Looking for some gsf pointers

[Pathlight-]

I'm pretty good in ground pvp but I just decided to get some more into gsf and the least I can say is... I suck badly

 

It looks incredibly fun and as a SW fan, it is a dream come true to have a 3D dogfighting game within Swtor but I feel I have a long way to go.

 

Long story short, my main problem is that I don't seem to be able to hit anything. I play in a basic, unupgraded scout and the way I aim is by aligning the moving targeting reticle (tied to the mouse) with the stationary one (in the centre of my screen) and my target. Problem is, most times I do that it doesn't seem to hit the ennemies. I also do not know the meaning of my targeting reticle being grey or red.

 

I got a few kills here and there but it was mostly when fighting people at very close range that were right in front of me.

 

Some basic pointers / link to a good guide would be greatly appreciated.

 

Good hunting everyone.

[JeepWithGuy]

It sounds like you're aiming correctly, but your problem seems to be in the red/grey factor. Grey means they are out of range, red means they are in range. The little cross-stitched pattern means they are behind something, and cannot be hit. Scouts were meant for the up-close range, so you're doing that part right.

 

I've got some Galactic Starfighter guides and videos put together you can check out as well.

[Wainamoinen]

Blaster targetting (also rocket pods).

 

You don't have to align the moving reticule with the central one. Your shots will go wherever the moving reticule is.

 

There is an aspect called "tracking accuracy" though, which means that the nearer the centre of your screen, the more likely you are to score a hit even if you get the target bang over your prospective victim. Different weapons have different values for their tracking accuracy, so that some lose lots of accuracy when far from the centre (e.g. Burst Lasers are good for shooting at any angle at close range, Rocket Pods lose lots of accuracy when fired away from dead centre), you can check their relative tracking accuracy in the advanced weapon info in hangar (preferences option to show).

 

Each weapon has a target arc that it can hit opponents within, that appears as a circle in the middle of your screen. Different weapons have different arc radius, so your primary and secondary equipped weapons arcs can appear as to separate circles, one within the other. Arcs can be widened with weapon upgrades or crew options.

 

Range.

 

All weapons have a range. If your target is out of range the target will be greyed and you can't hit him or get a missile lock. If your sight of it is blocked by an obstacle it will be crosshatched, and again you can't hit him or get a missile lock.

 

Missiles.

 

Most starfighters have a missile option operated on the right mouse button. Your missiles have a range separate from your primary weapons. You can tell if your target is in range because the points of the target reticule go red (the Pike/Quell has long range missiles that can hit from much further than its blasters). To fire a missile you get your target in range and within the missiles' target arc, then hold down Rightmouse to start getting a lock. You can tell the lock is fixing with the "meeeeep meeep meep" sound.

 

Once you get a lock (continuous sound) you can release your missile which will fly happily off. You do not need to keep a circle over your target to get missile lock - just keep the target within range, within sight (no obstacle breaking lock) and within the target arc until you can release the missile. He may manage to hit an engine maneouvre that breaks the lock while you're making it, or even after you fire. If he's good, he'll dodge around obstacles to break lock when he hears he's getting targetted (you should do this too).

 

Hope that's some help with the shooting stuff, have fun.

Edited January 11, 2014 by Wainamoinen

[CaliJoe]

It's boring, but I read the descriptions and got down the distance for my guns and missiles.

 

I have as many other have incorporated the " X " stop. Just don't park under a satellite because you will get wiped easy. X stop, change course, burn out.

 

Get use to knowing where F1, F2, and F3 are so you can switch power on a moments notice. There is a slight cool down.

 

Scouts are great at running to satellites first, but you got like next to zero armor. So you gotta dance. Don't be afraid of burning away and recovering. I sometimes have a chaser, sometimes I don't. Those cluster missiles do wonders when you got a gunship parked in front of you.

Edited January 11, 2014 by CaliJoe

[renegadeimp]

Youre on tofn. Speak to scrab. Scrabrep if you are on republic.

[jasondscott]

I have as many other have incorporated the " X " stop. Just don't park under a satellite because you will get wiped easy. X stop, change course, burn out.

 

Stopping actually turns you slower. Faster turns happen when you are still moving, but going slower (control throttle with up/down or w/s) and turning up/down turns faster over left/right (IIRC it's pitch over yaw). Get used to rolling, too. You can eventually learn to dodge that pesky scout on your tail by rolling and squeezing between the solar panels on the satellites.

[mr_sim]

Knowing your role is so important, so here is my simple guide to fighting Scout.

 

First Rule of fighting Scout is "Speed is Life" hitting the breaks and trying to turn more then 90 degrees can get the lightly armored scout dead.

 

Keep your booster bar with some charge on it, if you start getting missile painted, hit the turbos and get out of range.

 

Second rule, scouts "slash and stab" they don't "snipe" they don't "turret" and they don't brute force their way into combat.

- Slash: more for stationary or slow targets like bombers will likely be, you put on the speed fly into range hit them at sped and clear out before they can hit you back.

- Stab: Scouts either have no long range weapons or have crappy long range weapons. But they have devastating short range weapons, I refer to scouts a knife fighters. So get in close like less then 400m hug their tail and then start blasting.

 

Third rule don't try to do someone elses job, I assume your in a Blackbolt(imp) or a Novadive(repub), If so you should avoid heavy combat areas, you should play the response fighter role. Always hit them where they are weak or reinforce us where we are weak and need help immediately. Nothing else in space can travel as fast as this class of scout, that is your advantage over every other ship use it.

[Ramalina]

Not clear from your post, so just in case, make sure you're aiming at the target's lead angle angle reticule and not at the ship itself. In theory laser weapons should have almost no travel time, but in SWTOR blaster bolts somehow manage to travel about as fast as a bullet from an M-16 (or even slower sometimes). Normally that would make gunnery insanely difficult, thus the lead angle reticule to show you where the target will by the time your blaster bolts get there.

 

Be aware that at ranges less than 1 km the lead angle reticle doesn't work well, and it's hard to hit with anything other than a burst laser cannon.

 

** Actually even the lead angle reticule is totally fake physics-wise and doesn't behave the way that for example the guns radar HUD mode on a modern fighter jet would work. But Star Wars is science fiction so we can let them get away with it, eh?

Edited January 11, 2014 by Ramalina

[CaliJoe]

Be aware that at ranges less than 1 km the lead angle reticle doesn't work well, and it's hard to hit with anything other than a burst laser cannon.

 

This is quite a problem when you get within 1500km or so. Your guns don't hit anymore. Ca-raaaazzyyy. Unless you got the burst fire/cluster gun/shotgun

[renegadeimp]

Thats because each blaster type has an effective range, with modifiers depending on how close or how far away the target is.

[ToMyMa]

Youre on tofn. Speak to scrab. Scrabrep if you are on republic.

 

Scrab the Wise. Didn't he come back to the game to play GSF fulltime? He has a YouTube channel too with some great content, check it out! http://http://m.youtube.com/channel/UCJ9g7xNbDN5cTMTSVuLKdFw?desktop_uri=%2Fchannel%2FUCJ9g7xNbDN5cTMTSVuLKdFw

[renegadeimp]

Scrab the Wise. Didn't he come back to the game to play GSF fulltime? He has a YouTube channel too with some great content, check it out! http://http://m.youtube.com/channel/UCJ9g7xNbDN5cTMTSVuLKdFw?desktop_uri=%2Fchannel%2FUCJ9g7xNbDN5cTMTSVuLKdFw

 

Yep. Afaik he plays GSF pretty much 100% now.

 

OP, on either faction on ToFN, type in /cjoin GSF The channel on both factions is fairly full, so youll pretty much always find a premade or at least 1-2 people to queue with.

 

There are also 2 GSF only guilds set up. We're only just getting started with them, and theyre pretty much only for players that play GSF. I very much doubt youll find any groups or members for ground game content unless it is for space stuff.

Edited January 12, 2014 by renegadeimp

[Whitelightr]

I'll try to give a good in-depth guide to you on how to hit things. It incorperates a few different variables.

Weapon Range: Each weapon has 3 ranges so to speak. Close Medium Max. The closer a target is the more damage your shots do, also your chance-to-hit increases at closer ranges.

 

Weapon Accuracy: is tied to the current distance to your target.

 

Firing Arc/Tracking Penalty: Each Weapon has a firing ARC (the kind of semi-circle you cant move the target reticule out of) and a Tracking Penalty (shown in a X% per degree)

 

With that out of the way heres 2 examples:

You firing on a basic scout that has, lets say, 20% evasion; using Light Laser Cannons

 

Flying absolutely dead at each other, dead center of each others FIRING ARC. At Max range (4160m) your Chance-To-Hit (80%) vs his evasion (20%), means its possible only half (60%) of your shots will hit. At medium range-3100m, it improves to 70% you'll hit. Finally at 'point blank' range-500m, its 90% chance you'll hit!

 

 

Next Situation: Same weapons/target- but explaining Tracking Penalty

You sit still, he flies directly across your FIRING ARC at 3100m from one side to the other. Keep in mind the Light Laser Cannon has a FIRING ARC of 32degree and a Tracking Penatly of 1% per degree.

 

When he gets inside the FIRING ARC on one side, you suffer an ADDITIONAL -32% to hit. So 90%(base)-20%(evasion)-32%(Tracking)=38% chance you'll even hit him.

BUT the closer he gets to the center of your FIRING ARC, the more your chance-to-hit improves! And as he flies towards the other side of the ARC it gets worse again.

 

Now of course in the above, evasion doesn't work like it may read. Its like a characters Dodge, its just a chance. You may face someone with 41% evasion and hit 5/5 shots under horrible conditions. That same target you might miss 5/5 under ideal conditions. Such is the sucks of random rolls.

 

That being said, do these 3 things:

1.) Go into the games Options menu, under GSF and turn on DETAILED TOOLTIPS

2.) Try to keep your target close to the CENTER of your FIRING ARC as possible!

3.) Try to keep him with-in MEDIUM range atleast.

and you'll notice an improvement.

Edited January 12, 2014 by Whitelightr