First, there are some things that everyone playing HighFleet should know:

-Always take into account the direction you are flying when you fire and how it will affect the trajectory of your shells!
Any projectile inherits the velocity of your ship from the moment it was fired, so for example if you're flying to the right and shoot down, the projectile will fly downwards with it's own energy, but also float to the right as it flies down!



-If you lose a ship in battle and then retreat or accept victory, all the special ammunition on-board the destroyed ship will be lost! So never load ships you might lose with valuable special ammo, or be careful not to lose them.


-NEVER split off your main tanker from your squadron before adjusting the fuel dials as you could waste thousands worth of fuel!

As demonstrated on the left, when the rest of the squadron is separated from the Skylark light tanker with all the fuel they can carry, the Skylark still ends up with 73% total fuel stock;
But as seen on the right, when the Sklyark is selected, the game automatically decides to give the detachment 12% of the fuel it can hold, and the rest is completely wasted as the other ships in the squadron are unable to carry what is left! In this case more than 60% of the tanker's fuel, worth more than 1000 gold will completely disappear. This could turn into tens of thousands of gold being lost in the course of a campaign.


So remember to always split your strike groups by selecting the ships with the smallest fuel capacity and range.

Linked here is my new guide on how to capture any convoy without alarms:

https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2746211755

All special ammunition in HighFleet can be a huge force multiplier, Proximity Fuse rounds can chew through the soft spots on light ships and Laser Guided Missiles are the biggest nightmare of any strike group.
But the biggest force multiplication comes with rapid-fire Incendiary ammo, because even under-powered 37mm and 57mm machine guns can be used to bring down heavy cruisers when loaded with Incendiaries.
The key is 'Controlled Incineration', so as to not waste your limited supply of Incendiary bullets.
Aim at the exposed tanks on the enemy ship and shoot them enough times until you see the "ON FIRE" symbol flashing in the bottom left corner of the screen:
Once the enemy is set ablaze you should hold your fire or concentrate on other enemy ships until they use their Fire Suppression System modules, the remaining number of which you can see in the corner of the ships' structural diagram.
Upon using their FSS, there will be a huge cloud of gray smoke around the ship which signals for you to start incinerating their fuel tanks again. Repeat this until the enemy runs out of FSS and the fires on their ship rage out of control.
When the flames have fully consumed it, the enemy ship will not be able to rotate its guns or use the engines to save itself from crashing, so simply set it ablaze and then watch as the hard ground and the ammo reserves race to see who can blow up the vessel first!

Just keep in mind that Incendiaries do less damage than High Explosive, so unless you plan on fully Incinerating the enemy ship, HE is free and more powerful.


The ship used to absolutely own this Archangel is the "Igniter" from "The King's Corvettes" ship pack, it comes with 2xVympel 57mm rapid-fire cannons specifically meant for igniting the enemy.

This guide was written with both vanilla ships and the abilities of my own custom corvettes in mind:


https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2676712980

My previous ship pack which included a dominating Fleet of Frigates is also available here:

https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2664421839

Starring :

THE COURAGEOUS, NAVARIN, SLOGGER, FLOWER, BALLISTIC


Whoever thought deploying these vessels in combat was a good idea was either mad, high on some very strong recreational drug or both. And just as well, all the crew who made the fatal mistake of ever climbing aboard one of these ships are completely suicidal.
Using special ammo on these guys is the best way to waste your money. The true cheapest way of killing them would be to just wait for them to fly into the ground because the pilot and everyone else in the bridge obviously never had any intention of staying alive, but since that might take a while here are each of their weak points:

Courageous:
This ship will die after losing basically any of it's sub-systems, whether it is a thruster, generator or fuel, but the best way to kill it while also getting to see a sick explosion is to shoot the ground bombs strapped to its bottom.

Navarin:
Same as the Courageous, fly below it and destroy the bombs clamped to the bottom and watch it blow up it in a magnificent cloud of smoke and shattered hull.

Slogger:
Because of the 2 artillery cannons strapped to this glorified paper airplane, the Slogger is the only ship in the Suicide Squadron that might be an actual threat and warrant the use of Proximity fuse ammo. However, even a couple salvos of 57 or 100mm High Explosive will make short work of it, just make sure to prioritize destroying all Sloggers before they can fire their own volleys of special artillery ammo at you.

Ballistic:
The Ballistic is a flying powder keg due to all the unprotected ammo loaders it carries, and while its rockets aren't a real danger, you might get hit by a few from each salvo at close range. Position yourself above or below it where it has no armor and chew through with HE until you get to the juicy ammo core in the middle.




Flower:
The Flower can be very annoying, it carries 6 Zenith missiles and has no qualms about launching one at you every few seconds, so either shoot out it's rocket storage from above and then destroy the bridge, or cripple it completely from below by destroying its 2 unprotected generators. Either way this ship is just a minor problem with an easy solution.



Tip:
A tactic you could deploy in combat in case the enemy has cruisers or frigates in their roster along with smaller ships is keeping two less threatening enemy ships such the ones in this class alive throughout the fight; since the enemy can never have more than 3 ships deployed at once this allows you to deal with the bigger threats one by one and ignore the smaller enemies until the others are dealt with or they just run out of fuel. Whereas eviscerating every small ship at the beginning could mean having to deal with all the tougher enemies together and suffering heavier losses.

All the ships in this class can be pretty threatening, but are easily destroyed by focusing fire at their soft and exposed underbellies. A fully loaded clip of Proximity Fuse would destroy any of them when aimed at the right place but isn't necessary as even High Explosive rounds will be enough to tear them apart. A bottom fighting versatile ship such as the "Liberator" from "The King's Corvettes" will absolutely eat the enemies in this class for breakfast. If you're a crack-shot, then you could use Armor Piercing from directly above or below to snipe their ammo cores.

Intrepid:
The Intrepid is not to be trifled with, with its cannons loaded with Armor Piercing it can cut through your ship and even hit your bridge or ammunition, so be sure to dodge those volleys and dispatch it quickly by carving through the underside to reach it's ammo core. You could also burn out the FSS blocks by setting it on fire a few times and letting it perish with the flames. If you find yourself above the Intrepid, it is possible to punch through and destroy the bridge with a few accurate High Explosive rounds.

Gladiator:
The Gladiator and its multiple rocket launching cousin can be very dangerous ships, with the basic model being perhaps the most powerful vanilla frigate and capable of blowing small or slow ships to pieces from close range. But like with the rest of The Yellow Belly Legion, it is highly susceptible to shots from below. The APS covering the bottom half can be easily countered with mid-caliber Proximity fuse, or with 57mm Incendiary and Controlled Incinerations. AP is not ideal because it can be deflected by the APS and the Gladiator can still survive after the detonation of its ammo.

Paladin-Mk2:
The Paladin boasts a SARMAT heavy twin cannon that can be very dangerous if left to linger. Luckily, its has no armor on the bottom and has all 3 FSS blocks left exposed down there, meaning that a few incendiary rounds from a ship such as "The Igniter" can easily and cheaply incinerate it. A volley of 100mm Proximity Fuse to the belly would make short work of it too. But if you are very accurate and hover perfectly above it, you could also carve out the Zenith missile-array and easily hit the bridge just same as with the Intrepid. This last method is risky, as keeping the Paladin underneath could mean taking a lot of damage to your engines.

Sarma:
The 3 Vympel cannons on the Sarma are harmless to armored ships, but it can be a expensive and time consuming ship to destroy if you don't know where to aim. The cheapest way is to simply aim for its bridge, positioned at the bottom middle, above one of its guns. A handful of accurate low caliber rounds will be enough to cripple the ship by destroying the captain's bridge.


"Invictus-Mk6" from "The Immortal Fleet" using 100mm proximity fuse ammo to absolutely annihilate a large force of Yellow Bellies!

These ships are called the Winged Boulders because they are unholy abominations that were never meant to fly, so just a few well aimed shots to the engines on one side can make them fall out the sky.

Nimrod:
The Nimrod is partly why light unarmored ships are not viable on Hard difficulty. It can fire 180mm Proximity fuse from long ranges that absolutely annihilate any hull pieces not protected by armor. Killing the Nimrod however, is quite easy: destroy the engines on any side with any caliber or ammo type of your choosing and then watch it slowly crash into the desert.






Longbow:
Like with the Gladiator, destroying the ammo on the Longbow will not cripple it. The exposed engines below the aircraft deck are completely necessary though and the ship will fall out of the sky if 3 on one side are destroyed.

Like all red barrels in video games, you're supposed to shoot the ships from the Flying Red Barrels until they catch fire and then wait until the flames inevitably detonate the entire ship in a glorious explosion of shrapnel. The "Igniter" from "The King's Corvettes" was designed to fill this role cheaply and effectively.

Archangel:
This heavily armored light cruiser can seem very threatening at first, and destroying it with special ammo can end up costing more than your ship itself is even worth, but there exists a very simple solution: Fire!
The Archangel only has 3 fire suppression modules, and they can all be easily burnt out by shooting Incendiary into the bottom corners of the ship. This means that a handful of cheap incendiary rounds from a ship such as The "Igniter" can engulf this behemoth in an unquenchable fire powerful enough to destroy it in seconds. Remember to stay on one side of it in battle to be safe from one of the two heavy cannons.

Negev:
Even with its sizable arsenal of artillery cannons and miniguns, the Negev is perhaps the weakest cruiser in the enemy's ranks. Its bridge is almost completely exposed and the entire ship is incredibly susceptible to fires. Blowing up both ammo chains on the outer hull will disable all the guns and make it utterly defenseless.
If you are fighting it in the absence of any bigger threats, then it would be cheaper to use incendiaries to burn it out and allow the flames to eventually engulf it. But if you are fighting the Negev alongside other, larger threats, then you should quickly cut through to the bridge and destroy it using Proximity Fuse or Laser Guided Missiles by aiming below the large engine on the left side. This option is much faster but more expensive.

Kormoran:
Like its sister the Negev, the Kormoran is also very weak to fires. How I fight this cruiser is by first destroying the two large ammo compartments in the bottom using special ammo, this will cripple the 180mm cannons, destroy most of the FSS and cause massive fires aboard the cruiser. Once the large ammo blocks are destroyed you can either end it quickly by destroying one of the main thrusters, or prolong its suffering by setting it on fire again a few more times. Either way, it will be easy for you & painful for the Kormoran.


Borey:
This ship is a mainstay of every enemy strike group, so knowing the best way to kill it is vital knowledge. If you can safely hover above it with a ship such as "The Osprey" from The Immortal Fleet then you can punch through to the ammo with AP or LGMs. But my advice is to stay far below it where you can be safe from the volleys of 180mm that will be raining down, destroy the bottom cannon and then blow up the fuel tank or use incendiary to torch it until the FSS runs out. Soon after the fire engulfs it, the ammo will detonate and the Borey will meet its doom.

Gryphon:
The conventional method of dispatching the Gryphon was a couple of quick and easy high caliber Armor Piercing rounds aimed at the ammo core. While still possible, the recent nerfs to AP have made this method dangerous and expensive. Persistent Incendiary shots from the bottom to the fuel tank will work, but the 14 FSS aboard the Gryphon make this time consuming. So what is the answer?
Get under it, where the heavy cannon is not even able to hit you and blow the fuel tank the ♥♥♥♥ up.


The ship you saw totally demolishing this Gryphon is The "Liberator" from "The King's Corvettes", using its 2xAK-100 and one D-80-MOLOT cannons loaded with nothing but High Explosive.

The ships in this class are big and mean, but as they say: "The bigger they are, the harder they fall."
The large guns on these ships necessitate massive amounts of ammunition which are all linked together inside the hull, meaning that a single ammunition explosion can tear apart half the ship and make for an easy kill.


Nomad:
The most powerful defence of the Nomad is the multiple PALASH trophy systems equipped on its sides, this makes shooting at its sides unfeasible, and the heavy armor makes assaulting the engines and ammunition slow and expensive. Luckily, the Nomad is easily destroyed by focusing heavy fire at the bridge from the top left, where the APS cannot deflect your rounds. Using LGMs is recommended to quickly blow up the bridge before the Nomad can do much damage with its own heavy cannons.


Here the "Viper-Mk3" from "The King's Corvettes" can be seen quickly dispatching the Nomad using 180mm Laser Guided Missiles.

The Nomad is also weak to incineration from below as the fuel tanks are largely unprotected from the bottom. Even though this heavy cruiser has a dozen FSS modules, by controlled incineration you can eventually sap it of all the extinguishers and burn it to the ground. So even though igniting the Nomad is possible, it would be much quicker to destroy the bridge with heavy firepower.



Varyag:
The Infamous Varyag is sitting on enough volatile ammunition to blow itself and half of Khiva to bits, but destroying it can be tricky because of all the armor and weapons it carries. It's possible to fly above it and attempt to snipe the bridge, but it is well covered and you could sustain massive damage to the underside of your ship while trying to cut through to it.
The best method is to stay under it and use high-caliber Armor Piercing or Laser Guided ammunition and try to detonate one of the two large ammo veins. The arc that the APS covers is much smaller than the one shown during combat and can safely be ignored if you are trying to penetrate into the ammo. Remember that the MK-6-180 SQUALL heavy cannons turn very slowly and cannot zone in on your ship if you KEEP MOVING!

Once one of the ammo veins explodes, all the guns on that side will be crippled and you can relatively safely get to work destroying the engines. With all the engines on one side gone, the Varyag will lose control and begin a long and serene descent unto the unforgiving dunes of Gerat.



The Varyag does have an Achilles' heel that can be easily exploited with 57mm Incendiary. The Zenith missile array is connected by two large steel hulls that expose the fuel tanks to easy incineration provided you have the necessary volume of spicy bullets in order to burn out all 20 FSS modules. The Igniter can be seen below doing just that, while constantly flying from left to right to dodge the slow-turning SQUALL main batteries:


If you want to really bully the Varyag, then I recommend the "Falcon-Mk2B3" from The Immortal Fleet loaded with 180mm Armor piercing and 37mm Incendiary rounds. First you destroy all the ammunition with AP and then get to work incinerating the fuel tanks until the Varyag is no more.

This category includes two classes, the mercenary escorts who are just doing their job, and the missile carriers who are the absolute scum of the earth. I recommend incinerating these "Nuclear Red Barrels" but not because it's cheaper, instead as revenge for all those missiles and nukes that they so frivolously fire at you and your men. They may have killed several of your ships, but you get to purge each and every one of them with a holy flame burning hotter than the pits of hell. They deserve nothing less.

The only real threat in this group is from the Hound missile carrier, it's carrying 3 MOLOT cannons that can tear you apart if you aren't careful.
The Tarantul, its miniguns or rocket launcher aren't dangerous, but the missiles onboard certainly are and the IRST scanner is going to ruin a lot your sudden strikes.

The Meteor-Mk3 can be pretty powerful when used by the player, but will melt when you shoot any sort of High Explosive or Prox Fuse at it.

And there's its baby brother, the Mark 2, likely the weakest ship in the game.

The Scarab is easily destroyed with High Explosive from below or just Proximity Fuze from anywhere.

Last but not least, you'll find the Lightning escorting some prize ships, very fast but also just as weak.

The Talos is clearly a very old design, and only found escorting some prize ships, just shoot at it enough and it will die.

You should never allow a ship to be lost in combat or by rioting if it is carrying your special ammunition on-board. When a ship is destroyed or riots, you lose every piece of special ammo it was carrying with it, which could be tens of thousands of gold in value. Suffice to say that I learnt this the hard way.



The ammo I purchase and the priority in which I get them goes from top to bottom like this:

• 100mm Proximity fuse | 600+ Reserve
  
• 57mm Incendiary | All you can buy
  
• 130mm LGM | 75-100 reserve
  
• 180mm LGM | 25-50 reserve
  
• 37mm Incendiary | 2,000-4,000 rounds
  
• AP 100/130/180mm | 200/100/40 each
  
• Prox Fuse 130mm | 150-300 reserve
  
• Prox Fuse 180mm | 40 reserve
  
• Incendiary 100/130/180mm | 200/100/30 each