Am I At An Extreme Disadvantage?

[Synthetic Frost]

Hey everyone. So I've been playing since late alpha, so I know my way around, and have earned myself a few kills over the past 8 months. But now that we're well into release and we're getting more and more players, I'm starting to become less and less confident in my fighting abilities. I'm having to limp away after a kill with damage I never would have taken a month or two ago. And I'm wondering if it's me just needing more practice, or if it's the fact that I don't have a HOTAS.

Currently, I'm using a T.16000M Thrustmaster joystick with WASD (well, really "IJKM", being left-handed) for lateral and vertical thrust. (With L and O as throttle overrides.) I have the Thrustmaster's throttle set to one way, so pulling it all the way down simply halts thrust rather than reverses, with a button toggling between forward and reverse thrust.

I'm just proficient enough using FA-Off to take off and land (with effort), and I'll tap it and boost to make tight corners in combat, but I feel like since I don't have an actual throttle control in my hand, that my precision while using it isn't as good as it should be. Though to be perfectly frank, even if I had one, I don't have the dexterity in my right hand to hit any buttons while gripping the throttle anyway.

I've played flight games all my life, and I'd consider myself a decent pilot. But I'd always love to get better.

I realize the best thing I can do is practice. But I'd like any advice others might have as well.

 

[kelticfury]

Maybe the competition is just getting better? I fly with a flightstick/kb/va set up and I am doing ...ok...
I do get better every day though. Also I learned alot just by watching http://www.twitch.tv/mercenarythorrn

 

[Rubbernuke]

Just take it easy and think before you fight- scan weapons of targets and pick off the weak and run from the stong.

 

[Telnets]

Ive come across some commanders that boggle my mind how they have such control over thier ship... strafing around me in circles while keeping thier nose on me the whole time while i struggle to flip around on FA OFF while boosting.. but.. other commanders just sit there infront of me trying to bank and outturn me as if they think they are in some fighter jet and the only thing they can do is pitch 20 degrees left or right... and I almost feel bad killing them (I actualy usualy let them go)..

I dont think its your hotas.. Ive seen people online streaming who run the same setup as you, or even use a mouse, to fly and they are extremely good.. i think its just the nature of the game.. you will see good and bad pilots all the time.. Im like you though.. im somewhere in the middle and i have a hotas.. I can hold my own, but im not an Ace by any means

 

[Synthetic Frost]

Uh... I don't have a HOTAS. That was my point. I'm wondering if I should get a throttle for my right hand.

 

[NettiWelho]

Doesn't help that you can't see the other CMDRs combat rating. Would atleast have a clue whetever they have ever fired their weapons before.

 

[Yabba Addict]

Go out into the extraction points and spend some hours hunting them. The rocks give you additional training. You don't NEED a hotas, but practice you do need.

 

[Mikkel Toxwenius]

Hey everyone. So I've been playing since late alpha, so I know my way around, and have earned myself a few kills over the past 8 months. But now that we're well into release and we're getting more and more players, I'm starting to become less and less confident in my fighting abilities. I'm having to limp away after a kill with damage I never would have taken a month or two ago. And I'm wondering if it's me just needing more practice, or if it's the fact that I don't have a HOTAS.

Currently, I'm using a T.16000M Thrustmaster joystick with WASD (well, really "IJKM", being left-handed) for lateral and vertical thrust. (With L and O as throttle overrides.) I have the Thrustmaster's throttle set to one way, so pulling it all the way down simply halts thrust rather than reverses, with a button toggling between forward and reverse thrust.

I'm just proficient enough using FA-Off to take off and land (with effort), and I'll tap it and boost to make tight corners in combat, but I feel like since I don't have an actual throttle control in my hand, that my precision while using it isn't as good as it should be. Though to be perfectly frank, even if I had one, I don't have the dexterity in my right hand to hit any buttons while gripping the throttle anyway.

I've played flight games all my life, and I'd consider myself a decent pilot. But I'd always love to get better.

I realize the best thing I can do is practice. But I'd like any advice others might have as well.

Are we talking with or without shield banks?

I play with mouse and keyboard with 6 player kills on my conscience flying cobra and viper. I can't think of ever loosing in my cobra with 7 shield bank charges or my viper with 11 shield bank charges. Seriously shield banks are your 100% secure get free out of jail card. Of course you need to not pop them to late. I am no ace at all btw.

 

[Yokai]

There will always be people better than you. Who may even seem superhuman or "haxxorz". There will always be people worse that you. Just play and enjoy when you win, and appreciate and learn from others that beat you.

That said, having yaw on your stick or with a separate pedal controller does make a big difference for fine adjustment while dogfighting and shooting. The Thrustmaster has no yaw on stick, so.....

 

[Derath]

I've got a tip for you that might have a problem with if your interested, I can always tell when watching a streamer that they are using a joystick because their aimer wobbles on the axis, because it moves in increments they often over or undershoot when adjusting to a ships movement and this is really quite inefficient and against real players will cause issues as your uptime will already be considerably lower than an NPC.

To work with this you need to set a deadzone and keep the sensitivity correct for your own movements, you should be able to trace say a viper thats flying an arc at 1-1.5km around you without losing the aimer off him, if it wobbles up and down go back to the settings and tweak them again then give it another go.

 

[Jake Savage]

I played with a standard joystick, but I found it hard ish using the keyboard for the throttle.
I bought a Saitek x55 and, for me it made a big differance. Especially in combat.

 

[Cmdr Effie Trinket]

I played with a standard joystick, but I found it hard ish using the keyboard for the throttle.
I bought a Saitek x55 and, for me it made a big differance. Especially in combat.

Same here, but although HOTAS has made me better, it will never make me great. I have to accept that I am distinctly average when it comes to combat skills. So I fit the biggest, baddest weapons, strongest shields and toughest bulkheads/armour, that I can find

 

[Mikkel Toxwenius]

Another advice is to use boosts to get behind your enemy. If deployed correctly (and if you do it better than you enemy can do it), you can use the increase in turn rate gained by boosts to outturn + get behind them. Works best in viper/cobra.

 

[Morgo_the_MonkeyGod]

I'm a leftie too. Used to use a leftie friendly flightstick with throttle then converted to standard X52. Wouldn't go back. You can nail it. I may be more ambidextrous...but it's the best.

 

[mungy]

There will always be people better than you. Who may even seem superhuman or "haxxorz". There will always be people worse that you. Just play and enjoy when you win, and appreciate and learn from others that beat you.

That said, having yaw on your stick or with a separate pedal controller does make a big difference for fine adjustment while dogfighting and shooting. The Thrustmaster has no yaw on stick, so.....

the 160000 thrustmaster does have yaw.

 

[ape808]

WASD (well, really "IJKM", being left-handed) for lateral and vertical thrust.

Try binding thrusters to the hat switch. You'll have both hands-on-stick then when needed. I use an old MS Sidewinder 2, with a similar throttle placement.

Also consider setting your throttle to full range, with a small deadzone in the middle. You may find it more accurate, such as when using reverse thrusters to slow down.

 

[Synthetic Frost]

There will always be people better than you. Who may even seem superhuman or "haxxorz". There will always be people worse that you. Just play and enjoy when you win, and appreciate and learn from others that beat you.

That said, having yaw on your stick or with a separate pedal controller does make a big difference for fine adjustment while dogfighting and shooting. The Thrustmaster has no yaw on stick, so.....

The T.16000M does have a twist yaw.

 

[Thrace Fulton]

Doesn't help that you can't see the other CMDRs combat rating. Would atleast have a clue whetever they have ever fired their weapons before.

You're kidding right? Combat rating is the first thing you can see when scanning a targeted enemy, player or NPC. It's right below their name...

 

[mistohise]

You're kidding right? Combat rating is the first thing you can see when scanning a targeted enemy, player or NPC. It's right below their name...

Apparently it always says harmless for humans

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I don't think having or not having a hotas setup is the difference between players.
There's always people who have more time to put in to the game, or better ships, or who are simply more skilled at playing video games.
To defeat those people, you just have to be better with the kit you already have. Some of the people I've seen videos of have superb dogfighting ability whilst using the mouse, and, you know what they say - a poor workman blames his tools.

 

[NettiWelho]

You're kidding right? Combat rating is the first thing you can see when scanning a targeted enemy, player or NPC. It's right below their name...

I have not seen any CMDR ranked anything else than harmless, and my friend sees me as harmless altought I am at expert rating.