Pikeman Archive

You have no identity.

It really seems to me there is absolutely no advantage whatsoever in being a pikeman (or pikewoman). I don't see how your class can be fixed without a clear definition of what the heck it's supposed to do and how it fits into the game.

(I'm not a pikeman, but was interested in trying one out. Feel free to ignore me if I'm way off)

My opinion: The combat designer (Dan was it?) Said that the accuracy modifyers would be fixed, so , at least they know about it, and I wouldn't give it to them again.

He also said KD would stay as is (/agree): Reason being, I'd rather see our profession fixed, than be a gimp profession that relys on one and only onemove.

Ham issue is also being fixed.

I'd say the defense modifyers (resistance in the defensive tree) that doesn't work and needs to be fixed is my #1 concern.

Sorry. Ignore the above.

Number one issue with me is damage. We're being outdamaged by TKA's and that needs to stop....we're supposed to be the most damaging melee class, so our damage needs a significant increase.

The resistance defenses that don't work would be my number 2 concern.

Peebso is correct. They need to redefined what a pikemen is. Their no single priority, more a combination of problems that go hand in hand. Imo, a pikemen as a novice should be slow but incredibly tough and devastating. Getting tougher and faster as he climbs the steps to masterhood. Also the ham cost for special moves should decrease as more skills are gained to bring more realism to the game. We should have a range of 10 feet all around us to reflect the lenght of our lances and pikes.

To display a better mastery of the weapon beeing use. More variety in our choice of weapons is a must. Finaly, a new special move should be added. Some kind of impaling move, for what is the purpose of a pike if not to impale a person or creature. They could add a bleeding status when the move hits or something similar. Thats all i cna think of now, if i think of anything else i will add it later on.

Ogolo, Master Pikemen.

Arguably, PVP is the primary aspect of this game. Holo has said it himself.

In this respect, I believe our primary issue is our inability to slow down/stop targets. No matter how much damage we theoretically do/dont' do, we can never hit anyone, so wahts the point? Previously we could lunge, then knockdown, which would keep them down (stationary). I sympathize for the people who complained abuot being unable to do anything, however, I feel we we're a destroyed profession with this removed. Without our ability to deal high damage OR stop peopel, we're pretty much jokes.

+4/+4 toughness in the brawler skill tree, compared to +10/+10 for the other three trees - thats my top issue (it was accuracy, but they've mentioned they're working on that).

Just so we're all on the same page, as posted the the combat designer:

"Similar to the fencer, I see the pikemen as the brother class to riflemen. They should do very high damage but at the trade off of lower speed. I don’t think I want to make range a defining characteristic, as the range limitations cause playability issues for all melee classes. Fixing it for pikemen will leave the other classes with the same problems.

I don’t like the negative ranges in the slightest bit. I’ll see what I can get changed from the weapon crafting side to negate these modifiers. It will probably be on new weapons only*

He also said: HAM costs for all combat professions were going to be redone. All melee are getting the tank ability. Dodge is not scalling properly and will be fixed. Melee out of range issue will be fixed. Lack of melee weapons will change.

Since they are already aware of the above issues and will fix them, I suggest we send something else in as our number one issue, please

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UnseenForce wrote:
accuracy, toughness, not enough defensive skill mods compared to the other professions, we do less damage than all other professions, ham costs... I can go on if you like.

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It seems to me that our main concern is DPS. But let me explain a little.

First of all, accuracy affects real DPS, and our accuracy is terrible. Secondly, our special move damage modifiers are lower then all of the other classes, even though our dmg/speed is the same.

Also, I believe the toughness and poorer defense mods tie into this. I think we were designed to be a little less defensive and a little more offensive than the other melee professions. I don't think our -12 toughness is an accident. It was intended, but we are supposed to have some other aspect to our class that would give us an advantage over the other melee profs to balance out poorer defense.

A couple of you mentioned that our role as a class is not defined or clear.We don't do anything special. In the past I suppose area KD was our forte perhaps along with our biggest attack having posture included, but that's not effective anymore. What do you guys think should define pikemen? Our area attacks, our high damage hits (with slower speed), or something else? Do the rest of you think we even NEED definition? Would you rather just be pretty much the same as the other melee classes, for example put our defense on par with them but not have any advantage either?

Let me know what you think, because by letting me know, you are letting the devs know.

Hands down:

Accuracy / Range / Damage / HAM - In that order.

[QUOTE]I don't think our -12 toughness is an accident. It was intended, but we are supposed to have some other aspect to our class that would give us an advantage over the other melee profs to balance out poorer defense.[/QUOTE]

If it was not an accident, then why didn't the beta patch that boosted unarmed, 1h melee and 2h melee brawler line toughnesses not state "Increased all melee toughness characterisitcs except polearm". The change from +4 to +10 for the other lines went in quite late in Beta, perhaps 2 weeks before the end and the only comment the devs had on it was that they were increasing melee toughness, they never singled out polearm as not receiving the same boost - it was a response to complaints from melee classes in general that they were taking too much damge.

The first correspondent report got a "we'll look into it", if they'd at least responded with "it's intentional, you should be doing more damage than others tocompensate", then at least I could move on...