So... as the tutorials don't currently pause combat, I panicked and skipped the tutorial and now don't really understand how combat works besides clicking the icons in the upper left and then clicking an option in the resulting menu for the 3 different phases.



Is there a way to find that tutorial without having to be in combat? Otherwise:

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What do the different phases mean?

What do the different types of options in the menu mean (As in the subtext beneath them)?

Why do some options mention blocking?

Is there a way to get more options? (All the military research items I've seen so far mostly just give components)

Is there a way to pause combat so I can actually see what the options do? (I'm mostly picking blindly right now)

[/LIST]

There is a lot of information about this in different places in the forum. Probably some of these questions should go into the FAQ itself.



1. Long range is for missiles, medium range is for beams, short range is for kinetics.



2. Not sure which menu you mean.



3. Each card has a "group name" like tactics or engineering at the top, and some cards have a "block effect". For example, if you play a card with tactics at the top, and the opponent plays a card which says "counters tactics", then your card has less effect.



4. The techs on the *right* side of the tech tree often grant cards.



5. You cannot pause combat. I don't like this much, but some people do. Before combat, you can click the "battle actions" button on your fleet display window (lower left side) to review the cards at your leisure.

By menu, I had meant the one with what you're calling the cards.



Also, by the battle actions button, do you mean the one that is grayed out unless there is an enemy in the system (which is rather pointless for pirates as they seem to be able to attack and act during my turn instead of having their own)?

Battle actions button:

Ah, thanks for the help then.

Quick question, are damage prevention types mutually exclusive? Do shields absorb damage from kinetic and missiles and so forth?

To learn more, you may want to see the combat threads in the new strategy forum, directly under this forum.