Brawler Archive
Thread: A word on weapons: from a Weaponsmith
There are some important points dealing with weapons that I have to keep repeating again and again. I'm hoping this will help some people when they decide to buy a new weapon.
1. A gun with a higher skill requirement does not mean its a better gun
You just got Expert Pistol, or whatever, now your certified to use Power5 and Striker pistols. Your still using your old Scout Blaster, so you decide to look for a new gun. Over by the crafting stations there are two weaponsmiths crafting away. Joe the Weaponsmith is selling Power5 pistols and Tom the Weaponsmith is only selling Scout Blasters and DL44s. Conclusion, buy a Power5, it requires a higher cert, must be a better gun, right?
No, this is the wrong conclusion. What you don'tknow is that Joe, the one making Power5 Pistols,went straight up the Firearms Crafting skill tier. He can make the higher Cert weapons, but only has one experiment point to spend andhis weapons are low damage and speed. Tom on the other hand, has trained up the Weapons Crafting Technique tier. He has more experiment points to useon his DL44s and Scouts. This means they arehigher damage and faster than anyof the guns Joe can make.
2. OneScout Blasterisn't the same as every other Scout Blaster
...or any other weapon for that matter. Weapon quality is a combination of three things:
Quality of the materials used: There are3 types of weaponsmiths.
Type 1 will use whatever materials easily available, regardless of its qualities. Whether they do this because of ignorance of the system, or whatever, they're weapons will be very low damage and slow.
Type 2 will use the best materials he can find, but only on his planet. His weapons will be better than the ones made by a Type 1 Weaponsmith, but they still won't be as good as they can be.
Type 3 will travel the galaxy, locate the absolute best resources they can and only use these to craft weapons. Theseweapons will be the fastest and highest damage possible with theresources available.
Experimentation:
As mentioned above, weaponsmiths with more experimentation points can make much better weapons of the same type. A top quality Scout Blaster made with someone with a lot of experment points will be better than the highest Cert gun made by a weaponsmith with only a few points.
Sales Practices:
Some weaponsmiths will sell every single weapon they craft no matter the quality. This is bad. For one, theweapon you buy may not be worth the money you spend on it. Also, it floods the market with bad weapons, the mess on the bazaar shows that.
Other weaponsmiths only sell they're best weapons. They take pride in they're work and strive to make the best weapons possible. This means you will get the best value for your money and you won't be stuck with a piece of junk that you'll have to be upgrading soon.
Support your localWeaponsmith
If youmeet a good weaponsmith who makes a great gun and gives you a good deal, put him on your friends list. Weaponsmiths are always getting new skills or finding better materials.Keep in touch about improvements they've made. Theymaysave some of they're best workfor loyal customers andwill bemore willing to cut you deals.
Referals are also a big help.If someonegave you a great deal, tell your friends. =)
In Conclusion:
Knowledge is power. You should learn aboutwho craftedyour weapon and how it was crafted as well as the weapon itself. Know your weapons and your weaponsmith. Good hunting, hope this helps some.
-Jorran Freeman - Eclipse
I am a Gunsmith and have only started up the melee weapons tier and this post waswritten from that perspective, however thepost applies to melee weapons as well as ranged.
There are some important points dealing with weapons that I have to keep repeating again and again. I'm hoping this will help some people when they decide to buy a new weapon.
1. Aweapon with a higher skill requirement does not mean its a better weapon
You just got Expert Pistol, or whatever, now your certified to use Power5 and Striker pistols. Your still using your old Scout Blaster, so you decide to look for a new gun. Over by the crafting stations there are two weaponsmiths crafting away. Joe the Weaponsmith is selling Power5 pistols and Tom the Weaponsmith is only selling Scout Blasters and DL44s. Conclusion, buy a Power5, it requires a higher cert, must be a better gun, right?
No, this is the wrong conclusion. What you don'tknow is that Joe, the one making Power5 Pistols,went straight up the Firearms Crafting skill tier. He can make the higher Cert weapons, but only has one experiment point to spend andhis weapons are low damage and speed. Tom on the other hand, has trained up the Weapons Crafting Technique tier. He has more experiment points to useon his DL44s and Scouts. This means they arehigher damage and faster than anyof the guns Joe can make.
2. OneScout Blasterisn't the same as every other Scout Blaster
...or any other weapon for that matter. Weapon quality is a combination of three things:
Quality of the materials used: There are3 types of weaponsmiths.
Type 1 will use whatever materials easily available, regardless of its qualities. Whether they do this because of ignorance of the system, or whatever, they're weapons will be very low damage and slow.
Type 2 will use the best materials he can find, but only on his planet. His weapons will be better than the ones made by a Type 1 Weaponsmith, but they still won't be as good as they can be.
Type 3 will travel the galaxy, locate the absolute best resources they can and only use these to craft weapons. Theseweapons will be the fastest and highest damage possible with theresources available.
Experimentation:
As mentioned above, weaponsmiths with more experimentation points can make much better weapons of the same type. A top quality Scout Blaster made with someone with a lot of experment points will be better than the highest Cert gun made by a weaponsmith with only a few points.
Sales Practices:
Some weaponsmiths will sell every single weapon they craft no matter the quality. This is bad. For one, theweapon you buy may not be worth the money you spend on it. Also, it floods the market with bad weapons, the mess on the bazaar shows that.
Other weaponsmiths only sell they're best weapons. They take pride in they're work and strive to make the best weapons possible. This means you will get the best value for your money and you won't be stuck with a piece of junk that you'll have to be upgrading soon.
Support your localWeaponsmith
If youmeet a good weaponsmith who makes a great gun and gives you a good deal, put him on your friends list. Weaponsmiths are always getting new skills or finding better materials.Keep in touch about improvements they've made. Theymaysave some of they're best workfor loyal customers andwill bemore willing to cut you deals.
Referals are also a big help.If someonegave you a great deal, tell your friends. =)
In Conclusion:
Knowledge is power. You should learn aboutwho craftedyour weapon and how it was crafted as well as the weapon itself. Know your weapons and your weaponsmith. Good hunting, hope this helps some.
-Jorran Freeman - Eclipse
This is so true. I've seen a few well crafted cdef pistols that are better than the next pistol on the ladder. Once you find a good weaponsmith stick with them. Still shop around a little, but it they're top notch you'll be coming back again and again.
These are my current CDEF weapons...
All three damage is 31-63
Wounds 5.94-6.43 (carbine has highest, rifle lowest)
speed is 3.3 on carbine and pistol, 3.6 on rifle
action costs are 9/20/9
My weapon supplier works to make the best weapons he can. He's only just reached the next tier of weapons, and given that I haven't been able to find any better CDEF weapons out there, I'm looking forward to what he can do with the next tier of weapons.
Incredibly good post, Jorran. Shameless bump from a fellow Weaponsmith. 
And yes, there are some folks out there who just dump all of their junk weapons on the Bazaar. If there's anyone here from Naritus, if you see "by D'Tox" on a weapon, that weapon was handcrafted with care. I don't put my name on the junk weapons...aside from the fact that it takes too long while grinding, and that I destroy the crappy ones...I'd never peddle my junk on people who rely on my weapons for their survival.
good post, i was always wondering why some weapons on the higher branch are crappier than a low end cert.. guess thats my answer ;P
^_^x KD
Excellent post! Quite possibly one of the most intelligible threads i've seen on this board!
Anyways, I'll probably be a potential buyer, I'm focusing on the One Handed Sword tree right now. So, does anyone here know of good weapon shops or owns a good weapon shop? i'd like to know the location too... most posts i've seen say stuff like "so and so has an amazing shop" but doesn't state where it's at.
I can agree on this, for example this CDEF -
swgcenter.com/PointSystem/PS_Item.asp?ID=530&ItemType=Weapon
- ended up being better than the newb D18 that I payed a lot more credits for. The weapons have a specific range that they fall in though (if the Prima guide is still valid on that), so there are some certainties you can assume, like a noob rocket launcher will be better than the best CDEF pistol
Sslitha
Excellent post!
Personally, I don't just buy from the highest skilled weapon crafter. I have been buy'n my main weapons from the samecrafter most of the time now. He is a good crafter, don't think he is necessarily the best, but even more important, he is a good crafter and a good person.
I have already met some crafters that are highly skilled and have excellent product, but their personalities are less then desirable. I will not do business with them no matter how skilled they become.
great post!
As far as all pistols not being created equal, I can't stress the importance of naming your pistol with key attributes. There's no way I'm checking the details on every CDEF Pistol on the market to see which is the best. At least put min/max damage in the name to pique my interest.....