I haven't played GSF since the first couple months of launch. I was only with it long enough to halfway level up a Sting scout: maxed guns, maxed engines, maxed shields. I found that I wasn't very good at dogfighting, as I get disoriented rather easily, so back then, I focused on quickly getting to a node to cap it and try to guard it by being elusive.

 

So I've been out of it for awhile and was thinking of trying it out again. So I was wondering what I can do to be most useful to my team if I'm not very good at dogfighting and have a half-maxed heavy scout. Is trying to grab/guard a node the best use of what I've got/am able to do, or should I try and stick with the main group?

 

Bombers didn't exist at the time I played, so what are heavy scouts good, and weak, against nowadays?

Edited May 17, 2016 by HeatRacer

The T2 scout (Sting in your case) is probably the strongest ship for almost any 1v1 situation, however, it takes a lot of practice to use it to it's full potential.

 

Usually, I recommend buying the T1 gunship and bomber (Mangler & Razorwire) for the 5k fleet requisition reward from the intro quest. But you probably ahve done that quest already, so you need to play to get the required fleet reuisition.

While you're saving the fleet req for these two ships, you might want to further upgrade your Sting. I recommend Burst Laser Cannons (with armor pierce), Cluster Missiles, Distortion Field (with missile break) and either Barrel Roll or Retro Thrusters, because those components are the easiest to handle. For the systems slot most pilots use Targeting Telemetry, but Booster Recharge also has it's advantages. You also should use Lightweight Armor, as evasion is the most powerful defense in GSF.

 

 

Now to your question.

The two most useful things in GSF an inexperienced player can do are sticking to the nodes in DOM and not feeding in DM.

In deathmatch, it can be very hard to be effective with a scout. You need to constantly analyze your surroundings and the overall situation. Storming to the front and getting killed over and over is the wrong way. If it seems like you can't get much kills, you can always fall back and protect your group from attacking enemies.

In domination, it's somewhat easier to be useful. A scout is usually the first ship to reach a node, so you can try to cap it, or at least keep it white until reinforcements arrive. If your team is defending a node, you can help them by removing attackers from the node, which includes gunships attacking your bombers. You also can help your team attacking a node. The T2 scout has BLC (burst laser) with armor penetration - it's very effective at attacking an unguarded (or badly guarded) node as it can boost in and kill all three turrets before the enemy team can react, often resulting in a cap.

In both game modes, you have to remember GSF is a team game. If you're not strong enough, try to support your team - sometimes it's enough if you just distract the enemy.

 

Also, I need to warn you. The skill gap in GSF has become extremely wide. There are pilots out there who can single handedly wreck an entire team of average pilots. You might also run into premade groups, who're impossible to beat for your team - although not every good group is a premade and vice versa. If you want to become good at this game, you'll need to stick to it for some weeks, if not months, and you should seek any help you can get. If you have a question, ask someone who knows; the forum is a good place for that. Try to find good pilots on your server, some of them gladly help less experienced players.

 

There are also some very helpful threads here.

http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=821345 for new players

http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=741384 ask anything

http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=729222 "stasiepedia"

Edited May 17, 2016 by Danalon

I think there are several things you can do to be useful.

 

You should at least think about getting a bomber. If you have been getting the daily and weekly GSF missions, you should have enough fleet req to get one. Just LOS yourself on a satellite and spread your goodies.

 

If you are a sub you get a gunship. You can use that to snipe enemy defense turrets, mines, and drones. Eventually when you get ignore armor on your slug railgun and AoE on your Ion railgun, you can wipe out defenses pretty fast.

 

If you are just using a scout, there is still a lot you can do. Doing initial sat capture and defense as you have been doing is very useful. You can escort a friendly gunship. Just park a bit behind him and attack any enemy scouts or strikes that go after the gunship. If you want to be a bit bolder, you can try to make an enemy gunship move from his spot. It really lowers their effectiveness if they have to move too much. Use LOS as much as possible in the approach, come in from the side or behind him, and keep your engines as high as possible before your attack run. Just one pass and an attempted missile lock will make most gunships run away. Then get out of there and don't wait around or try to dogfight, but use your speed to get out. Make sure to LOS during your getaway, there is nothing a gunship pilot likes more than sniping a scout that just attacked him. Unfortunately, these days you see a lot of bomber balls, where the gunships stay near mines, which makes this a lot more difficult.

 

Barrel Roll is probably your best engine ability for hit and run attacks. It gets you some distance and you can see where you will be going, so it is good for escaping after a quick attack run. Don't worry if you don't get a lot of kills. If you are getting assists and doing damage you are helping.

 

Eventually your dogfighting will improve. Remember that you can change pitch (pointing up or down) faster than you can change direction from side to side. Start to practice rolling using the a or d keys so you can make sharper up or down turns. Also the s key slows you and allows you a tighter turning radius.

 

Don't expect any huge improvements, but it gradually will get better.

If you are a sub you get a gunship.

 

* If you have had a sub in early December 2013, you get the T1 gunship for free.

The T2 scout (Sting in your case) is probably the strongest ship for almost any 1v1 situation, however, it takes a lot of practice to use it to it's full potential.

 

Usually, I recommend buying the T1 gunship and bomber (Mangler & Razorwire) for the 5k fleet requisition reward from the intro quest. But you probably ahve done that quest already, so you need to play to get the required fleet reuisition.

While you're saving the fleet req for these two ships, you might want to further upgrade your Sting. I recommend Burst Laser Cannons (with armor pierce), Cluster Missiles, Distortion Field (with missile break) and either Barrel Roll or Retro Thrusters, because those components are the easiest to handle. For the systems slot most pilots use Targeting Telemetry, but Booster Recharge also has it's advantages. You also should use Lightweight Armor, as evasion is the most powerful defense in GSF.

 

 

Now to your question.

The two most useful things in GSF an inexperienced player can do are sticking to the nodes in DOM and not feeding in DM.

In deathmatch, it can be very hard to be effective with a scout. You need to constantly analyze your surroundings and the overall situation. Storming to the front and getting killed over and over is the wrong way. If it seems like you can't get much kills, you can always fall back and protect your group from attacking enemies.

In domination, it's somewhat easier to be useful. A scout is usually the first ship to reach a node, so you can try to cap it, or at least keep it white until reinforcements arrive. If your team is defending a node, you can help them by removing attackers from the node, which includes gunships attacking your bombers. You also can help your team attacking a node. The T2 scout has BLC (burst laser) with armor penetration - it's very effective at attacking an unguarded (or badly guarded) node as it can boost in and kill all three turrets before the enemy team can react, often resulting in a cap.

In both game modes, you have to remember GSF is a team game. If you're not strong enough, try to support your team - sometimes it's enough if you just distract the enemy.

 

Also, I need to warn you. The skill gap in GSF has become extremely wide. There are pilots out there who can single handedly wreck an entire team of average pilots. You might also run into premade groups, who're impossible to beat for your team - although not every good group is a premade and vice versa. If you want to become good at this game, you'll need to stick to it for some weeks, if not months, and you should seek any help you can get. If you have a question, ask someone who knows; the forum is a good place for that. Try to find good pilots on your server, some of them gladly help less experienced players.

 

There are also some very helpful threads here.

http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=821345 for new players

http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=741384 ask anything

http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=729222 "stasiepedia"

 

Ooh, thanks for the links and tips, it's very helpful. In normal PVP, I'm purely DPS, but I think with GSF, being in a support role might be more my style. And I did not realize that one of the scout and strike fighters (Bloodmark and Imperium) had healing abilities, so that might be right up my alley. Only thing is, I dunno how expensive they, or how long it'll take me to grind it out.. So let me ask, how obvious is it when one of these ships cast a heal, and do people jump all over healers like they do in normal PVP?

 

Thankfully, I built my Sting pretty much like how you described (Distortion, Retros, Telemetry), except for going Quad lasers instead of Burst. I did receive the gunship, but didn't really enjoy the zoom-in, zoom-out nature of firing it (I like a simple playstyle), so I'll stick with the Sting till I can get a healer-ship.

Edited May 17, 2016 by HeatRacer

Ooh, thanks for the links and tips, it's very helpful. In normal PVP, I'm purely DPS, but I think with GSF, being in a support role might be more my style. And I did not realize that one of the strike fighters (Imperium) had healing abilities, so that one might be right up my alley (I just hate the way it looks >_< ). Only thing is, I dunno how expensive it is, or how long it'll take me to grind it out.. So let me ask, how obvious is it when an Imperium heals, and do people jump all over healers like they do in normal PVP?

 

Thankfully, I built my Sting pretty much like how you described (Distortion, Retros, Telemetry), except for going Quad lasers instead of Burst. I did receive the gunship, but didn't really enjoy the zoom-in, zoom-out nature of firing it (I like a simple playstyle), so I'll stick with the Sting till I can get the healer-ship.

 

I'm not necessarily talking about true support roles. Supporting your teammates is also a part of being a scout. Think of it as attacking an enemy DPS who's attacking your healer, or in case of GSF, protecting your gunships from enemy scouts or your bombers from enemy gunships.

I would not recommend buying a strike fighter, as they're the weakest class in GSF. Instead of spending 5k fleet req on the T3 strike (you're talking about), use that fleet req to buy the T1 (Razorwire) or T2 (Legion) bomber. The T1 is generally stronger at nodes but the T2 is imho the best support ship. It's repair drones are helping other bombers while Railgun Drones and Seeker mines keep up the pressure on enemy scouts.

Considering the T3 strike (Imperium), it's not at all important how obvious it is when you're currently healing, burst damage in GSF nullifies most healing. The healing of the T3 strike has some severe disadvantages over the T2 bombers Repair Probe. The probe, if not destroyed, stays in place and your teammates can actively move towards it to repair. The T3 strike's ability has a relatively small radius and will only heal targets who are inside that radius when you trigger it. It's impossible to see how close teammates are and because of the small radius there's a good chance, you won't hit all targets you want to hit with it. Aside from that, the the T3 strike is still a strike which makes it an easy target for almost any other ship out there. It doesn't have the staying power of a bomber, it doesn't have the speed and maneuverability of a scout, and it doesn't have the weapons range of a gunship. While the T3 strike is arguably the strongest strike, it is still no match for the currently strongest ships of the other classes.

Edited May 17, 2016 by Danalon

While all of Danalon's points are valid, he forgot to discuss something that was in your reply, namely, that the T3 scout has a healing ability.

 

The T3 Scout, the bloodmark (or spearpoint for republic) can equip a repair drone as its shield system just like the T2 bomber, and it is identical in functionality to that of the bomber, and has all the same advantages and disadvantages of a drone over the repair probe that is equippable on the T3 strike. However, I don't find many people running the T3 scout for that reason. T3 scouts seem to be more often using Distortion Field, since its widely considered the most effective shield, especially for scouts which can stack a lot of evasion.

I'm sure other people can discuss the value of a T3 scout using repair drones, but I'm not enough of an expert to really advise you.

Edited May 17, 2016 by phalczen

While all of Danalon's points are valid, he forgot to discuss something that was in your reply, namely, that the T3 scout has a healing ability.

 

The T3 Scout, the bloodmark (or spearpoint for republic) can equip a repair drone as its shield system just like the T2 bomber, and it is identical in functionality to that of the bomber, and has all the same advantages and disadvantages of a drone over the repair probe that is equippable on the T3 strike. However, I don't find many people running the T3 scout for that reason. T3 scouts seem to be more often using Distortion Field, since its widely considered the most effective shield, especially for scouts which can stack a lot of evasion.

I'm sure other people can discuss the value of a T3 scout using repair drones, but I'm not enough of an expert to really advise you.

 

Ooh, I didn't notice the fine print, that the healing ability was different between the scout and strike. That makes the Bloodmark look interesting to me since I'm already used to the Sting and Blackbolt (though I realize the heal comes at the cost of evasion-stacking).

The T3 scout is best built with Tensor Field to give your team a huge advantage over the enemy team at the start of a Domination match ( or keep things even if they also have a Tensor scout ). The speed boost lets your whole team get to the satellites before the other team can, allowing you to potentially start the game with a 3 cap.

 

In general the support minded will also take Repair Drone with the ammo refill final option, and Thermite Torpedo or EMP missile to complicate the lives of bombers.

 

Some people will hit Tensor and then suicide to switch into a stronger offensive ship, but a well played T3 scout (Spearpoint/Bloodmark) makes a fairly good support ship in domination matches. Definitely weaker than the dronecarrier bombers in TDMs though.

 

The T1 gunship is a very strong support ship if you use the AOE splash of Ion Railgun effectively to take out mines, drones, and the shields of opponents clustered in strong defensive positions.

Edited May 18, 2016 by Ramalina

While the T3 scout is useful in a coordinated team, it has, in my opinion, very limited use in random groups, as most players don't make anything out of a tensor field. The same goes for the ammo refill, because most random players simply don't live long enough to make use of it - anyway, the shield repair or ammo refill options are usually things I buy last, when upgrading a ship with repair probes. For a new or inexperienced player I would only recommend buying a T3 scout if he's planning to play in a premade group. Edited May 18, 2016 by Danalon

Ooh, I didn't notice the fine print, that the healing ability was different between the scout and strike. That makes the Bloodmark look interesting to me since I'm already used to the Sting and Blackbolt (though I realize the heal comes at the cost of evasion-stacking).

 

Do yourself a favor and pass on the T3 scout unless you have a team you play with regularly. It's good for one thing and one thing only: tensor field on spawn followed by a self destruct so you can take an allied beacon and respawn in something useful. "Tensor suicide" is the name of the tactic and it exists for a reason.

After playing a couple rounds last night with my Sting, I think I am more interested in trying out the bombers. Now I gotta decide between laying mines with the Razorwire, or saving up and shelling out for the Legion to lay drones instead. Any opinions on which is simpler to play; ie less functions/buttons that need to be used/monitored?

After playing a couple rounds last night with my Sting, I think I am more interested in trying out the bombers. Now I gotta decide between laying mines with the Razorwire, or saving up and shelling out for the Legion to lay drones instead. Any opinions on which is simpler to play; ie less functions/buttons that need to be used/monitored?

 

Neither is simpler, exactly. They just have completely different play styles. Razorwire is better in Domination, Legion is better in TDM. Don't play your Razorwire in TDM, because that makes you a free kill. Legions CAN help in Domination, but 100% of the time a Razorwire is the better choice if you're the only bomber on your team.

 

Drakolich has a really good tutorial for Razorwire/Rampart

.

 

I'll try to find a video that shows good Legion/Warcarrier play. Not a tutorial, sadly, but you can see how it plays.

 

Edit:

an example of Legion/Warcarrier. He changes later, and it's a bit slow, but you sorta get the idea. Your job is to create a safe space for your team to run to when being chased by scouts, so placement is super important. Edited May 18, 2016 by DakhathKilrathi

Do yourself a favor and pass on the T3 scout unless you have a team you play with regularly. It's good for one thing and one thing only: tensor field on spawn followed by a self destruct so you can take an allied beacon and respawn in something useful. "Tensor suicide" is the name of the tactic and it exists for a reason.

This is not true. While the effectiveness of the T3 scout trends downward as the game progresses it has another early game trick up it's sleeve which is using it's speed to intercept the enemy T1 bomber with a themite which negates charged plating which coupled with the healing should outright win the beginning skirmish and solidify map control. This is more of a case off "know your role" in the T3 you are a bomber hunter rather than a gunship hunter. That is why many even very experienced pilots suffer from poor macro gaming in this regard they for some reason can't think outside of the normal scout paradigm which is find GS kill GS. For the T3 it is find bomber kill bomber.

 

And all this can be done in solo queue no premade nor voice com required. If it became more common knowledge you might even see a decrease in bomber spam.

Gotta agree with Lendul here; it's a little harsh to consider the T3 useless aside from tensor -> suicide. I will admit that in high-level coordinated play (premades versus premades) then this is a reasonable perspective. But solo-queuing into normal matches against average competition, the T3 can be quite useful. If your awareness is good, you can help control the flow of a dom match, zooming from sat to sat, dropping repairs as needed. And the hunt/destroy bomber thing Lendul mentioned is exactly what I try to do, and possible thermite firing arc bug aside, it works surprisingly well.

 

Granted, as is the case with strikes, there's always going to be a stronger meta option; you're not going to post offensive numbers anywhere near those you would in another scout, nor hold a sat as well as you could in a bomber. But imo, if you think of the T3 purely as a tensor generator, then you're selling it a bit short.

 

Also, it's fun as hell.

This is not true. While the effectiveness of the T3 scout trends downward as the game progresses it has another early game trick up it's sleeve which is using it's speed to intercept the enemy T1 bomber with a themite which negates charged plating which coupled with the healing should outright win the beginning skirmish and solidify map control. This is more of a case off "know your role" in the T3 you are a bomber hunter rather than a gunship hunter. That is why many even very experienced pilots suffer from poor macro gaming in this regard they for some reason can't think outside of the normal scout paradigm which is find GS kill GS. For the T3 it is find bomber kill bomber.

 

And all this can be done in solo queue no premade nor voice com required. If it became more common knowledge you might even see a decrease in bomber spam.

 

What.

 

No, really. What? You know what kills a bomber better than crappy thermites and LC or LLC? BLC and pods. You know, stuff with armor pen on it. You know what can equip BLC and pods? It's not the T3 scout.

 

You know what kills bombers even better than that? A gunship. How's the T3 scout worth playing when you have other options, again?

 

I love thermites, but once the bomber is actually on the node, you won't be hitting them with one. No competent bombers, anyway. If this was a viable tactic, someone other than you and Bolo might be using it at a serious level. They don't, and for good reason. It's the same reason that strikes aren't actually very good against bombers. (But they're still better than the T3 scout, thanks to HLC.)

 

Granted, as is the case with strikes, there's always going to be a stronger meta option; you're not going to post offensive numbers anywhere near those you would in another scout, nor hold a sat as well as you could in a bomber. But imo, if you think of the T3 purely as a tensor generator, then you're selling it a bit short.

 

Also, it's fun as hell.

 

Don't get me wrong: it's fun to play. However, after you use tensor field, there is absolutely nothing it can do that the T2 scout or the T2 bomber can't do better. Tensor field really is all it's good for.

 

 

Edit: I wanted to add on to my post so that it's absolutely clear where I'm coming from. I'm not saying that the T3 scout isn't fun to play. Of course it can be. But, for a newer player, it is never the correct choice before they have all of the meta ships. It's hard enough to get people to stick with this game without people on the forums giving them bad advice. Recommending that someone get a T3 scout before they get a gunship or either of the bombers is, frankly speaking, bad advice.

Edited May 19, 2016 by DakhathKilrathi

Don't get me wrong: it's fun to play. However, after you use tensor field, there is absolutely nothing it can do that the T2 scout or the T2 bomber can't do better. Tensor field really is all it's good for.

 

 

Edit: I wanted to add on to my post so that it's absolutely clear where I'm coming from. I'm not saying that the T3 scout isn't fun to play. Of course it can be. But, for a newer player, it is never the correct choice before they have all of the meta ships. It's hard enough to get people to stick with this game without people on the forums giving them bad advice. Recommending that someone get a T3 scout before they get a gunship or either of the bombers is, frankly speaking, bad advice.

 

OK, now this I absolutely I agree with. In the context of this thread, and @OP - don't take my post as a suggestion to blow fleet req on a T3 and use it over your Sting, that would be madness. Once you get a better handle on the game, give the T3 a try - because it is entertaining. But the advice above is sound: it is not a good choice for someone still learning the game.

 

I do wish the T3 at least had pods...that would make it considerably more valuable.

I haven't played GSF since the first couple months of launch. I was only with it long enough to halfway level up a Sting scout: maxed guns, maxed engines, maxed shields. I found that I wasn't very good at dogfighting, as I get disoriented rather easily, so back then, I focused on quickly getting to a node to cap it and try to guard it by being elusive.

 

So I've been out of it for awhile and was thinking of trying it out again. So I was wondering what I can do to be most useful to my team if I'm not very good at dogfighting and have a half-maxed heavy scout. Is trying to grab/guard a node the best use of what I've got/am able to do, or should I try and stick with the main group?

 

Bombers didn't exist at the time I played, so what are heavy scouts good, and weak, against nowadays?

 

After playing a couple rounds last night with my Sting, I think I am more interested in trying out the bombers. Now I gotta decide between laying mines with the Razorwire, or saving up and shelling out for the Legion to lay drones instead. Any opinions on which is simpler to play; ie less functions/buttons that need to be used/monitored?

 

I figure I'd like to chime in on this.

 

From all my experience, newer and less experienced players are far more likely to have a more positive impact running a rampart/razorwire with hyperbeacon over any other ship.

 

Why?

 

Requisition gains are horrible, and while one is trying to learn directly through in game experience, its highly likely to spend a lot of it on components you will eventually realize aren't so good only leaving you to have to re-earn more req.

 

The rampart/razorwire can dramatically affect the outcome of a match with the single purchase of hyperspace beacon - no other ship can do that in one single purchase/upgrade.

 

Because it can take a very long time to learn the quirks of targeting and accuracy in GSF, being in a tankier ship can help, which bombers generally are until hit with "armor piercing" fire like from a heavily upgraded burst laser cannon. But weapons that don't have armor ignore upgrades will do reduced damage and thus allow you to live longer. The longer a new player lives, the more time they have to realize what actually happened when their ship is blown up.

 

Bombers play an integral support role on both mode types. Ultimately every pilot should have both a rampart/razor and legion/warcarrier available as they both serve in area denial but aid in different ways.

 

A "heavy" scout as you called it takes a lot of time and effort to learn to use effectively. You can actually learn certain essential skills while in a bomber that you can eventually apply to your scout piloting. However the nice thing about learning in a bomber is that you're also a lot more likely to have a more positive impact while learning, whereas on ships like the sting/flashfire or quarrel/mangler a newer pilot can easily become detrimental and "dead weight" on a team while they learn.

 

Lastly - you worry a lot less about aiming at other shps in a rampart/razor or warcarrier/legion. What you do eventually work on is aiming your mine and drone placement to be more effective.

 

Bomber support won't usually get much of the glory but it is possible to have a devastating impact. I've personally managed to top the scoreboard on more than one occasion by playing a bomber alone with over 10+ kills. But ultimately as a bomber pilot you primarily setup your most attack oriented teammates to shine.

The rampart/razorwire can dramatically affect the outcome of a match with the single purchase of hyperspace beacon - no other ship can do that in one single purchase/upgrade.

 

Thanks for the opinions everyone. I am the proud new owner of a Razorwire. I only got to play one match late last night before the q's kinda stopped, but it worked out pretty good for me. I still need to work out where to place my seismic and concussion mines for maximum effect; I was ending up putting them around the satellite "petals" as I patrolled the satellite.

 

So with this hyperspace beacon, do I need to type in chat to let my teammates know it's being used, or do they get some kind of notification/option in the respawn screen?

So with this hyperspace beacon, do I need to type in chat to let my teammates know it's being used, or do they get some kind of notification/option in the respawn screen?

 

They'll get an additional spawnpoint to chose from on their spawnscreen. You can mention it in ops chat, so your team might notice it easier.

What.

 

No, really. What? You know what kills a bomber better than crappy thermites and LC or LLC? BLC and pods. You know, stuff with armor pen on it. You know what can equip BLC and pods? It's not the T3 scout.

 

You know what kills bombers even better than that? A gunship. How's the T3 scout worth playing when you have other options, again?

 

I love thermites, but once the bomber is actually on the node, you won't be hitting them with one. No competent bombers, anyway. If this was a viable tactic, someone other than you and Bolo might be using it at a serious level. They don't, and for good reason. It's the same reason that strikes aren't actually very good against bombers. (But they're still better than the T3 scout, thanks to HLC.)

 

 

 

Don't get me wrong: it's fun to play. However, after you use tensor field, there is absolutely nothing it can do that the T2 scout or the T2 bomber can't do better. Tensor field really is all it's good for.

 

 

Edit: I wanted to add on to my post so that it's absolutely clear where I'm coming from. I'm not saying that the T3 scout isn't fun to play. Of course it can be. But, for a newer player, it is never the correct choice before they have all of the meta ships. It's hard enough to get people to stick with this game without people on the forums giving them bad advice. Recommending that someone get a T3 scout before they get a gunship or either of the bombers is, frankly speaking, bad advice.

 

WoW did you even read the post or retain the context? We are talking about the beginning of the game. The entire premise is getting to the bomber at the very start of the game. How exactly are you going to Tensor, suicide, take the beacon as a GS and then intercept the bomber before it can LOS you on the Sat? Second do you seriously even know what the effect thermite torpedo is? Your post just oozes with ignorance. It reduces damage reduction by 100% that means once you land it everyone and every weapon firing on the bomber has 40% shield pen(20 from thermite and 20 from CP) and 100% armor pen.

 

I never recommended that someone get a T3 scout over other beginning choices. I was correcting your false assertion that the only right thing to do with a T3 scout is tensorcide.

Edited May 19, 2016 by Lendul

The quickest way to become useful is to learn a bomber, but as soon as you get your first 2k damage in a war and god forbid your team actually wins one, some chump from the other side will log in to your faction and warn you to never use bombers again or they will hunt you (yes this happens). For that reason, no-one new should do star fighter. You wouldn't want to offend the other team by becoming anything less than a free kill. Unfortunately it just takes too long for a noob to become adequate in the game, and since there are no seasons (meaning reset of top gear to 0 every so often), the skill + gear differential from the main group of players versus a noob is so high, you'll just get insta-killed for months. GSF will die soon because of it.

Wall of rant

 

I'm glad to see you base your judgement on an ancedotal experience. Do you do ground PvP? Pretty amazing how it's still going, what with all the toxicity over there... "Stop queueing", "uninstall and kill yourself", and of course /laugh and /spit are the popular insults I see there.

 

It's fine, not everybody likes GSF, but don't invent reasons for it. Especially stigmatically encompassing reasons.

Edited May 26, 2016 by Greezt

I'm glad to see you base your judgement on an ancedotal experience. Do you do ground PvP? Pretty amazing how it's still going, what with all the toxicity over there... "Stop queueing", "uninstall and kill yourself", and of course /laugh and /spit are the popular insults I see there.

 

It's fine, not everybody likes GSF, but don't invent reasons for it. Especially stigmatically encompassing reasons.

 

You obviously miss the point. The point is, it takes a long time for a newbie to actually participate and then decide if he/she likes GSF. There are potentially ways to fix it before it dies, which is a long but potentially constructive discussion for a different thread. Answering from personal experience is all we can do: my large guild and I decided to give GSF a fair try pretty recently. Yes a fair try. That means reading all the tutorials, asking for tips, struggling through wars where you die instantly with no time to even learn the game, which is way more than most potential new players do. Losing dozens of games between wins. Taking advice from experts to learn a bomber to contribute as others in this thread have suggested, I was finally able to produce an earth shattering 2k damage a battle, and maybe get around 2 kills a game, with a personal best of 5. Yes I know these are dominant numbers (sarcasm). And my team actually won a game. Maybe actually GSF is worth playing I thought. Perhaps all the seemingly pointless dying and hundreds of losses in row were finally paying off.

 

Then some chump logs in from the other faction to whisper and tell me that if I play bomber any more I'll be targetted forever from that point on. So I guess the only conclusion is, don't play GSF if you are a noob. Its a members only club and your reward for winning 1 out of 100 will be harrassment and bullying. This coming from a noob who actually tried to be a part of it (this is ultra-extremely rare for someone to give it that much effort).

 

So I offered my honest opinion to the OP, what is the quickest way to be useful, for most people it is learn a bomber, but I wanted to be fair and indicate what happens to those who do.

 

I can see the real problem with GSF and why it isn't thriving, and I can offer ideas how to fix it before it dies out completely as the veterans finally get bored face-rolling all day long hoping for that 1 in 50 even match-up, but that is a different thread.

For that reason, no-one new should do star fighter.

So the actions of one idiot should determine that nobody ought to try the game anymore, across all servers?

 

Unfortunately it just takes too long for a noob to become adequate in the game...

It takes about 25 matches per ship for someone to have enough requisition to get their chosen ships into a state where they have the most important upgrades and are generally viable in competition. Knowing which ships to upgrade and which upgrades to take is a matter of either reading some guides or asking people in the GSF chat channel ( /cjoin GSF).

 

...and since there are no seasons (meaning reset of top gear to 0 every so often), the skill + gear differential from the main group of players versus a noob is so high, you'll just get insta-killed for months.

You will get killed pretty much the same amount with no gear or fully geared if you do not have the skills and an approach to the game which makes you difficult to kill.

 

You can gain these skills and methods of approach through practice, figuring it out yourself, or you can hasten the acquisition of said skills by talking to veteran players and reading the guides we have written for you. It takes some effort to learn. The possibility for doing so remains open.

 

GSF will die soon because of it.

GSF has persisted for two years with no developer updates. The reason it has persisted is that there is a core of veteran players who keep matches popping and competition happening. The death of GSF, if it occurs, will be due to the loss of the veteran players who have no incentive to stay. They leave because two years of no updates, no balance changes, no communication from a dev team likely hamstrung by corporate interference has made the game stale for them.

 

There are far more veterans who would prefer to teach new players the skills necessary to play than there are idiots who will yowl out threats at some new player for selecting a bomber.

 

- Despon