Pikeman Archive

OK guys I am still lvl1 pikeman across the board , but I am debating on dropping it all together.

I have CH at the level to call my Crimson Razor Cat and that is fine with me.

My problem with pikeman/meele is this.

We miss ALOT!

We get kitted by NPC's ALOT.

We can't hit moving targets.

We can't attack Kimo's in a group without getting killed. Which mean no EXP!

We can't attack jedi in a group without getting killed. Which means no loot or exp.

I can't kill a savage humbabba without going to half my ham.

Some of you higher level pikemen tell me that is a light at the end of this tunnel ?

What pluses do pikemen have ? Damage ? It is all well and good if you don't get hit .

Sweep never used it much and after the nerf well doubt I will use it.

Just asking before I drop it want an honest answer on this. Seems to me all ranged have a huge advantage and it is not going to change unless we get extremly better at higher levels SO, I ask what pluses do we have ? Do the higher levels get any better? And if so, explain.

Range is where we have it. The Long Vibro Axe can reach 3-4 meters. A meter farther than unarmed. Sweet deal if you ask me.

Humbabbas are no problem for me.

To be good at pikeman you really have to play smart. You said you have a pet, so here's what you do. Get a VL or LVA and a reinforced staff. Equip the reinforced staff...sick your pet on the mob (I think they hold aggro better now) and use knockdown as the first move, then equip your VL or LVA and whack it a few times, then re-equip your reinforced and sweep again etc... I can kill Humbabbas with ease using this method and my health is intact. Use the specials sparingly since they use up so much HAM.

Being a pikeman requires use of all your skills and weapons...if done right you can own in PvE.

I agree. Pikeman are great in PvM (Player VS Monter, Diablo talk, or as you guys call it, PvE), but at the moment, in PvP, if we win, it is more luck then our abilities.

When i miss the first swing(almost always a special attack). I wanna turn my computer off right there, becouse three more will come before i hit them.

I've from alot of people saying that they can't hit mobs while running. I attack, no problem, while running after something as long as I have done something to slow them down so that they are fast enough for me to keep up with. My 'Charge!' hotkey simply does /follow;/attack and that's normally the only key I have to hit for dark-blue con mobs. If a mob is running after a groupmate, I can normally get inone or twowhacks while I'm running (not using any specials) before the mob turns on me. For XP, just find nest of light-blue to darkblue cons and wail through them one at a time with a standard Lance you'll take little damage and end up with aquite a good bit of XP in a short amount of time. Try not to use your VL/LVA unless you have applied several defensive modifiers to your taget in combat (stun/lower posture/etc.) to counter the heavy accuracy mods you'll be getting from the weapon. Just because a weapon does lots of damage, doesn't mean you need to use it constantly. Try to avoid doing specials with your heavy weapons if at all possible, especially the LVA, as it will cut through your HAM bar like a knife through butter and the cost is often not worth the risk ofthe increasedmiss chance. They docrazy damage without the specials tho, so often you can just let auto-attack do the dirty work once you've pulled outyour favorite heavy-hitter, no specials required. You'll find that even as a Master Pikeman, a goodlance will continue to be one of your most reliable weapons.

"Sweep never used it much and after the nerf well doubt I will use it."

Thats your problem.

I can hit Kimo's

I have killed Dark Jedi Master's

Rarely use the higher special moves, only benefit is the speed increase and accuracy as you raise.

The Sweep1 and 2 are your best friends as a pikeman.

In a group, you will be counted on a lot because of your wide variety of Area Attacks. Use them.

i dont know...is it just me?

i dont see how smart a pikeman can be when fighting something like kimos

pets cant really tank for us since we usuallytakemost ofthe aggro when we hit

and i sometimes feel like i'm one of the CH pets in my group sometimes...with very low HAM + poor armor rating

is pikeman not an elite calss....why do we have to switch back to the not so elite lance, just to be able to hit something with the right accuracy?

after all, pikeman is not an easy class to master.....i really think we should be a bit more better than what we are right now

or are we just not supposed to go pure melee in this game design

I'm a pikeman with 2/0/1/1 in the pike tree. I hear alot of fellow pikeman missing with their weapons and I must say I very rarely miss at all. If I miss once I can pretty much rest assured the next swing will land upside the head. I use a regular lance sliced for speed at 25-235 @ 3.5. I got a Long Vibro Lance as well as a regular vibro lance but I never use them due to their slowness. Speed is where it's at!

I have seen no difference in HAM cost for special moves but I have become more conservative with them. I usually start with Sweep 1 to get them off their feet and then stun with Polearm Hit II or Stun II. After that I let the basic attack take over until the mob starts hitting me pretty consistantly then I knock him on his ass again. I can hit a mob 4-5 times at 200-350 a pop before he gets a lick in and usually finish the fight with little or no HAM damage. It takes a bit longer to finish the kill but more fun and lots less damaging to my health.

The Greater Shaupnel Hunters (spelling?) on Naboo give great exp if I solo without pet around 2200 exp per kill. I'm master medic and can heal myself for over 1000 if I get in trouble with STIM D's. They con red with no pet and white with pet in group. I get about 1200-1300 with pet help and as long as pet tanks I can walk away without a scratch nearly every time. The pet is a Greater Sludge Panther with 8000 HAM.

Sirboo Gambino

Pikeman/ Master Medic/ Creature Handler

Bria

In my (albeit limited) experience, Kimos are tankable if you get Master Doctor Health and Action buffs, and you wait till initimidate 2 lands before moving into melee range, that gives you enough survivability to actually stand ahalfway decentchance of lasting the combat, assuming you have a good healer and enough people to take it down fairly quickly. It's just those darn AoE dizzy/knockdowns that they do that are a pain.

The exp is unspectacular though, 500-1k a pop (though I'm only master brawler, not even novice pikeman yet).. The marksman and creature handlers seem to get much more.. On Lok I much prefer the fights you get on the way to Kimos, those salt mynock things were giving me more exp than Kimos and they were only around 6k HAM, since I'd have a much greater shot at dealing good damage to them.

Yes, accuracy is terrible, horrendous sometimes with LVAs and LVL, bad still with regular lances. This gets better the higher you get toward master, though. As for range issues, I took up a ranged weapon to solve this problem. Pistoleer, specifically for me. If there's an NPC or creature at range attacking, I pull out the gun, run toward it shooting and once i get in range, switch to the LVA and that's that.
I've also had to accept the fact that there are certain creatures we simply cannot fight melee, kimogillas being a great example. It's rediculous to even try.
And sweep is great! I use it all the time, the HAM costs aren't bad and it allows me to hit the target in an advantageous posture, down, which means the hit is usually large. with NPCs, I personally like to alternate the queue with sweep/hit. this works very well for me. If you can, you can even switch to a regular lance with better accuracy to do the sweep to make sure you get it in, then switch back to the heavier weapon for the polearmhit. I love pikeman, but there are certain things we just cannot do. I circumvented this by getting a ranged weapon, too - I'm much more flexible in combat now.

antares

well i am a novice pikeman (0,0,2,1) and i stoped using my virbo lance and started using a renforced combat staff. As long as a time my knockdowns right, the best things i can solo are Bantha Matriarchs (8000-9000 HAM) and Mountain Dewback (8000 HAM), both have AR1 and give around 3000XP, so im doing just fine.

my complaint with pikeman is mainly the toughness factor. Its the lowest of all the melee skills which really makes it hard to take a hit. Which doesn't really make sense because the staff is actually one of the best defensive weapons, at least realistically. It can keep people at bay, it can be used as leverage up close, and its good for blocking.