no, the object is to protect the other ship. If you shoot only the fighters, you are forgetting the enemy ships that are also shooting at the ship you are escorting.

This. Do not just shoot at enemy fighters but at every available target. On the capital ships you will see red circles at fixed points. these are turret emplacements. Destroy them too. There are also engine and shield generator hardpoints that are designated by orange circles. Don't bother targeting them (the shield generators can only be destroyed by missiles, and the engines don't give XP).

All the above when able plus...

As far as I can tell the last few ambush overhead flybys of fighters are able to do way more damage then anything that has proceeded them. At least it feels that way. I used to try to kill them with guns as I would have blown through missiles earlier -this is base ship setting instructions btw zero upgrades- so having blown the missiles already I was shooting at them leading the targets of course. (The only flight sim-able part of the rail shooter) anyway. This was the wrong tactic, cause either my 'leading' shots were hitting fondor itself maybe (dunno if they even can)... or as I've more recently guessed, the last 3-4 pairs of fighters get ramped up damage. Whatever the case, do those turkey's with the missiles. Save the few you have even if you have to laser everything else. Once you get even one missile upgrade your fine for it and the whole shebang though.

Don't even get me started about the next escort mission on your to do list and the barrage of crap the escorted ship takes when you leave the asteroid 'trench/tunnel/cramped space area?' which your not even allowed to try to counter till your following ship emerges out of the 'hole' too.

I despise these escort mission designs. I want to have the option to counter this junk when I want and it's tactically advantageous to do so. I want the enemy to be less numerous but smart and when they are out of resources- They are out of resources! Good job smart pilot. I don't want to stupidly follow the stupid escorted ship on it's foolish 'let's dance as close to death as possible for no good reason' dance. I don't want to do that nonsense myself unless he mission parameters require it.

Arrrgh. ok rant over, I hope the "save missiles enough for 3 or 4 overhead ambushes at the end" helps you. It took me from failing every time to having it be yawn worthy with no upgrades needed. Mind you they're nice to have.

Good hunting.

I was shooting at them leading the targets of course. (The only flight sim-able part of the rail shooter) anyway. This was the wrong tactic, cause either my 'leading' shots were hitting fondor itself maybe (dunno if they even can)...

This is a common mistake a lot of people make with the space combat, which makes them think the missions are much harder than they really are: Do not try to lead your targets the way you would in most combat simulators. You will never hit anything, or if you do it will be through luck. Fire when you have a targeting reticule. Your targeting computer(which is never discussed in the game anywhere) will make sure your shot is fired to where it needs to be; in other words, it will lead the targets for you. Just put your cursor on the enemy and fire. (Well, really, just hold the button down for the entire mission unless you need to recharge your shields, there's no reason not to.)

Also, you cannot harm friendly ships or stations.

You can infact shoot down your own ship.

Low level escort missions are really hard for me in lvl 7 gear (more than Heroic) since I run the risk of just one-shotting my own escort out of the sky.

Failed more than once due to that.

So yes, do check your fire...

You can infact shoot down your own ship.

 

Low level escort missions are really hard for me in lvl 7 gear (more than Heroic) since I run the risk of just one-shotting my own escort out of the sky.

Failed more than once due to that.

 

So yes, do check your fire...

No, you can't harm friendly ships. I spent the entirety of Fondor Escort hammering away at the escort shuttle with my Rank 7 weapons when I wasn't shooting enemy ships, and he ended the mission at 99% shields, and it's impossible to target them with missiles or torpedoes. Did that this morning.

Well, might not be fondor escort, was the next one I think, and I did infact one-shot my escort (from full to zero HP). It's infact very likely attacking some incoming fighters.

Might be a bug, I don't know, but I definitely check my fire playing lower level escorts preventing me from damaging my own ship (and still failing on most occassions, although not quite as lethal).