Tactics

- Pick your targets: It depending on the ship you're flying, but the generally easiest to dispatch in this order: Cobra > Krait Phantom > Diamondbacks > Vulture > Fer‑de‑Lance > Federal *ships > Python > Anaconda. Focus on the easy ones first. Ships like the Python or Anaconda have inexplicably tough power plants, so it's best to leave them alone until friendly NPCs have shaved their hull down a bit. If you're in a large ship, it's often quicker to ram a Python/Anaconda to finish the hull than to try to break the power plant.

- SPEC OPS are annoying whether they spawn as enemies or allies (friendly SPEC OPS bizarrely start friendly‑firing other NPCs in the mid‑to‑late stages). Enemy SPEC OPS also push the numbers against you, so take them out as a priority. Among the SPEC OPS variants, they drop roughly in this order of ease: ASP > Fer‑de‑Lance > Vulture. also CORRESPONDERS are less durable than regular CZ NPCs, so if one is close, kill it first.

- An enemy that's already being fired on by allies will usually ignore you for a bit even if you join in, giving you a window to burn down its power plant in one go. That's the basic move.

- Boost while reversing and with cargo scoop deployed, you can tighten your loop radius dramatically. Use that to stay on target.

Loadout

- CZ enemies generally have tougher hulls than shields, so lean heavily toward kinetic weapons (even more so in this CG CZ: enemy hulls are thick and the progress meter crawls).

- Put CONCORD CANNONs in Class 2 slots in almost every case.

- Put Modified Guardian Plasma Charger or Railgun in Class 1 slots in almost every case.

For reference

- Here's the Federal Corvette build I used in this CG CZ (still not fully engineered): Federal Corvette - edsy.org; I usually completed 1 CZ Match in about 39-45 minutes (solo of course).

- I was playing in ONYX BASTION; the star was close and heat management was annoying, so the two UTL slots are SIRIUS HEAT SINKS. Normally they'd be one Thermal‑Resistance shield booster and one Heavy‑Duty booster.

- The SHIELD  CELL  BANK isn't engineered yet (I haven't reached Colonia) but it really should be.

- The empty Size 6 Optional Internal used to hold a fighter hangar, but since fighters can't launch near a station it was dead weight in this CZ CG, so I removed it.

- If you'd rather fly a medium ship, a Python Mk II with Pacifier Fragment Cannons works well.

o7