You've just picked up the game and don't know which default ship to pick. Or maybe you are a god-tier tank player who wants to try another class. Why should you pick Highspeed? The answer is simple. It's fast. You're playing a space game, why wouldn't you want to go with the class that flies the best?

Also, it's not a coincidence that their designs look like Jedis' ships from Star Wars.

On a more serious note, let's take a look at the pros and cons.
Pros: Best speed and handling of all ships
Cons: Lackluster damage and weakest hull

Now that you're utterly convinced that you should play Highspeed, hereafter refered to as HS, continue reading to see how to use this thing.

I'll keep this simple, as the in-game tutorial can teach you most of this itself.

Movement

1. Throttle forward/backward (Default keys w/s)
   Makes you accelerate forwards or backwards, to a cap velocity. You'll go forwards more than backwards. Doesn't slow by default unless you
   
2. Brake (Default key l-alt)
   Decellerates you. Used to make your movement erratic.
   
3. Roll (Default keys q/e)
   Like it says on the tin. Makes you roll left/right.
   
4. Strafe up/down (Default keys z/x)
   Makes you accelerate directly up/down. I bind them to my mousewheel.
   
5. Strafe left/right (Default keys a/d)
   Makes you accelerate left/right. Very useful, especially for dodging things while preserving your direction.
   
6. Pitch/Yaw (Default mouse)
   Makes you look up/down/left/right. Essential.
   
7. Boost (Default key l-shift)
   Makes you go fast. Consumes energy, which regenerates quite quickly. Learning how to properly use this comes mostly from experience.

Combat

1. Primary Fire (Default key M1)
   Makes you shoot. Generally lower-damage, high rate-of-fire. Ammo is limited, and ammo drops, which respawn, give 100.
   
2. Secondary Fire (Default key M2)
   Makes you shoot a rocket. It's homing if you're locked onto a player. This occurs when you look at an enemy for long enough. The circle around them will go green when you're locked. There is a UI indication when you have been locked by another player, and when a missile is coming at you. Does much higher damage than primary fire. Ammo is much more limited, and pickups give 2.
   
3. Flare (Default key f)
   Makes any missile coming at you go away. Ammo is very limited; the only way to get them back is to die and respawn.
   
4. Ability 1 (Default key 1)
   Makes you go fast for a decent distance. A bit faster than boosting. Useful to chase down enemies or get to health pickups. On a cooldown.
   
5. Ability 2 (Default key 2)
   Makes you go very fast, very far. The fastest way to travel in game. Very risky, as it is difficult to avoid asteroids and the like. Only use this to run away from dangerous situations. On a cooldown.
   

Evolvation gives a ton of ways to customize your ride. You can't go wrong(apart from upgrading explosion radius), but it's nice when you don't waste your money. This is the loadout you should be aiming for.

Ship: Highspeed
Primary Weapon: Minigun Plus

Secondary Weapon: Rocket Plus

Engines: Hyper Engine


I'll get to the reasons behind the minigun in a bit. The rocket was chosen for its higher ROF and projectile speed compared to the Thunderbolt gun. The engine is better in every way; there's no reason not to get this.

Progression
I wish you could buy everything you wanted instantly. This isn't the case, unfortunately. Every item has a level minimum. This should show you the order to buy things as you unlock them.

Short Term:

1. [LV 0/18] Ship: Highspeed 1
   
   Kinda essential to the whole playing Highspeed thing. Get as your default if able. If not, grind to LV 18 and make the switch.
   
2. [LV 5] Minigun
   This is essential. Once you get it, your leveling will become far easier.
   
3. [LV 35] Minigun Plus
   Minigun but better.
   
4. [LV 35] Rocket Launcher Plus
   Gives you more stamina in drawn-out fights
   
5. [LV 35+] Hyper Engine
   Gotta go fast

You're gonna use this ship for a lot of the game. You might want to invest a bit into upgrades.

Long Term:

1. [LV 50] Highspeed 2
   
   Better in every way to the HS1, but you need more levels to actually use it
   
2. [LV 55] Minigun
   
3. [LV 62] Rocket Launcher Plus
   
4. [LV 62] Standard Engine
   At this point you can start using the ship. If you invested upgrades into your HS1, don't bother with the minigun and standard engine.
   
5. [LV 66] Hyper Engine
   
6. [LV 76] Minigun Plus
   
7. [LV 66+] Upgrades
   Don't buy many upgrades on stuff that won't be on your final HS2. After that, you still have lots of choices. I'll arrange them into tiers of priority.
   High Priority:
   
   Weapon Attack bonus Weapon Shooting speed Secondary Attack bonus Secondary Projectile speed Secondary Max ammunition Engine Main thrust Engine Side thrusters Engine Max speed Ship Health
   Mid Priority:
   
   Weapon General Weapon Range Weapon Max ammunition Weapon Accuracy Secondary General Secondary Projectile life Secondary Locking distance Secondary Shooting speed Secondary Locking ability Secondary Locking speed Engine General Engine Afterburner speed Engine Afterburner power Engine Max energy Engine Energy regeneration
   Low Priority
   
   Secondary Explosion radius (Don't get this. It will kill you more than it will kill enemies) Engine Brake strength Engine Rotation rate Ship Flare ammo (note: they're cheap enough that you might want to pick a few up anyways)

Disclaimer: This is not the only way to play HS, it is simply the way that works best for me.

This strategy revolves around getting up close and personal, outmaneuvering them and killing them fast enough that they don't have time to react.

This is where the minigun/minigun plus come in. They have great damage, but suffer in range and accuracy. Both of those problems are negated when you're right on top of your enemy. Start shooting when they're about 1500TM away.

Your secondary should be used as much as possible. Use them to initiate fights, finish off targets, or simply fire and forget and hope you get a random assist. Only do that last one if you're desperate.

Use your flare(s) sparingly. You are fast enough to run away from most missiles, thusly flares should only be used when you need to stay in the area to get a kill.

Don't be shy about using your first ability. Use it to quickly get ammo, health, and to run away. The cooldown is short enough to have it back when you need it again. If you're in an emergency and it's on cooldown, you still have ability 2 to fall back on.

Be sparing and cautious with ability 2. It is very easy to get yourself killed using it. Get a sense of how far it takes you in game.

Pick your fights carefully. You are better against some classes than others. Also, go for single kills rather than entering a large firefight. Speed isn't enough when you have three people shooting at you, and you simply can't tank it.

I'd upload some gameplay, but my computer isn't strong enough for OBS and Evolvation. Sorry, folks. In the meantime, make due with some screenshots.

How to play against all the different classes:

Fighter:
Abilities:
Temporarily increase damage
Fire 3 rockets at the target its currently locking. It DOES NOT need to be fully locked.
Strategy:
Not much different from the base. Prioritize staying behind them.

Highspeed:
Abilities:
Short boost
Long boost
Strategy:
Nothing special.

Stealth:
Abilities:
Go invisible
Make a net that disables your ship
Strategy:
Repeat after me: Don't fly through the blue glowy square. Aside from that, these go down pretty easy. Remember that when they go invisible, they don't stop existing, and any missile fired at them will still track them. Oftentimes, they forget that fact, and continue on the same trajectory. Fire at where it looks like they were going and you can often score a few hits.

Support:
Abilites:
Spawn a package that heals and refills ammo. Automatically consumed in FFA
In an area around them, heal and show invisible enemies
Strategy:
Nothing special, but in the current build, there's a bug that doesn't let you shoot within .7TM of them. You don't see many of these in FFA, so you shouldn't have to worry about them.

Tank:
Abilities:
Shield that negates damage
Mine that explodes in an aoe, dealing massive damage
Strategy:
These are the bad ones. A mine at point blank will one-shot you. For these, don't go directly behind them. Either stay as far back as you can, or strafe while looking at them from the side. When engaging, make sure you are at full health. A common strategy is to pretend to be AFK, then mine as soon as someone comes within range. If you have enough health, you can tank the mine and finish them off. Press tab before you start to check who is playing tank. This allows you to avoid them until you're ready. Always keep very clear of mines that have already been placed. They always explode sooner than you expect.

Now that you're a professional HS player, get out there and kill people.

HUGE THANKS to @RA2Lover and @Kappaking on Discord for telling me just how wrong I was.

This is still a work in progress. Please leave feedback and questions in the comments. I will try to get more images, and maybe video if I can. Please PM clips over Discord if you want them in.

If you want to talk to me directly, the best place is the Evolvation discord @Sonorian. I'm also doing the spanish translation, so ask me about that as well if you want.