Pistoleer Archive
Thread: Pistoleer Skills on a Budget
SueDenim wrote:
Hi Chachi!
I actually do have Hunting I currently, though I was thinking that might be the next thing to go to free up my first Pistoleer box. It's nice, but I get about 80% of my hides from other players anyhow....
I was also planning to eventually get rid of First Aid III, but holding on to it *while* progressing up Pistoleer struck me as a good idea. And now that I just picked it up, I really really like it.
I've found Trapping to be really nice, especially those "slow-down" darts, and Exploration IV is pretty vital for my current tactics, such as they are, against strong targets (especially NPCs) - "annoy one, run like hell, get him to follow without all his friends." With Exp IV, I can actually pull that off a fair amount of the time. Though one or the other might have to go, since Trapping and Exploration are serving more or less the same tactical purpose. One gets bad guys out of the fight by speeding me up, one by slowing the other guys down. (From experience and advice, btw, it seems like the Trapping I and II traps aren't especially useful, and the Trapping IV traps are underwhelming. But both of the Trapping III ones can really kick butt, particularly used together.)
I do have a pet, just not a terribly good one, being a non-CH (either a bearded jax or a kaadu), as well as an Advanced Probot. Offensively they ain't much, but they do draw some heat away from me.
Sounds like the consensus is that I should start out on the Stances and Grips path. I was thinking another argument in favor of that is that the new "Mitigation" abilities are slated to go there whenever they're introduced.
I just dropped all my Exploration Skill and still have a tactic that may work for you. Get prone or kneel, target 1 creature, hit your bleed (or bleeds when you get Health Shot II) then peace. Get up and get about 80-90m away. Once the first bleed hits, the creature or NPC will come hard charging (sans Friends). Just make sure you don't hit him until he has been in range for a few. On ranged NPC go back further.
You should find this to be a very effective tactic at pulling them out.
Stances and Grips have the best specials it's true, but without a lot of speed, they can be clunky and slow. Kip Up shot in the Marksman Pistol provides the best DPS so you may want to think about getting the Health Bleed 2 and maybe exploring getting more modifiers. The Dodge is now working and is still very underrated I find and the Accuracy Line will ensure you hit more often and in better situations as well as giving you some decent defenses.
It's your call, pick your template based on how you intend to play. With limited Speed, the power of stopping shot is severly limited by its delay. Besides Pistol Melee Defense I and Health Shot 2 your bread and butter should be Kip Up Shot and Body Shot II.
So think about how far you plan on going before completely comitting to the Grips line.
SueDenim wrote:
I know mitigation won't be in the next patch, but I'm sure it'll be in eventually, so I figure that's a long-term advantage for choosing that tree.
I still don't get Warning Shot, though - is there some special trick to it or something? I was fooling around using it against some Diseased Vrelts (i.e., hardly formidable opposition) and it seemed to have exactly the same effect as any other attack. Never saw any sign of it driving critters away.
The 'trick' is to immediately hit /peace after you see a creature turn torun away. (I guess the other 'trick' is to spam the shotUNTIL you see the creature turn to run away, then immediately /clear thequeue and /peace out.) Otherwise you'll continue autoattacking it and it will, of course, not be happy, and will turn around and start attacking you again.
Many times, after you hit /peace, the creature will run so far away that you can't even see them anymore. Gives a LOT of time for a bleed to do some damage, if you're inclined to go running after it for a kill.
I have to say this, coz maybe it will help you or maybe it wont :
Ranged Support IV : Suppression Fire is great. I rely heavily on it when fighting PvE against creatures, solo or in groups.
This special forces the creature to kneel, which stops them from chasing you.
While the Phenacine Dart of Trapping IV also stops creatures, (is that the right trap) you can use Suppression Fire from 64m with a long range pistol.
A good tactic is to use your two Bleed Shots, then a Suppression Fire to stop them for a few seconds while you displace for tactical advantage.
Others will disagree, but i find it a useful tactic.
When they get up and come after me, i use Threaten Shot and soon after Warning Shot.
By the time the creature is starting to close on me, its time for another Suppression Fire.
If you use these specials at the right time, and have a bit of luck in regards to landing the shot, you can get through PvE with melee creatures without suffering a scratch.
Something to consider anyway......