So i'm about 10 days in now. Had my share of ups and downs. The downs have been extremely low. The ups have been not much higher than the downs. Trying to stay optimistic. If i'm having a bad run I get on the forums, catch my breath, clear my head, pick up some tips when possible and dive back in. I know it's not suppose to be easy, I don't want it to be easy. I just crested a minor dune that was Assault Rifle Operation level 5, and started climbing the next dune that is Assault Rifle Proficiency. I've kept my balls on the prize for most of my short Dust life span, but after a particularly bad night of play tonight, I've been having more and more trouble pushing a thought out of my head; What happens when I crest the next dune, and yet again all I can see for miles and miles is endless desert? I was feeling that I was finally starting to grasp what it took to be competitive and effective in Dust, but now I feel like i'm grasping at air, I feel like i'm regressing, I feel like i'm getting worse. I don't feel as though I've made bad decisions spec wise, though I am far from an expert on the topic. Got my Minmatar M-1 DS, as I said I have put quite a heap into the AR, and after seeing the jump in SP requirement from level 1 to level 2 of AR Proficiency, I have started working on some of the cheaper shield skills before dedicating myself to another massive SP investment. I currently sit at around 1.6 mil SP, I'm attempting to run a straight assault, and I realize that I need quite the bag of leveled tricks (nades, suit, shields, weapon, passives, mods) to really hold my ground as a "run into the middle of the sh!t and clean it up" assault type but with the shellackings I've been handed tonight, spirits are definitely low on the Mujunk family farm. My KDR is hovering at around 0.48 or so, and I know that KDR isn't everything (pretty damn important though) but it still sucks to see. I'm usually able to get a minimum of 400-500 WP, but this has come from such an eclectic group of sources (smattering of kills, usually a ton of assists, maybe a primary hack or two, hand full of secondary hacks and maybe a blaster or rail gun installation here and there) that I feel like i'm not really growing into my chosen role as I should, I feel more as though i'm scooping up garbage on the outskirts of the real battles. I would like to think it's not due mainly to mistakes on my part (but who knows). I'm aware of my surroundings, pick my spots and avoid fights when outclassed, keep an eye on the radar, check my 6 when I have a free moment, try and think team wise whether I have my mic active or not, and squad up when I can. When squaded up my stats look a bit better, but not much. I am more often than not the weakest link, and any stat improvement is most likely due both directly and indirectly to my squads ability as opposed to any actual skill on my part. Definitely not QQing, I am definitely not a savant when it comes to FPS games of any type, but I always did fancy myself to be at least a touch above the common rabble, though i'm starting to feel like I may have made a major miscalculation in regards to that opinion. Not really sure where I was taking this magical tale, but I guess if I had to sum it all up into a single question, Do Dust Vets say HTFU (never actually been told this personally) because they were once in my exact shoes, and their hearts and souls were smashed into oblivion, or because for most the game isn't really as difficult as I feel that it is? Was hoping I was on the verge of graduating to the next level of skill and ability, but i'm starting to feel like I may have to repeat the 1st grade.

Reading and focus are a chore for some. You don't have to read it if you don't want to. I apologize for any damage to your eye sight that may have resulted, and if you are looking for an easy read may I suggest one of the 2-4 sentence weapon nerf posts that seem to spawn every few minutes on the forums. Spelling, grammar, and the general intelligence level of those posts can be hit or miss, but may be more your speed.

So i'm about 10 days in now. Had my share of ups and downs. The downs have been extremely low. The ups have been not much higher than the downs. Trying to stay optimistic. If i'm having a bad run I get on the forums, catch my breath, clear my head, pick up some tips when possible and dive back in.

I know it's not suppose to be easy, I don't want it to be easy. I just crested a minor dune that was Assault Rifle Operation level 5, and started climbing the next dune that is Assault Rifle Proficiency. I've kept my balls on the prize for most of my short Dust life span, but after a particularly bad night of play tonight, I've been having more and more trouble pushing a thought out of my head; What happens when I crest the next dune, and yet again all I can see for miles and miles is endless desert?

I was feeling that I was finally starting to grasp what it took to be competitive and effective in Dust, but now I feel like i'm grasping at air, I feel like i'm regressing, I feel like i'm getting worse. I don't feel as though I've made bad decisions spec wise, though I am far from an expert on the topic.

Got my Minmatar M-1 DS, as I said I have put quite a heap into the AR, and after seeing the jump in SP requirement from level 1 to level 2 of AR Proficiency, I have started working on some of the cheaper shield skills before dedicating myself to another massive SP investment. I currently sit at around 1.6 mil SP.

I'm attempting to run a straight assault, and I realize that I need quite the bag of leveled tricks (nades, suit, shields, weapon, passives, mods) to really hold my ground as a "run into the middle of the sh!t and clean it up" assault type but with the shellackings I've been handed tonight, spirits are definitely low on the Mujunk family farm. My KDR is hovering at around 0.48 or so, and I know that KDR isn't everything (pretty damn important though) but it still sucks to see.

I'm usually able to get a minimum of 400-500 WP, but this has come from such an eclectic group of sources (smattering of kills, usually a ton of assists, maybe a primary hack or two, hand full of secondary hacks and maybe a blaster or rail gun installation here and there) that I feel like i'm not really growing into my chosen role as I should, I feel more as though i'm scooping up garbage on the outskirts of the real battles. I would like to think it's not due mainly to mistakes on my part (but who knows). I'm aware of my surroundings, pick my spots and avoid fights when outclassed, keep an eye on the radar, check my 6 when I have a free moment, try and think team wise whether I have my mic active or not, and squad up when I can.

When squaded up my stats look a bit better, but not much. I am more often than not the weakest link, and any stat improvement is most likely due both directly and indirectly to my squads ability as opposed to any actual skill on my part. Definitely not QQing, I am definitely not a savant when it comes to FPS games of any type, but I always did fancy myself to be at least a touch above the common rabble, though i'm starting to feel like I may have made a major miscalculation in regards to that opinion. Not really sure where I was taking this magical tale, but I guess if I had to sum it all up into a single question, Do Dust Vets say HTFU (never actually been told this personally) because they were once in my exact shoes, and their hearts and souls were smashed into oblivion, or because for most the game isn't really as difficult as I feel that it is?

Was hoping I was on the verge of graduating to the next level of skill and ability, but i'm starting to feel like I may have to repeat the 1st grade.

Thanks for the help guys. I've found my enthusiasm to operate about the same as bonus SP. I've only got so much each week, and when it runs out things suck lol. But with a bit of grinding today I should reach Minmatar Assault DS level 2, setting myself up to hit level 3 by some point next weekend I would imagine, giving me the ADV Min Assault DS, and with the still relatively cheap SP costs for my shield upgrades, i'll boost my shield abilities and i'll be looking to have a breakout weekend (hopefully). Bit of a funny story, I was SOOO focused on trying to start upping my passive AR damage that it wasn't until I read Spectral Clones post that I realized I had gained access to Proto ARs. Doesn't change anything currently as my suits CPU/PG can't handle anything above STD, but it seems to be another good reason to focus on my ADV DS. I do have a fitting question. With the Minmatars small amount of low powered slots, what should my feelings be in regards to armor plating? I gained access to STD armor plating extremely early in an attempt to increase survivability. I had been thinking I would run an armor plate and whatever the mod is that increases sprint speed (to counter act the plates movement penalty) when I got my ADV suit. Im wondering though if the minimal protection of one plate is worth having to mod my sprint speed, or would I be using 2 high level mods and only be receiving average at best performance enhancement? Or should I not worry as much about speed and drop 2 armor plates in? I know the shield regulators are low power slot mods, but the delay on shield recharge hasn't really effected me one way or another. If I get into a fight I can't handle and i'm not killed immediately, i'm usually able to get away if I chose to run, and a few seconds extra for my shields to begin recharging doesn't seem to matter. Anyway, thanks again guys for the help, and Jaysyn thanks for the offer, i'll definitely be getting in touch with you next weekend, for the time being though I think i'm gonna do some solo grinding, get myself to the point where I can start seriously worrying about tactics and less about getting OHK every 45 seconds.

Depending on the role and tier, a min assault can get away with using a ferroscale or even basic plate instead of a rep (I agree with you generally) because of the suit's built in 1hp/sec armor repair. Really tough to squeeze anything else into the lows ... coming from a Cal Logi, Min Assault is a pain in the ass to fit properly lol.