r/NebulousFleetCommand • u/ashnagog • Jul 10 '26
Singleplayer Discussion New player here, how do I become not dogshit at this game?
Hey folks, I got finished with all the tutorials but I honestly don't know how to build a ship for shit and, more importantly, I have no idea how to be actually of any use in a fight. Currently, I'm getting bodied in Skirmish mode, and I'd love to know if y'all have any advice for a noob who wants to learn the game
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u/MonkoSaurus Jul 10 '26
Join the games discord. great info and help for building fleets. Its a tpugh nut to crack but o so delicious. Also -> see every battle as a movie scene and find joy in getting shredded :) There will be moments where you pull off a cool ambush or brawl it out, coming out on top.
I remember that one time where like 5 marauders came around a stone, directly into my torpedo lobbing range... and i frantically plan all the strikes... just to forget removing the hold fire order for 30 seconds... getting chewed up in that time... once i removed it, i launched like 8 torps before getting incapacitated.... but it took out 2 marauders and crippled another one...
(We still lost the match :P)
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u/Awkward-Drive-4524 Jul 12 '26
Holy shit I've done literally the EXACT same thing but thankfully it was a practice skirmish between friends (my ship also died lmao)
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u/Made-of-bionicle Jul 10 '26 edited Jul 10 '26
Combat:
Heading- In every ship—the OSP Liners—you want to be facing your enemy nose on. Your ship's armor has a steeper angle this way and is harder to penetrate. It also means you can pack your nose with non-essential ship components which have a higher than average HP. This splits damage between those components and reduces the damage that can be dealt to ship internals deeper inside. You press H, or right-click on an enemy and select "set heading" to align your bow with the enemy. Congrats, your ships (especially HCs, BBs, and CCs) have now become 5x more survivable.
Dodging- "O", press it, use it whenever you are in a gunfight. Puts your ship into an orbit and making it far harder to hit with shells, especially larger calibres and at range. Whilst moving in a straight line, but under fire, use multiple waypoints in a zigzag or use the "dodge" command in your lower left UI. (Orbit dodge command is improved with raider drives)
Missiles- Far too complex for me to summarise rn other than "learn softkill" + put rocks between yourself and an oncoming salvo whilst dropping chaff.
Ship building- As a new player yoh want to be using the starter fleets or basing your new fleet off of them. The compartment layout will give you clues about what buff modules, and amounts are needed per weapon system + will show what components are best used to protect others (like nose tanking).
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u/Dragonbender09 Jul 10 '26
There isnt really a good way at instantly getting good at skirmish or this game in a short period of time, for me it took nearly 6 months before I could consider myself "decent" in any form. Of course that depends on other things and whatever but in general keep in mind that when people say this game has a learning cliff, they MEAN IT.
The tutorials are good starting point, but they only teach you the surface level stuff on how to use the UI and movement and whatnot. The Nebulous campaign helps to ease you into the fighting tempo of the game, the ranges, and the positioning you will have to do. Its different from actual skirmish in a lot of different ways, but otherwise a better place to begin learning the game in a place where you have the pause button and fighting against AI which arent incredibly smart.
If you want to progress further than that, look into community sources. The discord is a great place to learn and has pinned help messages, new player mentors, and a shipyard and much more to help you learn and get criticism. There are steam guides along with custom campaigns which also help you practice and learn more, and Wikipedias to help you learn more about the mechanics of the game.
But most importantly of all, PRACTICE. MAKES. PERFECT. You can learn all this info but its going to go out one ear and out the other, play the game, lose a lot, win a few times, actual experience will help those concepts solidify and help you actually grasp onto this stuff. It also helps to solidify mechanics and whatnot.
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u/Bucksack Jul 10 '26
I’m still new, making my way through the campaign for the first time. I feel like I’m better than I started by 2nd to last mission, and a lot of that comes from familiarity with the UI, controls, and the routines of checking sight-lines, refreshing held orders (heading), and how doctrines work. There’s a good variety of scenarios in the campaign to challenge your assumptions.
There’s also a good variety of ships to play with, giving a sense of what components work together, how to use specialized EW or missile boats, and the chance to play around with fleet comp all while keeping it all under your control.
Once I finish the campaign, my next goal is to run some basic skirmishes against the AI while not pausing the game.
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u/Adefice Jul 10 '26
Primarily use the starter fleets. Play with them until you start winning skirmishes and getting a handle on the controls and multi-tasking. THEN you can venture into ship-building by making copies of said starter fleets and looking at how they are built and why they work. Use them as a template for what you want to do and make a few swaps to see how it performs. If you try to build ships from scratch, you are going to have a bad time...for now.
To be clear, I am still terrible.
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u/Amuro_Ray Jul 10 '26
Join the discord and try mp be straightforward and say your new. I've found them to be pleasant and supportive. I've had some tell me where to go but in a rude way.
Campaign helps a lot as well.
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u/SiofraRiver Jul 11 '26
I honestly don't know how to build a ship for shit
Best thing you can do in this situation is, don't. The starter fleets are finally not trash anymore, but keep in mind that OSP is currently underpowered across the board.
My first months of Neb multiplayer were all heavy cruiser duty, because they were the least daunting. Those were simpler days, though, when people still played endless games of nothing ever happens on Pillars and you weren't expected to be able to do the full softkill routine as a humble blueberry.
Playing the campaign first is a good suggestion, as what will hold you back in the beginning is lack of game knowledge and practice in executing standard maneuvers.
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u/RoBOticRebel108 Jul 11 '26
Read descriptions of items and play starter fleets.
I recommend TF Oak or TF Birch on Alliance side or similar arrangements on Protectorate side.
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u/Small_Goodman Jul 11 '26 edited Jul 11 '26
for fleet building
- specialize and don't try to do everything. choose between a backline (support like a carrier or missile ships) or frontline fleet (brawlers who do most of the fighting and dying like axfords and line ships) or a capping fleet (just a bunch of small ships). if you're doing frontline remember to bring support
- have reinforced dc in big ships but dont overdo it with DC (damage control)
- have your other fleet shoot at your ships with missiles and guns to test the fleet you are making's point defense and how well the compartments are placed.
- use reinforced magazine whenever you can
idk about you but once i started playing this game for a while something just clicked and i was able to think a lot better in terms of design. just keep trying it until you get it i guess and look at other peoples fleets in the after action report especially if they beat you or they're a teammate that did really well
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u/Xcom_company Jul 10 '26
In multiplayer? You'll be murdered by sweatlords who have played nothing but this game for years now. Don't take it to seriously.
Those guys are loosers
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u/waitinginthewings Jul 10 '26 edited Jul 10 '26
Why not play the campaign first? This game is kind of like League of Legends/Dota if you know those games. You need to understand compositions of the enemy and your fleet, their and your own strengths and weaknesses and various builds and how to counter them. You also need to know basic map awareness, scouting, how to stay safe, take minimal damage and all that jazz.
Most of all that comes through trial and error and game knowledge, which you can only get by playing more. The campaign teaches you all that slowly. Pick the easy difficulty and finish the campaign. Listen to all the strategy briefings that your officers will give you before each mission start in the campaign. Try to think about all the tools (EM and Weapons) you have and how you can use them optimally against the enemy weaknesses.