First, there are several good "basics" articles already posted on controls and UI:

www.crimecraft.com/forums/General-Discussion/topics/Help-guide-with-pictures - UI Guide with Photo's

www.crimecraft.com/forums/General-Discussion/topics/The-general-guide - Gameplay controls and basics

This guide is meant to answer the bigger question: What do I do now?  Especially considering that that current early tutorials and controls aren't very clear, and it's hard to get some basic questions answered on these forums.  I'll post what I've learned and if I'm wrong, eat a few flames and make the corrections!

Leveling Up, Fighting, Jebus my gun sucks how do I get a new one?

Note: I'll talk more about it below, but as you level up, DONT SPEND YOUR SKILL POINTS UNTIL LEVEL 6.  At least, if you want a big special gun. (see below)

So now that you've got a handle on the basics, and hopefully completed the first tutorial on killing any enemy it's time to start bankrolling your thug.  Before level's 10-15 there's really only one good way to do this, playing instances.  I highly recommend you go the PvE route until level 5-6 (I'll explain why in a second).  Your best bet is to join instances for X-Align Shipping and Municipality Warehouse and Storage (Safeguard).  You could join *any* PvE instance you wanted  (the icon's you want are pistols in a circle, or shields in a circle) however these two are quite common.

Money won't be easy to get at first, you'll earn $20-$50 a match assuming you can stay alive.  And about 100 XP or so a match.  Pay close attention to objects on the ground, many are "Retrievable" containers that you can open later for goods related to tradeskills and the occaisonal grab bag item.  Read below on strategies and what to do with these.

It'll take about $750 - $1000 to buy your first upgraded gun depending on your preference a pistol, SMG, AR or Shotgun.  Prices vary a bit but they are all in that range.

Holy crap, how do I make that kind of money? And why am I leveling so slow?

The leveling curve is bizarre and goes in spurts thanks to the content. Your best bet is to find a pay phone and take jobs.  Think of jobs as the "kill X" tasks from other mmo's.  There's tons of them and as you level more open up, as well as completing some opens others too.

Early on take all the PvE jobs that make sense, typically you'll be using an SMG, Shotgun or Assault Rifle (Pistol too).  So take jobs that have you using those weapons to kill PvE targets or do damage with them.  Completing jobs gives you extra cash and some XP.  If you do it right you should have enough money to buy a new gun well before level 5.  

WTH are all these numbers on the guns?

Guns are rated in many categories.  Heres' what you need to know:

Rate of Fire: Higher numbers mean faster number of bullets in shorter amount of time.  (Not sure what the actual measure is here).  So  gun with a 600 RoF fires bullets much faster than one with 150.

Damage:  This is the damage PER BULLET.  Keep that in mind.  It may look like a weak gun, but if it has a high Rate of Fire ... or is a shotgun and fires multiple bullets at once...  

Spread:  This is an important number.  Higher is WORSE.  It represents the guns accuracy, the larger the spread the more the bullets can "veer" off a straight line.

Recoil: A somewhat misleading figure.  Higher recoil means the gun "bounces" more per shot.. in theory meaning a constant trigger pull will move you more and more out of line.  However, for single shot weapons, like the Sniper Rifle, they often have large recoil but it means less because you can't auto-fire these guns.  Most useful for SMG's, LMG's and AR's.

Mag Size: Number of bullets per "clip" in the gun.

Mag Count: Number of magazines that come with a default load out.  Multiply this by mag size to figure out how many bullets/shots you'll have overall.

--SLOTS--

All guns come with a default "customize" slot (right click on the gun and select customize).  This default slot is for color changing mods (hot pink shot gun anyone?).  Better guns come with more mods, the vendors will sell you expensive versions of the regular guns (no stat changes) that have one modification slot.  These slots can have things like barrels, sights, triggers etc.  Mods run the gamut, affecting damage, fire rate, spread, range, etc.  Crafted guns can have a lot of slots (I've seen up to 5 for well made guns) and radically affect the way a gun handles.

What hell, I keep getting pwned by Rocket Launchers and Snipers I want one!

Okay, so invariably you didn't listen and joined a PvP instance.  No biggie, odds are you got schooled if you're new to the game.  It can still be fun but it can be very frustrating to the new player.  Almost immediately you realize you don't have a heavy weapon.  Patience young one.   Level 6 is your first chance to learn how to use a new weapon class, the heavy weapons.   Why level 6? Because it takes 5 skill points to buy the skill.  If you already spent points in things like grenades, armor, cash flow etc, you can respec, it doesn't cost that much.

Your choices will be Sniper Rifle, Rocket Launcher, Grenade Launcher, Light Machine Gun.  All have plusses and minuses.  It'll also cost you around $3500, you may or may not have the cash depending on your other goals.

Where are all these cool clothes coming from? I want to look cool too!

Right now, unfortunately, that might be hard to do.  A lot of better looking gear is coming from the "Premium" vendor which doesn't take cash, he takes Gold Bars.  Gold Bars are only handed out via developer events at the moment (they will be purchaseable via money transactions at live).   Much of the scrub gear you have now can be bought off clothing vendors or made from tailors.  It is functional to some degree.

The numbers on the clothes imply damage resistance, you'll note it says "Light, Medium, Heavy, Splash". That's the type of damage they resist.  Ignore the fact that the skimpy bra says "heavy resist". Light = pistols and SMG, Medium is Shotguns/Assault Rifles, Heavy is special weapons like Sniper Rifles, LMG's and direct hits from a RL.  Splash is area of effect damage from explosions near you.

Tradeskills and Crafting

First, I mentioned earlier about the containers you pick up in PvE missions.  Hopefully you've been grabbing these.  They come in four varieties with different "tiers".  Armor, Medical, Gadget, Weapon.  I've seen at least 3 versions of each (Armor 1, Armor 2, Armor 3 etc..).  Higher tiered containers have a greater chance of having better stuff in them, or more stuff. Typically when you open these they spit out a pile of junk.  Some of this junk is useable in crafting, (it'll say it's an ingredient).  Sometimes, if you're lucky, you get an item (Armor containers can have clothes, weapon can have guns, medical can have activateable healing stuff, gadgets can have neat boosts).  But that's pretty rare.  Early on, save every tier 1 crate you get, you'll need 4 of each Tier 1 great for a quest coming up.  The best way to get these is to play the X-Align shipping map or other PvE encounters.

Tradeskills come in 4 varietes and you'll get a quest around level 4 or 5 to go talk to each tradeskiller type (you don't have to choose one doing this quest!).  Gunsmithing makes guns (duh), Engineers make gun modifications, tailoring makes clothes/armor and chemistry makes boost items.

The tradeskill system is, no offense to vogster, a mess right now but it does work.  Out of containers in various PvE instances you get components to make items.  Often it is a serious PITA to get all the subcomponents you need to make even basic items.  The better the item, the more components it'll need.  Gunsmiths take note, it takes a lot of effort to get the pieces to make guns. Use the auction house to find what you're missing.

You skill up simply by making the items, most tradeskills can go up to 100 pretty easily, after that content seems to be missing and it can be hard to what you need to advance (some question if the items are even in game).

Okay so now what?

Okay so you PvE'd to level 6'ish, if you've paid attention you probably got a few quests.  If you haven't, then be sure to do the tradeskill quest (you did save 4 of each container right? If not, you've got some grinding X-Align Shipping to do).

Best thing is to set a goal for yourself, do you want to be a sniper? LMG user? Rocket Launcher?  Look at the skills and build a spec.  Remember, heavy guns take 5 skill points, some of the neat utilities take one.  I suggest deciding if you want mines, grenades or heal items, what protections you want etc.  Much later you can get a unique skill for your heavy weapon that costs 3 pts so keep an eye on that as well.  Some of these abilities, like grenades, can be advanced to do more damage for more skill points.

Practice with your weapons of choice as much as possible against bots, get a feel for them, how they work and their limitations.  There's definate balance issues in the game right now, especially with modded weapons like Shotguns that can hit from very large ranges.  But don't let that affect your decision, each weapon can kill and does kill a LOT.  THe most important skill/weapon in the game is your experience with your chosen death dealer.  THe more time you spend the better you'll get.

Also try to get good at a couple of maps.  I spent time with X-Align Shipping (for resource farming) and Isopach Oil.  Knowledge of the maps + familiarity with my weapon choices means I feel I can compete, even if I'm not #1 in PvP (ever, sigh) I feel like I have a fighting chance.  On maps I've never played before I get totally pwned, such is the life of FPS gaming.

Auction House Tips

First, learn your markets.  Don't waste money on things listed in the AH until you learn their default prices.  A lot of basic trade skill items, for example, can be bought in stacks of 20 from a vendor for $600 yet I see them listed (and even sell a few) on the AH for over 2000.  Never under estimate the power of an uninformed consumer... just don't be one yourself.

1 Slot weapons of all types can be had from vendors for $3k-$12k depending on the weapon, so don't go crazy over one listed in the AH for $15k.  On the same hand, if you see one listed less than its going rate, go for it.

Charged items that engineeers make (like mag increasers) can be bought from the vendor for $120 each.  So don't go buying them from the AH for $500 a pop.  Likewise, if you're making them, don't list them for that if you want to make cash.  Unfortunately, it's a little hard to make money making default tradeskill items when the cost to make is greater than the cost to sell by a large margin.  Suck it up and level up your skills.

Sell sell sell.  If you're not crafting, or not crafting all types, sell EVERYTHING that's an ingredient on the AH.  If playing it safe, many stacks of 20 can sell for $500 a pop on the AH ($100 less than retail vendor) on the same hand, if you gamble, you can sell for much more than that.  Always do searches of what you're trying to sell first, remember things sell in stacks.  You can try and rip people off or you can market to the savvy consumer who knows a decent deal and *will* buy when you list right.  You'll make enough money in a week or so to buy a 1 slot weapon off the vendor (along with base versions to get decent).

Some Notes on Weapons

First, let's address shotguns.  I've been killed more times than I can count over any other weapon by a shotgun. Is it overpowered? It does have a disturbing way of killing me at ranges I wouldn't expect and shoots through walls far more often than any other gun I've seen.  Best tactic is to roll *away* from the guy with the shot gun, but this will only give you seconds to deal.

Assault rifles are good basic weapons, remember burst fire, don't hold the trigger. You're accuracy with a default AR will be much better that way.

Pistols: Don't underestimate these.  Their biggest weakness is small clip sizes but they are not to be ignored, they pack quite a bit of punch per bullet and some of the machine pistols are quite deadly.

Sniper Rifle: Not the mecca of gaming you'd think it would be.  Supeb accuracy and ridiculous range.  Being a sniper is about the joy of the one shot kill.... and long periods of tedious "watching" with no targets because anyone who knows the maps doesn't stick their head up anymore.  Often can take two shots to kill someone if you can't make head shots or they are armored.  And remember, that first shot gives away your position.

Rocket Launchers: Splash damage.  Nice accuracy if slow firing.   Unlike grenades, these don't hurt you if you fire one close to yourself, so take advantage of that in tight quarters. (They might change this so be wary).

Grenade Launchers: Mayhem du Jour.  The special ability (3 skill points on these) that lets you fire multiple canisters is unbelievably effective at clearing rooms, platforms and your moms house.  I can personally attest that taking one to the face is insta-death (and lots of missing teeth).

SMG's: Underrated champs, these are very deadly at close range (check penetration values, they tend to be highers  on SMG's than AR's, go figure, realistic values these guns do not have) but their spread is horrendous.  Best approach: Death from above, firing down on your targets head with a reign of fire from SMG is a sure fire win before they know what hit them.

That's it for now, more if I think about it.

Last Edited on: Jan 01 2011 02:35 AM UTC (Feb 10 2012, 11:12am GMT)

Just tell them about the lemon guns(the Black Sea Ieapitus and the Oslo Padin SMG, along with whatever else people think is bad), then i think they're all good. Thank you for the wall of text.

And can we please get a sticky on this?

Last Edited on: Jul 14 2009 04:37 AM UTC (Feb 10 2012, 11:12am GMT)

Really nice guide,helped me quite a bit. But i think you should add some things to do to get your third wepon, as i see the sniper is over 3k and i have less than $100 after getting a new AR at lvl 5 and i seriously i doubt i can get 3k in one lvl. You might've said this through do jobs and stuff to get money but i again doubt i can do enough of those.

Quote | Dustystrike posted on Jul 13 2009 09:01 PM UTC

Really nice guide,helped me quite a bit. But i think you should add some things to do to get your third wepon, as i see the sniper is over 3k and i have less than $100 after getting a new AR at lvl 5 and i seriously i doubt i can get 3k in one lvl. You might've said this through do jobs and stuff to get money but i again doubt i can do enough of those.

I'll think about rewording where I discussed this.  By level 3/4 you should have about $1200 in the bank.  This is by strategically taking Jobs from the payphone that apply to the weapons you like to use (pistol ones and either AR or Shotgun ones).  This is enough dough to get you *1* upgraded gun, I recommend your main medium damage gun, say an AR or a Shotgun.   That should help you get more cash and survive better.  

Then between level 4 and 6 you need to take more jobs and just grind out missions.  If you do PvE stuff then you should net enough tradeskill items (you can sell stacks for $300-500 a pop on the auction house) to save some cash.  On my first toon it took me to level 7 or 8 to have enough to buy a Heavy weapon. But I bought a new SMG, a new AR and a new Shotgun before I did that.  

It feels impossible to raise $3500 early on but it is doable.

Thanks for the reply and ye i got alot of crafting supplies, put em on AH now just gotta wait and see if people would buy em

Quote | Rekas posted on Jul 13 2009 08:44 PM UTC

Just tell them about the lemon guns(the Black Sea Ieapitus and the Oslo Padin SMG, along with whatever else people think is bad), then i think they're all good. Thank you for the wall of text.

Wait, the Ieapitus is considered a Lemon?  That's the AR I use!

It was considered a lemon. It was horrible. I guess they fixed it. I wouldn't know. THe game is kind of broken for me right now. And my graphics card. :S

No. The worst AR is the semi-automatic... I mean really, a 1 shot ar.... Well keep hitting that trigger fool. While I love that Lapetus especially for early levels in PVE....

General Oya

on netting money from Mats....

it depends on the mats.  Chem mats are mostly only worth 1$ so you net 20$ for a stack of 20

The more expensive mats are tailor, gunsmith and engineer.

That rings true if selling to vendors.  However if you sell on the auction block, some are willing to pay big.  This is also true if the mats remain as hard to find in open beta :P

It would be REALLY helpful if the merchants had active databases of the mats and equipment they've purchased as well in addition to the standard equipment they sell. This would actually make using the different vendors useful. Think Fallout3, when you sell something, it becomes available for resale by the vendor at their pricing minus any bonuses you might have when haggling. That way the inventory would be dynamic, and all those mats in the economy that are of no use to the noobs would still be in circulation and without the cutthroat effect of the Auction House....

The AH would be regulated to a small degree by these other mats in the economy still. Your beginning tailor out to pick up ammo, might dump all his gs or chem mats at the weaponstore and then they could be available to who ever might come along to put in their bid. This would accelerate progression in the various craft trades and eliminate a bit of the frustration of those who think that certain things just don't drop. Also, if some of those dropped clothes, weapons and armor that get sold were available even at the outrageous vendor prices it would be easier to equip my chrs as well when they cross various lvl thresholds... I mean you did level the gear so why not continue to make it available if someone sells it to the market? Some of us really want the xp, so waiting around at the AH or the ganghouse really drags on our time, these moves would benefit the game greatly I believe.

I just don't understand having vendors that only sells gear that you would never use once you progress beyond lvl 5, which btw can be done rather quickly.

General Oya