So I’m going to chime in with an example of how an outgunned and out Initiative ship can come back.
Setup was Wedge and Luke with torps, and Advanced Sensors Hotshot Benthic Two Tubes. My list was Juke Echo, Juke Sigma, Ved Folso FCS and Sense Inquisitor.
End game was one health Benthic and untouched Luke vs Ved with one shield left.
Game over, right?
Nope. Now while all the advise about spreading arcs wide, multiple angles, blocks etc is true and good. Those are essential skills to take higher Initiative ships with reposition down. But what about when that isn’t an option? Advanced Sensors Benthic is unblockable, and the rotate stop makes it real hard to escape arc. Luke is a monster at this point, and even if you block him, so what?
What you need to do is carefully consider what your opponent wants to do, can do, and what the worst option for you is. My goal was keep from getting shot, and especially avoid two shots with none in return. So I always looked at what the worst possible outcome for me was, and planned around that. Using the focus-> red barrel roll to keep Luke from being able to shoot, and using Ved’s ability to hedge.
Admittedly his ability is one of the best ones for such a situation. Dialing a 2 hard or bank, then doing a 1 or 3 as the situation demands (since I know where Benthic is) is amazing. And made me hard to pin down.
In the end I lost, but I was able to snipe Benthic, get the lock on Luke, and get him down to one health. Had his last shot it killed me, I would have probably done so in return.
So know what your ships can do, and what theirs can be. Always try and chose maneuvers that prevent your opponent from getting a shot while you can not. Sometimes your best option is one where no shots exist. Make it so that you either both gets shots, or no one does. Which means, usually, don’t try to force range 1. Play for 2, and that way if they go faster than you expect, you don’t get flanked with no return fire.