The flashlight is used to light up the dark in interstellar marines, and there is a lot of it. You can toggle the flashlight on and off by pressing the F key. You can also simply push and hold F and let go of F to turn it off and on as well. Proper management of the flashlight will allow you and your teammates adequete vision in the darkness WITHOUT needlessly exposing your team to the enemy.

The flashlight should be used to get a sight picture. You can do this by toggling the flashlight on and off rapidly in short bursts - there is no need to leave it on as your eyes will remember the images. If you find a target, you should leave your flashlight on and strafe and shoot as usual, unless you wish to disengage for whatever reason. Your target will see the flashlight but they don’t see the full marine holding the flashlight. It is an advantage to you because your flashlight will illuminate them allowing you to see their entire person and what direction they are moving in.

In this first screenshot you can see how the opposing marine is completely visable via use of the flashlight.


In this second screenshot you can see how it looks to be the marine under the light, and how you can't see the marine casting the light. The marine holding the light generally has the advantage, having a few more tenths of a second to react before their opponent does.

You should not light up a doorway constantly or approach a doorway with a flashlight on. Doorways are fatal funnels. A person on the other side of the doorway can just spray in one direction towards you because you have to enter the room before you can proceed left or right. It is best to enter a doorway and move to the side to continue checking the room. This rule also applies to corners.

Do not leave your flashlight on 24/7. Not only are you a beacon to enemies saying what direction you are headed in but you also backlight allied marines. Backlighting is standing behind a fellow marine and shining the light on him removing his concealment from the darkness.

In this screenshot the marine on the left with the flashlight on is backlighting his ally and revealing him to the enemy.

The laser sight can be useful for close quarters combat to get a point of reference when hit shooting a person. Laser sights have almost no other use other than this, and they do not increase accuracy your rating. To use the laser sight you must toggle G for on and G for off. You can also simply push and hold G and let go of G to turn it off and on as well. It's personal preference whether or not you choose to use the laser sight during CQC.

The purpose of the laser sight is to assist in shooting from the hip and in close quarters combat. Of course it will not be practical in all situations if you are point blank with your target or if you were not prepared for an encounter. You have to remember to turn it on as soon as you get in a slug fest, or pre emptively when moving inside a room. It may take several tries to get the hang of using it properly to aim at a moving target while shooting from the hip. The laser sight does not increase accuracy rating but will help you find where your sights are since there are none while hip shooting. The gun will always shoot in a straight line - however, the gun itself will change angles in your hand as you move and shoot, which is the what the purpose of the laser sight is for, to highlight where your gun is pointing at.

If you aim the laser sight at your opponents face, you will also give them a rather annoying glare - however, this effect is impractical to use in combat as aiming towards the head from the hip is rather difficult.

Using the laser sight around corners or next to doors you are about to enter is going to give the enemy the edge in knowing what direction you are coming from and how far away you are. It is not advisable to use the laser sight to snipe players at a long distance as it gives your position away. It is not good to use a laser sight in the pitch black because enemies can see you.

Special Thanks to the 3rd Marine SirKnightDude.