Smart missiles are the secondary of choice inside the mines or even in large dogfighting areas. When used correctly they are almost a guaranteed kill. Removing 88 shields from a tank at point blank. How do they work? The missile travels straight from your ship until it hits a solid object, then the plasma balls are released and start seeking the nearest pilot.

Many pilots use this tool poorly, and wonder why they seem to always be killed by smart missiles, yet their own seldom kill anyone! The secret is to get the smart missile to impact a wall as close to the opponent as possible. Whether this be after travelling the length of a corridor or 30 cms into the floor below your ship. This is because the plasma balls lose strength as they chase you. If you catch the tail end of a smart that has done its dash about the same time you have, it will often cost only 12 shield points!

At long range it is a classic, it's slow velocity en-route makes it an excellent fire and forget long distance killer.

A smart delivered to the scene of a dogfight is a real fox in the hen house! When engaged in your own dogfight, the smart is a break-it-up call or a kill.

In a small area the smart can be easily avoided if it is more than 5 or 6 ship lengths away, and in a large area, you might be miles from the wall and it would be stupid to let one go.

When in a large area, I will fight with primary fire and approach a wall, ceiling or floor to encourage my opponent into coming in for the kill. As they swoop in I will retreat closer to the surface, then afterburn forward and sideways as hard as I can and just before I hit, drop the smart and then trichord and afterburn away at the opposite 45 degree angle. This will result in a kill 90% of the time. Even experienced pilots can be lured in this way. Beware the destructive frag missile while attempting this however.

Be extra cautious about being on the receiving end of a smart yourself! What goes around, comes around! Practice with a buddy avoiding smart missiles. Ideally, corners are what saves you from smart missiles.

The smart missile, when abundant should be used as what I call a "smart detector". This is when you come up on an open area from a corridor and you want to know if someone is in there. Simply drop a smart into the room, very close to yourself where the plasma will be able to "see" the entire room. When the smart hits, if it all streams off in one direction then it has found a target. If it just explodes and sparks, the room is clear.

When flying stealthily and listening like crazy for the enemy, it's often that you'll hear someone and be able to anticipate with reasonable accuracy the location and timing of the encounter to come! Make sure you have a smart ready, use your primary weapon and fly right past them at full speed. At your point of closest approach to the target and a surface, let it go and run! This is a very lethal way to kill pilots - the element of surprise and an overwhelming qauntity of munitions.