Hey Whiplash, I actually put some thought into this for you. I came up with the following basic scenes/quotes from all newbies learning the game in history. Pick which quote works best for you.
Federation: "Oh ya, I'm Kirk, I'm bad! Those Klingons are toast! I'm gonna hit you with photons and!.... Dangit, Kirk's never miss... Ok, reload, why aren't they reloading? 2 turns? Ok, no problem. Ow, stop shooting me. Ow, stop! Ok, loaded! Put our nose on his hull and fire! Ouch! Still not dead, ok 2 more rounds of recharge, get him in front and kill! Nice explosion, but that kinda stung." Note that with heavy cruisers you will have to repeat this process. Hint, vs ai fire photons at range 2.01, no feedback damage, and 83% hits. Respect the phaser array of a federation ship, and it's abilities. IMO too many people fly fed cause that's what they've seen in the movies/shows, and want to be the 'good guys'. Play a villian Whiplash, you already have a good name for it. =)
Klingon: "Oh ya, I'm Klingon, Kirk's dead! I'll pepper you with disruptors till your momma cries in her sleep. Dangit, do some damage will ya? Stupid disruptors. At least they charge really fast (fastest charing heavy weapon in the game, least damage). Ok, I'll fire my phasers with em (since they all have really good arcs and you usually have more power than the enemy, you can affoard this). Hmm, still not through, ok get closer. Ouch, stop shooting me! Ok, fire! Ooo, shield down, send over those kick butt klingon marines and!... nothing? They went over to play bridge and have a beer? Sigh, just chuck drones at the ai till it's gone. Hey, drones are neat." For klingon you're really gonna have to whip out the manual and learn the best firing ranges (look for numbers that double at certian points), and learn to manage power. Open the Energy managment panel on the left side of the HUD (little lightning bolt) and watch how your ship uses power. This is best for learning the game, but tougher.
Romulan: "Drones were neat, but plasma, bwahey! They can't be tractored or killed by AMD. I'll just fire some plasma till my enemy is dead dead dead. Hmm, slow load time. Ugf, the enemy used a wild weasel. Hmm, slow load time. Ugf! Wild weasel! Maybe I'll try cloaking till I charge this time. Hey, why can my enemy see exactly where I am, and even fire at me? Doesn't seem to hurt too bad, sure wish he'd stop though. Ok, finally charged, decloak, fire, hooray we won." Romulans have to get an opponent to chase them (usually) and bombard with plasma. Easy win, just do greater speed than opponent, and it takes awhile. And it'll blow you away how different humans are vs plasma than AI. Keep that in mind.
Lyrans: "To Ram or not to Ram, that is the question." Sure, vs ai you can just ram, works great if it's 1 ship vs 1 ship, pretty easy wins. Fire phasers at point blank as you overrun with the ESG (make sure it's fully powered, at least on the first pass you make). Same type of direct fire weapons klingons have, similar numbers, just the firing arcs aren't quite as good as the better klingon models. But you'll have to learn power management and ranges, scroll back up to Klingon.
Hydran: "What the hell are THESE weapons?" Interesting choice for a new player. Overloaded fusions vs ai will do heaps of damage (Whiplash, they have a cooldown cycle of 1 turn, so don't be surprised when they don't reload right away), so will the gatling phasers (fire really close, they're scary), and that gives them good crunch power. But hydrans use alot of fighters, and I think most new players will be put off by how the AI with AMD or whatnot will kill fighters groups, costing you money. It can be frustrating. Fighter squads will come back at full strength if you recall them, even if they were down to only 1 fighter left. The Hydran Hellbore is a cool weapon for an opponent that keeps at range, but only 1-2 hellbores take awhile to get through the shields (hence the fusions/gatlings/fighters. They get you through 1 or more shields faster). PS Use fighters on Harass it keeps them a bit safer.
Gorn: "BWAHEY! Lookit all THAT plasma!" Ya, more plasma than a Romulan, and (usually) slower but tougher ships. Better phasers as well. No cloaking device, but with a gorns plasma, the opponent will be the one wanting to cloak.
ISC: "Never heard of ISC, who are these guys? Frogs?!? Well, let's look at their ships anyway. Hmm, plasma, and some new weird thing(PPD). Ok, charge weapons! Why wont those I torps all charge? I've got the power. Still not charging, weird. Maybe they're broken? Ok, loaded, and... hmm, this weird weapon (PPD) seems to be a raged weapon. Ok, fire weird thing (PPD)! VooPa VooPa VooPA bleeeeerggghhh. Well, it was hitting, wonder why it stopped? (Because you turned out of it's firing arc, it loses lock on) Turn away and fire the I torps! Now why can't I fire both of my I torps? STOP BEEPING WHEN I HIT FIRE! Just fire dammit! (30 seconds of holding down the fire button and getting beeped at) There, finally! Recharge weird thing (PPD) and repeat as needed, fire plasma if enemy ever gets close enough." Ok, good ships, good phasers, decent plasma, and a new weapon to learn. ISC are nasty vessels PvP (player vs player) and rather cheesy. Flying ISC will not cause you to learn the game, it's missions all take more time than other races, and, well, you really want to be a rabid frog with a nasal whine? To charge all of the I torps, you have to set the weapon to Defensive, and can only fire one a turn, from either launcher, not both.
Mirak: "Hey, thse guys got ALOT of drones. Drones Drones Drones, kewl." Mirak have the same direct fire weapons as lyran and Klingon, but less of the stronger phasers, more of the point defense ones (Ph3). You won't have to be as fine with power management, or firing ranges, as mirak droes can overwhelm an ai rather quickly. Miraks can do really fast missions (though are sub par vs humans).
Think I'd agree with mirak as easiest, least frustrating for a new player to learn. OK ships, decent hull strength, and lotsa lotsa drones. Only thing is, you'll have more to learn when you start playing vs humans, and they just avoid and out run all your drones. Choice is yours.
Problem with the plasma races is mostly recharge time, and getting the damn ai to chase you (sometimes it just runs away, very irritating if you only have phasers to fire back from range 20). With mirak you have disruptors for that occasion.
MadElf
Topic: Easiest race/cruiser for newbies? (Read 3381 times)