Sublight Tools for Captains

This Tools hub collects practical Sublight helpers that sit beside the narrative guides. Use it when you need a quick hardware check, a pre-run loadout checklist, or a structured way to plan firing arcs before the next Early Access session.

Sublight is a space bullet heaven roguelike: you captain a warship, mount turrets on hardpoints, mind firing arcs, stack passives, and carve through rebel fleets and alien swarms across six Early Access levels. Builds win runs as much as reflexes do. That is why this hub focuses on prep tools—things you can review at the hangar screen instead of mid-fight.

Tools in this hub

• System Requirements — full Windows and Linux minimum/recommended tables from Steam, Steam Deck honesty notes, and performance tips for dense bullet screens.
• Build Planner Checklist — an interactive-style markdown checklist covering hardpoint plans, arc coverage, Ignite/Cold status focus, mid-run upgrade priority, and hunter-flagship prep.
• Early Access Review — buyer’s guide for the $11.99 EA purchase versus staying on the free demo.

Start with system requirements if you are installing for the first time or moving the game to a laptop, Steam Deck-class handheld, or Linux box. Jump straight to the build planner if your hardware is fine and you want cleaner runs.

How captains should use these pages

Treat the tools as a short ritual before you launch:

1. Confirm your OS, CPU, RAM, GPU, and free disk space against the system requirements tables.
2. Open the build planner checklist and decide ship, hardpoint roles, and status focus (Ignite vs Cold) before the first node.
3. Cross-check weapon priorities on the weapons tier list and sample loadouts in best builds.
4. If you are pushing long survival, review hunter flagship notes so late-run DPS and mobility are not an afterthought.
5. After the session, note what failed—blind arcs, weak status stacks, or FPS dips—and adjust the checklist next time.

These tools do not replace the Getting Started guide. New players should still learn movement, salvage leveling, and sector flow there first. Veterans can keep this hub bookmarked as a hangar-side reference.

What belongs in Tools vs Guides

Tools pages are checklists, tables, and planners you revisit often. Guides explain how systems work and walk through specific goals. If you want a story of your first hour, read guides. If you want a repeatable pre-flight list, stay here.

Related hubs worth pairing with Tools:

• Guides Hub — onboarding, builds, and hunter strategies.
• Tier List Hub — current weapon and ship rankings.
• Ships Hub — hull roles and unlock context.
• Updates Hub — patch notes and roadmap tracking.
• Links Hub — Steam, demo, socials, and support.

Early Access caveats

Sublight launched into Early Access on September 15, 2026 with nine ships, sixteen-plus weapons, two factions, and six finished levels. Balance, hardpoint rules, and recommended settings can shift with patches. Re-check the Steam page and this wiki after major updates—especially if a patch changes Vulkan requirements, ship loadouts, or hunter timing.

Performance tips on the system requirements page assume a typical single-player bullet-heaven load: many on-screen projectiles, particle effects, and auto-firing turrets. If your FPS collapses only in late nodes, lower effects first before blaming CPU alone.

Suggested reading order

Goal	Open this tool	Then read
Fresh install / new PC	System Requirements	Getting Started
Deciding to buy	Early Access Review	Demo vs Early Access
Cleaner first builds	Build Planner Checklist	Best Builds
Weapon picks	Build planner + Weapons Tier List	Ships hub
Late-run survival	Build planner hunter section	Hunter Flagship

Keep this Tools hub as your hangar dashboard. When Early Access adds ships or status systems, we will extend the checklist and requirements notes so captains can adapt without hunting scattered patch posts.