Commando Archive

Just a few ideas I thought I would send your guys way...Some rambling I am sure....But here goes:

Eliminate the HAR...Replace it with the equivalent a M-16A2, or something like that...An assault weapon...Something that fires 3 rapid shots, around 200-300 damage each hit (equaling 600-900 dam) without specials....Since commandos have to have pistols IV, carbines IV, and rifles IV, this gun should be able to use specials from each of those, however the "elite" profs that are branches of those (pistoleer, carbineer, rifleman, smuggler, etc)will not work with it...Only the skills under the master marksman tree will work with it...Since you have to level pistols, cabines, and rifles, it seems obvious that a Commando should be able to apply those skills learned to a versatile, yet limited weapon... Apply the HAM costs as they apply to each special...With this weapon you can target the head (via mindshot et al), the torso (via body shot et al), and legs (via leg shot et al)...If the HAM costs are enough to justify it, then make the gun have to be reloaded after 90 shots...Not that you have to buy ammo for it a la rocket launcher/HPBC, but that you have to hit a reload macro that has a 9 second delay in firing on it, and during this time, you become a little more vulnerable to attacks (hey you are concentrating on getting that "clip" reloaded! LOL)...Another idea that I had for this weapon would be something like a pistol whip...A butt whip, if you will LOL, that is usuable in close range (6 meters?) that either knocks the opponent down, or dizzys them....Make it part of the combat experience learning curve, and make the grenades a seperate entity altogether....

If you dont like that, then how about this...All the skills that are learned under the marksman tree should be able to be applied to any weapon the commando has in his or her hands....Allow a commando to use a pistol to do a mind shot....Or a rifle to do body shot....But make it range restricted (as an example, no headshot over 16 meters), or allow accuracy modifiers to be adjusted accordingly (the chances of landing a headshot with a pistol over 16 meters gets progressively worse until the chance is 0 at 64 meters...This would allow for a little bit of luck to play into it)...It would (and should) be extremely difficult to make a head shot with a pistol from long range...See what I am getting at? Or would this be a little too convaluted?

I dont understand why people complain about having the max out unarmed....Unarmed fighting is something that is taught to every soldier...Yes its a skill sink, but it does serve a purpose...A commando is (and should be) the most well rounded combat prof in the game...Hence the requirement to reach master marksman...The requirement to get unarmed IV...Further, I wouldnt be opposed to have to have exploration IV (for terrain negotiation and concealment via maskscent), and possibly Diag IV (to heal yourself and your group)before reaching Novice Commando. This would further my idea that a commando, I suppose, shouldnt do anything perfectly, but do everything really really well...A Master Commando SHOULD be the top dog in the combat world, as everything that is required to become one already is extremely intensive...It IS the most combat dedicated profession there is...We are the only ones that have level out 4 modes of combat (I am not including combat experience here). I guess what I am saying that with the level of expertise of weapons that are required of us, we should be able to a fair amount of damage with a fishing pole, if that is all that we at our disposal...

I would say get rid of most of the special heavy weapons, and just give us RL's, which would be the equivalent of an RPG...The others dont really serve a purpose as their damage and range are pretty much the same, just different graphics/names....Same wolf, just different clothing....

To recap for you ADD people:

1. Give us a cool new weapon that allows us to use the skills that we have learned effectively, but apply theapplicable penalties for using said specials with said weapon....This eliminates any need to fix the HAR, and just be able to throw it away...Heck, make this weapon available to only Master Commandos, and that would eliminate dabblers that only want that gun...

2. Make it more difficult to be a Commando in the amount of skill pts that would be required to make Master with the addition of requiring:

Exploration IV - to move effectively in all types of terrain

Diag IV - to be able to heal ourselves and comrades effectively, but not overly so...Diag IV allows you to use stim B's and wound pack B's, which do a good job, but not great

I just think, that in a fight between a Master Commando and, say, a Master Pistoleer, the Commando should win everytime, hands down, with the exception of player that is the Master Commando being a complete idiot...I know other profs complain about us being too strong, but it couldnt be further from the truth.

I know alot of us dabble in other profs, as we have to...But I say make that "dabbling" be a requirement, not an option, to be able to be the best in combat professions...

Thoughts? Comments? Flames?

1 No, fix the HAR... if they'd finally fix the skills, it's a high end acid weapon... giving it AP1 (2 preferably) or a DoT would improve it's usefulness a thousandfold. Fixing the skills would also make it considerably more useful, but not really a 'main gun' sort of useful. As for the M-16A2, dear lord, why would you want that? As I'm assuming the sloppy code works, if it falls into a specific 'type' of weapon, it can be used with those specials, like how the LP is a Pistol and uses pistol specials. I don't think they'd have coded it such that a partiuclar object would be a Carbine and a Rifle. What you're asking for seems to be a repeating blaster... personally I'd love something in the 50-100 dmg range with .5 (lower with Krayt) speed. And independent specials. All of that is well and good and pretty universally agreed would be nice to have but not something we can realistically expect until the Space expansion. Honestly, they haven't added in anything new, they've just been modifying (and re-modifying, and re-modifying) existing weapons. The HAR's overhaul has been the dream for awhile.

Also, a brief note. Commando does not need Knockdown... which is why Commando/TK combo is so popular... it takes 'excellent skills' and compliments them with 'excellent skills'. It is, without a doubt, overkill. As for reloads, as has been proven with the 'buy another one' policy, nothing can be reloaded and that appears to be hard-coded.

2. Um... Overchargeshot2 is obnoxious with a scout blaster... Overchargeshot2 with a flamethrower is borderline nuts. Tho, technically, that is kind of what /flamesingle2 equates to. I think most are content to let riflemen be the headshot range guys, pistoleers be the bodyshot closer range guys, and carbineers to fill in a medium sort of range. Commando isn't quite a one-trick pony (we're a mostly-one-weapon pony, but that's a different gripe), but we don't need other people's tricks to make up for it.

3. We're not 'Real World' Commandos... we're SWG commandos. In real life a Navy Seal, Army Ranger, British SAS, Israeli Mossad, etc can kick butt in any situation with or without a pool cue in hand. However... The Warcry/Intimidate skills learned at novice Brawler are perfect compliments to the Commando's arsenal... I fully admit that the rest of the unarmed skills are a point sink... and yes Medic tree, One Handed Weapons, Scout Exploration/Hunting/Camping trees would be intensely appropriate IF we were 'real world' commandos. We're not, we're more aptly described as 'heavy weapons specialists', but even that doesn't quite fit.

Off the chart, but still pertinent. We are the kings of combat. IF we can arrange it. A SWG Commando playing alertly and intelligently can take down anyone... by the same token, if your only trick is run up close, spout /flamewhatever, then run away, you will find people know about this tactic and plan for it. Next time try running through that TKA and burst just as his first punch hits you... seems like most of them will stop in place and turn around or keep running in a wide circle while trying to find you again... Oh, and if you cut your flamethrower for speed you can just about get two /flamesingles if you tap at +16m and -16m...

The ability to spread confusion and chaos should not be underestimated in the arts of war.

Lynch, Master Commando of Flurry

Force Unsensitives - They always stand in little clumps until they see the 'Master Commando Tag'. But then it's too late...

You make some good points but there is one major flaw...you are pushing the dev's to make us too self sufficent...They want us to have to dabble in other professions for what we need...or if we don't dabble, we pay the price via not having what we might need...

So giving us Terrain negotiation of Diagnostics seems the glimmer from those other professions...It makes it to easy for us to spend those skill points save elsewhere which could lead to use being over-balanced in everyone's eyes...The Dev's want it to be tough and they want variety in choices...Do I take scouting as a secondary or medic...what is the pros and cons...in a fight, who would do better, etc...

Don't try to build a stand alone profession...instead try to think of ways other professions might compliment us best...We don't need even one point of terrain negotiation with mounts and vehicles....and we can get novice medic (sure it's 15 pts) if that's a priority...but that's where some flavor of the game comes in...

Instead we should focus on the real issues of the profession...namely the HAR (like you mentioned), the LP (not having it's own specials and needing AP), Grenades, Better use of unarmed requirement (via our own unarmed specials), enhancing the Master lever, etc....

The old saying of "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" comes to mind...Medic and Scouting are out there if we need them...if we take some of their benefits and add them to our profession, then we make ourselves self sufficient and defeat the idea of creating a strategy of how you dabble.