Pikeman Archive

How are the specials: Dunno what exactly you're asking about specials, but here's the run down. They look good....they cost far too much HAM, we have several specials that areidentical(Mainly spin and Area attack) Our status attacks have somewhat of a hard time sticking. On the other hand they do decent damage, and they just plain look cool......

Hows the HAM costs: My god they're horrible.....I dunno what they were thinking............it costs me 190ish HAM to do a level 1 Pikeman move.........and if you do a special with Armor, which this profession really needs badly to make up for other lacks.

How long can you last in battle without a heal: Personally, no armor, no buffs,no specials, no heals, no pets,no nothing but me and my pike, I can hardly solo a single Piket....which my TK character can do easily.....But with the proper strategy you can....but unfortunately proper strategy includes healing......and if yo're not looking to use heals, you better have good armor and never use a special...

What types of MOBs can you solo without much trouble: Right now I am grinding Huurtons without pets, but with healing involved, and armor..... Other people might have different experiences...

Is wearing armor cost-effective (in HAM and encumberance/stats) for this profession: As long as you don't rely heavily on specials then armor is a vital asset to your arsenal...some people make macros that take off armor and put them back on after specials initiate...If you rely heavily on specials it's better to lay down all your specials first, heal, then put armor on...

Are the weapons decent, or do they need to be tweaked: Let's just say, our best weapon (Long Vibro Axe, AP 2, higher damage then Novice Pikeman specialty weapon) is available at Polearm 3 in Brawler, because there are no weapon certs at Polearm 4,and that weapon has a -55 accuracy at all ranges, the official max range for all our weapons arebelieved to be 4m, which is shorter reach than a Man's fists apparently. Our Vibro lance available at Novice has -33 accuracy at all ranges, has lower damage, and AP 1...only difference is it deals electricity damage opposed to kinetic....but using the Vibro Lance on electricity vulnerable targets will prove to be harder compared to using the Long Vibro Axe on the same creature with moderate kinetic resist...

Any other info you wanan give me: It's highly recommended (Though I doubt you don't have the SP) to Master Brawler first...Bonus stats and great skills are gained from it. If you do decide to go down the rugged un-paved path to Pikeman, you will bloom the most in groups.....That is all...

how are the specials

not bad, for people spin 2/ sweep 1 is the ultimate combo. For animals .... Biggest problem with our specials is our bleed is an action bleed. We do have a leg hit which also does action dammage, but takes a lot of HAM, all the specials do. But since the pike normally does health dammage I tend not to use bleed at all. Its a waste of HAM and an attack. Stun is almost a necessity in order for you to hit consistently. So specials are ok, but should be used stratrgicaly. Polearm hits do more dammage when the target is prone So I tend to fo this combo, spin2 (dizzy), stun 2 (stun), sweep 1 (KD), polearmhit2, polearm hit2. If I'm lucky both polearm hit will go off before the critter gets up. Also that combo will require about 1/3 of my HAM closer to 1/2 in armor.

hows the HAM costs

High, you will have to constantly keep an eye on your HAM bars even if you don't think you are getting hit.

how long can you last in battle without a heal

against a worthy adversary... about 10 moves then I drop, hopefully I drop my opponant before then

what types of MOBs can you solo without much trouble

dewbacks, Ronto, squill, bantha....All of these are with a pet and healing

what types of MOBs can you tank and last a bit against if you have a group effort and medic with you (basically if your in a group and fighting, how long could you hold off an enemy before help arrived, on avg)

Close to anything, as long as they don't hit for mind and you have a good medic with you you can plow through most of the critters in the game. Dragonettes are cake, mountain squill also easy. Was beating on crushing bols or something like that last night. turtors, backasette, all of these go down quick.

is wearing armor cost-effective (in HAM and encumberance/stats) for this profession

Yes and no. I wouldn't go full suit of armorbut key peices are good. I tend to wear a composite chest plate as you take a lot fo health dammage. As a rodain action dammage isn't much fo a threat and specials don't use too much action. Specials take some mind and this is usually my limiting factor so I don't wear a helmet.

Are the weapons decent, or do they need to be tweaked.

Weapons are ok. You will need 2 LVA and VL. LVA is stronger but ham costs are higher and accuracy is lower, does kenetic dammage. VL does less dammage and is elecrtic. Use the LVA on everythign except stuff that has high kenetic resist, or if you find you are missing a lot switch to VL. Its best to keep both of these in your tool bar for quick switches.

In summary, I love being a pikeman. Its lots of fun and I can take on critters that I couldn't take when I was working up TKA. Soloing is very hard, but with a good medic and some pets you can take on just about anything. Oh and PvP is just about out of the question. If you are lucky enough to get dizzy/KD to work then the battle is your's other than that you are pretty much toast.

As stated above stun is your best friend. I usually initiate with my VL and after I get a stun in I pull out my LVA and hack away. I'm low on the totem 1/0/0/0 but climbing fast. I got a full set of armor, sliced for HAM and generally only go down off mind drain. Usually my own fault, or when I'm really tryin to keep another person standing. The area attacks are great for low lvl mobs but be carefull with the high level ones. It seems that when you have three pikets on you as it is and another one pops, or two...they always come right at you. (doctor, "Dag, I can't see you under all the bodies. OK, I got you rezzing") I'm also slowly climbing carbine for the bleeds so in a group when I'm really hurting I'll fall out, take the armor off and pull out the laser carb.

To sum it up, use both a more accurate lance, and your long vibro axe. Swtich up between them as often as required. Try to get a stun off before pulling the LVA, if you miss on the 1st swing on a stunned mob pull a special for the second one. Like I said I'm low but my polearm hit 2 will land close to 3K on a piket.

I've personally tried a few characters and load outs but I started this one to go pike, I've seince deleted most of my other toons. If, when you get a good pattern down there will be times when people look at you in awe. Just balance your self. Again land the stun, if it's not stunned you shouldn't be tryin to hit it with an LVA. Most small fights, ie 1on 1 or 2 on 1...all you need for a special is a stun then auto the LVA, maybe switch real quick back to the VL and pull an area stun to make sure the other mob is paying attention and just hack away.

Honestly, and I know people hate it, but if you're going to do Pikeman, take up either CH or Medic.

With our horrible defense, we simply can't fight as long as other melee professions, so we either need a tank or the ability to heal ourselves.

Ok heres the short of it, and please dont flam eme becaus eim seriously looking at going to master pikeman becaus ei WANT to, not because some stupid holocron told me to.

Ive been a master pistoleer/master marksman for nearly 4 months. I was a master marksman/ pick-a-trade in beta.

ive never really done much with brawler at all.

If i do this i will be dropping ALL of pistoleer and all of marksman except for ranged 4 (which i need for SL), so i want to be positive of it before I do. Im all for trying it, but if the state of this proff is so poor right now that id just be doing myself a major disservice, then please let me know.

i wanan do it because I think pikeman look like the absolute coolest proff in the game. As a SL i often find myself trying to tank and cover my group members myself ANYWAY, so id liek to grab a brawler profession wher ei CAN actually tank and cover my squad members the way Im doing so now (usually i end up running up to a MOB over a downed comrade and pistol whipping him then hoping i kill it before it kills me). Pikes seem to be flavorful and more a part of Star Wars than any other melee profession (ive seen mroe vibro axes and lances in the movies than swords and TKA's)

so basically what i wanna know is:

how are the specials

hows the HAM costs

how long can you last in battle without a heal

what types of MOBs can you solo without much trouble

what types of MOBs can you tank and last a bit against if you have a group effort and medic with you (basically if your in a group and fighting, how long could you hold off an enemy before help arrived, on avg)

is wearing armor cost-effective (in HAM and encumberance/stats) for this profession

Are the weapons decent, or do they need to be tweaked.

any other info you wanan give me.

thanks for your time.

and yes i have read the state of the profession and a few other articles

i would just liek soem direct feedback

In my experience, bleeds are your best friend, especially when fighting groups of mobs. Generally, I'll hit each mob with a KD using my combat staff, switch to the LVA, and nail them with an Actionhit 1 & 2 while they're down. Since we do such huge damage, I find that most mobs bleed out fairly quickly, even if you're not paying any attention to them. If you're using that tactic, though, make sure you throw a few area attacks into the mix, because I find that if the only damage a mob takes is from your bleeds, you won't get any xp for it.