swizzle66: Does anybody have any good tips for starting the game?
Someone posted this in another thread and I've found it to be excellent advice:
Personally I'd recommend getting dual missile launchers ASAP. Two IR or FF missiles is usually enough to instantly destroy a fresh Talon. With 20 missiles you can take out 10 talons effortlessly. Dogfighting in a Tarsus with meson blasers is an excercise in frustration, Talons are just too fast and you don't have enough burst damage to kill them quickly.
Get two missile launchers and then load up on the attack/defend/patrol missions in Troy until you get enough for a jump drive. Then grab 2-3 cargo missions going to the same destination to make 30k per trip. You'll be fully outfitted in no time. Missiles aren't free, but they kill Talons so quickly you can do twice as many attack missions in the time it would otherwise take to dogfight them.
It's been working out well for me thus far.