Team Deathmatch

The goal

Two sides, one scoreboard. Team Deathmatch is Deathmatch with somebody to cover you and somebody to blame. Kills feed one team total, and the target is twice the lobby's kill limit.

How to win

The deciding factor is almost never individual aim. It is whether your side is fighting in the same place. Kills feed one pool, so a 2v1 anywhere on the map is worth more than two even duels somewhere else, and the fastest way to lose is four pilots each winning their own private fight at the four corners of the arena. Friendly fire is off, which means you can commit into a furball a teammate is already in without doing the geometry first. Hull colour tells friend from foe at a glance; if you keep having to check twice, you have drifted too far from your side.

How many to bring

Team Deathmatch supports 4 to 8, and against bots the roster always rounds so it can split. Online, bots only top a room up to four, so five pilots play three against two. Four is two-a-side and reads like a knife fight. Eight is where crossfire and covering angles start to matter more than aim does.

Know before you drop in

• The target is the team's total: twice the lobby's kill limit.
• Hull colour tells friend from foe at a glance.
• Friendly fire is off, so commit to the furball.