I see, I take it I won't be getting very good K/D scores for awhile? Or is it still possible to get kills while supporting? Do kill assists help K/D?

What kind of skills should I be focusing on? Currently I put most of my sP into increasing my shields for all suites and some into weapon handling with assault rifles.

Kill assists don't count for your K/DR, which is also influenced by the teams so don't stress its importance. Playing in an organized squad would improve your performace, so check the squad finder for open slots.
I have made a guide about new characters too, check it out: Clone! - New Character Guide

Right then, I've made and terminated a few characters these past three days, read and skimmed a couple guides, and had a lot of fun...at least until I was kicked out of the academy.

I was warned the game would get harder, I assumed it would....but I was not prepared for this.

The enemy seems invincible, their guns seem to kill in a single shot, and all and all, I'm looking at my screen with a look of utter disbelief.

Seriously though, how does a noob survive outside the academy while still being useful to his team?

I know K/D isn't really important, I just like to maintain a good one in all games that I play.

As for playstyle, I guess just a general frontline?

Seriously though, how does a noob survive outside the academy while still being useful to his team?

I guess you have a Caldari dropsuit, so it will be shield tanking oriented. Raise core skills for shield and shield extenders, but don't forget armour as well. You may be willing to have some local rep like an armor repairer module.
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[quote=Alakay Klantyre]5) Don't worry about KDR, it means next to nothing in this game. The only thing that matters is the W. Some classes like logi frequently go negative -- yet they are orbital generators because of the WP they accrue. That guy on the winning side that went 3/10, and is at the top of the board with 2200 WP? Those are logis, and are critical to a team's success -- he's the reason you got pounded flat by orbitals 3 times during the match. Aim to be like him. Personally, when I play logi, I'm happy if I hit 1.00. That means that I was able to give as good as I got, which makes me the zero sum game -- I wasn't a slayer, but I didn't drag my team down either, and I still generated a buttload of WP during the match.

Another class that can go negative frequently is forge gunner -- I can easily go negative if I spend an entire Dom chasing tanks. If I go negative KDR, but we got the win because I was able to protect my squad by keeping 3 tanks at bay, but not actually kill any of them, does that make it a bad round for me? I think not.

In other words, KDR largely doesn't mean squat, unless you aim to be an assault slayer -- a "successful" match greatly depends on what class you are playing, and what role you were performing during the match.

W/WP?

I know there are times where something is more important that a good KD and I don't expect to have a good KD every match, but I'm coming here from CoD (which the more I look around the more I find other games give that a negative connotation, please don't hold it against me) and how good a person is there can generally be seen in their KD.

At the moment, just being useful indicates a good match for me :P The slayer thing sounds fun though.

Currently an Amarr but I can make a Caldari if needed?

1) Create a couple different PSN accounts

2) Create a character on each account

3) Don't even think of playing any of them until they passively gain 2 million SP

4) Play on a throw-away account immediately and learn the game

5) Enjoy multiple characters in different roles with lots of passive XP from sitting and doing nothing for 6 odd months

6) Seriously, having a tanker, derpship pilot, scout, heavy, logi, AND a standard assault should you so choose is nice

Oh and (7) Realize all of this is useless because CCP sucks as a FPS game developer, grow bitter and finally rage quit.

Right then, I've made and terminated a few characters these past three days, read and skimmed a couple guides, and had a lot of fun...at least until I was kicked out of the academy.

I was warned the game would get harder, I assumed it would....but I was not prepared for this.

The enemy seems invincible, their guns seem to kill in a single shot, and all and all, I'm looking at my screen with a look of utter disbelief.

Seriously though, how does a noob survive outside the academy while still being useful to his team?

Right then, I've made and terminated a few characters these past three days, read and skimmed a couple guides, and had a lot of fun...at least until I was kicked out of the academy.

I was warned the game would get harder, I assumed it would....but I was not prepared for this.

The enemy seems invincible, their guns seem to kill in a single shot, and all and all, I'm looking at my screen with a look of utter disbelief.

Seriously though, how does a noob survive outside the academy while still being useful to his team?

Also what does the security status mean?

1) Join a corp.

2) JOIN A CORP.

3) Seriously. Join a corp. This game is not meant to be played solo. You can lone wolf it, eventually, after you learn the maps inside out and know where most of the engagements take place, and where you can find good cover, etc, but until then... join a corp. Lots of corps like taking noobs and helping them out, just look through the recruitment threads.

4) Become a logi, and learn what other people do by running around behind them, and paying attention to what they do. You can focus on learning instead of shooting, and still support your squad. Remember, you can create free PSN IDs, so create 2 or 3 more with 1 Dust character on each, and just let them accrue SP, until you figure out what you want to do with them. Turn one into a logi, and learn with him.

5) Don't worry about KDR, it means next to nothing in this game. The only thing that matters is the W. Some classes like logi frequently go negative -- yet they are orbital generators because of the WP they accrue. That guy on the winning side that went 3/10, and is at the top of the board with 2200 WP? Those are logis, and are critical to a team's success -- he's the reason you got pounded flat by orbitals 3 times during the match. Aim to be like him. Personally, when I play logi, I'm happy if I hit 1.00. That means that I was able to give as good as I got, which makes me the zero sum game -- I wasn't a slayer, but I didn't drag my team down either, and I still generated a buttload of WP during the match.

Another class that can go negative frequently is forge gunner -- I can easily go negative if I spend an entire Dom chasing tanks. If I go negative KDR, but we got the win because I was able to protect my squad by keeping 3 tanks at bay, but not actually kill any of them, does that make it a bad round for me? I think not.

In other words, KDR largely doesn't mean squat, unless you aim to be an assault slayer -- a "successful" match greatly depends on what class you are playing, and what role you were performing during the match.

Good luck merc!

I noticed Ambush mode seems to have a lot more people around my level, not sure if it is a fluke or something.

Glad to hear you're doing better. And a friendly pro-tip : Stay the hell away from Ambush. Lots of vets use it to grind their weekly cap by protostomping noobs with little to no SP. Best to stick with Skirmish or Dom, at least then you can start learning how a squad works together to win a match. Ambush is for suckers and mercs who are gluttons for punishment.

I see, I take it I won't be getting very good K/D scores for awhile? Or is it still possible to get kills while supporting? Do kill assists help K/D?

What kind of skills should I be focusing on? Currently I put most of my sP into increasing my shields for all suites and some into weapon handling with assault rifles.

What everyone said here is well written and accurate. Being a logistics man myself, I'll echo an earlier poster's statement and tell you that you can stick around us in battles. Chances are that some of us somewhere are usually carrying injectors to revive you, repair tools to get you back to 100% health, and/or repper hives to get you resupplied. Usually (those of us that are halfway decent anyway) don't get brought down right away so we'll be able to keep an eye on the surroundings through active scanners. Unfortunately unless you're in the same squad, scanners don't light up the radar for everybody any longer, but you'd at least be able to see where everyone was firing towards.

1) Join a corp.

2) JOIN A CORP.

3) Seriously. Join a corp. This game is not meant to be played solo. You can lone wolf it, eventually, after you learn the maps inside out and know where most of the engagements take place, and where you can find good cover, etc, but until then... join a corp. Lots of corps like taking noobs and helping them out, just look through the recruitment threads.

4) Become a logi, and learn what other people do by running around behind them, and paying attention to what they do. You can focus on learning instead of shooting, and still support your squad. Remember, you can create free PSN IDs, so create 2 or 3 more with 1 Dust character on each, and just let them accrue SP, until you figure out what you want to do with them. Turn one into a logi, and learn with him.

5) Don't worry about KDR, it means next to nothing in this game. The only thing that matters is the W. Some classes like logi frequently go negative -- yet they are orbital generators because of the WP they accrue. That guy on the winning side that went 3/10, and is at the top of the board with 2200 WP? Those are logis, and are critical to a team's success -- he's the reason you got pounded flat by orbitals 3 times during the match. Aim to be like him. Personally, when I play logi, I'm happy if I hit 1.00. That means that I was able to give as good as I got, which makes me the zero sum game -- I wasn't a slayer, but I didn't drag my team down either, and I still generated a buttload of WP during the match.

Another class that can go negative frequently is forge gunner -- I can easily go negative if I spend an entire Dom chasing tanks. If I go negative KDR, but we got the win because I was able to protect my squad by keeping 3 tanks at bay, but not actually kill any of them, does that make it a bad round for me? I think not.

In other words, KDR largely doesn't mean squat, unless you aim to be an assault slayer -- a "successful" match greatly depends on what class you are playing, and what role you were performing during the match.

Good luck merc!

Kind of an addition to this, if you're running w some people and get into a firefight, keep an eye on your surrounding and minimap to keep from getting flanked. Situational awareness is a very useful skill in this game.

Something else that might be a bit further down the queue of skills to get but at some point might want to think about putting some SP into it is "range amplification" (I think that's the name) gives a passive range boost to minimap/radar +10m/lvl if I recall correctly.
Dropsuit Upgrades>Core Upgrades>Electronics>Range Amplififcation
and no you don't need to equip booster mods to get the bonus

Catiously, the young Newberry pokes his barrel through the academy doors...

It's unfortunately only 10% per level, which for an assault suit means one meter.

I see, I take it I won't be getting very good K/D scores for awhile? Or is it still possible to get kills while supporting? Do kill assists help K/D?

What kind of skills should I be focusing on? Currently I put most of my sP into increasing my shields for all suites and some into weapon handling with assault rifles.