Basic Gameplay Instructions
MINING 101 (Required Course)
People who are new to Cruiser Command are usually asked to go mine asteroids.
To get to your miner, walk either to the left or to the right and hop on the big orange circle. The circle is an elevator that takes you to the Hangar deck.
Once you've arrived you'll notice six small blue circles next to six small light blue circles. Walk onto one of the light blue circles. It does not matter which one.
The select small ship screen will pop up and allow you to choose which ship you want to take for a spin. Select the miner and launch.
Once in space, you need to find some asteroids. Accelerate your ship by using the W key and Decelerate your ship by using the S key. Usually there are asteroids right next to the Battle Cruiser (BC), but sometimes you must go look for them.
After you find a field of asteroids use the Cut Engines skill (hotkey X) to stop the miner. Miners cannot mine while moving.
If the upgrades guy on the BC has upgraded your miner with Scanner Sweep use it (hotkey C). Scanner Sweep shows you the color of the asteroids around your miner.
Now you'll use the skill Mine Asteroid (hotkey E) to start mining.
You've been mining and you have around 50 ore in the hold (you'll notice the inventory in the bottom right of your screen just above the skill panel) you'll want to send the ore back to the BC. Use your Return Minerals skill (hotkey R) to send the ore back home. Be careful when sending the ore home. It's launched in a fast moving pod that can be shot down and if it passes an enemy player he'll know the general direction you're in.
Now you're mining, but there are still a few more things to learn.
If you look at your skill panel there's a skill called Accelerate Mining Beam (hotkey Q). This ability will triple your mining speed temporarily.
The next skill on your skill panel is Turbo Jump (hotkey T). This ability is a very important for survivability. Activating this ability will quickly accelerate you forward in the direction you're facing. It takes a second after you activate it to charge up, which gives you time to pick a direction to go. Don't point your ship at asteroids, and try to go where a friendly combat ship is.
If the enemy ship is at low health you can point at them, if you have good aim and kill them by ramming. The last thing to think about when it comes to Turbo Jump is that you should always have 250 power in your core so you can use it. The skill will not help you if you don't have the power. I usually only start using Accelerate Mining Beam after my power reaches 400. The reason for that is Accelerate Mining Beam drains 150 power from your core.
Okay, you've been mining for awhile, bashing into asteroids and being bashed by asteroids, and maybe taken some shots from the enemy. Your hull is damaged and you need repairs. To repair your ship dock with your BC and launch again. Your hull will be fully repaired, but your power core will be almost empty. Docking always drains your power core.
The last thing new people should know is the flying asteroids. The flying asteroids contain the only source of Kermiculite (green) ore in the beginning of the game. Try to mine them as they fly by. Later a field of green will spawn, but that field is generally contested (death trap).
See the small ships - Miner section for more information on Mining and tactics used in operating them.
WRAITHING 101 (Required Course)
People who are new to Cruiser Command may be asked to assist as an Attack Pilot pilot on a Wraith.
Following instructions similar to MINING 101 above, use the 'Go To' box on the right to go to the hangars. Step on a launch pad and select a wraith to launch.
Immediately hit X to stop moving, and get comfortable with the command card of the wraith. Its page has more information regarding its abilities and how to use it.
As a new player, if you leave the vicinity of the Battlecruiser with less than 750 energy, you have a high risk of death.
REFINING 101 (Elective course, formerly required)
Refining is a job which usually was assigned to newer players, due to the fact that it is harder to die in this role. Due to the nature of the role, most players find it boring. Generally a Drone is assigned to refine. Note: This is not a "job" it does not require constant attention. Refining what's stockpiled up every few minutes is more than adequate unless resources are needed immediately.
The ore the miners send back ends up at the bottom of the Hanger deck, and it's easy to see. The ore shows up as colored cylinders either yellow, blue, red, or green.
To grab the ore you can use your skill Drop/Pick up Items (hotkey Q). Use it when you're standing right on top of the ore, and your avatar will pick up all the ore he can carry.
Now you need to run the length of the Hangar deck (I know it's a long way. Take it up with the man who designed the ship. Your Sprint skill (hotkey T) can help with this.) to the refinery.
There will be a blue outlined box with red letters that say "Drop here to refine".
Run into the box and press Q. All the ore in your inventory should drop inside the box.
Run back down to the bottom of the Hanger deck and repeat in an endless cycle (Unless Command takes pity on you and buys a drone for the job).
WEAPONS
The Weapons console is fairly straight forward. You get on it, it shows you an external view of the ship and access to the Cruiser's weapons. The primary weapon fires via hotkey or right click(can fire in any direction), missiles fire straight out the front when you click on a loaded missile. By default there is only the single burst laser and the missile bays. It's damage can be upgraded and triple and penta- burst can be unlocked. The triple and penta- bursts do fire 3x and 5x more lasers respectively but also have higher energy costs. The energy is removed from the weapons capacitor which receives energy allocated from the core(this will be discussed later).
In addition, you can also research kinetics and switch the weapons over to that. Kinetics does better damage against hull and less against shields. They also have divergent upgrade paths, just be mindful of that for now.
TEAMWORK
This is a strategy map but even more important is the fact that this map requires massive amounts of teamwork and communication. Before any purchase is made it should be cleared by your commanding officer, whoever is in charge of upgrades is generally the one in charge of everything. He will tell you what minerals he needs and does not, he will warn you of incoming enemies. He will call you onto the BC for combat, or tell you to stay in space while he handles it with other players. This game requires that you are team player, following instruction is important not because the leader is on a high horse, but rather because if you want to win all team members need to be working towards the same objectives, working together towards the mutual goal being victory. As a miner you should communicate what minerals you have found, communicate incoming enemy ships and their location, communicate any useful information you can think of to inform other players of how to react for the best end result. Dont be afraid to use that keyboard and ask plenty of questions; most players will be happy to help you learn.