Im writing this here as a crash course into the finer points of this game. This game has a brutal learning curve and took me about 1 week of playing to actually understand the intricacies and nuances.
First system operation-->options-->audio-->voice on-->Push to talk off. Now you can select a chat and click activate voice you now have VOX. (we told CCP to change this default and they will hopefully).
Next video--We find that if you have a tv with game option for display set video brightness b/w 0-20 for best contract in options. I use 15.
Controls: I use a mouse so all my sensitivities are 100 since i have adjustable DPI., however 30-40 on x/y for DS3 is perfect, hipfire is king in this game NOT ADS get out of that mentality quick. Turn aim assistance off it will always direct to body shots and will pick up other enemies and throw off your aim.
Motion controller: this also effects ads turn so set crosshair to 100 and deadzone to 0
Mouse: Unconfirmed any affect on DS3 but i have mine on 100 and mouse smoothing off.
Okay so now what else. First off get the idea of this being a FPS out of your mind. This is an MMO with PVP conducted in a FPS style of play. Currently there is no other arena but the quick battles so no way of separating vets from noobies, Eventually they will (There is a content build coming in the next few weeks we hope will introduce many gameplay elements such as FW, PVE player arenas and Soverignty that will attract vets and give the noobies time to grow).
Why do i say think of this as an MMO well your characters are all new. As a closed beta tester for many months i know the ins/outs of character development add to that i have a 2 week head start on Open Beta testers and this game has been out for 5 weeks in open almost. I have 5.5M SP some i know have over 6M SP; compare that to a new player with 500K SP to start and not enough ISK to buy the skillbooks you can see its more MMO than FPS already. Currently SP is capped on active gains eventually a rollover system is coming that will let new players continue to grind unrestricted and potentially catch day 1 players. Currently that cap is 192,400 SP/week 285,600(with active booster) and 24,000SP/day passive gain or 36,000/day with passive SP booster. So currently a new player simply cant catch a day 1 but the lead cant get too out of control either, the only advantage is like any other MMO; Time since character creation.
Also this is NOT a TWITCH SHOOTER; take cover be smart; learn to strafe(circle, figure 8) this is basic but it helps http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYXffQMXXxM as well as some of the commentary in there.
You will die A LOT, get used to it but you will learn and get better, like any mmo or tactical shooter Team plays trumps all and always will.
The videos in the link above are created by arguably the best player in Dust and i highly recommend giving them a view.
Anyway it will take a new player 1-4 weeks to get to decent fighting shape against vets. I recommend https://forums.dust514.com/default.aspx?g=topics&f=899 the training ground section of this game to get some really sage advice on core skills and stuff. I will list the most important here these take while to skill into and there are even more to consider. You need to create a dust character in order to access the game forums so that will help.
Dropsuit command 2-3
Circuitry(raises CPU)
Combat Engineering(raises PG)
Weapon of choice operation
LW sharpshooter(AR's mostly)
Field mechanincs(+5% armor/level)
Generally stagger these things. There is currently an cap on active SP gain of 192,400 skill points/week and you also earn a passive SP of 24,000/day. You can increase this with purchasable booster than can increase the those gains by 50%. Additionally once you reach your active SP cap you can still earn a soft cap of 1 Skill point for every 1 WP(warpoint) earned during combat, up to 1000 SP/match (1500 if you have the booster). This was implemented to prevent hardcore players from getting too far ahead of the casual population however it creates a lead through time passed as day 1 characters will have earned more from having longer time in the game. This will be corrected with the eventual implementation of a rollover system that will allow players to continue to grind unrestricted until they reach the levels of what a DAY 1 character would be at from day 1 to present day. This will allow players to take extended breaks but still grind back to the levels of the highest SP players and the passive gain is nice because you can take a break and still earn SP to grow your character.
There is even more to go into but i would simply overwhelm you until you have a basic understanding of the game its takes a few days to get comfortable because this isnt like any other game you've played before.
I will simply add this link here:
http://dust514.com/beta/news/2013/03/fansite-skirmish-winners-announced/
This is the devblog of the 3 top fansites currently for DUST. This was a competition CCP conducted to award one free trip to Iceland to attend the EVE/Dust Fanfest that takes place every april. Anyway they are a great resource of info not only about game lore but also great tips on character builds and game basics. I highly recommend giving them a look as they will really help you get your bearings in this game.
I recommend L1--> Help--> instruction and tutorials. They are basic but give the needed crash course to understand.
Every skill in this game has a prereq almost, hit triangle and then L2/R2 to tab over to them. Also skill if you press triangle will give you a description of what they do, some are bit vague and CCP is cleaning them up to be more specific.
This game requires a bit of fiddle and exploration of the menus and i ALWAYS RECOMMEND NEWBIES DO THIS. It's easy to get lost but just as easy to learn if you take the TIME. Im a bit OCD like this and tend to read game manuals and the intro sections of every walkthrough ive ever bought because to me a game is also like a machine you can't fully appreciate it if you don't know its finer details.
I can go into even greater detail about character builds. Also Nasrin having selected sniper class doesn't mean you are stuck snipers. The class you choose on character creation simply preselects a few skills for you, however you can build your character anyway you want and endgame characters will have everything unlocked and be a jack of all trades. CCP's goal is for it to take you ~7 years to do all that. So for now specialize.
You can do this by speccing into assualt suits and assualt rifles and now you will be able to purchase advance(better) suits/weapons in that class. So even though you started scout you can still change direction based on how you distribute your SP. Just remember its limited on a week to week basis for now and its essential you specialize and focus on something instead of spreading SP. I for instance am a logistics specialist and all 5.5M SP is in logistics type skills i wont branch from this main build until i hit 8M SP which will take me about a month more. (currently with active/passive boosters) You can earn ~5M SP/month give or take).
I could go on and on and on about this stuff but i will end this post here for now.
Lastly i will comment on this: This game is a sandbox, fairness has really no place in the universe, its all about what you can risk and what you will bring to the table, that makes the game very harsh to new players, however keep the faith as we know CCP has confirmed PVE arenas and eventual free expansions hopefully in this next content build that will allow newbies a place to PVP without so much veteran pubstomping.
Keep in mind that this beta release is only version 0.7 soooo its far from feature complete.
If you have further questions or want more in depth help mail me here at escapist or in game at Gunner Nighthingale. Additionally get on those forums and ask questions, despite the harsh nature of the New Eden Universe most of us are carebears with regards to new players when they ask thoughtful questions of us.
Seek, aka Gunner.
