Wraith

Wraith
Name	Wraith
Hull	270
Power	6 GW
Mass	70
Abilities	Plasma Cannon, EMP, Miner Ping, Side boosts
Cost	50 50 100

Basics

The Wraith is your offensive small ship. It's small, fast and maneuverable. It is frequently used in hit-and-run attacks against miners. It may accompany other ships (miner escort or other offensive small ships) and it can be used for scouting as well. It has a high base speed and it turns very quickly. It is relatively inexpensive. Also, if a team runs out of offensive small ships, a Wraith will be automatically produced from the Battlecruiser.

Abilities

~ Its main weapon is a Plasma Cannon. This fires a single, average speed projectile from the front of the Wraith. It has low damage but a high firing rate and low energy cost.

~ The EMP projectile can be fired from any side of the Wraith and is an extremly fast moving bullet. On contact with a small ship, it will temporarily shut down its engines. This is used to stop a miner from fleeing, or running away from a wraith or corvette opponent. It has quite a long range, too, so "sniping" (hitting outside your line of sight) is also possible. It isn't energy-expensive.

~ A wraith comes equipped with a small pinger that can, when used, detect the current location of enemy miners. I'll say it again, only enemy miners. The BC and other small ships will not be detected by the miner ping. This ping can be used relatively often (~20 seconds) and isn't very energy draining, but shouldn't be abused without energy upgrades.

~ Side boosts truly are what makes a Wraith so agile. They provide a fast, slightly delayed boost of speed in the chosen direction (left or right, of course). This is particularily useful when dodging a slow projectile or running away from somebody's sight radius. It is occasionally used to quickly move across the map and catch up on a miner or fleeing opponent. While the side boost can effectively double your maximum speed, it is extremly energy consuming if constantly used, so beware!

Uses and tactics

The wraiths job is first and foremost to harass the enemy's miners and economy. Entry level tactics suggest that the wraith does not engage any ship until his energy is at or above 800 energy (Request a power transfer from the science console twice). At this point you can either head towards an enemy miner of choice, or engage any incoming enemy ships (Could be a wraith or corvette). A wraith is a fragile hunter, make good use of its A and D boosts to dodge incoming fire or any ship attempting to ram you. Do not ram enemy ships with your wraith unless you absolutely need to in order to get the kill. Make good use of your W and S keys to slow down when your full speed is not needed, this will not only keep you from ramming them but it will preserve energy.

Side thrusters (A and D, sometimes called boosts) are a means of quickly moving from side to side, you can use this to dodge or you can use it to accelerate quickly. If you hold down either key or push it consistently you can reach speeds up to 81 meters per second. This allows you to quickly chase a miner who has boosted, to quickly intercept an enemy attacking your miners, or to retreat from a very bad and unsafe situation. Mind your energy each boost you use saps 15 energy.

Against a corvette a wraith needs to keep a large cushion between the enemy and the wraith. The idea here is to use your boosts, top speed, and ability to maneuver to fire when at long range, fall back when at close range, and keep repeating this process until the enemy ship has fallen. Do not try to EMP or open fire onto a corvette using his Shield ability. Time your EMP's around the cool down of that skill to assist in keeping your range from the corvette far away.

Pro tips

• Practice moving while using side thrusters (A and D) with your throttle at maximum (W) before you leave the safety of your Battlecruiser.
• The purpose of the wraith is not to kill enemy miners, rather its purpose is to disrupt enemy mining. This can happen either by destroying a Cargo Drone being sent back by enemy miners or harassing enemy miners so they run, and potentially killing them.
• When attacking a target, go in from below. The viewing angle of the game gives you a larger view above your ship, and your target has a smaller view below their ship.
• Practice circle strafing around an asteroid using side thrusters