Commando Archive
Thread: Hitting the wall as Master Commando....
I've wanted to play Commando since Beta and I have been resisting the urge to pick up CH for the sheer tank factor of a pet, but my options are becoming more limited.
I guess in my mind, I thought it feasible that through the use of the better equipment and reasonable tactics, I could win *some* of the tougher battles 50% of the time.
I have been trying to fight the Mercenaries on Lok, not the Lok camps or the droids but the actual Mercs, but these guys kick my butt, specifically the Captain guys in the spawn that con as red to me with my FT equipped. Yeah, I know what Q-3P0 said about red = 100% death, but i've found the Con system to be questionable at best sometimes....These camps have 3-4 guys max and the leader is only 9K in the HAM bars. I can solo Biz Natches for 10K on Dathomere. It's slow going, but I can do it and I am not cranking out tens of thousands of credits, but it helps me to get cash for my charged weapons.
I have a 50% energy PSG and 50-60% full suit Composite (trandoshen) and can slap the occasional 300-500pt heal on myself. My FT is speed sliced. I tried some RL blasts since the Mercs have energy resists....but I missed a lot on those, so the outcome was death.
Trying several times to kill the 3-4 Mercs in this camp left made me realize what everyone has been saying in different threads on the boards.
1) I either need a tank....meaning CH line, which is a pain due to no points.
2) Since the Mercs have 9K in each HAM bar, that is effectively 27K for a Commando to chew through since I was hitting random HAM bars....x3 the difficulty it seemed.
3) I need Doctor buffs....but not always one around.
*** 4) The other Commando skills lack....flavor.
Even with the reduced speed for grenades in the forthcoming patch, I don't see the value. My problem with them is partially the speed between throws, but also the range of the grenades and also the damage type of the protons grenades.
The blast range is about 6m. In my experience, most creatures do not stay in small tight groups, especially when you are solo without a pet. Usually one creature runs up into melee and the others shoot me from a distance. At this point I am going to opt for the FT and not a grenade.
Also, why does the Proton Grenade do the same damage type as the FT? So....at Master level, if a creature is resistant/immune to my FT heat he is also resistant/immune to my Proton Grenades since they do heat, which leaves me with few other options.
Acid Rifle = slow, bugged.
RL, HPBC etc = limited used due to range modifier issues.
I kinds lost where was going with the thread (I'm at work), but the experience was disheartening in the least....mostly because I was watching someone with a pet solo the same camps with a pistol...
Lor Raiku
Chilastra
Personally, I wish non CHs could have 0 pets no pets none.
And, CHs pets where lvl 30 max.
That would balance a bit more
Your problem is the same problem we all have. No defense, with amplified damage taken on melee hits. The solutions at the moment are simple:
* Become a CH so you dont have to tank for melee.
* Become a brawler elite class to get some melee skills and defenses.
For example: TKA has some great defenses.
I kill the Merc guys easily by standing outside of my range but just close enough that the merc I am NOT targeting is still visible. Then I fire at the targeted Merc (which doesnt fire at all, he's at like 80m) and /peace. This draws the other (non-targeted)merc to me. Switch my target to him, back up a little and begin autofiring as he approaches.
Once he gets to about 25m I start hitting flamesingle1. When the flame hits, I switch to vibro knucklers and debuff him (intimidate, stun, blind) and then start hitting with unarmedhit2. The burn coupled with large damage output of TKA makes taking these guys on 1 at a time rather trivial.
thanks for the input and advice.
TK looks like a solid way to go. I'm already working on the meditate line, so it looks like I will just have to increase me skills in that tree.
Lor
Get and AT-ST. An AT-ST and a Master Commando is death and destruction marching.
While the creatures aggro to my AT-ST, I have been hittingthem (up to five so far)with flame cone 2 doing 4000-5000 plus the dot effect on all of them. It takes a couple of seconds to take five baz nitches down. This works great for harvesting, making money(nightsister missions are 20K), and xp.
This is why I became a commando to be a support person doing massive damage. I hit a nightsister initiate for 24500 with my rocket launcher that is awesome.
Without the AT-ST I wouldn't be able to even do a mission on Dathomir without cloning seven times.
The commando is a support profession.
Stability Boy
Master Commando
You can always get one of the non-CH tanks, Rock Beetle and/or Mountain Krevol. Both tank exceptionally well, and you can have 2 in storage, so you don't have to constantly stim. Works wonders on the swarmers as it draws them all tight for your cone. Beetle is good for NPCs as it'sgot a ranged, and with the pick-off strategy and some pet-stims you'll have no problem with the mercs.
Also... consider a Droid. Probots have 800 HAM and 40% resists and tank very well... sure they don't do damage for squat, but thats our job. I've seen them in action and they really do hold up surprisingly well.
Or best of all get a Probot and a Beetle/Krevol and you'll have no problem at all. Yes, you can have them both out at once. Just don't bother with them for PvP.
I'll have to agree with IdrisTycho.
Im master TKA/master commando, it is a nice combination.Hit them hard from a distance, when they close in, hit them with the DOT, switch to unarmed and ride it out. Works very well for 1 or 2 mobs at a time.
This will change however when the heavy weapons get moved to ranged damage (for NPC mobs anyway). The will stop charging you and shoot. Still will work fine with animal mobs.
If you are fighting highly aggressive, highly social mobs like Pubams, its really hard to pull 1 or 2 though. And a non CH pet wont last 10 seconds. So if you are soloing, just avoid them. Stick to something managable.
If I can make a suggestion...for decent credits, try seething bol missions on dantooine. They are 100% fire vulnerable and only spawn 2 at a time out of a lair. They are social, but you can pull one with the method mentioned in an above post. The only problem with these is there high kinetic resistance, so it is important to land your DOT the first or second attempt and quickly switch to unarmed (your brawl of choice). The missions pay as much as merc missions but are usually much closer to the terminals.
Hope this helps,
Roj
What I did once I became a master commando for defense was go CH. A master commando has exactly enough SP's to get enough CH skills to have a rancor out with the trick skill (3,4,1,0). It took a lot of work but I found the ultimate strategy for commandos that helped me make 2 million credits, these Ch skills, and master commando in a week. Hmmmm, maybe I actually shouldn't post that where devs might get mad at me. If anyone is interested just contact me in-game, I'mKyyshkor on Lowca server.
Anyway, when you have that much money just mass buypet stim C's and you'll be able to kill anything you want. With a rancor tanking I've soloed just about everything in the game except goraxes cause I cant find them.I guess this is all common sense, but if you are having trouble, work your way upCH from a greater sludge panther to a graul mauler to a rancor.
Sounds like someones jealous huh? Thats why they are called faction perks and thats why Imperial faction perks cost more unless your human.
I don't go to the adventure planets much, only in a group. And I refuse to buy an AT ST simply because I think its to powerful, and I don't feel like grinding for hours and hours just to get a pet that perma dies.
