Training Guidelines
19 Jan 2016Benjamari
- When you pull new player into party, lock party. cross chatter can mess with teaching. ask the question 'So far, what has been your favourite way to earn money, do you trade, smuggle, combat. what is it that you enjoy?' once they answer that question then give them the proper response but and I have even convinced drunk if they are explicitly doing combat they are to be guided towards a Viper Mk III its cheaper more reliable and the most important fact is it teaches them 3 important game mechanics that not a single other ship can! Power management Weight Management and drift control.- it is IMPERATIVE that you inform that each player find what they want to do, what they what to accomplish and find their play style in Elite Dangerous!
- if you have someone sitting in or you yourself are sitting in be mindful of the information they are going over and do not under any circumstances interrupt.
- Make sure you never make a new player buy any ship - you aren't there to spend their money for them, but to give the information.
- what I do with every new recruit: go straight to outfitter, not buying or selling unless you want. here to teach about buying, selling, power management and optimal mass. (lets new recruit know you are knowledgeable and that you have their best interest at heart)
- Once in outfitter, describe what ratings mean - start with things that draw power from power plant - PD, Thrusters etc. E takes least power, A takes most.
- Weight - D weighs least, E + B weigh most. C + A weigh the same.
- When it comes to ratings, always recommend C, the 'economical part'. relatively cheap and well balanced. (depending on which career / build, depends on what size/rating power plant. explorer / trader may take a few ratings less - perhaps judge the use of this point on how well versed the recruit is.)
- weight - three parts with optimal mass. What it does and what its there for - shield gen, FSD and Thrusters. all three will have different OMs. Teach player how to find, have them click thrusters and 'buy and sell'. (when buy and sell is clicked - make sure they know nothing will be changed, just to show where optimal mass is). Instruct player to scroll inbetween each thruster, and look at different descriptions for each thruster. ask them to see if they can find optimal mass. When found, tell them why it's important to be unter optimal. If under, you'll get better performance. no matter how much under - little difference, just as long as you are under. this has been tested. If a player goes over optimal mass, for every ton, gives dimishing returns on the of the effectiveness and performance of that part. (Example - thrusters and shield: over optimal mass on thrusters, reduces turn rate and movement speed for both cruise and boost speed. for Sheild Gen, every ton over increases exponentially the recharge.)
- Trainer says 'now we've discussed rating and optimal mass - now onto power management.' - have them back out of outfitter, go to right comp, and to modules tab. when in that tab, in modules - explain modules priority and setup, is to inform modules computer what to turn off when you are over power and weps out. every trainer needs to explain that priorities are always valuable to set up. 3 different ratings for modules - retracted(in the ship), deployed(out of the ship and ready) and available(start to take power). priority numbers - 1 highest, 5 lowest. 5 things you should automatically set to lower priority. Cargo Hatch, Frame Shift Drive, FSD Interdicter, Fuel Scoop, Docking Computer. not going to be using these with weapons out. (if people ask about discovery scanners, they don't need to be high priority). These priorities are ONLY FOR COMBAT SHIPS. Any further question about outfitter? answer to best of ability, and if answer not known, refer to someone who will know. If you are referred to for a question, make sure to answer as thoughtfully and clearly as possible.
- Hard Points - need a good balance between thermal and kinetic. Thermal good against shields, kinetic good against hull usually - different armours can change this however - mirrored surface decrease thermic attack but increase kinetic, reactive decrease kinetic but increase thermic. (If playing with new recruit who isnt rich, recommend proper ship on playstyle, - if combat orientated, suggest viper mk3 (most affordable stand alone combat ship in game) - teaches power management, weight management and drift compensation. A player will always experience one of these three with ships in the future. If trading orientated, Cobra Mk.3.)
- after teaching player about outfitting, take them to RES. if winged with 2 or three others, take to high. Never to Haz Res - always results in player death at least once. when taking player out to res site in wolf, explain how to find res sites (planets with rings), and which difficulty res sites are at each planet in wolf. explain which res site is which - Lo-res: easy, Res: medium, Hi-Res: Hard, Haz-Res: expert.
- When taken out to RES site, the Res sites won't be listed on sensors until within 1,000LS in Super Cruise. (make sure that you are escorting new recruit - don't go there and let them catch up). When trainer gets trainee to RES site, make sure you walkthrough Sub Targetting, Targetting ships by holding related button on sub targets, how to manoeuvre the ship, and make sure the trainer gives trainee a chance to target and take a pirate by themselves - help out accordingly. help guide to target but don't do all the work for them.
- at this point, you can open the party and let others in to meet and greet so the new player has more people to play with - the most time you should spend with a new person is one hour (depending on their learning speed).