Galactic Starfighter is a really awesome and fun game, but it can be very overwhelming at first, especially as there is already a pool of veteran players. I've been playing GSF back since closed beta, and I know that when I first started, I had quite a learning curve to overcome. So here are my top tips for new players--I invite other experienced pilots to post tips as well, and I'll add them to the list.

 

1) Turn down your mouse sensitivity. Having accurate mouse control is everything in GSF, and you really don't need to move your mouse much outside the center 50% of your screen. I recommend setting it in the 25-33% range (which I know is far less than most MMO players play with).

 

2) Do the tutorial. To do it, open up the hangar UI and click the ( ? ) button in the top right corner. In there, you can get a feel for flying, targeting, and how to capture a satellite.

 

3) Take a tour of the maps in a Scout. For your first few matches, don't worry about trying to get kills or even capture nodes. Just get in a Scout and fly around both maps. Learn where the satellites are, where the asteroids and mesas are, where the spawn points and tunnels are. Get a feel for how long it takes to get somewhere and how long your boosters last (remember to put power to engines with F3). Don't worry whether your team is winning or losing--for the first few days, the matches will be determined by veteran aces. Stay away from the satellites and you will (probably) be left alone.

 

4) Use F1-F3 often to transfer power. If you're shooting at someone, use F1 to put power to lasers. This will maximize your damage and lengthen the time you can shoot. If you're trying to recover shields or hold a node, use F2 to put power to shields. If you're flying to a node from a spawnpoint or somewhere else, use F3 to put power to engines. If you have a mouse with lots of buttons, I'd highly recommend putting these on your mouse so you can switch between them without a second thought.

5) Earn more requisition faster by helping capture and hold satellites. Destroying turrets, capturing a satellite, and flying by that satellite to hold it will all net you the most requisition in the shortest amount of time. It's a good way to contribute and earn requisition even when you haven't yet learned to shoot a moving target very well.

 

6) Always target before firing! You can target a number ways--tab targeting will cycle through ships near you, starting with the closest. Hitting "E" will target whatever is nearest the center of your field of view. Hitting "R" will cycle through the enemies who most recently damaged you.

 

7) Understand that you're always aiming for the lead indicator. Also know that even if you feel like your aim was true, you may not see damage numbers because there is an RPG element to this. Just like the ground game, ship weapons have accuracy and ships have evasion. In general, the farther your reticle is from the center of the screen, the less accuracy your lasers will have.

 

8) Know the range of your weapons. Many lasers have a maximum range of 4000m. But some have ranges of 5000 or 6000. With certain upgrades, you can go even higher. Rockets have a range of 6000m, Cluster Missiles 5000m, Concussion Missiles 7000m, and Proton Torpedoes 10000m. The point is to know what your fighter is carrying.

 

9) Don't always rush to close distance on your target. Sometimes it is easier to hit someone at just-short-of-max range, since their movements will be easier to track at that distance.

 

10) Don't try to fight someone who is also fighting you. The best way to get kills is to attack people who are distracted shooting at something else. Once someone targets you, it is best to boost away, either to the safety of allies or a controlled node with turrets. Your pursuer will either die or lose interest. Getting into a "loop war" just results in wasted time.

 

Also feel free to check out Dulfy's comprehensive starter guide here: http://dulfy.net/2013/11/15/swtor-galactic-starfighter-new-player-guide/. It won't necessarily tell you how to win, but it clearly explains the basic mechanics and logistics of the game.

Edited January 14, 2014 by Nemarus

Great advice!!! Thanks for typing it all out

add to that no matter how much you get shot down, don't get discouraged, learning curve is slightly high, but you'll get the hang of it... just don't give up, win or lose you'll get Req. you can use for better equipment, and you'll sharpen your own skills too...

Suggestion for veterans when fighting a team that is over 50% new...let them have one satellite. I just watched over half the new players leave the op in frustration before we were 5 minutes into the match.

Suggestion for veterans when fighting a team that is over 50% new...let them have one satellite. I just watched over half the new players leave the op in frustration before we were 5 minutes into the match.

 

holding back does not allow one to improve, if they wanna get better they have to fight those already better than them, that's just how it works... if you hold back, they'll never improve but instead will stagnate into mediocrity thinking they're good when people have just been holding back on them... the key is not for the veterans to hold back, it's the newbies have to not give up... i can't think of anyone that ever got better by others holding back...i take my lumps with grace and dignity, they can too, it's all part of the experience...

 

really this reminds me of the days when people played side by side on the same couch and there was always someone that would whine "why won't you let me win?"...

Suggestion for veterans when fighting a team that is over 50% new...let them have one satellite. I just watched over half the new players leave the op in frustration before we were 5 minutes into the match.

 

Meh, I have no sympathy for players that won't stick it out because they got a kicking.

Suggestion for veterans when fighting a team that is over 50% new...let them have one satellite. I just watched over half the new players leave the op in frustration before we were 5 minutes into the match.

 

Not a bad idea, and it's unfortunate we can't communicate with them. Giving our new players a helping hand is to everyone's benefit.

Suggestion for veterans when fighting a team that is over 50% new...let them have one satellite. I just watched over half the new players leave the op in frustration before we were 5 minutes into the match.

 

Another suggestion to the veterans: if you see the matches are really unbalanced, switch sides!

 

(also, this topic needs to be stickied)

Edited January 14, 2014 by Sharee

Especially those newbies who pick NovaDive or Blackbolt to fly first.

 

Please, save yourself the frustration, and do not ever ever go into a fair 1v1 dogfight. You are not likely to win fair dogfights against competent people.

 

Fly around, shoot people from behind, shoot people who are busy fighting something else than you. Utilize the speed. If something shoots you, don't start looking for it, instead get the heck out very very fast. In the scout, you can do that.

 

As you begin to get into game, you can easily pack your own notices and experiences on these two tips and either become a great scout pilot, or at least save 5k fleet req for a better ship without having a nervous breakdown.

One of the easiest ways to pick out an inexperienced player is by how they turn and use their engine power. Any player that depletes his engine power is easy to kill and players that never use their engine power speed boosts are also easy to kill. Moving in crazy directions at the standard speed has little to no effect on the ability of an attacker to track and hit you.

 

If you want to make a tight turn hold down s while turning. Use your space bar speed boost in short bursts while quickly changing directions. This way you can keep up your power pool while also evading enemy fire. The farther to the edge of your attackers targeting reticule you are the less shorts he will land.

 

Consider taking barrel roll as your engine component ability. It is a nice ability to enter combat quickly or exit an area quickly if you get overwhelmed. Just make sure you have enough room to complete the maneuver.

 

On a slightly related note, never fly straight at someone head to head who is more upgraded than you or a scout in general. Chances are you will get killed or become a fireball and die on his second pass.

holding back does not allow one to improve, if they wanna get better they have to fight those already better than them, that's just how it works... if you hold back, they'll never improve but instead will stagnate into mediocrity thinking they're good when people have just been holding back on them... the key is not for the veterans to hold back, it's the newbies have to not give up... i can't think of anyone that ever got better by others holding back...i take my lumps with grace and dignity, they can too, it's all part of the experience...

 

really this reminds me of the days when people played side by side on the same couch and there was always someone that would whine "why won't you let me win?"...

While I understand your point, I'm afraid you underestimate the power of first impression.

 

In another thread, I posted a match where I was the only "veteran" in group of complete newbies, going against mostly experienced players. Later today the situation reversed - only this time, the other group had no veterans at all. Not a single one.

 

I fly exclusively Blackbolt, and I consider myself average or slightly above average pilot. So when I topped the scoreboard with 13 kills and 40+k damage (again, with a Blackbolt) I knew something is not right. Yes, it felt good (especially since the Empire is usually horribly crushed) but I could not help but feel sorry for the newbies. Some of them were actually pretty good pilots, and only suffered from lack of gear, lack of support and inexperience. And I would like to see them stay, so we could meet again, but this time in a balanced match.

 

At least we left them one satellite from the start, so it wasn't a complete roflstomp. They tried to play objectives and even managed to steal second satellite towards the end (since our group had some newbies too). But I still wonder -no, I'm still afraid - if some of them won't get discouraged by this experience ... this first impression.

While I understand your point, I'm afraid you underestimate the power of first impression.

 

In another thread, I posted a match where I was the only "veteran" in group of complete newbies, going against mostly experienced players. Later today the situation reversed - only this time, the other group had no veterans at all. Not a single one.

 

I fly exclusively Blackbolt, and I consider myself average or slightly above average pilot. So when I topped the scoreboard with 13 kills and 40+k damage (again, with a Blackbolt) I knew something is not right. Yes, it felt good (especially since the Empire is usually horribly crushed) but I could not help but feel sorry for the newbies. Some of them were actually pretty good pilots, and only suffered from lack of gear, lack of support and inexperience. And I would like to see them stay, so we could meet again, but this time in a balanced match.

At least we left them one satellite from the start, so it wasn't a complete roflstomp. They tried to play objectives and even managed to steal second satellite towards the end (since our group had some newbies too). But I still wonder -no, I'm still afraid - if some of them won't get discouraged by this experience ... this first impression.

 

You bring up a very valid point...but not everyone is going to do the same as you.

 

My BEST advice for a new player - don't get frustrated!!! We've had a month head start and those of us who like GSF, are generally pretty good at GSF.

You bring up a very valid point...but not everyone is going to do the same as you.

 

My BEST advice for a new player - don't get frustrated!!! We've had a month head start and those of us who like GSF, are generally pretty good at GSF.

 

The same thing can be advised to veteran players: do not get frustrated and/or angry at your teammates who happen to be new. No good can come from "yelling" at them.

The same thing can be advised to veteran players: do not get frustrated and/or angry at your teammates who happen to be new. No good can come from "yelling" at them.

 

"I" never do As long as they're at the keyboard, I'm happy...

When I notice the score getting particularly unbalanced, I often use that opportunity to switch to a base ship I don't play. By flying a gunship or strike that has not been upgraded and that I typically don't use. I've even been known to suicide just so I could switch in matches where we are stomping the other side. I figure it balances out a little.

I just realized there is no link to Dulfy's new player guide in the OP. Should be included i think.

 

http://dulfy.net/2013/11/15/swtor-galactic-starfighter-new-player-guide/

I've been playing this since I've been playing SWTOR (almost a month now) and I think I'll take one of these tips.

 

Since I have a gaming mouse with 3 different sensitivity levels I tend to just rely on that but I think I'll go to settings and try to reduce it a bit more than what this allows. When I try to make the sharpest turns possible "returning to center" seems to be rather hard as I overshoot with the mouse cursor nearly every time and then have to go back again and find center. This is most apparent when getting into head-to-head passes this always costs me precious seconds where they always start firing first but effects my getting back on target in most tight turning scenarios.

Edited January 14, 2014 by Kain_Turinbar

When I notice the score getting particularly unbalanced, I often use that opportunity to switch to a base ship I don't play. By flying a gunship or strike that has not been upgraded and that I typically don't use. I've even been known to suicide just so I could switch in matches where we are stomping the other side. I figure it balances out a little.

 

This is actually a good idea. I'll begin doing the same.

Mods should make this a sticky, it's a great guide for new players and it could be a great place to give/ask advice!

If you don't let the other team hang onto one satellite, then there will be no more turrets to frag!

EEK!

Some practical advice and info:

 

- Ships of a given class are identical, except for which components they have available.

- Aiming consists of two parts: Getting your mouse crosshair over the lead indicator, and how close the two combined are to the middle of the screen. This distance from center is the "angle" listed in blasters' tooltips.

- Power settings affect weapon/shield/engine power and not just energy regeneration rate.

- Sensor range is 15km minimum, so sensor dampening isn't as useful as it at first looks.

- Understanding that Distortion Field effectively gives 3-6s of immunity to blasters can avoid a lot of frustration. Learn to recognize what it looks like if you plan on jousting!

 

- Turn on the advanced info in the options; it's a separate flag for starfighter.

- It helps to rearrange your UI so important data (e.g. power cooldowns) isn't at the edge. You can find this under the normal screen UI controls, just select Starfighter out of the drop down menu.

- Remap your power conversion keys. F1-F4 are too far away for how often you want to use them. I recommend z-x-c-v.

 

- Wingman and Bypass are the most useful Copilot abilities.

- Upgraded Barrel Roll lets you travel for less thurster energy than afterburning.

I encourage the new players not to give up. Give it a couple of weeks until you learn the mechanics and get the hang of it. Give yourself time to upgrade your ships some and learn the skills of the game. KEEP AT IT!

And remember the Free to play payers are going to be your cannon fodder just as you are to the old vts that refuse to fly there non mastered ships

If it hasn't been said already...

 

Tucking yourself into a sat might seem like a good idea but it's really not. It might annoy newbies but any Vet pilot knows how to counter it and you're pretty much going to be space dust.

I can see why these 24/7 playing premade types want to have a human aphid population for their ant-like selves to farm.

 

Basically if you are new to GSF you will be repeatedly owned by single and double premades who will one shot you with their gunships. When they get bored of doing this they come over and try to drum up interest by making a faux encouragement post with very little useful information.

 

From here on out preferred and f2p will be one shot kills in warzones. The team with the players with most ships wins.