That moment when the Captain leaves mid-game.

[Indreams]

I was playing a match this morning where the captain left just as the game started. 

I took helm as a gunner, we managed a kill, but we eventually lost.

The question is:

What is the best way to manage without a pilot/captain?

Who should take helm? Who should man the guns? How do we communicate with the other team? What is the best way to play without a pilot?

Thank you.

[Dimometer]

As someone who is not a captain cannot tell the AI what to do nor talk to the other captain, i would suggest this;

1. The gunner takes the helm, loss of firepower but no loss of repair ability.

2. Press "K" which will let you team text chat, look on the bottom left hand corner.

3. Down to three players, the engineers will have to communicate and prioritize their duties depending on the situation. Your AI will repair damage and shoot at anything close by.

4. It is difficult and you should expect to lose. I suggest flying close to your teammate and ambushing the other team, trying to pick them off one by one (Try to avoid head on encounters).

[Omniraptor]

I'd like to add that the AI should be set to repair only (f3), they are terrible shots but decent main engineers.

[Indreams]

Thank you very much, I'll keep these in mind as I play.

I have another question, should the gunner at the helm employ rams to compensate for the loss of firepower? Or should the ram be avoided because the gunner lacks kero/moonshine/bumber?

Or should the rams be situational? Than when should the ram be deployed?

Thank you,

[Dimometer]

Ramming is situational, it depends what ship you are using and how much damage you are taking. I would not rule it out, it can work as a way to increase damage output, but it is something you need to communicate with your team in order to see if their are any strong objections (i.e. Noooooooo!!!!! Hull is nearly down!!!!)

[Indreams]

Lol, I remember some of my first matches:

I ran a pyra against a blenderfish. We went in for a ram, the carronade stripped our armor moments before contact. We shattered like egg on rock when we did make contact. Hilarious.

[HamsterIV]

Who should take helm?

The person who is most comfortable piloting.

Who should man the guns?

Preferably a human gunner unless you have an Ai gunner and two human engineers.

How do we communicate with the other team?

You should probably just talk to the other ship on your team unless you think begging for mercy from the enemy will help. Team text chat is "K" let the other captain know your captain has left and you will support him to the best of your non pilot abilities.

What is the best way to play without a pilot?

Conservatively, hang back and let your team mate take point. If you really need a pilot tool consider exiting the game and rejoining with that tool as your one tool choice.

[Indreams]

Thank you very much,

I just came out of a match where the captain was quite useless (left moonshine on the whole time, and I think he was lagging badly).

I got to drive again, and the tips really helped. We lost, but I managed two kills, making the score 2-5.

Salutes to you all, especially to Hamster IV. I read your guides and they are wonderful.

[CitizenFry]

Normally the captain slot is the one who can issue orders to the AI through the use of the F1, F2, and F3 keys. If the captain leaves, that power passes to whichever player is in the topmost crew slot on the ship (as shown in the lobby or TAB scoreboard). I suspect, but have not verified, that captain-chat (C key by default) also passes in the same manner.

[sparklerfish]

Since the captain is generally replaced by an AI gunner, I find it best if the gunner takes the helm, but if the gunner's not comfortable with it obviously it'll be whoever is.  But yeah better to have two engineers and one AI gunner than two gunners, one of which is AI, and one engineer....