Commando Archive
Thread: 3rd Letter to SOE.
Why do all the other combat classes have knockdowns, dirty fighting, warning shot or whatever tactics that allow them to take out large mobs, but we have none? Novice Commandos have to fight Crazed Durnis while other professions takes out Tuskens, bolle bolles, fambaas, or whatever.
Why are they putting the commando changes on the test server instead of pushing them to the live server? Since there are no Commandos on the test server, nobody is testing them anyway. They can't hurt us more. We are basically unplayable anyway. So encourage them to just push the updates.
My biggest peves with current commandos/supposed fixes:
Having to use the Pistoleer line to allow the launcher pistol to be moreeffectiveis crap, and just a quick fix not a long term one. This basically makes us a sub par pistoleer that can pull out a flamethrower just for show.
Defensive mods i don't think need to be increased from the current +5 melee and +5 ranged on the feild tactics line,provided our weapons have/do significant damage.
As for Heavy Weapons (i.e. Cannons and the like)they are charged and every time you shoot it would be considered a special attack. Adding a skills set to these lines seems pointless if the weapons themselvesdo the damage they should beconsidering the charge based system implemented for them.
The Commando Flamethrower and Heavy Acid Rifle(HAR) need to have seperate skill sets as they do now but need to be enhanced to reduce the menotany associated with the weapons special abilities. Having FlameSingle 1, Flame Single 2, Flame Cone 1, and Flame Cone 2 just seems a little boring to me. Maybe add another move that has some sort functionality other then a DOT that only ticks for 5 times over a 25 second period. As it stands now you cant reattack until the DOT has almost finished its cycle this makes the whole idea of the DOT almost pointless. A knockdown attack has been suggested by many but at the same time they want UBER damage this is unbalanced to say the least. A crippling attack perhaps that slows the advance of the target by 50% may be a better option considering our long refire rates on the majority of the weapons. This would allow us to get a few shots off before the target is in melee range.
Grenades serve no function in their current state, and devoting an entireteir to their use is basically a wasted teir. Many people are asking for unarmed attacks. These would have to do relatively low damage compared to aTeras Kasi Artists and would best serve commandos if theyserved some sort of support type function(along the lines of disarm or some sort of debilitating effects that would reduce incomming damage to allow commandos a shot at surviving a melee fight).Pistol attacks for our so called primary weapon the launcher pistol is a must if they are going to limit this as our primary weapon.
Another thought is to make Commandos more effective than other professions when teamed with a Squadleader. Come on our profession is based around military thoughts and tactics, following orders is something we should eccel at due to our military background. This just makes good sense.
I know Bounty Hunters are an Elite Hybrid profession with the highest requirments but their function is 2 fold and both are necessary considering their line of work/profession. They are designedforSearch and Destroy. CommandosSHOULD BEanElite Hybrid profession designed for 1 thing efficientDestruction.
I could ramble on all day.
As for the flame thrower issues as a melee. When you attack a mound it says swing, not shoot. On an NPC mission I pull out my scout blaster go prone and the NPC does the same. I switch to my vibro knuckles and the NPC pulls out his melee. If I start the fight with flamethrower the NPC runs straight at me and melees. That is what I mean.
True pet peeve - this class is a JOKE!
1. Damage - we don't do any and therefore don't get xp. Expect 300xp to your buddies 3000. Since Flamethrower con is broke we also get robbed Combat xp.
2. Specials - they don't do damage. We don't have knockdown. I don't see any other class cross training for special usages for damage purposes (yes feign death, slicing etc - not damage)
3. Grenades - Completely useless. Lack of damage, versatility, useability, etc.
4. Charged weapons - a joke. 5000 faction for a rocket launcher a joke. Lack of extreme damage for their charged.
I think everything else has been said.
1) Clarification on Ideal Range settings on all HW's. Also the range modifiers. These intended or out of wack. (will list them item by item in the letter)
2) Clarification on the fate of the Beam Rifle.
3) Improved Cannon and Rocket Launcher, damages. If we're going to have charges, these weapons need to do more damage than body shot 2. Otherwise, the thought process on charges needs to be reconsidered. Such as, an option to "recharge" the weapon.
4) Commando is the only class that receives no defense mod bonuses. Commandos shuold have some range and melee defense stats.
5) (REPEAT/Improved) Accuracy of the Flame Thrower, HAR, and cannons. If the specials have the same accuracy of the HW's and they're current dpm's, then you force people to powerlevel to get half way decent. accuracy bonus prolly should be redistributed to a +20% steps from Novice to Tier 3, then +15 at tier 4 and +15 at master. Or, a +10/+30/+20/+15/+15/+10 for Flame and HAR. Cannons have 3 different mods and are poor totals, why not have one mod for the 3 cannons, that end in a 80 or 90% total at Master?
For Pet peeves.. Players.. list me your pet peeves, the most common thread of peeves, will be what I add to the letter.
Let me know if I missed anything, and remember, I've sent 2 letters already and some things were addressed in a patch we've not seen yet, so I know there are other things, but we've said them already. Wanna give them a chance to respond to them before we hammer back.
4) Commando is the only class that receives no defense mod bonuses. Commandos shuold have some range and melee defense stats
That's my biggest concern. Assuming we're able to cause heavy damage with our heavy weapons eventually we're going to be sitting ducks and under heavy fire. I've never been in the military but I'm sure they look to take out all heavy weapons first. That's what our role should be and we should be a major target but a few ranged and melee mod bonuses are needed to give us a fighting chance at survival once we let loose on the rocket launcher...etc.
This seems more appropriate here:
Thats my only concern Garibaldi_di_Alia.As you said they have left it wide open for debate as far as our"dev's about how the skill is not intended to you be primary form of attack" weapon which has been an issue for serveral of us. Some of us dont want to go the Pistoleer route. Maybe you could get some clarification on that statement and what SOE invisions for the "Commando" to be doing. I think that would answer a lot of questions.
I guess what I'm getting at is I don't want to be using the Launcher Pistol most of the time. I think all our weapons should be able to be used as a Rifle,Carb and pistol is jus taking into accout the situation and the weapon you are using. Hope that made sense 
.
Thanks for the hard work and gl. Keep at em!
I dont like the fact that our "main weapon" (Launcher Pistol) does not have its own skill line in the Commando Tree. Instead we HAVE to get pistoleer to have any special moves with our own main weapon. This is NOT how it should be.
Thats my Pet Peeve.
Oh yea another thing is why is there no follow up to Unarmed Combat in the Commando tree since its a requirment?
Riddler
IMO, and its only a best guess is that they did that in order to make us pick and chose how to spend our points more wisely. As long as we do "NOT" need any accuracy modifiers under pistoleer to make the launcher pistol work then I can see the reasoning. If we do need accuracy modifiers under pistoleer then its all screwed up and I'll probably quit the commando line
How about making sure that the commando heavy weapons have the correct armor piercing rating assigned to them? That would be the single biggest change in our damage output for normal attacks and it might help offset the speed/accuracy issues we've been having.
> We do want these weapons to be more rare than other weapons because
> they are more powerful, but we'll look into this more. On Test Center, we've
> made some changes to the Launcher Pistol that should help Commandos adance
> in heavy weapons.
Which Commando Weapons are intended to be Rare?
Launcher Pistol
Beam Rifle
Heavy Acid Rifle
Flamethrower
Acid Stream Launcher
Heavy Lightning Beam
Heavy Particle Beam (not home... this still in game?)
Rocket Launcher
Grenades (all types)
And in specific reference to the Flamethrower:
Why do we have an entire Skill tree devoted to making a Rare weapon useful? And if the Acid Strem Launcher is intended to be Rare as well, why are half of all Commando skills intended to be useful only with Rare weapons?
We also have an entire Skill tree devoted to the use of thrown weapons -- specifically Grenades. To manufacture a stack of 5 grenades, it takes the same amount of effort as the manufacture of a single pistol. I require one pistol every three weeks. I require dozens of grenades a night. Given that I will pay far less for a stack of grenades than for a pistol, how do they justify the high material and time costs associated with a disposable weapon? We have an entire Skill tree devoted to a weapon that isn't worth a Weaponsmith's time to manufacture.
They can easily add abilities to the Field Tactics line for the LP, and to the Heavy Support line for the cannons and rocket launcher.
If there are no abilities for the cannons and rocket launcher, I want to see those weapons with 1000-4000 damage and an armor rating of 3. That would make them viable.