Carbineer Archive

I don't think I ever said to increase the accuracy of rifles when moving, did I? Slap me then, that's horrible idea. Rifle accuracy is somewhat fine where it's at, even though I'd like to see them have a higher max range accuracy on their weapons (PB accuracy is fine where it's at, for the most part). Neither did I specifically say that I wanted to nerf the Pistoleers, in case you were implying that I did. I was simply using them as an example, since they are currently the mostused, accurate,and powerful weapon <i>overall</i> in the game. The changes to accuracy that I stated would affect <b>all</b> elite marksmen professions, as well as Bounty Hunter dabblers.

As to the speed thing, that only really applies if the Pistoleer is able to get the jump on a carbine or rifle wielding person. If you start chasing somebody holding a rifle or carbine at 65 meters with a pistol in the middle of nowhere, chances are that you ought to die. If that is the scenario then you should use your pistol to run away from the person, disabling his ability to catch up to you and fire at you since you're faster. Anything above 15% really is too much of a permenant speed boost. If it were granted via special attack however, then sure, boost it up to 35%ish. A 35% special attack movement speed bonus plus a 10% natural movement movement speed advantage is 45% extra movement speed. IMO that's plenty.

They really need an edit button ...I meant to say that pistols (not Pistoleers) were the most used, powerful, and accurate weapons overall ... plus I forgot to turn my post into HTML. Stupid boards!

the riflemen in swg seem to be more of a 'sniper rifle'. hence, the titles and specials they get.

carbineers get cool attack-sounding titles (marauder, assaulter, infiltrator, mercenary) and a special called counterattack..made sense to me that the counterattack wouldn't necessarily be a ranged thing, but melee instead. also, there seems to be little difference between most carbines and the assault rifles of today. just my .02 creds, anyway =)

Alot of Riflemen feel that they serve one of two purposes: sniper and longe-ranged infantry soldier. Keep in mind that titles don't clearly designate what a profession is supposed to be (I think Bounty Hunters achieve the title Investigator after Carbine IV, for instance).

Also, Riflemen rely almost exclusively on their AoE attacks later in their careers. Just some food for thought.

Then lets put it back in the right direction. Pistols aren't the most powerful weapons overall in the game. Happy? Good!

Now, lets not drift off into a "you're just anti-pistol" rant. What other ways can we help balance out the elite marksmen professions and give them more identity? I need more suggestions and/or ideas to help me spruce up my final post. It's hard to mold the ideas to what the masses want if the masses don't respond.

Nice post. I think we are all in limbo until the devs put forth "real" effort into fixing their bug-ridden, non-play tested game. We will swim in a sea of uncertainty and guesswork, as days pass without any change in a system that doesnt' perform like we want it to. In that context, I know exactly where you're coming from.

Some thoughts:

Accuracy:
Pistols least effective when they hit, high chance to hit

Carbines effective when they hit, medium chance to hit

rifles most effective when they hit, lowest accuracy

Modifiers: If you are prone, you negate most of this accuracy penalty, making rifles both effective and accurate, but making them less "mobile" and more vulnerable. Carbines in the middle. Pistol remains less effective but not constrained in mobility.

If you move accuracy from pistols, I don't see how that maintains that balance. IMO, if they remove accuracy, we should go ahead and be loaded up with dizzy/knockdown/stun/intimidate/DOTs, etc., to keep things in balance. It's my experience that two body shot 2s are not greater than 1 head shot...I can heal health, etc. If melee damage is reduced on rifles/carbines, I also think pistols should receive a boost in melee DEFENSE, to compensate for the "shift".

Speed: Is broken. Halving speed changes the PvE balance, not sure you want to tackle that. The community did a LOT of work the first two months of this game on trying to help things, we have LISTS of fixes that we need, and not one has happened. I have decided to wait until I see them working before I start "working" again, personally. It's a bottleneck right now. Add to that, the rifle's request for pistol accuracy nerf, and the wildly rude follow ups I get on the rifle forum when I try to offer help in correcting the devs on their proposed change to speed and I say, fine, I'm over it, let them change speed however they want. Fact is, if you want to play a FAST profession right now, you can, because it will probably be months before it's changed. Some "fast" professions:

Rifleman

Fencer

TKA

BH pistol + pistoleer (very expensive)
BH carbine + carbineer (very expensive)

And be done with it. And yeah, remove dabbling and pistols/carbines should all go ahead and respec IMO.

Fix broken specials:
Without a doubt, they need to be fixed becasue they are bugged/broken, embarassing that they released it before they were fixed, shameful 2 months later they prioritize new content over fixing existing things. This will hinder all the balance work they have done and continue to do until they are fixed IMO.

Dabbling:

Right now dabbling is not overpowering in the least for ranged professions. Master Commandos, BHs/MBHs, pistol/BHs, and carbine/BHs, and master riflemencan all compete. Each has strengths/weaknesses. In order of skill point cost it's pistol/carbine master and BH dabbling, master BH, commando, then rifleman. Taking those remaining skill points and putting them in areas to offset that professions "weakness" makes them ALL competitive. Of course, they primary edge pistoleer/BHs get is eyeshot, and it will be nerfed/moved, etc. DPS also has pistoleer/carbineer at the bottom, which is funny, since they also cost the most skill points.

I see dabbling as the only way carbines and pistols can compete with BH/Commando/Rifles right now, I think suggesting it be moved without acknowledging that, and the costs associated with it, is a mistake. Maybe once speed is changed, pistoleers will have an advantage that puts them into a good position without dabbling, and when specials are fixed, maybe it becomes an effective combat profession, but right now, rifles blow pistols away at mastery, and rifles have a LOT more points left over to boost themselves through master TKA or master CH, etc., compared to carbine/BH or pistol/BH, who have about 18 skill points left over. Conversly, pistols can choose smuggler and BH to offset their complete lack of offense, but maintain a moderately good defense.

Unless I see a big change in pistoleer/carbineer lines, as a result of fixed special attacks/weapons/speed modifiers, I'd be reluctant to ever agree that dabbling is "bad". Yes, it's bad for rifles/BHs/commandos because low and behold, carbines and pistols become adeqate opponents after dabbling, oh my. And isn't that funny, we have to spend ALL our points just to compete on the offense side...

Because of the speed issues at master Rifleman, I can understand where you come from when you say that dabbling is the only thing keeping pistols and carbines alive. However, if the speed is fixed so that Riflemen are back in line then there really is no reason that we shouldn't remove dabbling. Overall it would be the only way to compete, which IMO shouldn't be the case. I'm a big advocate of the "skill point cost doesn't equal uberness" thing, so that's just my opinion.

I couldn't believe that they focused more on putting a stupid dungeon into the game then fixing the incredibly imbalanced combat issues. It really is rediculous ...

Curse the devs! They've ruined their own lands, they'll not ruin mine!