OK with the new influx (no pun intended!) of new players especially low level ones I thought it time to give a basic run down of flux engagement tactics.

Now me being a Sol any gun and config references are for Sols only, any of you from the other factions like Mole, Smeg etc pse feel free to add your input for any faction specific weapons load outs etc.

Flux Background

Ok for the newbies amongst us a quick background to the flux. These nasty creatures are the enemies of the TRI alliance, so in a nutshell they are the common enemy of Sol, Oct and Quants alike. It is in everyones interest to fight them and try and control them, so fighting over each others squid is a bit pointless!!.

Flux are divided into 10 classes of nastiness...

C1 - Known as Squid.. These are pretty simple to engage, they have very low shields and low fire rate ne1 feel to enagage.

C2 - Also Squid..These are little more feisty then C1, and fire a bit more rapidly and accuratly, still ok to engage as a noob.

C3 - Also Squid.. These are the elite of the squid, nasty fast firing so and sos, so watch out you noobs, on their own you can contain them but in pairs or more very nasty!!

C4 -Snail.. Now you are gettin to the bigger boys.. these are slower firing flux, they fire ammo weapons, while not v accurate, can cause a lot of damage if you stand still.

C5 - Snail..Much the same as C4 just a little faster.

C6 - Manta.. Now your talkin, the advanced conflux fighter 'Manta' has dual load out lasers travels upto 450v and can rip a noob to pieces run!!!

C7 - Manta..Same as C6 but uses ammo weapons and is very accurate indeed, steer well clr noobs!!

C8 - Kraken.. These are the 'conflux sharshooters' highly accurate creatures with clever avasive tactics, they cruise at 420 and fire nasty gravity weapons which are lethal to almost any craft avoid.

C9 -Kraken..Add 20 to the spd of a c8 and times the fire rate by 2 or more... get the idea!!!

C10- Eel... Easier to kill than a c9 in fact, fires slow Nova weapons but bare in mind a couple of hits from these and you are singing in your pod on the way home!! Huge armour on Eels and invariably escorted by Kraks make em a tough creature!!

Top 3 Tips for Fluxxing

Ok so thats the run down on the oppo..now as a noob taking anything above c5 is a big no no!! But general rules for all flux are the same, they are all equally stupid!!

My top 3 tips for flux and you'll live..well 90% of time ne way!!

1) Never Spin and turn close to one they'll pound u while you turn, remember they are more manourable than you!!

2) Always make sure you have at least one Flash fire for escapes!!

3) Never shy away from asking for help from fellow travelers if your trouble, most peeps are only too willing to help you.

Ok you follow these 3 and you ll be ok and have a happy time fluxxin!!

General Tips For Fluxxing
Now general tips i found while engaging these rascals..

1) Using the Duelist.. Right you may think this is used for ammo weapons only but believe me ammo/lasers its essential kit!! you duelist locator is 90% accurate, thing you'll find is that when the flux passes you by especially with ammo weapons the duelist takes time to re align, good time to start shooting again is when your ship has turned round and is facing the flux, watch the ship arrow indicator and wait till it points towards the flux before shooting.

2) Camera - Another essential, zoom in on the flux as it approaches believe u me shot accuracy increases 10 fold by using it especially with ammo.

3) Show em your tail - Interesting tactic this.. go head on with the flux first time up and carry on running till the beast is 5k away behind you, it nicely lines itself up with you again so you can joust it again, this gives your shield time to recharge and lets your duelist get a nice alignment. This tactic is essential for big Flux!!

4) Missiles - Always have missiles in your inventory if you want to engage flux, purgatory, hell fires, cutlass, and morning stars are all proven weaponary against flux.
*2 purg hits will take out a krak or manta*
If you are engagin mutlipe flux specially the big boys target 1/2 of them with missiles and concetrate on one to kill, this will distract tem while you nab the other. I have taken 3 c8 2 c7 and c9 all at once!! left me with 20 % armour! and i used 6 MS missiles in a sol bomber so guage what you can and cant take on!! dont be too proud to run, flux dont gloat over your retreat believe me!!

5) Ammo or Lasers - Lots of pros and cons on this matter really, as noobs u can only really get lasers, hammers ll be the first ammo weapon ull want. Ammo is great ags flux but really comes into its own against big flux cos of its range. Ammo hits upto 5k away while lasers are limited to 2k max. Good for upto to c6 but mulitple kraks and eels you will die very quickly using lasers!! Lasers plus side is you can stay out for longer of course cos' you dont need to re load. Just decide what your after basically if its big flux take ammo, if its normal flux or single kraks and your prefer lasers use em!!

6) Take a mate as bait - This an oldie but a goodie, have a squad m8 fly a scout for you, enter a sector notorious for big flux and let the flux aim at him!! you meanwhile steam in behind and take the them one at a time!! while his mates follow your scout m8!! you will find a few scouts in unreg charging for their services to do this!! Moley a job for you!!

7) Finally silly tip but pretty obvious, set your radar to enemy when engaging multilpe flux makes targettin a hell of a lot easeir!!!

Suggested Weapons -Sol

Ok I can give suggestions for Sols guys from the other factions pse add your input on these please.

Tensy HF Loadout
Tensy Ammo Config..
Deepol
Hitman
2 Barracks
Duelist
3 purgs/MS

Tensy Alterenative (experts only)
Swap hitman for Nova

Tensy Laser Loadout
Featherfire
2 Thorns

Bomber Cuda Configs Ammo
Deepol
4 Hitmen
Duelist
6 Purgs

Bomber Cuda Laser config
Swap Hitmen for Featherfires

Premia/Ceptor loadouts

Laser Weapons to use are Calefactors, best size one gun

Thorns from quant are the best Size 2 laser

Ammo weapons to use are def Hammers and size2 Barracks

For a noob comparision I would quite happily whack a pair of c1/c2 with 1 calefactor, just DONT stand still of course.

K these are my thoughts as I say chaps more loadout suggestions would be nice.

Last tip and often overlooked, i know i didnt really make use of it when i was a noob and should have done, praccy in the Station simulator ags flux. It only goes up to c5 but you can guage your skills and how many flux you can take on at once etc very very useful indeed!!

Have fun and repel the Conflux!!