Bounty Hunting

[Dragonfire]

I'm writing a guide to combat and bounty hunting for the Oolite wiki, and I wanted to get some feedback from other commanders who have spent time in combat. What tactics would you want to share with a new bounty hunter or other combat-ready commander?

I'm posting the guide below for review. This was written based off of my own experiences. If you have anything to add (or think should be changed or removed), please feel free to post. I want this to be reliable and complete before I put it on the wiki! Thank you.

(Guide updated July 3, 2011, 11:29 AM Pacific)

--
Guide to Combat and Bounty Hunting
by Commander Dragonfire

Pirates are an inevitability in space, especially if you trade among the more dangerous systems. This leaves the average commander with two options - fight or run. Sure, running is the easiest, but what's the fun in that?

Before I go on, however, I must make the footnote that piracy does NOT pay (though some may beg to differ). Sooner or later, you will meet either GalCop, or a commander like me who doesn't take any trash off of some missile-happy idiot with a record.

Whether you enter into combat in self-defense or as a bounty hunter, the rules of the game are largely the same.

YOUR FUNDS AND SHIPS

What? You want to go take on the pirates with just that glorified strobe light you call a pulse laser? Try that, and we'll be finding pieces of you across the galaxy for months.

Before you can even think about a dogfight in the wild black yonder, you're going to need to get some cash. Your best bet is to do it legally. The last thing you need is for GalCop to come to your aid, only to lock a missile on you because you've got a record.

I'm not just talking about a tiny bit of money here, bud. You need at least 10 K to really get yourself set up.

Once we have the issue of money out of the way, let's talk ships. Sure, you can do pretty well in your puny Mark III, but you can do MUCH better with an upgrade. Personally, I favor a Boa, more specifically a Boa Class Cruiser. Not only does it have a sizable cargo bay, but it has not four, but five pylon mounts.

While I've never owned one, you also wouldn't do bad with a Python. I've done combat with many of them, and they handle quite nicely. The trade-off is that you have less pylon mounts than the Boa Class Cruiser. But those Pythons can turn on a time.

When selecting a ship, you need to look at, first of all, speed, and second, gun mounts. Pylon mounts can be useful, though there are many theories on that subject, as you will see later in this guide. By the by, make sure your ship supports shield boosters.

Cargo bay size is another point of debate, and it depends largely on what you plan to do. If you want to be a strict bounty hunter, a small 5 TC cargo bay is good (for picking up wreckage and escape pods). But if you're like me, and prefer to be a trader/hunter (which can be helpful for bringing in extra money), go with a larger cargo bay (though 50 TC is about as high as is reasonable for a hunter without sacrificing all-important speed.

While you're at it, don't go cheap. The more you pay for a ship, the better a chance that the thing is worth flying. The last thing you need is to be piloting a lemon in a dogfight. Also, try and get one with a lot of the upgrades (discussed in a moment) already on it.

In the end, the choice of ship is up to you, and not a choice to be taken lightly. Compare cargo bay size, pylon mounts, energy units, gun mounts, speed and handling, and shield upgrade availability. Then, make the decision carefully as to what ship to fly.

You are not limited to just the default ships. There are a LOT of awesome options in OXPs, so browse the OXP List and shop around.

WEAPONS

So, you've got your ship. Now for the weapons.

First, as I mentioned before, dump the pulse laser. You're going to want a beam or military laser - and not just in the front. Get one in the rear, aft, and starboard too. It is well worth the extra 3K.

The decision between beam and military lasers is one you'll have to make for yourself. There are bounty hunters on both sides of the line. Beam lasers recharge faster and heat slower, but military lasers have better range and give more damage per shot. The latter also allows for “long distance sniping,” which I'll bring up later.

By the same token, I've spoken to bounty hunters that mount mining lasers on their aft and starboard. Those take even more time to recharge, but again, they are more powerful. Not to mention, mining is more extra cash for you, assuming you have a big enough cargo hold and a fuel scoop.

If you just can't decide, you can always mix and match based on your needs.

Now, about your pylon mounts. There is a huge debate over the usefulness of missiles in bounty hunting. In my experience, their success rate doesn't warrant using them much. Many don't even waste the cash on then, and others swear by them.

If you carry missiles, carry ECM-hardened ones. The standard missiles are an absolute waste of time, as most pirates have ECM systems. Note, however, that ECM-hardened missiles are NOT ECM-proof. They can still be destroyed by an ECM system, but the chances are much lower than with standard missiles.

[quote=OXP NOTE]I recommend downloading Armoury OXP and Missiles and Bombs. These give you much better range of choices, but make these choices carefully.

A missile machine, anti-Thargoid technology and drones are all good choices.

Additionally, if you have at least six energy banks (eight is ideal), carrying Stun Bombs (from Missiles and Bombs) are an excellent choice, especially if you're surrounded by pirates AND non-pirates. The stun bomb will temporarily immobilize every ship within its blast area (about half of your IFF screen, from what I've seen.) This allows you to pick out and destroy the baddies, and leave the good guys unharmed. Reason for having 6 or more energy banks is that the stun bomb WILL drain three of your energy banks.[/quote]

Q-bombs are appealing, but I strongly advise against carrying them. Since they attach to your pylon mounts, it can be very easy to accidentally deploy one instead of a missile, and take out an innocent bystander, a GalCop, or yourself.

Instead, get energy bombs - you aren't as likely to accidentally deploy one, and you probably won't get nailed by your own bomb (unlike with the aforementioned Q-bombs.) Only get a Q-bomb if you don't have an energy bomb on your ship, and you can't buy one at your current station. Then, be VERY careful not to deploy it on accident. Even if you aren't a fan of energy bombs, it is always a good idea to have one handy. You never know when you'll be surrounded by too many pirates or Thargoids to fight off.

Carrying non-laser weaponry, while expensive, is worth considering. In my experience, regular trading should offset the price well enough, if done right. But the decision is ultimately up to the individual. Find what works for you.

Be sure to browse the OXP List for other weapon options. There are a lot of useful items there.

EQUIPMENT

Before you even leave the station for the first time, there are a few other things you need. Underline "need". For a bounty hunter, NONE of these are the slightest bit optional.

First, an ECM system is non-optional. If a pirate fires a missile at you, you can disarm it before it dismembers you. This is another reason to be carrying ECM-hardened missiles. You can fire the system with less of a chance of killing your own missile.

Second, you need shields, and the more the better. Get shield boosters and military shield enhancement. Don't skimp on this area. You'll be thankful for them when you're under laser fire.

Get yourself Witch Fuel Injectors - these are vital to getting an extra burst of speed when your jumpdrive is mass-locked.

Also, get every missile-related and navigational upgrade you can. When you're in a dogfight, it is very easy to get disoriented. Scanner Targeting Enhancement (herein referred to as Ident), Target System Memory Upgrade, Advanced Space Compass. These help you keep your bearings and better lock onto your missile targets.

Get an Extra Energy Unit. Quick recharge time is vital in a dogfight. If you happen to pick up a ship with Naval Energy Unit, that wouldn't hurt either. (Just don't buy NEU yourself...they're illegal upgrades outside of the military. Again, you want a clean record.)

Fuel Scoops are essential to any good bounty hunter. Not only do they let you recharge off a star, but they also let you pick up the wreckage after a battle, and scoop up escape pods. There is nothing more rewarding than capturing an escaping pirate or rescuing an unfortunate merchant you couldn't get to in time. Not to mention, pirate ships carry a lot of valuable cargo.

If you cannot get these all at once, I advise at getting them in the following order:

>Witch Fuel Injectors
>ECM system
>Shield Boosters
>Scanner Targeting Enhancement
>Target System Memory Upgrade
>Extra Energy Unit
>Fuel Scoops
>Military Shield Enhancement
>Advanced Space Compass

Though I have never used one, many bounty hunters swear by bounty scanners (available as an OXP). It is worth looking into.

[quote=OXP NOTES]OXPs have a number of indispensible pieces of equipment. I would suggest installing all of these and purchasing them in the following order.
>IronHide - This piece of equipment is SO valuable! It greatly increases your chances of survival.
>Fuel Tank - This mounts in one of your pylons, and you should always carry one. If you run out of fuel, these are SO useful.
>Repair Bots - This is helpful in repairing your ship in-flight, allowing you to fight longer and survive.
>Target Reticle - SO useful in making sure you are on target!
>Police IFF Scanner Upgrade - Very helpful in you need to quickly analyze a situation before firing away, and helps you get ready for battle before it starts.
>Shield Equalizer and Capacitators Again, helps you stay alive and fighting longer.

There are a number of other useful OXPs, so browse the OXP List and shop around.
[/quote]

BEFORE A FIGHT

Before leaving any station, make sure your fuel and pylon mounts are all full, and that all your equipment is in good working order.

Keep in mind that bounty hunting is not usually super profitable. As such, you should still carry on normal trade activities. Just make sure you leave a minimum of ten tons free in your cargo bay!

I would also advise against carrying passengers if you plan to seek out a dogfight. You don't want to endanger them. Not to mention, not carrying passenger berths frees up a lot of cargo space.

Unless otherwise unavoidable, always ensure you will have at least half a tank of fuel upon exiting witchspace.

As soon as you exit witchspace, come to a full stop and scan your IFF for potential problems. Then, set your hyperspace to the nearest planet, even if it is the last one you were at. If things go completely south, and you are almost certainly going to die, you can initiate witchspace and fight off the pirates for the fifteen second warm-up time.

You may be thinking - "bounty hunters don't run." The heck we don't. A smart bounty hunter ALWAYS has an exit plan in case of absolute emergency. We fight until we know we have no chance of winning, and then we buggeth out of there.

By the by, (and this is optional), auto-dock computers wouldn't hurt, either. They're quite handy. After fighting off a dozen some odd pirates, the last thing your nerves need is for you to have to play "chicken" with the space station (which is pretty much what standard docking can feel like after a fight).

AN EAGLE EYE

You should always keep one eye on IFF, and one on the sky. Train yourself to recognize every single detail. You can usually spot trouble before it even comes within IFF range.

A quick way to get your eagle eyes is to look for the station as soon as you exit witchspace. I've gotten to where I can find the station visually while a mere one-quarter of the way from the farthest navigation beacon.

Especially watch for laser fire and flashes of white. Those are almost always signs of pirate activity (or a GalCop arrest you can aid in for a shot at the bounty.)

As soon as a ship comes on your scope, fire up your Ident System (standard keyboard command is "r"), and focus your gun's sights on the ship. However, unless IFF has identified the ship as hostile, do NOT engage your missiles yet! It will take a few moments for Ident to lock onto the ship. Once it does, you can tell right away whether the ship is trouble.

Remember - offenders and fugitives do not immediately show up as hostile on ISS, which is why it is important to use Ident. If the ship is identified as a system vessel or as "clean", leave it alone. However, if the ship is a "fugitive" or "offender", speed up, fire fuel injection, and go at him with lasers blazing.

Keep an eye on your Communications Log, too. If you are on the IFF of a merchant under fire, he will send you an SOS. While the log is up, your IFF will indicate the ship that the message came from.

Even with this "eagle eye" tactic, remember to trust your instruments. You must be able to fly purely by IFF and space compass!

ENTERING INTO BATTLE

Once you enter a battle zone, it is vital to quickly assess who is good and who is bad. Don't assume that the person firing is bad - I've gotten involved when the pirates were already on the defensive many times before. Use Ident to figure out who is who.

Ident also helps you stay locked onto a particular ship you want to laser blast (especially helpful when you're battling someone with good maneuvering tactics that keep flying out of your range of vision.

Your Communications Log is another vital tool for identifying who is who, as I've mentioned before. If there is only one good guy, and a large group of pirates, use the IFF and Comm Log to lock Ident onto the merchant, then blast away at the other offenders. Just be sure to switch Ident to an offender BEFORE firing a missile!

BATTLE TACTICS

First and foremost - STAY CALM! Keep your breathing steady. Don't panic. Stay focused. Second, hold your nerve! Battle can be scary. Don't let your quarry scare you off. Trust your gear, and fight until you know you have no alternative but to get out.

Use your lasers primarily - save missiles for more urgent needs, and energy bombs for absolute emergencies. Keep in mind that every single-use weapon you use will cut into your profits.

Make sure you aim your laser directly at a ship before firing, and don't hold down the trigger. As soon as the target is out of your cross hairs, let off the laser and readjust. Every wasted shot is extra laser heat (LT on your scope) that will have to cool. If you get overheated, things can get tricky.

If you have purchased a military laser, you can pull off “long range snipes”, in which you fire at and destroy an enemy ship well before their beam laser is within firing range of you (due to the fact that military lasers have a greater range than beam lasers).

A standard dogfight tactic I've seen is for an enemy to fly directly over or under you, out of laser range. When this happens, don't turn to fire - switch to rear view and keep blasting! You'll want to practice laser fire from rear, aft, and starboard before battle, as the flight controls affect aim differently in each position.

A tactic I learned from a bounty hunter named Ganelon, is to dodge while fleeing or closing (he calls it "jinking"). “It doesn't cost anything, and making sudden slight course deviations help to evade enemy fire,” he says. “Except for Thargoids, enemies can't hit you unless they have you in their sights. Keeping them from managing that is what keeps you alive. You can outrun missiles with injectors, but you can't outrun lasers.”

“That doesn't mean to only fight at full throttle (even without injectors) though. Your speed is a primary parameter of your ship in a fight and you should try to avoid making it predictable and use fast and slow moves to your advantage. If you have enough fuel, drop speed once you're in close and use injectors for bursts of speed.”

If your lasers overheat in front, and you still need steady fire, turn your ship around and fire from the rear (or from the aft or starboard) until the front lasers cool down.

If you are getting fired on from too many directions, you'll need to eliminate the immediate threats with missiles. Lock Ident onto a target, activate a missile, and fire. Watch your IFF for the missile you fired, and take into account all missiles in play. This is very important - if a missile is launched at you, and you activate ECM, you need to ensure the missile has actually been destroyed. If it hasn't, the incoming missile is ECM-hardened, and you'll have to either destroy it with your own weapons or outrun it with a lot of rolling and fuel injection. In case of emergency, evade it via your emergency witchspace jump (you did set one, right?)

If you are surrounded by too many ships to take out with just missiles and laser fire (you can usually eliminate two, sometimes three ships, with just laser dogfighting), and there are no GalCops or "clean" vessels on the IFF scope, fire your energy bomb.

One more note - always keep an eye on your IFF during a battle! Watch for Q-bombs (always good cause to use fuel injection and activate your emergency witchspace jump. Don't stick around to see a Q-bomb through. Period.

AFTER THE BATTLE

Even after a battle is over, keep one eye on IFF and stay on alert. Pirates don't like their companions getting blasted, and they will exact revenge on a bounty hunter. Scan each and every ship that enters your scope with Ident.

Before you depart, unless you have an urgent need to leave, be sure to clean up after yourself. Use your fuel scoop. Pick up all of the debris (it means extra money). You can use Ident to figure out what debris is what - cargo containers, metal fragments, escape pods, and asteroids that happen to be in the area.

Pay special attention to escape pods! Pirates will still try and get away with these after battle. However, NEVER destroy an escape pod - EVER! You never know when the person may actually be an innocent merchant that got caught up in all of this. You will still get paid bounty for any felons you capture, minor offenders can be sold as slaves, and insurance companies will pay you for rescuing individuals with clean records.

After you've cleaned up, be sure to jettison all narcotics and firearms. While it isn't technically illegal to sell these, the less on the market the better, you know? However, be sure to take slaves back and sell those. Slavery is still better than being hurtled into space.

FINAL WORDS

Bounty hunting is not for the weak. You must be able to hold your nerve and stay calm in the heat of the moment. Trust your instruments and your gear. And above all, trust your instinct. It is your most valuable tool!

If your gut tells you to avoid a battle, avoid it. Being a bounty hunter doesn't mean rushing into every battle that presents itself. It means choosing your battles. You don't want to waste a missile on a single pirate, only to need it to respond to an urgent SOS where you must fight off a horde of six or seven offenders. At the same time, you don't want to let a bad guy get away, to discover later that he was the only pirate on the way to the station (he could have a massive bounty on his head!)

Bounty hunting is a rewarding occupation; not usually in the form of money, but in that you have saved innocent lives and made the galaxy a safer place.

[quote=OXP NOTES]For the serious bounty hunter, install Random Hits OXP.[/quote]

[greenseng]

I'm writing a guide to combat and bounty hunting for the Oolite wiki, and I wanted to get some feedback from other commanders who have spent time in combat. What tactics would you want to share with a new bounty hunter or other combat-ready commander?

I'm posting the guide below for review. This was written based off of my own experiences. If you have anything to add (or think should be changed or removed), please feel free to post. I want this to be reliable and complete before I put it on the wiki! Thank you.

--
Guide to Combat and Bounty Hunting
by Commander Dragonfire

Pirates are an inevitability in space, especially if you trade among the more dangerous systems. This leaves the average commander with two options - fight or run. Sure, running is the easiest, but what's the fun in that?

Before I go on, however, I must make the footnote that piracy does NOT pay. Sooner or later, you will meet either GalCop, or a commander like me who doesn't take any trash off of some missile-happy idiot (like me) with a record.

Whether you enter into combat in self-defense or as a bounty hunter, the rules of the game are largely the same.

YOUR FUNDS AND SHIPS

What? You want to go take on the pirates with just that glorified strobe light you call a pulse laser? Try that, and we'll be finding pieces of you across the galaxy for months.

Before you can even think about a dogfight in the wild black yonder, you're going to need to get some cash. Your best bet is to do it legally. The last thing you need is for GalCop to come to your aid, only to lock a missle on you because you've got a record.

I'm not just talking about a tiny bit of money here, bud. You need at least 10 K to really get yourself set up.

Once we have the issue of money out of the way, let's talk ships. Sure, you can do pretty well in your puny Mark III, but you can do MUCH better with an upgrade. Personally, I favor a Boa, more specifically a Boa Class Cruiser. Not only does it have a sizable cargo bay, but it can go faster than a Mark III any day of the week. Third, it has not four, but five pylon mounts. Take it from me, extra pylon mounts are bounty hunting GOLD.

While I've never owned one, you wouldn't do bad with a Python or Mamba. I've done combat with both, and they handle quite nicely. By far, Mambas are the hardest to hit, and they can turn on a dime.

While you're at it, don't go cheap. The more you pay for a ship, the better a chance that the thing is worth flying. The last thing you need is to be piloting a lemon in a dogfight. Also, try and get one with a lot of the upgrades (discussed in a moment) already on it.

WEAPONS

So, you've got your ship. Now for the weapons.

First, as I mentioned before, dump the pulse laser. You're going to want a beam laser - and not just in the front. Get one in the rear, aft, and starboard too. It is well worth the extra 3K.

What about military lasers, you say? Don't bother. Yes, they are more powerful, but power is actually NOT the first thing that should be on a bounty hunter's mind with lasers. You need a laser that can cool down quickly, and neither military nor mining lasers fit that bill.

Now, about your pylon mounts - fill 'em up with missles, preferably ECM-hardened ones. Never, never, never leave any station without full pylon mounts. If you can't get ECM-hardened missles, get standard ones, and change them out at the soonest chance. To do this, unmount and sell all of your pylon mounted weapons, then refill. If they don't have ECM-hardened missiles, you can always buy the standard ones back.

Q-bombs are appealing, but I strongly advise against carrying them. Since they attach to your pylon mounts, it can be very easy to accidentally deploy one instead of a missle, and take out an innocent bystander, a GalCop, or yourself.

Instead, get energy bombs - you aren't as likely to accidentally deploy one, and you probably won't get nailed by your own bomb (unlike with the aforementioned Q-bombs.) Only get a Q-bomb if you don't have an energy bomb on your ship, and you can't buy one at your current station. Then, be VERY careful not to deploy it on accident.

EQUIPMENT

Before you even leave the station for the first time, there are a few other things you need. Underline "need". For a bounty hunter, NONE of these are the slightest bit optional.

First, an ECM system is non-optional. If a pirate fires a missle at you, you can disarm it before it dismembers you. This is another reason to be carrying ECM-hardened missles. You can fire the system without killing your own missle.

Second, you need shields, and the more the better. Get shield boosters and military shield enhancement. Don't skimp on this area. You'll be thankful for them when you're under laser fire.

Get yourself Witch Fuel Injectors - these are vital to getting an extra burst of speed when your jumpdrive is mass-locked.

Also, get every missle-related and navigational upgrade you can. When you're in a dogfight, it is very easy to get disoriented. Scanner Targeting Enhancement, Target System Memory Upgrade, Advanced Space Compass. These help you keep your bearings and better lock onto your missle targets.

Get an Extra Energy Unit. Quick recharge time is vital in a dogfight. If you happen to pick up a ship with Naval Energy Unit, that wouldn't hurt either. (Just don't buy NEU yourself...they're illegal upgrades outside of the military. Again, you want a clean record.)

Fuel Scoops are essential to any good bounty hunter. Not only do they let you recharge off a star, but they also let you pick up the wreckage after a battle, and scoop up escape pods. There is nothing more rewarding than capturing an escaping pirate or rescuing an unfortunate merchant you couldn't get to in time. Not to mention, pirate ships carry a lot of valuable cargo.

BEFORE A FIGHT

Before leaving any station, make sure your fuel and pylon mounts are all full, and that all your equipment is in good working order.

Keep in mind that bounty hunting is not usually super profitable. As such, you should still carry on normal trade activities. Just make sure you leave a minimum of ten tons free in your cargo bay!

I would also advise against carrying passengers if you plan to seek out a dogfight. You don't want to endanger them. Not to mention, not carrying passenger berths frees up a lot of cargo space.

Unless otherwise unavoidable, always ensure you will have at least half a tank of fuel upon exiting witchspace.

As soon as you exit witchspace, come to a full stop and scan your IFF for potential problems. Then, set your hyperspace to the nearest planet, even if it is the last one you were at. If things go completely south, and you are almost certainly going to die, you can initiate witchspace and fight off the pirates for the
fifteen second warm-up time.

You may be thinking - "bounty hunters don't run." The heck we don't. A smart bounty hunter ALWAYS has an exit plan in case of absolute emergency. We fight until we know we have no chance of winning, and then we buggeth out of there.

By the by, (and this is optional), auto-dock computers wouldn't hurt, either. They're quite handy. After fighting off a dozen some odd pirates, the last thing your nerves need is for you to have to play "chicken" with the space station (which is pretty much what standard docking can feel like after a fight).

AN EAGLE EYE

You should always keep one eye on IFF, and one on the sky. Train yourself to recognize every single detail. You can usually spot trouble before it even comes within IFF range.

A quick way to get your eagle eyes is to look for the station as soon as you exit witchspace. I've gotten to where I can find the station visually while a mere one-quarter of the way from the farthest navigation beacon.

Especially watch for laser fire and flashes of white. Those are almost always signs of pirate activity (or a GalCop arrest you can aid in for a shot at the bounty.)

As soon as a ship comes on your scope, fire up your Ident System (standard keyboard command is "r"), and focus your gun's sights on the ship. However, unless ISS has identified the ship as hostile, do NOT engage your missles yet! It will take a few moments for Ident to lock onto the ship. Once it does, you can tell right away whether the ship is trouble.

Remember - offenders and fugitives do not immediately show up as hostile on ISS, which is why it is important to use Ident. If the ship is identified as a system vessel or as "clean", leave it alone. However, if the ship is a "fugitive" or "offender", speed up, fire fuel injection, and go at him with lasers blazing.

Keep an eye on your Communications Log, too. If you are on the ISS of a merchant under fire, he will send you an SOS. While the log is up, your ISS will indicate the ship that the message came from.

Even with this "eagle eye" tactic, remember to trust your instruments. You must be able to fly purely by ISS and space compass!

ENTERING INTO BATTLE

Once you enter a battle zone, it is vital to quickly assess who is good and who is bad. Don't assume that the person firing is bad - I've gotten involved when the pirates were already on the defensive many times before. Use Ident to figure out who is who.

Ident also helps you stay locked onto a particular ship you want to laser blast (especially helpful when you're battling someone with good maneuvering tactics that keep flying out of your range of vision.

Your Communications Log is another vital tool for identifying who is who, as I've mentioned before. If there is only one good guy, and a large group of pirates, use the ISS and Comm Log to lock Ident onto the merchant, then blast away at the other offenders. Just be sure to switch Ident to an offender BEFORE firing a missle!

BATTLE TACTICS

First and foremost - STAY CALM! Keep your breathing steady. Don't panic. Stay focused. Second, hold your nerve! Battle can be scary. Don't let your quarry scare you off. Trust your gear, and fight until you know you have no alternative but to get out.

Use your lasers primarily - save missles for more urgent needs, and energy bombs for absolute emergencies. Make sure you aim your laser directly at a ship before firing, and don't hold down the trigger. As soon as the target is out of your crosshairs, let off the laser and readjust. Every wasted shot is
extra laser heat (LT on your scope) that will have to cool. If you get overheated, things can get tricky.

A standard dogfight tactic I've seen is for an enemy to fly directly over or under you, out of laser range. When this happens, don't turn to fire - switch to rear view and keep blasting! You'll want to practice laser fire from rear, aft, and starboard before battle, as the flight controls affect aim differently in each position.

If your lasers overheat in front, and you still need steady fire, turn your ship around and fire from the rear (or from the aft or starboard) until the front lasers cool down.

If you are getting fired on from too many directions, you'll need to eliminate the immediate threats with missiles. Lock Ident onto a target, activate a missle, and fire. Watch your ISS for the missile you fired, and take into account all missiles in play. This is very important - if a missile is launched at you, and you activate ECM, you need to ensure the missile has actually been detroyed. If it hasn't, the incoming missile is ECM-hardened, and you'll have to either destroy it with your own weapons or evade it via your emergency witchspace jump (you did set one, right?)

If you are surrounded by too many ships to take out with just missles and laser fire (you can usually elimiate two, sometimes three ships, with just laser dogfighting), and there are no GalCops or "clean" vessels on the ISS scope, fire your energy bomb.

One more note - always keep an eye on your ISS during a battle! Watch for Q-bombs (always good cause to use fuel injection and activate your emergency witchspace jump. Don't stick around to see a Q-bomb through. Period.

AFTER THE BATTLE

Even after a battle is over, keep one eye on ISS and stay on alert. Pirates don't like their companions getting blasted, and they will exact revenge on a bounty hunter. Scan each and every ship that enters your scope with Ident.

Before you depart, unless you have an urgent need to leave, be sure to clean up after yourself. Use your fuel scoop. Pick up all of the debris (it means extra money). You can use Ident to figure out what debris is what - cargo containers, metal fragments, escape pods, and asteroids that happen to be in the area.

Pay special attention to escape pods! Pirates will still try and get away with these after battle. However, NEVER destroy an escape pod - EVER! You never know when the person may actually be an innocent merchant that got caught up in all of this. You will still get paid bounty for any felons you capture, minor offenders can be sold as slaves, and insurance companies will pay you for rescuing individuals with clean records.

After you've cleaned up, be sure to jettison all narcotics and firearms. While it isn't technically illegal to sell these, the less on the market the better, you know? However, be sure to take slaves back and sell those. Slavery is still better than being hurtled into space.

FINAL WORDS

Bounty hunting is not for the weak. You must be able to hold your nerve and stay calm in the heat of the moment. Trust your instruments and your gear. And above all, trust your instinct. It is your most valuable tool!

If your gut tells you to avoid a battle, avoid it. Being a bounty hunter doesn't mean rushing into every battle that presents itself. It means choosing your battles. You don't want to waste a missle on a single pirate, only to need it to respond to an urgent SOS where you must fight off a horde of six or seven offenders. At the same time, you don't want to let a bad guy get away, to discover later that he was the only pirate on the way to the station (he could have a massive bounty on his head!)

Bounty hunting is a rewarding occupation; not usually in the form of money, but in that you have saved innocent lives and made the galaxy a safer place.

A very good guide, as I see it.
It tells you are not a beginner.

About the choice between beam- or military-laser I should maybe not say very much as I have not tested the beam-laser.
The military-laser overheats quickly yes, but every hit is very... let's say pedagogic.
In doubt I usually fire a testshot first to know that I am in position. Then I don't waste valuable "overheat-time".
And I think that a military laser reaches a longer range.

But I guess that this is a matter of taste.

The side-windows - port and starboard - I usually just use for mining. I have mining-lasers there.
In the heat of the fight it is too easy to forget that the controls are reversed. Climb/Dive becomes Rotate and so forth.
And then the enemy disappears very rapidly out of sight.
But if I have a chance, a mining-shot that hits, creates a lot of respect. But that happens not so often.

About criminal cargo, or whatever to call it, I must confess that I usually pick it up and sell it.
Slaves, as you said, at least becomes alive. If they want this or not, I don't know.
Weed - well, read somewhere that it is a good prevention against Alzheimer. But people can have such strange ideas...
And guns... well... I don't know really. I am using a sort of gun myself. But it is called Laser.

Well... for a totally inexperienced beginner this guide is probably gold.
What I miss are the milk-runs. I think that it would have been a valuable information for a person that only have access to 100 bucks, three ordinary missiles and a dentist tool called pulse-laser.

cu

[Dragonfire]

Funny thing is, I've only been playing Oolite a week. Thanks for the advice. I can make the modification about the laser - thanks for the tips.

[Ganelon]

Not bad! I'd get things in a different order when equipping the ship, but you ask a hundred players about that and you'd get a hundred different answers. Mainly, I'd want injectors first. The ability to "show a good set of heels" is more likely to save your butt at first than bigger guns, ECM, and etc. You can outrun a missile with injectors.

Oh, and learn to dodge while fleeing or closing (called "jinking"). It doesn't cost anything, and making sudden slight course deviations help to evade enemy fire. Except for Thargoids, enemies can't hit you unless they have you in their sights. Keeping them from managing that is what keeps you alive. You can outrun missiles with injectors, but you can't outrun lasers.

That doesn't mean to only fight at full throttle (even without injectors) though. Your speed is a primary parameter of your ship in a fight and you should try to avoid making it predictable and use fast and slow moves to your advantage. If you have enough fuel, drop speed once you're in close and use injectors for bursts of speed.

That being said, it's not a bad little guide. For someone really wanting to do a lot of bounty hunting, I'd also suggest a Bounty Scanner, and the Random Hits OXP.

I agree with greenseng in preferring a Military laser. Yeah, it heats up fast, but it also does damage fast.

[Thargoid]

And the mil laser also has a much longer range. With practice and experience (plus the trick of quick shooting rather than holding down the fire key until the laser overheats) you can pick off one or two enemy ships equipped with beam lasers before they even get into range to fire back.

It's one of those things where personal playing skill and style strongly come into play.

[Smivs]

Sorry, but I have to disagree with much you have said.
A bounty hunter wants to make money and live to enjoy it, so one of the best techniques is long-range sniping. Only a military laser has the range to do this effectively, something like twice the range of a beam laser.
As soon as you mark is in range, target them and with care give a good long burst on the laser. If your aim is true that will be enough to dispatch them unless you are running any OXPs which toughens up the baddies. You aim has to be good enough to do this otherwise you are wasting/overheating lasers needlessly. A good bounty hunter will be able to hit even a small ship even if it's off the scanner, and they will not even come close with their pulse and beam lasers.
Energy bombs are a total waste of money. The average bounty for a regular offender is likely to be 10 - 30 Credits, and at 900Cr for an e-bomb you will just be wasting money each time you use one. Even a 'hard' Random Hit will not be profitable if you are using e-bombs and hardhead missiles.
No, the top bounty hunter will use speed, guile, experience and expertise, along with fore and aft military lasers. He will kill the mark before they even know he's there and it will be a quick clean (and inexpensive) hit with no colateral.

[Staer9]

Just one thing, you assume the pilot is clean and therefore will not want to attack traders/galcop.

As a fugitive/offender the best way to win a battle that has already started is to be about 10km away and as soon as you see a ship start to spark target it and kill it before someone else does, generally traders will ignore you, pirates will atack you if they are set to group attack, but one hit from something else immediately turns there attention to them.

This is how I survive massive group battles (like the factions.oxp for example)

Other than that is a great guide and will definately get many reads, Congratulations

and if I may ask... What ship do you fly?

[another_commander]

Each commander has his/her own style of fighting so I am not commenting on the actual content of the guide, I just wanted to mention two things that have stricken me:
1. Too much energy bomb advertising. I would avoid it. Remember that this equipment is marked for elimination post-MNSR, so multiple mentions of it in a combat guide are valid only for as long as it will still be in the game.

2.

You can fire the system without killing your own missle.

This is wrong. The ECM will wipe out every non-hardhead missile caught in its pulses, including those fired from the ship that activated it. Try it by firing a standard missile against the nav buoy and activating ECM. In fact, it is a perfectly valid combat tactic: when you don't have an ECM and the enemy fires a missile at you, fire a missile at them in response. If they activate ECM against your missile, theirs is also toast.

[Smivs]

and of course even hardheads are not immune to ECM. Just less likely to be destroyed, but it is quite possible to kill your own hardheads by using ECM while they're in flight.

[Commander McLane]

Before I go on, however, I must make the footnote that piracy does NOT pay.

This is of course not true. Piracy pays, believe me. Without having actually read the rest of the guide, I suppose it's a tongue-in-cheeck remark.

[Corny]

I wouldn't trade my military laser for a beam laser - how am I supposed to snipe? Also, I can't imagine fighting with a starboard or portside laser. For bounty hunting, every single-use weapon reduces your profit - in terms of energy bombs (which I don't use on principle anyway), Q-Bombs or hardheads, it often reduces your profit to zero, so I don't bother. More pylons aren't a reason to buy a ship for me - I only use them for emergencies when I don't care about spending money because otherwise my ship is falling apart.
I also wouldn't advise trading the Cobra Mark 3 for a slower ship in terms of bounty hunting - the fuel injectors are quite important in dogfights to me, I wouldn't want to waste fuel for pursuit. I'm flying a Python now and I only hunt bounties occasionally with that ship, and it's quite embarrassing when you're out of fuel and your target is just flying away. Oh, and you mentioned the Mamba - that's not a player ship unless you hack that.
Last but not least, if you're using hardheads anyway, you might want to install a Bounty Scanner and start calculating as soon as you've locked on a target.

[SandJ]

Funny thing is, I've only been playing Oolite a week.

You must be just about ready to get some sleep.

[Dragonfire]

A lot of really good data. I'll be adding in the notes about military laser usage and the ECM-hardened missiles.

I still advise bounty hunters to carry an energy bomb (think massive mob or thargoid attack, here). But, as I already said, it shouldn't be used until absolutely necessary. (Tho I'll make that clearer in the guide.) However, I can add in the opposing view, as well. Always good for a guide to express multiple tactics, imho (especially the part about higher level weapons being so expensive...another reason to have trade as a backup.

Again, wonderful data! Every bounty hunter has their own tactics, and I'll be sure to put some more viewpoints in.

Oh, and learn to dodge while fleeing or closing (called "jinking"). It doesn't cost anything, and making sudden slight course deviations help to evade enemy fire. Except for Thargoids, enemies can't hit you unless they have you in their sights. Keeping them from managing that is what keeps you alive. You can outrun missiles with injectors, but you can't outrun lasers.

That doesn't mean to only fight at full throttle (even without injectors) though. Your speed is a primary parameter of your ship in a fight and you should try to avoid making it predictable and use fast and slow moves to your advantage. If you have enough fuel, drop speed once you're in close and use injectors for bursts of speed.

That is so well put, I'm going to borrow that and quote you in the manual.

Up above, I've posted the updated version of the manual.

[Yah-Ta-Hey]

OMG!!!!!! Following your advice would have killed me before I had a chance to fight.

I fly a Vortex with 25 long lance military missiles. I have only used 3 in nearly 25 missions.
I have military lasers, long range scanner, route planner, and a whole host of other goodies that make me a formidibale hunter.
I never use a q-bomb, got some good avise from some cooler heads here in the BB.
I do use the energy bomb occasionally ( will see below when and how).
I am rated dangerous (1154 kills).
My seedy bar cahoots are calling me "a Great one" and now let me know when someone is gunning for me or what various familes are trying to eliminate me. So far, I am told that I am #1 on their "get dead quick" list. That is a lot of respect coming this warrior's way.
I deal in all products and carry them where ever I want. so far, no station has tried to stop me from trading or called me anything but clean.
My tactics are simple and ruthless... There are 2 very experienced pilots that I have learned this from: Wyvren and Viejo.

1-1 Tactics:
In watching combat films, this type of attack is quick, simple and fatal to the target.(slash and burn)
I come into a system.. while out in far space, I use my long range scanner and find 2 very easy targets: Mark I or Firewasp.
Once targeted, I jump them at full injector speed while firing my MILITARY laser.... they are dead before a missile can be launched. I then slow down, turn around and pick up any cargo cannister, pods, escape pods that might have survived the onslaught. I used my missile only to identify and target my mark.

1 against up to five targets

Again, my long range scanner comes into play: I will find a section where there are that many targets. Usually 1 is a python or a python cruiser. Again I slash attack, destroy the target however, I continue going through the target until the others are far behind me near the edge of detection. I turn around... head back in... target another.. slash and burn,, again and again until all are derelicts with their cargo floating in space. I can take my time collecting and filling up my hold. If another ships comes snooping and tries to pickup my loot.. they are history. I do not share. If a GALCOP comes sniffing... I do a quick status read.. if clean.. ignore and continue sweeping... he is merely curious about all the jetsam. If I somehow get an offender or fugitive status by zapping some poor schnook... I already have my escape planned and I take a flit. There are plenty of targets in the ooniverse.

1 against more than 5 targets

Here my tactics change... I use my long range scanner... pick my target.. slash in.. destroy him then SLOW DOWN(Plant my spear) and allow the others to come in on me. I am still firing and counting coup just as fast as I can... when The targets come in close enough... BAMMMMM the energy bomb is released and guess what... Yup, I am sitting in a sea of floating loot.Now, some vessels out there can actually survive a energy bomb at point blank range.. The liberator and vortex are two that I have met up with... each has to be taken out warrior style... head to head... laser to laser, maneuvering for the vital kill spot, looking for the tell tale leakage,
timing the ecm for most efficient use of the missile until one is defeated and coup against a worthy enemy is counted.

Summary...
Get a GOOD fighting ship
get the $$ to get the long range scanner( IT WILL SAVE YOUR LIFE and make bounty hunting more profitable)
Get adequate protection for yourself and your vessel. If you don't have iron hide, military shields, etc.. you are bounty bait.

Bounty Hunting is not for the faint of heart... you must kill and kill quickly or you are fighting for you life. If that happens,, stack your odds.. if it is not good for you... BUG OUT and find easier targets. If you see a vortex coming at you straight on full tilt.... plant your spear, tie your ankle to it ,sing your death song for that vorftex will be me and I will honor the coup that I will count upon your death.

Yah-Ta-Hey

[CaptSolo]

I carry one ECM hardened missile. I discovered early that missiles IMHO, even hardened missiles, make poor weapons. If they are not destroyed by ECM, the target runs away from them using injectors. The only reason I do have the one missile is to prevent me accidentally deploying more valuable equipment on another pylon, so it is always selected. I launch perhaps one missile per galaxy. The military laser does all the grunt work on my ship. I also do not have either energy bomb or Q-mine.