Multiplayer Melee Suggestions

The following are some suggestions for getting the most out of multiplayer Melee. (A more comprehensive list can be found here.)

• Have pre-made teams of various sizes (100, 200, and 250 points fleets are often used)
• When using a keyboard, figure out suitable key bindings in advance. Most keyboards don't allow some combinations of key-presses.
• When playing over a network, find someone geographically close to you, so that you'll have a relatively good network connection.

Gameplay variations

• Limit the number of ships of one type. This will result in more varied battles. Generally a "no duplicates" rule is used, preventing the use of more than one ship of the same type.
• Exclude or limit certain ships:
  • 30 points ships. This will result in more subtle battles.
  • Pkunk Furies. This reduces the effects of luck, especially in small fleets.
  • Ships that usually cause a game to last forever, like Thraddash Torches (or, sometimes, Spathi Eluders and Arilou Skiffs).
• Play with random teams. A good random online random team generator can be found here.
• Require both players to select their ships at random. This will often lead to match-ups that scarcely occur during a normal game. Random ship selection is best combined with a ban on the Chmmr Avatar, which tends to heavily skew a match depending on what is drawn against it.
• Let each player build the fleet of the opponent. This will result in fleets with ships you don't usually use. You may want to limit the number of ships of one type so as to avoid ending up with a fleet of Umgah Drones.