CQC CQC - How do you play it

[SlasherMarv]

I'm having a lot of trouble getting into this from the PC. I don't want to invest in expensive hardware here, but first time attempting to play it, I get hammered by Rank 50 CMDRs (CMDR Musketeer one tough flier, lol). Any way one can start playing against same level CMDRs so experience can be gained the easy way, or are we just going to be thrown in the fire to be cannon fodder? Just saying if B, I can't play this. It's too damn hard and annoying, flying around trying to shoot someone and being blasted from the other side by CMDR Rank 50...[haha]

Yeah, I know CQC has trouble with player numbers, but... I can see this as a vicious circle. Few want to start because it's hard, and the few that remain wanna hammer everyone because there's few of them.

 

[ilo]

You will find out that usually experienced players can rekt you in seconds. CQC is not 1v1, it is a very good exercise to learn how to be more selective, the first rounds is learning, then you will start avoiding them and killing other players, or you would help or be helped against them. They die too. Dont get discouraged, and no, you are not cannon fodder!!

 

[MUSKETEER]

There is a matchmaking in place but in order for it to work there need to be enough players. When there is only 4 players they all are put together in the same game.

And there is no easy way to gain experience. When I joined CQC, from day one I was stomped on by Elite rank 50 CMDRs with 2 years experience, I even wanted to quit. But playing against more experienced players is not a bad thing because you can watch what they do and learn from them.

Other than that learn the maps, use power ups.. don't worry about being killed too much.. with experience you will learn how to die less.

 

[Ian Doncaster]

I'm having a lot of trouble getting into this from the PC. I don't want to invest in expensive hardware here

Good news here is that you don't - while a lot of people do use HOTAS and even VR, it's perfectly possible to win top-level matches with cheaper stuff (among the more experienced players on PC, as well as the traditional effective KB/M option, there is also at least one with an old PS3 controller, and I play keyboard-only)

As far as playing versus similarly-ranked commanders goes:
- if there are enough people playing, it does appear to attempt to sort matches by rank ... but it's not usually this busy.
- at slightly busier times of day there will at least be more players on so you're not needing to fight the rank 50 on your own (you won't *win* many matches - I was rank 30something before I got my first win - but you should be able to get some kills and progress down versus other beginners).
- TDM mode does a reasonable job of automatically balancing teams (usually: sometimes it's very skewed especially with 3v4 matches) so you could try that instead.

For fighting more experienced players:
- consider using the Sidewinder once you reach rank 2. It's a very tough ship to fly well on the attack, but if you keep 4 pips to systems when under fire and time the SCB use right, it takes absolutely ages to kill, so most experienced players will go shoot at something else, and this gives you some early-game time to learn the maps and pick up some assists
- make sure your pips are set properly. Putting 4 pips to systems when under fire will make you considerably tougher than 90% of beginners.
- if you see an experienced player fighting a beginner, shoot at the experienced player. Best case they die under the 2v1 odds and you can shoot the other beginner too for maximum points ... fair chance that they retreat and you can again kill the other weakened beginner ... worst case they kill the other beginner and then come for you but at least you have full shields and they don't so you have better odds.
- join the CQC Discord - https://discord.me/elitedangerouscqc - and get some tips. Most of the experienced players are there and will be able to give more advice. There are also a lot of newer players looking for matches, so you might be able to find a good one.

 

[MUSKETEER]

I think when you are rank 30+ is where veterans will be picking on you under the excuse that 'you are the best player in the game' or 'you are hard to kill' or some other bulls..t to justify why they persistently chase and repeadetly kill you.

So enjoy being low rank. It will get worse.

 

[SlasherMarv]

Thanks for the tips, everyone. I did not quit, but tried and tried again, and even made Mostly Helpless after a few more matches. Indeed, as the number of players increases, it does get a bit easier, as you can get assists, and even steal some kills as you shoot off damaged opponents. The trick for me is finding the right set of keys that work for me fast, been fiddling around in the Options at times (might have looked idle stopping mid game like that) to find the key that does the trick fastest for me, pip switches, target lock, and especially the 100%,75%,50%,25% forward and backward keys.

 

[ilo]

Thanks for the tips, everyone. I did not quit, but tried and tried again, and even made Mostly Helpless after a few more matches. Indeed, as the number of players increases, it does get a bit easier, as you can get assists, and even steal some kills as you shoot off damaged opponents. The trick for me is finding the right set of keys that work for me fast, been fiddling around in the Options at times (might have looked idle stopping mid game like that) to find the key that does the trick fastest for me, pip switches, target lock, and especially the 100%,75%,50%,25% forward and backward keys.

now you are in the loop, take it easy and enjoy!

 

[Steph]

Thanks for the tips, everyone. I did not quit, but tried and tried again, and even made Mostly Helpless after a few more matches. Indeed, as the number of players increases, it does get a bit easier, as you can get assists, and even steal some kills as you shoot off damaged opponents. The trick for me is finding the right set of keys that work for me fast, been fiddling around in the Options at times (might have looked idle stopping mid game like that) to find the key that does the trick fastest for me, pip switches, target lock, and especially the 100%,75%,50%,25% forward and backward keys.

Speaking as someone who is pretty hopeless at CQC (and has also fallen at the hands of the Great Musketeer on many an occasion), I've found that my key to it is to not worry about being killed. I'm probably no better at it now than I was at the start but am definitely completely relaxed at being mauled

I'll also actively try to score a "revenge win" on someone who kills me two or three times in the same game - sometimes I'm successful and can claim my 50 or 100 points, sometimes I'm not - it's no worry to me either way

 

[ilo]

Agree with Steph, one of the main issues people finds in CQC (and complain about it) is that in ED you are a) really concerned about getting killed (or you should) b) used to kill pretty much anything in the way. And then you find out you die more often than you kill in CQC and people gets discouraged very soon, so they go back to ED and whinge that 'Elite CQC players' abuse the game.

Dying in CQC it has no cost and it is a combat game, people should expect dying as part of the match and wining being a true reward.

 

[MUSKETEER]

Why you people talk about me..? I don't even play much anymore

I used to play a lot though. And yes, I used to be ruthless killer when I was grinding my cqc elite rank. Now I'm way more relaxed and play only a few games at the time.

 

[Steph]

Dying in CQC it has no cost and it is a combat game, people should expect dying as part of the match and wining being a true reward.

Yep, its a knockabout Fly around, get killed, crash into the infrastructure by accident [I do that a lot!], kill or help to kill someone and come away thinking "I didn't do too badly!"

No stress, no pressure, just some fun flying around (and occasionally into, oops!) things.

 

[MUSKETEER]

I think people's ego gets hurt then they have their a.. handed to them. Some people just don't like being beaten by other players, even when it doesn't cost them anything.

Even now with only 2 people needed to start Deathmatch (so very easy to play cqc now), there are still some people who want bots in cqc lol

 

[ilo]

Even now with only 2 people needed to start Deathmatch (so very easy to play cqc now), there are still some people who want bots in cqc lol

There will still be people saying it is impossible, no one plays and you have to queue for hours anyway.

 

[ilo]

Wait, there's target lock in CQC? It's a while were I tried CQC (was kinda fun, though I'm otherwise no PvP player) and the allocated key from the main game didn't work. So does it or not? Or does CQC have its own key settings? Confused... I found this one of the biggest obstacles for me (besides the way too large waiting cycles).

Other than that, I'm a FA Off only player which I guess is a great handicap already in PvP in the main game but even more in CQC. At least a good and cheap excuse why I lose always.

Anyway, I think I'll give it another whirl...

There is target lock and there line of sight, you will lose the lock if an obstacle comes in the way of the two ships which is one of the best things in CQC.

 

[SushiCW]

I think people's ego gets hurt then they have their a.. handed to them. Some people just don't like being beaten by other players, even when it doesn't cost them anything.

Even now with only 2 people needed to start Deathmatch (so very easy to play cqc now), there are still some people who want bots in cqc lol

Unfortunately people end up attaching value to things like KDR and WLR, not always intentionally. It can be tricky to change that frame of mind and really not care.

The fact that they aren't actually that meaningful doesn't stop our brains from playing lousy tricks on us anyway.

 

[Strangepork]

I'm having a lot of trouble getting into this from the PC. I don't want to invest in expensive hardware here, but first time attempting to play it, I get hammered by Rank 50 CMDRs (CMDR Musketeer one tough flier, lol). Any way one can start playing against same level CMDRs so experience can be gained the easy way, or are we just going to be thrown in the fire to be cannon fodder? Just saying if B, I can't play this. It's too damn hard and annoying, flying around trying to shoot someone and being blasted from the other side by CMDR Rank 50...[haha]

Yeah, I know CQC has trouble with player numbers, but... I can see this as a vicious circle. Few want to start because it's hard, and the few that remain wanna hammer everyone because there's few of them.

I reached amateur, I always forget about it, it should be a menu item in the stations, and also playable thiose days the game is updating...

 

[MUSKETEER]

CQC is very addictive... So much fun

People just don't give it a chance.. They join DM, get whooped, they never play it again.

Those that are strong enough to play at least for a few days usually love it.

 

[ilo]

Agreed, I'm almost too old for that sort of stuff (almost! ). I just don't understand why it's not more popular under the younger players... /shrug

The most common argument against CQC seems to be the matchmaker but if my latest experience wasn't just huge luck it seems they managed to improve it massively by now!

Younger players are more used to insta-win or not used to face frustration, specially -all-round-gamers-. I'm not saying all of them, I'm not saying all the ED players and I'm not meaning anyone in this forum. Just take a look at the 'feature requests' or 'bug reports' and you will understand.

There is a misconception in CQC. They don't want CQC, they want duelling, the want to bring their engineered ships to fight without a rebuy. I don't blame them, just pointing out they come to try, but then find out it is not what they thought it is. Just take a look at the 'improve CQC' forum posts and you will understand.

Some people, like you, just had a bad experience in the past but didn't try again. I don't blame them either. I'd have done the same.

And in 6 months from now, there will still be people saying CQC is empty and could not get past the matchmaking screen, despite there is people playing CQC every day of the week. I don't blame them either, I blame the matchmaker.

What really matters today is we have a possible new CQC regular, and that is awesome!!!

 

[ilo]

Maybe what helps is that I'm a chess player. Believe it or not, there are actually some parallels. I always was very bad in blitz chess (5:0 or below, even when I was much younger) but much better in rapid chess (something around 10 to 15 minutes per game). After my latest CQC experience I visited my favorite chess server and played a few blitz games and to my surprise I suddenly could compete with players with a rating of 100 above my own (blitz ratings are different from rapid ratings).

I guess the difference is a change in your mindset: In blitz games you shouldn't focus on depth rather than experience, reaction and gut feeling. If you stubbornly insist on depth you might end most games in a better position but still simply lose on time. It's pretty similar in CQC: Not taking it too seriously seems to be the key. Just let it flow and don't mind losing! It's certainly not for players seeking domination...

Other than that, I think it's quite telling if it actually manages to suck in a die-hard Anti-PvPer like me while eliminating my mainly technical (network related) concerns. How they did that is totally baffling to me but I really like that sort of surprises!

P.S.: For newcomers I recommend learning to read the radar. Seems essential in CQC and that's most likely what helped to compensate all my other handicaps so I didn't always felt totally useless..

As in every other FPS kind of game, learning the map is 70% of the match, the rest is the balance between your skills and everyother's skills too!

 

[ilo]

If that's true I must have some hidden talents that I'm not aware of. I've almost zero experience in FPS games and no clue at all about the maps - yet.

wait and see