DUST Search - More terribly easy questions

Hairy Lurker wrote:

Okay guys, Virgin actually came through for once so I got to blitz a couple of hours of matches! With the information provided above, a lot of the game has clicked into place. Thankyou so much!
So, to continue:

1. Multipliers again; what is this base value? I get that it's x2 & x4 of something, but what?

6,220 SP.

2. What is the relevance of the star map? Does it do anything at this point?

The star map is mostly for planetary conquest and faction warfare. You're actually fighting in districts on many of the planets found in the star map. You don't need to worry about it for now, though.

3. I've been booted out of academy properly now - got the four games to choose from none of which are academy - but what's the red dot on the left of mercenary matches significant for? And should I actually attempt to participate in them yet?

The red dot means that the match isn't yet live and hasn't started yet. A green dot means that they're live and midway through a match. They have long queue times, so it can be worth queueing for matches in progress if you're alone.
I would say go for it. Mercenary battles have more of an impact, but because they have longer queue times the 'pubstomping' squads tend to stay away from them, and you can get better fights at your level.

4. When is a good time to actively set up alts?

You don't really need alts to be honest. You could try making another PSN so you could get some passive SP on another character, but you're probably not going to be able to focus on both. A forum alt can be decent, though, if you're paranoid.

5. I've been eyeing up those lovely sounding drop ships (especially the logi ones!), but at what point should I be looking at vehicle setups? Think this would tie in to number 4?

You could have a vehicle alt if you really wanted to, yeah.
Dropships... Dropships are in a difficult place at the moment. They're difficult to pilot and are quite weak - they have a tendency to be wrecked from the other side of the map by some random with a railgun turret. I would say stay away from dropships for now, or if you want to try them don't invest SP. You can get a militia dropship to learn to pilot for a few hundred thousand isk. It's an expensive hobby.
LAVs can be good fun, and are relatively cheap to pick up. You get a free BPO one, too.

6. I've been picking up the odd weapon in salvage that's too high spec for me right now. Can I sell it at all?

Not yet, unfortunately. That's coming, though.

7. I'm seeing balance now, where once there was chaos. You have vehicles / suits that either have a higher armour or a higher shield and can apply mods (or whatever they're called?) to make up the difference. Correct? Is this the definition of "speccing into it"?

Speccing into a suit means you're spending SP to get better versions of it and to put better modules on it, yes.
Each race has their own quirks. I'll just give you a quick overview:
Caldari - strong shields, good mobility and firepower
Gallente - strong armour, excellent firepower
Amarr - good shields and armour, look good (I have little experience here)
Minmatar - good shields, excellent mobility

8. I've tried to access something earlier that took me to an EVE login that asked for my username? I don't recall ever having set one up and it's not accepting my Dust details. Do I have to sign up for EVE?

I'm not sure what you're trying to access, so I can't help you there.

Once again, sorry for killing the quote machine and Thankyou for any and all replies.


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Arkena Wyrnspire Turalyon Plus 711	Posted - 2013.06.04 21:58:00 - [1] - Quote There's a quote limit per post, so some of these have been emphasised to indicate they're quotes. Welcome to New Eden! Now, let's address your questions. Hairy Lurker wrote: To say I don't understand this game is an understatement. So: 1. Dropsuits need to be purchased. With the exception of the starter builds (and even starter builds if you try to remove / add something), everything loses one item, every single time you die. That's why i'm constantly hearing "don't buy overly expensive gear". But does this apply to the actual dropsuits themselves or not? Do I need to be stocking X amount of whatever suit i'm using? As well as X amount of gear on said suit? Yes. You have to get the base dropsuit as well as the modules, unless it's a BPO (BluePrint Original) suit, and those are hard to come by and come in standard flavours only. Quote: 2. Blueprint items (look to be exclusively militia type gear?) are the exception to the "losing one" rule above. Correct? What about featured suits (that have icons that look like blueprint items?) or AUR bought gear? Yes, this is correct. If the featured suits have a blue icon, that probably means they're a BPO. BPOs typically have a high AUR cost, in excess of 10,000 for the standard suits. Quote: 3. I'm coming out of Academy (if that's the term for it?) matches with between 2k - 5k SP. Is this normal? It's saying I need 300+k of SP to get something to level 3 Yes, this is normal. You'll get a bit more in longer matches, and Skirmish matches. It might seem like only a little, but it adds up. You also get 24,000 SP per day regardless of the number of matches you play. Again, it might not seem like a lot, but if you log on after a day's break you can typically find something that you can upgrade. Also bear in mind that you don't need to get prototype gear for everything - you can generally get away with leaving skills at 1-3 until you want to really spec into something. There's always some tidbit that you can get with a small amount of SP as well - with 10 mil SP, I'm still finding little skills and items that I find fun. Quote: 4. If I partake in the "second tab" (can't remember the actual name) battles in the battlefinder, will I be unable to join acadamy battles again? You'll still be able to participate in Academy battles, even if you try these out. These will be tougher than what you're used to - organised groups roam here, and people will be bringing better gear to the table. They'll also be more experienced than you. When you get out of the Academy, don't be demoralised if you get wrecked - stick at it and the game rewards you. Academy matches only stop being available to you when you hit 10k WP, or War Points. You can check this stat under the social tab and looking at the leaderboards. It shows you your personal stats on there. Quote: 5. Looking on my skills / planning skills, I keep seeing multiplyers. What do these reflect? (don't say multiplication) Multiplication. Well, it indicates how expensive the skill is to upgrade. A level 1 in a 1x multiplier skill will be 6,220 SP, a level 1 in a 2x skill will be 12,440, etc. The cost of upgrading a skill at higher levels is much more - it's about 310k for the last level of a weapon operation skill. Don't feel pressured into upgrading to these too quick - it's only about a 10% increase in damage. TOOMANYQUOTES: 6. I'm seeing a lot of talk about LAV's and HGV's and the like and haven't got a clue what they mean. Is there a jargon buster kicking around? :TOOMANYQUOTES LAV = Light Attack Vehicle - this is basically a futuristic humvee/jeep. HAV = Heavy Attack Vehicle - these are tanks. Stay away from these as a newbie. TOOMANYQUOTES: 7. How do I / is it possible to swap characters without quitting the game? :TOOMANYQUOTES I don't think it's possible. Currently, you don't actually need to do it much. You can get everything on one character, if you want, provided you have the SP, and you'll get more SP by sticking to one character. Picking the race at the start only limits you a little at the very beginning - SP can be used to get into anything. TOOMANYQUOTES: 8. Are there any training corps out there that cover stuff THIS basic? And how would one join said training corps? I honestly feel like a right numpty here. : TOOMANYQUOTES Yep. Dust University and Bojo's School of the Trades are the two best examples. You can apply to either straight out - go to your neocom (the menu bar, basically) and select corporations. Search for either one, and select 'Apply to join'. My corp would also welcome you, but personally I think you'd be much better off in either of the first two. TOOMANYQUOTES: That's pretty much all I got for now. No doubt i'll have more to add once I get home and actually get to play the game and become confused again. As always, help is appreciated. : TOOMANYQUOTES In this section of the forums, we're happy to help! Feel free to ask more questions. I hope this cleared some things up for you.
Arkena Wyrnspire Turalyon Plus 768	Posted - 2013.06.05 22:38:00 - [2] - Quote Hairy Lurker wrote: Okay guys, Virgin actually came through for once so I got to blitz a couple of hours of matches! With the information provided above, a lot of the game has clicked into place. Thankyou so much! So, to continue: 1. Multipliers again; what is this base value? I get that it's x2 & x4 of something, but what? 6,220 SP. 2. What is the relevance of the star map? Does it do anything at this point? The star map is mostly for planetary conquest and faction warfare. You're actually fighting in districts on many of the planets found in the star map. You don't need to worry about it for now, though. 3. I've been booted out of academy properly now - got the four games to choose from none of which are academy - but what's the red dot on the left of mercenary matches significant for? And should I actually attempt to participate in them yet? The red dot means that the match isn't yet live and hasn't started yet. A green dot means that they're live and midway through a match. They have long queue times, so it can be worth queueing for matches in progress if you're alone. I would say go for it. Mercenary battles have more of an impact, but because they have longer queue times the 'pubstomping' squads tend to stay away from them, and you can get better fights at your level. 4. When is a good time to actively set up alts? You don't really need alts to be honest. You could try making another PSN so you could get some passive SP on another character, but you're probably not going to be able to focus on both. A forum alt can be decent, though, if you're paranoid. 5. I've been eyeing up those lovely sounding drop ships (especially the logi ones!), but at what point should I be looking at vehicle setups? Think this would tie in to number 4? You could have a vehicle alt if you really wanted to, yeah. Dropships... Dropships are in a difficult place at the moment. They're difficult to pilot and are quite weak - they have a tendency to be wrecked from the other side of the map by some random with a railgun turret. I would say stay away from dropships for now, or if you want to try them don't invest SP. You can get a militia dropship to learn to pilot for a few hundred thousand isk. It's an expensive hobby. LAVs can be good fun, and are relatively cheap to pick up. You get a free BPO one, too. 6. I've been picking up the odd weapon in salvage that's too high spec for me right now. Can I sell it at all? Not yet, unfortunately. That's coming, though. 7. I'm seeing balance now, where once there was chaos. You have vehicles / suits that either have a higher armour or a higher shield and can apply mods (or whatever they're called?) to make up the difference. Correct? Is this the definition of "speccing into it"? Speccing into a suit means you're spending SP to get better versions of it and to put better modules on it, yes. Each race has their own quirks. I'll just give you a quick overview: Caldari - strong shields, good mobility and firepower Gallente - strong armour, excellent firepower Amarr - good shields and armour, look good (I have little experience here) Minmatar - good shields, excellent mobility 8. I've tried to access something earlier that took me to an EVE login that asked for my username? I don't recall ever having set one up and it's not accepting my Dust details. Do I have to sign up for EVE? I'm not sure what you're trying to access, so I can't help you there. Once again, sorry for killing the quote machine and Thankyou for any and all replies. Heh, I've learned how to avoid breaking the quote machine, so the answers are in bold inside the quote. Glad to hear you found the first set of answers helpful - I hope you find these helpful too. Feel free to come back if you have more questions.