cranium79
ZionTCD
92
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Posted - 2014.02.26 21:14:00 -
[1] - Quote
dust can be a very overwhelming game for new players. being stuck behind the noob 8 ball in a world of experienced players is bad enough. you also need to deal with what seems to be an endless amount of options to spend your SP on.
as a closed beta vet, i am offering some of the strategies i used and experiences i've had in my early days up to now. hopefully some of you will find this useful.
SKILLS
you SP is valuable. it is much harder to come by than ISK. how you spend it needs to be a careful consideration. throwing SP around all over the place will get you nowhere fast. here's what i've learned...
1) start with putting your SP into core skills that give you passive (free) advantages. you should start with...
a) armor and shield skills. they give you a passive 5% increase in armor and shields to a max of 25%. the actual armor plates/shield extenders are not needed to be used in order to take advantage of the bonus.
b) cpu and pg skills. again, you get a max passive 25% at lvl 5 (5% per level). there is another skill book (i believe it's called "core upgrades" but i don't have dust open right to to check... sorry) that gives you an extra 1% cpu and pg per level for a max of 5%.
the reasoning for this is getting a firm base established for your suits. that way you can maximize your fits. for example, if you spend all your early sp on trying to get a proto suit, you will not be able to use it to it's max potential. you will be running around in a proto suit fitted with militia plates, extenders, and weapons. this will get you no where but broke, and fast. proto suits don't have any more HP than militia fits. they only have more cpu, pg, and slots. plus they are expensive.
2) pick a role and stick with it. if you want to be a cal scout with a shotgun, spec cal scout and shotgun skills. don't waste sp on laser rifles and amar heavy suits. suit skill have the highest sp multiplier (they cost the most sp to spec into). if you are not sure what suit frame and race you like, use militia fits and figure it out that way. even skilling into lvl 1 for each is a waste of sp and isk. those skill books are expensive, and the amount of sp, although seeming small to spec lvl 1, adds up.
ISK Tips
1) starter fits are your friend. they are infinite. you can change their slots, as long as they are filled, saving you isk. if you spec your armor, shield, cpu, and pg skills to 5, starter fits can be useful.
2) don't go crazy and buy 1000 of everything all at once. i personally only keep a max of 20 fits per load out that i have. some are as low as 10-15. if you know you are going to die a lot (and you will at first), use the free starter fits, or switch to them after you think you've lost enough isk. you typically earn about 150K isk per match no matter what (unless you enter a game half done). think about how many deaths you can have before you use up your end of match pay out and go from there.
you want to consider how much isk you need to buy skill books as well. if you run your pay out limit every match on suits, you will have nothing left to buy the skill books you need.
GAME Tips
1) don't be afraid of having a low (negative) KDR. dust isn't about kdr, it's about winning. you will die. a lot. here's some tips to make it less frustrating.
2) don't waste your sp and isk on the fotm (flavor of the month). every single fotm has been hit with the nerf bat.. such as: the duvalle tac ar, drop ships, flylock, mass driver, laser rifle, murder taxis, cavity thuker grenades, remote explosives, etc... and yes, the combat rifle and especially the rail rifle will be hit with the nerf bat in 1.8.
3) don't try to go toe to toe with anything more advanced than you fit unless you have to. you will lose. it is ok to shoot people in the back. also, shoot at people half dead already. shoot at people other people are shooting at. even if 1 of your rounds connects, you get the 25 WP kill assist, or possibly finish the guy off and get the 50.
4) hack, hack, and hack some more. also, if you see a tank shooting a gun installation, start shooting it with your weapon. you'll get the 25 WP kill assist. this sometimes works on vehicles, CRUs, and supply depots, but to a lesser extent.
5) equipment is your friend. 60 points to revive with an injector is more than a 50 point kill. if you don't like the needle, carry hives or drop uplinks. even the militia versions will get you points. you don't need to be a logi to use equipment. TIP... when using drop uplinks, people spawn facing the way you were facing when you deploy it. so, if you are facing a wall, people will spawn facing a wall and get shot in the back. try turning around and facing open ground. then deploy the uplink.
6) get with a corp that is friendly to noobs. there are several out there.
i hope these tips and suggestions help. good hunting. |