Wingman Spacing & Friendly Fire

[civet5285]

This is probably obvious to you veterans, but I have found that when I space my wingman in positions 4 and 5 (rather than 1 and 2, right next to me) that I can avoid some of those annoying friendly fire hits.

What do you guys do to avoid them?

[Legacy]

Pray a lot...

[the space predator]

generally I try to not be whit them during the battle, I f they are not whit me, they can't hit me...

[Sketchy]

Putting wingmen in the wider positions also means there's less chance of enemy ships sneaking past you.

Using the "line" formation helps too. With the default "wedge" formation, you're always at the front, and as soon as you spot the enemy all your wingmen will fire a load of missiles in your backside. With the "line" formation though, you're usually not in their line of fire.

Once you're in a proper dogfight, there's really nothing you can do - just pray, like Legacy said.

[TheKangaroo]

Also you can increase formation spacing using the orders menu or even order 'Search For Enemy', which spreads the force even thinner. In a surprise move you can also order column formation which has all wingmen line up right behind you; sounds stupid but worked for me, as they seem a lot more aware of your position then, but on the other hand I've never had such a constant problem with friendly fire anyway.

[Bardash Blackridge]

I always place my wingmen in positions 6 and 7 with line formation and loose spacing. On attack missions when I am flying a stealth ship, I usually don't even let them near the area of conflict and command them to avoid contact. On defense missions, I hope for the best, but expect the worst.

[rucrazy]

Once you're in a proper dogfight, there's really nothing you can do - just pray, like Legacy said?

[Mainak]

Yes. Legacy's right.