Over the course of your career with the Imperial Navy, you will be ordered to perform many different duties. One of those duties, and possibly the most important one, will be escorting/defending. As there are different types of craft to escort and defend, there are different techniques for dealing with them.

Defending Platforms, FACs, and Other Stationary Installations

While patrolling the area around the installation, try and maintain a distance of two to three klicks out. This allows you to be in a good position when an attack begins. It is vital that you always monitor the condition of the PLT or FAC during an attack. If you see that it is beginning to fail, you must increase your efforts or face a serious loss. For this reason, it's probably a good idea to place the installation you're defending on a hotkey (shift-F5, F6, or F7 while you have the installation targeted, then whatever F key you used to check on its status) During an enemy attack on a friendly installation, you must choose your targets well. For example, if you have Z-95 Headhunters and B-wings coming in, go for the B-wings. They carry far more, and significantly heavier weapons than the Z-95s will. Be alert, however, for it is not unknown for the Rebel to attempt to fit a Z-95 with space bombs. If you have wingmen, use them wisely by sending them after another target group, so that you may cause as much disruption in the enemy's formations as you can. On your way to intercept the attacking flight group, watch for warheads. If the enemy begins firing, target the warheads and move to a position where you can fire off a hail of lasers into the paths of the warheads in order to destroy some, or maybe even all of them. Be on the lookout for the arrival of any new attackers and, if need be, break off your attack and go after the new arrivals, if they are a greater threat. Bear in mind, however, that ships with warheads will always be a higher priority target than any other type of vessel. Also, like yourself, the attackers may have escorts of their own. They will attack you as you make your attack runs on their bombers. Try to engage the enemy fighters attacking you as little as possible and stick to the bombers. Should it become too difficult to stay after the bombers, however, turn on the enemy escorts and kill a few of them. Again, try to stay fairly close to the installation and destroy the most threatening attackers first.

Non-Disabled Warships

Escorting warships to a hyperspace jump point or defending them from attack is quite similar to defending installations. The major difference is that the ship (or ships) you are protecting are constantly moving unless the ship is ordered to hold position. It is vitally important that you keep this in mind while you are fending off attackers. You could be 2 clicks away from the ship, and the next, you are 5 clicks away and it is under a heavy attack. Warships are powerful enough that they can usually hold their own for a while, however, do NOT allow them to be overwhelmed. Use your wingmen, if you have them, and make use of any missiles you may be armed with. Stay close and fight and don't forget to use the warship's heavy turbolasers to your advantage, as they can give a fighter serious damage.

Freighters, and Disabled Craft

Much like shuttles and transports, these are difficult to protect. Because of their lack of defensive weaponry, except on certain craft, freighter vessels rely on you to get them out of a hostile area. Again, be certain that you maintain a distance of no greater than 1.5 to 2 clicks out. As enemy fighters begin to appear, choose the greatest threats and attack them first. Keep in mind that, although the shields of some freighters are thick and they may have weapons, they are still vulnerable. Several heavy fighters could turn a freighter convoy into melted slag very quickly. Try to dispatch as many ininboundvound warheads as possible and avoid dogfighting with any enemy escort fighters, unless it is absolutely necessary.

Transports and Shuttles

Easily the most difficult to guard, if you are on escort duty for a shuttle or transport, the cargo must be of the highest importance and should, thus, give you more incentive to stay sharp. It is a bad idea to stray more than 1.5 clicks away from the craft you are protecting. If a fighter sneaks by you, and you are too far away, it can cause quite a bit of damage or even destroy the ship in the time it takes you to return. Remain aware of all the types of craft in the area, and specifically look for starfighters armed with ion cannons and ships with the ability to board other craft. Keep on your toes and ignore any fighters targeting you, until you are certain that the threat to the craft you are to protect is gone. It is too easy to be distracted by a dogfight and allow the ship you are to guard to be destroyed.

General Defensive Strategy

It should be noted that wingmen are often key components in defensive strategy. Oftentimes, it's extremely difficult to near impossible to distract five or six bombers attacking a target from their mission, but having your wingman attack just one of them can often tip the balance into your favor. Always be aware of opportunities to use your wingmen, and throw them at enemy bombers every chance you get. Secondly, your lasers are a great weapon against enemy warheads. If you're on a direct trajectory towards a flight of enemy fighters who are releasing warheads towards your defensive target, and have a steady hand on the trigger, you can shoot down most, if not all, of these warheads with your lasers. The angle of your attack is essential if you're going to attempt this, however. Also, most craft will turn away from their targets if you've driven their shields down to a certain percentage; be aware of this, as you can divert a B-wing from delivering a payload of warheads on the poor FRT you're supposed to defend with a swift, accurate barrage of lasers.