CQC (Non PVP Player) Tried Arena, And Loved It!

Avago Earo

Banned
Avago Earo
Feels like I'm moving to the Dark Side, but I haven't got the Force (yet).

I play ED in PvE Private group. I don't play often enough to afford re-buys in PvP and I've never tried Engineering because of the time involved (recent update may prove that wrong now).

I tried CQC once, when it first came out. Yesterday, I decided to give Arena a go. Just did Death Match. I'm so glad I did! Having my rear handed to me, and then getting straight back into the action to seek my revenge (unsuccessfully) without staring at a rebuy screen, was truly exhilarating.

A newcomer to VR (Lenovo Explorer), it was a joy to Pitch 'n' Vert Thrust around the structures playing Hide 'n' Shoot. Losing scan on obscured ships adds so much to the combat, albeit for the moments I was there before getting destroyed. Yaw and Lat-Thrusting made it feel like a car chase in 'The Professionals' (maybe put the theme tune on a loop next time)

In the evening I had another go. I need a lot of practice, a real lot. There was one match that I ended up second on the board, and it felt like such an achievement to me.

I do keep forgetting to fly through the Power Up hoops, and when I do they're used up. Hopefully that will become second nature with time.

Such fun, I should have done this years ago.

I would try the team games, but I link I'd need a mic and Discord set up (would I?) for that to work well. Also, I'm not sure how to do Capture The Flag.

I'll be having another go in an hour or so. I've been converted. Praise The Arena, I've seen the light!

Cheers.

[ADDITION]

I have buttons bound to select Next/Previous Target, but It's not working in Arena. Is this intentional?

[ADDITION 2]

What about SRV Arena?
 
Last edited:

steenpass

S
<...>

Hey,

target selection, next/previous
Does not work in CQC intentionally. You have to work to get your opponent into your line of sight so you can select him. VR players have the advantage here.

team play
CQC population is low. Team Deathmatch (TDM) and even more so Capture The Flag (CTF) need special arrangement. Joining the (in)official CQC discord (see below) helps you to spot the moments when these matches are started. Your team mates do not expect you to show up with a working microphone. Do not worry if you explode often in TDM. It can be brutal when experienced players are on both sides.

CQC discord
https://discord.me/elitedangerouscqc
 

Ian Doncaster

Ian Doncaster
General tip: the power distributors on CQC fighters are terrible. Additionally, CQC uses the *old* system pips curve, which means that unlike the main game, you either have 4 pips to systems ... or you have paper shields. You can never be "good enough" at pip management in CQC.

Team: while a well-coordinated team can certainly be more effective ... to be honest, hardly any of us can be bothered with that when it's easier just to queue up, see who else ends up on your team, and shoot the others. You do get a "what things are your teammates targeting" helper which is usually enough to get a reasonable idea of what they're up to. As Steenpass says, Discord is very useful for finding and arranging TDMs, but doesn't get much use once they're going.

CTF: the game is first to three points. Each team has a flag, and they get a point if both their flag and the enemy flag are at their base. In addition to the general TDM indicators, there are also "Escort", "Kill", "Protect", "Capture", etc. indicators pointing to the flag or the person carrying it which tell you what you're supposed to be doing. If you kill a flag carrier, they drop the flag - fly onto it to instantly return it to your base ... where hopefully someone is waiting for this with the enemy flag to get the point. The flags are really heavy (so slow you down a lot) and leave a bright trail behind them (so you can't hide). It'll take a few goes to get the idea properly - to start with just follow the arrow marked "Kill" and you'll be doing something useful.

steenpass said:
Does not work in CQC intentionally. You have to work to get your opponent into your line of sight so you can select him. VR players have the advantage here.
Click to expand...
Non-VR players *can* select targets from the left panel but since you have to point at them to shoot at them anyway this is virtually useless because it takes way too long.

This *is* useful however if you've got a quiet moment to see what powerups are currently available - with practice and more experience of the maps you'll be able to do this just from the radar, but when you're just starting out it's nice to know.
 
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