15) Destroy the capsules flying around the stage to earn a ton of gems.
Gems are the primary currency of the game. Look for the capsules that are slow-floating around the stage (they look like satellites and don’t fire at you). They take a ton of shots to kill, but they will give you a large pile of gems when you destroy them. Collect all of them, as gems don’t count as collected until you actively pick them up.
14) Open cargo boxes to get new equipment.
There are the regular cargo boxes that cost gems to open, and then there are the rare cargo boxes in the black market that cost credits (the premium currency in the game) in order to open. While rare equipment is usually the most useful, even the common equipment can provide you with a good boost, especially when you’re in the early stages of the game. Sometimes a common piece of equipment can even outdo a rare piece of equipment, although this doesn’t happen frequently.
13) Upgrade your equipment using gems.
Your equipment starts off at level 0 initially, but with gems spent, it can be upgraded to a maximum of level 5, increasing the damage, armor and life bonuses attributed to the equipment. The secondary characteristics, though, will generally remain the same. Upgrade your equipment as high as you can – the higher the upgrade, the more the stats will increase PER upgrade, making it worth it despite the added gem price.
12) Equip rare equipment in every single equipment slot, if at all possible.
Sure, it’s expensive, but that’s to be expected for better equipment. The reason rare equipment is better is that it will provide boosts to two different stats (or even all three stats at a time) instead of one. In addition, secondary characteristics will often be more effective in battle compared to the more common equipment.
11) What secondary characteristics to look for in your equipment.
One of the big ones to look for is extra turrets, which will give you more firepower, usually in the form of spreading phasers, homing missiles, or fanning lasers. The damage boost is typically small but significant, especially when facing off against large cluster of enemies or (in the case of homing missiles) bosses.