Best way to start out in EM?

[SuperDave]

I did a search feature here but either i failed (i blame monday) or its not here yet.

anyhow id like to know the most efficient way to get started in this sim. Id like to get into the combat part sooner or later but every time i take my ship in (with a few upgrades) just about anywhere hostile, im literally turned into space dust within moments of entering a system.

Is there a system i can run to from the starting one that isnt loaded with such missile happy pirates n navys? Or maybe a wiki with a lot of sector i nfo?

Im having fun in the sim, no problems so far, just wanted to make sure i was on the right path. Been mining, taking contracts, working on my status etc. Looks like lots of frames to choose from (once i earn them ..i think.)

Thanks

[Maarschalk]

Try Olympus for easy combat missions.......

[Vice]

If you want to get into combat early, I'd suggest Olympus. The hostile presence there is fairly moderate and their ships/weapons are pretty weak overall. Don't take combat contracts for a while, just fly around for a while looking for hostiles. Try to pick off one at a time in combat, avoid losing speed, and try to keep your distance on passes. Stay there until you've established an effective skillset that works for you. If needed, you can also hop online and take on a human wingman or two for added support while you practice.

[Blackthorne]

As a general suggestion: If you want to cut your teeth on combat, doing a few combat missions in Olympus is a good start - the enemy ships are not too robust, and the amount of missiles launched at you is still manageable. Also, *most* NPC ships are friendly or neutral. Compared to Fauston or (heaven forbid!) Thuban, it's downright friendly there.

You also might want to try the IMG Questline, which'll net you a few upgrades early on (as well as asking you to perform a few combat missions in Olympus).

Frame availability is keyed to the system - the further out you go, the heavier the frames get; while those have plenty of space for the various goodies, they also tend to be rather sluggish, so most people don't go for the superheavy ones. Subassemblies are available everywhere - you can get a class 10 shield in Sapphire, if you need to.

There's also the option of doing missions for the military in one of the warzones, but the Vonari you'll face like to play hard - not that recommendable for newcomers, since they're vicious, launch missile volleys that put a macross missile massacre to shame, and are tough to kill to boot. And they come in packs of 7+1.
(That said, I found the military ships a bit underwhelming this time around - no crew and only 5 equipment slots, even though speed and handling is nice.)

-Blackthorne

[RobDog]

I did the i.m.g. contracts until they took me to Olympus. Then I did the combat missions that estimate only 2 fighters so that I could practice and hone my combat skills. There's some posts vets have made that include the basic essentials of combat in this game that really helped me, your best bet is to look around for similar topics. Be sure to upgrade your ship as best as you can for combat before attempting the combat missions, even if it drains most of your resources. (You can always downgrade your ship after the fight and get your money back)

[Maarschalk]

Hi RobDog, welcome to the game and forum, if I have not already done so.....

[Blackthorne]

This thread here covers a few of the basics of combat.
http://www.starwraith.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=6388

-Blackthorne

[darcsyde83]

Originally posted by Blackthorne

There's also the option of doing missions for the military in one of the warzones, but the Vonari you'll face like to play hard - not that recommendable for newcomers, since they're vicious, launch missile volleys that put a macross missile massacre to shame, and are tough to kill to boot. And they come in packs of 7+1.

-Blackthorne

Sounds like fun! reminds me of some fights in Descent FS2 but i may want a better frame before i attempt it lol.

[SuperDave]

sweet! thanks folks!

[Whytephyre]

LoL, i went straight to pearl & started mining plat & then making trade runs to lost rucker with the profits from mining.

[SuperDave]

bah so far even vs one red con navy guy im still space dust. class 6 shields, trying to fly around and avoid his gunfire yet my thrusters do little to out maneuver. They just keep pounding my shields until im dead.

im through with this for a while, oh well. ill figure it out sometime, just not today.

[Marvin]

Missiles. And inertial. And speed. And never turn with an Ace on your six.

[Maarschalk]

And if you can not shake an Ace of your six, Mooning the Ace might do the trick depending how nasty your moon is......:P:P:P:P

[SuperDave]

lol thanks for the ideas. Actually i gave one rebel the bird and my missile tagged him...well hard enough so my lasers finished the job. I must have had a mental block today or something. I think i need to reconfigure my keys a bit. I set a/d as rotation, which seems more natural, prob just need to set w/s as my thrust up/down and q/e as my thrust side to side. Missiles do a good job but never enough of those to really go a long ways.

One thing i picked up on was a wingman. After my moment of down time, i hired a navy ship as a wing, and did some mining. Least they aren't as finicky about loyalty as crew members. Anyhow had a red con navy come in (im at 60 something percent with them..but i guess i dont fully understand the rating system yet. ) anyhow i ordered my wing to attack, i used the internal mode and thrusters. Saw the wingman fire two missiles..that did little. I came in and did one pass with cannons/lasers, then fired off two missiles. 1st kill, bout time too lol.

then i had a rebel pop in, did the same thing. Rearmed and ran a mission, sure enough i ran RIGHT in the middle of 4 rebels. I ran...while my wingman did his thing. Then realized the fight had stopped so i ran back in..issued an "defend me" order and found the combat a bit easier. I just shot down the incoming missiles then used one missile per target, finished em off with cannons. I guess those rebels have a weaker shield/armor than the navy guys. Either that or my wingman was the target priority and they did little to me. ..course i didn't give them much of a chance. It was quite an adrenaline rush, MUCH different than other sims ive played. Now that im past the initial chaos, i really like it. Just too bad the pilots dont eject...i could turn them in for a bounty, or sell "slaves" ...much like the ole privateer days hahaha!

so far ive got 9 kills now under my belt. Still saving, trying to figure out how to build stuff now...but at least now i have a decent frame, class 5 guns and a class 7 shield. Still hard to track which shield is being hit but..maybe a hud mod will fix that (eventually).

thanks for putting up with me, i get a bit frustrated now and then, this sim has quite the learning curve

[MindYerBeak]

You can do moonies in this game? That makes it a must buy.

[Sinbad]

Hi SuperDave, congrats for your first few kills! Don't worry, once you get the hang of combat before you know it you'll be taking on hordes of enemies. Initially it's a bit tricky but the challenge of combat never wears off like it does in many other games.

[Ravenfeeder]

I'm finding it next to impossible to kill a cap ship in War Zone missions. The first one, in a mission, actually went down easy, with a lot of help from some AI greens. Then some non-AI pilots joined me, three of them. It was fun, until it came time to take out the cap ship. Hammered it with missiles, Excals in my case, did strafing runs, time after time, all four of us, the darn thing never even blinked. Finally, one of the non-AI pilots took it out with an FT - bloody expensive mission!

I've got the Fusion, and Banshee, beam/gun, auto CM dispenser, and the rest of the bells and whistles, run a Starmaster ship.

Are there guns/lazers above the Banshee/Fusion class? I've even sat on a Cap ships tail, hammering away until I've ran out of CMs, 100 of them, still got a shinny brand new looking Cap ship in front of me.

Perhaps the lesson is not to take on a mission involving an enemy cap ship!

[BraveHart]

"Hi Ravenfeeder....I use lower class weapons and I find the best way to take out these Capital ships is with several passes back and forth across the engines...using both Lasers and particle cannon fire. keep an eye out for the shields dropping then pound a way with particle cannon. Don't forget about the missiles the ship fires....use guns or cm's to take out the missiles...the speed I use to go back and forth the rear of the ship is around 950....Slow enough to deal a lot of damage and fast enough to avoid the missiles....and I make sure the Fighters are shot down before engaging the Capital Ship and it also helps to have some Human pilots helping out....but you can do it by your self"

[Ravenfeeder]

Tried that Brave, four of us did. 2 missions, with a cap ship, and it took an FT to finish it off in both cases. In both of those cases we'd eliminated the fighters first.

In ER, and ER, I could take out a cap ship in two passes. I've also noted that the stations are a bit slack in providing missile replacements, have to do a carrier jump to replenish.

Oh well, upwards, and onwards

[BraveHart]

"Bummer Raven....but I bet in time and practice you'll git'-R-'done"

[Ravenfeeder]

Cheers, Brave. If you've done it, then, it must be possible.

My school report: Must try harder

[Blackthorne]

As a side note: the Banshee's damage output is abysmal (80 compared to the 220 of the Phantom, same ROF, and less range). It's got an added kinetic effect that will do jack against a capital ship, though it's fun against smaller ships.

If you want to kill something with the primaries quickly, I suggest a Phantom, Cannon Relay and Cannon Heatsink. Using a beam weapon to soften up the cap ship's shields also helps.

-Blackthorne

[Ravenfeeder]

Tks for the tip Blackthorne. I've already got the heatsink, plus the auto CM, and a host of other goodies. My ship has 7 equipment slots, and they're al full. Had to stick my tractor beam into a hangar

[Maarschalk]

LOL...7 equipment slots.....you guys are far ahead of me.....:P:P:P:P

[Marvin]

Yup, like some other weapons, the Banshee in Mercenary is not what it was in Legends. You just gotta adapt.