Star Citizen: Beginner's Guide & Best Tips

My first 20 hours were a goddamn disaster — let me save you from that

I bought Star Citizen in 2019. I loaded into the persistent universe, spawned at Lorville, and spent the next hour trying to figure out how to call my ship. When I finally got it, I clipped through the elevator of my Avenger Titan, fell into the void, and woke up in a hospital bed on the other side of the system. That's not a bug report — that's a rite of passage.

This game is the most beautiful, broken, ambitious, and infuriating thing I've ever played. It's a buggy, unfinished alpha that somehow has more soul than 90% of released titles. The flight model is chef's kiss, the first-person shooter mechanics are surprisingly solid, and the sound design will make you orgasm when you punch through atmosphere. But getting there? That's where most people rage-quit.

I've got about 800 hours logged. I've been a gunner on a Hammerhead while a player org threw torpedoes at us. I've flown a Cutlass Black through a windstorm on Cellin with zero shields and one engine. I've died to elevators, ladders, invisible rocks, and one particularly aggressive vending machine in Area 18. I'm writing this so you don't have to learn the hard way like I did.

This isn't a corporate "getting started" guide. This is me, a salty veteran, telling you exactly what to do and what to absolutely not fucking do. Let's roll.

Why this game makes you want to punch your monitor

Let me be real with you: Star Citizen is not a game. It's a pre-alpha tech demo that happens to be playable. Sometimes. If the servers are feeling generous. The community calls this "the verse" and we all have Stockholm syndrome. Here's what's actually going to kick your teeth in:

• The learning curve is a cliff. There is no tutorial. The keybind list is 12 pages long. You will spend your first session looking for the "open door" button. It's F, by the way, but only if you're looking at the right pixel.
• Bugs will kill you more than pirates. Elevator deaths, collision with invisible geometry, falling through your own ship, getting stuck in a medbed — these are the real enemies of Star Citizen. I died three times in a row once trying to exit my ship at a mining outpost. The ship just... ate me.
• The economy is brutal and half-broken. You can grind for 2 hours doing delivery missions, only for the server to 30k (crash) and you lose everything. You'll be broke, stranded in the middle of nowhere, and the only way back is to self-destruct and respawn back at your home port. It's demoralizing.
• PvP is not fair. There's no level-based matchmaking. A veteran in a tricked-out F7A Hornet can and will vaporize your starter ship while you're still figuring out how to power on your weapons. And he'll call you bad in chat afterward.
• The controls are an unholy mess. The default mouse controls for flight are terrible. You have to bind a key for "boost," another for "afterburner," and a third for "spacebrake" — and if you hit them in the wrong order, you'll spin into an asteroid while laughing at your own incompetence.

Here's the thing: every veteran player has been through this. The ones who stuck around did so because the highs are that good. Flying over MicroTech at sunrise, landing on a derelict Reclaimer in deep space with a friend on the turret, watching a massive Idris warp in during an org battle — that's the crack that keeps us coming back. But you have to survive the onboarding first.

Day One: what you actually need to do (no one tells you this)

You just bought the game. You've got a starter ship — probably an Aurora MR or a Mustang Alpha (or maybe you went big-brain and got the Avenger Titan like I did, best starter in the game). You're standing in a hab room. Now what?

Step 1: Go to the ASOP terminal. It's a blue holographic terminal near the exit of the hab. Interact with it (F), and click "Claim" or "Request" for your ship. If it's your first time, it'll spawn immediately. If you've blown it up, you'll wait a timer. Welcome to the grind.

Step 2: Find the ship elevator. This is where everyone gets lost. Look for signs that say "Hangar" or the ship manufacturer's logo. In Lorville, it's a tram. In Area 18, it's an elevator room with a map on the wall. In Orison, god help you — that place is a labyrinth. Follow the markers on your mobiGlas (press F1) to navigate.

Step 3: Spawn your ship. At the hangar elevator, interact with the panel and select your ship. Wait for the elevator to bring it up. DO NOT WALK INTO THE ELEVATOR PIT while waiting. I've seen three newbies die this way in one session. The elevator platform rises from below, and if you're standing in the pit, you get crushed. Yes, that's a real mechanic.

Step 4: Power on your ship. Sit in the pilot seat. Press R to turn on the engines. Press U to power up the full ship systems. Your screen will light up, and you'll hear that glorious hum. If you don't see a holographic MFD (multi-function display) in front of you, press F + left mouse button to look around and interact with the panels.

Step 5: Request takeoff. Open your comms (press F11 or use the MFD) and request takeoff from ATC. Wait for the landing pad doors to open. Then slowly pitch up and fly straight out. DON'T hit the boost until you're clear of the hangar. I've seen people slam into the top of the hangar door so hard their ship exploded. It's funny to watch, but it's you.

Step 6: Do a simple delivery mission. Open the Contracts Manager (press F1, then click the Contracts tab). Look for "Delivery" missions under the "General" category. These are the safest way to make money without combat. They pay 8,000 to 12,000 aUEC per run. Accept one, go to the pickup location, grab the box (F), put it in your ship's cargo bay, fly to the drop-off, and hand it in. Don't drop the box on the ramp — it can clip through the ship and fall into space.

This loop will teach you navigation, flight handling, and the basics of survival without getting shot at. Do it five times. You'll have enough cash to rent a better ship or buy a suit of armor that doesn't make you look like a janitor.

One more thing: rebind your controls immediately. Default mouse control ("coupled mode" with yaw on mouse X) is fine for casual flight, but most veterans switch to "decoupled" or use a dual-stick setup. For now, just bind your boost to LEFT SHIFT, your afterburner to ALT+LEFT SHIFT, and your spacebrake to X. Trust me on this.

This game shares some DNA with space sims like Elite Dangerous, so if you've played that, you'll recognize the vibe. Check out our Elite Dangerous guide for some cross-over tips if you're coming from that universe.

The shit that took me 500 hours to learn

Alright, you've got your ship, you've done a few deliveries, and you're starting to feel confident. Good. Now here's the stuff nobody puts in the beginner videos.

1. Always have a backup plan for your spawn. Set your respawn at a station hospital by interacting with the terminal. I set mine at Port Olisar or Grim HEX (the pirate station — no security, but cheap repairs and no questions asked). If you die in deep space without a registered spawn point, you'll wake up at you starter location and have to fly all the way back. That's a 30-minute time loss you don't need.

2. Learn to manage your ship's power triangle. Press F5 to open the power MFD. Shift power to weapons when you're fighting, to engines when you're running, and to shields when you're tanking damage. The difference between dying in 3 seconds and surviving a fight is knowing when to overclock your shields (double tap the shield icon to overcharge — but it overheats after 10 seconds, so time it right).

3. Don't buy the "meta" ship everyone recommends. Everyone says get a Vanguard Warden or a Gladius for combat. Fine, they're good. But the Cutlass Black is the best all-rounder in the game. It has a rear cargo ramp (great for vehicle loading), two beds (bed-logout saves your position), decent firepower, and it can carry a ROC mining vehicle. Cost: 1.4 million aUEC in-game. Save for it.

4. The ROC mining loop is your ticket to making real money. Once you have a ship that can carry a ROC (Greycat ROC, ground mining buggy), rent one at a refinery deck for 3,000 aUEC per day. Fly to Daymar or Aberdeen, land near a mining node, and use the ROC's laser to harvest Hadanite gems. A full ROC sells for about 200,000 aUEC. It's boring but it's consistent, and you don't need PvP skills.

5. Use the "landing mode" toggle. Press N to toggle landing mode. It locks your ships orientation, drops the landing gear, and activates a VTOL mode on some ships. This makes landing 100x easier. I spent my first month bouncing off landing pads like a pinball because I didn't know this key existed.

6. Bed-logout is your friend, but it's buggy. If you lay down in your ship's bed and hold F to log out, the game saves your position. When you log back in, you'll wake up in the same spot. However, this only works if your ship is landed on a planet or station pad. If you do it in deep space, you'll wake up floating in the middle of nowhere with your ship 2,000 km away. I lost a fully loaded Freelancer MAX this way. Don't be me.

7. The "scan mode" (TAB) reveals hidden loot. When you're mining or salvaging, press TAB to enter scan mode. Ping (hold left mouse) to reveal rocks, derelicts, and wrecks within 5 km. Even if you're not mining, you can find cool wrecks with loot boxes. I found a fully stocked F7A Hornet wreck once and pulled a Deadly Fangs rifle from it. Worth 50,000 aUEC at a vendor.

For more specific mining tips, see our indepth Star Citizen mining guide — covers ROC, Prospector, and MOLE setups.

How I died 47 times so you don't have to

I've catalogued my most stupid deaths so you can avoid them. Take notes, this is the "what not to do" part.

• Don't run down ship ramps. There's a bug where if you sprint off the ramp of a Cutlass or Valkyrie while the cargo grid is active, you'll clip through the ground and fall into the abyss. I died this way at a Shubin mining outpost. My buddy watched my icon just vanish. Walk off the ramp. Always.
• Never accept a combat mission with a starter ship. I tried fighting a Hurricane in my Aurora MR. I did 2% damage to his shields before he one-shot me with a single ballistic cannon volley. Starter ships have peashooters. Stick to delivery and investigation missions until you can upgrade to something with a real loadout.
• Do not let your ship despawn while you're inside it. If you leave your ship engines on and walk away too far, the server might claim it back, and if you're in the cargo bay when it despawns, you die. I lost a full load of Laranite (about 300,000 aUEC) because I walked 200m from my Freelancer to check a cave. When I came back, the ship was gone and I was dead in the dirt.
• Watch your oxygen in caves. Most caves on moon surfaces have breathable atmosphere, but deep caves (like the ones on Cellin or Yela) have no oxygen. You'll suffocate in 45 seconds. I looted a full cave, walked out with 2 seconds of air left, and collapsed at the entrance. My corpse is still there, probably.
• Never trust the "auto-land" feature fully. The auto-land (press N when near a pad) works most of the time, but sometimes it clips your wing through a hangar wall and explodes your ship. I've seen it happen three times. Always manually correct the final 20 meters.
• Don't wear expensive armor on a delivery run. I bought a full set of Artimex armor (costs about 80,000 aUEC) and took a box delivery. I got killed by a random player at the drop-off point for no reason. He took my armor. I spawned naked. Never wear your best gear on a routine mission. Save it for org battles or events.

If you're the kind of player who enjoys the combat grind, check out our Tarkov guide for some gunfight mentality that translates well to Star Citizen's FPS mechanics — especially the movement and peeking.

The questions every newbie asks (and the real answers)

Q: Should I buy a ship with real money?
A: No. At least not until you've played for 50 hours and know you're sticking around. The starter ships are fine. You can earn every ship in-game with aUEC. Buying a Constellation Andromeda with cash ($250) just means you skip the grind, but you'll still die to bugs and lose everything. Don't feed the addiction until you're sure.

Q: Why does my ship keep drifting to the left?
A: You're in coupled mode. Press Z to toggle free look and check your control bindings. You might have a stick or throttle sending a stray input. If you're on keyboard only, you might be toggling "aim mode" accidentally (press RALT to fix). Also, some ships have a natural drift due to thruster placement — the Aurora is notorious for this.

Q: How do I make money fast as a solo player?
A: Run drugs. Seriously. Go to Grim HEX (do a little recon first), buy Waste or Neon from a cargo terminal, fly to a station that buys them (check a trading site like uexcorp.space in real time), and sell. You can make 50,000 aUEC per run in a Cutlass Black in about 15 minutes. Downside: if you get scanned by security, you go to prison. But hey, that's the game.

Q: How do I avoid griefers?
A: You can't fully, but you can reduce your risk. Fly in armistice zones when on foot (no weapons allowed). Stay away from Crusader space during events. Use the "quiet" quantum travel (hold B to charge a slower but stealthier jump). And for the love of god, don't accept party invites from strangers at the spaceport — it's almost always a trap.

Q: Is the game worth it in its current state?
A: If you need a finished, polished, bug-free experience, no. Wait 5 years (maybe 10). But if you can tolerate crashes, desync, and the occasional elevator death, and you want to be part of something genuinely historic — the most ambitious game ever built — then yes. I've never had more fun failing at something than I have in Star Citizen. The game is a mess, but it's our mess.