RCS

**RCS** (Reaction Control Systems) is a feature in Starblast.io. When toggled on, the ship automatically brakes when not accelerating, and when toggled off, the ship continues moving in the direction accelerated without stopping, thus, it is possible to accelerate in a direction, turn around, and fire while moving backwards, in a controlled retreat that doesn't leave the ship completely vulnerable. It is toggled on or off by Ctrl, no matter what OS is being used..

RCS is a game-changing feature for smaller, faster ships such as the Side-Interceptor or the Shadow X-2 and for ships with recoil, such as the U-Sniper or Y-Defender. Smaller ships can move around stronger, slower ships and continue firing while simultaneously moving, making them hard to target, while ships with recoil can beat a hasty retreat (and/or offensive) while continuing to fire when necessary. A skilled player can use RCS to achieve victory against dismal odds, and teams can be shattered using the feature. It is not recommended to leave it on or off for long periods of time, but to switch constantly as need arises for the optimum efficiency. However, one must be careful with RCS. Be aware of your surroundings, especially in Deathmatch, where asteroids are more deadly. If you are using RCS to move directly away from someone, it means you can hit them, but it also may be easier to hit you, as you are going straight and no longer dodging around.

RCS also depends on Friction. In default games, the Friction is at 1x, but in Custom Games, this can be changed. At normal friction, ships will decelerate to their maximum speed if exceeded (using recoil), however, this will not happen at zero friction, making gimmicks such as hyperspeed possible.

## Tips and Tricks

**RCS is best used with agile, smaller ships, and can be used devastatingly by small, quick ships that shoot more powerful shots, i.e. Pulse-Fighter or A-Speedster.**

* Using RCS to move directly away from enemy ships can be risky. You are shooting them, but they also have very easy shots at you, as you are no longer even trying to dodge. It is not recommended to do this unless you are winning but do not want to get close. This strategy is deadly to a Barracuda, but not as good to a ship such as a Scorpion.
* If you are piloting a smaller ship, use RCS to make quick hit and run attacks. Ships that shoot larger pulses excel at these hit, run, and come back to kill attacks. If piloting one of these ships, and encounter another ship, start dodging around, toggle RCS off so that you can turn and shoot as soon as you get the energy back, and dodging again as soon as you get that shot off. If you aim carefully, you can destroy slower but higher tier enemies.
* Ships that have high recoil also can use RCS to their advantage. The best ship for doing this is the U-Sniper. Using the recoil of the shots while RCS is toggled off, you can shoot at your enemies, doing massive damage, and also retreating. Seeing that the U-sniper has great range, this strategy is very good to dissuade chasing players.
* While using RCS, especially in deathmatch mode, you must be very careful of asteroids. While RCS is toggled off, it is very easy to accidentally hit asteroids.
* The best strategy to use RCS is to keep it on normally, while switching it off during combat. It may be a little bit harder to steer with it off, especially if you are being knocked around by enemy shots or are just inexperienced at flying the ship.
* When RCS is on, your ship auto-brakes. When it is off, it drifts. Don't confuse on and off, because if you do that will be a fatal mistake.
* When fighting teams in survival mode or team mode,this an amazing strategy to implement into the fights! If you use rcs you can accelerate while also shooting at the opposing team and taking down some people.