This FAQ was created by Orange from the Descent Chronicles, with very very special thanks going to MadDog. It gives his view on how to play your best in the Freeespace 2 demo. It gives strategy, tricks, tips, helpful hints, etc. Some of the things in this FAQ may not always work or you may not be able to do them depending on your skill level. Here we go, enjoy!

First off, I would like to go over basic multiplayer tactics and strategy. I suspect that if you are reading this FAQ, you understand the basic flight controls and have passed training missions. In the demo, there are only two missions to go over so it shouldn't be that hard to get a good feel for the game. It is always good to get comfortable with a certain loadout and get it down so you are really good with it. Also, I recommend that you always play on insane difficulty because it is worth the most points and the demo isn't really all that hard.

Co-op Mission: "Initiation"
Now I would like to talk about the co-op mission included in the demo. For my loadout I like to take a Hercules Mark II Heavy Assault Fighter loaded with one Subach Laser, and one Maxim Cannon accommpanied by a double loadout of MX-60 Rockeyes. My favorite tactic on the co-op mission is to set my laser to the Subach when taking out fighters because it has a good firing rate and does some damage. While I am firing my Subach laser, I like to fire about 6 Rockeyes at my target when I have a good shot and am about 800 M or closer to my target. That should usually kill most fighters. Usually the only way this tactic doesn't work is if you are chasing your target in circles and you try to fire your Rockeyes while at an angle, the enemy can easily launch a countermeasure and avoid the missiles. There are only a couple waves of SF Mara fighters before you destroy the Belphador, so once you kill the fighters make work of the laser turrets, flak guns, and beam turrets on the Belphador with your Maxim Cannon. The Maxim Cannon is also very good at taking out subsystems, the only thing negative about it is it uses a lot of energy.

After a short amount of time of your Maxim torturing, the Belphador will go down and the Tumael (A Molach class corvette) will show up. Along with it, Pisces wing (2 waves of 3 SF Mara fighters) will show up. Defeat them using the same tactics as you did with the other Maras. After you defeat them, Virgo wing will show up (3 waves of 3 SF Astaroth fighters). These fighters are more manueverable and faster than the SF Maras, making them more difficult to kill. Getting the good shot on these guys is much harder. If you are unable to get a shot straight on, kill your engines and wait for them to come at you, why they are coming straight at you, fire about 4 rockeyes and fire your laser, this should kill them. After you defeat this wing, all fighters are destroyed and the cruiser is open for you to kill. Once again, I recommend you take out the Maxim, this time you will need help so order all fighters to disarm your target. There are two flak turrets on the Tumael, one on each side of the ship right in the middle. With about two good shots with your Maxim, it should wipe out each turret. Once the ship is disarmed (which shouldn't take long) it will probably be at about 60% on hull integrety. You can now order all fighters to destroy your target. Once it is taken down to 40%, friendly reinforcements will arrive and make short work of it. The Pstotle (Sobek class) has three major beam weapons on it and if the Tumael is disarmed you can just watch it destroy it because most fighter weapons aren't even strong enough to puncture the hull. Once the Tumael is destroyed and all objectives are complete, you can return to base victorious.

Dogfight Mission: "Drydock Scramble!"
Okay, there's not really much I can go over for this one, just basic loadouts and tactics I like to go on in free for all mode. First of all, I must say that you should always take a Persues in this mission because all ships are modified so they only get minimal loadouts. Therefore, take a Persues and take one Subach Laser, and one Prometheus Laser and like always, take double loadouts of rockeyes. Now that you have your loadouts picked.. lets go over some basic dogfighting tactics of mine. First off, double up on your lasers and missiles, especially your lasers because they both operate in different ways. The Subach with its fast firing rate makes it so they keep having to rotate their shields if you get many shots off and the Prometheus works to puncture the shields. A good dogfighting tactic in one on one is to get behind your target and keep following them and trying to get behind them until you get them in your center reticle. Once they are in your center reticle, fire your rockeyes. You should also be firing your lasers and almost all costs. Although this is a great tactic for one on one, it is definately not a good tactic for more than 2 people because someone can just pick you off from the side. A good strategy for multiple enemies is to go right in to them and fire rockeyes from a distance while doing a fly by with your afterburners on at full speed. With luck it should not only puncture your targets shields but take them down to about 60% hull integrity. At that point, you should match speed and get behind your target and fire your lasers. Once you get a consistent strategy like this down you should be fairly succesful in the FFA mission. My strategy may not always work perfect for you but maybe you could figure one out for yourself and submit it to me at orange@volitionwatch.com!