Space combat seems impossibly difficult...Follow

I've beaten X-Wing, TIE Fighter, and the three Rogue Squadron titles. So I wasn't really expecting the space combat portion of the Star Wars MMORPG to be so difficult at the newbie space station. But I just can't do it anymore. I give up on the badge and the credits. I want to actually get off this station and start leveling up.

I'm up to the final three space missions, given to you by the elite pilot in the pilot's lounge just off Hangar 01 on Tansarii Station. I'm on the fourth day of my free trial. I've spent most of today trying to finish these final three missions, but after about 5 hours, I simply cannot. Space is incredibly laggy. I can run the regular on-foot game with all the bells and whistles without a lick of slowdown, but in space I get 10FPS average - 4 or 5 FPS if one of the game's conveniently-placed nebulas decides to wander onscreen. Apart from the slowdown, the starter ship is just horrible. I've done my fair share of blowing up enemies, but I have yet to have any new weapons or missiles drop. No ordinance or countermeasures either. I've gotten about two dozen ship parts to drop, but they are all inferior to the Prototype Parts. The only item that seemed to look helpful was a Booster, but putting it in overloaded my power supply...or energy, or whatever they call it. So I took it out.

Over the past few days, I've had a hell of a time in space. Whereas on the ground I can strut into a room and clear it of enemies without breaking into a string of obscenities, in Space I often get involved in boring dogfights that seem to take 5-10 minutes per enemy. As they whiz by taking random turns and bouncing through space (they especially love making me look towards a nebula so my computer melts down), I'm stuck firing my useless little laser at the leading-reticule that is supposed to help me hit the enemy. In the end, it is largely useless, and I'm stuck visually timing my shots. By the time I finally figure out where I should fire, my laser is overheating and I can't fire fast enough to get their shields down. Thus the 10-minute dogfights.

Though this was annoying, they were at least possible. Even though each mission took a good half-hour, they were doable. Now, though, they seem impossible. The mission I'm stuck on right now wants me to destroy 5 Black Sun Spies. However, these Spies are mixed in with about seven or eight Ace Black Sun Hunters or Bloodstalkers. I have no choice but to wade into the cluster of death and try to take them all on. This, unfortunately, does not work. At all.

So here I am. I have the best components for my ship, which are the components given to me at the start. All the ones that drop in space provide less armor, less power, less damage, and drain more energy and weigh more. The choppiness of space coupled with the inefficacy of the starter ship leads to prolonged battles that I simply cannot survive with seven other ships blasting away at me. What's the trick to this? Do I need to arrange for someone to help me? A tall task, as I think I've seen three other people on the newbie station since I first started playing. Should I just forget the pilot missions and get off the station?

I have this badge on all but one of my toons....it is not too hard to get it. You have to learn to aim a bit better. Lead you target....this is only one mission I considered getting a wing man. The only one I got blown up on. You have to jump on your first target hard for a fast kill and then work your way through them. Try disabling the by shooting thier engines....that will help. Accuracy will carry you....get in close and hammer them. You have to buy ordinace once you are planetside and well as counter messures. Better weapons are also easier to find planetside.

I find space combat incredibly rewarding and fun, and actually quite lucrative in terms of selling stuff for credits. Of course at the start I found it really difficult and confusing :)

Some good advice already, hope I don't repeat tooo much of it.

Graphics settings can be changed to reduce lag, take a look in the options. If nebulas are giving you problems, theres an option to reduce nebula density which should help.

When flying, going at full throttle is not really the best way to be dogfighting, ships tend to have a sweet spot for manoevering (can't spell that :).

Try pressing the M key when you are dogfighting.. it will match speeds with your target, and you will be less likely to shoot past them. Doing this really can make a difference to the way combat goes.. I remap that to a more handy key.

The starting gear on the starting ship is actually not all that bad to get you going, but once you get to the "main" part of SWG, you will be looking for a fighter that can hold more weight, and better components. Often the "heavy variant" of the starting ship will be your next one.

Player crafted components are almost always better than loot drops.. and a dedicated starship crafter will be able to offer invaluable advice.

Learn what the various attributes of the equipment do for you and what is best for the way you play, dont worry, all will become clear :)

Dont be afraid to ask the pilot community for help.. I think every server has a chat channel just for pilots. I've found this to be a very helpful community indeed. There's a list of the channels for every server, I think in Sony's pilot profession boards.

Once you get away from the station, and the limitations of the starter ship, space combat really starts to take off (wooo a pun!), and actually gives you really nice "ground" combat XP too.

Anyhoo, enough for now!

Phew. I just finally finished the missions. On my seventh attempt at the mission I was stuck on, an ion cannon weapon dropped. It did less physical damage to enemy ships, but significantly more to their shields. It also fired faster. Aayliah, your advice to stay close to the waypoints was the clincher. After getting to the waypoints, I would get caught up in chasing those annoying gnats around and by the time I had killed just one of them, the waypoint would be 2000m away. Space, being pretty much open in all directions, is pretty treacherous because you can run into an unseen group of enemy ships and attract their attention.

Now I'm finally on Tatooine. Phew. I don't think I'm flying for a while.

Thanks again. :)

Ummm....I know I left big holes in my discription that the master craftsman smooths over with her trowel......finishing work mi'lady!:D