Pikeman Archive

OK everyone, let mestart out by saying I am a true Pikeman brother. I am not going to leave this profession no matter what. I want to see it through. With that said, I'd like to play devil's advocate for a short bit.

I made a post a few days ago and no one seemed to answer the question about "What exactly does -55 do?" If it is -55 in a pool of 1000 it means jack. If it is 55% it is a serious issue. Any experts on what the -55 actually means in combat terms or in terms of overall miss chance? We need to know what this number means before we go bashing it. It could mean a lot less. Please take the next point into account.

Just last week I was with my crew, about six in all, on Dantooine. I had my 443 LVA equipped and were fighting all of the local fauna. Dantooine is tough if you have not been there. Anyway, at the end of one tough fight with a single creature, I forget the name of the creature, but I got 2552 XP. Since there were six others in my party, I had to wonder what everyone else got for XP. Yep, I used a couple of Polearm hit 1s in the fight,and I missed my normal share. But what I can tell you, hanging with a full Carbineer, Commando, Rifleman, Gunfighter and two artisans - I felt sorta guilty about the XP I got. I don't think I have ever lost my fair share of XP in a group - I have always felt ahead of the curve. Isn't XP, or percentage of XP a good gauge of how effective we are? I have "out XPd" my team members on many of occasions. Next time you are out with your group hunting, check it out. Mind you, I am a Transdoshan with an 800 STR so my special costfor Health is considerably less. Maybeyou really need to be strong towielda pike well.

As for specials. Yep, I agree with you all. HAM is so high that I don't ever use any otherspecial than polearm1. The costs are just too much and I lose fights if I special too much. A good fixwould be to negate theHAM cost if you miss.

On PVP, well it's weird. I am aPikeman andhad mya$$ handed to me by a Teras Kasi Student (Unarmed 4). I was using my LVA, so Icould definatly see that I was missing and slow. I switched out to the Vibrolance and I beat him, very easily. So like someone saidearlier, it seems that the vibrolance is better in PVP and I would agree. But PVE, it's the LVA hands down.

Just an observation. This is a great community!

Verdusk Bal - Scylla

I hear ya, im trying to get everyone to look on the brighter side too.. although, since im a master doc, its easier to fight since my average stats run like so

2000-2500 health

1700-2300 str

1600-2200 con

2500-3000 action

1800-2400 quick

1900-2400 stamina

1000 mind

500 focus

900 willpower.

Im a Zab, so once an hour if my health and action are full, i can heal my mind fully..

*waves* later all

i'm with you, pikeman is great. ever hit that spin move and killed 3 things at once. man, that is fun.

i have a smuggler buddy who i buy giggledust from. after hitting one of those, i have 800 sec of pure special attacks with almost no problem. sure, there's a downer, but doesn't last long and is very worth it. i agree we need some tweaking. i never use anything but my VL unless i'm hitting a lair.

i say, slice the VL, hit up the spice drugs and go whoop up.

i know of 2 other pikeman on Lowca, anyone else?

send puusher and /tell and let's VL some stuff to death.

I find I miss a lot less in groups than I do when soloing - don't know if thats my imagination or whether SWG has a system similar to DAoC, whereby you get a bonus to hit for each person attacking something.

try to tank anything big, you'll be incapped or dead in no time... with or without armors/buffs

unless you can hide behind some pet and hope the mob dont see you, or have a personal medic to assist you....

buffs are great, but it doesnt make us better than pets, you can buff your pets too, and they'll do a better job than you do as a tank

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Malqanar wrote:

I find I miss a lot less in groups than I do when soloing - don't know if thats my imagination or whether SWG has a system similar to DAoC, whereby you get a bonus to hit for each person attacking something.

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The reason I am a pikeman: Sweep2.

Even with the nerf... If you aren't in 1st person mode. Just watch 3-5 creatures (or if you are luck PC) fall down all at once. Even if I die. It is so cool everytime I do it. I will never get board of watching everything within 5m of me just all of a sudden fall down.

It's -55 out of 100.

The real issue is a Master Pikeman gets +80 Polearm Accuracy and we still get -40+ on Long Vibro Axes. And accuracy is not the only issue, it compounds the fact.

OK. Let's just say it is -55 out of a base 100. That puts us off a bit from the base two handed sword guys at about +10 to hit. However, I think the true Litmus Test is in the XP - especially in a group setting. I don't think that there is any debate that we get our fair share of XP in a group. If this is true, and XP is given out due to proportional damage, I'm not sure what the big deal is. Like I said, I have hit creatures for 2,380 points of damage before using Polearm Hit 1. I sorta chuckle when I see my TKA friend get excited about hitting for 300. Truth be told, my peers are doing much less per hit.

Even if I don't hit again for the rest of the combat, doing 2,380 in damage is going to get me a sizable chunck of XP. I think the real thing to look at is damage over time. How much damage do we do over time to a single target. I would glady team up with a heavy swordsman of the same skill level, walk up to a "red" animal and see who gets more XP.We will win this contest every time. My group loves it when I am there. They need me in the thick of it. All the damage we do, we get all the agro. We have our niche - we just need to understand it better.My assessment is, we are the uber-party-melee combatant. I have found few to rival my damage in combat, save maybe the commando. We are theRifleman of pointblank range. Our damage is variable - which makes it fun. However, I truly think if you added up your total damage (watch your combat window next time) you would have a new found respect for your ability.

With that all said, theHAM is a problem for sure. Realistically, it does not make sense for me to use any other special than PolearmHit 1 - because the other specials are just not cost justified - especially if I miss.I don't think any class should be so heavily penalized in HAMto a point that it makes people not want to use them. The fact that we get more specials at additional levels, only compounds the problem. There is no benefit to raising your level in Polearm when you get a special that you are discouraged from using due to the high HAM. Mind you, if they made HAM costslessfor a specials, or reduced the cost for a miss, that would be huge. When we do hit, I have no problem paying for HAM when I just hit some sucka for 2,380.

To the otherPikeman out there, I emplore you. Take a look at your combat window. Team up with some lads and show your stuff.My sense is, once you take look at the proportional damage you will have a new found respect for the profession. I still say we are the king of melee, the -55 to the LVA just keeps the chumpsaway who are easily dicouraged- thus making us a true elite class and among the most rare.

Verdusk Bal - Scylla