Explore as much as you can without the rebel fleet catching up to you. Generally speaking, you actually want to pick as many fights as possible. The game impli

Explore as much as you can without the rebel fleet catching up to you. Generally speaking, you actually want to pick as many fights as possible. The game implies that you're supposed to be a peaceful and heroic Star Trek style Federation and that's not what it actually rewards at all. The ship upgrades that are always available are more important than stuff you can buy in shops, even though the shop items are more interesting. An extra dot in shields pays for itself in a hurry. You'll eventually need other stuff, and there are multiple load-outs that work, but lots of multi-hit weapons with low power requirements is the simplest winning setup. Those are the common misconceptions. The game doesn't actually do a great job of communicating how to play it well.