Hello all,

I don't post much, but I'd like to offer some friendly advice to newcomers of GSF.

 

1) You're going to get blown up a lot until you get the hang of it and build your ship up. Perseverance usually wins the day. Just keep at it and don't forget to pick up your dailies and weeklies in the Starfighter Deck at Carrick Station! Some of us folks that have been playing longer want you to get better and want you to enjoy it... which brings me to number...

 

2) There are some rude, pretentious people that you will team up with. You'll be able to tell the difference between a good leader who is trying to help and someone who is an egocentric "MVP" who has nothing but negativity flying from their fingertips. Unfortunately, these people are ignorant to the facts of number one above there and generally make the match stressful and less fun than it should be. Put them on ignore and you'll be free of their puerile behavior. The sad thing though is that these negative people are usually good players and can offer pretty good in-game tactical advice, it's just not worth reading their craptastic rants.

 

3) Even if you get good, you're going to have bad days and bad matches. There are teams out there that operate on a level that amaze. Watching entire groups move and fight in formation, with tight organization... you're just not going to win them all (even though said negative peeps above can't seem to live without winning every time). Just have fun and try your best.

 

And that's it. That's all I have. Unlike my negative counterparts, I want more GSF players and I want you to feel encouraged enough to keep trying. So welcome! I don't care if you rolled that Starguard off the showroom floor with no amenities! Come play!

 

~Killthorne~

As a newcomer myself, I don't necessarily have a lot of wisdom to offer. However in the 2 weeks or so I've been hitting the GSF queues, I've learned a few things 'the hard way" that someone else might benefit from.

 

1) You're going to get blown up a lot until you get the hang of it and build your ship up.

I had an "Ah-Ha!" moment the other day in a Team Death Match (TDM) game. The game was close. Both teams had scores in the 40s. I spawned and boosted into the furball twice, and got burned like I'd brought a paper airplane to a dogfight. Waiting for respawn the third time, I realized that in a game which is won by scoring more kills against the other team, I was just helping the other team win.

 

This time, I held back, behind the main battle line of the fight, sniped at a few scouts that zipped through the lines. We won 50-48.

 

Sometimes the best thing you can do for your team isn't to inflict damage on the other guys, it's simply "Don't die".

 

2) There are some rude, pretentious people that you will team up with. You'll be able to tell the difference between a good leader who is trying to help and someone who is an egocentric "MVP" who has nothing but negativity flying from their fingertips.

There are also some really decent people out there. Seek them out. Join the "GSF" channels and listen. Admit there that you're new. You may be surprised how much advice people are willing to give. I even had one person who had whispered me with a negative comment turn around and offer some tactical advice once they realized that I was only in my 2nd day of flying.

 

There will be trolls in any online community. Don't spend time on them. Spend time seeking those who will help you get better.

 

3) Even if you get good, you're going to have bad days and bad matches.

When I have a REALLY bad one, I try to take a few moments after the match (before re-queueing) to think about why it was bad. Was I too tunnel vision on my target? Did I overfly the rest of my team? Was I trying to take on 3 ships by myself at an objective instead of waiting for backup?

 

I've a night (or two) where it seemed like nothing was going well. I'd end with 1 kill, 2 assists, 9 deaths and less than 10k damage. Sometimes, the better part of valor is to realize that you just need to go to bed and come back to fight another day.

 

 

There are teams out there that operate on a level that amaze. Watching entire groups move and fight in formation, with tight organization...

Try to learn who these folks are. Listen in the GSF channel, pay attention during your matches. Watch how they work together as a team. Tag along behind them in the matches. You can learn some things by watching individual pilots. But a team of 3 pilots working together will toast most competition. By learning how they play off each other, you can start to do some of the same things even with a PUG teammate.

 

Just have fun and try your best.

Best advice ever in any aspect of an MMO. When I was running guilds, I used to tell my members that if they aren't having fun, they need to think about what they're doing wrong. Games should be fun, not another source of stress and frustration in our lives.

I just wanted to pop in and tell you guys excellent post's!

 

I am always encouraged by new guys with positive attitudes!

 

I am now flying on many servers and I like to fly with anyone who would like to learn something. Just an fyi though most veterans can get a little huffy when the "new guys" don't listen. I rarely make suggestions in chat anymore cus people don't respond much.

 

Republic name is the same and Imperial is one or the other hehe. Just check my sig for the info!

 

Again good job guys!

Edited February 23, 2015 by SithAceI

1) Turn down your mouse sensitivity to like 20%. You can test turning it back up later once you've gotten some practice.

 

2) In TDM, don't rush in. Hang back near Bombers and Gunships. Work on just landing some hits and getting some assists.

 

3) In Domination, if there's not an enemy Bomber on a satellite, stay close to it. You'll get defense requisition and keep yourself safer from Gunships.

 

4) In Domination, if there is an enemy Bomber on a satellite, fly down below the satellite and aim up at the Bomber. You may not kill it, but you'll pester it and hopefully help your allies kill it.

 

5) Don't fight Flashfires or Stings at close range, unless you're in a Bomber. Go somewhere else.

 

6) Don't fight people who are targeting you. You can't kill someone in a turning war, and gear + experience will always win in a joust. Attack someone who is attacking someone else.

 

7) Don't sweat losing. Everyone loses. There's no tutorial, so make every match one. If you feel like your team is guaranteed to lose, then use the time to practice flying, shooting, reading tooltips, getting assists, and defending what your team has.

 

8) Don't use Rapid Fire Lasers, ever. Upgrade them as soon as possible. On starter Scout, switch to Laser Cannons if you like fighting from longer range, or Light Laser Cannons if you like fighting close up. I recommend the former. On the starter Strike, switch the Rapids out for Ion Cannons--they don't kill, but they deal tons of shield damage and will get you lots of assists, which equals requisition. They are especially good when combined with Cluster Missiles.

 

9) Don't always close range on your target. Unless you are using Burst Laser Cannons, you are going to be more accurate shooting from the edge of your range, since your target will be easier to keep centered.

 

10) Know the ranges of your weapons! The majority of lasers have a range of 4km. All railguns have a range of 15km. Don't bother shooting at anyone who is beyond your range.

Edited February 23, 2015 by Nemarus

My advice would be to fly defensively at first. Learn your ship, how it maneuvers, how it boosts, how it feels. Take the time and learn the maps, pick spots that have lots of cover such as the "C" areas in domination maps and use that cover.

 

Grab defensive abilities first, lower your missile break cool down, if you're a scout or gunship grab your distortion field and evasion etc learn where gunships lurk and how to avoid their line-of-sight, learn where bombers set up and avoid their bomber nests.

 

If you concentrate on staying alive first and foremost then you'll enjoy the game more and your team-mates will appreciate your efforts more. I'd much rather see a noobie with a record of 0-5-3 then 0-7-7, which doesn't seem like much but if 3 new players do this then it's 12 kills saved for your team.

 

Be honest, if you're new don't be ashamed to tell people before a match. You might get some valuable advice, most of us in the GSF community are pretty mature & supportive and at least we'll know you're not just a conquest farmer looking for easy points at the cost of our fun.

 

Don't be that guy who flies slow, in straight lines towards satellites firing your RFLs and rocket pods from 10000m like a maniac and then cries he can't hit anything and gunships are op. Also, don't be that guy who over-pursues everybody you had no chance of killing with your RFLs and rocket pods to begin with and die every 30secs because you flew into a hornets nest of enemy ships and 2 minefields trying to kill an ace in an evasion build scout.

 

Do be the guy who develops a pack mentality. If you get in trouble head for friendlies, fly toward a team mate in a gunship so he can score an easy kill and save your *** from becoming space dust. Fly through a friendly mine field, your pursuer might follow you and get blown up or slowed, you might get healed on the way through plus you just got your bomber team mate more req through kills, assists and heals which I'm sure he'll appreciate and maybe instead of penalizing the team with a death you gave them a point for a kill.

 

Don't get discouraged if you get 1-shotted and didn't even see it coming. It happens, even to grizzled vets and space aces. Sometimes 2 gunships hit you at once or 2 battle scouts unload on you in split second and you went from full shields and health to a spawn screen, it's the nature of the beast.

 

Finally, skim these forums, there's a wealth of information players have shared over the past year on optimal builds, play-styles, and tips to better play.

GSF really is fun once you get the hang of it... Heck, it's fun from the get-go, all things considered.

 

It's been what, a couple of months since I started, and let me just say that all the tough fights spent learning the maps and opposing pilot/class playstyles have paid off. You only improve on such a scale by playing with (and against) the very best your server can throw at you. Trial by fire, as they say... Through it all, you gain valuable experience, and decently upgraded ships in the process.

 

For ease of fleet & ship requisition, I'd complete the weekly and daily GSF PvP quests, as often as possible. Since I split my GSF time between 2 characters, I chose to unlock one ship class for each: For me, unlocked Scout ships for my Smuggler, and unlocked Strike Fighter ships for my Trooper. That's just me.

 

NEVER quit a battle, no matter how one-sided (loyalty to your faction, to the virtual death, no matter the odds). You win some, you lose some, so you may as well live the GSF experience in its entirety, including the 'comeback' situations that can occur when you least expect one .

 

If possible, start piloting for the faction you have more character classes with, if only to unlock more crewmembers to share among your characters on that faction's GSF component. This went hand-in-hand with my own Smuggler + Trooper companions, as they all eventually became available to each other, making for some interesting combinations and co-pilot abilities on each ship.

 

As for my preference of Scouts and Strike Fighters... They bring back memories of the good-old 'X-Wing vs TIE Fighter' dog-fighting days, only this time, the enemy is real and more unpredictable. Been able to make fairly good counters against gunships and bombers, using my preferred class selection of ships, too .

Another thing - keep in mind that you will be farmed - due to the records threads people have mostly no mercy for new players. You will be mercilessly slaughtered... because someone will always want to rank at #1.

If you can't stand it - better not even start.

 

However I advise to start anyway. Wven with the 0:1000 match, you earn commedations, with each match you're gaining skill and knowledge how to bite back.

Don't get mad. Get even.

When you kill - or help to kill - that man with his precious 10+ kill/death ratio, it will be worth it

Edited February 25, 2015 by Bolo_Yeung

I'm relatively sure the records threads aren't the main reason for farming. Sometimes it's just impossible to tune down one's game even more because tuning down would mean going afk.

Also because of the different skill (and equipment) levels sometimes both teams can get the impression of being farmed while being in the same game. For example one team has 2 "aces" + 6 new players while the other has 8 mediocre pilots with more or less upgraded ships. The mediocre team will farm the new players of the other team while being farmed by the aces.

In other situations not farming would just prolong the uninevitable. For example some people say you should give a worse team one satellite in a DOM game. What's the point? The game will just pe prolonged while the bad team is either circling their satellite helplessly or being slaughtered while trying to attack another satellite. I for myself prefer losing quickly instead of running my head agains a wall while the wall is shooting at me from the cover of it's minefield.

Edited February 25, 2015 by Danalon

Well, for me the record threads are the main reason... and I think we can all agree that they have a serious influence (most of the records can be beaten only when facing newbies...).

And no, 'prolonging the inevitable' isn't a bad thing (unless someone is farming conquest points). Losing 5 times in a row with the score about 300:1000 or 20:50 is quite less discouraging than 50:1000 or 3:50. Thats why I think that good players should tone down a little when facing weak opponents (why not level that double torpedo GS instead of playing mastered already ship for increasing KDR?...)...

However, I am aware of the fact that for some people haviung top score is important - their choice.

Well, for me the record threads are the main reason... and I think we can all agree that they have a serious influence (most of the records can be beaten only when facing newbies...).

And no, 'prolonging the inevitable' isn't a bad thing (unless someone is farming conquest points). Losing 5 times in a row with the score about 300:1000 or 20:50 is quite less discouraging than 50:1000 or 3:50. Thats why I think that good players should tone down a little when facing weak opponents (why not level that double torpedo GS instead of playing mastered already ship for increasing KDR?...)...

However, I am aware of the fact that for some people haviung top score is important - their choice.

 

The highest kill and total damage records are only set when it's 1 ace + 7 newbs vs. 8 moderate pilots. In that situation, the 8 moderate pilots would win the match, except the ace farms them to carry.

 

If it's 1 ace + 7 moderate pilots vs. 8 newbs, the moderate pilots will kill the newbies quickly enough that there won't be enough damage and kills left for the ace to post a record performance.

 

The only high record that you can set against newbs is damage per second.

Moderate pilots with a little thinking will hop into GS and concentrate on the 'ace', making him some troubles. The highest score is gained with 1+7newbs against 8 newbs - with gunship / battlescout and some DOs.

However, this does not change the fact that records thread is provoking merciless slaughtering. And that, in turn, discourages the enemy team.

And no, the best DPS is against moderate team with AoE rail + engine disruption. 150+k without little effort. If the 'ace' isn't killing them, they will most of the time concentrate on closer targets ...

I'm relatively sure the pilots posting in record threads are a minority. My view might be biased because there are only 3 people of my whole server posting in the 2.8+ records thread - and I know 4 more pilots who just need to look through their screenshot folder to find record games. Still I have the feeling there aren't that many pilots posting there overall.

 

From my experience most of my records come from more or less balanced matches - including records that aren#t on the list anymore. And lots of the other records also are from balanced matches - medal records basically require a balanced match while dps records are easier to achieve in inbalanced matches.

Balanced can mean different things though. A game can be balanced when pilots on both sides have all around equal skill/equipment. Or it can be balanced when there is 1 ace + 7 cannon fodders versus 8 mediocre pilots. A lot of other circumstances and setups can lead to balanced games too.

Edited February 26, 2015 by Danalon

I haven't experienced a lot of "farming". I have seen where 1 or 2 people seem to seek me out, but I mostly pilot a gunship. Gunship pilots should get used to being on the top of the Most Wanted list.

Some additional advice to offer the new pilot (based on mistakes I've made - and sometimes still make)...

 

Maintain Awareness

For me, the three basic steps to mediocrity were...

1. Being able to fly my ship without crashing (although that still happens when I case a scout somewhere a GS shouldn't be flying)
   
2. Learning how to shoot and hit what I'm shooting at (without wasting my entire blaster energy pool)
   
3. Becoming aware of what's going on around me
   

Most of my fellow newbie pilots can get by steps 1 and 2. But I see many who are stuck on #3. They overfly their teammates, getting suckered into a kill zone. Or my fellow GS pilots are in sniper vision for too long and don't see the Strike coming up on their port side. Once you can fly and shoot, work on becoming more aware of the battle around you.

 

Learn to Roll

Probably the best thing I learned from Dulfy's Galactic Starfighter - New Player's Guide was that ships climb/dive faster than they turn. Get used to using the A and D keys to roll your fighter left and right then climb/dive to be able to turn more quickly.

 

User Interface

The other thing I learned from Dulfy's guide was the idea of moving the UI elements around. I have followed a system similar to her's. The basic idea is to limit how far away from the target you need to look to see key information about your ship status, targets, the battlefield map, etc. It has helped me a LOT to not have to look to the corners of my monitor to see the minimap, my target, weapon statuses, etc.

Another advice: watch some videos posted by other players. Or post your own and ask for constructive criticisms... there is never shortage of criticisms here!

Another advice: watch some videos posted by other players. Or post your own and ask for constructive criticisms... there is never shortage of criticisms here!

I like this idea. My problem is from the array of pilots out there to watch, how does one choose who would be a good example?

 

As to the 2nd point, what software to people use to capture videos of their matches?

I like this idea. My problem is from the array of pilots out there to watch, how does one choose who would be a good example?

 

As to the 2nd point, what software to people use to capture videos of their matches?

 

I've been doing request videos and video criticism for a really long time. All of my videos are on my twitch stream in highlights as well as most on Youtube both links are in my signature. If you want a specific ship or build you can let me know and I'll make a video of that.

 

As for what software I myself just use Dxtory and Xsplit to stream and just upload those videos. I've heard others use Open Broadcaster to record themselves.

As to the 2nd point, what software to people use to capture videos of their matches?

 

I use shadowplay, but it's only available on geforce cards 650 and higher series. It features the lowest hit to game performance and has the ability to directly stream to twitch or just record to hard drive. It's a good feature if you have the right card. If not, I'd recommend OBS.