Countermeasures & Evasion Overview
When an enemy missile acquires a solid lock or launches, direct evasive flying is rarely enough on its own. Countermeasures are your primary defense to disrupt lock-ons, break seeker tracking, and force incoming ordnance to miss.
Star Citizen uses two distinct countermeasure systems: Decoys (Flares) to spoof active missile seekers, and Noise (Chaff) to blind enemy radar and disrupt target tracking entirely.
Decoys (Flares) — Deflecting Active Missiles
Decoys launch bright, high-emission payloads behind your ship to trick an incoming missile into tracking a false signature instead of your hull.
- Primary Function: Spoofs incoming IR and EM missiles that have already launched and are actively tracking you.
- How to Deploy: Tap H to deploy a standard single decoy.
- Managing Salvos: Sometimes one is not enough, especially if multiple missiles are incoming, press Right-Alt + H (before or during the fight) to increase your burst size (or Left-Alt + H to decrease it) before launching, or Hold H to charge and deploy a custom burst.
- Evasion Technique: Deploy decoys while changing your vector (boosting off-axis). Firing a decoy while flying in a dead-straight line often results in the missile hitting you anyway due to the splash radius.
Noise (Chaff) — Breaking Locks & Radar
Noise releases a cloud of signature-scrambling particles that creates a temporary blind spot on radar screens and breaks lock-ons.
- Primary Function: Blinds radar, breaks an enemy's active target lock on you, and disrupts Cross-Section (CS) missile tracking.
- How to Deploy: Tap J to drop a Noise cloud.
- Usage Technique: Fly directly through or behind the deployed Noise cloud to break line-of-sight between your ship and the attacker's radar.
Flare and Noise indicator on HUD
In this case flares have been set to 5 as indicated by the blue number, each tap of H will release 5 flares.
Decoys vs. Noise Quick Reference
Decoys (Flares)
- Default Keybind: H
- Best Against: Incoming IR & EM Missiles
- Effect: Attracts the missile's seeker head away from your hull
- Deployment Strategy: Deploy decoy + Boost off-axis to avoid splash radius
Noise (Chaff)
- Default Keybind: J
- Best Against: Active Target Locks, Radar Tracking, and Cross-Section (CS) Missiles
- Effect: Blinds local radar sensors and breaks active locks
- Deployment Strategy: Deploy noise cloud between you and your enemy.
Common Countermeasure Mistakes
- Panic Dumping: Tapping H repeatedly in a straight line burns through your limited countermeasure stock without changing your trajectory, allowing missile blast radii to still catch your hull.
- Using the Wrong Countermeasure: Relying solely on decoys against Cross-Section (CS) missiles or heavy radar locks. CS ordnance sometimes requires Noise (J) and sharp maneuvers or hard cover to break tracking effectively.
- Staying Inside the Noise: Remaining stationary inside a Noise cloud leaves your position predictable to unguided gunfire. Use the cloud to break lock, then maneuver away.
Essential Countermeasure Keybinds
• Deploy Decoy (Flare): H
• Increase Decoy Burst Size: Right-Alt + H
• Decrease Decoy Burst Size: Left-Alt + H
• Deploy Noise Cloud: J