CQC Championship

CQC Championship logo

The Close Quarter Combat Championship, abbreviated as CQC or CQC Championship and sometimes referred to as Arena, is an arena combat mode in Elite Dangerous and the only game mode in the stand-alone release Elite Dangerous: Arena. It can be accessed from the main menu under Start → Arena. The Arena mode is available to anyone who owns the full base game, Elite: Dangerous.

CQC consists of 3 game modes: Team Deathmatch, Deathmatch, and Capture the Flag. Ships available to pilot are the F63 Condor, Sidewinder MkI, Eagle MkII, and the Imperial Fighter, with unlockable, customisable loadouts.

In-universe, CQC Championship is a combat simulation made available by Utopixx Entertainment, a Federation company.

CQC is mostly separate from the shared galaxy of Open Play, Private Group, and Solo Play, aside from some CQC rewards which carry over to the galaxy.

The stand alone version of Elite Dangerous: Arena was withdrawn from sale on February 10th, 2017. Please note that this does not mean Arena/CQC is no longer available, just that it is no longer available to be purchased as a separate stand-alone game. According to Frontier, "Elite Dangerous: Arena continues to be available and supported as part of the wider Elite Dangerous game."

Ranks

By participating in CQC matches you gain experience to rank up. The max rank is 50. You also, separately, increase your Pilots Federation CQC rank.

Below is a table of the experience required for each rank increase.

Rank	Exp.		Rank	Exp.		Rank	Exp.
1	600		18	2,052		35	7,015
2	645		19	2,205		36	7,541
3	693		20	2,371		37	8,107
4	745		21	2,549		38	8,715
5	801		22	2,740		39	9,369
6	861		23	2,945		40	10,071
7	926		24	3,166		41	10,827
8	995		25	3,404		42	11,639
9	1,070		26	3,659		43	12,511
10	1,150		27	3,933		44	13,450
11	1,237		28	4,228		45	14,459
12	1,329		29	4,546		46	15,543
13	1,429		30	4,886		47	16,709
14	1,536		31	5,253		48	17,962
15	1,651		32	5,647		49	19,309
16	1,775		33	6,070
17	1,908		34	6,526		Total	268,758

Below is a table of the rank Icons.

Icons	Desc.	Icons	Desc.	Icons	Desc.
	Rank 1~9		Rank 10~19		Rank 20~29
	Rank 30~39		Rank 40~49		Rank 50
	Prestige 1		Prestige 2		Prestige 3
	Prestige 4		Prestige 5		Prestige 6
	Prestige 7		Prestige 8 (Max)

Unlocks

Main article: CQC Championship/Loadouts

The Condor in CQC

As a player ranks up they unlock more ship loadouts and alternative modules (such as weapons and armour) to customise those loadouts with. There are a variety of modules, each of which have their own pros and cons. For example, at rank 44 an Overcharged Beam Laser for Eagle Loadouts is unlocked, which works like a Beam Laser but has higher damage at the cost of an increase in heat gain.

Ship	Loadouts	Loadout slots
F63 Condor	F63 Condor Loadouts	Loadout 1, Loadout 5, Loadout 9
Sidewinder MkI	Sidewinder Loadouts	Loadout 2, Loadout 6, Loadout 10
Eagle MkII	Eagle Loadouts	Loadout 3, Loadout 7, Loadout 11
Imperial Fighter	Imperial Fighter Loadouts	Loadout 4, Loadout 8, Loadout 12

Prestige

Attilius Orbital

After reaching max rank 50, a player is able to reset their ranks back to rank 1 and lose all unlocks in order to get one Prestige ranking. This Prestige rank increases the amount of credits one earns after each match and the player receives an icon next to their name in both CQC Championship and in the main game mode. Gaining a Prestige rank gives the player a permit to Attilius Orbital starport in CD-43 11917.

Discount is 3%-all ships, modules and weapons.

The max prestige is 8.

CD-43 11917 is the home of elite pilots of CQC, the Prestiges.

Game Modes

Elite Dangerous Pilot Tutorials - CQC

Official CQC Tutorial by Frontier Developments.

Team Deathmatch

In Team Deathmatch, the first team to reach 25 kills, or the team with the most kills when the timer runs out, wins. Minimum players needed is 4.

Deathmatch

In Deathmatch, the first player to get 750 points, or the player with the most kills when the timer runs out, wins. Players earn 100 points for a kill, and 50 for a kill assist. Minimum players needed is 2.

Capture the Flag

In Capture the Flag, the goal is to steal the opposing teams flag and return it to your flag base. You can only capture it while your flag is present, so defending your flag is key. The first team to 3 captures wins. Minimum players needed is 4.

There are three distinct icons on the scanner:

• Teammate who has the enemy flag.
• Enemy pilot who has your flag.
• Location of the friendly base for your flag.

Arenas

• Asteria Point.
• Elevate.
• Cluster Compound.
• Ice Field.
• Orbital Junction.

Gameplay Mechanics

CQC Championship Hologram

Power-ups

There are four power-ups available in the arenas. All the power-ups are not necessarily in every arena. They can be seen on the scanner as a grey icon. Each power-up type is differentiated by its colour, hologram icon, and the name when targeting it.

To get a power-up, one must fly through the hologram surrounded by a ring, preferably without crashing into the ring. Once you have collected a power-up, its timer ring to the right of to the Power Distributor display will show how long it will last.

Listed below is what each power-up is:

Red - Weapon Enhance

Weapon damage enhancer.

Blue - Stealth Mode

Become harder to detect or target, like Silent Running but without losing shields or gaining heat.

Yellow - Shield Boost

Instantly refills your shields and overcharges them by 30%.

Green - Speed Surge

Speed boost that briefly increases top speed.

Targeting

Unlike in the other game modes, line of sight is needed in order to target ships or see them on the scanner. If the target is obscured by any environmental object (asteroid, station wall, etc.) the sensors will lose lock and the message "Target Missing" will be triggered. However, should line of sight be restored, the original target will automatically be locked onto again, triggering the "Target Acquired" message. Note: you do not have to face the target to reacquire lock.

Time limit

Each match has a 15 minute time limit to complete your goals and at the 10, 5 and 1 minute, and 10, 5-1 second marks a notification on the top right UI panel will display with a narrator telling the player how long is left.

Playable area

If you fly out of the arena bounds, the 20-second self-destruct countdown will start. It does not overheat your ship (unlike the self-desctuct procedure triggered manually from the right-hand panel) and can be aborted by flying back into the arena.

Shield recharging

Once your shields are down, they will start recharging, draining the energy from the SYS capacitor. Unlike the main game, shields immediately gain 90% strength when recharging is completed (as opposed to 50%).

Destructible structures

Inside certain tunnels, there are pillars which can be destroyed by shooting at them, after which they explode, allowing clear access through the tunnel.

Tournaments

The $15,000 CQC tournament

On 13 November 2015, Frontier Developments announced the first CQC tournament. Qualifying heats started in early 2016. There were separate tournaments for PC and Xbox One, with a prize pot of $15,000 USD split between them ($7,500 USD prize pot for each final).

Notes

• The Beyond Chapter Two update reduced the minimum required players for Deathmatch from 4 to 2, and Team Deathmatch / Capture the Flag from 6 to 4 players.

Guides

Elite Dangerous Pilot Tutorials - CQC

Elite Dangerous CQC - Introductory guide

Videos

Elite Dangerous CQC Launch Trailer

Elite Dangerous CQC (Close Quarter Combat)

Ralfi's Alley- Elite Dangerous CQC

Elite Dangerous CQC Music Mix 1

Gallery

CQC Championship logo hologram

CQC Championship

Official CQC logo

The Condor in CQC

Planet Ares

Attilius Orbital

CQC Championship logo

ED CQC Fighters Taipan, GU-97 Imperial, F63 Condor

Sidewinder MkI in CQC