Thaddeus Reynolds
Facepunch Security
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Posted - 2015.03.16 16:59:00 -
[1] - Quote
It'll take a little time to find your stride, as it will in any game...DUST inherits a bit of the EVE learning curve (albeit not nearly as severe). Things are constantly being re-balanced, so it ends up being a little more important to find a role/weapon/suit that you are comfortable with and practice with it. Use SP on core Dropsuit skills to up them in general, they help the most and grant you the largest variety of options.
Roles:
Slayer - Suits that specialize at killing other infantry targets, these include Assaults, Scouts, Sentinels, and to a lesser degree The Frames (Light, medium, and heavy) as well as commando suits. Fit for mobility and damage on these (with a little HP boost ofc, stick with Ferroscale Plates, or shield extenders). The Main Battle Rifles are probably best for this role
Support - Carry the Beans Bullets and Bandages for the rest of the team, Logis and Scouts fall into this category...they carry additional equipment that can be used to heal/resupply allies (or yourself), or remote explosives for taking out big targets/setting traps. Grab a Rep Tool for max Points, try to avoid Nanite Injectors (Needles) until you get some good SP in them...carry nanohives or drop uplinks instead.
Point Defense - Stay in one place and deny the area, Sentinels and Heavy frames lend themselves well to this role. Brick them up with Armor Plates and/or Shield Extenders, grab damage mods...and a support buddy to detect pesky scouts
Recon/Flanking - Stay Mobile, Stay out of Sight, Strike when and where they least expect it. Scouts and Light Frames fulfill this role best. Use mobility to the max here, grab a cloak (or don't...sometimes you to place forward uplinks). Shotguns and Tactical Sniper Rifles work well in this role (Although, you can never go wrong with a Main Battle Rifle).
Sniping - Reach out and Touch Somebody. Suits with large numbers of high-slots lend themselves well to this role...I personally prefer the Caldari Commando (Because of a built-in damage bonus and reload bonus). Choice of rifle is largely up to how you want to play: Charge Sniper is a high-Alpha strike rifle, combine with headshots for extreme stoping power. Tactical Sniper Rifle is shorter ranged than the other rifles, but can quickly repeat rounds...probably the best for counter-sniping. Regular Sniper Rifles have Longer range than the Charge Sniper Rifle, but have lower damage. Either grab more hp after up to 3 damage mods, or go for profile reduction to make you harder to find. Always remember to carry a nanohive with you for ammo
Vehicle Operators - A whole section could be written on each type...but I'll say this for now: Dropships are difficult to get into, but once you get the hang of it, they're very fun to fly around...check them out...and for the love of the Empress make sure you fit modules onto your vehicles.
Anti-Vehicle (AV) - Swarm Launchers, PLCs, Forgeguns, Assault HMGs, Remote Explosives, and AV Grenades put a big dent in someone's wallet. Commandos or Sentinels work best in this roll (Assaults as well).
Terminology for Weapons:
Assault - Automatic, Fast Firing, Close Range, Low Damage Per Shot, High DPS (Applies to all except HMG right now)
Burst - Burst Fire Mechanics, Medium Range, Good DPS (dependent on how fast you pull the trigger)
Tactical - Semi-Automatic, Medium-Long Range, Good DPS (dependent on how fast you pull the trigger)
Breach - Automatic, Slow Firing, Medium-Long Range, High Damage per shot, Fair DPS
Think about what kind of weapon you want to use, how you want to use it, and how much mobility vs HP vs utility you want.
For Up Close Weapons, look for Gallente: Shotgun, Assault Rifle, and Heavy Machine Guns are the big ones for them (Shotgun is very very close range in this game compared to other FPSs)...HMGs come in two close range flavors: The Regular and the Burst (The Assault is a Mid Ranged one...may be renamed breach soon). Burst HMG is great for eliminating other heavy frame based suits, while the Regular shreds almost everything else with impunity. The assault rifle gets into the mid range (and is the only "Main Battle Rifle" in the close range category). The assault rifle has several variants that emulate the other rifles' functionality.
For Mid Ranged Weaponry, look for Amarr/Minmatar: Scrambler Rifle and Combat Rifle are probably the best generalist weapons in the game...they perform the role of no frills standard armament surprisingly well. (If you don't like heat management, but like the Semi-auto feel of the Scrambler, get into the Tactical Assault Rifle...drops heat but also the charge shot)
For Long Ranged Weaponry look for Caldari: The Rail Rifle is the generalist option here, Sniper Rifles are the specialist option. Avoid snipers for now, they have a high barrier of entry in regards to SP to make the effective enough to use (hopefully will be rectified soon)...get a few MLT snipers to try to get a feel, but don't run the role regularly (unless you find you are a god among immortal mercs at getting headshots). Forge Guns are another long-range option, and are designed as anti-material weapons...luckily infantry happen to be made of material.
For Specialty weapons: The Mass Driver is a useful area denial tool that has become more relevant recently, I highly recomend checking it out (Stick with MLT stuff to get a feel for things)
The Plasma Cannon is another Anti-material weapon, but unlike the forge gun...I put it into the Close-mid range category, it takes a lot of practice to use...but it is a very fun weapon
The Laser Rifle is a mid-long range weapon that actually looses damage close-up. Additionally, the laser rifle gains strength as you heat it up...with practice it can be the deadliest weapon on the battlefield.
Khanid Logi and Tanker, sometimes AV Heavy or Sniper.
Vehicle Re-vamp Proposal
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