Sublight Guides Hub
First hour through Hunter fights — practical walkthroughs for the space bullet heaven.
Sublight is a single-player space bullet heaven roguelike from CODEBREW SOFTWARE LTD. You captain a warship, place turrets into firing arcs, salvage experience from wreckage, and rebuild your loadout mid-run while rebel fleets and alien swarms close in. Sublight entered Steam Early Access on September 15, 2026 for Windows and Linux, with a free demo still available if you want a short trial before buying the $11.99 EA build.
This Guides Hub is the map for every how-to page on the wiki. Start here when you need a clear next step: day-one unlocks, movement and boost, arc placement, status-effect builds, or surviving the Hunter flagship that arrives after long runs. Pair these guides with the tier list when you are ranking ships and weapons, and check updates when a weekly modifier or patch shifts the meta.
Who these guides are for
New captains should begin with Getting Started. That page covers demo versus full Early Access, what the launch build includes (six levels, two enemy factions, nine playable ships with alternative loadouts, sixteen-plus weapon types, and dozens of passive upgrades), and a practical first-hour checklist so you spend credits and challenge progress on unlocks that matter.
If controls or combat feel muddy, open How to Play and Controls. Sublight is not a pure auto-shooter where positioning is cosmetic. Weapon firing arcs and ship facing decide which guns can track a flank. Boost (Shift) and WASD or arrow movement are the basics; turret placement and salvage routing are the skills that separate clean clears from scrap heaps.
Veterans optimizing runs should jump to Best Builds. Build philosophy here means stacking Ignite or Cold intentionally, picking weapon families that reinforce each other (pierce chainguns, explosive autocannons, barrage that leads targets), and choosing passives that multiply those plans instead of spreading thin across unrelated stats.
When runs stretch past the half-hour mark, read Hunter Flagship and Boss Tips. A Hunter flagship spawns and escalates pressure; bosses and elite encounters punish static arcs and greed. Positioning, boost timing, and knowing when to rotate your broadside are covered there with Early Access caveats — patterns will expand as the roadmap adds factions, missions, and flagship hunts.
How to use this hub
- Finish or skip the onboarding flow, then follow Getting Started for unlocks and day-one goals.
- Internalize arcs and salvage with How to Play before chasing rare weapons.
- Lock a damage identity with Best Builds, then validate picks against the tier list.
- Practice late-run survival on Hunter Flagship once you can reach the thirty-minute window consistently.
- Return after patches — Early Access will add a new faction, ships, and weapons in Q4 2026, boss-drop weapons and flagship hunts in Q1 2027, a refreshed campaign threat map in Q2 2027, and community-voted content plus mods and achievements in Q3 2027.
What makes Sublight guides different
Most bullet heavens ask you to stand still and vacuum XP. Sublight asks you to treat the hull like a turret platform: every gun has a cone, cold stacks freeze packs when you commit to chill, ignite rewards sustained burn stacks, and salvage pulls you into dangerous wreck fields while the map still has nodes to clear. Guides on this wiki emphasize those systems instead of generic “pick the shiny upgrade” advice.
Ship names and exact balance numbers will shift during Early Access. Where an official name is known — for example the missile frigate Shortsword mentioned by the developer — we use it. Otherwise we describe roles (starter battleship, missile frigate, heavy gun platform) so you can map the advice onto whatever unlock screen you see after a patch.
New Early Access deep dives
- Demo vs Early Access — free demo versus the $11.99 launch slice.
- Weekly Modifiers — how to read the rotation before undocking.
- Ignite and Cold — status stacking that defines builds.
Cross-links outside Guides
- Players Hub for captains, ships, and roster context as it expands.
- Wiki overview for a compact site map and library entry points.
- Steam store page for purchase, wishlist, and official patch notes; support email is support@codebrewsoftware.com for account or purchase issues.
Use the child pages below as your primary reading path. Each guide includes FAQs, internal links to sibling topics, and Early Access notes so you know what is launch-stable versus roadmap-bound.
Frequently Asked Questions
Quick answers to the most common Sublight questions.
Where should a brand-new Sublight player start?
Read Getting Started for demo versus Early Access and first-hour unlocks, then How to Play for controls, firing arcs, and salvage. Move to Best Builds only after you understand arcs.
Are these guides for the free demo or the paid Early Access build?
Both. Getting Started calls out demo limits and what the September 2026 Early Access launch adds. Core combat advice (arcs, boost, Ignite, Cold) applies to both.
Will Hunter and boss guides stay accurate as content is added?
Core timing — Hunter pressure after long runs — should hold, but patterns and rewards will change with Q1 2027 flagship hunts and later roadmap drops. Recheck after major patches.
How do Guides relate to the tier list?
Guides teach systems and decision rules. The tier list ranks ships and weapons for the current patch. Use both: learn why a build works here, then confirm relative strength on the tier list.
Where do weekly modifiers and status guides live?
Open Weekly Modifiers for rotation habits and Ignite and Cold for stacking rules. Demo vs Early Access compares the free and paid builds.