The Least Painful Way to Clear the "Intro" Quest

[DomiSotto]

I really don't want to play GSF, but the quest keeps sitting there, and I want to clear it for good. I know people always get upset in group activities when someone joins clueless, but reading huge thread about how to start and sorting it out is just like learning an entirely new game and just for the sake of one encounter... is counterproductive.

 

Is there a way to get into just one battle with a bare minimal prep and do something that will not annoy anyone (to a reasonable degree)? What that bare minimum would be?

Edited October 2, 2015 by DomiSotto

[Archonitek]

Just queue up and get it out of the way. No one will be annoyed. Most of us can see when a rookie player joins the team and we understand the game enough to know that the first 20-30 matches are going to be hell for you.

 

Just try your best, maybe even pop out some questions in game. Join the GSF channel with /cjoin gsf and ask for help. Who knows, you might even enjoy it enough to sink more time into it.

[nyghtrunner]

I really don't want to play GSF, but the quest keeps sitting there, and I want to clear it for good. I know people always get upset in group activities when someone joins clueless, but reading huge thread about how to start and sorting it out is just like learning an entirely new game and just for the sake of one encounter... is counterproductive.

 

Is there a way to get into just one battle with a bare minimal prep and do something that will not annoy anyone (to a reasonable degree)? What that bare minimum would be?

To start, I would try to go through the [meagre] tutorial for GSF, and just try to get a handle on moving around in 3D space with the controls. It can be annoying because you'll keep getting interrupted by bits of info that pause you and try to "help" you, but as you clear them, they stop happening for the same things.

 

After that, I would maybe hit "/cjoin gsf" in chat, and just ping the playerbase and see if anyone would like to help you get through a game for the intro. If you're up front about the situation, most people I've run into will at the least be understanding, and it will be a lot easier to kind of plan things out pre-match, rather than in match, which is sometimes one of the worst things you can do. GSF is fast enough that there have been many times where I've seen someone ask a question, and I'm in the middle of running around in a dogfight, and can't answer right away, at which point, depending on who they are and their personality, they're sometimes pissed because they're being "ignored".

 

If it's just the one match, it can be something as simple as trying to get you to guard the green satellite and stay close to it and call out incoming in chat, or in a TDM, just kind of staying back on your side. Either of those things, while not always actively helping, at a bare minimum are kind of "do no harm" things. In the case of guarding a sat and calling out incoming, it actively helps your team out.

 

Another reason to do the /cjoin gsf and look for a group is that if you catch people who are strong players, and they're willing to help, that will take an enormous amount of pressure off of you, since the other team will have to keep an eye on them at all times.

 

Which server are you on? If I have a toon there, I'd be happy to hop on and help you clear out the quest. Who knows, you may even like the module.

 

Cheers!

[DomiSotto]

Hi, I am on the Harbinger. Does GSF has that 90 sec 'before battle' kind of time like the normal WZ when you can ask what to guard?

[nyghtrunner]

Hi, I am on the Harbinger. Does GSF has that 90 sec 'before battle' kind of time like the normal WZ when you can ask what to guard?

 

Yep. I think it's only 60s, but there's definitely some time.

[Maulkat]

I am also on Harbinger. Do a /cjoin gsf as suggested and ask for a group or fly that intro quest and just get it done with. However, even you taking a few moments of your time to make a post in this section indicates you have a small interest in learning (even if you don't know it).

[DomiSotto]

I see all the great resources you guys have here, but I just want to be as inoffensive as humanly possible without having to cram up on the whole different gaming mode. I know folks enjoy it, so I don't want to ruin it for them. If Bio did not dump it on the PvP terminal, I would go on blissfully leaving it to the guys who like vehicular combat. Okay, I will try doing the in-game tutorial, and then load in. If I can't do anything on one char, I will just leave the quest on the rest of them. Better it bugs me, then I bug people.

[btbarrett]

I am happy to group up and help you get through the intro quest as well. We in the GSF community are always eager to lure new targets, I mean players, into this game mode.

[DakhathKilrathi]

Is there a way to get into just one battle with a bare minimal prep and do something that will not annoy anyone (to a reasonable degree)? What that bare minimum would be?

 

Play through the tutorial, and skim the first section of my guide. You don't need everything there, just some of the tips. It's short, though. That should be all the prep you really need if you don't plan to stick around.

 

Thank you for putting at least a little effort into this even though you don't have to.

 

Edit: I went through and selected just the tips that are relevant to you:

 

 

Only fire at targets that are in range, and remember to shoot at the lead indicator, not the ship itself.

If your accuracy is consistently under 5%, this tip is for you. The lead indicator changes color from grey to red when you're in range.

 

Turn down mouse sensitivity in Windows.

Most of the time, you're going to find that this will help. I don't know why you can't adjust sensitivity in game, but you can't. This is the best way to work around that limitation. You can always change it back when you aren't playing, though I've found that I don't have to turn it down that much.

 

Spacebar to boost.

This one shouldn't need to be said, but a lot of new players just don't know how to do this for some reason. I see this all the time.

 

Stay very close to satellites to capture or prevent your team from losing them.

This is another one that shouldn't need to be said, but new players struggle with this. The capture range is actually very small, so stay inside the fins. If you're the only one on your team near a contested satellite (you can tell it's contested if it's flashing on the UI), stay on it as long as you can. If your choices are fly away from the node or die, you should choose to die. The couple of seconds you buy might be long enough for someone else to get there.

 

Check who shot you with R, and cycle targets with Tab.

These are the default keybinds, and you can change them if you want. You should get in the habit of cycling targets to have a quick look at what's going on in the match.

 

Line of sight is important.

If you can find some sort of obstacle (a rock, a satellite, a piece of debris) to fly very close to when someone is shooting at you, you can make it difficult or impossible for them to hit you. This is particularly useful against gunships or long lock missiles. Remember that you can tap the 'C' key to take a look at your current target to verify that they don't have LoS.

 

Watch for (and use) friendly hyperspace beacons. Hunt down the other team's beacons.

Beacons give you a place to spawn that is much closer to the objectives. In domination (particularly Denon), hyperspace beacons are very important. Use them if they are available, and destroy any hyperspace beacons that you see. Check the enemy team's bombers for the Hyperspace Beacon buff icon. If you see it, someone should go find the beacon.

 

Practice power management.

By default, this is on F1 - F4. F1 is power to weapons. Use this if you are shooting at something. F2 is power to shields. Use this when you need your shields to recharge quickly, but remember that shields do not regen while you're under fire, and make sure you swap back to something else pretty quickly. F3 is power to engines. If you're boosting and/or you need to regen engine power, this is where you should be. F4 is balanced, but you shouldn't be spending any time on this setting. I find that I spend most of my time with power to engines.

 

 

Hope that helps.

 

Edit 2: I wanted to address something you said in your last post in this thread.

 

If I can't do anything on one char, I will just leave the quest on the rest of them. Better it bugs me, then I bug people.

 

I can't speak for everyone here, but as long as you're actually trying, I don't mind. You've already put more effort into getting this over with than 90% of the new players we see. Just by playing the tutorial, you're already better prepared than most people.

 

Don't worry so much if your numbers are bad at the end of the game. That's to be expected. Bioware gives you the worst weapons possible to start with on the stock Scout and the stock Strike; you aren't expected to put up spectacular numbers in your first game. If you see me around on Harbinger (Zyríeas pub, Zyrieas Imp) feel free to ask for a group. I'd also be happy to run you through this so you can get it over with.

Edited October 2, 2015 by DakhathKilrathi

[DomiSotto]

Awesome, thank you so much!

[Ardaneb]

If you clear the intro mission you will have a daily and a weekly appear in its place. Just an FYI, maybe just select it and not track it.

[nyghtrunner]

Hi, I am on the Harbinger. Does GSF has that 90 sec 'before battle' kind of time like the normal WZ when you can ask what to guard?

Also, I have toons on both side on Harb. If you'd like to try to meet up, I'd be happy to run through your intro quest with you. Not sure I'll be around tonight until like 9 or 10 pm server time, but could definitely help you tomorrow.

 

My main on Pub side is Hawkë (note the strange character). Feel free to hit me up if you want.

[DomiSotto]

If you clear the intro mission you will have a daily and a weekly appear in its place. Just an FYI, maybe just select it and not track it.

 

Oh, zut. The best laid plans.... You are right, it is going be exactly the same, no matter what, I cannot clear it off.

[DomiSotto]

I've cleared the daily, and did not like it how I did. Now I have some 5.5 thou comms, and I want to try 20 matches, like the guys do for Pierce or 4X.

 

I went through the Tutorial a few times. It's hard to make ship to move where you want it to move on the mini-map. Shooting down the drones was easy.

 

Waited for a pop about 5 min, got a deathmatch. Self-destructed twice (rock and ran out of the fighting area), got killed twice, contributed to 1 kill. Did not realize that I have to hit 'ready' button so sat in respawn for a while, thought it was like a PvP arena, when dead is dead. There was nothing on the chat channel, so turned it off.

 

Despite reading and watching the tutorial, did not really quite figure out I suppose how to hit things; either I was too far away, or I should have actually manually targeted them, unlike the drones, that seem to be hit by default. I did remap the targeting.

 

The rest of the controls is fine, switching power there and back, going faster, is easy. I was worried about getting too close to the rocks because I don't know how to turn around and was afraid to crush. I remapped Up and Down strafe but could not see any effect on the ship movement with it. Will try to remap L/R and try it in the tutorial.

 

I guess, I am going to buy the Ship #3 as per tips and try to use that, but I doubt it will help much.

 

So, 1/20 matches, and I was an exact equivalent of the 4X PvEer in the Arena who just loads and tries to hit things.

 

I also could not see what other people were doing so I did not feel overawed like in the fist PvP match. It's very sterile compared.

[SWCNT]

I've cleared the daily, and did not like it how I did. Now I have some 5.5 thou comms, and I want to try 20 matches, like the guys do for Pierce or 4X.

 

I went through the Tutorial a few times. It's hard to make ship to move where you want it to move on the mini-map. Shooting down the drones was easy.

 

Waited for a pop about 5 min, got a deathmatch. Self-destructed twice (rock and ran out of the fighting area), got killed twice, contributed to 1 kill. Did not realize that I have to hit 'ready' button so sat in respawn for a while, thought it was like a PvP arena, when dead is dead. There was nothing on the chat channel, so turned it off.

 

Despite reading and watching the tutorial, did not really quite figure out I suppose how to hit things; either I was too far away, or I should have actually manually targeted them, unlike the drones, that seem to be hit by default. I did remap the targeting.

 

The rest of the controls is fine, switching power there and back, going faster, is easy. I was worried about getting too close to the rocks because I don't know how to turn around and was afraid to crush. I remapped Up and Down strafe but could not see any effect on the ship movement with it. Will try to remap L/R and try it in the tutorial.

 

I guess, I am going to buy the Ship #3 as per tips and try to use that, but I doubt it will help much.

 

So, 1/20 matches, and I was an exact equivalent of the 4X PvEer in the Arena who just loads and tries to hit things.

 

I also could not see what other people were doing so I did not feel overawed like in the fist PvP match. It's very sterile compared.

 

The most important aspect about the tutorial isn't the killing of turrets or capturing the satellite, it's learning ship movement. When I first started, I played the tutorial about 10 times, each time I would take my ship off to the right of the spawn spot where there is a shipyard cage and practice flying around. I would try to see how close I could get to objects, how tightly I could turn the ship, and what the best way to turn and maneuver was. Learning to maneuver in 3d space is the most important part of GSF, even if you have crap weapons and no aim, if you can fly circles around the enemy you will still live and at least do something.

 

For learning the basics of movement and targeting I'd suggest the following indispensable videos:

New player videos and help

Edited January 22, 2016 by SWCNT

[Maulkat]

Who are you on Harbinger? There was an imperial last night that just started flying and was in /gsf. I ended up in a wargame or two against this person and wonder if it was you. Grats on getting your intro quest out of the way and things will get better.

Honestly, it may take more than 20 flights to get "good". Many people have to fly a few hundred before they can get the 15kill in a game achievement. So just fly around and learn. Ask if you have questions, either in group/ops or the match itself.

[DomiSotto]

Thank you, that's the video I watched, and I am going to be rewatching it a few times now I have an idea how it looks in-game for me. I do understand the targeting option & know the binds for them, but did not use them right.

 

I came to the same conclusion that I need to fly around in the tutorial to go around obstacles, change directions, etc. It's not that hard, but it takes getting used to.

 

I did not know that strafe only works when you are stationary. I'll try that in the tutorial, to see how the movement looks like. Thanks!

Edited January 22, 2016 by DomiSotto

[DomiSotto]

Who are you on Harbinger? There was an imperial last night that just started flying and was in /gsf. I ended up in a wargame or two against this person and wonder if it was you. Grats on getting your intro quest out of the way and things will get better.

Honestly, it may take more than 20 flights to get "good". Many people have to fly a few hundred before they can get the 15kill in a game achievement. So just fly around and learn. Ask if you have questions, either in group/ops or the match itself.

 

I was on a Republic toon in one game, Lariko. I was one out of 4 people with 2 ships on that crew, so I don't think I stood out. I spent most of my time with the reading and the Tutorial in the game, just tried one actual game to see how it compares to the Tutorial.

Edited January 22, 2016 by DomiSotto

[SWCNT]

Strafing should work while moving too, but how noticeable it is depends on how fast you are moving, if you stop by pressing X and then strafe it should be most noticeable. If you don't see it happening it must be a key binding issue.

[DomiSotto]

Okay, I will test it on the default binds as compared to the ones I mapped it to. I just added my binds as the second option, instead of mapping over the defaults. I see no reason to use Shift options in GSF, the 12 button mouse + KB is more than sufficient.

[Danalon]

I've cleared the daily, and did not like it how I did. Now I have some 5.5 thou comms, and I want to try 20 matches, like the guys do for Pierce or 4X.

 

I went through the Tutorial a few times. It's hard to make ship to move where you want it to move on the mini-map. Shooting down the drones was easy.

 

Waited for a pop about 5 min, got a deathmatch. Self-destructed twice (rock and ran out of the fighting area), got killed twice, contributed to 1 kill. Did not realize that I have to hit 'ready' button so sat in respawn for a while, thought it was like a PvP arena, when dead is dead. There was nothing on the chat channel, so turned it off.

 

Despite reading and watching the tutorial, did not really quite figure out I suppose how to hit things; either I was too far away, or I should have actually manually targeted them, unlike the drones, that seem to be hit by default. I did remap the targeting.

 

The rest of the controls is fine, switching power there and back, going faster, is easy. I was worried about getting too close to the rocks because I don't know how to turn around and was afraid to crush. I remapped Up and Down strafe but could not see any effect on the ship movement with it. Will try to remap L/R and try it in the tutorial.

 

I guess, I am going to buy the Ship #3 as per tips and try to use that, but I doubt it will help much.

 

So, 1/20 matches, and I was an exact equivalent of the 4X PvEer in the Arena who just loads and tries to hit things.

 

I also could not see what other people were doing so I did not feel overawed like in the fist PvP match. It's very sterile compared.

 

Findig out your location and where to fly to get where you want on the map is difficult, especially if you're not facing the right direction. You'll get used to it. There is a key, I never use it, so I don't know which one it is, that turns your ship "upside up".

 

Targeting and hitting something is a huge problem a lot of players have in the beginning. A lot of players don't know about the range of their weapons and just start shooting as soon as something pops up on the sensors. You need to get close enough so that your lead indicator turns red to be in laser range. Also you need to manually select your target or else it just selects whatever was closest to your cursor when you fired your first shot. Without manually selecting a target you can't lock on missiles and you don't have a lead indicator. Without lead indicator you're doomed to only hit non-moving targets.

 

Strafing in GSF is generally very slow. It's rarely useful. Strafing is most useful for Gunships when sniping, because with strafing they can move while firing railguns and it's harder to hit a moving target. Also charging a railgun while behind cover and strafing to get out of cover and shoot is a good way to not get shot while charging.

 

I'm not sure what the "ship #3" is but I recommend buying the Mangler/Quarrel+Rampart/Razorwire with the intro reward. The Gunship+Bomber combo is easy and you have two of the best ships which let you adapt to almost all situations right from the start. After that you should buy the Flashfire/Sting, as it's probably the best ship in the game, but it requires a lot of practice to get good with it.

 

The only way you can see - or better: guess - what your team does is checking the map for the green arrows.

[Archonitek]

Did you lower the sensitivity of your mouse? That helps alot when you first start flyin

[DomiSotto]

I think my mouse sensitivity is Okay, it's more that the space feels a bit disorienting. I tried the tutorial a bit more today, and it feels much easier. I'm just going to find more time to practice it and then try out a gunship.

[DomiSotto]

Okay, I gotta ask, is it just me, or is anyone else get the pop-ups in the tutorial that have absolutely nothing to do with the GSF? Because hilariously I get the v. useful information on like how to walk in the game and stuff.

[caederon]

Okay, I gotta ask, is it just me, or is anyone else get the pop-ups in the tutorial that have absolutely nothing to do with the GSF? Because hilariously I get the v. useful information on like how to walk in the game and stuff.

The tutorial windows are supposed to show relevant information to teach you about GSF, but its not a shock that for whatever reason it doesn't work. Honestly, it's so poorly implemented and frustratingly paced that it is nearly useless. However, the tutorial can actually be instructive and useful... if you largely ignore all the disruptive text that they keep throwing at you and just start flying around the map. There is no penalty for zooming around the whole map area, and it is a great place to practice maneuvering. Your ship is invulnerable to damage, so you can accidentally slam into the structures and asteroids and it won't blow you up (unlike in the real game). This can give you a great chance to practice boosting (spacebar), turning your ship around, flying through narrow gaps, etc.

 

Try to slog through the tutorial once following the instructions they give, shoot the target drones etc, capture the satellite. That's useful stuff to learn, even if it is horribly presented. After that, though, try running the tutorial again and after the first text instructions, just go fly around. Explore the map (it's the same as one of the ones used in the real game, Lost Shipyards) and get used to the controls. Nobody is shooting at you, so you can basically practice for 15 minutes or whatever the timer is.

 

For what it's worth, veterans of the game have complained for almost as long as GSF has existed that it needs a better tutorial. The problem with it is widely recognized, Bioware just hasn't done anything about it.

 

Despon

Edited January 23, 2016 by caederon