I have stated before captaining is a combination of Leadership, Piloting, and Tactics. I have discussed piloting in a previous guide and would like to address Tactics, specifically tactical retreat.
WhyIn a death match the worst case scenario is called a Meat Grinder where one team feeds the other team a steady stream of 1vs2 encounters until they run out of lives. Often a team gets into a Meat Grinder because the surviving captain of a 2v2 engagement makes a poor tactical decision as to fighting or fleeing. Knowing when and how to retreat from a bad situation will prevent Meat Grinding and potentially lead to some incredible come from behind victory stories.
How To:The first, and quite possibly most important, thing to know about retreating is when do to it. Abandoning an ally to the wolves when you had a chance of winning will not earn you much respect, but neither will giving your enemy a free kill. As a rule of thumb never go full retreat while your ally is alive, in the area, and fighting.
Once your ally dies your first question should be "Can I make the kill before they can engage me?" Usually the answer is no but there will be those rare cases where you can make a quick kill and escape, or even take out two badly damaged ships solo. It is important to be honest with yourself here since your decision will affect the entire team.
Assuming you decide to retreat the next step is to decide in which direction to retreat. The ultimate goal of retreating is to meetup with allied forces so that you can return to battle from a position of strength. So pick a direction that will lead you back to a friendly spawn point/ship. If you are some distance away back away from the enemy ships and tell your gunners to target their engines or guns. If you are very close to the enemy formation and they are facing you it sometimes is best to fly towards and past the enemy ships. The time it takes for the enemy to turn around and accelerate is time you get to build up a decent lead.
Look for map objects that you can hide behind when choosing an escape route. Putting solid objects between the enemy's guns and your ship will give your crew time to repair and increase the chances that the enemy will run into something and get drawn off. Even if you end up at the same place you started flying rings around an obstacle gives your ally a chance to get back into the fight.
If Hard cover is not an option use soft cover by flying into clouds or using tar barrel to obscure your position. The moment the enemy looses spot on you change direction and altitude to prevent their gunners from finding your ship with blind fire.
Use kerosine liberally when your engines are at full health and tone it back when they drop to 50%. Occasionally drop a tar cloud when the enemy is directly astern or when passing through a tight area. Tar is one of the best escape tools a pilot can carry. A perusing ship can match a kerosine burn but dropping tar forces a pursuer to take a wider route thus giving a fleeing ship a bigger lead. Mines can also be used to dissuade an enemy ship from following you too closely.
Make sure you are battle ready when you rejoin your team mate, especially if you have hostiles close behind you. Turn off kerosine and order your crew to combat stations 10-20 seconds before rejoining an ally ship. This will give your crew a chance to run a chem cycle, rebuild any broken guns, and load the correct ammo.
Quick Do's and Don'tsDo tell your crew you plan on retreating and every one should be repairing.
Don't wait until you are taking damage in a 2v1 before you retreat. Even a fully repaired ship is going to have a tough time running from an engagement. Trying to retreat a damaged ship is next to impossible.
Do be honest with your team mate as to your chances. If you are getting pounded and your ally is 1/2 way across the map the odds he will arrive on scene just as you die are quite high.
Don't try and do a running escape if your ship is slower than your enemies. There are other options like tanking, vertical evasion, or knocking out your enemy's guns. However sometimes you have to accept your fate and wait for the next respawn.
Do balloon block, going low will cause more of your enemy shots to land in the non fatal balloon hit box.
Don't expose your engines to an opponent with disabling capability. Fly backwards if you can't find cover, but don't let your engines go down if you can avoid it.
Do prioritize repairs when retreating. You can let the guns burn out and sometimes even let the balloon go for a bit, so long as you have engines and hull you can survive.
Don't run past your ally. No matter how badly injured your ship is once you have rejoined your ally you must stop running. They can't help you if you are too far away. Even if you can't fight back tanking your enemy's shots will hopefully give your ally a chance to make a kill. If they target your ally you need to be in the area and ready to do damage.
Do let your ally know your height as you get close to joining up. Your ally should be following your progress on the map, but may not know your elevation. Pass on this vital piece of information to ensure your pursuers are greeted with a wall of bullets at the predetermined ambush spot.
Conclusions:Retreating is more than postponing death, it is how you turn a bad tactical situation into a good one. If you do it right you can lure an overconfident opponent into a trap. The most important thing is to identify the situation where retreating is necessary and possible. Once that is done act with the intention of turning to fight the moment the tactical situation is in your favor.
