Why is everyone dying? Ah, Ah, Ah, Ah Staying alive... staying alive...

[Tal-N]

Right. I look at the official forums and already i see people complaining about the costs for dying and i look back at my first few weeks playing beta and ask myself. What the hell are these people doing to get themselves killed?

 

I went the same route as any newbie, i got into the game, got lost in the cirst city i was in, eventually found the city walls and went outside. Got into a few fights and was incapped. Once i got my bearings for how much punishment I could take and dish out I went further into the wilderness. If i was something which looked sorta deadly then I left it alone, if it was smaller than me then it was fair game.

 

2 months go by with me out in harms way on a regular basis and by the end of beta i had only died a total of 2 times!

 

Now i know they have made enemies tougher but from what I've heard from ex-beta friends of mine who i have stayed in contact with the animals are the same in terms of what will deathblow you and what won't. Now the devs actually spent a great deal of time pushing the cost of insurance UP to a reasonable level... THEY WANT DEATH TO BE EXPENSIVE.

 

And I agree, staying alive is very very easy even for a newbie to do. Stop running off at the largest animals with the big teeth and if you see any skeletons around the area then keep your eyes peeled and be ready to run. If you don't have alot of money in the bank (yes you should drop as much into the banks as possible instead ofwalking around with it) then don't go after the big nasties. They aren't that common on your starting planets and for the love of god if you're new then DO NOT GO TO AN ADVENTURE PLANET!

 

There's the next 5 years left so there is no reason to run off to explore the galaxy before you're ready and as you have found, it's dangerous out there.

[Jan Gaarni]

Indeed.

 

The Star Wars Galaxy is a dangerous place to be, and to top it off there's adeadly civil war going on aswell.

 

Listen to Tal-N. Don't run around thinking you can take out everything you come across. And for the love of God, don't do as many does in EQ ... letting one of their foe escape. SWG's AI is much more advanced, and while EQ AI could have a 50% chance they returned with backup, SWG AI will most certaintly come back with plenty of backup if available.

[-=ReApEr=-]

Man i can't wait to play this game, just ignore the whinners i bet most of them are only about 10.

[deggesim]

Tal-N, it sounds very good for me!

IMHO it makes the difference amongst Hack and Slash and RPG: I really don't like going around and attack every MOB I meet, I like to think that EVERY meeting will be interesting and that I have to use intelligence to know what I can do and what a

I cannot do

 

With patience and wisdom I think I'll be able to keep alive

[Dathan Surehand]

I have to say I hadn't died in game until I grouped up with another group. They had A "Big paying mission", well it seems groups like to bite off more than they can chew......

 

I have died too many times when grouping....Sadly I have left my group for now.

[Deft Aklin]

Dathan, if you /tell me on Starsider, I'll show you what groupping or soloing is all about. I have basically been deemed the official combat trainer for Dark Sovereignty, and would more than gladly show you how combat works best, alone or in a group.

 

As far as dangerous creatures, I direct your attention to the little explosion looking icon on each of the creatures you see. This is a /con rating. It judges your skill verse the target. Here is the rating system:

Green: Cake, you should walk over this wussy.

Blue: Easy, but will put up a little fight.

Light blue: Still easy, but not a walk in the park.

White: Even, be careful, you will need skill to walk away safely.

Yellow: Should beat you, but with the right amount of skill, you can win.

Red: Should walk all over you. Make sure you target these from a distance and use /con. If it says "Instant death", no amount of skill can save you. Groups cna SOMETIMES take these down, but it will involve skill. Normally, especially if you are alone, just walk away.

[Tal-N]

Well, i have to say that red con does NOT always mean instant death. Only with certain enemies it does but during the final weeks of beta when they boosted everything through the roof i was still soloing Dewbacks and Cu Pa when i had Pistol specialist.

 

All you need to do is ensure you take on the enemy on YOUR terms. I'll tell you how to get the most from your Pistol Specialist skills against almost any red mob.

 

#1. Devide and conquer

It's a solid fact that it's actually possible to get your ass handed to you if you're facing more than 2 blue cons, so facing more than one red con is certain death under any circumstances. If you see a pack of the animals your aim is to try and seperate one of them from the pack or try and find one which is already isolated from the rest.

 

If there isn't one already seperated you're going to need to do some bear baiting.

 

#2. Choose your battleground

It's a solid fact that you will run slower up hill and faster downhill. On the whole you'll actually find that mobs aren't drastically effected by an uphill slope however they also don't speed up nearly as much as the player does when you're running down hill.

 

The aim is to ensure that behind you will be a good downhill slope or at a push some very flat open ground, if there is a hill which is going to slow you down then find another angle to start your attack or your bear baiting.

 

#3. Remember that you can shoot THROUGH the landscape

Yes, i know this is an annoying break for realism but on the other hand it ensures that when combat starts you don't instantly lose your lock because half of the target is now obscured by a small rise. It actually helps more than it hinders in the long run. Use TAB targetting when you're about to start a fight, try to find that 64m range that all weapons start shooting from (some weapons can actually attack from further than that) ideally you want to try and shoot through the landscape so that you get addtional free hits as the NPC tries to figure out where the attack is coming from.

 

#4. Concelment

The time it takes for the NPCs to lock onto where you are attacking from will depend on their personal stats as well as your current status. If you're standing you're fairly easy to find, if you're crouching they'll take longer to find you and when you're prone it'll take longer still. If you are attacking wild animals and have 'maskscent' or special clothing that a bio-eng helpped to make which covers your scent then make sure you use it. Wild animals will take even longer to find you if they can't smell you.

 

Just make sure it's on BEFORE you attack.

 

#5. Know your enemy

If you're facing aliens and humans then you'll find that they'll normally use blasters. In that situation you need to go prone since you get higher accuracy and take less blaster damage, this will also modify where you choose to attack from. Ideally you want to have a good view of the land so that you can easily pick off anyone who is running away, try to stay within 50m since aliens and humans with blaster will move around more and the last thing you want is for them to move out of range.

 

When facing animals or melee fighters try to avoid going prone, it takes longer to stand up and if you're caught by a melee attack while prone then you have the damage multiplied by THREE. Special moves like kip-up shot actually don't work once the enemy is close so don't bother having them close at hand when you're facing animals since all animals move into melee range very quickly so the kipup shot wont work and you'll be left lying on the floor still.

 

#6. The attack and knowing when to retreat

Now that you have found a good point to start your attack and have a good view of the target you now need to start thinking about the actual attacks you want. For a specialist pistoleer you have 'warning shot' and 'bodyshot 2' which are a potent combination with a fast blaster. Start off by firing two bodyshots, que up two warning shots right behind them. Typically the two body shots will hit the target before they realise where you are, if it's an animal they'll start covering ground quickly, if it's a human/alien melee fighter then you have more time to get moving and finally if it's a ranged alien or human then they'll probably drop to prone and start firing.

 

One way or another the warning shots are the way to go, but why two of them?

 

Well the fact is that you will have started in a low stance anyway, so if someone is starting to attack you then you have to give yourself some time to assess what is happening now that the enemy has seen you. The warning shots will also help you gauge what you're up against, if the first wanring shot doesn't work then you know that this enemy is seriously p*ssed off with you. The second shot if i works will generally cause them to stop in their tracks and think for a moment, if it doesn't miss and the enemy is still advancing on you then it's time to run and focus on causing as much damage as possible because the target is one of those enemies which will only respond to warning shots once they are badly hurt. (ie. around 50% for a HAM pool)

 

If you are facing a ranged fighter then the warning shots will simply knock their accuracy down a few pegs, that's enough breathing space for you to take stock of the situation. If you're seeing reinforcements joining the fight then you'll have to make a choice about if you can handle them.

 

Now, if the warning shot has worked then again you have breathing space to see if the target has any friends coming to help. Again judge for yourself if you can handle them. Usually if there's more than 4 of them you're in trouble unless they are green cons.

 

If you are outmatched, then RUN! Run like the wind. It's not cowardly and in the long run if you survive then you've managed to break up the group of enemies more which might allow you to try again and seperate a target better this time without them calling for backup.

 

#7. Going in for the kill

Assuming everything has worked out fine you should now be facing a single enemy. If it's any kind of melee attacker you should now be standing and running down this hill behind you. The tactic now is to figure out how much damage you are causing to the target and how much running space you have before things start working against you.

 

One way or another though by now you should understand what you're up againstm even if the warning shots didn't work you'll now be at this stage so as long as you're causing a decent amount and damage and holding your own then you'll want to use the following tactic:

 

Bodyshot, bodyshot, warning shot.

 

Ideally you want the warning shot to hit them before they get within melee range (maximum of 15m) and for the bodyshots to be hitting them before they get out of maximum range. Since you should now be running down hill or on a hill the warning shot will force the enemy UP the hill at a slower rate, I don't know if this is a bug or not. But if you do this enough times (around four if i remember) then most mobs will slow down to a crawl. It's almost as if they've worn themselves out and are struggling to regain their breath again. At this point you can easily kite them and pound away. Eventually they will start running again but if you haven't picked a fight that is too tough for you then this fight is as good as won.

 

Keep these tactics in mind, they can help you defeat anything including red mobs which are melee fighters with no ranged abilities. Like dewbacks.

[Tal-N]

And for the love of God, don't do as many does in EQ ... letting one of their foe escape. SWG's AI is much more advanced, and while EQ AI could have a 50% chance they returned with backup, SWG AI will most certaintly come back with plenty of backup if available.

 

Yeah, thats another good point. If you see something running away when you haven't use a warning shot or threaten shot you need to either try to kill it or be prepared to run. Remember how i said it's good to shoot through the landscape at targets. Well there is a downside.

 

This one time i was on Tatooine and saw what appeared to be a lone mutant womprat sitting on a mountainside. I checked the area using the TAB targetting and there wasn't a nest or anything else around, the radar was also blank. So i ran for this thing blasting away causing around 270 per hit and the mutant womprat took one look at me and ran. Naturally I followed it up this mountain and lost sight of it as it went over the lip of the top. I kept going and suddentlyabout 8 red dots appeared on my radar spread out like a staggered wave coming towards me. I stopped, looked up and just had time to see a load of mutant womprats come hopping over the hill lead by the one I attacked.

 

Well needless to say I hit burstrun and was gone in a puff of smoke down the hill, they chased me for about 100m before giving up but it was a very good lesson about checking what situation you're getting into before you start picking a fight.

 

If something is running away after you attacked it, be prepared!