Just returned and resubscribed for a month... and tried the new galactic star-fighter thing...well after a few hours of it...I am somewhat put off.

It can be fun but I get blown away as soon as I spot any enemy and get within range of them.

This is NOT fun for newcomers....not to mention that you can BUY top ships from cartel market!!!

That is not fair unless you got parents who will pay for it or have extra cash to throw at it....just not a fair deal for those that are limited financially!!!( like have to use all their hard earned money on bills etc etc)

I can see this new addition is more Pay to Win then anything else!!!

If this is the state of the game...then you can be sure that this will be my last month to ever subscribe again......I despise Pay to Win games......

The cartel market ships are identical to models available in the rest of the game, and only have cosmetic differences. They don't have any inherent advantage except a boost to requisition earned, which is par for the course: you can spend credits or cartel coins to slightly speed up the grind, but it doesn't give anyone an inherent advantage in combat.

GSF has a very high skill and experience barrier, and is much faster paced than ground pvp, so it does not forgive mistakes easily. Until matchmaking and/or cross-server queuing is enabled for it, be prepared to lose, a lot, until you get better and can hold your own. Depending on your server, you might also see a lot of faction skill imbalance, so there's that to consider as well.

The cartel market ships are identical to models available in the rest of the game, and only have cosmetic differences. They don't have any inherent advantage except a boost to requisition earned, which is par for the course: you can spend credits or cartel coins to slightly speed up the grind, but it doesn't give anyone an inherent advantage in combat.

 

GSF has a very high skill and experience barrier, and is much faster paced than ground pvp, so it does not forgive mistakes easily. Until matchmaking and/or cross-server queuing is enabled for it, be prepared to lose, a lot, until you get better and can hold your own. Depending on your server, you might also see a lot of faction skill imbalance, so there's that to consider as well.

^^THIS!!!

Please don't give up on it yet - it's highly addictive when you figure everything out. It will take time too, not something you'll learn in a day or two. It's honestly not the gear (components) of the other players that's making it difficult, it's their skill and experience...there's only one way to get the experience.

If you had any fun, please give it a few more tries. It's FAST! I suggest a Scout for a starter pilot. They're nimble and quick...press F3 as soon as you spawn (to start AND after dying) - that transfers power to your engines and allows you a bit more survivability if you get attacked. Just follow the pack and get a feel for the map and the handling of the ship.

The cartel market ships are identical to models available in the rest of the game, and only have cosmetic differences. They don't have any inherent advantage except a boost to requisition earned, which is par for the course: you can spend credits or cartel coins to slightly speed up the grind, but it doesn't give anyone an inherent advantage in combat.

 

GSF has a very high skill and experience barrier, and is much faster paced than ground pvp, so it does not forgive mistakes easily. Until matchmaking and/or cross-server queuing is enabled for it, be prepared to lose, a lot, until you get better and can hold your own. Depending on your server, you might also see a lot of faction skill imbalance, so there's that to consider as well.

The part about cartel ships not having a better advantage over ones you can earn- that has made me feel somewhat better- now to fix the "noob welcome" to galactic starfighter- I dont expect to be pro and have all the best stuff...but getting blown away every time after you have spawned-flown to the battle and bam...dead after 1-2 shots

Its tough for newcomers due to the fact there is no other way to earn the requisition needed to upgrade or buy ships apart from doing the pvp matches over and over and keep getting blown way till you can upgrade...ah well best to get back to dying to earn the requisition

Make sure you pick up the intro quests and after that the daily and weekly at the PVP terminal for GSF. That will give you a good chunk of requisition, no matter how badly your first few matches go. After that, pick a ship of your choice, and look at the components. There are guides in these forums and on dulfy that can help you focus on what your upgrade paths should be.

Also, do the tutorial. Fly around, get used to the movement, hotkeys, and UI. It's not the best intro, but it will give you the basics.

If you're on Shadowlands, msg Xi'ao, and I can give you some pointers. I've found most GSF pilots are actually quite nice and don't mind giving suggestions, at least on my server.

The part about cartel ships not having a better advantage over ones you can earn- that has made me feel somewhat better- now to fix the "noob welcome" to galactic starfighter- I dont expect to be pro and have all the best stuff...but getting blown away every time after you have spawned-flown to the battle and bam...dead after 1-2 shots

Its tough for newcomers due to the fact there is no other way to earn the requisition needed to upgrade or buy ships apart from doing the pvp matches over and over and keep getting blown way till you can upgrade...ah well best to get back to dying to earn the requisition

Well getting in the proper mindset is a great start, but I would first recommend searching these forums for starter tips. Several of us have posted numerous times a lot of helpful information. Read. Read. Read.

Then focus on one thing at a time... learn how to assault defensive turrets successfully and turn an undefended satellite. Then work on defenses; evading missile locks and missiles, being a hard target to keep lined up, managing power/engine reserves, LOS your pursuers, etc. Once you are hard to kill, THEN work on offensive skills.

Like other people have said, GSF is very much skill based; 8 times out of 10, a good flyer will beat a better geared flyer (those other two time accounting for other pilots in the fight). There are some ship upgrades that give people basically a 1-2 punch shooting ability (proton torpedoes, slug railguns, burst shot blasters) when fully upgraded and itemized properly with the right secondary components and co-pilot abilities. Best thing I would say to counter these is to pick your battles. Knowing which fights you can survive and which ones to run away from is a matter of experience, the more you fly, the better you'll get at recognizing those situations.

The only other thing I would suggest, if at all possible, get a group of buddies together and hop on your favorite voice com software and go hunting. Flying with a group of people that you can communicate quickly and easily with makes GSF soooooooooooooooooooooooo much better. Actual conversation I've had with people I've played with (he's in a gunship and I'm in a strike fighter).

Gunship "Blah is targeting me and won't let me set up to shoot."

Me "On my way"... 15-30 sec later "Got him."

Later on in the same battle

Me "I trying to cap point A but there's a scout here I can't nail. Help."

Gunship "Just a sec" ... "Happy caping."

Needless to say, having people to fly with is awesome

just my two cents,

the ships are all the same except for cosmetic and some minor load out differences.

as others have said GSF has a steep learning curve. you will not 'master' it in just a couple of matches.

when I first tried it I failed miserably my first 2 matches... couldn't figure out the maps, couldn't figure out the controls (even after the tutorial) and really x3 couldn't figure out how to even fly the damn thing. (and I've been gaming since the mid '80's lol, including X-wing and other flying games)

came back to it a week later to give it another try, took the time to practice, and figured - "hey, this is PvP. I am going to die many many times so why not cut myself some slack"?

now, with over 300 matches under my belt (others have more of course ) I've learned to do all the things I couldn't and find it much easier to compete with the best of them.

(my scout??... a dive bombing, turret killing, gun ship stomping, node capturing dream is a blast to fly... a far cry from when I first tried the damn thing )

start with a strike fighter and stick with it for 6 matches in a row. then see what you think (strikes are easier to fly, have decent armor and pack a decent punch. and that's with no upgrades).

watch what other players do.

watch the map while waiting to re-spawn to see where you might help most.

follow other players on your team and 'assist' in the kills. you won't upset anyone on your team with a high 'assist' count.

hang out and guard a node (strikes are great for dog fighting and guard duty).

learn power management. it's critical to learn this in order to compete.

above all... relax and have fun.

there is a steep learning curve, no doubt about that. but it is worth the time and effort.

hang in there bro, you can do it -

good luck and keep flying!