Carbineer Archive

Greetings all!

Nova asked me to write up a short FAQ on the Doctor/Carbineer Template, and I'm happy to do so! Here goes...

* NOTE * This is not a "how-to" guide... it is essentially an overview of the Doc/Carb combination and that it can do... with advantages/disadvantages etc... (with a few helpful tips as a bonus)

First, lets look into the doctor's bag of tricks to see what we can do...

Here you get your ability to cure poison (2) and disease (4) -- very useful in PvE and PvP

Here we find HealEnhance aka Buffing (2) and Rezzing (4) -- an absolute MUST! THE reason for being a doc!!

Here is your Medicine Use tree... the higher the Med Use, the more powerful med you can use. +100 at Master

- rez packs can be experimented down to Nov Doc level (look for these in your early doc career until you can make your own) YOU MUST HAVE WT4 TO USE THEM THOUGH

- Buff D's can be experimented down to the 90 MU range (less powerful, but you don't have to be a master to use) BUT YOU DO NEED KNOWLEDGE 4 HOWEVER

It's your typical crafting grind, but you can knock it out quick with a decent macro and a hoard of Lokian Wild Wheat and Tatooine Fiberplast... Adv Bio Effect Controllers are the grind of choice here

Doctor and Carbineer compliment each other in several ways, providing many interesting playstyle options.

It's been said that Carbineer is the "thinking-man's profession" As a Doc/Carbineer, this is taken to the next level, and mind-bar management becomes a whole new world... not only do you have to watch your own mind bar from spamming specials, you need to know how much mind it takes to heal/rez somebody AND how fast you regenerate! PLUS you need to watch your groupmates' HAM...

With the ability to buff, rez, heal states, cure poison/disease, and drop full heals on even highly-buffed targets, you will be worth your weight in gold... and thats just on the Doctor side! Add Carbineer, and you'll be able to open the battle with states , kd's, and posture downs... then pour fire into the target (always keep an eye on your party's HAM's and have /peace hotkeyed... you'll need it) You can act as designated kd'er, or freeze targets with posture down, all the while pounding away with FAS2/Cripple/Scatter/Burstshot (pick your favorite flavor). MIND BAR MANAGEMENT!!! If you are low on mind and can only heal/rez a couple times... make the decision on who lives (the main tank for instance) and come back to heal/rez later once the crisis is past. Remember, who's gonna rez the Doc?? A well-timed heal/rez can make the difference between a successful hunt and a dead party! And above all, have fun. This is VERY rewarding when hunting with a good group.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again... self-buffing is the only way to fly!! Here's where your use of tactics as a Carbineer is magnified... once again, states, kd, and posture down are your best friends... the ability to full-heal yourself (no crappy Stim B's for you anymore) make you a force to be reckoned with, and no having to drive back to town to stand in line when your buff expires!!! Again, mind bar management plays a big role here, especially when fighting things that like to hit you in the head... a Doc + Brandy is an instant bad mo fo... no matter what the combat class. Make sure to have the right gun for the job, and only pull what you can handle... that mind bar is only so big...

When in doubt, making your own meds is cheaper than buying from somebody... it may take a while to get the good materials... as Class 4 Liquid Petro and Dolovite Iron are quite rare, and the good avian meat always seems to be on Tatooine... (Dwarf Nuna farming, anyone??)

Once you finish our crafting grind, continuing to make your own meds is VERY time consuming, and you'd beter invest in frequent flyer miles! Your adv resources come from Tatooine, Lok, Talus, Dantooine, and now Rori, plus 2 RARE things like Class 4 Liquid Petro Fuel and Dolovite Iron... as well as Avian Meat, Herbivore Meat, seeds, flowers and greens. Seeing this, some doctors forgo the crafting route entirely and rely on buying from others. This frees up some skillpoints that you may use on other things... keep in mind that if you go this route, you'll need to buy MU experimented Buff D's (with lower power)

For buffing purposes, the higher your wound treatment mod, the better. Pick up BE clothing (caps at +25 WT) and a +110 Medical Droid (any chassis will do, I use an MSE that I got for cheap) Also, for the REALLY high buffs, Bivoli Tempari is your friend... get this at your local Master Chef

Another option for the Doctor on the go, is a +110 Med Droid with a crafting station (and a storage unit too for the deluxe all-in-onemodel)

Try to set up a /peace; /healdamage macro... you'll need it. The /healdamage SELF is not necessary, it will default to you if you are non-targeted or on an enemy

As a Doctor, you will be perpetually in need of more inventory space (and toolbar space as well) This can be alleviated be having a storage droid (or 2 or 3...) Things I personally ALWAYS have on hand are: Buffs, Woundpacks, Rez Kits, Stim D's and E's, Cure Poison/Disease/Dizzy/Stun, and a couple droid batteries

- From Stims, Buffs, Cures, and Fire Blankets to Brandy, Guns, Armor, etc... you'll have to make some serious choices on what you carry!

Keeping track of your groupmates is a practiced skill... more than just watching HAM's... if in a small group, use the Ctrl-# method of targeting... if in a large group, I like to have the Ctrl-A screen up (shrunk down as far as possible and out of the way) that way, I can simply click the appropriate HAM and follow the blue arrow

As a Master Doctor/Master Carbineer you only have 18 skill points left... and a VERY narrow selection of options in which to spend them... a popular approach is to swap out Scout and Artisan whenever you need to survey or harvest, also for terrain negotiation and camping... also some go the entertainer route to provide mind/BF healing in the field. Still others take Novice Brawler for Warcry (I've done this on occasion)

also remember the /drag command... pulling an incapped buddy to safety can be key (I'm guilty of forgetting about this)

Thanks to all of you who provided commentary on the last incarnation of this guide... hopefully the changes are to your liking!

any other questions/concerns, PM me, or I'll be around on the Carbineer/Doctor/Radiant boards...

/salute