Getting Started in Star Citizen

When you first start exploring the Star Citizen website, it can be a little intimidating and more than a little confusing. This guide for new players will show you how to create an account (no purchase is necessary) and will discuss which game package will benefit you most, early in your Star Citizen life.

Account Creation

First, if you do not already have a Star Citizen account, begin by creating one here. This will create an account using my referral code, which will get you 5,000 credits to assist with your initial in-game expenses. Referral codes cannot be applied after an account is created, so if you wish to use someone else’s code you have to do it prior to creating your account.

After you have confirmed your e-mail address, you can now log-on and select a pledge package. For those of you that are only interested in the single-player game, you can purchase Squadron 42 here. If you are interested in the MMO Star Citizen or wish to purchase both Star Citizen and the single-player campaign Squadron 42, you must determine which starter package to choose from. My personal recommendation is to purchase both games as adding Squadron 42 to a Star Citizen package only costs $15. Purchasing Star Citizen also gets you access to the first person shooter module Star Marine.

Game Package Selection for New Players

This is where things can get frustrating for new players. Always keep this in mind: you only NEED the base game package. You will never need to purchase anything beyond the Star Citizen starter package and perhaps the Squadron 42 add-on. Don’t let the crazy prices of some of the pledges scare you! All ships will eventually be purchasable in-game as development progresses.

This page will take you to the game packages page. The packages that I would recommend are the Aurora MR Star Citizen Starter + Squadron 42 package or the Mustang Alpha Star Citizen Starter + Squadron 42 package. If you wish to purchase a package with a more expensive ship, I would suggest waiting until you have experienced more of the game. You can always upgrade your base ship to something more expensive at a later time. Choose whichever ship you like as you can melt the package for store credit and purchase the other ship every 24 hours.

Check out our reviews of the Mustang Alpha and Aurora MR. The Aurora is slightly more durable and worth $25 toward a cross chassis upgrade to a more expensive ship and the Mustang is more maneuverable and worth $30 toward a cross chassis upgrade.

Other Game Package Options

Aegis Avenger Titan

The Avenger Titan is one of the best starter ships you can choose. Its ability to carry cargo, switch out its cargo hold for stasis pods (for bounty hunting) or an EMP generator make it extremely versatile. The fact that it is relatively maneuverable and has decent armament for a ship its size, make it much better in a fight than either the Aurora or Mustang.

The best way to purchase it is to get the Mustang Alpha starter package and upgrade to the Avenger Titan for $20. If you’ve never played Star Citizen before, I’d suggest getting the Mustang Alpha first and playing for a while to get the feel for the game. The Avenger was my gateway drug to Star Citizen and it still holds a special place in my heart!

Origin 300 Series

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The Origin 300 Series is another versatile line of ships. Origin is more of a luxury ship manufacturer. (You can think of them as the BMW of the Star Citizen universe.) With sleek lines and more speed than the Avenger series, they’ll appeal to those that like the styling of Origin. The 300 Series in its current form isn’t as versatile as the Avenger, and it’s more expensive. It does offer one form of gameplay that the Avenger cannot and that is exploration with the 315P model.

The 315P offers fuel-efficient engines, a scanner and nose mounted tractor beam. If you want to start with an exploration ship, then the 315P is for you. Be aware that the 300 Series is due for a revamp to make it more practical and fix some collision bugs. This could change the 300 Series but the roles that the models fill should not change.

To grab the 315P, buy the Reliant Kore SC Starter package and get a cross chassis upgrade from the Reliant Kore to the 315P. The benefit of this package is it comes with 6 months of insurance instead of the 3 months of insurance that comes with the Aurora and Mustang packages.

MISC Reliant Kore

The Reliant Kore SC Starter is next on our suggestions. Built by Musashi Industrial & Starflight Concern (MISC) it incorporates alien technology in its systems and thrusters. The Kore is the base model of Reliant and can hold a crew of 2 and has cargo space roughly equivalent to the Avenger. In landing mode (featured above) it resembles a single wing design. When it takes off, the wings rotate around the cockpit and it flies vertically.

The Kore is a good starter for those that want to travel with a partner since it’s the least expensive ship that has a crew of two. If you’re going to mostly fly solo, I would suggest the Avenger since it offers roughly the same armament, is easier to fly, can hold about as much cargo and has a bed which the Kore doesn’t.

Drake Cutlass Black

The final suggestion for game packages is going to be the Cutlass Black Package. The Cutlass series of ships are made by Drake Interplanetary. The ship itself is marketed to pirates as an all-around cargo hauling and boarding pirate ship. In my opinion, the Cutlass Black is the best all-around ship at its price point. It can carry the Drake Dragonfly (a single person space bike), has adequate cargo space and support a crew of three.

Don’t let its name of reputation fool you. There is going to be a lot of Cutlass Blacks in the ‘verse on both sides of the law.

Final Recommendations

If I had to recommend just one single seater package and one multi-crew package, I would suggest the Avenger Titan as the single seater and the Cutlass Black as the multi-crew. They provide the best bang for the buck in the currently available packages.

Ultimately, you’ll have to decide which Star Citizen starter package is right for you based on how much you want to spend and what you see yourself doing when you first start the game.

Once you’ve decided which game package to buy, take a look at our discussion about all the various input devices available to use in Star Citizen.

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