Trying to show my friends the better matches in this game...

[Kriegson]

.. but pretty much every time we hop on and give it a go, our team gets curb stomped. I've had a few AWESOME matches myself, either playing engie or captaining, but it's difficult to find a ship we all agree on, trying to organize without being "Team captain" though suggestion and advice, and yet remain effective while just having fun.

I've been playing alone a bit and figuring out which ship might be simple enough for us to muck about on and sell them on the premise of merely playing the game (effective with modest teamwork and fun) and figured it's probably best to start them on goldfish...any thoughts on a good loadout or tips for teaching people how to play while dodging curbstomp matches?

[Echoez]

A standard Blenderfish while good can't realy decide a battle unless your ally coordinates and follows you around to mop up the people that your gun can decimate.

Best starter ship is the Pyramidion (dun dun duuun), simply enough cause you get 2 weapons on a single enemy and you can finish what you start, fast. Just play the regular Gat/Mortar or even Carronade/Mortar Pyramidion set up with Heavy clip and buff on Carro/Gat and Lesmok on the Mortar. It kills other ships easily and usually makes everyone new to the game have a gleeful expression all over their face due to the achievement of killing something

PS: Don't forget to ram Mobulas and Spires that aren't paying attention

[Thomas]

I'd try to stick with novice matches as best you're able. They force you to use some viable options. The Pyra is a bit easier, since you just have to blow them up, and the weapon loadout makes that pretty easy. You can still do it with the goldfish, but that requires a little more finesse on the pilot's part. Pivoting the ship to shoot the side guns at times. You can always use kerosene and get very rammy with these ships as well.

On a carronade goldfish, you generally want to stay out of their gun arcs and just take out their balloon repeatedly. It's not that hard to maneuver into their blind spot as they're sinking, but you have to be careful when following them down (the carronade doesn't aim down very well). Usually as they near the ground I switch to a flamethrower or something explosive, since those guns have a large turning radius. You can easily stay above them while doing damage, often keeping them pinned there with the flamer.

A hwacha goldfish is pretty popular, but takes a bit more planning. You can't afford to miss shots, since that reload is so long. Fire a barrage and disable their ship up close (or mid range if you have a good gunner) and attempt to get into their blind spot, using your side guns while the hwacha is reloading. The gat is especially useful for taking out their armor. Once the  armor goes down, turn back to the now reloaded hwacha and finish them.


If you don't feel like playing in novice matches, I'd still recommend a pyra or goldfish ships. They're by far the easiest for players to get used to. Communication goes a long way as well.

Squid is tricky with it's speed and general fragility; galleon is massive and hard to control (and a very easy target) and harder to organize your crew; junker is another easy-ish ship, but with the guns on the sides of the ship, your gunners have to compensate for your ship movement as well, and can be difficult to hit targets for newer gunners; spire is a great gun ship, but also really fragile and difficult to control; and finally the mobula is another great gun ship, but you have massive blindspots and need the most crew coordination.

[NoWuffo]

I feel your pain and would love to co-captain with ya to make sure to give your friends a good experience. I would actually recommend not going into the beginner's matches, because you want to look for a co-captain who is able to work with you. You get a lot of level 1 newbies who aren't really that interested in teamwork in the Novice matches. If you find yourself a good co-captain, and you coordinate with him/her, you're in for a good match, whether you win or lose! Just be sure to talk to them (C to captain's chat), I'll take a level 3 co-captain with a mic over a level 15 silent one any day! I'd also echo the recommendations of the pyra, I love me some pyra action!
Good luck, and Blue Skies...

[HamsterIV]

It is hard getting an entire ship of newbie friends to function effectively. There is too much going on for you to micromanage/instruct everyone. I would suggest flying with each friend individually, hopefully on a ship with a vet or two. That way your friend can take a non mission critical roll and learn the game. Balloon side gungineer on a Pyra is a good place to put newbies since it gives them a small area of responsibility and they get to experience both the repair and shooting mechanics. If you have a vet doing main engineer you can stay alive long enough to give the newbie some good practice time. Also even if your friend turns out to be a terrible shot, the other gunner and the pyra's ability to close can some what make up for his deficiencies.

[Squidslinger Gilder]

Play 3v3 more. 2v2 is more prone to stomping. 3v3 has it, yes, but there are more chances of mounting comebacks and getting a decent ally. Plus its a lot more fun than 2v2. I only play 2v2 anymore if I have a reason.

[zlater75@hotmail.com]

Or try koth mode where not about kills but getting to the point and defending it. then you have both trying to get it and trying to defend it.

it's hard to say what matches can be like in advance but the main thing is to have fun, learn to do your part and enjoy flying aboard an airship in the world of goi.

[Kriegson]

Thanks for the advice guys! I'll see if I can put this to good use...