Game Modes

Once you are prepared for combat, pressing the button will take you to the next screen where you will be presented with a variety of choices:

PvP Arena

PvP – In Player versus Player, all players are split into two teams and engage in combat on varied maps. Matches are created dynamically and could start as 3 versus 3 and grow to up to 10 vs 10 players, depending on how many players queue for that mode. As a reward for participating, all players will obtain experience and credits, and members of the winning team get to open a type of loot box. Those may contain crafting materials, credits, iridium or premium ship parts. PvP Arena is available to pilots who have achieved at least Clearance Level 4.

There are several different types of PVP matches, including Domination, Team Battle, Beacon Hunt, and Detonation. There is also a rarely-seen match called Four Lives, which is similar to Beacon Hunt but each pilot can only respawn three times after death.

PVP match types are randomly selected and players have no influence over the type of match that is generated. Matchmaking also takes into account the rank of the available players’ ships and usually groups players with similar ship ranks so low rank ships do not have to fight against high rank ships. The server also allegedly adjusts individual player ship stats before each match to somewhat level the playing field.

• Domination: Both teams start with an equal number of control points and spawn at opposite ends of the map. Three "Beacons" are distributed on the field at predetermined locations, depending on the sector (map). Capturing a beacon will slowly deduct points from the enemy’s control points every few seconds. Capturing all three beacons will deduct the opponent’s points at a brisk pace, while none are deducted from you. Uncaptured beacons do nothing. To capture a beacon, you must hover or orbit near it (within 700-850 meters) for several seconds. Receiving damage from enemy ships or colliding with an object will temporarily interrupt your capture efforts. Multiple ships simultaneously capturing a beacon will speed up the process and Interceptor ships capture at a faster rate than Fighters or Frigates. Victory goes to the team that causes their opponent’s control points to be reduced to zero. Player kills do not directly affect the tally of control points other than making it more difficult for that team to seize or maintain control of a beacon.

• Detonation: Each team begins with three bases scattered about the map. One minute after the battle starts, an EMP bomb will spawn in the center of the map. The objective is to pick up the bomb and deploy it at an enemy base. Picking up the bomb only requires that you be in close proximity to the bomb for several seconds and, similarly, planting the bomb at an enemy base requires you to be close to the base. It is a similar kind of game mode to Capture the Flag, only this time you take the flag to an enemy base... and then blow it up. Periodically, additional bombs will spawn on the map.

Warning: the bomb carrier’s speed is greatly reduced and using invincibility or invisibility related special/active modules or passive modules (such cloaking devices or emergency shields) will cause the EMP bomb to be dropped. Killing the bomb carrier will also cause the bomb to be dropped where it can be picked up by a player on either team.

Victory conditions include: destroying all three enemy stations by planting bombs or having more active stations when the timer runs out. In the case of a tie, the team with more enemy player kills will be the winner.

• Team Battle: A good, old-fashioned team deathmatch. First team to score 10, 15 or 20 kills is the winner.

• Beacon Hunt: This game mode is similar to Domination but there is only one beacon active at a given time. Inactive beacons cannot be captured so they do not affect either team’s control point totals. A beacon will remain active for approximately one minute and the next beacon will be pinged (briefly visible on map and radar) at 20 and 10 seconds prior to activation. Players who are killed cannot respawn until control is lost or a new beacon is activated.

Skirmish (Co-Op PvE)

Skirmish is a cooperative PvE game mode that resembles PvP Arena with the same match types and maps except that the opponents will all be computer-controlled AI. Co-Op Skirmish is available for all rank ships and, like PvP mode, you will usually be grouped with other players and face enemy AI in ships close to your own ship rank.

Random Mission (4-player Co-Op PVE)

This class of gameplay involves a group of up to four human players battling against AI-controlled ships or turrets. There are objectives such as cargo escorting, protecting an objective, capturing control points, or destroying a specified “boss” target. Missions are available for all ship ranks and have dynamic difficulty levels from one to infinity. Enemies become stronger with each level and the rewards for victory are also greater. The mission level is selected by players prior to the start of the mission. Sometimes, you will see a player post a number in the chat window. This is usually done by an experienced player who is confident of their ability to carry the team to victory at that particular level and wishes the other players to agree to that difficulty rating.

By completing these missions, players can earn special resources called “insignia” that can be used to enhance your defense and power in these special PvE missions, allowing you to undertake higher-level missions. Players can respawn only a limited number of times but a player can reconstruct an ally’s ship manually by approaching the wreck and interacting with it.

Map

Selecting this option will take you to open space in the open world "sandbox mode" of Star Conflict. A player can undock from their current station and fly wherever they want and do whatever they want. Options include:

• Completing contracts for XP, credits or resources.
• Fighting AI enemies, such as Aliens and Pirates, for XP and loot.
• Engaging in random PvP.
• Mining
• Looking for resources and crafting materials.
• Races
• Player-to-Player "private trading" (via dropped cargo).

Contracts are limited-time missions that require you to travel to an area of open space and complete a task, such as kill a certain NPC, mine a certain number of resources or disable a beacon or control point. You can earn credits, XP or resources from completing contracts. Contracts are accessed through the hourglass symbol on the toolbar on the right hand side of your hanger screen.

Navigating and surviving in Open Space

Selecting the MAP button will take you to the space map. The player’s station, Ellydium Theta, is on the left hand side. All zones (named systems) are connected by warp gates. You can go from zone to zone via warp-gates for free, but this is quite tedious. You can quick-travel to another sector for the cost of 5 Iridium. Some zones and sectors will be locked to you until you reach a certain pilot clearance level.

Enemies

Open space is populated by various NPC craft including pirates, mercenaries, law enforcement, trade vessels and alien craft.
Upon killing an NPC ship, sometimes it will drop loot indicated by this object. This may be credits, resources or equipment modules.

Fly close-by and interact with the object (Default keyboard command is “C”) to pick it up. Your ship has a limited number of cargo spaces.

Open Space PvP: Unless you are feeling salty, it is recommended that you enable “PvE-mode” found in the Options-Game menu (ESC button on your keyboard). This is also called “Station Protection”.

• All ships enter open space under station protection, unless disabled by the player.
• Station protection prevents collision damage and all damage from other players.
• Station protection is switched OFF when the player warps to a PvP zone.
• Ships NOT under station protection will appear in orange to others.
• A ship NOT under Station Protection cannot be attacked by a player WITH station protection, and vice-versa. Both players need to have Station Protection OFF in order to damage each other.
• Player ships will appear in blue if station protection is active, or gray if not.
• Friendly NPC ships will appear as blue.
• Unfriendly non-player ships will appear in red. These will engage you if you get too close.
• Alien ships will appear in purple. Again, these will engage you if you get too close.