Battlestar Galactica Online Game Guide - The Basics

Starting Battlestar Galactica Online

When you first play the game, you’ll go through a very brief tutorial on piloting and using your weapons. For the purpose of this guide, we will be playing as the Colonials. Once the tutorial is over you can land on the Galactica and get your character set up. You can pick from various looks and even pilot suits. Once your avatar is setup you can move around the Galactica. There’s not a whole lot to see on the ship but this is where you can get missions and begin to make some cubits. Go into the pilots lounge and talk to Lee Adama to get your first missions. You can also visit the bridge and talk to the old man too.

Taking Missions

Missions in Battlestar Galactica Online will help you earn some needed cash to pay for ammunition and ship components. Missions include sector recon, asteroid identification, mining resources, killing drones, destroying enemy fighters, and attacking a sector outpost ship along with a few others. There’s no set order you have to do the missions in. Once they completed you can return to the Galactica and see Lee Adama to collect your reward. As you repeat missions you’ll move to more dangerous areas so be sure you have upgraded your ship with new weapons or obtained a new advanced ship before proceeding. Feel free to explore the area around you as you do missions but watch out for raiders and other Cylon ships that may attack you. Use your map and jump to another sector near you if you can’t win a battle. Repairs to your damaged ship can be costly in the beginning of your game.

Asteroid Mining

One way in the early game to make some cubits is to take up asteroid mining. You can get a scanner device for your ship that will indicate to you what is contained in the asteroid. Avoid asteroids that flash red, as they don’t have the resources you need. Blue asteroids contain water, Yellow contains Tylium, and purple contains Titanium. You can use regular cannons to destroy an asteroid but you can buy mining cannons, which will accomplish this at a faster pace. Once you have your resources you can turn them in at the Galactica to Edison or use them yourself. All three resources are used t complete missions but Tylium and Titanium have other uses too. Tylium along with cubits is a type of credit and you can use it to buy ammunition and other parts while Titanium is used to repair your ship and other components that are damaged during combat operations. Your cannons fire automatically once an asteroid is in range so turn them off until you are ready to attack an asteroid. You’ll just waste your ammunition if you fire at asteroids you don’t intend to mine. Watch for fighters or drones that may attack you in asteroid areas. Your map shows the locations of asteroids you just have to fly out to them.

Sectors

At the core of Battlestar Galactica Online is the battle for sectors. Both sides can control sectors in the game and with enough control; an outpost ship will jump into the sector for use by the side with the most control. This ship can be destroyed too so it must be protected. If control drops enough in the sector, the ship will jump out. Mine resources, destroy enemy ships, or other players to increase the control of the sector. The interface will flash warning about sectors that are under attack by enemies. Team up with friends and go to that sector to bring it back under the control of your side. The map shows blue for Colonial sectors and red for Cylon sectors. Try to protect your colony ships, as they are needed by your team players to rearm and repair their ships without having to fly back to the Galactica.

Pilot Skills

In the game, you can train various pilot skills with experience points. Skills cover such areas as flying, using missiles, mining, and so on. Click on a skill and decide which ones you want to train. Ones in white are the skills you can currently afford to train. It is up to each pilot to decide which skills to train. Flying and better use of weapons is a good starting point.

Buying New Components

Your ship has various hard points that ca be fitted with various components such as new weapons or electronic equipment. Visit Edison on the Galactica or the NPC on any colony ship to change ship components, buy new ammunition and repair your damaged ship. Parts can be upgraded too, which will make them perform better. Sometimes it is worth it to upgrade a part instead of buying a new one. One part that you’ll want to be sure you have enough of is ammunition. Yu can get ammunition that does light, medium, or heavy damage. Light ammunition is fine for the beginning stages of your game. Ships can be equipped with missiles as well as cannons. Remember to trade in parts you no longer want as well as any loot such as scrap metal for cash.

Piloting

Your ship is very easy to pilot. Use the views at the top of your screen to orient your ship. Just move your mouse to fly your ship. You can increase your speed with the slider and use your boost. Buy improved boosts to go faster. At the side click your weapons on and off since they will automatically fire when in range of things such as asteroids which just wastes your ammunition. Right click your weapons to pick different canon and missile ammunition. Your map will show you the location of ships and asteroids for mining and the sector map provides the jump locations for you. You may need to jump sector to sector to reach some systems.

Conclusion

This basic guide should get you up and running with Battlestar Galactica Online. Check the forums and ask questions if you need help with this new MMO game based on the television show.

References

All images from Battlestar Galactica Online.

Source: Article is author’s own experience playing Battlestar Galactica Online.