Pikeman Archive

Can some one just explain what it takes to be successful in the pikeman profession the way it is. Just tell what works with out all of the "what ifs" and "when they fix this". I am a novice (very Novice) Pikeman. I am not going to change, it's just to neat. So what I'd like to know is what makes you successful at this profession.

Merreck,Novice Pikeman in Bloodfin

First of all Welcome, good to have another in our midst...

For one, medic skills so you can heal youself, and if you can, get a Doc to buff you...its night and day.

Get a pet (personally, i think that is kind of lame, takes away from the intensity of being a melee class).

Armor...there are alot of different perspectives on this...Personally i use composite armor, but im also a master Doc, so im always buffed.

Go out in groups, some dont like it but hey, there is no better support then having friends there to bail you out when you are about to be killed.

Anyways, hope this helps

Get CH. Best possible thing you can do. Also, at the very least, novice medic. I have medic 4-3-4-0 and master CH and I am a master pikeman. I do very well. If you really want to get specific though, eat a lot of food and get 'breath of heaven' drink. Breath of Heaven lowers all your HAM costs by somewhere around half. It works for me, should work for you too

Early on, toss the LVA, get a great lance. You dont need CH, a rock beetle will sufice, although better pets will help more.

A few well selected pieces of armor are great. A good helm to cover your pretty head, and a good chest plate will take most of the damage.

Don't be afraid to move around. Standing toe to toe with a big bad guy will get you dead. Today I took on a Gronda patriarch (10k ham, kinetic resists), and ran around a house. Gavethe Grondaa big ole bleed, and then zipped in and out. Just bleeding him is lame, so i ran past and gave him a whack every so often.

Get some support. Our role is to guard the ranged. You take the pain, they get your back.

Try not to spam a move. Variation is the key to success.

Ok, havent been doing this long but in about a week and a 1/2 I've gotten master brawler and 2143 pike so this is what I did to get there:

70% Kenetic layered Adv Ubese

Tatooine Sunburns Drink Buffs (strength and con-think con-)

Glucose Pate or Ormachek Food Buffs (mind)

Muon Gold Spice (mind buff) as needed for help healing and more specials

Doc buffs whenyou can from a Master doc usingd buffs ifyou can find them

Musician buffs to Mind secondaries whenever u can get these before u look for the doc buffs

Dancer buffs are nice not as helpful as the musician buffs overall but nice

Take Novice Medic-> throw a few pts into Pharmacology if u can for better heals. Use best Adv B stims u can

I also use min/max dmg speed power ups non stop on my weapons

Hope that helps.

For progression I took the defensive line 1st filling in support as combat xp became available.

Then started taking stances. Only reason I have the other box was a lag realated instance that I rather was unhappy with at the trainer hehe.

Esraf

This is great stuff guys. Thanks for the info.

I've been a pike since release, and was one in beta.. I've toughed through this profession in hopes that we'd someday be average at what we were ment to do,high damage at lower speeds (Big bang). As of recently I've decided to try Fencer, just because it's allot better off then we are.

Most people say they like pikeman because "It's neat looking". It's the most common response I hear. Believe me, after the fancy moves have become less desirable, all you'll be left with is a half effective stick, no HAM and a dependency on doctors or pets. I've also been a CH the entire time I've been a pike, and even after testing with buffs, 80% kinetic armor and drugs, we're still pretty ineffective compared to just usinga friggin graul... Which is sad, imho.

Plus, I still swear Pike CoB is broken. I take full damage from 3/4ths the attacks that it says I shrug off.

It's not CoB, it's block. "shrug off an counter-attack" is actually a block, and you still take damage - although I think it's somewhat reduced.
Working as intended? Who knows? Why give us, the ones with low defenses and the lowest toughness, the one defense that still allows damage? Who knows?

My little tests:
http://forums.station.sony.com/swg/board/message?board.id=pikeman&message.id=8275

antares
master pikeman