Starting after early access

[SneezC]

So I gave GSF a try and I got killed - a lot.

 

Now I never played it during the early access and have noticed that nearly every pilot i come up against has easily one-shot me and i can't even get through their shields, let alone get a kill shot.

 

I'm just wondering if it is possible to get into GSF without having to pay to win and buy ships off the cartel market, i really enjoyed x-wing and tie fighter and was hoping GSF would give me some sort of experience like that.

 

So far it is just folk who have played since day one killing me from miles away with one shot, I want to enjoy it but it seems designed for these early access folk to have all the kills ....

[old_benn]

There are a handful of good pilots who do very well. There are many who aren't particularly good yet. How many of those less-than-stellar players have just started? And how many of them have been playing for a couple weeks, but just aren't as good? I have no idea.

 

But your initial premise is incorrect. It is not the upgrades that folks have that make them win. I could jump into an un-modded scout, and still vape most of the players I've played against. I'm not trying to brag, I'm just pointing out that the pilot's skill heavily outweighs the ship's upgrades.

 

So my advice to you is to keep playing, even if you get killed a lot. As you get a feel for it, you'll do better and better. It's not pay to win. It's practice to win.

 

EDIT: I suggest reading some of the threads in this forum. There are some particularly good ones that discuss how to kill Gunships, or how to capture satellites, etc. Understanding your ship's strengths and role in the match will help you improve too.

Edited December 19, 2013 by old_benn
Providing additional advice

[RCSlyman]

Well first, you realize Early Access is still going on, right? Second, what type of ship are you flying? Third, to answer you a bit more, there are many maxed ships out there that people are flying, it's going to be an uphill climb for you individually. It's going to be worse if you consistently get crap teams. However, when the Preferred get into the game, there's going to be a lot more fresh fliers out there. Also, your daily and weekly missions are not tied to wins specifically. So even if you take losses, you'll still fill out the requirements and be able to upgrade your ship. In the meantime, even if you can't make kills, work on your aim. Work on your capping skills. Help your team out as best you can. You'll find you can actually make a dent in things.

[WedgeFan]

GSF is not pay to win. The ships on the Cartel Market are skin jobs. They have different starting configurations, but the same overall components as any other ship in their respective class.

 

List what ship you've tried and any upgrades you've purchased, ask for help with tactics and upgrade paths.

 

GSF has a lot more to do with skill than gear. And not necessarily twitch skill. You also have to have situational awareness to succeed.

[silvershadows]

GSF is not pay to win. The ships on the Cartel Market are skin jobs. They have different starting configurations, but the same overall components as any other ship in their respective class.

 

List what ship you've tried and any upgrades you've purchased, ask for help with tactics and upgrade paths.

 

GSF has a lot more to do with skill than gear. And not necessarily twitch skill. You also have to have situational awareness to succeed.

 

Actually, GSF *COULD* be considered pay to win since you can use cartel coins to change ship req to fleet req and fully upgrade your ship in a matter of a day or two/three rather than weeks.

[SneezC]

Ok so some good responses and I thank you for that, I half expected to be flamed for being a noob.

 

I have only used the scout ship so far with the first upgrade to my lasers, not much done at all. I only started it today.

 

I know early access is still going on, my title isn't particularly clear and I'm sorry about that, I meant as a player who starts now as opposed to those who jumped in on day one.

 

I know from reading other threads my ship will get shot up a lot and I'm ok with getting killed, it was mainly just that it seems quite a learning curve and not easily "pickupable" for a newbie to GSF. I mean even PvP gives a stat increase so everyone is roughly on the same level and means low levels can still compete.

 

I'm going to keep reading up and I will give it more time, it's just something I was curious about

[Dustotepp]

As others have said, the upgrades are nice, but are not as important as having a good feel for the game.

 

Dulfy has a really good new player guide: http://dulfy.net/2013/11/15/swtor-galactic-starfighter-new-player-guide/

 

I think the most important things to know are

 

Gameplay:

1) Tab targets the closest enemy, then if you keep pressing it, cycles through nearby enemies.

2) F1 = power to weapons; F2 = Power to shields; F3 = Power to engines; F4 = Balanced (this is how you start)

 

Tactics:

1) The goal of the game is to claim and hold satellites. I have been in a game where we were outkilled by 3:1, but we still won because the opposition never defended satellites.

2) If you are defending a satellite that has turrets, fight within range of the turrets. The turrets do pretty good damage, take advantage of it.

3) If you are attacking a satellite that has turrets, get rid of the turrets. I usually target the turrets before I target other players. It is possible to claim a satellite while fighting another player; it is not possible to claim a satellite that has turrets.

Edited December 19, 2013 by Dustotepp

[Gavin_Kelvar]

Ok so some good responses and I thank you for that, I half expected to be flamed for being a noob.

 

I have only used the scout ship so far with the first upgrade to my lasers, not much done at all. I only started it today.

 

I know early access is still going on, my title isn't particularly clear and I'm sorry about that, I meant as a player who starts now as opposed to those who jumped in on day one.

 

I know from reading other threads my ship will get shot up a lot and I'm ok with getting killed, it was mainly just that it seems quite a learning curve and not easily "pickupable" for a newbie to GSF. I mean even PvP gives a stat increase so everyone is roughly on the same level and means low levels can still compete.

 

I'm going to keep reading up and I will give it more time, it's just something I was curious about

 

I would suggest trying the strike fighter. It has the hull and shield strength to be a bit more forgiving than the scout. The learning curve is steep no matter what ship you fly but I think the striker is probably the easiest to learn on since it's designed to be a jack of all trades and thus have the capability to survive just about any situation you could find yourself in.

 

Keep in mind that once the player pool gets larger matchmaking will become more effective. Right now the player pool is just a tiny fraction of your server so matchmaking is less effective and is forced to put newbies in matches with more veteran players.

Edited December 19, 2013 by Gavin_Kelvar

[Dustotepp]

Actually, GSF *COULD* be considered pay to win since you can use cartel coins to change ship req to fleet req and fully upgrade your ship in a matter of a day or two/three rather than weeks.

 

I don't want to take this thread off on a long tangent, but converting still won't let you master a ship in a day or two. It takes 147,500 Req to master. The absolute most 'extra' Req you can get from converting (with 7 ships, and playing all them every day enough to get the x2 bonus) is 10,750 per day.

 

Don't get me wrong, that is still a big chunk of change. If you play 4 hours a day, you could go from never played to master in 9ish days rather than 19. I don't think that I would call that Pay to Win though. Mostly because I don't think that the effect of upgrades is as pronounced as it is in ground pvp. I have a mastered Sting, which is my primary ship. I have started building up my Blackbolt now, which has almost no upgrades, and I still do very well. I generally perform better in the Sting, but I still feel competitive in the Blackbolt.

[silvershadows]

I don't want to take this thread off on a long tangent, but converting still won't let you master a ship in a day or two. It takes 147,500 Req to master. The absolute most 'extra' Req you can get from converting (with 7 ships, and playing all them every day enough to get the x2 bonus) is 10,750 per day.

 

Don't get me wrong, that is still a big chunk of change. If you play 4 hours a day, you could go from never played to master in 9ish days rather than 19. I don't think that I would call that Pay to Win though. Mostly because I don't think that the effect of upgrades is as pronounced as it is in ground pvp. I have a mastered Sting, which is my primary ship. I have started building up my Blackbolt now, which has almost no upgrades, and I still do very well. I generally perform better in the Sting, but I still feel competitive in the Blackbolt.

 

 

Well you know what I mean - yes I used some hyperbole, but to the people who can't afford to buy cartel coins, running up against ships that seem to buy upgrades at an insane pace while you yourself lag behind is disheartening to say the least - note I am not among these people as I gifted myself cartel coins for Christmas and my Pike only needs engines/shield finished to be mastered.

 

But that isn't something I am able to do often, and so my next few ships will take a good long while.

 

I agree that upgrades don't make the player - I do decently well in scouts and gunships even though I almost exclusively fly my Pike (except to get the 2x req bonus daily then convert to fleet req lol) - the only thing I noticed is I tend to crash more in a scout because I'm not used to the speed - I almost never self-destruct in my Pike anymore.

 

The day I got 3x the damage in an upgraded scout rather than my Pike was when I knew I was getting halfway decent (and when I knew I need to stop playing purely D in my pike if I ever want to KILL ANYONE. Actually, I'm lying - I kill people in the Pike all the time but I'm more of a tank so I'm just being snarky for the sake of it.)

Edited December 19, 2013 by silvershadows

[SneezC]

I would suggest trying the strike fighter.

 

I think I might take your suggestion on board, may give me a chance to get more familiar with the way things work

[Yorumi]

Stop calling an exp boost pay to win, it's not, if it was then simply starting before someone else is pay to win, and that means every mmo to ever exist on the face of the earth is pay to win. Kind of hard to make a distinction when you encompass everything

 

So I gave GSF a try and I got killed - a lot.

 

Now I never played it during the early access and have noticed that nearly every pilot i come up against has easily one-shot me and i can't even get through their shields, let alone get a kill shot.

 

I'm just wondering if it is possible to get into GSF without having to pay to win and buy ships off the cartel market, i really enjoyed x-wing and tie fighter and was hoping GSF would give me some sort of experience like that.

 

So far it is just folk who have played since day one killing me from miles away with one shot, I want to enjoy it but it seems designed for these early access folk to have all the kills ....

 

Cartel ships are just cosmetic, nothing else. GSF takes some getting used to, you need to learn the mechanics and figure out the strategies for fighting ships. Early on you should be playing multiple ships to learn their strengths and weaknesses. Spend a lot of time in the hanger looking at upgrades and new equipment you can buy. It's not universally true but in general every piece of equipment has uses, no piece is necessarily better, just different.

 

So you need to get some idea what you want to fly and how you want to build your ship. Of course some of that just comes with experience, seeing how others fly and what works to counter them. Early on stick close to other pilots, help them and let them help you, it's far easier to pick off a fighter tailing your wingman than to dogfight 1v1.

 

The best thing you can do is get experience and come back here when you have questions and need tips for specific situations. It takes a while to get good and some of the people you're matched up against have weeks or months(if they were in testing) of experience over you.

[DanNV]

GSF takes a few hours of play to get the hang of the controls and to get some idea of what's happening around you. Once you get that sorted out you'll do better.

 

The scouts are really fragile, particularly when unmodded. They are also harder to control so you are going to crash more often as well. I'd recommend starting in a strike fighter (as a couple other people have recommended) and get the hang of the game there. You'll still get shot up a lot, but you'll last longer than you do in the scout.

[SneezC]

Stop calling an exp boost pay to win, it's not

 

I wasn't, I was under the impression the ships that you could buy in the market were better than the one's available already and that was what I originally referred to as "pay to win". What is available are skins which I now know.

 

Apologies if me original inference was taken to include things like xp boosts, it wasn't meant to.

[Yorumi]

I wasn't, I was under the impression the ships that you could buy in the market were better than the one's available already and that was what I originally referred to as "pay to win". What is available are skins which I now know.

 

Apologies if me original inference was taken to include things like xp boosts, it wasn't meant to.

 

I wasn't intending that for you, I was referring to other posters. Sorry for the confusion, the rest of the post when I quoted you was of course for you.

[old_benn]

I wasn't, I was under the impression the ships that you could buy in the market were better than the one's available already and that was what I originally referred to as "pay to win". What is available are skins which I now know.

 

This isn't *exactly* true. You can buy a Cartel ship that is an exact duplicate (skin) of the Flash (Scout Tier 2). But that might still be considered an "upgrade" compared to the default Nova. There are a few threads complaining that Flash's are overpowered compared to Nova's. Being able to use CC's to effectively purchase the Cartel version of the Flash would save you from having to earn 5,000 Fleet Req.

 

Having said that, it's still not Pay2Win. I routinely top the match in objective points, medals, and damage (not kills though, interestingly) in my Nova. I've never flown the Flash, and I do quite well. I just wanted to make sure that you understood that the Cartel ships are not skins of the default ships you have. They're skins of the Tier 2 ships.

[SneezC]

I wasn't intending that for you, I was referring to other posters. Sorry for the confusion, the rest of the post when I quoted you was of course for you.

 

Lol sorry about that, no harm done

 

This isn't *exactly* true. You can buy a Cartel ship that is an exact duplicate (skin) of the Flash (Scout Tier 2). But that might still be considered an "upgrade" compared to the default Nova. There are a few threads complaining that Flash's are overpowered compared to Nova's. Being able to use CC's to effectively purchase the Cartel version of the Flash would save you from having to earn 5,000 Fleet Req.

 

Having said that, it's still not Pay2Win. I routinely top the match in objective points, medals, and damage (not kills though, interestingly) in my Nova. I've never flown the Flash, and I do quite well. I just wanted to make sure that you understood that the Cartel ships are not skins of the default ships you have. They're skins of the Tier 2 ships.

 

Just so I'm crystal clear, do the Tier 2 ships come with just basic, un-upgraded equipment. What I thought was that you bought them and everything was "unlocked", otherwise I don't understand why people would spend real money on just a skin. However as I say that I do realise I sound a little naive asking why people would pay when I bought CC's to buy packs to get an armour I wanted lol

[old_benn]

Just so I'm crystal clear, do the Tier 2 ships come with just basic, un-upgraded equipment. What I thought was that you bought them and everything was "unlocked", otherwise I don't understand why people would spend real money on just a skin.

 

The Tier 2 ships come with only the basic, non-upgraded equipment. Nothing is unlocked on them.

 

There are only 3 reasons I can think of that someone would want to buy one of the Cartel ships:

 

1) It saves them 5,000 Fleet Requisition, compared to purchasing the Tier 2 ship in-game.

2) They like how it looks better.

3) They are completionists, and want to buy one of everything.

[SneezC]

The Tier 2 ships come with only the basic, non-upgraded equipment. Nothing is unlocked on them.

 

There are only 3 reasons I can think of that someone would want to buy one of the Cartel ships:

 

1) It saves them 5,000 Fleet Requisition, compared to purchasing the Tier 2 ship in-game.

2) They like how it looks better.

3) They are completionists, and want to buy one of everything.

 

Thank you I now completely rescind any comment I made about GSF being "Pay to Win"

[silvershadows]

Stop calling an exp boost pay to win, it's not, if it was then simply starting before someone else is pay to win, and that means every mmo to ever exist on the face of the earth is pay to win. Kind of hard to make a distinction when you encompass everything

 

 

 

Cartel ships are just cosmetic, nothing else. GSF takes some getting used to, you need to learn the mechanics and figure out the strategies for fighting ships. Early on you should be playing multiple ships to learn their strengths and weaknesses. Spend a lot of time in the hanger looking at upgrades and new equipment you can buy. It's not universally true but in general every piece of equipment has uses, no piece is necessarily better, just different.

 

So you need to get some idea what you want to fly and how you want to build your ship. Of course some of that just comes with experience, seeing how others fly and what works to counter them. Early on stick close to other pilots, help them and let them help you, it's far easier to pick off a fighter tailing your wingman than to dogfight 1v1.

 

The best thing you can do is get experience and come back here when you have questions and need tips for specific situations. It takes a while to get good and some of the people you're matched up against have weeks or months(if they were in testing) of experience over you.

 

I'm not talking about the requisition bonus for having a cartel ship. I am talking about directly converting ship requisition to fleet requisition via cartel coins, thus upgrading your ship at a disproportionally faster rate than someone who cannot AFFORD to spend real life money on cartel coins. Because this is the ONLY THING using cartel coins that does not have an equivalent option to spend in-game credits, that could be considered 'pay to win.'

 

If there was an option to spend in-game credits as well as cartel coins, the issue would not exist.

 

Again, not talking about the requisition bonus from having a cartel ship.

Edited December 19, 2013 by silvershadows

[Dustotepp]

When you go into a match, you have 5 ships as your stable of ships for that match. You can freely change between those ships any time you die. I have considered buying the cartel scout so that I could have a 3rd scout that I could configure for different uses. For example, I could have a Blackbolt with all the speed upgrades; a Sting with damage, boost, and evasion for hunting gunships; and an Ocula with Burst lasers, bypass, and blaster overcharge for clearing satellite campers. Edited December 19, 2013 by Dustotepp

[DanNV]

Just so I'm crystal clear, do the Tier 2 ships come with just basic, un-upgraded equipment. What I thought was that you bought them and everything was "unlocked", otherwise I don't understand why people would spend real money on just a skin. However as I say that I do realise I sound a little naive asking why people would pay when I bought CC's to buy packs to get an armour I wanted lol

 

The unlocked ships have a different starting mix of equipment so you get a different mix on the ship. The only functional difference is caused by the different gear mix. You can play whichever mix you prefer by unlocking the other ship. Personally, I play both rep scouts and find them both enjoyable and both extremely fragile if I make a mistake. (Which happens all too often. )

[Svarthrafn]

@OP:

 

Pick a teammate and stick to him like glue. He doesn't even need to know you're doing it (though it is better if he does). Numerical advantage will make up for a lot of the skill gap, and you will get some more kills and assists starting out than you will if you try to solo everything (and you'll prolly live longer).

Edited December 19, 2013 by Svarthrafn

[Gavin_Kelvar]

@OP:

 

Pick a teammate and stick to him like glue. He doesn't even need to know you're doing it (though it is better if he does). Numerical advantage will make up for a lot of the skill gap, and you will get some more kills and assists starting out than you will if you try to solo everything (and you'll prolly live longer).

 

Just to add to this. Keep an eye on your map/sensor. If you start getting overwhelmed you'll have an idea of where friendly forces are that you can escape to. Generally I've found that if I'm forced to flee from a sat that is getting capped by overwhelming numbers of enemies if I can make it to a sat still under our control any defending fighters will rush to intercept the enemies I have in tow (whether they're being good teammates or glory hogs looking to pad their kill column I don't know or much care so long as they get the enemy off my tail). Likewise the enemies that are pursuing usually break off when they see fighters coming to help me. Even if there aren't defending fighters at a near by friendly sat if there are any turrets they might be able to scare your enemies away as they do respectable damage (or at least distract them long enough so you can escape).

 

By maintaining situational awareness of your sensor you also have a better chance of knowing when enemy fighters are inbound before you start getting shot and once you get more skill you'll be able to start moving into a strategic position that may allow you to ambush them.

 

EDIT: and if you haven't already figured this out when fleeing manually take evasive action and fly in as erratically a pattern as possible weaving in and out of cover as you are able. The manual evasive action forces your enemies to fire off of dead center of their firing arc (every blaster gets a penalty to accuracy for every degree it is fired off center) and the cover helps prevent enemies from locking on with missiles. Generally in any ship flying in a straight line is a death sentence, especially when taking fire.

Edited December 19, 2013 by Gavin_Kelvar

[HiddenPalm]

So I gave GSF a try and I got killed - a lot.

 

Now I never played it during the early access and have noticed that nearly every pilot i come up against has easily one-shot me and i can't even get through their shields, let alone get a kill shot.

 

I'm just wondering if it is possible to get into GSF without having to pay to win and buy ships off the cartel market, i really enjoyed x-wing and tie fighter and was hoping GSF would give me some sort of experience like that.

 

So far it is just folk who have played since day one killing me from miles away with one shot, I want to enjoy it but it seems designed for these early access folk to have all the kills ....

 

Hey SneezC. GS is very competitive and challenging. Below is an excerpt from one of my posts on a similar thread, I have some good training pointers you will find useful. As a matter of fact, you might want to check all my recent posts where I talk about WWII aerial combat in reference to Galactic Starfighter. But I got some good solid pointers for you in this link. Hope it helps.

 

http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?p=7046430#post7046430

 

An old flight trainer once told a Viper pilot ...

 

"Starbuck, a Viper pilot only flies three fighters. One (s)he trains in. The one (s)he escapes from ... The one (s)he dies in."

 

The first one is training. Don't fly to win, fly to train and get your specs up. Communicate with your team and coordinate your attacks and defenses. Master the terrain and make it your home. Most importantly in your case, always pay attention to your level of "Situational Awareness". Look that up. Hold the F key and look around, watch your six, your 3/9 line, below and above your position and watch for advanced scouts with high specs in stealth and sensor dampeners. Train, train, train, train and train.

 

On training, realize that you are training a number of skills. When you go out there, in the stars follow someone on your team and be there for them. Be their wingperson. Pick a gunship or a strike fighter to support. You will notice that its easy to lose your leader. Practicing being a wingperson actually teaches you "Situational Awareness" and even the beginning of appreciating "Formation" flying. You will also improve your targeting skills. As chances are the pilot in front of you is going to be targeted and chased by the enemy, which you can then target. Your target will be focused on your leader and not you, allowing you to practice your targeting with greater ease.

Edited December 19, 2013 by HiddenPalm