I fight using two speed keys, warp 2 and maxwarp. The logic behind this is simple, in order to dodge torps effectivley you must be able to quickly accelerate and deccelerate. Constant speed changes in addition to constant directional changes are both necessary to become a better fighter. I have both weapons(phasers/torps) mapped to the keyboard and the mouse. By having weapons available on both mouse and keyboard, I can fire both simultaneously. In order to gain dogfighting skill you must eventually fire both weapons at the same time. I dodge torps not only by outrunning them but by using tractor/pressor to pull/push my way out of their path. Torps that can not be outrun and are in danger of hitting yours ship should be detted.
The most important factor in a dogfight IMHO is positioning. If you can force your opponent to engage you at your pace and don't whiff you'll win the fight. However, if you plan on gaining skill and respect from others(clue), facing forward and engaging your opponent is the way to go. Though facing forwards is not always possible, if you can learn to engage your opponent while facing forward you'll give up less ground and dramatically improve your fighting ability. I think it took me about 1.5 years of playing, mind you I put in my fair share of hours =) to attain a positive ratio (>1). Don't worry about ratio, as you become a better offensive fighter, it will improve on its own; your real goal is striving to kill anything that moves.
I tend to use phasers to do a majority of my damage, fired accurately phasers can't be dodged or detted. In a CA I try not to phaser for less then 20 points, unless I need a silly phaser (<10 points) to finsh off an opponent. Tractor/pressor should be used in conjunction with accurate phasering if you plan on becoming a good fighter. =) Don't be afraid to shoot, dying with fuel is silly. One of the trickest things to learn is knowing who to engage, you'll find yourslef being double teamed alot so it m ight be difficult initally to get the hang of being aggressive. I tend to attack the ship closest to me first, if that ship does not engage me I immediately attack the weaker ship. Don't be overzealous, sometimes you might have to back off totally becasue both enemy ships have ample fuel. You'll get buttorped alot when you try this style of fighting, it is not a style constructed to suit passive fighters. But,once you master the Tao of offensive dogfighting you'll easily kill people two at a time.
If I bomb fulltime I prefer to use a scout. The speed and agility of a scout makes it the optimal ship to bomb with. Look at the galactic and info the enmy planets. After learning where enemy armies are located , warp to the planet but don't be a blin d fool. Don't maxwarp into awaiting defenders. You can only bomb planets with an army count >4.
I like to bomb armies close to the frontline ASAP. Enemy armies on frontline planets can be picked easily and delivered onto your planets, so I like to bomb these armies as soon as they pop. Next I look to to bomb armies close to enemy homeworld, since the window of opportunity for bombing attempts on enemy homeworld is very small. In order to bomb enemy homeworld successfully you must keep track of who's been killed, thus informing you when you can attempt to bomb without dying. I tend to bomb undefen ded armies, but learning how to bomb armies on a planet that is being scattered with enemy fire is a desired skill to acquire. Detting and dodging are your friends, use them . =)
When attempting to bomb a planet under fire, try avoiding available lines of fire. If you simply fly at the planet maxwarp you'll be torp fodder, so you need to learn how to position yourself to achieve orbit without being splattered upon approach. Per sonally I combine speed changes,cloaking,flybys and detting to help position myself to orbit a planet for the bomb(A little luck helps too =) ). If there are two or more people helping you bomb, someone should remain uncloaked and fire at the defenders. I t's a simple idea overlooked by many, shoot at the defender and he must either dodge,give space, or be forced to engage you leaving the bomber unmolested. If you get phaser locked and there are multiple ships attempting to bomb, either uncloak and help cl ear or remain cloaked and det/lead defenders away from the planet. If a defender maintains a phaser lock on you, you can sometimes waste his fuel by simply leading him away from the target planet. Cloaking is generally the last resort, if you are outnumbe red or are in danger of being tractored off a planet, cloaking can be your ally. The down side to cloaking is the inability to fire weapons, so I usually only cloak if I know I can somehow maneuver my ship to the planet by forcing the defender to lose position. Cloa king doesn't really confuse those with clue, it generally sucks away your fuel unless you can buy yourself some time to cut to the planet by using your teammates as shields. As a general rule don't take for granted that a defender no matter how twinky he may be, might accidentally shoot weapons. Asa general rule be prepared to raise shields,det, and conntinue bombing. It's difficult at first to grasp the importance of raising your shields then detting once in orbit but you will notice that your rate of su ccess will increase dramatically if you det.
I like to ogg carriers if I can isolate a one on one confrontation in open space. I will attack carriers solo if they pose a threat and I need to do so to buy time for friendly defense. I don't recommend ogging in a scout till you learn to use your fue l efficiently. Scouts have small fuel tanks so the margin of error is quite small. I'm an aggressive bomber, that is to say I like to pester enemy carriers making sure to that they do not pick armies/take planets unmolested.
Great scout bombers not only have an uncanny abilty to bomb armies, but are aware of the galactic position of friendly carriers. The ability to escort friendly carriers is a very valuable skill to have in a scout. I suggest learning to cut off possible defenders attacking the planet by shooting at them and slowing them down.