Lo all im a noob here ,Ive played a lot of online games (Jumpgate Eve ect)
My problem is trying to shoot bots,sounds easy doesnt it.
Nope I die every time !Ive upgrade my plasma laser ,I go for closest target an lo an behold target reticule jumps all over the place an I dont even hit em b4 another 1 comes up behind an kills me.
I asked for help but got told to shoot em lol
Can anyone give me some idea cos they shouldnt be that hard(after all its a noob mission an im a noob)
Is it a lag prob or what?
any help apreciated
Wavey

Try to get one seperated out from the rest, use hit and run tactics, and don't forget your turbo booster thingy and strafing. I tried the noob combat training mission and was able to do it with little trouble. The flying and interface takes some getting used to. Your targetting reticle will settle wherever you point your ship. Practice flying around and get used to the physics before you jump into combat. I don't know if this helps, but I hope a little. I'm a noob too. 8)

Best way to dodge fire is to use the physics mode and use strafe to circle around targets. Always go as fast as you can, and try to use more than strafe .. you can go in any direction at any speed

It is possible to confuse the aim of some of the less-sophisticated bots by holding down the d and e keys simultaneously. I sometimes tap the brake (spacebar) momentarily (but only right after they fire at you, otherwise you stand a chance of placing yourself into the path of a shot that otherwise would have missed). You then need only aim just ahead of your spin so that the recticle is yellow - and fire away. Mind that you brake a little before the bot explodes so that you don't take explosion damage.

It helps too if you avoid approaching them from head-on. Try to sneak up behind or broadside and get a few free shots in. Stay off the turbo once they engage you unless you are about to die.

If more then one is attacking you at the same time, you're not going after the easy bots. Go to a sector that only has Collector bots. They're the easiest ones and should only attack you one at a time. If you chase a Collector and find that another one is chasing you, ignore the one you were chasing and go after the second one. As long as you haven't hit the first one it will leave you alone. There's some collective AI that picks one bot to chase you. If you hit a different bot it will come after you instead and the one that was chasing you will give up. But once you've hit them they'll never give up, so don't hit a second one until you've finished off the first one.

This behavior only applies to Collectors.

Among the Collectors there are slight differences in difficulties, but I forget what the easiest ones are. (Anyone...? Anyone...?)

Also, ask around in game to see if someone will mentor you (using the /mentor command). They get recognition and you get help.

if you've played jumpgate then you're used to an extremely potent pure-physics engine, which is good. you just need to realize that the game defaults you to arcade, which is useless in combat. i'm of the opinion that you can get on perfectly well using arcade mode to get around and physics mode to fight, which tends to work quite well (i've played for about 1 1/2 hours since the reset and i'm already 1/1/0/0)

if i could give you a few good pointers, they would be
number one: stay away from artemis collectors. they will kill you.
number two: every time a bot fires a shot at you, change your direction. keep changing it.
number three: check your six often, more than once i've been toasted by a bot sneaking up behind me.
number four: pick up the little blue things they drop. this will help you for when you want to take license tests and buy things and whatnot.
number five and most importantly: fire when the lead indicator turns yellow. unless you've messed with stuff, the game will aim automatically, and if you are close enough in, your shots will hit. you can also aim without autoaim, but it generally doesn't go over too well, at least not with the bots.

ps: don't think that just because you have mad botting skills, you will be able to own a valk. you can't. people tend to use much, much more complex tactics than "sit on target's face, fire."

In order of difficulty:
Small rocks
Bigger rocks
Orun
Kinnick
DisTek
Artemis
The Baelrog

All the names look something like their equivalent in the list above. I can't remember exact names.

Tried that ,doesnt work 2 many enemies.
Target nearest enemy does not target nearest enemy an ive checked my configs an it should,always targets an enemy quite far away not the one about to kill u.
3 times ive been dropped into an ion storm an i cant even survive 2 escape. 3 shots an im dead even trying to evade .
Im only going to the sector ive been told to for my mission definitely a very un-noob friendly game:(

Well, you have to keep hitting it to target the nearest hostile. As one gets closer, it will target that instead. May I ask if you've been shooting at things at random? It sounds to me (if you'll excuse the stereotyping) as if you are the exact type of respectable gentleman who enjoys shooting anything and everything in his gunsights. If you attack Station Defense bots yes, you will die very very quickly. It is their job to see that you do. If, however, you take a mission in the station (say, start with the tutorial) and follow that through, you should be able to figure out the basics of combat.

Small rocks are toughies. They sneak up on you.

boy, do I know it. Look out for the big rocks, though. A few of those have been spotted in Betheshee carrying old-style blue ion cannons. They're getting restless, I say.

I am doing tutorial misssion thats what amazes me!

Ah, then be sure you're only shooting the bots that show red on your radar. Do not attack the ones with wide-spread wings, as those exist solely to defend your nation.

All im trying to do is find an kill some collector bots .I wouldnt shoot anyting else but red
:)

Good. What nation are you playing for? If you're Serco, I suggest hunting in sector F9. Otherwise, you'll have to ask someone else.

Go into physics mode, hold s and f, while holding your reticle on the target. Fire until you win. :P

Ive had enuf 5th time ive been dumped in an ion storm an yet again I die:( killed 1 an then ran as fast as noob ship goes but still died.
What is the idea ?
If i dont fight I die if i do ... I die .If I run .... I die

ps as i said reticule jumps all over place even when flyin in straight line(gotta be lag)adsl connex not modem an of course i use physics mode

Get a mentor. I don't think we're going to be effective enough in the forum to help you. If you had a mentor, he/she could protect you in a storm until you get out, or help you to navigate around any known storms. A mento could also keep an eye on you while you bot, to help in a pintch and keep bots off your six.

I don't know how many players are mentoring, but with some persistence you should be able to convince someone. I'll be on later (in 3-4 hours) if no one else will help. Type:
/msg "Klox" Help!
to get my attention.