First time playing "Starfighter battle"

[Maulkat]

Am I part of the shuffle? If I am, it's not intended. lol

Monday (last day I flew), I did my daily imp side and then went pub for daily. I fly both sides as equally as I can on any server though.

[SeCKSEgai]

For me, it can be difficult to get a pop there if I'm solo (which I do on alts). Six and Lucky are fully mastered with 1000s of flights, solo just doesn't happen. One reason, I'm always grouped.

 

When you feel the need to constantly specify something, whether it be that you're the only t2 gunship ace or that you fly solo on alts, credibility tends to falter.

 

Harby is the most populated server. With that said, it can really have long dry spells with plenty of dead queue time. Yet, as far as I know it's also the most likely to pop when it does so having to wait an hour on harby can be like waiting 2-3+ elsewhere.

 

However, all that said, I think its a poor place to learn, and that's coming from a pilot who learned there directly. Just like Vex mentioned, people have a habit of swapping factions to join the strong side. There are also people who will basically group up with the majority of the best pilots available on-line to essentially stack the deck heavily in their favor. They will say that they're "grouping" with friends, but the reality is they very well know they're doing so to reduce their chance of losing and aren't willing to admit it. They beat up on whoever is left over and the majority of the time that's newer far less experienced pilots who don't even know a gsf channel exists, let alone that there are regular pilots.

 

So, as a new pilot just trying to learn the ropes, the likelihood is that you will be facing opposition with a ton more experience than you in ships upgraded heavily if not fully mastered, and possibly even on voice coms. How does a new pilot learn against these odds? They really don't because they're generally blown up before they even get their bearings. GSF loses most pilots after their first match. Almost all the rest quit after dealing with these groups regularly for a bit.

 

Sure, on harby you're likely to get more matches in, but they're also likely to be a lot more one-sided. I used to group a lot more often. Months ago, it was a lot easier to get two solid groups going - one would have an edge, but it would at least be competitive. But as the game bleeds clientele, gsf loses pilots as well.

 

I rarely group now, but with fewer regular pilots it's a moot point - if a group is mostly new pilots against a group of 4 well-experienced pilots on the opposing side the outcome is the same as if you were to solo. If all the experienced pilots save 1 or 2 flock to one side, the match outcome is already decided.

[DomiSotto]

I swap server and faction in ground PvP to give it a bit more variety and play with more folks. But I think I like sticking to one character for GSF more. Yes, sure I have seen someone shoot 3 people in 3 shots one after another in a game, but I don't play long enough to get a streak of loosing 15 or whatever games in a row like in ground PvP that can get anyone down. On average I'd rather get a faster pop and lose a bunch than no pop. Gathering or grinding heroics or story because there is no pop bores me nowadays.

 

Fingers crossed this is going to be a moot point once the mega-servers hit us if and when they do.

[Ramalina]

In the course of looking for "arguably best" bomber pilots on Jedi Covenant last night I was pleasantly surprised by the rate at which the queue popped. There were matches going continuously from 21:00 to 0:00 EST.

 

It's also not a pressure cooker in terms of skill, team composition, and cut-throat attitude. Spawning into a match in a stock Starguard is not a significant handicap there. Or at least it wasn't while I was flying there last night, it may be more competitive there at other times.

 

Might be worth checking out for people looking for a beginner friendly GSF server.

[MaximilianPower]

In the course of looking for "arguably best" bomber pilots on Jedi Covenant last night I was pleasantly surprised by the rate at which the queue popped. There were matches going continuously from 21:00 to 0:00 EST.

 

It's also not a pressure cooker in terms of skill, team composition, and cut-throat attitude. Spawning into a match in a stock Starguard is not a significant handicap there. Or at least it wasn't while I was flying there last night, it may be more competitive there at other times.

 

Might be worth checking out for people looking for a beginner friendly GSF server.

 

Seconded. Sure, as with any server, one side can dominate at any given time - but by and large, I think JC is pretty noob-friendly. And people seem more willing to swap factions in order to even things out, if necessary.

 

Generally speaking I see more non-meta ships and fewer coordinated groups than most other servers. JC's /gsf can be pretty active (though, granted, sometimes it's dead) and there are quite a few helpful folks always willing to lend a hand.

[SeCKSEgai]

Seconded. Sure, as with any server, one side can dominate at any given time - but by and large, I think JC is pretty noob-friendly. And people seem more willing to swap factions in order to even things out, if necessary.

 

Generally speaking I see more non-meta ships and fewer coordinated groups than most other servers. JC's /gsf can be pretty active (though, granted, sometimes it's dead) and there are quite a few helpful folks always willing to lend a hand.

 

Ha, i just saw the names in the sig - didn't realize we've flown a lot more often than I had first thought.

[DomiSotto]

Might be worth checking out for people looking for a beginner friendly GSF server

 

I just want to play on my server, on the toons in my guild, where my legacy is.... I am just so deathly tired of server hoping. It is extremely draining to be playing on more than one server. At some point I tried to maintain both Imp and Pub toons on the harbinger, and level Imps on SL and Pubs on the Hawk. The worse time I had in the game.

 

My choice is to play as many different modes of gaming as possible on as few servers as possible, and on as few toons as possible. The spreading out results in a terrible burn-out.

 

I'll take what the Harbinger throws my way. And, again, may Bio gives us the Mega.

Edited February 24, 2016 by DomiSotto

[Lavaar]

 

My choice is to play as many different modes of gaming as possible on as few servers as possible, and on as few toons as possible. The spreading out results in a terrible burn-out.

 

 

Dem loading screens and random crashes when switching servers....

[DomiSotto]

No. Leveling, mirrors, gear, augmenting, crafting, completing dailies, conquest points spread out when you actually might have hit it if just played one (ez credits for what you do for fun), and actually playing the created slew of characters w/o forgetting how to play them in between, losing touch with the guildies, missing out on something your friends are doing on another faction/another server... server separation is a nightmare.

 

I will be happy to see anything that reduces the need for server hopping.

Edited February 24, 2016 by DomiSotto

[SeCKSEgai]

No. Leveling, mirrors, gear, augmenting, crafting, completing dailies, conquest points spread out when you actually might have hit it if just played one (ez credits for what you do for fun), and actually playing the created slew of characters w/o forgetting how to play them in between, losing touch with the guildies, missing out on something your friends are doing on another faction/another server... server separation is a nightmare.

 

I will be happy to see anything that reduces the need for server hopping.

 

My account is almost completely built around harby, and with my legacy in the state that it is it's really hard to fathom moving. But as far as having a better gsf learning experience, there's no doubt in my mind that there are other servers far more forgiving to newer gsf pilots. I lost count of how many matches I went just hoping to get a kill. I had a hard time getting my bearings because my opposition outclassed me so dramatically. You could say its like trying to learn to play golf by competing against a pro like tiger woods. You're trying to learn something you're not even sure you enjoy yet and you're trying to do it by playing against someone that can compete with the very best. You could apply that to other sports but the analogy is the same (I don't do golf).

[MaximilianPower]

Ha, i just saw the names in the sig - didn't realize we've flown a lot more often than I had first thought.

 

lol, yes, i feel like 75% of my Harb matches have been with or against Roland (usually as Sylvester, I think). On a related note - thanks to his sig, I just realized I grouped with ShallowHal (as Baitah) in a crapton of matches last week during the SRW conquest event. Had no clue it was the same guy, who I've seen many times as Joras on Harb. GSF is a small world.

[DomiSotto]

I really did not feel like Harbinger was any bad. What problems I have or had were all mine, but sticking to one char seems to be working for me. Anyway, I've been talking about playing more than playing this week, 'cause that's how the week went, but I am hoping to dust off my ships and all that. Happy gaming!

[JasraL]

Wow, just read through this entire thread (as I was kind of feeling like the OP after my first stab at playing this) and I'd like to say 'thank you' to all you veteran players who have posted some really helpful tips and instructions especially in their replies to Domi. I myself have been reading through the guides, trying to absorb all of the information (there is a lot!), flying around in the tutorial to practice a bit, talking with guildies who play this, and trolling through these forum posts for useful insights to help me get the hang of things. So for me it's been read, play, die, and repeat.

 

According to the stats, so far I've done an entire hour of gameplay (or gamedying to be more accurate) and yesterday was the first time that (1) I didn't try to fly my Scout through a solid object, (2) I didn't barrel roll into a rock, (3) I got two assists (so must have hit something other than dead space), (4) I earned 6 medals (haven't a clue what they were for, but so what), (5) I did not come dead last on the board at the end of the match. I was feeling pretty chuffed with myself about that.

 

I still like the Domination scenario better than the 'all out kill-or-be-killed' one, but that's probably because I'm such a noob and have a basic ship (still need to purchase some upgrades, but undecided on what to buy first) and still learning how to play--or rather, how not to crash, how to target, and how to run away. That, and I feel bad when my inglorious noobie demise gives away a point to the other team.

 

So thank you veterans for helpful insights and thank you Domi for documenting your learning curve so far. It's been helpful! I'm really looking forward to playing more GSF and could almost kick myself for not getting into this before now. Started this this week just to see about earning some conquest points, but it's kind of growing on me.

[DomiSotto]

I am glad it helps a little!

 

I've actually had quite an uplifting GSF night yesterday because I told my guildies that I would just clear my GSF daily and then join them for ground PVP, and it ended with all 11 of us queueing for GSF for a few fights mostly on completely new ships with live urgent tips TS tutorial with everyone mixed in with and vs. In that respect, the small size of the population on the Harbinger favored us, as we always made it in the same match. We had loads of fun, hopefully not at the expense of the rest of the long-suffering Harbinger population.

 

The Sattelite matches were super-close, but in Death matches having a bit of the extra folks with more experience made it more uneven, but my guildies seem to like them more than the sat games. Overall, I am keeping fingers crossed that we can do it again, and that getting those first comms and new ships will be a hook enough for the good folks to play it along with the ground game.

Edited March 4, 2016 by DomiSotto

[Danalon]

(1) I didn't try to fly my Scout through a solid object, (2) I didn't barrel roll into a rock

 

I've 2-3k games played and during the last 5 matches I crashed into an object 4 times, including one barrel roll and two retros.

 

(still need to purchase some upgrades, but undecided on what to buy first)

 

Generally there are some components/upgrades which are more important to make a ship work than others, obviously you should buy those first. Never use fleet req for buying ship upgrades though. I'll list some of the components/upgrades I go for on some ships.

 

As a rule of thumb, if a ship has any of these components, they should be equipped: burst laser, distortion field, hyperspace beacon, ion railgun, slug railgun, heavy lasers (and maybe clusters).

 

On most ships: unlocking the first and second tier of engine and shields improves those abilities a lot and can be done early (if you want to replace a component, don't buy upgrades for it).

 

T1 Scout: I usually don't play this scout, but when starting a new character I try to get the armor ignore for rocket pods asap. I usually switch to laser cannon and then try to get distortion field with the T3 missile break.

 

T1 Bomber: Hyperspace beacon before everything, then charged plating and armor for better surviveability on satellites. Switch to interdiction mines, upgrade heavy lasers to armor ignore, after that improve mines.

 

T1 Gunship: This ship needs imho the most req to work at close tu full capacity. Usually I put 2 tiers in distortion field and barrel roll and then focus on railguns with the goal of getting ion rail T4 splash and T5 regeneration blocker as well as slug rail T4 armor ignore (I'm terrible at saving req so sometimes I buy the railgun upgrades with no specific order). After that distortion field T3 missile break and burst laser T4 armor ignore.

 

T2 Scout: I have a different build than most pilots for this ship, but usually I try to get burst lasers with armor ignore, distortion field with T3 missile break, lightweight armor and retros with 2 tiers unlocked as soon as possible.

 

 

I don't really have a plan for other ships, because when I'm at the point where I buy them, I usually have enough requisition tokens to skip the "what do I buy first"-dilemma.

Edited March 4, 2016 by Danalon

[Lavaar]

Danalon gives generally good advice here, especially with regards to not spending fleet requisition on upgrades. However, I would be a little wary of following the "recommended builds" to a T when first starting out in this game. The fact is that there are MANY viable builds that work, and with different components come different playstyles. Someone who runs barrel roll does not fly the same way as someone who uses retros, and same goes for almost every kind of ability available. What makes this game fun for people is finding a loadout which compliments the type of playstyle that they have fun with and excel at. Following the recommended builds of always using DistortionField and BurstLaserCannons whenever they are available will create a very specific type of playstyle, one which many people (myself included) do not enjoy nor excel at, and these days has become so common that most competent pilots are adept at countering it.

 

With that being said, there are a number of components that are available in the game right now that we believe were meant to be balanced with future content, but due to that content never being introduced, these components are laughably lackluster in the current GSF environment and currently have only VERY niche uses. These components we on the gsf forum commonly refer to as "trap" components, as they are easy to sink requisition into without ever really providing a payoff. Some components and abilities you should avoid putting req into while you are first learning the game have been explained in detail by despon, in the post directly below this one.

Edited March 5, 2016 by Lavaar

[caederon]

Mini Guide to Components for New Players

 

TRAPS

These will make it harder for beginners to survive and learn the game in the early stages. I highlight the worst of the worst in red:

 

 

• Rapid Fire Lasers - these make a cool sound, but hit like a feather... when they hit at all.
  
• Light Laser Cannon - Very inaccurate when firing off-center, which you will be doing a lot. Short Range, low damage.
  ___
  
• Ion Missile - relatively useless even when fully upgraded. There is always a better option.
  
• EMP Missile - Not very beginner friendly, and of limited use. When fully upgraded it is a niche weapon that is still lackluster.
  
• Proton / Thermite Torpedo - You will spend a lot of time trying to lock these and have your enemy either break the lock or move out of your firing arc.
  
• Plasma Railgun - in theory this one sounds cool, but it is harder to land shots with than the other railguns and offers nothing comparable to the massive utility of Ion Railgun's AoE.
  ___
  
• EMP Field - You won't get much use out of it, and you'll be putting yourself in dangerous positions to fire it off. More suited for someone who knows specifically why they want to use this component.
  
• Sensor Beacon - Just not that useful. It has some weird tricks it does, but you have better choices.
  
• Combat Command - This is just inferior in almost any situation to either Tensor Field (T3 scout) or Repair Probes (T3 strike) in terms of overall team utility.
  
• Remote Slicing - Low range and general lack of utility again compared to the abilities that really make the T3 scout and strike worth having on a team.
  ___
  
• Fortress Shield - This keeps you stuck in one place, which is basically sentencing you to a quick, focused death. The extra shields do not last long against anyone who knows what they are doing. Also has no missile break.
  
• Quick-Charge Shield - Lower overall shield pool makes you easier to blow up, and the quick recharge won't save you for long
  
• Charged Plating - Never take this with a T1 Strike. This is only ever useful on T1 bombers, paired with Deflection Armor. Most of the good weapons in the game will entirely negate its effect.
  ___
  
• Weapon Power Converter - useless
  
• Interdiction Drive - horrible drain on your engine pool, prevents you from getting anywhere, only ever has a very very niche use.
  
• Power Dive - this is actually a really good component for a lot of reasons, but as a beginner you would likely have about a 90% certainty of planting your ship into a rock.
  
• Rotational Thrusters - No missile break, no help in escaping a bad situation, no real use.
  ___
  
• Deflection Armor - Damage Reduction is useless to any ship other than the T1 Bomber with Charged Plating. There is a niche T2 strike build using CP and Deflection Armor that beginners should go nowhere near.
  
• Reinforced Armor - more HP is ok, but not getting hit at all (which you get from Lightweight Armor) is better.
  ___
  
• _____ Sensors - don't spend your requisition on the Sensor component unless the rest of your ship is mastered. It will provide you with few tangible benefits.
  ___
  
• Turning Thrusters - for a beginner, other thrusters that give you either more engine pool (Power Thrusters) or faster replenishment (Regeneration Thrusters) are much better.
  
• Speed Thrusters - again, having enough power in your engine pool is more important than flat out speed.
  ___
  
• Any co-pilot ability other than Wingman or Running Interference - Wingman adds a long lasting buff to your Accuracy, Running Interference adds a long lasting buff to your Evasion... both are the most important stats in the game. The rest of the copilot abilities are either niche use or no-use.
  

 

Some of the very best components for new players to take are:

 

GREAT CHOICES

• Cluster Missiles - these lock very fast and you'll get the hang of how to use missiles easier.
  ___
  
• Distortion Field - this increases your Evasion, meaning that even if you are flying slowly in a straight line, people will miss when shooting at you.
  ___
  
• Barrel Roll - this has the most predictable motion of any of the escape-oriented engine maneuvers. It can also get you where you're going faster. Get the first upgrade ASAP so it drains less engine power. The boost to turning rate on the third tier upgrade is also very useful.
  ___
  
• Running Interference - this co-pilot ability, as mentioned above, gives you a long-lasting Evasion boost making you harder to hit. It also effects nearby allies.
  ___
  
• Passive crew abilities that give you a bonus to Evasion and Accuracy - these are very important. Make sure your offensive crewman gives you an Accuracy bonus, and your Defensive adds to your Evasion. You will land more shots and your enemies will miss you more often.
  

 

Despon

Edited March 4, 2016 by caederon

[DomiSotto]

Guys, that's pure gold. Thank you!

[Danalon]

I encourage new players to at least try retros (upgraded to T2, 5k req total). Imho they're almost as easy to handle as barrel roll and on the T2 Scout, they're opening a different playstyle than barrel roll. BLC and Clusters are easy to handle weapons and work with both barrel roll and retros.

[DakhathKilrathi]

I encourage new players to at least try retros (upgraded to T2, 5k req total). Imho they're almost as easy to handle as barrel roll and on the T2 Scout, they're opening a different playstyle than barrel roll. BLC and Clusters are easy to handle weapons and work with both barrel roll and retros.

 

Agreed. Retros are definitely worth trying and Power Dive is pretty handy too: it has a short cooldown and costs no engine when upgraded just a little bit. Eventually you'll get the hang of it without needing to think about it every time, but the general rule with Pdive is: look where you want to go, point your nose up, then hit it.

Edited March 4, 2016 by DakhathKilrathi

[ALaggyGrunt]

Rotational thrusters are for a gunship to say "Surprise, I am in fact looking at you."

Power thrusters are useless: regeneration thrusters give extra endurance and faster recharge. Power thrusters just give extra endurance, and take more time to charge back up.

Quick-charge shields provide mobility. One of their base stats is to increase the "Engine Power Recently Consumed Regeneration Rate", which translates out to your engines lasting a lot longer. You only ever want to consider them on a strike fighter, because distortion shield is broken-good.

Targeting telemetry is a versatile lethality increase: you get +10% chance to hit, +5% crit rate. Since most things are running distortion field anyway, it's a good upgrade.

Laser cannons on the T1 scout are a very newbie-friendly weapon, with a nice killzone and pretty good accuracy out to maximum range. They stack nicely with pods. Combined with targeting telemetry and (choose: wingman or concentrated fire), they kill stationary things very quickly.

Burst laser cannons are broken-good. They start out as a weapon you can kill almost anything with. At tier 4, they gain armor ignore, which makes them a kill-anything gun. If you have that weapon as a choice on a ship, you don't want any other 4000m gun. Every ship this weapon can be mounted on is a Most Effective Tactic Available ship.

[caederon]

Retros are definitely worth trying and Power Dive is pretty handy too

I agree that they're both great components, but I wouldn't throw someone on their first swimming lesson into the middle of the ocean. New players generally will not have the spatial awareness to be able to properly aim themselves when using PD or retros. They have enough trouble with what is clearly visible in front of them. After they have some flight time in, those are natural choices to learn. Until they're comfortable with basic flying, hitting 3 to 'go in the same direction you're pointing and can see what's in front of you' seems wiser.

 

Rotational thrusters are for a gunship to say "Surprise, I am in fact looking at you."

Power thrusters are useless: regeneration thrusters give extra endurance and faster recharge. Power thrusters just give extra endurance, and take more time to charge back up.

Rotational Thrusters in the hands of a new player guarantee they will have no tools to get out trouble, whether it's from incoming attackers or missiles. Even if they run Distortion Field it will take a while to get that missile break and they have stuff they could upgrade instead that will help them more. I just can see no reason to recommend a component that does nothing other than maybe give you one shot at something that will quite possibly evade it anyway.

 

I generally agree that I'd almost never take Power Thrusters over Regeneration Thrusters, but both are better for a new pilot than Turning or Speed. If their ship comes equipped with Power Thrusters, it's not something they have to change immediately.

 

Despon

[ALaggyGrunt]

It's called Power Die for a reason. In your first few battles with them, you will probably learn why.

 

If you try to kill an ace who uses it, you will see why they like it.

[Ramalina]

I'm fairly neutral on Directionals vs Quick Charge for a true beginner.

 

Directionals are a lot more tanky, but they're also much easier to get into trouble with if you try active management and get it wrong.

 

In general for beginners with Directionals I tell them to never shift the shield away from balanced unless they're sure no one can shoot at them. Lack of situational awareness and the ability to put most of your shield strength in a place where it might be useless are not a good combination.

 

Quick Charge on the other hand has very simple usage: "If you get hit, press this button." Between that and an enhanced ability to run for it, it has some merit as a beginner's shield, especially if it's paired with Large Reactor.

[Ryuku-sama]

I disagree with copilot choices.

 

Wingman is great. Running Interferance is good on an evasion build. But for jousting, 1vs1 and general dogfighting with low pressure, Suppression is best.