Okay, so I'm a complete newbie at this, so I'm a bit lost.

I'd very much like to create a Chevin, but sadly there aren't any base templates to really steer me in the right direction with one. Ideally I'd like him to be a smugglerish type with some solid leadership potential, and I believe Chevin's natural strength will make them a solid candidate for using unarmed combat (whenever that all gets added in), right?

And they're also apparently going to be experts at the whole ground combat thing.

So what areas should be my priorities? What skills should I be putting my points in to create a loveable Chevin who smuggles things and could end up being some sorta general on the ground, but without potentially gimping him in the future?

Hmm. You could just look at the other templates that are there for smugglers, and transition those skills over to your Chevin character - you don't have to use the templates to make your character.

Anyway, stealth and theft/deceit would seem a strong set of primary skills. Presumably would want some for of projectile weapon skill, some strength. I'd guess some computer use skill too. Otherwise, fill up the rest with what you think fits in with where you would like to take the character.

You seem to already know that certain things haven't been implemented yet, but that just means that when they are, you'll be in a slightly better position.

Alrighty, I think I found a solid balance... he won't be quite the epic smuggler like at first planned, but his social skills are no worse than the two smuggler templates, not to mention he has far greater general skills. I figure if I only focus his space skills on his freighter and nothing else he'll be able to at least smuggle crap.

And with any luck he'll be quite the field general when ground combat gets implemented.

Thanks again, gonna continue trying to figure this game out!

Don't focus to heavily on space travel. Work on leadership, Theft/deceit, computer ops, Diplomacy, and Trading. R&D ships is a plus.

Heavy Projectile Weapons is a more important skill than Projectile Weapons, since most people never leave their ships, or even visit the ground! And when they do, they usually use a speeder or other vehicle. Projectile Weapons are only good against people on foot, whilst Heavy Projectile Weapons can be effective against ships, vehicles, and facilties. You do the math.

Most of the best Heavy Projectile Weapons can be used with a HPW skill of 3, so you still have SP left to build up your PW skill a little. My HPW skill is 3, and my PW skill is 2.

It depends really on what you want to be doing. If Arrest/execute (the nearest thing to combat) is in mind, then focus on strength, projectile weapons and stealth or speed. If you want to produce things, then leadership is a plus. Comps Ops is helpful for prospecting, theft/deceit is good for buildings doors.

Not to mention perception is extremely important, since it's identical to sensors on ships, except it only applies to when your on foot.

Of course, in my perfect combat plan, the ablity to see before being seen is critical, therefore so is perception.

Bromley's ascertian that HPW>PW is flawed in one major way - if you intend to board another person's ship, or wish to defend yourself when boarded, PW is far more important. Or NPW or Unarmed if you prefer.

For the most part, a lower PW skill is still suffecient to board a ship. My PW skill is 2, and therefore I can just use two ELG-3As, I can run into the ship, fire both shots, and get out for 6 hours to shoot again. Another effective boarding weapon is the flamethrower, which 2PW skill can handle pefectly.

Other good weapons I can use are the Enforcer, DLT-20A, T-21 Light Repeating Blaster, Relby K-23, DT-12, and Bryar Rifle.

On the other hand, having 2HPW would be pointless, since the three of the best HPWs require 3HPW: NZ-9118, RC-17C, and K-43.

So having 3HPW>3PW. But that doesn't mean that having PW isn't important, since you need it to board ships and for some A/E situations.

Of course, if you can get 5NPW, then you could get a sabre, which is better than any PW for ship boarding.

EDIT: I actually own all the abovementioned weapons. Woot!

Phillip, let's pretend for a minute that his isn't about you?

Dear nooblet, read Phillip's post about perception, and ignore his following post.

And unlike most of the above posts, my advice doesn't cram you into a corner based on the current implementation of skills. You should still have average skill levels in those that are already used, but as more are introduced, you will be better off that way. That and some of the skills don't really fit into a smuggler theme, and would only serve to make you a jack of all trades...

Thanks for the advice everyone, even though I'll admit that Heavy Projectiles don't seem like something I'm gonna get too much use out of any time soon, particularly with the lack of combat currently (isn't it suppossed to be Star WARS?)

Also, it does little to change the fact that I am both confused and currently stranded on frakkin' Vinsoth. Well, guess I can always join one of the dozen or so factions that spammed for my membership and then have them pick me up.

Don't limit yourself to the ones that spammed you. There's a full forum with job offers (Positions Vacant) or one for you to advertise (Seeking Work) on the RPG Centre. There are also similar sections on the Classifieds. It can be a slow game, so taking a little extra time to get your start right doesn't hurt. Decide what you want to do, and look at factions that can let you do it.

It's also worth noting that although some skills aren't implemented yet, you shouldn't completely ignore them, because you will never have as many skill points later as you do at creation. It's better to look ahead at what you'll want when the game is complete and then tweak your skills with your leveling-up points, than to focus solely on skills you can use now and hope you have the points to upgrade others later.

Also, if you do aim at having a smuggling character, have a look at the smuggling factions (duh!) and also some of the other paramilitary factions (pirates, security etc) and transport factions. Since combat and all that is not implemented, they all do the transport work that is the mainstay. Some vary in what they also offer. As Hal said, look through the Positions Vacant forum, and also search the list of factions (http://www.swcombine.com/community/factions.php) to find one you like.

And those that spammed you are not all that bad either - I know I joined one of the first factions to spam me, and I haven't left yet.