Carbineer Archive
Thread: Master Carbineer needs a huge boost(also on general dabbling within professions)
First of all - Master Carbineer is almost nothing more than a title. There are only five professions in the entire game that get no new *abilities* at master, and carbineers are the only combat profession who doesnt. For the record, the other professions which recieve no new abilites at master are the following: Scout, Creature Handler, Smuggler and Squad Leader. Creature Handler can be ignored, mainly because they do not really depend on abilities really(more their max number of pets, etc). Smugglers do recieve a bonus of sorts, but its not listed(25% faction discount). Scout is not an elite profession, so not much concern. Squad Leaders just suck, and everyone is aware of this.
Now, as to what we do receive. Let's go over the list. As well, all skill mods listed are from my character - who is a "barebones" carbineer. By that I mean, no master marksman, no BH, not even the ranged support line. I have the carbine marksman line, and master carbineer.
+20 accuracy - bringing up our total accuracy to 105. No complaints here, I didn't tend to miss much before master(I got marksmanship line first) and don't miss too much now. Nor do I think carbines should be incredibly accurate guns.
+10 carbine accuracy while moving - This brings our total carbine accuracy while moving to +30, which is the exact same amount a master pistoleer would get(just for comparison). Not too much complaint here.. carbines are not really assault rifles as most people see them, rather they were originally invented for use by the cavalry, as they were easier to fire mounted than a rifle, and more powerful than a pistol. I want to add here I think carbines should get an exclusive bonus to accuracy while firing from mounts(and vehicles if that is allowed). The carbine was originaly invented by the cavalry for use while mounted, this would be a good way to add some uniqueness to carbines allowing them to shoot much better from mounts than other professions.
+4 Carbine aiming - Ok who thought this one up? Seriously. Riflemen/Pistoleers also have this, and it's a waste of space. First, no one past marksman, except maybe riflemen, actually use the aim command. Secondly, the ranged support line(which aim is in) is *not* part of the carbineer class. It's like giving carbineers a + mod for camping, or giving us +5 food expiramentation. It's not part of our profession, I'm not sure why we have the mod. It's worthless. Riflemen may find a use for it, but not us.
+10 Carbine speed - This brings our total speed up to a whopping +60. Compare this with a pistoleers 74, and a riflemans 90(once again no master marksman, no BH). As you can see we get the least speed increase of any elite combat profession. A masterbounty hunters get +80 carbine speed, if you are interested. I think this needs to be upped. I see no reason why a master carbineer, should shoot carbines A) slower than a bounty hunters, or B) slower than a pistol, or maybe even a rifle.
+5 Ranged Defense - Same as others, no problem here. I don't even think these mods actually work, at least I dont notice any significant change, but maybe thats because a master carbineer will only have a total of +7 ranged defense(no ranged support).
Ok, so that's really worth all the effort it takes to climb up all four trees, ammasing some millions of XP, and having to get even MORE carbine XP just to finish off the combat xp(I had to get roughly 350,000 more carbine XP to finish off Special Abilites 4). All for a few extra mods, that you are more than likley not going to notice unless you play the numbers game, or pay really close attention.
We need some sort of new bonus/ability/perk at master, or else obtaining master is really nothing more than obtaining a title(that is not even spelled the same as the skill boxes, or this board).
The one thing that seems obvious to do is add a new skill(s). I'll throw an idea out, how about a version of crippling shot, that only targetted action?
Another thing that has been proposed is a new certifcation for a gun that only masters can use. I think this is a great idea. This would help set masters apart by allowing them access to their own exclusive gun, that would need to be quite good(better than anything we currently get in a way). Maybe it could be a better version of the laser carbine. Still have AP 2, but faster, and much higher minimum damage.
This ties in to my note about dabbling. A lot of professions latley seem to be in uproar about dabblers, namely bounty hunters it seems, but also a lot of carbineers/pistoleers back towards the bounty hunters. To be fair, they have some right to be peeved. However dabbling is not a problem that needs to be fixed, its one of the main points of the skill system in this game. You are allowed to create your character how you want. The real problem is that dabbling right now is by far superior to actually bothering to master any professions. Why? Theres no real incentive or bonus to getting master.
A master <insertprofessionhere> should be feared and powerfull, currently they tend to get waxxed by dabblers who only seek out the "best" skills in select professions(which ironically enough are never/rarley in the master box).
Do I feel much more powerfull as a master? I feel pretty much the same I did with 4/4/0/2 in carbineer, as I do now. The skills I rely on aren't in the master box. I still use a marksman skill(legshot) heavily. What is the point of me even having Master Carbineer?
Even in 4 years, when the planets are ghost towns, and everyone is duking it out in the skies overhead, they decide to fix carbineers, why even get master? So you can shoot a tiny bit faster, with a little more accuracy, and so you can modify your aim skill?
I'll remain a carbineer, because I think the profession has good potential. An area knockdown, even if it turns up to be useless if they fix it, sure would be fun to watch in action. Supression Fire 2? I'm not even sure what it is supposed to do, but maybe it has potential too. The fact remains however, that master carbineer is nothing more thana glorified title, with a few meager scraps attached to it.
Aram
Master Carbineer.
To be quite honest, the Aim command is useless even to Riflemen in my experience. It's a waste of a combat round. Get a Squad Leader and pressure him into spamming Steady Aim if you must.
