Game Synopsis
Dust 514 is a First Person Shooter with ties to the MMO EVE Online. Players from both games can interact in several ways, with more to come; right now most people will just see the connected chat channels between the two games, but there are also battles that affect both games, and EVE players can rain death down on Dust mercs in certain situations.
Dust is not your average FPS; it is very complex at the beginning, with a multi-layered skill-tree and a vast amount of items to use. It can be very overwhelming for a new player. The purpose of this guide is to break down the more complex parts of the game and give new players basic advice on how to make their character. Ultimately, you will have to decide what role and specialization you will play. You can be anything within the game's limits, even using combinations that do not seem at first glance to work well together. The Dropsuit, Weapon, Equipment and Modules you will use is completely up to you; when I suggest a particular combination I am thinking of what is overall best or what I see in use most often; that is not to say it is the best, however, as oddball combinations can do better than what should work better.
Disclaimer: This guide is, for the most part, my opinion of the skills, roles and gear. Others will have different opinions, and will give different advice. However, certain things are generally the same, especially early on. Starting out you also have the most "wiggle room" with skills and fittings, as you haven't invested a lot into one role or another. My best advice is to try out a lot of different roles and loadouts using Militia gear and finding your place that way. Asking others for help is also never a bad idea.
Table of Contents:
Equipment Overview
Skills Overview
Militia Gear and Fittings Overview
Battle Types Overview
Equipment Overview
There are two main roles in Dust currently; Infantry and Vehicle. I am an infantry player, and not very good with vehicles (at least I can drive all of them decently, even Dropships) If you are looking to specialize in a vehicle role, it is best to find a player who is good at the role you are looking to spec into and learn from them; that being said, many people will not help, so it may take a lot of (expensive) trial and error to find a good fitting. At least vehicles don't have as complex a skill tree as Infantry...
Infantry roles include:
Assault (Standard Soldier) - usually an Assault suit with an Assault Rifle, they are the front-line soldiers. Most people will fit into this role.
Logistics - The medics of the battlefield, they tend to stay behind Assault and Sentinels, providing healing and ammo to keep them fighting.
Sentinel - These are the infantry tanks; carrying large Heavy weapons, they can chew through vehicles or other infantry fast, but their slow speed leaves them vulnerable to faster enemies in 1v1, and without support they can die fast in group engagements.
Scout - either sneaking behind enemy lines or using hit-and-run tactics against lone enemies, these guys are fast, hit hard, but are the most fragile of all players.
Vehicle Classes:
Light Attack Vehicle (LAV) - These are fast, small and the most fragile of the vehicles. Usually used to either transport people fast, or run enemies over.
Heavy Attack Vehicle (HAV) - These tanks are hard-hitting and can decimate entire enemy teams when used right. However, they require a lot of specialization and training in order to be able to do that; early on they can be as fragile as the other classes
Dropships - Flying transport ships; they are usually seen moving infantry across the map, or to an otherwise unreachable area. Advanced dropships can be an even larger thorn in the enemy's side than an HAV.
That is all on vehicles for now; like I said before I cannot go into much more detail on them, and I am sorry for that. It is my firm belief that you will learn much more from another vehicle driver than any guide that can be made.
There are three major ways to defend yourself in Dust; Armor Tank, Shield Tank, and Speed Tank.
Armor Tanking involves using Armor Plates to increase the amount of armor you have, Armor Repairers to self-repair, Armor Hardeners to reduce incoming damage, and Logistics to receive remote repairs. Armor tanking is the slowest of the defenses, but will usually have the greatest HP. It is also good to note that Armor Tanking also has the opportunity to have great defense and offense; in Dust Damage Modifiers do not take up the same slots as Armor Mods, which gives Armor Tanking an advantage in that regard (it is the opposite in EVE)
Shield Tanking involves buffing your Shields to absorb incoming damage. Shield Extenders directly increase Shield HP, Regulators increase the Recharge Rate of Shields (less time to fully recharge), Rechargers decrease the Recharge Delay, Hardeners reduce incoming damage, and Transporters are the Shield Logistics (other people repairing you). Shield Tanking does offer good speed, as the Low slots are generally unused in defense, however, to increase damage defense must be compromised.
Speed Tanking involves not being hit; this is most often seen in Light/Scout builds, who are too fragile to take damage, and in some Medium Minmatar builds. They use Biotics and Shields to increase their speed and provide a buffer to the occasional bullet respectively. Should they forgo their Shields, these builds can be galss cannons, buffing their damage greater than an Armor Tanker can, but if they happen to be hit they fall fast.
Now, to break things down even further. There are four types of racial dropsuits; Amarr, Caldari, Gallente and Minmatar.
Each have their own strengths, weaknesses and basic roles. There are also three dropsuit frames; Light, Medium and Heavy, which specialize with further training (Light -> Scout, Medium -> Assault, Medium -> Logistics, Heavy -> Sentinel).
Like in EVE, Minmatar Dropsuits are fast, with an opportunity to Shield-Tank and/or Speed Tank, and can be very hard-hitters, however, they must forego their shield in Dust in order to do so. Their Scout Suits specialize in Melee damage, Logistics specialize in hacking structures and objectives, and their Assault suits use Sidearms to great affect.
Gallente Dropsuits in Dust are the Armor Tankers; they can have the most Armor of the Medium suits and have enough High slots to increase their damage a lot in Advanced and Prototype suits. They are also slow as a result, but still faster than Heavy suits. Scout suits specialize in sensors and sneaking around, Assault suits use Hybrid weapons to increased effect, and Logistics can be found using any equipment to greater effect.
Caldari Dropsuits are much like their EVE ship counterparts, being the best at Shield-Tanking. However, unlike Caldari ships, they cannot Shield Tank and deal increased damage at the same time; they must choose between the two in Dust. Logistics have the most shield of all the suits (side-note; I do not actually suggest speccing into this suit at the time. Due to more Assault players speccing into this for the bonus than Logi players, it is somewhat broken and will be nerfed in the near future) and Assault suits are able to reload their Hybrid weapons faster. (Note: the Caldari only have Medium dropsuits available)
Amarr Dropsuits are the oddballs in the game, not being very close to their spaceships in function. They are neither Armor Tankers, Shield Tankers nor Speed Tankers; they can do any or none, having a balanced slot layout and HP. If you wish to spec into Laser Rifles or Scrambler Rifles, the Amarr Assault suit is the best way to go. For the ultimate Armor Repairer, the Logistics suits are great. And if you wish to use any Heavy weapons at all you need to spec into the Sentinel suit.
Like Dropsuits, there are three "frames" of weapons; Heavy, Light and Sidearm.
Heavy Weapons must be used by a Heavy Dropsuit; the other two frames do not have the required power to use them. There are two Heavy weapons:
Heavy Machine Gun (HMG) - This is the reason most spec into the Heavy suit; it is a very good anti-infantry support weapon that is deadly up-close. However, its spread pattern is not terrible accurate, and so must be used at close-range or as a suppression tool. It is a Projectile gun.
Forge Gun - This is an anti-vehicle weapon especially useful for taking out fast-moving or dodgy HAVs and Dropships. If the user is accurate enough, a direct hit on an Infantry means instant-death, except on some extremely well-tanked Sentinels. This is a Hybrid gun.
Light Weapons are the "standard" weapons; any dropsuit can use them as long as the operator has the skill for it.
Assault Rifle (AR) - This Hybrid gun is pretty much the most specced-into gun in the game; most Assault and Logistics players will use this, and it is effective enough in its generalized role. It is about average in all areas, which makes speccing into it easier.
Sniper Rifle - Like in almost every other game, this Hybrid gun is used at long-range and to pick off unaware targets. Most snipers use Light suits so they may get into place faster and be harder to hit. As a side-note, don't try to quickscope or no-scope with this; it rarely works especially against SMG-using enemies.
Swarm Launcher - The only Infantry Missile gun, it is only useful for anti-vehicle purposes as it only fires after a lock-on period. Everyone should have a loadout with this gun, and thankfully there is a starter fit with it.
Mass Driver - Another Projectile weapon, this time explosive. It is a grenade launcher, but is as finicky as the one from MAG, not doing damage to some targets and hurting the user randomly. A good Mass Driver user is able to overcome its weaknesses and do serious damage. It is most often seen on Logistics suits.
Laser Rifle - A mid-to-long range Laser gun, this fires a continuous beam of energy that does more damage the longer the beam connects with a target. Firing also causes heat to build up, so care must be taken not to fire for too long. It is also completely useless at close range, so care must be taken to keep distance from enemies (or the user needs a good sidearm handy). It is best used on the Amarr Assault suit.
Shotgun - This close-quarters Hybrid gun will scatter enemies (and allies) at the sound of its firing; absolutely deadly when it hits, but like the Mass Driver it will randomly miss quite often. Scouts make best use of this, able to close the gap quickly with their speed.
Scrambler Rifle - This Laser gun is sort of a hybrid between the Laser Rifle and Assault Rifle; like the Laser Rifle it overheats as the longer it is fired, but it is useful at long and close range. Normally semi-auto, it can also charge a shot for massive damage. Best used on an Amarr Assault suit.
Plasma Cannon - Another Hybrid gun (sure are a lot of them), this one fires slow-moving plasma charges to do damage to just about anything. More intended to be the Light version of the Forge Gun, the slow projectile speed causes more problems than solves, as most things will just move out of its way. I personally have yet to see one of these in action.
Sidearm Weapons are also usable by any dropsuit; they are CPU and PG friendly though are limited in range. Except in specialized builds, they are most useful in CQC and when you have to reload your primary weapon.
Submachine Gun (SMG) - My personal favorite Sidearm, this Projectile gun is low-damage but has a very fast rate of fire. This allows it to tear apart enemies at close range.
Scrambler Pistol - The third Laser gun, this is generally the "standard" sidearm. It has relatively high damage and good rate of fire, but low clip size limits its use.
Nova Knife - This is generally only used by Scouts (Minamatar especially) and only in hit-and-run situations or against unaware enemies. You must charge the knives before using them, which limits their overall use.
Flaylock Pistol - Think of this as a mini Mass Driver. Its another explosive Projectile gun with very short range but relatively high damage and only 2-3 rounds per clip.
Grenades are also classified as a Weapon, and there are three types; Locus (explosive damage, anti-armor), Flux (electromagnetic damage, anti-shield) and AV (anti-vehicle; also thought to be explosive, but does little damage to infantry).
A note on gun types: There are four types of weapon; Hybrid, Laser, Projectile and Missile. Hybrid weapons are used by the Caldari and Gallente, Projectiles are Minmatar in design, the Amarr love their Lasers, and Missiles are more and more being used by all four empires (though they started with and are still mostly used by the Caldari). To tell what kind of gun you are using look at the names of the Prototype weapons for the corporations that make them and cross-reference them to the empires they belong to. Caldari and Gallente manufacturers make Hybrid guns, Minmatar make Projectile guns, Amarr make Lasers, and Missiles are also made by the Caldari (though if you need help telling a laser or missile from another weapon type, you may need some extra help)
There are also four damage types; Explosive, Kinetic, Thermal and Electromagnetic (EM). However, the damage values and resistance values are not present in Dust at this time, so this information is more a curiosity right now. It will become relevant later.
Equipment are items that must be selected to use that generally do not have a "direct" effect on combat (OK, that can be argued, but they are not guns and generally not used in a firefight. Generally). Dropsuit Modules have a passive effect on dropsuits, increasing health, speed, damage and other suit variables. Both Equipment and Mods are discussed more under the "Skills" section of this guide.
Skills Overview
Again, these are what I recommend skilling into if you are new to the game; this assumes you do not know what you will spec into.
Dropsuit Command Tree:
Dropsuit Command - the max you need for this skill is level 3. It is completely, 100% useless after that now. If you know what frame you are going to play (Light, Medium, Heavy), you should get the correct skill level relatively early (1 for Medium, 2 for Light, 3 for Heavy)
After that, its a good idea to hold off on the specific Dropsuit skill you will buy. Try out the different militia suits before buying a Racial Dropsuit skill. General ideas of what each suit is like are found above
Weaponry Tree:
Weaponry - Most people will need this skill at level 3; I know very few people who use only sidearms, even most scouts I see seem to use shotgun/sidearm or sniper/sidearm rather than two sidearms. If you are a Heavy user, you need to get this to 5.
Explosives - For most people, this is a necessary skill. It is not as much a priority for new players, however, AV grenades are very, VERY useful and some corporations may require that people have an AV fitting (and its a good idea to have one anyway). Requires Weaponry 3.
Grenadier - If you've ranked Explosives to 1, get this immediately to at least 1, if not 3. AV grenades are, like I said, siomething everyone should have, and better Locus grenades are always useful. IMO, unless your enemy has lots of Shield-HAVs or is all Caldari Logis, Flux grenades are the least useful of the three.
Remote Explosives - If you know how other shooters use C4, you know what this is. Use them to set an ambush or to protect a point.
Handheld Weapon Upgrades - I recommend getting this skill to 3 ASAP for Enhanced Weapon Damage Mods; however, 1 will be fine until you get Advanced Dropsuits.
Weapon Frame Skills - These depend completely on what you are looking to use, so I can't recommend anything specifically. Try out all the militia guns and ask what others are using. Specialization is better than generalization, however, it may not be a bad idea to have 1 rank in a few specific guns along with specialization in one (example, I specialize in Assault Rifles, but intend to buy a rank in Mass Drivers and Swarm Launchers so I may use them when the need arises)
Dropsuit Upgrades Tree:
Dropsuit Upgrades - There is no point to this skill past level 4 (Biotics Upgrades); it should be unlocked to rank 2 as soon as possible, for access to Shield and Armor upgrades.
Dropsuit Armor Upgrades - A must for Armor Tankers, this skill is not a bad idea for anyone to have ranks in. You will eventually want this at 5, but getting 2-3 early is fine.
Armor Plating - Unlocks Armor Plate mods. Level 1 is good to have for everyone; Armor Tankers will need this at 5 eventually
Armor Repair Systems - Like Armor Plating, level 1 is good for everyone, lv5 is a must for Armor Tankers.
Dropsuit Shield Upgrades - Like Dropsuit Armor Upgrades, this skill is useful for just about everyone, and more necessary (if its even possible) for Caldari and Minmatar suits. Rank 2-3 should be an early goal, 5 for Shield Tanking
Shield Extension - Of the three mods, the Extenders are probably the most useful for everyone. Flat bonuses to shields with no penalties are great. 1 is fine early, but aim for at least 3.
Shield Regulation - These mods reduce the time it takes for your shield to recharge after taking damage. Great huh? Perfect for Light/Scout builds, but since they are a lot-slot mod, it may not be as useful to non-Shield Tankers. I'd save this skill for later, unless you are a dedicated Shield-Tanker.
Shield Recharging - These mods increase the rate of shield recharge, which is a great thing for Shield Tankers and Light/Scouts. Its not as good for Armor Tankers or those who just want raw HP, as it takes the same slot as Damage Mods and Shield Extenders. Another save for later skill (with dedicated Shield-Tanking the exception).
Dropsuit Biotic Upgrades - This will not be as important a skill for most people, however it is more important for Light/Scout users than getting their Shield or Armor skills up. This skill is a non-priority for all suits but Light/Scout
Cardiac Regulation - The mods this skill unlocks increase stamina and its recovery; great for covering large areas a little faster for all suits, but much more useful in a Scout.
Hand-to-Hand Combat - With the lack-luster melee mechanics in Dust, this skill isn't worth the SP for any builds except Nova Knife builds, and even then I'm not 100% on whether it actually affects the knives. If you melee a lot, this skill is a must, otherwise your SP and slots are better spent elsewhere.
Kinetic Catalyzation - Increased sprint speed; who doesn't want that? A must on Scout suits and some Minmatar medium builds, the SP cost for this skill and the mods it unlocks is a huge barrier to widespread use. If you're speed-tanking, get this skill; otherwise don't bother.
Dropsuit Core Upgrades - Boy does this skill branch a lot! Ulitmately, the 1% bonus to PG/CPU isn't going to do anything until you use Advanced to Prototype Dropsuits, so only get this skill as high as you need to unlock the branch you want; 2 is fine.
Active Scanner Operation - Active Scanners essentially show enemies on the radar if they fall within the Scanner's scan radius.That's it. Scouts are good choices for this tool, but ultimately there is much better equipment out there.
Drop Uplink Deployment - Drop Uplinks create a mobile (though not permanent and destroyable) spawn location. Personally, I think unless you know you want to be the team's mobile spawn point-setter, the militia variants of these are fine.
Dropsuit Electronics - This skill is an absolute MUST HAVE once you unlock Advanced Dropsuits and gear. This increases the CPU of all your suits. However, the branched skills are less than important to me, unless you are playing a sneaky Gallente Scout, so all I will say on them is they help you identify enemies on the radar better and help keep you off it, but really they only have a lot of benefit if you are NOT standing with teammates (again, sneaky Gallente Scout)
Dropsuit Engineering - Like Electronics, this will become a necessary skill later on, however, I don't feel its as important just because I don't run into PG problems as often as CPU problems.
Nanocircuitry - TBH, I am surprised CCP hasn't split this skill in two. It unlocks both Nanohives (mobile ammo resuppliers) and Nanite Injectors (rez kits). Assault specialists should get this skill to 3 for the Advanced versions of both, and Logis to level 5.
Repair Tool Operation - This unlocks the Repair Tool, which heal's another teammate's armor. Logis should look to getting this to 5 eventually, but 3 is good early. I sometimes see Assault people using this too.
Systems Hacking - TBH, this is another skill like the Biotics Upgrades; good to have, but too SP-intensive. Its a very specialized build to need this skill (ninja hacking Scouts lol), and I recommend avoiding this one unless you have lots of leftover SP with no home.
Vehicle Command - Much like Drop Suit Operation or Weaponry, you only need this as high as the skill you want to unlock requires. In this case, 3 is the max (for Dropships)
There are three classes of vehicles; LAV (Light Attack Vehicle; a jeep, really. Fast and mostly used to get from Point A to Point B or run people over), HAV (Tanks; heavy-hitting and, well, tanky, they can decimate teams without AV very fast, but untrained they are paper to AV) and Dropships (mostly used to ferry people, however Assault Dropships also can be used to decimate emey teams as well)
LAV specializations are Logistics (repairs the shields or armor of riders) and Scout (Faster, I believe...I don't recall ever seeing one of these)
HAV specialization is Enforcer (pretty much, a meaner tank)
Dropship Specializations are Logistics (repair the shields/armor of nearby vehicles) and Assault (has a pilot-controlled turret; can be used offensively to great effect)
There are two racial variants of vehicles; Caldari (Shield Tanking) and Gallente (Armor Tanking); train into the one you prefer or your mentor prefers. Minmatar (Speed Tanking) and Amarr (??? Tanking) vehicles will eventually be added; when is unknown
Vehicle Upgrades - The skill itself doesn't need to be trained past 2. Most branches have the same skills as Infantry, and I will only go over the new/changed skills.
Armor Adaptations - This skill unlocks access to Armor Hardeners, which directly reduce damage to armor. Very useful for Armor Tanks.
Vehicle Maneuvering - Unlocks Afterburners and Overdrive Units. I don't know many HAVs that use Overdrive Units, but Dropships always seem to have Afterburners fitted (so yeah, pilots need this skill). Since no one uses any LAV but the free one (why not?), I can't comment on them
Mobile CRU Operation - Pretty much, this will be used by some Dropship pilots, but not all. Allows you to have a CRU in your vehicle.
Shield Adaptation - Same as Armor Adaptation, but for Shields. A must for Shield Tankers
Shield Transporting - Pretty much, this is the only real remote shield repair skill in the game right now. However, I doubt anyone is using it...
Turret Operation - Another "rank 3 max" skill, this unlocks the four types of turrets. Generally, use Missile Turrets on Caldari vehicles and Hybrid on Gallente Vehicles. You will need the appropriate skills in these (also note: Large Turrets are only used on HAVs)
Corporation Management - This skill and the other skills in the tree serve one purpose: more players in your corporation. Personally, this is better left to EVE players, or a Dust alt. Please note: this skill is completely useless unless you are the CEO (leader) of a corporation. If you do not intend to be a CEO, do not spend points in these skills!
Militia Gear and Fittings Overview
As a new player, you'll really only have access to your basic Starter Fittings (the fittings that are there when you start the game; they have yellow corners on the mods and won't run out) and Militia Gear. Militia Gear is the worst of the lot; its basic, is cheap and is good for trying out new things. That's about it. Whenever you can, replace Militia with Standard/Basic gear or better (Advanced/Enhanced or Prototype/Complex). Standard gear is the next best thing; its also relatively cheap, but isn't actually better than Militia except in two areas; it has less CPU/PG requirements, and there are a number of items that do not have Militia variants.
In the Market, go to the Militia Gear tab and buy these items to start out with; you'll want to make fittings with them and swap out items to try things out and begin to plan out your character.
Note: this is just for Infantry; if you need vehicle help I'm sorry, but you need to find another vehicle driver to help you.
Dropsuits:
10 Militia Amarr Heavy Frame (Heavy weapons)
10 Militia Amarr Medium Frame (even shields and armor; laser and scrambler rifle use)
10 Militia Caldari Medium Frame (shield tanking)
10 Militia Gallente Medium Frame (armor tanking)
10 Militia Gallente Light Frame (stealthy ninja)
10 Militia Minmatar Medium Frame (shield/speed tanking)
10 Militia Minmatar Light Frame (quick melee ninja)
You'll want to use them all, trying out different things with them. The video with fittings is a guide to what I feel play to each suit's strengths, but you can switch things out to see what works and what doesn't. Also, the weapons are 100% up to you (two exceptions; Heavy suits should always use Heavy weapons [too slow to really use anything else effectively], and Amarr Mediums are only around for Scrambler and Laser Rifle use [the other medium suits do a better job in just about every area])
Equipment:
10 Militia Drop Uplinks (use on a Light; mobile spawn beacon)
10 Militia Nanite Injectors (allow you to rez teammates; any frame)
10 Militia Nanohives (ammo resupply; mediums use this most)
10 Militia Repair Tool (repair teammate's armor; medium frame)
Play around with the Nanite Injectors most; these are needed in a team-setting to keep people in the battle. Similar thing fr Repair Tools; they allow others to survive longer.
Modules:
20 Militia Armor Plates (armor HP boost; good for all non-speed fittings)
10 Militia Armor Repairer (automatically repairs armor; good for everyone)
10 Militia CPU Upgrade (CPU boost; only use if needed)
10 Militia Cardiac Regulator (Stamina boost; good for speed-builds)
10 Militia Heavy Damage Modifier (Heavy weapons only)
10 Militia Kinetic Catalyzer (sprint speed boost; speed-builds only)
10 Militia Light Damage Modifier (Light weapons only)
10 Militia Myofibril Stimulant (melee damage boost; not very useful on Militia fittings)
10 Militia PG Upgrade (PG boost; use only if needed)
20 Militia Shield Extender (shield HP boost; good for all builds)
10 Militia Shield Recharger (increases shield recharge rate; Shield-builds)
10 Militia Shield Regulator (reduces shield recharge delay; Shield-builds)
10 Militia Sidearm Damage Modifier (Sidearm weapons only)
All other mods not on this list you can get, but don't worry about them; they are more specialized than these (meaning, they aren't really as useful and are really only good for a few specific builds or cases). Play around with these, but remember that some work better with others that change the same thing (shield mods, armor mods, etc).
Weapons:
10 Militia Assault Rifles (most standard gun in any game)
10 Militia Forge Gun (the only Militia Heavy Weapon; great for AV, if you can hit an infantry with it they almost always will die)
10 Militia Locus Grenades (anti-troop grenades)
10 Militia Scrambler Pistols (sidearm; I personally don't like them, but some do)
10 Militia Shotgun (finicky weapon; hit detection is really hit-or-miss, but it can be absolutely deadly up close and its sound will always send people running; Light frames work well with these)
10 Militia Sniper Rifles (yeah...its a Sniper. Quickscoping does not work)
10 Militia Submachine Gun (personally, this is my sidearm of choice)
10 Militia Swarm Launchers (anti-vehicle rockets)
You should have 50 Militia Assault Rifles, Militia Locus Grenades, Militia Scrambler Pistols, and Militia Submachine Guns already; if not, 10 of the SMGs, Grenades and Pistols will be good. You have a starter fitting with an Assault Rifle, Swarm Launcher and Sniper Rifle, so you can modify those loadouts for the use of those weapons (unless you are switching the dropsuit itself, which then you need to have those Militia weapons on hand)
MIlitia Fittings Video
These are what I feel are the "optimal" use in militia gear; Standard, Advanced and Prototype dropsuits all have different properties (more slots and CPU/PG), so you have to play around with them, and there are also items that have no militia variants (and require skills to use)
Video Notes:
Yes, I have BPO (Blue Boxes) and Beta Reward (the Skinweave Dropsuits and Exile AR shown here) stuff; everything I used, however, has BPC (Blue Print Copy; everything without the box) militia variants, so just use them.
PG/CPU values. You will not get the same values I have, and may not be able to fit everything I have on the suits (this is just a disclaimer; you should be able to fit everything I did).
Armor and Shield values: You will have much less armor and shield than me (armor especially); don't worry about it much, in militia gear the difference between me and you will be less than one bullet (except on the Heavy and Gallente Medium suits, where it can be more since they are armor-focused suits and I'm an armor-tanker)
The Amarr Heavy: This is the AV way to fit a Heavy suit; there is no militia HMG. This suit is great for AV, but if you're speccing into Heavies you're going to have points in the HMG and will be using that most of the time.
I forgot to show the starter AV fitting. You really don't have to modify it unless you want to, it works fine (I did modify mine due to preferences)
Sidearm: I prefer SMGs, you may prefer the Pistol. Just a preference, use what you want. There are also no militia variants of the Nova Knives or Flaylock Pistol, so if you want to try them out you need to spec into them (yes, I'm hoping that changes eventually)
Light Weapons: I prefer the AR for Medium suits, Shotgun for Light. You may like other guns. Also, there are no militia variants of the Laser Rifle, Scrambler Rifle, Plasma Cannon, or Mass Driver. You'll have to spec into them to use them (watch youtube videos...seriously...and see if you like the looks of them)
I am showing more "tanky" fittings; you can easily replace some of the shield mods in the high slots with damage modifiers if you feel you're not doing enough damage. I prefer surviving to being a glass cannon, but if you want high-damage the best suits to do that with are the Minmatar or Gallente dropsuits (Minmatar for speed tanking, Gallente for armor tanking; Caldari dropsuits don't lend well to high-damage fittings due to the focus on shield-tanking). Amarr dropsuts can do just about everything.
Battle Types Overview
Over the course of the Beta, there have been several game-modes and match-types that be tested. Some of them still exist, while others have changed or have been put aside to be tweaked.
Current Game-Modes:
Instant Battle Modes: These are under the "Battle" tab of the Neocom; it is matchmaking.
Acadamy - This game-mode is only available to new players who are not grouped with experienced players. I am not actually sure of the number of War Points (you earn these for actions in-battle) needed to "graduate" from this mode, but it is enough to keep the veteran players from coming in and ruining new player's games. This pretty much allows new players to play with each other; yes, it is random, but you aren't playing with veterans of the game. You're playing with people (hopefully) at your skill level.
Ambush - This is Team Death Match, plain and simple. There is a clone count for each side (currently 50), and the goal is to keep killing until your enemy runs out of clones (which then they can't spawn). Obviously, you want to try not to die as well, but should you be killed if you are rezed by your friendly Logi your death does not count against your team (so, if your team loses, you can have more total deaths across your team's players than the clone count, and the winning team can have more total deaths than the losing team)
Ambush OMS (Off-Map Support) - This is the same as Ambush, except for two things: The clone count is (currently) 80, not 50, and there are capturable structures that perodically come into play. These structures include Turrets, CRUs (Clone Respawn Unti; a place for your team to respawn) and Supply Depots (can change loadouts and resupply ammo here). Having these under your team's control can be an immense help, although a warning about CRUs; they are very easy to camp, so if you die on one you may want to spawn elsewhere...
Skirmish - This is an objective mode, however, forcing the other team to run out of clones can also win you the match (often its quicker to complete the objective). There are 3-5 points to capture on the map, labled A-E. You want to capture and hold as many points as you can for as long as you can. Holding a point does damage to the enemy's MCC (Mobile Command Center; its the big ship on each side of the field), and the Shields and Armor of each MCC are on the outside of the radar.
Domination - Same as Skirmish, except there's only one letter to capture and hold.
Retired Modes:
"Old" or "Beta" Skirmish - You may hear about this mode from the longest playing players; it was replaced by the current Skirmish after two or three builds. Unlike the current Skirmish, it was an Attack/Defend mode, where one team attacked and the other defended. Admittedly, even though it was a lot of fun, it was imbalanced. I do feel that with a few tweaks it should be brought back. The Attacking Team had an MCC that needed to dock at the Defender's base, and the Defenders needed to defend the base (second part of the map) long enough to destroy the MCC.
There were two "sections" to the map; the first having two points/letters that needed to captured and held (individually) for a minute or so. After that was done, a section with three letters opened. The letters acted as they do in the current Skirmish, except that only letters held by the Defenders did damage to the MCC.
From what I remember, the mode was heavily skewed towards the defenders, though I do remember a few attacking wins.
Corporation Battle - I have heard that this is coming back; how long I do not know. A CEO would go to the "Corporation Battle" tab under the Battle Neocom tab and set up a contract, putting up an ISK value that another corporation needed to match in order to play (example; Corp A places a 5 million ISK contract, paying 5mil ISK, and Corp B accepts the contract, also paying 5mil ISK). The winner earned double what they paid (in the example, Corp B wins, and earns 10mil ISK). This is played as a Skirmish.
Planetary Conquest: This is a new mode to the game, and I will not go into much detail here. Why? It is only for those large and powerful corporations that have the time and manpower to play organized (and very tough) matches nearly every day. It also uses Skirmish as its game-mode.
Coming Soon (Or Eventually):
PvE - Also known as Player vs Environment, in Dust is will most likely be a co-op mode. Not much is known about it at this point, other than it is coming and it is heavily implied that Rogue Drones will be involved.
One last thing; find a group of players to squad up with and play together. (Try typing LFS or Looking For Squad in the Local chat channel). The game is much, much more fun with others. Join a corporation and learn how they play; a good corporation will help you to become a better player as well.
And that wraps it up for this guide! I hope whoever reads this learns something that helps them enjoy Dust!
- Phoenix Archer 128, Director of Better Hide R Die [BHDYO]