Finding a Match

In order to start playing the game, you must first decide if you want to play Co-Op (PvE against AI controlled enemies) or PvP (humans vs humans). If it is your first time playing the game, we suggest that you try Co-Op first since PvP can be extremely competitive.

Once you pick, you will either be brought into our matchmaking system or to a match list. If you are in the matchmaking system, you can pick which class you'd like to queue as and simply wait to be placed into a match of similarly experienced players. If you are brought into a match list, you are free to pick which match you would like to join, but be aware that matches may be in progress.

You can also create a custom match with or without password for just your friends as well as practice matches for you to test out different ships and equipment.

Which Class?

While choosing a class does not limit you in your capabilities, e.g. a Gunner can repair and drive the ship, each class carries more of their class specific tools and equipment. Captains (first slot in ship load, and normally also a Pilot) can kick other players off the helm.

Gunners and Engineers are recommended for players who have not played the game before. Their roles are fairly straight forward and easy to pick up. Engineers are responsible for repairing ship components and keeping the ship alive. They can use a variety of repair tools to both add HP to components, as well as to rebuild them if they die. Gunners can bring the most special ammo aboard and load into ship munitions. Ammo can greatly change the behavior of weapons so using the right ammo of the right guns, and at the right time is a skill unto itself. The game features realistic ballistics physics for many of the weapons so be sure to lead your shots. You are on a moving airship, after all.

Pilots are for recommended for experienced players who those who show a penchant for leadership and strategy. Pilots and Captains are usually synonymous and will choose the ship and select its guns for a particular match. The ship and its guns is the first strategic decision that a Captain makes. It might be a fast ship with flamethrowers, or a heavy ship with broadside cannons. Each has a different role to play in combat. When in a match, the Pilot is responsible for maneuvering the ship in and out of combat. It also means the Pilot has the most situational awareness in combat and should instruct crew on what to do whether it be getting on port side guns of all hands repairing the Hull.

Ships and Guns

There are a variety of ships and guns to choose from. Keep in mind that not all content is available across Co-Op PvE and PvP. Some weapons are simply too powerful to be in PvP. It is best to experiment on your own by creating Practice matches to test all the different ships and guns that are available. Each have their own nuances, pros and pros.

Ship Components

All ships have the following components that can take damage:
  • Hull Armor
  • Balloon
  • Engines
  • Guns
The Hull Armor is the most important. If the Armor is down, then the ship will begin taking Core Hull damage. And when Core Hull is at zero, the ship explodes and you die. When the Armor goes down, it normally becomes a frantic rush to the Hull to rebuild the Armor and absorb continued damage.

Balloons keep the ship afloat. When the Balloon is down the ship will begin to fall. The ship's vertical maneuverability effectiveness is also defined by the amount of health the Balloon has.

Engines provide the ship with lateral movement. All ships have an engine on both sides, while others have additional engine in the center. If a sided engine is down, it will affect the turning of the ship. The thrust each engine provides is also affected by the amount of health it has.

Guns shoot things... and while not essential to the movement or survivability of the ship, it's a good idea to keep them operational. The gun's overall effectiveness like reload speed and turn speed is affected by the amount of health it has.

Gun Types

There are many guns and behaviors in the game. All of them, however, share the same basic qualities in that they can have up to 2 damage types. Damage types are incredibly important in the game as they will define how, when, and against what ship component they are most effective against. The damage types are as follows:
  • Piercing—Highly effective against armor and mechanical components like engines and guns.
  • Explosive—Once the hull armor is down, it will rip the hull to shreds but little else.
  • Shatter—Extremely effective against mechanical components, but ineffective against everything else.
  • Flechette—For those who like popping balloons.
  • Fire—Wreaks havoc on balloons and the hull. Less effective against armor.
  • Impact—What happens when your pilot misbehaves and crashes. Deals a handful of damage to balloons and hull.

Game modes

Co-Op PvE Game Modes

  • Defense—Waves of enemies are trying to destroy your Base. Defend the base at all costs by going out into enemy attack lanes and destroying their offensive enemy drills. After destroying the final enemy drill, survive the final wave to win.
  • Infiltration—A player becomes the VIP and must be escorted to enemy refineries to Infiltrate them, and then be escorted to the Exit to win.
  • Search & Destroy—Complete a number of short objective based waves in a certain amount of time. Deaths are limited so survival is essential. Complete all waves to win.
  • Assault—Mount an offensive against enemy outposts and bases and the enemies that defend them. Deaths are limited. Destroy all outposts and bases to win.
  • Intercept—Protect your team's refineries from enemy's that have stolen precious cargo and destroying your refineries. Destroy them to reclaim the cargo and deliver them at the refineries that are still standing. Reclaim all cargo to win.
  • Blockade—Protect a series of bases from being bombed by enemy bomb carriers. Defeat all bomb carriers to win.

PvP Game Modes

  • Deathmatch—Two teams duke it out to become the first to reach the kill goal.
  • VIP Deathmatch—Each team has a player VIP. Different points are rewarded to VIP kills and non-VIP kills. First team to reach the point goal wins.
  • King of the Hill—Two teams compete to hold a central control point. First team to reach the point goal wins.
  • Crazy King—Multiple control points are scattered across the map, but only one is active at any given time. Two teams compete to hold the currently active point. First team to reach the point goal wins.

Interacting with the ship

The same basic movement applies to all classes when walking around the deck of a ship. When you walk up to a repairable component, you will see the health and other stats about the repair status of the component you are looking at. You can switch to different repair tools or even the spyglass to fit your needs.

When walking up to the helm or a gun, you can press the Interact button to mount the helm or gun.

Gun Controls

After mounting a gun, movement controls except for Look are disabled. You can aim the gun and fire using Primary Fire. Secondary Fire will zoom if the gun supports it. After firing rounds, you can manually press the Reload button otherwise the gun will automatically begin reloading when the clip reaches zero.

While on a gun, you can switch your ammos and press Reload to being loading in the selected ammo otherwise the gun automatically reload with the currently selected ammo when its clip reaches zero. A gun will have the same ammo loaded in it until someone loads a different ammo or does not have the same ammo to load back in.

Helm Controls

After mounting the helm, movement controls are changed. Up and Down that used to control player forward/backward movement now controls ship altitude. Additional Throttle Up and Down controls are not activated to control the ship's throttle. If the Throttle is left outside its neutral position when exiting the helm, the ship will continue to move.

While on the helm, you can select and use different Pilot skills and abilities. Many of these will become active upon selection so exercise caution and switch back to no skills activated. Other skills may require manual activation with Primary Fire.

Default Controls