Hull classes, firing arcs and the flank burn
Orbital Blackout is a free space MMO you play in the browser — two rival nations, an alien armada called the Xaruun, and ships that are gone for good when they die. If you have played DarkOrbit or similar browser space shooters, the difference is here: your ship class decides which direction you deal and take damage, so where you sit relative to the target matters more than raw stats.
Every hull in the fleet flies as one of three archetypes. Your archetype decides two things: the angle at which your guns hit hardest — or, for a Bulwark, the facing that blunts incoming fire — and what your flank burn does when you press Q. Nothing here is bought or unlocked; it comes with the hull. Every number below is read straight from the live game.
The three archetypes
Chase
SPRINT [Q]Guns cluster forward. Bonus damage inside the nose cone — run them down.
- Angle bonus
- +18% damage
- Damage taken (front)
- normal
- Burn speed
- ×1.60
- Burn rudder
- ×0.85
- Burn fire rate
- −38%
- Lateral slide
- —
Line the target up on your nose and stay there. Sprint closes a gap or breaks contact, but your guns cycle slower while it is lit — burn to get the angle, not to fight in it.
Hulls
Kiowa
Raptor
Corsair
Longspear
Broadside
SLIDE [Q]Guns bear abeam. Bonus damage on the beam — hold an orbit, not a joust.
- Angle bonus
- +18% damage
- Damage taken (front)
- normal
- Burn speed
- ×1.20
- Burn rudder
- ×1.35
- Burn fire rate
- −26%
- Lateral slide
- 55% of top speed
Never joust. Hold a circle at weapons range so the target sits square on your beam, and slide to re-open the orbit whenever a chase hull tries to sit on your tail.
Hulls
Pack Mule
Aegis
Ironhold
Bulwark
BRACE [Q]No angle bonus. Frontal armour blunts head-on fire; keep your nose to the enemy.
- Angle bonus
- none
- Damage taken (front)
- -22% (-44% braced)
- Burn speed
- ×1.00
- Burn rudder
- ×1.00
- Burn fire rate
- −13%
- Lateral slide
- —
Point your nose at whatever is hurting you and make them come through the armour. Brace when a burst is inbound; flanks and rear take full damage, so never let two hulls split your facing.
Hulls
Bollard
Ragnarok
Flank burn
The flank burn is one shared resource on every hull, lit with Q. What it does depends on your archetype — Sprint, Slide or Brace — but the meter behaves the same for everyone, and your guns always cycle slower while it burns. It is a positioning tool, not a damage button.
- Drain: 34/s — a full meter lasts about 2.9s, capped at 2.2s per burn.
- Recharge: 13/s clear of combat, 4.5/s while trading fire.
- Minimum to light: 25 charge — no chain-tapping.
Demonstration only — your live meter sits in the flight HUD.
Matchups
Chase vs Broadside
Stay inside the cone and inside their beam window's blind spots — the nose and tail. Cutting the corner of their orbit denies them the bonus entirely.
Chase vs Bulwark
Do not trade head-on: their frontal facing eats 22% (44% braced). Force them to turn, then take the flank where your cone bonus applies at full damage.
Broadside vs Chase
Slide out of their cone and let them overshoot. Every pass they make crossing your beam is a full-bonus volley for you.
Broadside vs Bulwark
Orbit wide and stay off their nose. Your beam bonus applies where their armour does not.
Bulwark vs anything
Turn into the threat and soak. You have no angle bonus, so you win on time: outlast the burn windows and let escorts or turret arcs do the killing.
Reference hulls: Chase · Broadside · Bulwark · Kiowa, Bollard, Raptor, Corsair, Pack Mule, Longspear, Aegis, Ironhold, Ragnarok
Take one out
Free to play in the browser, no download. Pick Solaris Accord or Umbral Pact, fit a starter hull, and find out which archetype suits how you fly.
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