Freelancer/Gameplay

Configuring your Ship
It's not absolutely necessary, but your accuracy will be much better if all your weapons have the same projectile speed. If you're flying a freighter, that basically means 700m/s, though there are a few turrets that have 750m/s projectiles. You'll mostly be fighting enemies with Molecular shields.

You may want to stick with Graviton shields through the end of the plot, as they're stronger than the other types.

Dogfighting
If you're flying a light fighter such as the Starflier or Drake, use your maneuverability! Don't stand still and get hit, turn around and shoot back. If you're flying a slower fighter, and getting thrashed by enemies you can't see, use reverse thrust to improve your turning circle.

If you're flying a freighter, shoot at what's in front of you as much as possible. Use reverse thrust to prolong the initial flyby, so you can do more damage before they pass you. And you'll definitely need to use it to turn around and shoot at the guy on your tail.

A good freighter tactic is to hold down thrusters, go into turret mode, and shoot at the people following you. Usually they will hold still while you kill them. This works best if you're in Goto mode, so that the autopilot will avoid obstacles for you. This also works best with long-range turrets, so you can shoot them before they can shoot you; Tachyon turrets have a range of 800, the longest in the game. Most other turrets have a range of 700, which is still better than most guns. This really only works if you're already pretty far away from them, like if you were crusing somewhere and got hit by a cruise disruptor.

You can pull a similar maneuver in a non-freighter, by hitting thrusters, cutting your engines (Z), and turning around. You'll be going backwards at about 200m/s. This doesn't work as well in an asteroid field, of course. While your engines are off, you can change which way you're going using the thrusters.

Automatic docking can take a long time when you're under fire. You can speed up the process by flying to the right spot manually before hitting F3.

As far as mines go, try dropping them shortly before the other guy passes you. Missiles work best the same way, launched sooner.

Faction equipment
Different groups use different types of equipment. Here's what to expect.