20%. This is always a solid pick if you’re not sure what to get. Having consistent shields in a fight will be useful in many scenarios and pairs well with the Shield Power Converter engine component.

Turbo Reactor

When shields are damaged, they need a short amount of time before they begin to regenerate. At max level, the Turbo Reactor reduces this time by 60%. This works well for ships such as Scouts that prefer hit and run tactics as they already have weak shields. They can book it or take cover and allow their shield to quickly pop back up before going back to their target for another hit.

Sensors

Communication Sensors

At max level, Communication Sensors increase your sensor communication range by 10,000 meters. This is best used if you’re taking a support role in a scenario. With this, you can better keep your allies updated of anything appearing within your sensor radius.

Dampening Sensors

At max rank, Dampening Sensors increase your sensor dampening by 4,000 meters. This is good if you’re using a bomber or gunship to stay out of range of enemy sensors.

Range Sensors

At max rank, the Range Sensors increase your sensor detection range and sensor focuse detection range by 5,000 meters. This is always a solid choice for any ship as more map awareness is always useful.

Shields

Charged Plating

This shield is weird to say the least. It adds 40% shield power capacity per arc but has 23% shield bleedthrough, so nearly a quarter of weapon damage will go through the shield. Why would you want a shield that weapons can go through? This is used for very niche builds meant to take down minefields and defense turrets due to its ability to increase damage reduction by 60% for 15 seconds..

When investing in damage reduction, it is possible to get up to 99% like with the T2 Strike Fighter build mentioned earlier in the guide. This makes you nigh indestructible against defense turrets and mines but you’ll still be extremely vulnerable to weapons that can ignore armor and shields.

At level 3, when you activate the shield ability you can either gain 5 weapon power each time you are hit (once per second) or 5 engine power when you are hit (once per second). This is entirely dependent on your personal preference.

Directional Shield

The Directional Shield is a reliable shield you can always depend on. When using this shield’s ability, you can focus the shields to your rear, front, or balance it. This allows you to have stronger shields in a selected direction as it can appear blue instead of green. This is good for fighting other ships head on, protecting your rear when being chased, or to have decent shields in a certain direction when you want to allocate power to weapons or engines.

Another benefit to the Directional Shield is that it grants 10% damage reduction to your ship. A small bit of extra beef to deal with weapons that may not ignore armor. At third level, you have your choice of reducing your shield power regeneration delay by 3 seconds or increasing your shield regeneration rate by 10%.

Distortion Field

The Distortion Field has below average shield power capacity (per arc) but adds 9% evasion rating to your ship. This shield’s ability can be activated to gain an additional 27% evasion for 6 seconds. This is used for evasion builds most commonly found on scouts. With a proper evasion build, a scout can gain 33% passive evasion rating which can be increased to 50% with this ability, 48% with the Running Interference copilot ability, or 68% with both. Jumping from ignoring ⅓ of all shots to nearly ⅔ of them is very impressive and can prove useful for dodging not just primary weapon fire, but railguns as well!

At level 3, its duration can be increased for 3 seconds or it can cancel any lock-ons currently targeting you. It will not evade lock-on projectiles that have already been fired at you. I like to err on the side of caution and choose the anti lock-on as most people rely on weapons such as Proton Torpedoes which can one shot a scout.

Engine Power Converter

“Transfers 20% of the shield’s power to the engine power pool and boosts ship speed by 10% for 6 seconds.”

The Engine Power Converter is unique to the T1 Scout and is best used for just getting out of a bad situation while preventing anyone from catching up to you. When paired with Speed Thrusters, Barrel Roll with Increased Engine Speed, Booster Recharge, and C2-N2 on your crew, it’ll be super easy to book it when being attacked. Simply use your Barrel Roll to gain 5,000 meters of distance and boost out of there with the Engine Power Converter ability.

Feedback Shield

“Charges your shield with energy for 15 seconds that is released as a damage against your attacker. Triggers off Primary Weapon fire.”

If you want to gain the maximum possible offense, then you’ll want the Feedback Shield. Used in the T1 and T2 Strike Fighters and Gunships, its use changes depending on the class of starfighter you’re using. At level 3, it has the option to gain 20% critical chance rating with reflected damage or drain 10 points of engine and weapon power when hit. The former option would go great with a critical rating build like those found on strike fighters or critical gunships. Otherwise the latter option is better for gunships that aren’t using a critical build for some added utility.

Fortress Shield

“Increases shield strength by 130% and sensor dampening by 1,500 meters for 30 seconds, but immobilizes the ship while active. The pilot can manually deactivate this ability, and triggering a defensive maneuver or boost will automatically deactivate the shield. A 30 second cooldown is triggered when the ability is deactivated.”

This shield is exclusive to gunships who tend to be sitting ducks, so the lack of mobility doesn’t make a world of difference for them. This is the most powerful shield you can get as you can temporarily gain 130% shield strength as well as adding 20% shield power capacity per arc (so pair it with a Large Reactor). But if it hasn’t been clear already, Proton Torpedoes are stupid and will ignore this massive shield entirely. If anything, you want to use this for the sensor dampening to gain up to 7,500 sensor dampening radius with a sensor dampening build. At level 3, you can increase the duration by 10 seconds (40 seconds total) or increase weapon power regen by 30% while the shield is active. I’d say go for the increased duration to help stay hidden while you’re sniping targets. Remember to use cover as well!

Overcharged Shield

“Increases shield capacity by 18% for 15 seconds, and instantly restores 20% of the base shield power.”

This shield is exclusive to bombers that are known for their durability. This reduces your shield regeneration rate by 60% but increases your shield power capacity (per arc) by 60%. If you’re looking for the beefiest passive shields on a bomber then you’ll want this one. Though with a 50 second cooldown you’ll need to choose wisely when to activate this ability. At level 3, the duration can be increased by 7.5 seconds (22.5 seconds total) or it can increase shield capacity by another 9% (adds 27% total), and restores an additional 10% shield power (30% restored total). If you’re going to have a long cooldown, you might as well get the most bang for your buck and choose the increased capacity and restoration. The increased duration might be better if you’re working with a group that can have other ships supply shield projectors and such.

Quick-Charge Shield

“Recharges 30% of your ship’s shields on activation. Additionally, your ship’s max shields is increased by 100% and shield regeneration rates are also increased by 200% for 4 seconds.”

This shield is great to use if you want to gain strong shields temporarily as you focus power towards your weapons or engines. When it comes to passive stats, the Quick-Charge Shield adds 175 recently consumed regeneration rate, +55% regen rate, -20% shield power capacity (per shield arc), and -15% shield power regeneration delay (that’s a good thing). This can pair very well with any reactor as a large reactor can offset the -20% shield power capacity, you can gain crazy shield regeneration with a regeneration reactor, or have a shield that pops back up in ¼ the time as normal with a turbo reactor.

At level 3 it has the option to increase shield regen by 100% of normal while taking damage or lower the cooldown by 10 seconds making the overall cooldown 20 seconds. I would say the former is better for a strike fighter who is going to find themselves in more direct combat than a scout. Meanwhile a scout pilot should be used to having weak shields, so the decreased cooldown will prove more useful to them.

Repair Drone

“Drops a repair drone at your current location. It repairs 120 points of hull damage every 3 seconds for up to three allies within 3,000 meters. It will last for 180 seconds, or until destroyed.”

Found on the T3 Scout and T2 Bomber, this shield component takes on a support role. It offers no special passive stats for your shields but it allows you to drop a drone to repair the hulls of allies. At level 3, it can restore shield power as well or restore ammunition for affected ships. I would say to use the former in heavy combat zones if you’re acting as a support craft while saving the ammo regeneration if you’re creating a pit stop to let allies heal up and restore munitions.

Shield Projector

“Restores 32% shield power over 6 seconds to your ship and up to 3 allies within a 5,500 meter radius. Duration based movement or power regeneration effects from ion weapons are dispelled on all allied ships affected throughout the duration of the effect.”

Another support shield component, this is good for when you’re dealing with ion damage like those found from Ion Cannons and Ion Missiles. If you’re in a premade group with allies that like to use heavy shields such as the Overcharged Shield, this compliments them very well as you can restore their shields while their shield ability is on cooldown. For passive stats, you gain 35% increased shield regen rate but lose 20% shield power capacity (per shield arc). Go with either a large reactor or regeneration reactor when using this shield.

At level 3, this gains the ability to increase the duration by 4 seconds which allows you to restore 48% shield power over 10 seconds, or it can restore 8% of shield power instantly when activated for a total of 40% power restored. If you run a premade group and can develop tactics around shields, go for the former. The latter can be more useful for keeping people alive if you’re going solo.

Systems

Blaster Overcharge

“Increases the rate of fire by 25% and weapon power regeneration by 15% for 9 seconds.”

This system component is unique to the T2 Scout due to its nature of being an Interceptor craft.

At level 4, you have the choice of having the weapon power regeneration increased by another 14% or having an 8% increased rate of fire while Blaster Overcharge is active. At level 5, you can have 10% increased blaster damage or 10% increased blaster range while blaster overcharge is active. The increased rate of fire is a safer pick at level 4 but if you’re good at power management and aiming, go for the Rate of Fire. As for increased damage or range, I would say go for damage as most weapons available on the T2 Scout are short ranged and wouldn’t scale much with that extra 10% range. It could work with the Quad Laser Cannon though!

This component would pair well with having T7-01 as a crew mate, Qyzen or Aric as a copilot for the Concentrated Fire ability, a frequency capacitor, and either a Light Laser Cannon, Rapid-fire Laser Cannon, or Quad Laser Cannon. WIth the insane amount of shots you can get with a Rapid-fire Laser Cannon with this component and a frequency capacitor, you can greatly increase the amount of critical hits you can potentially get with a critical hit build. It’s a great component to melt through your targets like a lightsaber through room temperature butter!

Booster Recharge

“Regenerates 5% engine power per second for 6 seconds.”

This component is unique to the T1 and T2 Scouts to aid in mobility for boosting.This may seem weak but it’s actually quite powerful as the stats in the tooltip are before you upgrade it. When upgraded to level 3, it regenerates 7.5% engine power per second for 8 seconds for a total of 60% engine power over the duration. At level 4 you can increase your engine power regen or engine power pool by 10%. At level 5, you can instantly restore 20% engine power when you activate the ability or also regenerate shield and weapon power when the ability is active.

Go for the increased regen at level 4 if you’re more combat focused or engine power to chase down ships. For level 5, I’m a fan of the instant 20% engine power as it saves time and can allow me to instantly use my engine ability in a pinch. If you’re in more heated combat scenarios often like you would be in a T2 scout, the shield and weapon regen is also good to have though I’d still argue the 20% boost is better overall.

Combat Command

“Increases the primary weapon accuracy of all allied ships within 5,500 meters by 10% for 20 seconds, decreases the power draw of primary weapons by 10% for the duration, and restores 5 points of their weapon power every 4 seconds. Additionally, duration based movement or power regeneration effects from ion weapons are dispelled on all allied ships affected when this ability is fired.”

This fun support component is unique to the T3 Strike Fighter and Scout. At level 3, its range is 6,000 meters and lasts 24 seconds. Levels 4 and 5 allow you to add additional effects of your choice. At level 4, you can increase the maximum weapon power of affected ships by 10% or increase their critical hit chance by 7%. At level 5, you can have Combat Command restore an additional 5 weapon power every 4 seconds or increase the accuracy of affected ships by 10% for the duration. Keep in mind that Combat Command only affects allied ships and not yourself.

For level 4, increased weapon power is a safer bet but if you have a premade that can build around critical tactics, the critical hit will be better as it needs more critical hit chance to scale and be meaningful. For level 5, go with the accuracy buff as this will be insanely useful for helping allies land shots especially if they aim their cursor away from center.

EMP Field

“Causes an electromagnetic pulse around your ship that will damage and disable all hostile mines and drones in a 4,500 meter radius for 10 seconds. Hostile ships caught in the pulse will have their accuracy reduced by 10%, their sensor and communication range reduced by 5,000 meters, and their system ability disabled for 10 seconds. Additionally, your ship’s evasion is increased by 10% for 4 seconds.”

This component is found on the T1 Scout and T3 Bomber as those ships specialize in combat support. At level 3, the duration lasts 10 seconds and the accuracy debuff goes up to 20% lost for the duration. The accuracy debuff alone is powerful but it gets even better at later levels. At level 4 the range can be increased by 500 meters (5,000 meters total) or have you and 3 allies immune to missile locks for 3 seconds. At level 5, it can disable engine abilities or shield abilities when fired. There’s no question which you should get, go for missile lock immunity and disable engine components. Missiles are tough to deal with so getting some breathing room from them is great and preventing enemies from using engine abilities to dodge missiles can help ensure things like Proton Torpedoes hit their target.

Concussion Mine

“Drops a proximity mine with a 120 second (2 minute) lifespan, that will explode if an enemy gets within 1,500 meters, dealing 905 damage with 20% shield piercing to all enemy ships within 2,000 meters. Up to 2 Concussion Mines may be active at once.”

Found on the T1 and T3 Bombers, this can be used as part of a minefield or as explosives for a dog fight zone such as the middle satellite in a game in domination. At level 2, the lifespan increases to 3 minutes, longer lasting mines are always good. At level 4, you can have one more additional mine for a total of 3 or you can increase the radius it activates AND detonates by 500 meters. At level 5, it can deal increased hull or shield damage.

So let’s say you’re using this as a T1 Bomber and use it as a minefield mine, you’d want to go with the additional mine to make your guarded area appear as an even bigger threat. While the increased range is useful, the more mines a pilot sees, the more they’ll be intimidated and can waste time wondering if they should even bother attempting to take your satellite. For level 5, I would recommend the increased hull damage as this mine already bypasses 20% of the enemy’s shields so it’ll hurt much harder. Due to the short range of these mines, hide them around the corners of a satellite where people tend to fly around for cover. That way, they can’t easily shoot them down from a distance and instead run head on into them.

If you want to use this on a T3 Bomber to act as a heavy support, go with the increased radius at level 4 and increased hull damage with the Bypass copilot ability. Heavy combat zones tend to have ships clumped together so having that extra range on the detonation field will help increase your overall damage.

Interdiction Mine

“Drops a proximity mine, with a 120 second lifespan, that will explode if an enemy gets within 1,500 meters, releasing a gravity pulse with a 2,000 meter radius that slows hostile ships to 50% of their normal speed for 15 seconds, and deals 520 damage. Only 1 Interdiction Mine may be active at a time.”

This mine is only found on the T1 Bomber and is best used when hidden around the corners of a satellite due to their short range. Alternatively, if you fly the T1 Bomber as a combat support it can be used to slow down groups of enemies which is very crippling for Strike Fighters and Scouts.

At level 2, the mines last for a total of 3 minutes and at level 3, the effects from a detonated mine last another 5 seconds for 20 seconds total. At level 4, you can plant an additional mine or increase the radius and blast zone by 500 meters. At level 5, it can reduce the speed and turn rate of targets by another 10% or deal an additional 20% damage as a DoT over 6 seconds. The real choice you need to make is at level 4 and that depends on what you’re doing, at level 5 reduced speed and turning rate is good in any scenario so choose that. If you play as a combat support T1 Bomber, you’ll want the increased radius and blast zone. For a minefield bomber, you’ll want the additional mine to hide it around the nooks and corners of satellites.

Ion Mine

“Drops a proximity mine, with a 120 second lifespan, that will explode if an enemy gets within 1,500 meters, dealing 900 shield damage or 225 hull damage to all enemy ships within 2,000 meters, and draining 25 power from their weapon and engine power pools. Up to 2 Ion Mines may be active at once.”

This mine is available on the T1 and T3 Bombers meaning it can be used for minefield or combat support purposes. At level 4, you can plant an additional mine (3 total) or increase the range and blast zone by 500 meters. At level 5, the mines can either slow weapon and engine power regen by 20% for 9 seconds or it can drain 90 shield power from the target over 9 seconds. For minefields, get the additional mine and hide it around the corners like the other short ranged mines. Combat support goes for the increased radius. I would say the decreased regeneration favors the combat support to mess with the enemy’s ability to fight back or run away while the shield power drain works better for minefields as it can help keep down shields allowing follow up mines to deal more damage.

Remote Slicing

“Transmits slicing code that disables the target’s system ability, drains 30 points of engine power immediately and drains 40 shield power per second, for 9 seconds.”

Found on the T3 Strike Fighter, this is a good ability to ruin one particular pilot’s day. This would actually pair nicely with the Slicer’s Loop Copilot ability as not only would Remote Slicing drain their power, but Slicer’s Loop will prevent them from regenerating said power making their options very limited. When upgraded to level 3, the ability drains 55 shield power over 12 seconds with a total of 660 shield power drained for the duration of the ability. This in turn, leaves them very vulnerable to blaster fire and makes it hard for them to efficiently regenerate their shields.

At level 4, it can either reduce the target’s engine power capacity or weapon power capacity by 20 for the duration. At level 5, it can prevent the use of engine or shield abilities for the duration of the effect. Messing with someone’s mobility is great in GSF so go with the decreased engine power and engine ability suppression. If they try to boost out, they’ll waste their power trying to run away while being unable to use their engine maneuvers to avoid missiles.

Repair Probes

“All friendly ships within 5,500 meters will regain 100 hull strength every 4 seconds for 20 seconds. Additionally, duration based movement or power regeneration effects from ion weapons are dispelled on all allied ships affected when this ability is fired.”

Another T3 Strike Fighter exclusive, this is great for healing allies in heavy combat scenarios. At level 3, the range would have increased to 6,000 meters and last flr 24 seconds meaning it can heal 600 hull strength total. At level 4, you can increase an additional 20 hull strength every 4 seconds (total 720 hull strength restored) or increase shield capacity of those affected by 10%. At level 5, you can restore 25% ammunition of those affected or grant 150 shield power every 4 seconds with either effect.

For level 4, more hull strength per tick is hands down the best option. Hull damage is hard to repair without the use of repair drones so this will get you the most bang for your buck. Level 5 can be trickier to decide which can be better. I would say go for shield power restoration as it’s always a safe bet to help keep allies alive while their hulls undergo repairs. Ammunition is useful but unless you’re in a premade group with voice chat, it’ll be hard to know how much ammo an ally has or needs so you may end up wasting the ability.

Sensor Beacon

“Drops a sensor beacon at your current location. The beacon will detect enemies, transmitting their location to nearby team members. It will also reduce the evasion of all foes within 5,000 meters by 12.5% and increase missile lock times by 25%. It will last for 180 seconds (3 minutes), or until destroyed. One beacon may be active at a time.”

So even with advanced tooltips turned on, it doesn’t state the Sensor Range and Sensor Communication Range. After performing some tests, I estimate that the Sensor and Communication Range of the beacons is about 20,000 meters when fully upgraded. This is quite substantial AND they can be overlapped to provide an even longer view of the map if your ship’s communication range overlaps with theirs. For more information on this with visual examples, please see the Mechanics of GSF portion of the guide.

At level 3, the lifespan of the beacons becomes 5 minutes. At level 4, it can reduce the accuracy of nearby foes (it doesn’t state an exact radius) or reduces the sensor radius of nearby enemy ships by 5,000 meters and their communication radius by 2,500 meters. At level 5 you can place an additional beacon or increase the beacon’s hull strength by 20% and increase its damage reduction by 17%.

There are two scenarios where this can be useful and both of which require a friend to help out. Let’s start with

Option A: You and your friend place 2 beacons each spread out a little bit below 20,000 away so they overlap. This in turn can allow a view of the entire map for your allies as chances are their communication range will overlap with the beacon’s no matter how small it is. Go with Sensor Jamming and hope your beacons aren’t found otherwise you have to go replace them.

Option B: You choose the accuracy debuff and hull buff to use it in a combat zone such as a satellite. From there you’d need a T1 Scout or T3 Bomber with an EMP Field to work with your probe in providing a consistent accuracy debuff. I don’t believe the accuracy debuffs stack, instead resorting to the higher value, but it would create waves of lost accuracy between 10%-20%. Though the best use you’d get from a Sensor Beacon with option B is making lock-ons take 25% longer to work.

Interdiction Sentry Drone

“Drops a sentry drone armed with laser cannons at your location. The sentry will project an interdiction field that will slow and reduce the turning rate of all foes within 3,000 meters by 40%. The drone’s laser cannon has a maximum range of 5,000 meters, fires at 135 rounds per minute, and does 240 damage per shot. The drone will last for 180 seconds, or until destroyed.”

Found on the T2 and T3 Bomber, this annoying little bugger is great for messing with Strike Fighters and Scouts when they’re kiting your allies around a satellite making them vulnerable to attacks. The damage isn’t much but you’re really using them for the reduced turning rate. At level 4, you can increase the laser cannon damage by 5% or further cripple affected targets by having their speed and turning rate reduced by an additional 10%. At level 5, you can increase the hull strength and damage reduction of the rone or have the ability to pop another drone.

A T3 Bomber built for group combat will find more use with the reduced speed/turning rate and increased hull strength options. Meanwhile, a bomber defending a satellite can find the increased probe damage and extra drone more useful while guarding a satellite to add additional DPS.

Missile Sentry Drone

“Drops a sentry drone armed with laser cannons and a concussion missile launcher at your current location. The missile deals 340 damage with 20% shield piercing and has a range of 7,000 meters. The drone’s laser cannon has a maximum range of 5,500 meters, fires at 162 rounds per minute, and does 240 damage per shot. The drone will last for 180 seconds, or until destroyed.

If you want to get the most bang for your buck with damage on drones, you’ll want the missile sentry drone. The choices at level 4 and 5 favor either a more missile focused build or a more laser cannon focused build. At level 4 you can increase the missile range by 500 meters or increase the drone’s weapon energy pool by 15%. At level 5 you can increase the missile damage by 10% or increase the laser cannon damage by 10%. Both have their merits though I feel the better bet is to focus on missile upgrades due to its shield piercing capabilities.

Railgun Sentry Drone

“Drops a sentry drone armed with a railgun at your current location. The sentry drone’s railgun has a 10,000 meter range, does 650 damage per hit with 20% shield piercing, takes 4 seconds to charge, and has a 2 second cooldown. The drone will last for 180 seconds or until destroyed.”

The railgun sentry done is great for picking off enemies before they reach you or to soften them up when they do. At level 4, you can gain another 8% shield piercing (28% total) or ignore 100% of the armor. At level 5, the damage can increase by 10% or reduce the charge-up time by 0.5 seconds. Go with the armor piercing and increased damage. You already have 20% shield piercing and it would be unfortunate if that shield piercing went to waste if that damage was reduced.

Targeting Telemetry

“Increases weapon accuracy by 10%, critical chance by 5%, and sensor range by 5,000 meters for 10 seconds. Also removes cloaking effects from all enemies within 3,000 meters.”

This component is exclusive to scout ships and it’s a rather popular one at that! It just does so much, works with accuracy or crit builds, and it reveals enemies with sensor dampening! As such, this is great for making scout ships built for gunship hunting. At level 4, enemies within the 3,000 meter dispel radius have 5% less evasion or you can increase your own evasion by 8% for the duration of the ability. At level 5, you can gain an additional 25% critical multiplier and 10% critical chance (15% total) while the ability is active or you can have it extend your primary weapon range by 15% for the duration.

For level 4, go with the evasion debuff if you’re hunting gunships and use the evasion buff when you prefer dogfights. For level 5, use the critical hit chance for critical builds and the range buff for accuracy builds. With the critical build, your weapons can have the option of gaining 8-10% critical hit chance so with this ability and the Concentrated Fire ability, you can gain 59% critical hit chance with 75% critical multiplier at minimum.

With a Quad Laser cannon, you can gain 61% critical hit chance with 95% critical hit multiplier if you follow the aforementioned build. Woof, that’s some good damage right there, perfect for taking down any target! With a Laser Cannon armed with a Range Capacitor and the range buffs on targeting telemetry, you can get a maximum range of 6,612 meters which is really good for scout ships as they tend to focus more on short ranged weapons.

Tensor Field

“Boosts the maximum speed and turning rate by 15% for your ship and all allied whips within 4,500 meters for 20 seconds. Additionally, Tensor Field will restore an additional 1 engine power per second to all allies in the radius.”

The Tensor Field is exclusive to the T3 Scout and is great for starting off a match in a game of Domination. With everyone getting a speed boost, your allies have a much greater chance at capturing a satellite before the enemy does. At level 4 you can increase the turning rate of affected allies by 7% or increase their evasion by 6% for the duration of the ability. At level 5, you can provide an additional 15% to the speed boost (30% speed boost total) or restore 2 engine power per second to affected allies. The level 5 choice here is easy, choose more speed. For level 4, evasion is a safe bet if you’re going solo in GSF but increased turning rate can be much better for group tactics.

Thrusters

Power Thrusters

At max level, Power Thrusters give you an additional 20% engine power capacity. This is good if you like to boost a lot and want to do so for longer durations of time.

Regeneration Thrusters

At max level, Regeneration Thrusters will increase your engine power regeneration rate by 20%. If you want to make sure you can quickly regain energy for an engine maneuver, you’ll want this one.

Speed Thrusters

At max level, the Speed Thrusters will give you an additional 10% engine speed. This is a great option for speed builds on scout ships or if you want a bit more speed on a T3 Bomber/Gunship.

Turning Thrusters

Turning Thruster should be the go-to thrusters for anyone looking to dog fight as it increases your turning rate modifier by 10%. The last thing you want is to match an opponent’s turning rate only to have both of you circle in the air trying to reach the other. The sooner you can turn and hit them, the better.

Co-Pilots and Crew

Every ship needs a crew to run it, even if it’s a two seat starfighter. In the Crew tab in the GSF window, you can pick and choose which crew mates you want for your currently selected ship. On the left side you’ll have 5 drop down menus showing Co-Pilot, Offensive, Defensive, Tactical, and Engineering. When you select these crew mates, you’ll gain bonus passive stats to your ship so be sure to not have any useless stats for your ship. For example, don’t give a ship with mines a +30% ammunition as mines have no ammo count in favor of cooldowns. Each crew member will grant two passive stats which affect the category they are in. For example, Nadia Grell is in the Defensive menu so she offers +5% Evasion and +10% Shield Power. She also has the Co-Pilot ability called Bypass which one can use if she’s made the co-pilot of the ship.

A crew member’s active ability might not reflect their nature but it is also something to keep in mind when building a crew for your ship. Below will be the Passive and Active abilities with their functions. Since the copilots and their combination of abilities differ between the Republic and Empire, I won’t be listing all crews since there’s a deficiency of mirrored co-pilots outside of shared ones like Treek. Below I’ll be listing the various passive and active abilities with abilities in yellow being generally useful for any build.

Offensive

Defensive

Tactical

Engineering

Active Abilities

Bypass	Increase shield piercing on all weapons by 18% for 15 seconds.	Ignoring shields will never be a bad option and this works very well with weapons that have innate shield piercing or have the option to gain it.
Concentrated Fire	Primary weapon attacks have a 36% increased chance to do critical damage for the next 6 seconds. Secondary weapons have a 16% increased chance to do critical damage for the next 6 seconds.	This is the best way to gain critical hit chance and is the go-to ability for ships running critical rating builds. Use this with weapons that have innate critical rating or have the option to gain it.
Hydro Spanner	Repairs your ship’s hull for 308 over 6 seconds.	Being able to repair hull damage is always useful and this ability can counter the effects of Plasma Warheads or Lingering Effect.
In Your Sights	Zeroes you in on your target, reducing their evasion by 20% for 20 seconds.	Evasion lost on the enemy is accuracy gained for you. This also makes your target susceptible to all incoming damage with their reduced evasion. Works wonders on scout ships.
Lingering Effect	Target will receive additional 200 damage over 10 seconds if their ship is hit within 30 seconds of the ability being applied.	A more niche ability, it scales well with mines and secondary weapons that deal DoTs or have the Plasma Warheads passive. The DoTs also help keep an opponent’s shield down as it can’t regenerate while taking damage.
Lockdown	Immediately drains 40 engine power from the target.	It’s alright, though there are better ones. If you like chasing down scouts or strike fighters, this is good to keep them from running away too far.
Nullify	Hull damage reduction increased by 30% for 6 seconds.	This is best used for damage reduction builds. Even then, those builds are only useful against clearing minefields, drones, and turrets.
Running Interference	Evasion increased by 15% for 20 seconds. Effect additionally applied to the 2 nearest allies within 3,000 meters of your ship.	This is great for group combat or if you run an evasion build. On an evasion scout, this can make your base evasion rating 48% for 20 seconds. Not bad at all if you want nearly 50% of incoming attacks to miss.
Servo Jammer	Enemy target’s maneuvering and speed decreased by 20% for 20 seconds.	This one is best used when you’re being annoyed by someone kiting you around some terrain. Also pairs well with a Sabotage Probe as you can use this on your target before or after the probe.
Slicer’s Loop	Target enemy’s computer is caught in an infinite loop and cannot regen energy for 8 seconds.	This one is used for intense situations where everyone’s blasting and zooming about. If someone is done boosting or stops firing, chances are they are recharging. Use this to stop them and make them vulnerable. Alternatively, if you take down their shields you can use this to prevent them from regenerating shields outside of shield abilities.
Suppression	Target’s accuracy is reduced by 25% for 20 seconds.	A solid ability that I feel is best used offensively for Strike Fighters who like head on head combat, or defensively for everything else. If someone is on your tail, you can use this to potentially avoid some shots.
Wingman	Accuracy increased by 20% over 20 seconds. Effect additionally applied to 2 nearby allies while they remain within 3,000 meters of your ship.	Accuracy is your friend, it is also your friend’s friend, so be sure to give this to your friends within 3,000 meters. Best used for accuracy builds or for group combat.

Mechanics of GSF

This portion of the guide will get into more of the nitty gritty details and explain things that developers have failed to explain well. It’s due to this lack of information that I feel that GSF has remained unpopular for a long time. With visual examples with things like Firing Arc, Dampening Sensors and Communication Range, you’ll have a much better grasp on understanding said topics.

Upgrading Ship Components and Components Cost

When you’re in the Components tab of the GSF window, you’ll have an upgrade tree on the right side. Here is where you click to gain upgrades on your component. I highly recommend you only use Ship Requisition for upgrading ship components so you can save Fleet Requisition for unlocking other ships and crew members first. Each tier will get progressively higher to upgrade with upgrade costs per tier differing on what type of component you are upgrading.

Primary Weapons, Secondary Weapons, and System components will cost 1,000 Requisition to unlock and have 5 upgrades available.

• Level 1 will cost 500 Requisition
• Level 2 will cost 1,250 Requisition
• Level 3 will cost 2,500 Requisition
• Level 4 will cost 5,000 Requisition. You will have two options you can choose from for your current ship loadout.
• Level 5 will cost 7,500 Requisition. You will have two options you can choose from for your current ship loadout.

Engine Upgrades and Shield Upgrades will cost 750 Requisition to unlock and have 3 upgrades available.

• Level 1 will cost 500 Requisition
• Level 2 will cost 1,250 Requisition
• Level 3 will cost 5,000 Requisition

Minor Components will cost 500 Requisition to unlock and have 3 upgrades available.

• Level 1 will cost 500 Requisition
• Level 2 will cost 750 Requisition
• Level 3 will cost 1,250 Requisition

Starfighter Stats & Power Management

Starfighter Stats & Power Management

When it comes to weapon power management, each ship is affected differently depending on how your power is balanced. Some ships gain higher bonuses with more shields, engines, or weapon power than others. Here’s a table to explain the pros and cons on each class of ship with various power settings. Beneficial features will be in blue while detrimental features will be in red.

As you can see, Strike Fighters get some great bonuses when focusing on a different power setting, though they’re all or nothing compared to the other ships. This versatility is why they’re the most often used starship class in GSF. Though compared to something like a Scout, it too gains the same amount of speed on the Power to Engines setting while not sacrificing as much DPS. Pair that with its high base speed stat, it’s going to on average be on par or faster than a strike fighter. Each ship has their purpose and functions, don’t let those strike fighters take all the glory and show them who’s boss!

Aiming Primary and Secondary Weapons

Aiming your weapons in GSF is likely one of the primary sources of confusion for newcomers to GSF. Fortunately for you, I’ll be providing visual examples for you to understand the concept before you jump into a live fire scenario!

When you target an enemy starfighter, they’ll have 4 arrows pointing towards their ship. Along with this, there will be a line linking the ship and a circle,aimfor that circle and not at the ship. This little circle shows you the direction where your enemy is moving so you’ll fire shots there so that by the time they get there, the laser shots hit them. As you get closer to the target, the circle will get bigger making it easier to hit. This is tricky to learn at first but it’s a crucial skill to learn.

As for secondary weapons, you’ll want to aim at the enemy ship instead of the targeting circle used for primary weapons. Move your cursor over the enemy ship and hold your secondary weapon button (Right Mouse Button by default), keep holding it as the missile continues to lock on. You’ll hear a slow beeping as it’s charging, followed by a fast beeping with 4 new arrows around the target. When you hear the fast beeping and see these new arrows, it means you’re ready to fire. To fire, simply let go of your secondary weapon button and watch the fireworks. Do your best to keep the target centered when charging your secondary weapon, so long as they are within your secondary weapon firing arc, you’ll maintain the lock.

Accuracy, Evasion, and Firing Arc

These three features of GSF are bound to one another so I will be discussing all 3. As you may know, accuracy affects your ability to hand hits on another ship. This is no different with our accuracy vs defense chance in ground based PvP. For example…

A Rycer Strike Fighter armed with a Quad Laser Cannon is firing at mid range against a Flashfire with an evasion rating of 33%. At mid range, the Quad Laser Cannon has a 95% chance to hit its target. With that in mind, we can use this following formula to figure out the chance to hit.

X – Y = Z

X is the attacker’s accuracy, Y is the defender’s evasion, and Z is the chance to hit. Let’s plug in our numbers here…

95 – 33 = 62

This leaves the Rycer a 62% chance to hit the Flashfire. The odds of success can be done with abilities like those found with copilots. For example, the In Your Sights ability that reduces your target’s evasion rating by 20% and the Wingman ability that increases the accuracy of yourself and 2 nearby allies by 20%. Let’s see what we get when we use those.

In Your Sights

95 – (33-20) = 82% chance to hit

Wingman

(95+20) – 33 = 82% chance to hit

So the end results of these abilities are the same, why would you use one over the other? Since Wingman doesn’t rely on a target to function, it would be the more versatile and superior option to choose of the two. But now let’s see where we get if the Flashfire is using their Distortion Field and Running Interference abilities.

(95+20) – (33+15+27) = 40% chance to hit

So even with accuracy bonuses, only 40% of the shots can land for a short amount of time. That’s the cost of using a Quad Laser Cannon, it sacrifices accuracy for higher damage and critical hit damage. This is why I prefer to play it safe with more accurate short range weapons on scout ships to increase my overall odds of hitting a ship. Now let’s look at firing arc and tracking penalties.

Above is a picture of a firing arc with 40 degrees. When you have a passive ability that increases firing arcs, you’ll get more of these degrees (the red and white rings) in the form of a wider shooting range on both your primary and secondary weapons. The blue dot in the center is where you’ll lose no accuracy at all when firing your primary weapon but the further away you get from blue, the less accurate your weapons will be. Let’s say we’re using the most forgiving weapon when it comes to accuracy tracking penalty, the Burst Laser Cannon.

The Burst Laser Cannon at close range has an accuracy rating of 123% with a Tracking Penalty of -0.50% per degree. The blue middle ring is 20 degrees out, so firing in that area will mean the Burst Laser Cannon has an accuracy of 113% at close range. At the outermost ring, it has an accuracy of 103% at close range. This is in the most forgiving of scenarios. Let’s use more of the more unforgiving ones.

Let’s use a Quad Laser Cannon at max range which has an accuracy of 85% at that range with -1.50% accuracy per degree away from center. At the middle ring, the cannon would have an accuracy of 55% while at the outermost ring it would have an accuracy rating of 25%. That’s quite the accuracy drop off and is the perfect example of why you should try aiming closer to the center of the firing arc. Now let’s look at a passive some weapons have which reduces the tracking penalty by 5%.

Above is the Burst Laser Cannon with the reduced tracking penalty. This essentially makes the first 10 degrees have the same accuracy as the core in the previous example since each arc away from the center is -0.50% per degree. Though keep in mind that each weapon is not equal and this increased area without loss of accuracy will differ on each ship such as the example below…

Since the Burst Laser Cannon has a tracking penalty of -0.50% per degree, it gains the most benefit from the reduced tracking penalty. Meanwhile, the Light Laser Cannon has a tracking penalty of -0.65% per degree and the Rapid-fire Laser Cannon has a tracking penalty of -0.70% per degree. Keep in mind that these weapons have some of the most lax tracking penalties whereas weapons such as the Quad Laser Cannon has a tracking penalty of -1.50% per degree, the Heavy Laser Cannon of -2% per degree, and Railguns having -5% per degree. These weapons don’t even get the option to reduce the tracking penalty so they’ll have a much harder time to land shots away from center. Now let’s look at the best case scenario for the Burst Laser Cannon when we add a crew member that adds 6% accuracy.

With the added green zone thanks to +6% accuracy from a crew mate, the center has an accuracy rating of 129% at close range. With the -5% tracking penalty, the first 10 degrees will still have 129% accuracy. Past that in the blue zone, we have accuracy between 128.5%-123%.

So these blue and green zones grant the pilot a wide area of shooting that is equal to or greater than the default accuracy in the center of the firing arc of an unmodified Burst Laser Cannon. Accuracy buffs stack up and should not be ignored. With 17 degrees remaining outside the blue zone, firing at the edge would yield a -8.5% tracking penalty so firing at close range at the edge will have a 114.5% accuracy rating.

With this in mind, you should be able to get an idea of how accurate your weapons are at the center, mid point, and outer edge of your firing arc assuming you know the degrees in the firing arc of your weapon.

If you have a firing arc of 36 degrees, the halfway point would be 18. From there, multiply 18 by the tracking penalty then subtract from your accuracy at your desired range.

Do keep in mind that the farther away your target is, the less accuracy you’ll have. It’s a shame there’s no in-game way to see these arcs or accuracy rating tooltips but I hope these visual representations aid you in getting an idea of how firing arcs work.

Sensor Range, Sensor Focus Range, and Communication Range

Above is a visual example I’ll be using to explain how Sensor Range and Communication ranges interact. Before we begin, we need to know what we’re looking at. Blue circles represent a ship’s sensor range while the purple circles represent a ship’s communication range. Meanwhile, the green cone represents a ship’s sensor focus range while the purple blue gradient represents both sensor and communication ranges as it’s the same for sensor beacons.

1. Ship 1 is a T1 Strike Fighter with a Sensor Range of 15,000 meters, a Sensor Focus Range of 17,500 meters, and a Communication Range of 7,500 meters.
2. Ship 2 is a T3 Bomber with a Sensor Range of 18,000 meters and a Communication Range of 12,500 meters.
3. Ship 3 is a T3 Scout with a Sensor Range of 20,500 meters and a Communication Range of 25,000 meters.
4. Ship 4 is a T1 Gunship with a Sensor Range of 15,000 meters and a Communication Range of 10,000 meters.
5. Ship 5 is a T2 Scout with a Sensor Range of 20,500 meters and a Communication Range of 10,000 meters.
6. B represents Sensor Beacons that have a Sensor and Communication Range of about 20,000 meters.
7. Ships with a Red Glow around them indicate enemy ships.

As you can see, it is possible for a ship’s communication range to exceed its sensor range. This is particularly useful for scout ships that have a high base sensor range so they can instead invest their sensor components into communication. This can be very useful for overlapping communication ranges of ships and beacons. In the example, the communication ranges of ships 2, 3, 4, 5, and the Beacons overlap. The only ship that’s not overlapping their communication range with others is ship 1.

The 2 beacons are detecting 4 enemy ships while ship 5 has a gunship in its sensor range. Since the communication ranges of the beacons and ships 2-5 overlap, each is able to pick up the 4 enemy ships on their sensors despite the fact that those enemy ships are out of range of all those ships.

When communication ranges overlap like this, it can benefit everyone by greatly increasing their map awareness. Though should any of these links in this communication chain get destroyed, it can cut off vision for others so it’s best to hide sensor beacons near some terrain while having them decrease the sensor radius of nearby ships to increase their odds of not being caught.

Ship 1 would be unable to see any of those 4 ships in this example, instead being able to see the one outside its primary sensor range and instead sees it through their increased Sensor Focus Range.

With a base sensor range of 15,000 meters, its base sensor focus range would normally match that. Though this particular pilot chose a tactical crew mate that increases their sensor focus range by 2,500 meters which allows them to see farther out than normal in a particular direction.

The approximate angle of this sensor focus arc is about 29 degrees, shout out to Drakkolich for taking the time to measure this angle. His work will be listed at the References portion found at the end of the guide.

Don’t underestimate the value of Sensor Beacons and a good communication range on your ships. Having a large sensor range is always a good option but through coordinated efforts and teamwork, you can accomplish even more with an even better view of the map.

The map in this particular example is far larger than any map found within GSF. In a real GSF scenario, about 4 well placed sensor beacons would be enough to give your team the ability to see across the map assuming nothing destroys the beacons. This job is best left for maximum speed T3 Scouts to get out there to place their beacons and boost back to their allies to provide support.

Sensor Dampening

Now let’s discuss how sensor dampening works. In the above example we have a T1 Strike Fighter with a Sensor Range of 15,000 meters and a Sensor Focus Range of 17,500 meters. Meanwhile there’s a T1 Gunship within its Sensor Range that would actually remain undetected by the Strike Fighter’s Sensors. How is this done?

This is done with the gunship’s sensor dampening. After getting sensor damping buffs from a crew mate and a sensor dampener from its Sensor component, it has a base sensor damping range of 6,000 meters. With the additional +1,500 to its sensor damping range from its activated Fortress Shield, it now has a sensor damping range of 7,500 meters. This reduces the Sensor Radius and Sensor Focus Radius of the Strike Fighter by 7,500 making its effective Sensor Radius 7,500 meters and its effective Sensor Focus Radius 10,000 meters.

Keep in mind that this only applies to the gunship in this example as all of its sensor damping buffs are on itself. So now we see that the darker blue and green portions of the Strike Fighter’s sensor range is its effective range against the gunship.

That’s quite the difference and unless the Strike Fighter decides to turn just a tad, they’re likely to miss that gunship entirely which can be deadly for them. Now there is a trick to get around this, it’s called using your eyes.

Assuming you have the proper render distance, you should be able to use your eyes to pick out a ship in the distance. Though this can be tricky if the gunship is hiding behind some cover which will make them harder to spot. Aside from that, it’s also hard to miss the charging energy animation gunships make which should also be a dead giveaway.

Sensor Dampening is also good to use on Bombers as well, particularly those that focus on defending a satellite or one creating a pit stop for their allies. If you wish to go for a stealthy assassin type build on a Strike Fighter or Scout, then this can also be done. Never be afraid to experiment with your builds!

Galactic Starfighter Maps Overview and Tips

Team Deathmatch

This is a basic game mode where your goal is to kill enemy team members. You can win here either by reaching the score limit before the timer runs out, or by having more points when the timer runs out. Do note that killing yourself by crashing into terrain will count as a point for the enemy team. Getting too close to enemy capital ships will result in you getting shot down by them. Throughout the maps used for Team Deathmatch, you’ll find various power ups to increase your performance for a short period of time.

The Damage Overcharge buff will increase the power of your primary weapons making your shots far more deadly. When active, your primary weapons will glow red on your ship.

The Weapon Overcharge buff will increase your weapon power regeneration rate. While active, your weapon power pool in your power management menu will have a yellow border around it.

The Shield Overcharge buff will increase your shield power regeneration rate. While active, your shield power pool in your power management menu will have a blue border around it.

The Engine Overcharge buff will increase your engine power regeneration rate. While active, your engine power pool in your power management menu will have a purple border around it.

Deathmatch Tips

In Deathmatch games your goal is to destroy enemy ships. The first team to get 50 kills wins. Self-destructing gives the other team a point, as does being destroyed by capital ship turrets.

Hang back for the first few seconds and check out the locations of the nearest power-ups. The Damage Overcharge power-up (red glow) is a key mechanic in Deathmatch. Players with it will always win jousts against players without it.

Stay alive. Every death is a point for the other team. Pretty useless advice, but it’s worth repeating. If you’re crippled and nearly dead, there’s no shame in hiding around near spawn while the cooldown for Hydro Spanner resets. Once you’re back to health you can dive back in.

There are a couple different ‘flavors’ of Deathmatch based on the other people on your team. Sometimes the matches are tightly focused, with bomber nests and gunships staying close while strike fighters and scouts hunt the edges. These matches are won with conservative play and heavily favor the long-range weapons on gunships.

Other times the match is a wild free-for-all, with players all over the map. These matches are won with teamwork. Gunships are at a disadvantage if no one is protecting their flanks or peeling for them. Here the best ships are likely scouts and strike fighters, who have the speed to hunt individual enemies and escape when things get rough.

If your team is really struggling and the other team is camping your spawn there’s not much you can do. Try to spawn at locations with fewer opponents and sneak past the gauntlet if you can. These matches are frustrating, and some people leave or self-destruct to make them end faster. Do whatever you can.

When you get killed, hit R and look at the ship of the other player. Try to figure out what build they’re using (were you hit with a protorp? Slug railgun? Blasters?).

Don’t get caught alone. Keep an eye on the locations of your teammates and never be afraid to bug out. Communicate whenever possible.

Use Tab constantly to see the closest enemies. Attach names to ship types. Support your teammates. Peel for the bombers and gunships. A predictable player is a dead player.

Avoid traveling in straight lines if someone is shooting you. Use obstacles to break LOS and sneak close before attacking. Try to figure out which pilots on the other team are especially deadly. Then you can take pains to avoid them or mitigate their threat. Try to figure out which pilots on your team know what they’re doing. Stick with them and learn their tricks.

Deathmatch Maps

Battle Over Iokath

The Battle Over Iokath map can be seen as one of the more frustrating maps for a Team Deathmatch due to the ship debris littering the space.

With this abundant junk floating around, it’s very easy to blow yourself up by running into some trash when using an engine maneuver. Though a benefit to this map is that it allows a lot of areas to use as cover and lots of junk to block missile locks with. Just be mindful of your surroundings and you’ll be fine.

Kuat Mesas Deathmatch

This is your planetside flavor of GSF with large pillars of stone going kilometers into the air. This is a common map to find gunships as they’ll be hiding near said pillars to fire at their targets with most close range ships going towards the center.

With ample cover provided by the large stone walls, it’s easy for bombers to set up pit stops with repair drones to patch up their allies before they head back into combat. You may have the idea to set up shop at the very top of one of these pillars though you’d be out of range to effectively use any weapons and too isolated to get any immediate backup so I would advise against such shenanigans.

Lost Shipyards Deathmatch

The Lost Shipyards Deathmatch Map is a fairly basic map with most of the terrain consisting of asteroids.

These asteroids provide ample cover for bombers and gunships while strike fighters and scouts will fight around the asteroids to either kite enemies or lure them into the asteroids.

You should do your best to stick by some cover and avoid large open spaces like those in the center or edges of the map as you’ll be an easy target for railgun fire. If you spawn on the east side, there’s a box structure on D2 that can provide a good place to set up a pit stop to repair your hull.

Domination

In Domination games your goal is to capture three satellites. A captured satellite will award points every second. Dying gives the other team 1 point. The first team to 1000 points wins. Think of the Civil War ruleset from regular pvp.

In a typical Domination match, the Republic will capture node C at the start while the Empire captures node A. Both sides will send ships to B, and that’s where most of the fighting takes place. Again, think Civil War pvp tactics. B changes hands the most, but keep an eye on the off-node because it gets attacked quite a bit.

An alternative strategy is to send people to both A and C with the goal of getting both quickly (giving up B for the time being). If this AC/B split occurs, usually the team with A and C will give up their off-node in exchange for B. That is, if the Republic has A and C and the Imps have B, the most common outcome is for the Imps to take A. B will either stay with the Imps (if they manage to defend) or fall to the Republic. The combination of B and A or C is easier to defend.

Communication is key. Just as in regular pvp, if you are guarding a node you need to keep the rest of your team updated as to what is going on. Call out incoming ships and get an idea of whether you will need help or not.

Remember that the goal is to control the satellites, not to kill the enemy. If you are alone on a friendly node, your goal is to stay alive. Turrets have damage reduction, and their lasers can be deadly if you have no shields. You should LOS using the satellite so you only have to fight one at a time.

Dogfighting around the satellites is a skill you’ll learn over time. Remember that f4 power distribution gives you the tightest turning radius. Fight along the z-axis – many players will circle around the satellites and use the vanes for LOS’ing. If you are below the satellite looking up at them, they will not be able to escape your missile locks this way.

Tensor Field (T3S) is key at the start. It provides a major boost to speed, allowing your team to reliably cap two nodes unopposed if the other faction does not also have a TS3.

Hyperspace Beacon (T1B) is really useful for getting a respawn location closer to the objectives. Protect your side’s beacon(s) and go after the enemy’s beacons wherever you see them.

Attacking the off-node: there are a couple reasons you might want to go after the off-node. First and most obviously, if you can 1v1 the defender and the turrets you can cap it. Alternatively, your goal might be to draw one or two additional enemies off the contested node so your teammates have an easier time capping it.

T1S excels at attacking nodes by itself, and I’ll take a minute to discuss what that might look like.

• Assuming one (not a gunship) defender and three turrets: Use afterburners to travel from spawn (or the contested node) to somewhere reasonably close but behind cover. Allow engine power to refill before going in (take the time to look at the defender(s) and their locations). Charge in and kill one turret with lasers+pods. At point-blank range of the satellite, use EMP field (at upgrade level t4, this also clears any missile locks). Now all mines around the node are destroyed, drones and turrets are disabled and damaged, and players cannot use their system abilities.
  Kill a second turret using lasers+pods and boost away from the node. If there is a good obstacle, LOS and recover power/shields. If not, get far enough away and then Snap Turn back towards the node (breaking missile locks again). Kill the third turret. At any point during this run you can use QCS to restore your shield strength. Now it’s just you and the defending player(s). If you can 1v1 them, great, if not, hopefully you’ve drawn a few more players away from the main battle and made things easier on your teammates.
• If the defender is a gunship, you’ve got to deal with them early and it’s a little more complicated. Cover is much more important, and you want to get as close as you can before making yourself vulnerable to a railgun shot.

Domination Maps

Denon Exosphere

Despite the large chunks of ship debris featured in the map, Denon Exosphere is one of the more wide and open maps in GSF.

As such, there’s not a lot of space to take cover behind, especially on Satellite B where it’s easy to get caught with railgun fire. This map works well for scouts who can dash forward without interruption or worrying about having to dodge terrain which may cause loss in momentum. Keep your eyes open as it’ll be easy to spot anyone coming in from a mile away.

Kuat Mesas Domination

The Kuat Mesas Domination features large stone pillars like its Deathmatch counterpart though they’re not as annoying to deal with.

Rather, the annoyance factor is concentrated on Satellite B. What makes that satellite tricky to capture and hold is that it’s at a low elevation and surrounded with side entrances within the stone walls.

Pair that with the scaffolding, it can be tricky to maintain a missile lock on a target or get away with engine maneuvers without risking self destruction.

Other than that, Satellites A and C should prove easier to capture as they’re in open space. When defending either satellites A or C, be sure to keep an eye out for any incoming starships originating from point B or your enemy’s spawn area.

Hyperspace beacons are great for this map as there’s only one spawn location available for each team.

Lost Shipyards Domination

When you’re at the Lost Shipyards Domination map, your two main targets should be Satellites B and C. B is a no brainer, capturing the central satellite in domination is always good so starships can quickly travel to A or C (whichever they captured) to provide support should they come under attack. Point C is a tricky satellite for enemies to capture once it has defenses set up. This is due to this satellite having cover inside shipyard scaffolding which can provide cover from weapons while offering environmental hazards.

Meanwhile Satellite A is found in an open space and can be easier to pick off. So it goes one way or the other, invest in Satellite C and hunker down there or if you got the tools, you should be able to capture Satellite A without much issue. Though due to the lack of defenses and cover at A, a defender may resort to creating a minefield there in which case a T2 Bunker Buster would be useful here.

Combat Tactics and Tips

Learn how to Aim with your Primary Weapon

One of the most important things to improve your performance in GSF is to always practice using your primary weapon.

It’s very easy for newcomers to get frustrated and rely solely on proton torpedoes to do the work for them. Missiles and torpedoes are nice but they are temporary, should you run out you’ll need good aim to survive and win a match. Don’t feel discouraged if you’re aiming at the circle and you still miss. After we’ve discussed accuracy, how distance and firing arc affects it, it’s just the way it is sometimes. Never give up and give it your all!

What to look for on the screen

This tip is subjective as one’s render distance can differ depending on one’s computer specs. Regardless, always keep an eye out for movement in the distance. Learn to notice moving objects to see if it’s an enemy ship. Your sensors won’t pick it up until they’re in range but you’ll still be able to see them coming a mile away. This tip is very important if you’re defending a satellite or playing as a gunship built for sniping. Communicate with your team that you see incoming enemy ships coming to X location.

How to behave in Dogfights

Galactic Starfighter is a group PvP scenario, meaning you work as a team. Don’t try to be a hot shot ace pilot when starting out, you have to practice your skills to get there eventually. Even then, hot shots work best with a group to back them up. The more allies you have around you, the more cover fire you have. If you’re alone and have someone on your tail, it’ll be hard to get them off. If you had an ally nearby, they could deal with that pest for you. There’s strength in numbers, teamwork and objective play is far more important than getting the most kills or damage.

Motion In Combat

When in a combat scenario, you must maintain movement to prolong your survival. This can be done with boosting, strafing, engine abilities, kiting an enemy around terrain, just whatever you do don’t stay still or move in a single direction for too long!!! The simpler your movements are, the easier it will be for an enemy pilot to line up their shots against you. Make life harder for them by keeping up your movement and weave around the terrain. Weaving through debris or asteroids or even moving around a satellite is a great way to keep missile locks off of you.

How to Turn

If you need a refresher between Pitch and Yaw, then now would be a good time to revisit the Controls and Movement portion of the guide. When you need to make tight turns, it’s far better to use Pitch rather than Yaw as it has a much better turning rate. This is useful for navigating through tight spaces or when you’re trying to turn your ship to face an enemy behind you.

Though it is possible that your enemy does the same thing and if you two have the same turning rate, you’ll both just get stuck in the air making circles trying to reach one another. To avoid this, use engine maneuvers or use your strafing to strafe up, down, left, or right to break the loop and hopefully get them in your sights.

Hiding Deployables

Some deployables you want to keep more hidden than others. Things like Interdiction, Missile, or Railgun Drones will want to be placed more openly to have a wider range of vision to find targets.

Deployables that have a short activation range such as Concussion, Ion, or Interdiction mines or non-offensive deployables like Sensor Beacons, Repair Drones, and Hyperspace Beacons should be placed within cover. Avoid leaving these in open space where they can easily be shot down, instead placing them behind or within terrain like the example above. It’s a bit hard to see the blue glow around those sensor beacons but that’s the point, they should be hard to spot.

Sensor Beacons have an edge of remaining hidden as they can reduce the sensor radius of nearby opponents and this might give them the advantage they need to stay hidden. Mines with a short activation radius should be kept around corners where one can expect high traffic such as a tunnel or around the portions of a satellite.

Hyperspace Beacons shouldn’t be kept close to a high combat zone as they’ll just be shot down, but they also shouldn’t be too far away to where reinforcements can’t come in quickly. Place any hyperspace beacons near some terrain such as large walls to completely block off view from the enemy opponent.

How and when to use Cover

The use of terrain is often overlooked in combat, never overlook its potential. This is especially true for ships such as bombers and gunships. Without fighter support, these slow, chunky ships make for easy pickings. When going alone, these ships benefit greatly from cover. Let’s look at some examples.

Here we have a bomber with a repair drone hiding within a satellite. This style of hiding is found with bombers acting as a satellite guardian. Since this bomber has access to a healing drone, they’re using offensive drones to act as cover fire in the area. If the bomber is a T1 minelayer, then they won’t have access to a repair done.

Without the green glow of the drone, this bomber would be hard to spot both visually and with sensors assuming they have a sensor dampening setup. Though this particular bomber’s drone gives them away and makes them pop out. With enough shields, a good aim, and their repair done, this bomber can still be tricky to take out without the right equipment.

This gunship is in the Lost Shipyards map using the box shaped scaffolding structure as cover. Notice how they’re using the structure to block off access from their top and right sides?

Assuming their spawn point is coming from their left, this would also mean their left side is fairly protected as it’ll typically be allies coming from that direction. This leaves their front, back, and bottom the more vulnerable spots. By being in this one spot, they can deny fire coming in from 3 sides. This is why the use of cover and terrain is important, seemingly small things can make a world of difference.

Communication

At the start of every match, each team will have a minute to decide which ship they want to fly before they are deployed. This minute is a great time to talk with your team to develop a strategy for the game. Though once the match starts, it gets a bit trickier to talk for a couple reasons.

First off, unless you turn off your engines you’ll find your ship continuing to move forward. This might lead to some accidents such as ramming into terrain while typing. If you were to turn off your engines, you’ll be a sitting duck and an easy point for the enemy. With this restraint, the use of acronyms is very important to convey messages in a short amount of time.

Gathering GSF Resources

Like I’ve mentioned earlier, there are two types of Requisition you can use, Ship Requisition and Fleet Requisition. Ship Requisition can be used to purchase ship components while Fleet Requisition can be used to purchase components, new ships, and crew members.

The best way to gather these requisitions is to gather fleet commendations. Fleet Commendations can be earned from GSF Dailies and Weeklies, as Daily Login rewards, or from Space Missions. The latter is a great option if you’re concerned that you’re not ready for true space combat.

Space Missions

Space Missions are a PvE game mode where you use your personal ship in combat. This is an on-rails experience meaning the direction of your path is predetermined, but you can move around to avoid shots or terrain.

Fighting works a bit differently here than in GSF as you’ll be aiming your shots at the ships and there’s less to manage and worry about. The Level 7 maps can get tricky though as you’ll be unable to complete them without the right tools and some require you to remember where and when to dodge to avoid hitting terrain.

You can purchase ship upgrades from the GTN though level 7 parts can be quite expensive. These are fun missions though and very forgiving that will grant you some Fleet Commendations you can spend later. This way, you can have an easy time and upgrade a ship or two right before you go into your first real GSF match.

GSF Dailies and Weeklies

Daily and Weekly GSF missions are hands down the best way to earn GSF commendations, tech fragments, ship and fleet requisitions. It’s also a good way to get WZ-1 Accelerants and a crate from the weekly quest which can provide a guaranteed upgrade for a piece of gear! Find these at a PvP mission terminal at the PvP Section of the Fleet or at the mission terminals for your faction on Odessen.

Though with these great rewards introduced in 7.0, there has been an increase of people just staying at spawn and killing themselves to avoid being kicked as killing yourself in GSF counts as participation.

This can make it hard to get those x2 points from wins when not everyone is actively participating. I feel a large portion of that stems from people being scared of GSF and wanting the rewards, so they just resort to being AFK to leech off the others.

I hope that with this guide, I can remove some of that fear and create more participation. Be swift when someone calls to kick someone for not participating so you can kick them before they ram themselves into terrain.

Spending Fleet Commendations

You’d be surprised how often people get lost trying to find the Fleet Commendation Vendor to spend their Fleet Commendations. I’ve highlighted the areas where they can be found on the Republic and Imperial Fleets respectively followed by the specific NPCs you’ll want to talk to. While they offer numerous things to sell, we’ll be looking at the Requisition specifically.

You’ll want to spend your commendations on the major requisitions available as they grant you more than minor ones. The Major Fleet Requisition Grant will give you 6,250 Fleet Requisition while the Major Ship Requisition Grant will give you 4,000 Ship Requisition for every ship you have unlocked when you consume it.

Only use the Fleet Requisition to unlock other ships and crewmates while leaving the Ship Requisition to unlock ship components. These can also be placed into your legacy storage, allowing you to upgrade ships on your alts! This is great for doing the weekly quest numerous times on multiple characters.

About the Author

Christopher Siow (known as Siow in Star Wars: The Old Republic) describes himself as “some Native-American dude who loves Star Wars and other nerd stuff”. He currently operates a Star Wars YouTube channel known as “Siow’s Holocron”, where he touches upon various Lore subjects relating to Star Wars. Such videos include Lore videos about the Jedi Temple Guard, various Occupations that the Jedi would take on, and plans to include many more in-depth lore videos over time.

• YouTube Channel: Siow’s Holocron
• Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/siowsholocron
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/SiowsHolocron

Credits and References

So gathering all this information was not easy, it took numerous tests and looking at other guides to compile all of this information just for you, the reader. Let me give some shoutouts!

Phalczen on the SWTOR Forums helped me out on a post where I was looking for information about GSF and really got some of the nitty-gritty stuff rolling. Here’s a link to the post I made where he listed more links about GSF!

Drakkolich has written some amazing guides on the SWTOR Forums and a lot of it helped form the details of this guide. This includes shorthand and abbreviation used in GSF, he found out the Sensor Focus arc is about 29 degrees, explaining the benefits of power management, and so much more! I tried to avoid using too much of his stuff to not steal his thunder. Check out this post by Drakkolich for more of his guides!

Then there was Jinnora. Their guide helped me form a foundation for my own and much of their information was still relevant to this day! You can find Jinnora’s “SWTOR Galactic Starfighter (GSF) Guide for Beginners” here!

And last I want to thank all the people who took the time out of their day to help not only me, but everyone reading this by setting up custom GSF matches made with group challenges!

Here’s a link to my Starfighter Comparison Sheet that I made to reference which ship was able to use which component.