Damage
Learn the basics of bots and batts, as well as how to target subsystems and repair at a base and what happens when you lose parts of your ship. Skip to summary points if you like.

Bots and Batts
Repairing your shields can sometimes eat up several Shield Batteries depending on what class shield you have fitted and how much shield energy you are repairing. Likewise, more hull damage means more Nanobots are used. Remember this when purchasing bots and batts, and be sure to look at the repair stats.

Shield Batteries (F key) $200 each	Nanobots (G key) $200 each

Shields down!
When your shields are down, they can take around five seconds to start up again.. this is an eternity in combat, so use any shield batteries to immediately start up the shields again. With shields down, your weapons and equipment can be damaged as well as your hull.

Nanobots will only repair your hull, not weapons and equipment. This means that a powerful attack can disable weapons and equipment and sometimes even blow parts of your ship off, depending on what you're flying.

StevenKeel: "I'm not a fan of damage, so whenever I dock and see the wrench icon, I repair my ship. Leaving repairs until later can mean you never get to repair it at all."

Second Nature
Practice to make sure you can quickly repair your shields (F) and hull (G) in the middle of combat. Learn to see the shield and hull bars in the corner of your eye, as well as the number of bots and batts you have left.

Subsystem Targetting
Try using the Switch to Target icon on the Target Status window next to the Switch to Contact List icon. You'll notice a wireframe view of your selected target, along with highlighted weapons and equipment subsystems.

You can select individual parts of the target and your aiming system will automatically adjust your guns so you fire directly at that part of the ship when you attack. This can enable you to destroy subsystems or blow certain parts of a ship off, including any attached equipment.

Hover mouse over area to see the name.	Left click to select the desired area.

The downside is that the aiming system is not perfect when subsystem targetting, and you may find a lot of your shots missing or hitting the opposite side of the target. Experiment and see what areas are easier to hit on different ships.

Blast Damage
Mines and Missiles explode when they hit their targets, damaging weapons and equipment far easier than guns, even when subsystem targetting. Use this to your advantage when your opponent's shields are down.

Repairing at a Base
Repairing subsystems can only be done on a base and can be expensive depending on the value of the damaged equipment. If equipment is destroyed in combat it is lost forever and the slot it occupied becomes empty. The same goes for parts of your ship that get blown off in combat.

Summary Points of Damage
Repairing Shield and Hull integrity can use up multiple units each time.

Shields down means you are twice as vulnerable to damage, and can suffer subsystem damage too, losing weapons and equipment forever.

Target subsystems using the Switch to Target icon, it can allow you to damage or disable your target more easily.

Mines and Missiles do blast damage, very dangerous when your shields are down.

Nanobots repair hull but not weapons and equipment, remember this!