Fly the edge, not the middle
An enemy only shoots at you if you are near its lane. The centre of the grid puts you in range of everything at once; the edge puts you in range of a corner.
Updated 31 August 2026
Encounters arrive as a three-by-three grid. It is tempting to sit in the middle because it looks like the shortest route to any gate — and it is the worst place on the screen to be.
Enemies only open fire when you come within a lateral distance of their lane. Sitting centre means every drone in the grid can reach you. Hugging an edge means only the nearest column can.
Where you fly decides how many guns can reach you. That is a bigger lever than how many ships you have.
The habit to build
- Default to an edge lane and cut across only when a gate demands it.
- Cross early. Drifting across the middle for a long time is what kills runs; a decisive diagonal is fine.
- When two gates are similar, take the one that keeps you on your side of the grid.
Is this wrong?
Then say so
These are written from the games’ own balance references, but a number that was true in one build can stop being true in the next. If something here does not match what you are seeing, that is worth knowing.