Hardpoints and decks

A deck is not chosen from a menu. It is assembled out of what is bolted to the aircraft.

Twelve hardpoints

Each grants exactly one card. Tier 1 is craftable immediately; tier 2 and 3 need a blueprint, a skill level, or both.

Slots

Slot count is 1 + hangar level, capped at six. Raising the Hangar is the only way to carry more hardware.

Two ways a deck is built

Derived. The default: airframe cards, pilot card, and the cards granted by fitted hardpoints. Opponents always fly this path, which is what keeps the difficulty bands honest.

Built. Choose 16 cards from the collection you own. A built deck is saved only after it clears size, per-card copy limits, ownership, and airframe locks. The server reports it back only while it is still legal. Sell the airframe a locked card belongs to and the deck stops being reported rather than silently flying an illegal list.

The match server reads your built deck from your account directly. It never takes one from the browser.

Remember that more is worse

A derived deck starts at 12: two of each of the airframe's three signature cards, two of the pilot's, and two each of Flare and Throttle. Fitted hardware adds one card per hardpoint on top of that.

So the deck GROWS, and that is the trap. Every card you add makes every other card rarer, and the one you actually wanted comes up less often. The right question is never "what else can I fit" but "what is worth diluting the deck for."

A deck you build yourself in the hangar is a different thing: that one is a fixed 16 you choose from your collection.