How to play guide for Crying Suns

*This article is a stub. You can help Crying Suns Wiki by expanding it.*

This page will serve as a basic **how to play guide for *Crying Suns***. While there is very little information available at this time, we urge you to check back often, as new information is being added all the time! Feel free to edit this guide with any tips, tricks, and suggestions.

## Tips and tricks

* Prioritize upgrading **Fuel Scavenging Efficiency** and **Additional Squadron**.
* Be wary of your officers skills for events. So you don't waste resources.
* Have many officers with different skills, try to not go only for the ability they could have.
* Try to go for **Anomaly** **Signals**, they offer the best rewards even if you find a **Warring Battleship**.
* Always keep 60 scrap on your ship at all times. This allows for a buffer if you run out of Neo-N. This also will cover any random ship events that need scrap and give you a squadron, weapon, or a ship upgrade (usually costs 20-60 scrap). There are also random events in every sector that cost 13-60 scrap and give you information or repair your ship/squadrons.
* Utilize the Pause mechanic as often as possible and allow your opponent to make the first move. This will allow you to make better decisions about squadron deployment and weapon firing.
* Counter the opponent's ship with the correct counter (Frigate > Fighters, Drones > Frigates, Fighters > Drones, Short-range > Cruisers). This will allow you to rush the enemy battleship when the enemy squadrons are recharging.
* Use the ability to withdraw squadrons. This is very powerful if you just wiped the current ennemy squadron wave, as overheating time for docks will add up. Your squadrons can heal at the same time and you can redeploy the right counter squadron.

## Battleship match-ups

* Scrappers are weak to fighters and cruisers.
* Church ships are weak to drones and prototype squadrons with Atemporal Engine.
* Akee ships are weak to frigates and cruisers.
* Kosh ships are weak to frigates and cruisers.
* Pirates are balanced but weak to rushing.
* Telos ships are balanced and require that you pick the correct counters.

### Excelsior-class

* Your greatest strength is flexibility. Because you have no weapon or squadron-specific bonus or malus you can pick freely and make sure you have a tool for every occasion. Play squadron rock-paper-scissors properly!

### Kaos-class

* Selling the starting auxilliary system can be a good emergency source of scrap, though your squadrons are still permanently in a patched state.
* Boomer drones are extremely powerful, especially if you make sure to have the enemy surround your drones one by one for maximum splash damage.
* Against Scappers, send your drones in one-by-one and let their squadrons surround yours. The splash damage from boomer explosions is very effective against 1/4 HP squadrons: don't let the same happen in reverse.
* Church squadrons are usually parked next to their battleships. Using diversions to draw away the frigates will let you damage the hull. Make sure to watch the cooldown on the enemy weapons and spread the drones out if possible.
* Akee ships deploy fighters, which counter your drones. Make sure to spread out your drones to make the fighters take as much damage as possible from boomer detonations. Deploying 1/4 HP frigates to counter the fighters is counterproductive. Put a few points into **Heat Capacitor** to avoid being instantly overheated by a **High Energy Beam.**
* Kosh ships will periodically nuke your drones out of existence, so make sure to spread your drones out. If they deploy a **Juggernaut**, drones are one of the few ways to kill it efficiently, though attacking the battleship directly might just win the fight before it reaches you anyways.
* Pirate ship reinforcements will overwhelm your weak drones. It's usually best to try to rush pirate battleships since they have such low health.
* Telos ships have no good answer for endless boomer drones. Wear down the enemy squadrons and then rush the battleship.

### Jericho-class

* The initial cooldown reduction of 0-damage weapons doesn't only apply to debuff weapons. Think creatively and try some of the more rare weapons!
* Your squadrons deal massively increased damage when they attack an enemy squadron with a debuff, always exploit this.
* Using debuffs like freeze and slowdown to keep enemy squadrons away allows you to use multiple cruisers very effectively.
* The officer skill for 50% increased duration on weapon effects has obvious synergy, but not only for debuffs.
* Scrappers are dangerous. Make sure to pick up a few fighter squadrons! Using a cruiser to help push up slowly works (cruisers usually one-shot 1/4 HP drones), as does just hanging back, repairing your squadrons often and using weapons and Impaler cruisers to attack the enemy battleship. If you have a full flight of fighters and some kind of buff, such as the **Debris Catapult,** you can be more aggressive.
* Church ships with **Matter Destabilizers** will make your squadrons vanish over and over. Picking up a few drone squadrons helps. Make sure to spread your ships out and bait the debuffs.
* When fighting Akee ships, position your frigates to reveal incoming stealth fighters for your cruiser to pick off. If it comes down to a trade, you will lose to the raw DPS of fighters, so try to defeat all the enemy squadrons before going for the battleship.
* Kosh ships will generally not have an answer to a constant barrage of debuffs, just make sure that your ships are moving/spread out whenever their weapons are up. **Juggernauts** are melted by the **Matter Destabilizer**.
* Pirates often use drones, but otherwise pose little threat. Make sure to push the advantage to kill the battleship off before the reinforcements arrive!
* Against Telos, pushing slowly with a cruiser will usually do the job.

### Geno-class

* Your stealth squadrons deploy with stealth activated, meaning you can always choose the fight to take. Exploit this by waiting in asteroid fields or bypassing squadron fights entirely and just rushing the enemy battleship.
* The 30 heat damage total from a stealth attack on the enemy battleship is massive, equivalent to a MKII High Energy Beam. Oftentimes a single fighter will instantly overload a system on its own!
* Using the **Invisibility Field Projector** lets you cancel a fight and pull back stealth fighter squadrons for repairs or to attack again for more bonus damage. Using it for bonus damage is roughly equivalent to giving a fighting squadron 4 seconds of invulnerability!
* Scrapper squadrons die in a single hit to stealth attacks, though your lower health squadrons will take proportionately more damage from boomer drone explosions. Try not to surround the boomer drones.
* Church ships are tough to beat without somehow wasting the enemy debuffs. Consider picking up a drone or any prototype squadron with the **Atemporal Engine** to lure away the enemy squadrons while dodging the debuffs. Once they're on cooldown, put your stealth squadrons on the enemy weapon/squadron systems and there's nothing they can do.
* Akee fights come down to whoever attacks first and has the most advantageous position. So, hide in asteroid fields to negate the bonus damage from enemy stealth attacks. Try not to trade since it will result in losing hull bars.
* Kosh ships deploy a mixture of frigates and fighters. When their fighters are dead they can't out-DPS you in a trade, so try to separate the fighters, burst them down and then rush the battleship. This is even easier if they deploy a Juggernaut, just ignore it and go straight for the battleship. Beware the auxilliary system that recharges weapons on hull damage, if they're patched your squadrons might die in a single weapon hit!
* Pirates will lose in a trade, early on you can just rush the battleship. Try to end the fight quickly as the numbers advantage from reinforcements will flip the fight completely.
* If a telos ship deploys frigates it will lose in a trade, just hide until the frigates have moved too far and then attack the battleship. Otherwise, try to pick off squadrons when they are the most separated and use every advantage you can get to snowball the fight.

### Hammer-class

* Your squadrons get a massive DPS boost from being hit by direct damage weapon friendly fire. Always exploit this.
* The massive bulk of the Hammer-class lets you be aggressive without a care in the world. You can often go straight for the throat with fighters and use nukes to clear out enemy squadrons mid-trade. This is true for using Juggernauts as well.
* Scrapper squadrons die quickly, but also keep coming back faster than you can nuke them. Make sure to use fighters and avoid bunching up around boomer drones.
* Church ships are a terrible opponent. Use drones. Try to bait out the debuffs with a single squadron and make a big move when all your nukes are available. You can afford to be patient because of your high battleship health. Don't use Juggernauts against Matter Destabilizers.
* Akee squadrons are squishy and vulnerable to nukes. Use frigates and try not to get surrounded. You can out-DPS Akee ships in a trade if you use the friendly fire buff, but you will get your systems overheated and lose hull bars.
* Kosh ships will nuke you right back. One good trick is to hide in an asteroid field and let the enemy nuke first, wasting the damage on the asteroids. Don't waste nukes on Juggernauts.
* Pirates lose in a trade, early in a run you can safely rush the battleship. Later in a run, just use rock-paper-scissors to win the first engagement and nukes to win the second.
* Against Telos, use rock-paper-scissors and try to snowball the first fight. Keep an eye on the forcefield generator cooldown and don't waste nukes!

### Void-class

* Your greatest strength is flexibility. Because you have no weapon or squadron-specific bonuses you can pick freely and make sure you have a tool for every occasion. Play squadron rock-paper-scissors properly!
* Hazard structures like EMP Towers and Turrets are on your side! Exploit this whenever possible. Fights will also usually contain strategic objectives, which you capture twice as fast as non-pirates.
* The **Debris Catapult** is a +30hp buff to your squadrons when used effectively. Asteroids completely nullify most nukes and prevent certain debuffs.
* Consider getting a **Space Bender** to put hazards in your opponent's way, move strategic objectives into better locations, separate squadrons from their allies and more..
* Your hull is very weak and won't stand up to any trades. Therefore, make sure to always win squadron fights before going for the battleship.
* Scrapper squadrons keep coming back at the same rate you kill them, as always make sure to use fighters and avoid surrounding boomer drones. Consider using cruisers to pick off boomer drones without any splash damage.
* Church ships use debuffs, most of which pass right through asteroids. You can still use asteroids to block the **Sub Zero Gun** and **Executioner Laser**. Use drones and try to lure away the frigates from the battleship. If the fight doesn't end quickly, you might die to a **Hull Breaker Laser.**
* Akee will have the initiative, try to preemptively hide in asteroid fields to nullify bonus damage. Don't let a single stealth fighter through to your battleship systems or you will be overheated immediately.
* Kosh won't have an advantage until their nukes are online, so try to win the first fight with rock-paper-scissors and hazards and then use asteroids or other tricks to nullify the nukes. If there's a **Juggernaut** you may want to consider rushing: you can use **Debris Catapult** to shield your squadrons from damage while they focus on the enemy battleship.
* Pirates are immune to hazard structures just like you. Try to win the fight quickly as reinforcements will quickly turn the tables.
* Telos ships are evenly matched, so use asteroids, hazards and rock-paper-scissors. The **Piercer Laser** will hurt your weak hull more than normal so push the advantage and don't let the fight drag on.

## See also

* Release date
* System requirements