I've been playing a few games here and there over the last week or so. Most of the time I do OK, maybe slightly better than 1.0 k/d. Last night, however, I ended up on a team that got absolutely steamrolled. I assume that the opposing team was better organized, but they also seemed to be sporting a totally different tier of gear. I like that the game tells you who killed you (and with what weapon), but every time I saw that screen, it seemed that my killer had 2-3x the amount of armor/shields, wore a fancy dropsuit and was using a weapon I had never heard of.

It's my impression that any gear considerably better than the starter gear costs AUR (and thus, real money). Is this the case, or is there gear of this caliber available for ISK once I unlock the requisite skills?

when i was browsing the marketplace, i did see that some weapons were available to purchase with ISK. You would also need to have the required skills to be able to use them

Yes. The gear you can buy for AUR just lets you use it earlier. For example, let's say there's an ISK Assault Rifle that required Assault Rifle Operation V. You can get an AUR version of that weapon with that same stats that you can use with just Assault Rifle Operation III. There are no weapons that are bought with AUR that don't have an equivalent ISK variant and there never will be - according to CCP.

So, there is the issue of people buying their way into better gear faster, but it should become more balanced as you skill up. As a character with 4.3 million skill points, I can hold my own against most with just my Militia Grade gear. Once I buy some high-grade stuff, I should be on even ground with people who bought AUR gear yet have fewer skills. I hope...

No, better gear doesn't cost AUR. The AUR guns currently just give next tier stats with lower skill requirements. I wouldn't encourage you to buy them though, because unless they're blueprints (shown with blue brackets), you're spending real money on a gun you'll lose when you die.

The higher tier gear is unlocked with skill points, not AUR. Gear with a triangle icon in the upper left is Advanced gear. Gear with an X is Prototype (best) gear. You can see the stats and ISK costs in the marketplace. To my knowledge, there is no high-tier AUR gear at all.

Check the prerequisites on these guns, and you'll see they'll require some Tier 5 skills in the appropriate areas. It will cost you millions of skill points to use these, and as you notice, you don't earn skill points very fast.

So what's up is you're playing against people and teams who were in the closed beta, and may have almost a full year's head start on you. Beta players were not wiped at the 5/14 release. Personally, I don't believe there's much of a disadvantage in a 1 on 1 fight, but there is a huge disadvantage against multiple squads with this gear. Wait till they start throwing around tanks and mobile spawn points.

Ah, thanks everybody for filling me in on the AUR vs. ISK items. Make sense. The UI in the store is a little hard to follow, so I wasn't able to figure this out on my own.

I had a pretty hard time even *approaching* some of the NULL cannon emplacements in this game. If someone with an HMG didn't kill me as I approached, some other guy had no problem finishing me off once I got close, despite taking 2-3 shotgun blasts to the face. (Seems like a sound strategy, on their part, btw. Makes me wish I rolled with friends in this game). I feel like some of these guys were listed as having ~650 HP of *shields* in the death screen. Is that a thing?

@strangecargo: Yeah, shield tanking is a thing, just like in EVE. However, there's a grenade type (name escapes me) that specifically strips shields, as well as weapons (plasma for one) that do more damage to shields. Shield tanks can be broken with the right gear, but, a'course, you have to have earned enough SP to field it. And then there's squad coordination, cause you'll need someone to mop up the remaining armor.

Early on, one skill point in Grenadier does wonders. Gives you cheap anti-vehicle and anti-shield options, on top of access to slightly more powerful frags. AV grenades even "home in" on the nearest vehicle within range - take that, buggy!

Does taking points in grenadier make throwing grenades any easier? Every time I throw a grenade, I have the same issue as Patrick in the QL, where it just takes a totally random bounce or goes nowhere near where I intended.

For guys with large amounts of shield or armor, I have been using a line rail gun (? that is probably not the correct name and I can not remember it, its basically a grenade launcher) and it works pretty well against them. I will wait until they engage another member of my squad and just start shooting at them, in there general area, don't have to direct hit. One clip of 6 will clean them up, as long as one or two others are hitting them with assault rifles also. The only bad thing about that gun if you haven't leveled it up (like me) is that you only carry 4 clips (24 total rounds). So you have to have a good pistol as your side arm.

Good thing you were there to let me know with an image that I used the wrong term. Good looking out. I almost ruined this topic.

@rabidcentipede: Man, I bet you're just so embarrassed.

I believe it's "pay to get powerful vehicles faster" and then win; at least that's how it worked in the beta. Spawn camp with tanks = victory.

This seems like the most appropriate topic to ask this question without starting a new one for it.

Buying a blueprint of an item means I never have to buy it again, correct. It is then a permanent item in my inventory. If that is the case, I may spend some of my AUR on a few weapons and drop suits.

Yes. If you're set on this, look into the $20 Mercenary Pack. It will give a descent assault suit, rifle, and $20 worth of AUR. Then spend most of your AUR on skill boosts (passive especially).

@burningstickman: Thanks for the info! I think I will buy that pack.

@sins_of_mosin said:

Your image is misleading. It states that, "a [sic] MAGAZINE is a device use to activly [sic] feed a rifle during firing." Clearly, magazines are also used in other firearms, such as handguns. Hell, there's even a couple in the image! Please, don't spread false information.

You are correct. You just slap that blueprint on and it'll provide an infinite supply of that item.