This guide assumes you're using the Steam version to play. Each computer will need its own steam account and a purchased and installed copy of the game. I also assume you have read the Official Artemis Manual.

While the guide says you must have a dedicated server, this is actually not true. You can run a server AND a client from the same machine. I found two ways to do this:

• One display: Run the first instance in a window and the second full screen, this makes the window generally unavailable, but is fine if you just want to concentrate on the second screen
  
• Two displays: Run both instances in a window and have dual displays. You'll lose some screen space to the title bar this way.

To run a second instance you can not run it from Steam. You have to manually run it. On my PC it's in:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Artemis\Artemis.exe

By far the more fun option. Trying to coordinate and socialize remotely robs this game of its main fun factor, socializing.

For LAN games where everyone is connected to the same network you'll need to know the server's IP address. Artemis will tell you the address of the server, but note it may show you the address of an adapter you are not networked on. The most common example is the TAP-Windows Adapter. You can disable it, but I find it keeps re-enabling.

Even if Artemis reports the address from the wrong adapter, it's actually listening on its other IP addresses as well. This leaves you with three options:

• Disable all other adapters before running each time
  
• Learn your IP address from your network settings
  
• Running a command (run ==> cmd ==> ipconfig) prompt to discover your ip address.

Playing remotely necessitates voice communications. While I use Skype what's important is that you're talking not texting. If you're wondering why, try texting a friend driving directions in real time.

Remote play adds a whole new challenge of IP address fun (see above). You'll need to do one or two things to your router and test:

• Set your server to a static IP, create a DHCP reservation for it, or redo step two each time your IP changes
  
• Set port forwarding on your router for port 2010 (I did both TCP and UDP, but I think you only need one) to your server.
  
• Use www.myipaddress.com to determine your WAN side address, your clients will use this when remote.
  
• Test with the Shields Up web site on port 2010 when the server is running Artemis

To play this right you want to stick to broad strokes. Giving every position exacting orders takes the fun out of it for them, and can make it waay overstimulating to keep up with. If you want to micromanage follow my three step program to Artemis Addiction:

• Run artemis on one PC (see install guide)
  
• Open all consoles on one window
  
• Operate the entire ship by yourself

This will save your friends from getting annoyed with you, and feed the Artemis addiction until you drop dead from exhaustion, run out of stimulants, or find a new addiction.

Here's the bottom line, the most important job for the Captain is to make it fun for everyone. If you want to captain to boss people around you're missing the joy of a social game.

Read everyone's guides, and give general commands to each station, for example:

• Helm: Park us at range and lets open up with Torpedoes or Swing us in for a rear attack, but not: "Come to a heading of 237 and engage at Warp 2 until 6000 clicks out, then slow to 38 impulse until 2000, then..."
  
• Weapons: Open up with a nuke then work the survivors over
  
• Comm: Order the Escort into the action
  
• Engineering: Configure us for Warp travel
  
• Science: What's our closest threat data.

Communications is a difficult position to play because, like Engineering, you're burried in a hole with no view out. If you don't have a view of the main screen I highly recommend either running two PCs or running two displays (see my earlier tips on running two copies of Artemis). Being able to have an outside view helps keep you from feeling totally isolated.

I highly recommend sharing the Science view. You have to be carefull not to get in the Science Officer's way though, just use the screen to see the information available, otherwise the Science officer might have a few words for you that won't come over the comms.

Getting damaged enemy ships to surrender can really help, but the most fascinating options for the comm officer are to bait enemy ships away from a vulnerable civilian ship or starbase. It's even worth doing when you're in bad shape, just because you're off recharing at a Starbase doesn't mean your job is done. And on that topic radioing in before docking helps, though not as much as delaying docking until within 100 clicks.

Finally I highly recommend aggressively directing any frigates and escorts to protect starbases. In conjuction with a base they have a chance to make a real difference. Likewise directing Civilian starships away from trouble is critical. Never assume a Civilian or Military starship is smart enough to avoid a minefield, they just love to play chicken with mines.

First and foremost, read Bone White's guide. It's filled with not only great tips for how to play, but even better how to coordinate. I'm going to stick to the rudimentaries here, and some shortcuts, but read his guide, it's essential.

Like Communications, you're burried in a hole with no view out. If you don't have a view of the main screen I highly recommend either running two PCs or running two displays (see my earlier tips on running two copies of Artemis). Being able to have an outside view helps keep you from feeling totally isolated.

Overheating a system isn't the end of the world, crank the power on what you need and cool it or repair it later. Remember Scotty didn't shy away from "giving her all she's got" and neither should you. Please don't send me your repair bill when you burn up your ship, the Enterprises track record for getting wiped out was bad, but hey we all loved watching it go up in smoke.

Manuever power for the helm when close in is more important than anything else. This is for the simple reason that warp power can outrun anything on impulse and if you're not getting shot at because your helmsman is out of their arc then nothing else matters. If you're firing slower, scanning slower, recharging shields slower, it is irrelevant.

Use the presaves, either using Store ==> 1-0 on screen or Shift + 1-0 on your keyboard to save your configuration. You can pull them back up with the number keys 1-0 or the on screen shortcuts.

Set the system to 240% and 8 coolant, leave everything else at 100%
1: Beams. Ideal for flank attacks or frontal attacks when speed is of the essence.
2: Torpedoes. Whether prepping for a torpedo run or just hammering away with homing torpedoes at range.
3: Sensors. Ideal for early game, when docked at starbases, etc.
4: Manuever. When getting in position for flank attacks, anywhere near a minefield, starbase, or asteroid field.
5: Impulse. When ligned up and moving in to dock, or when backing away from an enemy when you have longer range.
6: Warp. When travelling long distances.
7: Front shields. For a mine run from the front, or when point man for a fleet (or your own fighters).
8: Rear shields. For a mine run from behind.
9: All systems 100%
0: Warp 40% all other systems 0%. For when energy has run out and you need to get somewhere (slowly).

Cranking power to 300% is highly recommended once you get used to it, the above are relatively stable configurations meant for learning, or for when someone is doubling up on Engineering.

I have to say the Fighter Pilot role begs to be combined more than any other. If you're on a ship with tons of fighters, like the carriers, you can have several people double up on the fighter role. While a lone player can be deadly with fighters (see machine gun fighters) it's a lot more fun to have some of the less "blow them up" type roles double up on fighters. My votes are for Communications, Science, and in desparation Captain or Engineering.

Fighter tactics don't need to be appreciably different from what you do under helm and weapons, read those sections, and make good use of brakes for long range barrages. And remember there's no penalty for boosting, if you want to go somewhere crank the engines to max and let scotty fix it later.

Be extra careful to get clear of your ship. Make sure your target lock is on the enemy, and not a friendly like a starbase. Torpedoeing your own carrier means a very long drive home.

• Return: Fire Torpedoes
  
• Space: Fire Beams
  
• A: Left Turn
  
• D: Right Turn
  
• R: Redock
  
• DEL: Come to a stop
  
• INS: Maximum speed
  
• What follows adds visually, but strictly speaking can be ignored.
  
• W: Pitch Up
  
• S: Pitch Down
  
• Q: Roll Left
  
• E: Roll Right

Unlimited fighter replacements are available at any star base. Don't hesitate to leave your fighters behind both because they're free to replace, and there's a devilish pleasure in watching your figher pilot realize he's all alone. It's even better with Jump Drives.

On a carrier you can have a truly awesome LAN party with 11 people (5 fighter pilots and 6 crew). If you don't have that many interested people, but want to witness the awesome power of the Carrier you can do it with 7 using one man as a pilot. Here's the secret:

• Park at range, as per Helm/Weapon Guides
  
• Launch fighter, turn towards the enemy (memorize which way to turn)
  
• Brake while turning so as not to drift away
  
• Fire three torpedoes
  
• Redock (you should be close enough to instantly dock)
  
• Select the next fighter and go to step one

This obviously only works for long range barrages, and is a little busy, but it maximizes long range firepower nicely. Well, nice if you're not in the enemy fleet.

My tips on playing the helm are short and sweet

• Never go warp speed without the Main display on Tactical or Long Range Sensors, the risk of asteroid collision or getting sucked into a black whole at warps speed isn't worth it.
  
• For perfect docking approach at warp 1, drop out of warp at 1000 away from the starbase, and hit dock just as you approach 100 clicks.
  
• Improve turning by slowing down.
  
• Nothing is as important as being out of the enemy beam arcs, even if it means you can't fire, it's better to stay out of arc and delay your own attacks
  
• Don't play fair, park at range so the weapons officer can nuke them from orbit (or homing torpedo them, I'm not biased)
  
• The space bar is your friend, one tap drops out of warp, two taps brings impulse to full stop
  
• The 1-4 keys for Warp are also your friend, but be careful if you run out of energy and dock with the warp engaged you'll suddenly dart away.
  
• Reverse is great for long range torpedo barages
  
• Don't worry about colliding with starbases and enemy warships in an emergency. If you're getting toasted go to warp and get out of there.
  
• Never go warp speed without the right display setting

Science is a big communication role, for which I have two recommendations:

• Put it on the big screen. Even more than the main view the Science screen provides the best "big picture", far better than the LRS view, and it gives headings. Frankly I like having both on big screens.
  
• Have the Captain run science. This enables him to give orders without double relay about headings to the enemy, asteroids to watch out for, shield frequencies, and allied ship orders.

In multi-ship games scan information is shared, making option 2 less annoying, or allowing players to double up on roles without as much burden down the road.

Otherwise Science is pretty much a non-stop role, the challenge here is balancing prioritizing feeding information vs scanning new targets.

When the torpedoes are firing Science provides a vital function. Timing when to switch to PShock torpedoes can destroy an enemy ship in a heartbeat, likewise when internal damage is accumulating can offer a good queue for when to demand a surrender. Last, but not least, there's something essential about reporting enemy destroyed. Sure everyone can see the giant inferno on the main screen, but somehow it's only when the sensor operator reports it that everyone cheers.

The Science Officer makes an ideal Air Wing Commander. His view is the only one that can zoom in on distant action. Fighters are blind and only the Science officer can give them vectors to the action with ease.

Being Air Wing Commander makes the Science role much more engaging, and like the Captain role, necessitates he understand more. You'll want to practice gauging compass headings visually so that you can quickly vector distant fighters into the enemy, and read up on the Captain, Helm, Weapons, and Fighter sections.

There's not a whole lot to say about Weapons, but you get to blow stuff up so what could be more important, right?

• 1-5 select torpedo type in reverse order (1 is homing on the bottom)
  
• Shift + 1-4 Fires or loads a torpedo tube

• Don't play fair, park at range, use your torpedoes up and then dance in close where its dangerous.
  
• Always lock before firing
  
• Have the Science officer tell you when shields are down, a PShock torpedo is a one ship nuke once their shields are down
  
• A great opening volley is the ECM followed by the Nuke.
  
• Don't ECM/Nuke the lead ship, hit someone in the center to maximize damage.
  
• Keep an eye out for incoming drones to destroy
  
• Work over weak targets first. If you nuked a fleet, destroy the most damaged first to get quick results.
  
• Use the views to make the game entertaining (forward view to enjoy your weapons fire) and to help coordinate, Long Range Scanners when planning, Tactical when in close. The Helmsman will be busy trying not to get you killed, take advantage of your downtime to manage views and Shields.

The following two sections detail group tactics and the techniques and timing for each station. First, lets define close assault, this is the range where all beams are in range, for most ships 1000 clicks. This allows the full firepower of your starship, and any fighters, to come to bear. There are two components of close assault to consider, first whether you want a fast, frontal assault, and the second whether you want a hot assault bringing full power to bear with torpedoes.


For Frontal Close Assaults Helm Direction is straightforward, point at the target, close to close assault range and hold the target front and center. Use Reverse and Turning when needed to keep them in arc. When going straight in it may be advantageous to go after weaker rear shields. With the Frontal Assault don't avoid enemy fire, just drive straight into the rear arc and come to bear.

Weapons fire can be trickier, if you are flying straight through their front arcs to get at rear shields avoid target selection so that you don't waste your opening volley, maximize damage to where it counts by waiting until you're behind them. If you're not going for rear shields this becomes simpler. With a straightin approach pick an opponent and stay focused on them until they are destroyed, call out your target so the helmsman keeps you facing them for maximum effect.

Science helps make the choice on whether to go for front or rear shields, call out their shield strengths both to know where to strike and for hot manuevers to help Weapons know when to switch to P-Shock.

For the Engineer this manuever requires a balance of Forward Shields and Beams. If flying straight through the forward arc to reach rear shields you'll need to briefly bring maneuver to 300% as you come to the rear.


For a safer, but more challenging approach we'll avoid enemy arcs entirely. For ships with rear firing weapons we'll still take damage, but we'll keep it to a minimum.

Helm's role now becomes more challenging as you must fly a circle, pulsing warp when needed, and slowing to increase turning speed. The goal is to remain out of range of their beam weapons until you've come around behind them. This makes the assault take substantially longer, but keeps your ship in one piece.

Weapons becomes straightforward, engage the target, however you may need to alert Helm to incoming drones if they are out of your arc.

Comms role becomes more vital, since the assumption with Flanking attacks is that you want to minimize damage, having Comms taunt enemies away from larger fleets is vital.

Engineering is best configured for 300% Maneuver coming in, pay close attention to the Helm's maneuvering needs, shifting to power and coolant for Beam Weapons may be possible, but be ready to adjust to keep Helm able to stay at a safe position.

Fleet engagements become trickier, if time is critical (Priority) then weapons should call out and concentrate on one opponent, while Helm should accept limited incoming fire from opponents to reach their target. If survival is critical then work over whatever target can be safely hit on the edges.

Both variants of close assault have one additional option, the assumption is homing torpedoes are used when going straight in or making a priority flank attack. To save torpedoes instead declare the attack cold in the case of straight in and priority, or to add them to the mix declare the attack hot in the case of regular flank attacks.

Bombardment is the use of Torpedoes from outside of Beam Weapon range. If the enemy is approaching Helm should come full stop just inside torpedo range. If necessary operate in reverse to hold the range. If they are moving away move in closer and keep pace. Engineering should provide 300% to torpedoes during this manuever.

When engaging large fleets opening with Nuclear Bombardment may work best. For this manuever the Weapons officer should load and fire first an ECM, then a Nuclear Torpedo. Large fleets may necessitate two sets. Target a ship as close to the center of the fleet as possible to maximize the area of effect of the torpedo (1000 clicks).

Mines deploy about 600 clicks off the aft, and provide a nice area of effect the way a Nuclear torpedo does (1000 clicks). A well coordinated pass through the center of a fleet, with mine deployment when they're half of your beam arc range behind you can wipe out an enemy fleet quite handily.

Coordinating become critical for this manuever initially Engineering will need full power to Torpedoes to facilitate loading Mines. Weapons needs to call out when ready so that Helm does not begin early. Once Weapons calls ready Engineering should devote full power to Fore and Aft Shields.

To avoid bumping into enemy ships Helm can fly a high or low path, or turn away so that the rear arc points into the center of the fleet. Before going in an ECM should be launched into the center of the fleet to soften them up.

For large fleets a good variant is the double Mine Pass. For this to be effective the helm will need to line up along the longest axis of the enemy fleet. So a fleet flying with ships next to each other you would want to approach from the side, or one flying in line you would want to approach from the front or aft. This ensure that when the mines are dropped one after the other, you can drop one near the front (or close side) and one near the rear (or far side).

Nuclear bombardments and mine passes can be done plain, without the use of ECM torpedoes. This greatly reduces their effectiveness, but if ECM are limited may be necessary.

There are two critical conditions in which to disengage. The first is when shields are low, or down, and damage to the ship is a danger. The second is when energy is critical. Always plan enough energy to be able to make it back to the closest safe starbase. Disengaging can be done in two ways, the quickest is the forward disengage, Helm brings the ship to warp and any maneuvering to head for safety is done outside of weapon range. The second is to Retreat. Helm pulls a 180 turn, or turns towards safety, and comes to warp. For the first maneuver no Engineering changes are required, but for the second 300% to manuever is needed.

Some Monsters will follow you (and try to eat you). These monsters can also be used to destroy enemy fleets, provided you keep a healthy distance while bringing them towards the enemy. To be succesful this requires a few careful tricks.
First Engineering needs to reinforce rear shields to 300% because they will be taking a pounding. Helm needs to get close enough to the monster to get its attention, when it begins pursuit pulsing warp speed between 1 and 2 should keep it following, without being so close as to risk the worst of its attacks. While this goes on carefull coordination by the Science/Captain will keep Helm going in the right direction and clear of mines and asteroids. Remember Helm is going to have its attention split trying to avoid getting everyone eaten.

Last, Engineering brings forward shields to 300% as you proceed right through the middle of the enemy formation. Helm increases to Warp 4 leaving the monster in the midst of the enemy fleet.