i use an odd tactic that i use for most games.
Step1- On head2head, do as much damage as possible
Step2- as soon as you pass each other, turn off thrust (not engine kill) strafe the opposite way the nmee passed you and get on their tail and blow them into ard vacuum
Step3(if applicable)- if they get on your tail, turn to ruin their aim, kill engine, aim down and full thrust with afterburners. keep your down loop for a few seconds then turn down throttle aim towards nmee and floor it until as soon as you pass him then engine kill and get on his tail.
if against NPC- do the same thing until the part after you keep the loop. After the loop. kill engine and aim perpindicular to the NPC's course and gun it. he will try too keep ur tail. keep killing engine and gunning it perpindicular to current nmee course until you have got him far enough away that you can kill engine, aim right over his head, floor it, pass over his head and kill engine to get his tail

No matter what game you are playing, and no matter what size guns you have, head to head is a tactic that only invites disaster. It doesn't matter how fast you are travelling when you make a head on pass; you aren't moving as the other guy sees you- you are just getting bigger. If they, by some off chance, have more firepower up their sleeve than you do, you WILL die. Do not approach any enemy head-on; weave and dodge, close your distance by thrusting and strafing; cross their flight path, do not go along it.

Vary your speed whenever you aren't shooting at something- A shot that is calculated for a ship going 80m/s is not going to hit a ship that is going 200m/s a quarter second after it is fired.

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Proud owner and operator of a Patriot!
Proud owner and operator of a Stiletto!
Proud ally of the Bounty Hunters' Guild!
Proud hater of Nomad weapons!
Proud user of all things underestimated!
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For the last time...there is no "N" in "TURRET"!

all of the above, and then when youve engine killed fire a barrage of missile, torp, and laser fire at the enemy, then thruster below the oncoming ship to evade the blast radius... i have never lost an mp dogfight using these tactics...

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Author of the Freelancer Neural Net
Administrator of Kryosphere Studios