Dancer Archive
Thread: usefullness of dancers
I'd just like to get a discussion going about the usefullness of dancers. How do you feel about it? What do you see your role being in a few months? How do you plan on using it after you reach master (or whatever level you plan on getting). What would you change about dancing if you could?
I'll go first. I like the idea of being a dancer but as I have stated in previous posts, my goal is to be out in the field. However, IMO the dancer is extremely limited in the field. We only heal mind wounds, but since we don't affect any other stat were still sitting around waiting for people to heal (assuming there is no doctor, and I have yet to see one in a group I've been in). I think we should be able to increase all regen rates if you are in a camp. I read somewhere that during beta (I just read it, if I'm wrong I'm sorry), that the devs put in BF to make dancers useful. However, it is still limited to town use. What is wrong to being able to heal it in a camp. Do you really want to stay in a cantina for the rest of the game to use your profession? Why shouldn't we be able to use our skills out where it's needed?
And yes I know...houses, hotels, blah blah blah. But lets face it, theres a lot of extra land around with nothing remotely close. And what happens when we start having space combat?
IMO once we reach master dancer were almost useless. We won't get any exp hanging around in catina's, and tips on average aren't really worth the effort. Our usefullness as I understood it was to entertain yes...but to also support medics. Medics are out in the field...we aren't.
Right now there is no reason for us to group with people and go out in combat, because we don't provide any reasonable amount of support. If the game provides us with the tools to go out into the field they should at least make it usefull. As dancers were entertainers and healers...but right now all we really have is entertainment.
And before you all start flaming and hurling insults, remember this is a discussion. These are opinions. I just want to have a nice clean discussion about the dancing profession and it's usefullness. So please don't post unless you are offering an opinion and continuing the discussion.
Eljer wrote:
Right now there is no reason for us to group with people and go out in combat, because we don't provide any reasonable amount of support.
I think you're operating from an assumption here that dancers WANT to go out in the field. Most dancers I know (not all, certainly) have their stats and their "fun" centered around staying OUT of combat. The next step beyond Master Dancer for many is to master Image Design or begin work on new dance routines or similar things.
Interesting question, though. I'll have to pop it to our apprentice dancers at Club Dearic and see what they say about it. Ultimately, I think you'll find that few dancers go into the profession looking for a way to be "useful". They go into it because they enjoy doing it and the whole battle fatigue thing is just a handy way to draw in customers.
Yes I agree with you, a lot of people dance to stay out of combat. However, they made it so you can heal wounds in a camp...but again it's a practically useless tool. To me it sounds like they were in the process of making entertaining a type of support class (which it is with BF) but they never quite finished it.
I like the dancing profession, tho it has much room for improvement. I have reached master and I use it now in the field and for pure fun: dancing in my house with friends, visiting my old cantina troup, dancing with some other friends in the middle of large cities just to entertain at random.
What would I change? For starters I would modify the techniques line to be more useful. Examples of usefulness would be less action drain overall for the dancer's flourishes because those high level dances do drain action faster... Special effects would use no action or a fraction of what they use now... Fix current dances such as formal 1 and 2, and lyrical 1 and 2 (non flourished dances are bugged to everyone else but you), Master Dancer would yield you more then a couple unique flourishes spanned over 2 separate exotic categories. Overall every new dance you learn would yield you a full set of unique flourishes.. The flourishes set up the way they are now was just lazy.
Now onto the usefulness in the field bit:
A dancer's usefulness is what you make of it. There's no rule that says you can't wield a weapon and nothing but personal preference stopping you from taking up pistol, rifle or carbines. Even just a few skill boxes under the marksman tree can give you an edge. We have stat migration in the game and it just takes a few clicks to start migrating some points into your health pool. That's what I did, now I'm soloing destroys making 4-6k a run (10 minutes roughly where I hunt) and barely breaking a sweat. I'm even able to solo some red con mobs, if I use the right strategy with my ranged benefit and specials. Anyway, for the most part groups won't really care if you can or can'tshoot like a skilled marksman tho it is pretty cool when a combat class comes up to you and says wow you kicked ass back there.. They love you for your healing and those great moves we have.
Player run cantinas are pointless in my eyes, the only good use they have is the fact that you can ban all the morons that try to crash the party. The upkeep on them is just too hard in terms of spamming advertisments, maintenance fees and useage. Buy a house for a shop location or for your own private use.
Master Dancer isn't the end of the line for us, unless the only thing you want to do is sit in a cantina and stare at the walls all day hoping for a precious tip. No matter how much you role-play, its not really a very fun way to live the SWG life, not when there's so many other places to explore. Once I hit Master I rejoiced because now I was the best I could be at it in terms of healing. So I picked up a weapon, started traveling to far off places, met some combat oriented people and started hunting. Lok was dull and ugly, didn't like it much there, so I went to Endor and had a blast. Didn't make a lick of cash, but man was it fun hunting. Now I'm currently traveling between Dathomir to mission (missions pay up to 10k a pop there, hard, but very fun with a few people and a big fat droid to tank a bit) and Theed to restock my harvesters with money and power which are going towards my next profession... tailoring!
There's 250 skill points issued to you in this game, that allows you to do a lot. Dancing wasn't meant to be one of those power classes, they're a support class, plain and simple and that's just something people need to accept. And money? Psh, money is so easy to get in this game it reallyannoys me that I hear so many people (both in and outside cantinas) begging for tips and everything else under the sun. Deliveries are a cake-walk way to make easy cash, yeah they don't pay much, but they shouldn't. Destroy missions on the starter planets are made for your skills, so if you're on Naboo, get a mission that's close (Kaadara is great for these, get the Gnort destroy missions, easy as pie) and make a couple thousand per run. Still too hard for your taste? Bring a friend. Instead of looking at those patrons in the cantina as possible tips, look at them as possible allies. Ask them if they hunt a lot, and what they do for cash. If they jump right into the conversation, mention that you want to work on your combat skills and if you could join them sometime.
Chances are, they'll want you. Another tip, get Novice Scout, it doesn't have to be permenent, you can always get rid of it later, but the ability to harvest organics is a possible money maker opp, not to mention you can build small camps, which aren't much, but its better then NO camp at all. If you're on Corbantis server, drop me an email if you want any in game advice about shops, missions, whatever.
Nope, Master Dancer is definitely not the end of the line for me.
- Mahalia, Captivator (love this title)
Eljer wrote:
I agree with you completely, I'm on my way to being a master pistoleer. But my point was, what is the usefullness of a dancer outside of the catina. Not considering anything else...but pure dancing. Because it isn't much of a support class, you only need 1 per server in reality or maybe one in every city. We are ONLY useful in the catina or in a group with a doctor.
Ok, here is where I disagree.. Dancing is a support class, no one can function without us. Even if there was only one dancer per server, everyone who gets any battle fatigue or mind wounds will eventually HAVE to go see that dancer because fighting with a fully wounded mind bar is not only risky, its just plain stupid.Add in the 100's of points of fatigue on top of it and you have a walking calamity without that entertainer. Every single class depends on another in this game, that is the beauty of a MMORPG. You say dancers aren't useful in groups unless there's a doc around.. Well where does that leave those docs when there's no dancer around? They can't heal fatigue or mind wounds, so do you think docs only serve a real purpose when teamed with a dancer?
From the role play aspect, dancers are very important, inside and outside a cantina. For one, we're walking advertisements for tailors, and we're also pretty good at getting chefs noticed. Ever had a chef tending the bar where you perform?The more your cantina is known, the more chances that chef will find some customers. We provide entertainment for people to watch while they're sitting in the cantina, waiting for a shuttle,anywhere you want to dance.If I'm waiting on a friend to come meet me in the city, I'll start dancing to just pass time, there's always at least one person that says "hey thanks for the entertainment." We're the social hub of this game. If you don't like role-playing, then perhaps the dancer isn't for you.
Why did you become a dancer in the first place? I did for the social aspect and the pretty dances and I have fun. You don't think you're useful outside the cantina, and that is your opinion, while I see the cantina as just a starting point for a dancer.