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Thread: A few tips for tomorrow from a beta tester
Fate11357
Fri Oct 22, 2004 10:35 am
#14
Let me see if I can add to these. NOTE** Anything can change between now and launch. Crafting examples were made using the latest build as of yesterday.
-When having a ship crafted for you ask the SW to spend as many points in hit points over mass. ex.When crafting a new X-Wing I noticed a <1% gain in mass when spending more points there vs a 25% (give or take) gain in hit points when spending as much as possible there. When spending pts in mass I saw an increase from 99xxx mass to 100xxx. Not very much. When spending pts in HP I saw an increase from around 1600 hp to a bit over 2000 hp.
-If you plan on using player made weapons ask the SW to use either shield or armor effective upgrades depending on the type of blasters. I noticed fairly better results doing it this way. ex. (sorry I don't have exact numbers) Using a shield effectiveness upgrade with an ion cannon had less min/max damage (by about 10-15%)than one made using a min ormax damage upgrade BUT was about 20% more effective in neutralizing shields.
-While some missions/trainers require you to upgrade to a higher tier ship to progress you don't need to fly every ship once they become available. For rebel pilots once you get to tier 3 you can pretty much use the X-Wing until you get master as it gives you a ton of bang for your buck.
-Group in space whenever possible. Not so much because of mission difficulty. When grouped,missions can go by pretty quickly and safelyAND group mates getFULL xp for only doing a certain amount of damage (I think at least 5% damage). This is especially good when doing higher tier missions and or duty missions as the mobs become tougher and come at you in quantity.
-Once you go to a system where your mission is, do not leave ituntil the mission is complete. Landing or hypering before mission complete results in mission failure.
-Choose wisely before training a skill. You can only train horizontally (across) unlike other profs where you can goeither up and across. ex. You HAVE to be 1111 before going to the second tier. You cannot go 4xxx then fill the other boxes.In some cases, taking the next ship cert is not the best idea unless the mission requires it (you will be told so by the NPC if I'm not mistaken).
-Some missions require you to disable the enemy ship. You do this by typing the [ or ] keys. This will cycle thru various ship systems like engines, reactor, shields, weapons, etc. In most cases, disabling the reactor will stop the ship from flying or shotting at you.
-Trade pilot specificdroid commandswhenever possible via programmed memory chips. ex. Rebels get shield specific commands. They distribute power from one shield to another in various ways. ex. If shields are 1000/1000 front and 1000/1000 rear and your front shields lose 500 (shields now at 500/1000 F 1000/1000 R) you can distribute 500 from the rear (depending on skill) to give your current front shields a boost (shields become 1000/1000 F 500/1000 R). Another example would be if both F and R shields were 1000/1000 and you normally get hammered alot in the rear shields you can boost them so as to make the shields 500/500 F 1500/500 R. You can use ANYpilot specificcommands as long as you are certed for the same level. ex. If you are certed for "heavy" commands as a Reb, you can use "heavy" commands or lower from an Imp or neutral. Keep in mind though that higher level commands take more time to repeat than others. See next tip as it helps understand commands a bit better.
-Upgrade your flight computer or droid as soon as you are certed for higher level commands. Especially if you want to take advantage of being able to use both your higher commands and those of another pilot type. Different level comps and droids hold different amounts of programs. Version 2 holds more commands than version 1, etc etc. The speed at which you can repeat commands is based on the command itself ("heavy" commands take longer to repeat "light" commands) and the level of your droid interface. You need a droid interface installed in your ship to take advantage of commands stored inside your droid/flight comp. As of a few days ago when I last tested it, droid interfaces were bugged in thatLOWER level versions sped up the time between commands. I think this was fixed or will be fixed before launch so that HIGHER level interfaces will speed up the time between commands. I'm not sure but I think the droid/comp has to be the same level as the interface. Might be wrong so don't quote me on that.
-Mass is your enemy. LOL The higher level the component is the more mass it will take. Don't expect to use a tier 3 ship decked out with every single component possible. Hard choices will have to be made as to what components you put in your ship. Also, components rely on energy use as well. Even if you could fit alot of components on the ship, individual pieces are stillbound to the reactors output. Armor (not to be confused with shields), droids, and flight computers are the only components that don't draw powerif I remember correctly. Droids and flight computers(?) do not have mass.
NOTE**SPOILER ALERT
-Reverse engineering is a great way to make loot useful as Creius mentioned above. There is however another use for it. Shipwrights that RE loot have a chance to get a schematic piece that will allow them to make...........the Firespray!! You heard me right. This is currently the ONLY KNOWN way to craft this ship. It is NOT granted at master shipwright! Here's how it works. A shipwright gets loot from either looting it themselves, buying them from other pilots, etc. They then try to reverse engineer it to make the loot better. By random chance they may get a schematic piece(numbered 1-8). Once all 8 pieces are assembled they get the schem. It is a LIMITED use schem (last I read it was less than 10 uses). You need master pilot (any faction) to be certed to fly this ship. It is NOT any better than any other master ship. That being said, loot could very well be a highly traded/sought after item. This can be a great bargaining tool for both shipwrights and pilots alike. Hardcore shipwrights will want to craft this ship for both the fame and credits. Pilots will want this ship for iconic values (especially BH's 
). Pilots with a ton of loot can trade them for free REing, discounted crafted components, whatever. Shipwrights will most likely pay a ton of credits for loot (especially high level components) to resell RE'd components and get a chance at getting the schem piece.
). Pilots with a ton of loot can trade them for free REing, discounted crafted components, whatever. Shipwrights will most likely pay a ton of credits for loot (especially high level components) to resell RE'd components and get a chance at getting the schem piece.
lund0529
Fri Oct 22, 2004 11:06 am
#15
When you buy a chassis from a shipwright, you're buying blueprints for a ship skeleton. You take that blueprint to a "Chassis Dealer" in the starport, and then you buy the actual chassis. (yes, you have to pay two different people for one ship).
Now this chassis in your datapad (you can hold two player crafted + 1 starter ship or Veteran reward) is a completely stipped version of a ship.
To fly it, you need
1)A reactor to power it. The reactor powers your engine, weapons, shields, and other electronics.
2) An engine to move it. All player crafted engines have hyperdrive. Starter ships do not.
**A reactor and an engine are absolutely required to launch your ship.**
To protect it, you need
3) Armor (front and rear)
4) Shield Generator
To shoot
5) One or more particle weapons (Ion Cannons/Disruptors/Blasters)
5a) Particle weapons require a capacitor to store charge.
6) One or more projectile weapons (Missile Launchers)
6a) Missile launchers require missiles.
To not get shot by missiles
7) Countermeasure Launcher
7a) Countermeasure launchers require countermeasure packs.
Missile launchers and countermeasure launchers are worthless without ammo (missiles and countermeasures). These can only (at this time) be loaded on the ground. Don't forget to load these before taking off.
To use the specials you learn, you are going to need
8) an astromech droid (R-Series) or
9) a flight computer. Not all ships can use droids.
A droid program has to be "burnt" onto a command chip. See your local DE to get one. Each one holds one command.
10) To use your droid, you also need a droid interface.
Crafting a full ship from scratch is time consuming and will be expensive from a shipwright. While you *can* do this, your best option is going to be to use your starter ship to loot components for the chassis you just bought. Shipwright components are great, but be prepared to wait an hour while they are made. Everything is crafted by hand except (subcomponents?) missiles, and countermeaure packs.
The sum total mass of the parts you put into your ship cannot exceed the "mass" of the chassis.
The sum total energy requirements of the parts you put into your ship cannot exceed the energy outputof the reactor.
Because you have to stay under these numbers, you will be doing a lot of mixing and matching. Until your local shipwright figures out a good package deal, keep your calculator handy before you start buying parts.
You cannot manage or launch ships for which you do not have the cert. This means no Rebel TIEs, no Imperial YT-1300s, and no Neutral X-Wings. Parts are not factional. You can loot an Imperial capacitor and put it into an A-Wing.
You cannot add a part to your ship for which you do not have the technology cert level.
A Mark I component is L1 technology.
A Mark II component is L3 technology.
A Mark III component is L5 technology.
A Mark IV component is L7 technology.
Level 2, 4, 6, etc.technology is not player craftable. Loot only.
Players cannot teach pilot skills to other players. Don't spam you want pilot 0100 because nobody except your NPC trainer can train you. Your trainer won't train you until you do his or her missions.
If you shoot an enemy and get a warning/error tone and a red circle X where your weapons hit, it is someone elses mission target. You cannot kill it.
If someone outside of your group disables a ship by using [ or ] to target a specific system, only they can destroy it. Don't waste your time blasting a disabled ship.
ArchEnemy828
Fri Oct 22, 2004 2:03 pm
#16
Do all the shipwrights and other pilots out there a huge favor, and buy their noob ships. at first its gonna be impossible to get a "good" ship. By doing this you make it possible for them to continue on grinding thro the rest of the profession without having to stop from a lack if funds.
Take it from me, a crafter, its incredibly hard to start as a crafter without people buying your stuff. If we all buy one ship each at first, it will make it much easier even if they aren't quality ships.
OckVofad
Fri Oct 22, 2004 3:29 pm
#17
I'm definately an A-wing type flyer. I prefer fast and manuverable ships to gunboats.
Message Edited by OckVofad on 10-22-2004 03:29 PM
Dynonychus
Sat Oct 23, 2004 12:20 am
#19
Good advice, but how can you bypass the Y-wing like that? I think the Y-wing is possibly the most intriguing ship available: the only turreted ship available before Tier 4! And with 150k mass, it will last you a good, long time
RozhlokLightningskull wrote:
OckVofad wrote:
4) The noob ship, believe it or not, has better stats (weapons, energy consumption, etc) than a crafted Z-95, Scyk, or Light TIE with crafted level 1 components even with high quality resources. Do your initial tier 1 missions with the noob ship. Then when you unlock the ability to use crafted level 3 components drop them into your first crafted ship. Or you could use loot drops which are pretty good at the lower levels.
Great guide! But, I kind of take exception with tip #4. I remember the FIRST Z-95 I crafted (three weeks ago) was only marginally better than my starter Z-95. But, with all the changes they made to ships and the added 5 points of expermination they added to MSW, in the past three weeks the last Z-95 I built (yesterday) blows away the starter ship I was given.
Also the starter ship is not equipped with a hyperdrive, so you'll be stuck in one space sector. My recommendation is to stick with the starter ship for the first 4 missions. After that the duty officer will allow you to train one box for free (reguardless of XP earned). The box you should train is one for equipment certs. You'll get level 2 and 3 equipment. This will allow you to equip your first Z-95 with *some* Mark II equipment. At the very least I think it'll let you put level 3 blasters on your Z-95. Then I'd stay in *that* Z-95 until you earn the X-Wing (or level 3) cert.
OckVofad
Sat Oct 23, 2004 12:26 am
#20
The Y-wing does have a great amount of mass but it flies like a brick. Its personal preference.
RozhlokLightningskull
Sat Oct 23, 2004 12:31 am
#21
OckVofad wrote:
The Y-wing does have a great amount of mass but it flies like a brick. Its personal preference.
Exactly. Its all about personal preference. If the devs made a Y-wing that *I* personally wanted to fly then I'd say they did a poor job with it. The Y-Wing has never been *my* style. Neither was the A-Wing. I've always been an X-Wing/B-Wing kind of guy. But, by all means; do not ignore the mass limits on the Y-Wing! Its huge and flies like a brick, but, you sure can load that bad boy up!
Dynonychus
Sat Oct 23, 2004 12:34 am
#22
OckVofad wrote:
The Y-wing does have a great amount of mass but it flies like a brick. Its personal preference.
I prefer to think on it as a "stable platform" rather than a brick
Even so, I didn't find the handling to be all that bad, myself. I was more than capable of shadowing any target I was sent after, and some creative booster use made up for what it might normally lack in acceleration. But again, this was only a matter of degrees, not a purely black-and-white issue to me.
At the end of the day, though, it really should be stronglyconsidered for placement in one's second ship slot at the very least, if for no other reason than the multiplayer aspect, which no other ship has below Tier 4
volta
Sun Oct 24, 2004 3:51 am
#23
Great post, im a none beta player and was hoping for a post like this.
Feisen
Sun Oct 24, 2004 2:34 pm
#24
If you are a vet and want to travel between planets, then you can save some money by using your Sorosuub vet reward, which has hyperdrive. No need to buy a player made ship JUST to travel.
tIme2DiE
Sun Oct 24, 2004 3:37 pm
#25
OckVofad wrote:
2) When you go to talk to the recruiter he will give you three planets to choose from where you will begin your training (and get missions). DO NOT choose the planet that the recruiter is on. Everyone is going to go the path of least resistance and do that because they dont want to travel. It will be more crowded and laggy there. One of the only downfalls of this system is that the area surrounding the pilot trainers can be very laggy b/c there is only 3 of them, 1 per planet.
Message Edited by OckVofad on 10-22-2004 09:15 AM
WHAT?
So if I go to recurter on naboo i should choose the one on corellia because others are going to the "path of least resistance".
Sorry, this doesnt make any sense to me.
jangoman8
Sun Oct 24, 2004 4:01 pm
#26
Does anyone know if they fixed the public crafting stations to allow you to makes ships. I know that before you could only make like 4 ships standing next to a public station. In order to make the other ships you had to use a private crafting station.