Pikeman Archive
Thread: Trying to decide between...
Hiya!
I'm switching from ranged (which I never really wanted to be) to melee (which I always wanted to be)... I've started several times up both the Polearms and Unarmed trees, but never have made it into the Pike or TKA professions.
I'm just trying to get my final decision, er, decided.
I have a few quick questions if anyone cares to share their view on these I'd appreciate your time!
1.) Are the combat animations "Oh wow, that looked cool!" in Pike at all? I've not seen higher level Pike combat.. humour me- this matters to me hehe. Think of it as... is there style?
2.) Despite balance issues, etc. which I understand exist... anyone -love- being a Piker and wouldn't give it up?
3.) In choosing between TKA and Pike as a compliment to Master Ranger... what do you feel are the pros of Pike in this configuration?
4.) Will I cry alot because I can only afford Organic I medic?Or will stim A's do me ok if high quality?
Thanks for anyone with any (reasonable, useful) input! 
Thanks! Really! Thanks! 
Hiya!
I'm switching from ranged (which I never really wanted to be) to melee (which I always wanted to be)... I've started several times up both the Polearms and Unarmed trees, but never have made it into the Pike or TKA professions.
I'm just trying to get my final decision, er, decided.
I have a few quick questions if anyone cares to share their view on these I'd appreciate your time!
1.) Does everyone use VK, or is it "ok" to use unarmed hehe... (in other words, are you -severely- handicapping yourself if you don't use VKs?)
2.) Despite balance issues, etc. which I understand exist... anyone -love- being aTKA and wouldn't give it up?
3.) In choosing between TKA and Pike as a compliment to Master Ranger... what do you feel are the pros of TKA in this configuration?
4.) Will I cry alot because I can only afford Organic I medic?Or will stim A's do me ok if high quality?
Thanks for anyone with any (reasonable, useful) input! Thanks! Really! Thanks!
1)Yes we look cool. In fact that's all we have. We have currently been ranked as the worst combat class even by those non-pikemen. A thread in the TKA board has been created by a TKA just to show support for our very very broken class
2)Excluding me? yes a bunch. THere are a lot of whiners too, and for some reason they haven't quit. So we're all holding out for this coming monthly update which states class enhancements/fixes
3)In actual combat scenario? none. They have meditation, the recent patch has made our only advantage (range) non-existant (our max, 5, their max, 5). They are much faster and more accurate. They don't 'need' a weapon (melee weapons are rare, pikes are rarer still on most servers) and the price that goes with premium weapons. MUCH better ham costs go to TKA as well.
Our only pro is that we look cool spinning When we're fixed we hope to gain back our distance advantage.
4)As we are you'll cry if you dont' have a pet or doctor skills. Once you're high enough though, low medic will be fine.
Pikeman is a fun class, but it's also a very frustrating class. We're currently broken, and will need a lot of love from the devs to get fixed.
TKA is currently a better class. Better defense, faster hitting, lower ham costs, plus meditation. But, even TKA have problems along with the rest of the melee.
It's a tough choice, I think both classes have thier benefits in the long run, and both have dissadvantages. They're both fun to play (if you can get past the shortcommings of the classes) so it's a tossup as to which you think would be more fun
1) I'm a 0/2/4/2 TKA, and I use VK's most of the time, but I don't believe you are crippled without them. The damage is less, but the HAM costs of the special moves are significantly less also.
2) I definitely would never give up my TKA. I'd surrender any other skills first.
3) I've got 2/2/3/0 Ranger and I think TKA complients it fairly well. The creature hit-to bonus is only for ranged attacks, so Pikemen have no advantage over TKA there. It seems like both classes would work equally well with Ranger, but from a RP'ing point of view I would think TKA's would be more inclined towards ranger (harmony with nature?) than Pikemen.
4) Drop Organic Meds and just buy really well made Stim B's from med vendors or on the bazaar. You can find some great Stim B's with Med Use 5 for a pretty cheap price.
Excellent! Thanks much for the feedback
(Especially the tip on the Stim B's... I've never had medic until recently didn't realize you could use them with med use 5 hehe derrrr (shoots self))
Thanks again!
1) by oo wow, we don't have ribbons coming from our hands in half our moves 
2) I everyday wonder why I don't give up pikeman. But I love it to much. Rifle is great. CM is great. CH is great. But I have tried a bit of them all. Nothing like knocking down 5 PCs at once. I still do that every now and then. I often go find some Gnorts just to watch how cool I look. Only other thing I love even close to pike is reviving the dead. THat is some good power. But we look so dang cool.
3) Pike has looks, and the ocassional uber bleed and area attack. TKA has no bleed and not nearly as many area attacks. But TKA can attack mind, meditate, attack fast, and has better defense. There are more TKA wheich means they will always be the best and fastest fixed melee. If you don't want to wait, TKA has power right now. Pike you may have to wait months. But with ranger you can track and camo so you can choose what you want to fight. TKA is better all around though. Unless you want just bleed and looks.
4) With novice medic, you can use a stim B. I ama high level doc and still use Stim Bs. They full heal every time. Talk to a master Doctor and get a few crates at a time. They are relatively cheap. Like 1 crate of 50 with 39 uses is about 50k. That should be a couple hours of missions. Very worth it. Almost everyone in my PA has novice medic standard for this reason. And the most successful PAs I have seen have a very high percentage of novice medics on Stim Bs. This shouldn't be an issue for you.
Interesting sig. Good luck with your melee career.