Editing Chat

[[File:Chat 1.png|thumb|150x150px]]
[[File:Chat 3.png|thumb|150x150px]]
The '''chat''' refers to the mechanism currently in place that acts as the only available means of communicating with other players in [[Starblast]]. There are 16 different chat options that are automatically bound to a specific set of hotkeys to enable quick and effective communication within the game. To say something via the chat, the player must either press the corresponding key, or manually click the intended chat icon, if the "Button Clicks Disabled" option is not on. Upon activating a chat option, a small chat box will appear above the player's [[Ships|ship]] for a short period before disappearing. If multiple chat options are activated in succession, the chat box will expand to show the most recent activations, up to a maximum of four. The chat box can be reset by re-opening the chat (press C twice), or by activating a chat option when four are currently shown.

Due to this mechanic and limitation, to effectively communicate with other players via the chat system, the player must be able to concisely string together phrases consisting of 2-4 words to convey meaning to either friends or foes. The available chat options differ from game mode to game mode, with the chat system lacking a presence entirely in both [[Battle Royale]] and [[Deathmatch]] to prevent players from teaming with one and other. The chat options made available to the players have been selected for each match based on the tasks that would need to be communicated or information that would be pertinent to share. They vary from '''Mine''' ([[Asteroids|asteroids]]) to '''Leader''' (the person at the top of the [[Score|leaderboard]]).

In the lore, the chat is in [[Universal Galactic Language]].

== Survival Mode ==

[[File:Survival chat.png|227x227px]]

Most of the chat options available in [[Survival Mode|survival mode]] are centered around the communication teams/groups of players would generally be engaging in. It should be noted that survival mode is currently the only game mode that lacks chat options for '''You''' or '''Me''' which can sometimes make communicating/delegating tasks to different players difficult. As there is no chat option available that means [[Upgrades|upgrade]] most players use the '''GG''' chat option as a substitute. Note the icons have been changed in a recent update to look better but there are no new chat options in survival.

=== Commonly Used Phrases ===

{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"
|-
!Phrase
!Key Combination
!Desired Outcome
|-
|Hello
|H
|Wait before killing each other.
|-
|Team Hmm
|T + Q
|Would you like to team with me?
|-
|Kill Leader Hmm
|K + L + Q
|Can you help me kill the person at the top of the leaderboard?
|-
|Help Mine
|H + M
|Can you help me mine to get to the next tier? / I'll help you mine to get to the next tier.
|-
|GG Hmm
|G + Q
|Should I / Will you upgrade your ship to the next tier?
|-
|No Attack Team
|N + A + T
|Don't attack this person, as they are on our team.
|-
|Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks
|X + X + X + X
|starblast-specific troll message
|}

== Team Mode ==

[[File:Team chat.png|210x210px]]

Nearly all of the chat options available in [[Team Mode|team mode]] focus on the delegating tasks to different team members or coordinating maneuvers/attacks as a large group or team. It should be noted that there is no '''Team''' chat option, which sometimes prevents larger groups from coordinating at once. This option is likely missing to prevent players from using this option on opponents and cross-teaming. Same as survival the chat icons have changed in a recent update but still mean the same thing.

NOTE: Any message that contains "Thanks" will not render for players from enemy teams. This was a mechanic added due to a handful of players spamming "Thanks" after killing an enemy player, which was denounced by many players as incredibly toxic. This also means that "team chat" can be done by prefixing the message with "Thanks". It's also possible to use "Thanks" as a separator, putting the stuff (max 2 emotes) you want the enemy to see before it and team-only after, but it's easier to prefix the message. For example, N + A + X + D will show N + A to enemies and N + A + X + D to teammates. But it's simpler to say public chat directly and say X + A + B to tell teammates to attack the base without letting the enemy see.

=== Commonly Used Phrases ===

{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"
|-
!Phrase
!Key Combination
!Desired Outcome
|-
|Mine Base
|M + B
|Donate gems to the base.
|-
|Me Mine Base
|E + M + B
|I'll donate gems to the base (when Lvl 4 base gems are close to being full), so you hold your gems to upgrade to Tier 7.
|-
|You Mine Base
|O + M + B
|Stop being an idiot who holds full cargo while everyone else is upgrading the base.
|-
|Follow Me Kill
|F + E + K
| rowspan="2" |Stay close to me and help me attack the enemy.
|-
|Attack
|A
|-
|No Attack
|N + A
|There are too many enemies, so don't attack them.
|-
|Defend
|D
|Watch out for the enemies approaching us.
|-
|Base
|B
|Retreat, and donate gems if cargo is almost full.
|-
|Defend Base
|D + B
|We need to defend the base right now. (Usually after "Your base is under attack" notification)
|-
|Me Attack Defend Hmm
|E + A + D + Q
| rowspan="2" |Am I more useful as an attacker or healer?
|-
|Me Defend Attack Hmm
|E + D + A + Q
|-
|You Defend No Attack
|O + D + N + A
|Switch to healing lasers.
|-
|You Attack No Defend
|O + A + N + D
|Switch to attacking lasers.
|-
|You Attack Me Defend
|O + A + E + D
| rowspan="2" |Switch to attacking lasers while I defend you either as healer or attacker.
|-
|Me Defend You Attack
|E + D + O + A
|-
|Attack Base Me Defend
|A + B + E + D
|Focus on attacking the base while I defend you.
|-
| rowspan="2" |Attack Base
|A + B
|Attack the base (enemies can see this)
|-
|X + A + B
|Attack the base (enemies cannot see this)
|-
|Kill Base
|K + B
|Kill the base before attacking the other one
|-
|Kill Base GG
|K + B + G
|Kill the base to win the game
|-
|No Defend Base
|(X +) N + D + B
|Attack their base, don't defend ours (prefix with X to hide from enemies)
|-
|Attack No Kill Base
|A + N + K + B
|Attack the base, but don't kill (drain the gems and possibly finish the module, and then attack another base)
|-
|Follow Attack Base
|F + A + B
|Attack the other base (after attacking a base)
|-
|Mine Me
|M + E
|Give me gems using V. (note that teammates will rarely give any to beggars; pro players with excess gems will give gems to team members that they think actually need gems, but not upon request)
|-
|Mine You Hmm
|M + O + Q
|Do you need gems?
|-
|Attack Me
|A + E
| rowspan="2" |Heal me or my pods (note most times they won't get the pods part)
|-
|Defend Me
|D + E
|-
|No Kill No Kill (to all)
Attack Kill Attack (to teammate)
|N + K + N + K<br>X + A + K + A
|Send first four to ask the enemy for a truce; send the last four to tell teammates to end the truce
|-
|GG GG GG GG
|G + G + G + G
|We win (usually after destroying the last base)<br>We can win soon (before destroying the last base)
|-
|No GG
|N + G
|We win, but the enemies are so noob that it wasn't fun (after destroying the last base)
|-
|Hmm Hmm Hmm Hmm
|Q + Q + Q + Q
|WTF? (after teammate does something stupid)
|}

== Invasion Mode ==

[[File:Invasion chat.png|251x251px]]

The [[Invasion|invasion]] chat options are mostly general purpose messages which excel in conveying extremely broad messages to one and other. It does currently lack many chat options that would seem necessary such as '''Boss''' or '''Retreat''', but many of these meanings have been adopted by other meaning such as '''GG''' and '''No''' respectively. The shared icons here and the other modes have changed to look better but still mean the same thing.

=== Commonly Used Phrases ===

{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"
|-
!Phrase
!Key Combination
!Desired Outcome
|-
|No Kill GG
|N + K + G
|Wait before attacking the boss.
|-
|}