Dust 514

[Sol-Blackguy]

It's been something eating at me over the past week. Didn't even notice it until I payed attention to my red zone. The game itself is great, but players like that are going to wind up ruining it.

[Ziero]

As much as I love this game, it also makes me rage at times. For example, Skirmish is my favorite battle mode since my proximity mines and bombs really shine. But it seems like I wind up getting surrounded to easily and once I go to respawn, I notice my entire team is either sniping on their own red line or inside the MCC waiting for the battle to be over so they can collect their isk and SP. The last straw was ~an hour ago when my team didn't even go in at all and I realized I was by myself again. I got on teamspeak and went on a 20 minute rant about how everyone on the red line should go back to offline games so they can hit the reset button when things go sour and stop wasting space for players that want to actually try. One of my teammates started crying and his dad got on to try and yell at me. I told him if my kids gave up on something so easily, I'd probably / my wrists because I wasn't doing my job as a father. These fucking blueberries made me lose my voice.

...as someone who's KDR is going down the drain due to constant pushing despite blatantly losing battles, I wish I coulda heard that rant.

It's been something eating at me over the past week. Didn't even notice it until I payed attention to my red zone. The game itself is great, but players like that are going to wind up ruining it.

Once the meat of the game comes out, randoms like that won't even be a blip on the radar. This game will be run and played on a larger scale, and the Corps will be running everything. The Gathering Forces trailer is the perfect explanation of how this game will work. You will NOT be alone, nor will your enemy. Those random blueberries will be nothing but training fodder, stepped over and forgotten quickly by anyone who seriously gets into this game. With the whole High/Low/Null Sec system of Eve slated to make a presence in Dust as well, noobs will stick to the High Sec stuff while the fun parts of the game will all take place in Low and Null, run entirely by Corps of rl players.

If you haven't already, maybe you should start looking for a Corp to join. If you have and you still don't have people to squad up with so you're not alone in these fights, maybe it's time to find a better Corp. I know there's tons of Corps recruiting on the official forums, and the Corp I'm in has no problem taking in new people as long as they have a Mic and want to work as a team. Heck, even making use of the BG chat would be a massive help for those times you feel alone in this game. I know I'll pop in it every now and then, so if you see me on and need a squad, let me know and if I have room I'll throw an invite. This game goes a lot smoother when players work as a team.

[Sol-Blackguy]

...as someone who's KDR is going down the drain due to constant pushing despite blatantly losing battles, I wish I coulda heard that rant.

This was long before the point of no return in Skirmish, we got red lined in less than five minutes on Line Harvest of all places. It seems like once the enemy starts capping all the points, the blue dots just give up. Win or lose, I just want to have a good fight. Hell, even if it looks like all is lost, my squad mates and I will lock down one point and fight tooth and nail to defend it. When all else fails, we go into "playing for pride" mode and try to cause the opposing team as much misery as possible like hunting down expensive vehicles and ganging up on players with prototype dropsuits. The game's much more fun when you're not sweating your KDR, kind of why I try to avoid Ambush. Way too many tryhards in there stacking triple complex damage mods to spray and pray with the lolGek. With capped sharpshooting and a burst rifle, I can usually drop one to two of these clowns while using the terrain to my advantage. But when five or six team up for the sole purpose of padding their KDR, it's not fun.

Once the meat of the game comes out, randoms like that won't even be a blip on the radar. This game will be run and played on a larger scale, and the Corps will be running everything. The Gathering Forces trailer is the perfect explanation of how this game will work. You will NOT be alone, nor will your enemy. Those random blueberries will be nothing but training fodder, stepped over and forgotten quickly by anyone who seriously gets into this game. With the whole High/Low/Null Sec system of Eve slated to make a presence in Dust as well, noobs will stick to the High Sec stuff while the fun parts of the game will all take place in Low and Null, run entirely by Corps of rl players.

This is what I'm hoping for. I did EVE on and off for about five years, but those last two years was the most fun I ever had after discovering the fun of 0.0 space. Makes me wish I wasn't such a carebear back then.

If you haven't already, maybe you should start looking for a Corp to join. If you have and you still don't have people to squad up with so you're not alone in these fights, maybe it's time to find a better Corp. I know there's tons of Corps recruiting on the official forums, and the Corp I'm in has no problem taking in new people as long as they have a Mic and want to work as a team. Heck, even making use of the BG chat would be a massive help for those times you feel alone in this game. I know I'll pop in it every now and then, so if you see me on and need a squad, let me know and if I have room I'll throw an invite. This game goes a lot smoother when players work as a team.

I'm really not interested in a corp right now until some more content gets added in. For the most part, I roll with a handfull of friends I met from day one and friends from inside their respective corps that all play to have fun. Hearing all the horror stories about some of their CEO's crazy ass standards they're supposed to maintain makes me stick with this decision. Players have a habit of forgetting that this isn't the full release yet and take things way too seriously for comfort. We might wake up tomorrow and friendly fire will be turned on just to troll us all or even another reset before the full release. Beta's can be funny like that. Best thing to do is play the game for enjoyment without stressing about all the meta and political bullshit until CCP makes these things a factor.

[Cantih]

Heads up, there's an event today starting at 3PM PDT and goes for eight hours.
https://forums.dust514.com/default.a...103#post626103

You can get TWO unique dropsuits, one Gallente, one Caldari. Considering how weird the Black Eagle suit is (an AR AND a Shotgun?!), you might not want to miss getting these.

[Cantih]

A bit of big news today, DUST will be getting a CSM!
https://forums.dust514.com/default.aspx?g=posts&t=64506

[Sol-Blackguy]

Did a few event runs with some guys from the "Kicking Dust" channel. Now that I have my counter strategy for damage mod stackers, the fights went a lot more smoothly. Basically, these guys operate like a pack of hungry wolves that work the map in a circle to steamroll everything in their way. Cook a few locust grenades to thin the herd while falling back to pillar and post and make the stragglers come to you. You won't always survive, but you'll take the majority of them with you. Anyway, most of the battles were nothing out of the ordinary until we came across a strange ass variation of Skirmish. It was the Line Harvest map, but there were no ground spawn points and there was only one null point which was inside that crate under the "table" at the map's center. After a while, cannon installations, supply depots, and CRUs dropped out of the sky like it was an OMS match. Both sides called in fleets of tanks, LAVs, dropships, desperately vying for this one control point over the course of the battle. We maintained control of it for the majority of the fight, but the raspberries were burning through our clones. It came down to the wire where the enemy MCC was down to one tick and we had 4 clone reserves. By the end, my squad moved to team chat, screaming for the blue dots not to bleed out and we won with one last clone remaining. That was one hell of a fight.

[Ziero]

This was long before the point of no return in Skirmish, we got red lined in less than five minutes on Line Harvest of all places. It seems like once the enemy starts capping all the points, the blue dots just give up.

I had a match that was heading in that direction last night, it was the 4 point map (Line Harvest?) and they had every letter but B within the first few minuted and they weren't wasting time to get the last one. I was on my own in that match (it was one of the event fights and I didn't have time to join a squad) but I managed to sneak an Uplink all the way in the backfield of the map, cap the CRU on the side of C, cap D (all the red dots were focused on B and C at this point) itself and in the end we managed to pull out a turn around victory. It's why even in those almost blatantly hopeless fights I'll still push in, you never know what a properly placed Uplink can do to a battle.

I'm really not interested in a corp right now until some more content gets added in. For the most part, I roll with a handfull of friends I met from day one and friends from inside their respective corps that all play to have fun. Hearing all the horror stories about some of their CEO's crazy ass standards they're supposed to maintain makes me stick with this decision. Players have a habit of forgetting that this isn't the full release yet and take things way too seriously for comfort. We might wake up tomorrow and friendly fire will be turned on just to troll us all or even another reset before the full release. Beta's can be funny like that. Best thing to do is play the game for enjoyment without stressing about all the meta and political bullshit until CCP makes these things a factor.

I understand that sentiment perfectly, as long as you have some close friends at this point you really don't need a corp at all. I would never want to get involved in some uptight group of try-hards with any kind of strict "requirements" just to stay with them. First and foremost, this is a game and I'm here to have fun. That's why I'm glad I lucked out with my Corp, as I've been with them since way back in my MAG days and they've proven to be laid back, helpful and still able to kick some ass when organized well. Their only real requirements are 1) Have and use a Mic and 2) Don't be a toolbag (also no cheats).

Anyway, most of the battles were nothing out of the ordinary until we came across a strange ass variation of Skirmish. It was the Line Harvest map, but there were no ground spawn points and there was only one null point which was inside that crate under the "table" at the map's center.

That's a remnant from some variant game modes they tested a while back. They usually bring it back for the special merc event fights with some other changed up map game modes. Stuff like that certainly adds a bit more variety to the game and really changes the way you fight on a map seeing as all the more common tricks don't work as well.

p.s. Blowing up tanks and drop ships before their RDVs even touch ground is one of the funnest things about this game. Discuss.

[Sol-Blackguy]

p.s. Blowing up tanks and drop ships before their RDVs even touch ground is one of the funnest things about this game. Discuss.

Man, RDV pilots are such trolls in this game. They really need to work on their deployment system like the ability to lay a marker where you want your vehicle to be placed. Either that or work on the RDV AI. I can't tell you how many times I've had one of my 350k+isk LAVs placed on the edge of buildings, laying on their sides or the RDV will outright teasing, hovering for two minutes until some happy forge gunner blows it up before I can even get in the driver's seat. Adding to that, there needs to be a vehicle extraction where you can have a RDV retrieve your vehicle when you don't want to use it anymore since they automatically disappear when you don't use them. Since I'm on the topic of stuff that needs to be added/changed, here's my two isk:

-The complex Damage mods need a higher CPU/PG requirement. I literally made a new character just to see how fast I could get into a type II dropsuit with stacked complex mods. It took me less than three hours and now she can run ambush kill hunting like it's nobody's business with a 2.6 KDR. There's tons of different modules you can put into your high slots, but the damage mods are so OP, people just overlook them. Going straight damage to spray and pray is going to turn this into Call of Duty 3000. Maybe CCP should finally get around to putting in stacking penalties for % based mods. If they can stop players from AFK farming in a day or pretend to fix the head glitching, something like this can't be that hard, right?

-Fix the glitch where you can run while charging your Nova Knives. This isn't a top priority since these things require insane skill to use anyway, but someone out there is going to find a way to really exploit the hell out of this in the future. Wait until cloaking gets added in, Nova Knives will be the new GEK, mark my words.

-Nerf the laser. Not an outright nerf, but nobody uses the advanced lasers because there's no real need to since the standard variant is so powerful. There's a serious balancing issue with that weapon class.

-Vehicles, everything about vehicles. We all know about the LAV's controls, so there's no real need to elaborate. A close second that's been bothering me is the ridiculous damage you can take from minor collisions. Dropships landing on uneven terrain randomly blow up, (if they don't tip over like drunk cows) upper tier LAVs suffer from spontaneous combustion when rammed by their militia variants, and even friendly prototype tanks can fall victim of those deadly exploding cars. For something that expensive, it shouldn't just explode like that without being able to collect insurance on it. Hell, the way things are going there needs to be a recall on all Caldari and Gallente manufactured vehicles if this keeps happening.

-Scopes should be optional for assault rifles. I've taken a liking to the burst rifle, but the only thing really holding me back from using it full time is the crazy ass zoom on the scope. Seriously, snipers would be creaming their pants if the charged rifle had this kind of zoom. Maybe if it was reduced by ~33%, I could get used to it. And this is coming from a guy who's about to have sharpshooting proficiency at level 3 by this weekend. Long range duck and cover combat is fully ignored in this game thanks to all the mod stacking. Actually, what really needs to be addressed is the kick on assault rifles in general. Right now, the more powerful the rifle, the more kick it generates. I think it should be the opposite as incentive to use the higher class variants with the exception of the officer rifles. If anything, those things need more dispersion and kick.

-Last but not least, the orders wheel. Outside of putting a defend order on a squad mate to collect WP commissions, I haven't seen any other reason to give orders. We should be getting FRAGO for capturing null points orders are given on, rallying to specific locations, killing called targets and defending specified locations. Maybe this is something CCP is working on, but until they do, I'm just going to put a halo on myself toss out uplinks/nanohives, raise teammates, triage/gaurdian heavies and unleash 2~3 orbitals per skirmish.

[Ziero]

I completely agree with everything you mentioned except for the knives. Of all the weapons in this game, Knives are the farthest thing from needing a nerf. Honestly, I can't even think of a time I was actually killed by the knives, melee kills in general are super rare even. But the absurd damage taken from minor falls (in and out of vehicles), the damage from collisions between vehicles...especially kamikaze LAVs, Complex Mods not having the stacking penalties like they're supposed to, crappy RDV AI, and the terrible frago system.

With the Frago System, I think the best way to make the options more useful, is to make it so that fragoing a letter or building has a MUCH larger radius then fragoing a specific player. If selecting a building to be the focus of your attack, then the compound around said building should become a bonus point zone. In addition, reduce the commands to simple "attack" or "Defend" while making the Rally Point marker a separate icon indicator. Basically....just steal the Frago System from MAG.

And drop point Markers and Vehicle Extraction are both things this game should have. No point in being forced to lose your tank if you know it's not going to be helpful in a match.

[Cantih]

Looks like people were right, there's going to be some big shit going down for PAX East.

http://dust514.com/news/blog/2013/03...caldari-prime/

If you want to participate in shaping EVE's history, you should monitor the news closely over the next few days and set aside your Friday afternoon (UTC). DUST Mercenaries that participate in specific events this weekend (details announced tomorrow) will earn a commemorative dropsuit.

[Sol-Blackguy]

I completely agree with everything you mentioned except for the knives. Of all the weapons in this game, Knives are the farthest thing from needing a nerf. Honestly, I can't even think of a time I was actually killed by the knives, melee kills in general are super rare even. But the absurd damage taken from minor falls (in and out of vehicles), the damage from collisions between vehicles...especially kamikaze LAVs, Complex Mods not having the stacking penalties like they're supposed to, crappy RDV AI, and the terrible frago system.

With the Frago System, I think the best way to make the options more useful, is to make it so that fragoing a letter or building has a MUCH larger radius then fragoing a specific player. If selecting a building to be the focus of your attack, then the compound around said building should become a bonus point zone. In addition, reduce the commands to simple "attack" or "Defend" while making the Rally Point marker a separate icon indicator. Basically....just steal the Frago System from MAG.

And drop point Markers and Vehicle Extraction are both things this game should have. No point in being forced to lose your tank if you know it's not going to be helpful in a match.

Oh, knives are a bitch when used with the proper scout mindset. Just had a squad earlier today with a guy that really knows his shit about scouting. Aside from running around the map with a complex kinetic catalyzer/codebreaker hacking points like a madman, he was a pro at luring enemies into one on one situations. I think he got at least 10+ knife kills just from being able to run up fully charged at 11km/s and strike before someone has time to react. But my point is that running while charging should just be normal thing or not available at all.
The same guy did drop some interesting "news" for the next build however. Be sure to take this with a grain of salt, (Remember the 12 new racial dropsuits we were supposed to get early march?) but a lot of this did make a lot of sense:
-Along with the base range being reduced for lasers, their damage type will have a more drastic effect on shields than armor. Lasers were never intended to be "the other sniper rifle" and were primarily meant for anti shield weaponry and mid to moderate range combat.
-Mass Drivers will have a "gauge" similar to the HMG, Laser, and Blaster turrets to prevent grenade spamming. After so many back to back volleys, the weapon will jam. Direct hit damage will be reduced along with a reduction of damage to shields.
-Militia LAV, Dropships, and Tanks will no longer be available from the marketplace and free LAVs will be discontinued. Vehicles have been abused into being mobile trashcans. If the player doesn't have the prerequisite skills, they won't have access to vehicles to prevent overuse.
-Assault Rifles have constantly been adjusted. I kept asking what "they" exactly meant by adjusted, but the way he put it was how players seem to have good and bad days with rifles. I can actually attest to that where it feels like my fire is jumping all over the place one week, but my aim is spot on the next. I hope they wind up fixing the dispersion/kick on these things so people can stop three-shotting me with a triple damage mod stacked Exile or maybe:

Spoiler: show

FIX THE FUCKING STACKING PENALTIES!!

It's getting to the point where I'm beginning to wonder if all the weapons/gear in this game really needed to be nerfed or the non penalized stacked modules just made them seem OP. Discuss!

[Cantih]

Aside from running around the map with a complex kinetic catalyzer/codebreaker hacking points like a madman

I want to do this with a Type II Proto Logi suit SOOOOO badly. Double complex kinetic, double complex codebreaker.
Fucking Cyberwarfare Speedy Gonzales.

And I'd say get the stacking penalty fixed first, THEN adjust the weapon's damage profiles.

[6souls]

Holy price drop..

http://www.amazon.com/Dust-514-Plays...I3PR2MIOMWTJNV

[Sol-Blackguy]

I want to do this with a Type II Proto Logi suit SOOOOO badly. Double complex kinetic, double complex codebreaker.
Fucking Cyberwarfare Speedy Gonzales.

And I'd say get the stacking penalty fixed first, THEN adjust the weapon's damage profiles.

I'm sitting on ~17000SP right now and seriously tempted into getting my 3rd level of logi suits so I can do this. But I need to finish sharpshooting proficiency to drop these spray and pray exilers easier. But, it works just about the same with a dragonfly scout suit since they have the same speed. (but the Type II logi has more stamina/regen, PG/CPU, and equipment) After some trial and error, this is what I came up with: Dual SMGs, flux grenade, cardiac regulator, codebreaker, remote explosives, and a complex shield enhancer. The trick is to go wherever the hell your team isn't while hacking any and all installations in sight. Next, move on to peripheral null points or ones near the enemy redzone before the redberries start to give up and snipe while watching the kill reports. If more reds are dying, stick with installations and null points in neutral territory. Last thing you want is a swarm of reds to spawn in while in mid hack. Just with the militia/basic codebreaker you have enough time to lay a bomb, hack and jet out before the enemy has time to defend the point. The dual SMGs work out well for most encounters. These things have a pretty deceptive range when sighting and the flux grenade is an absolute beast when you're using hit and run tactics. Once you're spotted, run like hell to take cover and lure them in for a cooked grenade, outflank, and cut them down without having to worry about reloading. So far, I've gone 5/3 (damn exilers) and average ~1000 WP which puts me in the top five, sometimes even above people with four times as many kills if they're not squad leaders. When I do get the type II, I'll probably use the extra equipment slot for proximity mines. Not sure what weapon to use though.

[Sol-Blackguy]

So, just yesterday I was in a squad and raging about how much Manus Peak sucks. After getting that map a whopping eight times a row, I really let loose saying something along the lines of: "I hope that fucking Titan orbiting Caldari Prime crashes into this jagged armpit of a map." Did today's event and guess what my first map was? Manus Peak! But once I spawned in, holy crap!

Also made some changes to my "Infiltrator" build while I'm skilling up for the Logi Type-II: Precision Enhancer, GEK Burst Rifle, Toxin SMG, Locust Grenade, Remote Explosives, Code Breaker, and Kinetic Catalyzer. The extra running speed really makes up for survivability when running around hacking points. Before, I'd just barely get around the corner before being taken down to 1/10th of my armor. Now, I'm jetting out of combat fast enough to get somewhere safe to take some pot shots at anyone chasing me. Decided to go for the burst rifle since I already have a few levels in proficiency and it really does the job when you have time to aim. A couple burst to the head will take out just about anything and Heavies are a joke since I'm already outside their effective range before their gun has time to spool up. Most of the time a whole group of reds might try to stop the hack I without even looking for the explosive I placed. So far my record is 11 kills in one match just from bombs alone with this tactic. Not bad for a build that I threw together in five minutes. Can't wait to try this on the Logi suit with the passive hacking bonus, extra equipment slot, high slot, and crazy stamina regen.

[Ziero]

As someone who specializes in Swarms...I'll be *really* sad to see less vehicles on the field. I always do my best when the enemy calls in lots of machinery. Not just because I blow up everything on wheels I see on the map, but also because it usually brings the red dots to me while I'm at an objective and I always seem to do much better when I'm in a defensive position.

Also, SMGs are pretty damn beastly, especially once you start leveling them up more. I'm kinda tempted to level my SMGs to 5 before my Shotguns right now since I use them on every build I have. But I guess I should prolly get my suits to level 4 at the very least so I have more CPU and PG to work with. With Circuitry capped and PG nearly capped, the only things I can really do to squeeze more space out of my suits are Weapon Upgrades or get better suits. But I don't know if I'll be abl to go the few weeks or so without spending SP on other things to raise my suit skill lol.

I just hope they allow some sort of respec when they actually do add those racial variant suit skills.

[Sol-Blackguy]

As someone who specializes in Swarms...I'll be *really* sad to see less vehicles on the field. I always do my best when the enemy calls in lots of machinery. Not just because I blow up everything on wheels I see on the map, but also because it usually brings the red dots to me while I'm at an objective and I always seem to do much better when I'm in a defensive position.

This needs to happen. A friend of mine saw the pinnacle of vehicle abuse a few days ago. Some little shit from his own team on the highest building of objective B in Manus Peak getting in and out of LAVs he called in up there just so nobody else from the team can use vehicles. But I'm going to miss the free WP too. Hope my proximity mines can blow up the higher level jeeps.

Also, SMGs are pretty damn beastly, especially once you start leveling them up more. I'm kinda tempted to level my SMGs to 5 before my Shotguns right now since I use them on every build I have. But I guess I should prolly get my suits to level 4 at the very least so I have more CPU and PG to work with. With Circuitry capped and PG nearly capped, the only things I can really do to squeeze more space out of my suits are Weapon Upgrades or get better suits. But I don't know if I'll be abl to go the few weeks or so without spending SP on other things to raise my suit skill lol.

If you got Shield Control and Field Mechanics maxed, I'd say go for a better suit. They seem more expensive and all that just for an extra slot or different tanking style, but you'll know where that extra isk is going when you notice that you die a lot less. Even less with the free 50% HP bonus those two skills give you.
I've been seeing a few people (usually scouts) going dual sidearm every once in a while. Even got taken out by a few officer SMGs and Assault Pistols during merc battles too. I might have to take a detour to max it since it's only a 2x modifier and sidearm sharpshooting is only a 1x. Not like I'm maxing Assault Rifle proficiency any faster. >_>

I just hope they allow some sort of respec when they actually do add those racial variant suit skills.

That would be one hell of a reward for putting up with all the BS we've had to, but I severely doubt it. Kind of why I'm putting my B Series on hold until we get new suits, especially a Minmatar Assault. Even though it'll look like rusty metal duct taped to a bodysuit, I know deep down inside it's going to kick ass in its own race specific way. (maybe a built in armor repair?)

-Edit-
I keep forgetting to post this here:

Spoiler: show

[Kaisha]

Decided to tinker around with the game again. Wasn't as jaggy looking as last time, but I'm doing well at maintaining my 1:5,902 KDR.

Any must-have skills that make you last a little longer so snipers you can't see don't one-shot you two seconds after spawning? I have a fair bit of points built up from not playing that I feel I should be spending.

[Sol-Blackguy]

Decided to tinker around with the game again. Wasn't as jaggy looking as last time, but I'm doing well at maintaining my 1:5,902 KDR.

Any must-have skills that make you last a little longer so snipers you can't see don't one-shot you two seconds after spawning? I have a fair bit of points built up from not playing that I feel I should be spending.

There really isn't an anti-sniper skill out there. It kind of comes down to learning where snipers like to camp and avoiding open terrain. But having a sniper in your squad helps. Just like infantry, a sniper's worst enemy is -another sniper. When you can traverse through open field without having a rail launched bulled whizzing past your ear, you know he's doing his job.

For general survivability, I would recommend upgrading to a Type-II of whatever suit you favor using (Type-I for logistics) while maxing out passives like field mechanics, and at least putting a couple levels into shield control. Both skills are a must have since you get an extra 25% shield and 25% armor bonus added to the base of both suits and vehicles you use. Shield Enhancements unlocks better shields, Armor Enhancements unlocks plating. Depending on your suit's tanking style, put some levels in that variant. Level to 4 if you're infantry, but max for vehicles to unlock their higher modules.

Circuitry and Engineering (not sure what the names are right now) skills are going to be valuable too in the long run since they add extra PG/CPU to suits and vehicles so you can equip more weapons/modules/equipment without resorting to wasting low slots on enhancers. Weaponry is an absolute max for the passive 10% base damage added to all infantry weapons and access to complex damage mods, which add a (bugged stackable) 10% for your respective weapon type. If you're going to use vehicles, turret operation is the same thing. Depending on your main weapon Light or Heavy level 5 in that weapon type, sharpshooting, and rapid reload are absolute lifesavers and will give you a better advantage. A couple levels into sharpshooting proficiency wouldn't hurt after maxing the initial skill either because of the crazy ass range spike you get, but that can be done later since it's so expensive. All these are just core skills, but you'll notice the benefits when all those little percentages add up. In the end, it'll save you countless deaths, isk, and headaches when theory crafting new builds. I've seen a lot of people that just rush into the A/B series or even prototypes, ignoring their passive skills while wondering why they still die to people using starter gear.

Don't worry too much about KDR right now though. You're supposed to die... alot. It has nothing to do with your skill as a player, it's the way Dust Operates. Once get your base skills maxed, get into better suits and better modules, and start to specialize in a play style that's most comfortable to you, you'll be out there with the best, laying waste to anything dumb enough to enter your sights. Just don't forget to squad up with other players (or join a corporation) that focus on teamwork, communication and strategy. This game is horrible to try and go into things solo. Also, make friends with people that carry nano injectors, these things are wallet savers when you get gunned down when you're suit/equipment starts to cost ~200k per use.

[Cantih]

Any must-have skills that make you last a little longer so snipers you can't see don't one-shot you two seconds after spawning? I have a fair bit of points built up from not playing that I feel I should be spending.

For surviving, best use Sol's advice. The only thing that can survive one-shots(Charge)/two-shots(Tac) is a heavy, but then you're so slow that the followup is really easy. But as far as them seeing you, no.
The scan/radar skills and modules only affect the HUD. If you have direct line of sight on a character (including down a scope), you'll spot them for your team and that little red chevron will pop up on your screen. Nothing can currently stop it from displaying, and that's what we use to target you.

You might get some luck with these though http://dust514.com/news/blog/2013/03...s-your-friend/

So that’s what you can expect in the next update, but what about beyond that? There are two equipment items on the top of our list that we want to get in to the game as soon as we can.
...
The second item is a Cloaking Field. This sneaky bit of kit will not only make you (almost) invisible to other combatants, it will also blind turret AI targeting systems. It isn’t perfect invisibility, scanners will still pick you up if you haven’t masked your signal well enough, motion will disrupt the field to some extent and weapon fire will cause the field to shut down. This means it will take some skill to use to its maximum potential. This item is going to be a real game changer, particularly for Scout dropsuits which have been screaming out for stealth gear.

As for right after spawning, the spots are randomish (unless it's an uplink or CRU) so it's not strictly spawn camping, but it depends on your base's cover. There are a few in rotation that are really unfavorable, and it only gets worse with certain maps. Except for Skim Junction (the long horizontal map with the three point base in the center), if you have enough light weapon sharpshooter proficiency it's possible to snipe people IN their redline base from YOUR redline base. Unless you've got a sniper that can match that range, you're just going to have everyone run at once and hope there's too many targets to cover.
(If you're in Manus Peak, and I'm on the south side team, and there's no tower block at B, you're pretty much fucked. I can get coverage on your bases in the first twenty seconds of a match and keep anyone from reaching A. I can get 30/0 if the opposing team is particularly unskilled.)