Slightly easier battles

For slightly easier battles when attacking, select a hostile ship as your target then ignore that ship. Focus instead on the other hostiles but do not select them as a target. Even though they are not selected, you will still be given the blind fire marker (the crosshair you aim with), although it will be smaller. Sometimes, a targeted hostile will just sit there, waiting to be shot. Other times, it will remain on a straight course and will not maneuver too much. The AI will eventually catch on to you and will alter its techniques or will send in more ships. Also, you will not be able to use missiles like this.

If you are in a tight battle, with very few nanobots, use the afterburners as much as possible as you can easily outrun the missiles and mines. Be careful, as you can crash quite easily. Use first-person view to avoid debris.

Profitable Trade Routes

At the beginning of the game, while still in Liberty, you can find a good profitable trade route between Planet Manhattan and Planet Pittsburgh. Fill up on Pharmaceuticals at Manhattan, then sell them at Pittsburgh. Next, fill up on Boron at Pittsburgh and sell them at Manhattan. Keep doing this to easily get enough money to upgrade your ship to a Rhyno. You can earn nearly 5,000 credits for the whole round trip.

If you are patient, try this trade route. Buy Gate/Lane parts at Trenton Outpost in New York. Take this to Holman Outpost in the Tau 31 system and sell it. Then, buy Niobium at Holman Outpost and take this to Planet Manhattan (which is next to Trenton Outpost). Sell it, then go back to Trenton Outpost and repeat the process. Using a Humpback freighter can earn you 347,500 credits in one round trip. If you prefer to keep a Heavy Fighter, you can still earn 97,300 credits in one round trip.

Godmode cheat

Note: This procedure involves editing a game file; create a backup copy of the file before proceeding. Use a text editor to edit the "perfoptions.ini" file in the game folder. Change the "DIFFICULTY_SCALE = 1.00" line to "DIFFICULTY_SCALE = 0.00".

P.S: The file can be found in C:\Documents and Settings\user\My Documents\My Games.