Fencer Archive

Alright I have several questions regarding the fencer.

Currently I am 2/3 of the way up mastery for one handed brawler. I have no skill in anything else. I am a female zabrak with stats in mostly Health, strength, action, efficiency.

First question. Should I begin learning a new skill? I'm on the verge of getting fencer however I feel like I am lacking. Perhaps working my way through scout then as a creature handler might help? Any form of crafting at this point is, for me I think, futile because of the amount of time and resources I need which will distract me from my fencing training. Suggest a good skillset I should begin to learn.

Second question. Should I begin migrating my stats? What should I focus on? Large pools? Large regeneration? Good efficiency? How does a good fencer's stats look?

Third question. Which branch of fencer should I first think about focusing on? Footwork? Stance? Grip? etc

Fourth question. Should I bother learning other combat skills? Will they give me any advantage (vs cost/time of getting the skill) as a fencer? For example marksmen skill, other brawling skill, etc.

Fifth question. Should I bother wearing armor? As it stands, regeneration appears to be very important in combat especially when I don't always get medical attention quick enough.

Thanks!

Well first to say what makes a good fencer? Well being one in real life i will tell you this, footwork is the most important thing to master, being able to control distance and dodging all relays in you your foot work and it also plays a major role in your attacks, such as distance and power. Next what would go with being a fencer, well fencers are agile, they are quick to respond, so naturally being a scout and building speed up will help. If you also look on the scout tree, there is a bonus you can through hunter i think of knowing where to hit the animal for a more effective and powerful hit. This stat can also be made stronger if you move into ranger, which is why i am going for master ranger, master scout and master fencer, i will have just enough pool points, or i might be just shy of master ranger, but none the less i think i will be happy. As for the other bawler styles, stay away from them, they waster your time, and pool points...just to become a novice fencer you need 125000 one-handed attack points now to advance in fencer it is gonna be 130000+ a skill...so my advice stick to fighting with a sword if you want to progress quicker...(maybe learn some rifle skills for now, but you can get rid of those). Also as scout and ranger, the profession pays for everything. Plus you can make some wicked camps to heal in meaning you can venture out farther and go against stronger foes longer with out having to return to a city or sitting in a basic camp forever...Well thats my opinion, i am on starsider as Reamus Lupin, hopefully i will meet some of you, are kind are very few, seeing is how everyone wants to have a blaster in there hand

Are you aware you can unlearn a skill and immediatly get back the skill points?

With this in mind I currently have:

Brawler(1H Expert)

Marksman (Carbine2)

Scout (Hunting2), Medic(First Aid1)

Artisian(Engieneering3,Survey4)

I havent done the mathto know exactley how many skill points are left over after Master Fencer, but I will just "surrender skill" as needed. I too am intrested in alternative stat migrations.

Zabrak maxed are poor regenerators. But I max them anyway... I have 100 in willpower and Focus beyond base and maxed Str/Con Quick/Stam Leaves me at 1000 each in Action and Health. More than enough to solo my whites.

Skills to shoot for.

Master Brawler, it helps immensly due to the accuracy speed and defensive bonuses, And Berzerk 2 and Lunge 2 are Far more potant by leaps and bounds.

I picked up scout just to cover my tailoring costs... I like to look good and tailors apreciate the stacks of 1000 hides you can work up fairly easy.

Novice medic for those times when no one is around, and if someone gives you some Stim B's you can throw a stim shot on yourslef in the middle of combat for another 100ish pool.

Only have Novice artisan now tohave a handy refrence of what weaponsmiths and such can make and when.

Ultimatly as posted on another thread I will go.

Master Brawler, Master Fencer, Master Heavy Swordsman, TK Combat Line to 4, Pikeman defense line to 4, and Novice Creature handler.

Of course I'll be giving up some of that to get a mount if i need to.... I'll be rideing one of the big Correlian cats.

Roogah

I'm currently a Novice fencer, but have also worked skills in marksman, scout, and even entertainer.

Exploration IV
Survival III
Expert Ranged Weapon Support Abilities(very close to specialist)
Musician II

I am working toward Master Squad leader, although it will be secondary to Master Fencer. Other good options as a Fencer are one of the ranged weapon proficiencies, or perhaps medic. Medics are welcome everywhere .

As for stats... thats a long topic i will post by itself.

Abrodan En'Tran
Novice Fencer of Flurry

Im currently going to try for fencer+pistoleer. I am under the distinct impression that one cant be a successful combatant in this game without ranged skills of some sort. See, unlike EQ, the group dynamics are very basic. Essentially, even when grouping, you solo. Therefore, you have to make a build that works well in a variety of situations I think. Also, the ability to fire at an enemy while prone and have them not notice you gives you loads of, essentially, free damage that you cant ignore.

Pistoleer works exceptionally well with fencer. Check out all you get from pistoleer (protection from posture change down, stun, etc etc, melee/ranged def, dodge, etc). Moreover both pistoleer and fencer specials target the same area (body hits) while using different pools (not to mention the specials for both cost little HAM). If you go with a ranged + melee, you take less damage when creature closes, the creature is damaged when it gets to you and you do dont take damage as it flees.


I dunno, thats how I see it.

Fencing specials center alot around hitting the body but rifle specials center around headshots. This is why I use pistols alongside my fencing skills (pistols attack the body). Since you seem to really like rifles, I would suggest you opt to go the way of the swordsman since thier specials hit the mind pool like rifle specials do.

See, its best that both your ranged and melee specials target the same pool. This will make you much more efficient.

Aenias you make a good pointbut you forgot one fact the key to battle lays in versalitlity. Being able to hit separte pools can allow you to adept to what the sitution needs. I personally use carbine and onehand so i can attack health and action. I have a rifle with me to hit the mind pool but i havent used it in so long its funny. Also remeber that only move like mind shot attack certain pools charged shot and autofire fire randomly. There + and - to each range weapon its just personal preference. For example auto fire( carbine)does tons of damage to random pool and has a 30% to inflict stun , to inflict dizzy , and to inflict blind on target. I love the skill and it what i use to pull mobs with. Lastly i choose not to use pistol because if i'm that close i might as well go for melee.

Aenias you make a good pointbut you forgot one fact the key to battle lays in versalitlity. Being able to hit separte pools can allow you to adept to what the sitution needs. I personally use carbine and onehand so i can attack health and action. I have a rifle with me to hit the mind pool but i havent used it in so long its funny. Also remeber that only move like mind shot attack certain pools charged shot and autofire fire randomly. There + and - to each range weapon its just personal preference. For example auto fire( carbine)does tons of damage to random pool and has a 30% to inflict stun , to inflict dizzy , and to inflict blind on target. I love the skill and it what i use to pull mobs with. Lastly i choose not to use pistol because if i'm that close i might as well go for melee.

Well, Ive been using a pistol and its been working VERY well. I go prone and start doing body shots with my pistol. I typically take off a huge chunk of its life by the time it realizes something is going on and it closes. Then I finish it off with body shots with my sword. I really dont think you want versatility in what pool you hit. This game is designed in such a way that you want to get one pool down as far as you can as fast as you can. Also, trust me, you can be a good 35 or so meters away while prone with a pistol and you do fine as far as crippling the enemy before it gets to you (especially if you use warning/threaten shot to good effect). Not to mention, pistols take very little from HAM pools, so you dont cripple your self before the enemy gets to you. If a fencer wants range, pistols are the way to go.

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I am now a one handed sword master (Apprentice Swordsman). Now I just gotta work my way up to Novice Fencer...

I got myself a pretty good, new sword. It's the best one I know of in my galaxy (Ahazi) so far. The stats are 28-97, 4.0 speed.

I also picked up a gun and started shooting with it. Right now I'm expert ranged support and advanced rifleman. To my absolute disgust, a good gun plus advanced rifle skills do SO much more damage than a sword, even when I have mastered my sword but not even close with my rifle.I can do 400-500 damage with a charged shot easy at 60m away without being in harm's way, yet my sword does 80-500 damage (average is about 150-300 dmg) in their face. Although right now I do have the benefit of spin attack and dizzy.

I plan to specialize in sharpshooter alongside my sword to get the best of both extremes (up close or miles away). Thanks for all your suggestions guys!

I'm currently one step away from master 1-handed sword, and I find that the amount of experience required is really high (70k) I decided not to diversify my weapon skills and have faithfully stuck by the sword in my scabbard. It may be useful to pick up other weapon skills, but it takes away from the levelling potential in your chosen art. If I understand correctly, weapon experience is based on the damage you deal out... so knocking an enemy down to near death with a pistol then striking a finishing move with the sword does not help so much. As for other skills, I strongly recommend dabbling in the other tracks. Certain skill tracks complement what a brawler/fencer does already. You have the skill points... why not make use of them?

For example, you will probably be racking up a lot of creature kills so why not make use of them by skinning and processing your kills for resources? ( a scouting skill ) In the end, like many people have noted, you can just surrender skills when you start running short on skill points. By then, you'll be on your way to uber-fencer so the other skills won't matter as much.

My 2 credits worth.

You forget that defensive bonuses from various advanced combat professions stack. For example, ample dodge bonuses from pistoleer stack with dodge bonuses from fencer. Moreover, from what Ive seen of PvP, a certain ranged attacks (expecially something like suppression fire) would be essential in stopping other combatants from kiting you to your death.