Pistoleer Archive
Thread: -Petition to fix Pistoleer Specials-
Take this seriously. I don't want people to come in here and screw around.
Dev's fix our specials. There is no point in doing Pistoleer vs. Carbineer, BH, and Commando. (Yes, Carbineers are good.) We need to take some slow baby steps to fixing this profession. Start at fixing the specials, because you have nerfed us enough. I will list the broken specials written up our correspondent in the "State of Profession" post.
***BUGS***
1) DISARMING SHOT 1 AND DISARMING SHOT 2 DON'T WORK (Reported in AUGUST): These specials do not “disarm” an opponent or do ANYTHING else and are useless in their current forms (the descriptions do not match the special effect). DisarmingShot1 has no special effect -- it just does random HAM damage. Actually, it does LESS DAMAGE THAN THE DEFAULT AUTO ATTACK (when you don’t use a special attack), due to the delay. DisarmingShot2 (Master Pistoleer special) used to be an AOE Knockdown, but now it just does more damage to the person using it (in HAM costs) than it does to the enemy. Please add something useful to these specials, because they are unique signature specials of Pistoleers. In the past we've made a number of suggestions, including making DisarmingShot a ranged Intimidate, making it an ability similar to Panic Shot, or making it "disarm" an opponent by preventing him from equipping any weapon for a certain number of seconds, with a timer. Even hitting the Action bar for a decent amount of damage (say, 2.0 and 3.5 modifiers), at this point, would be worthwhile given that all of our specials tend to hit the Health bar. From our perspective, ANYTHING that is actually useful, at this point, would be welcome. One idea we'd like to take off the table -- Pistoleers are uniformly against the idea of damaging the condition of an opponent's weapon, because we are not interested in griefing other players. Please give us something that helps us kill the enemy, not grief him by destroying his expensive gun.
2) BODYSHOT 3 IS WORSE THAN BODYSHOT 2 (Reported in AUGUST): BodyShot3 (Pistoleer Grips 3) is outperformed by BodyShot2 (Marksman), and has been worse than BodyShot2 since release! We reported this in our first month's report, and it's still not fixed. Since BodyShot3 is the ONLY targeted HAM special in the entire Pistoleer tree, it should be significantly more effective than the special we get in Marksman. Just in case you don't believe us, multiple tests all showed the same results: (+74 pistol speed, 4.0 speed, 17-35 damage CDEF on unarmored, same opponent:
Body Shot 2 = 80.4 avg dmg per shot 1.8s avg delay = 43.8 dmg per second (Marksman skill)
Body Shot 3 = 97.8 avg dmg per shot 2.5s avg delay = 39.0 dmg per second (Pistoleer Grips 3)
We need BodyShot3 to be effective, given that it's our only targeted damage shot. A 3.5x damage modifier, a reduced delay modifier, a state effect added to it, ANYTHING to make it effective for a Pistoleer. As it currently stands, it’s basically useless, and it’s one of our hallmark special attacks.
3) THE DX2 (PISTOLEER-ONLY) PISTOL IS WORSE THAN PISTOL CERTIFICATIONS OBTAINED IN THE MARKSMAN TREE (Reported in SEPTEMBER): The DX2 is supposed to be the "elite" Pistoleer pistol -- it is the only pistol certification on the Pistoleer tree. Nonetheless the vast majority of Pistoleers use FWG5 Pistols or Scout Blasters, and our forum is filled with posts saying "the DX2 sucks" or "when is the DX2 going to be fixed." There are several reasons why. First of all, the DX2 is by FAR the least accurate pistol in the game. Its accuracy is set to ideal at point blank. Please make this similar to the FWG5 Pistol or Scout Blaster in accuracy so that it can be better than the Marksman pistols. Secondly, the DX2 requires FOUR identical power handlers, so it is very difficult to upgrade with looted components. While the FWG5 Pistol or the Scatter Pistol or the Scout Blaster or the Launcher Pistol all require ONE Krayt tissue to upgrade, the DX2 requires FIVE for the same benefit. Give the DX2 one power handler, like the other pistols. Third, the resources seem far too rare for this weapon -- this is the same problem that the other "elite" weapons (the Elite Carbine and the DX2 Rifle) face. We need this pistol to be craftable by Master Weaponsmiths in such a way that makes it have stats far better than we see on most servers, even now in the game, so Pistoleers can use the DX2 instead of Marksman pistols like the FWG5 or Scout Blaster. Also, the armor piercing doesn't work on the DX2 for any opponent that has a vulnerability to acid -- this is a global bug that affects the DX2. The bottom line is that the DX2 is THE PISTOLEER PISTOL and should be, at the very least, better than anything we can get in the Marksman tree. Please fix the DX2.
4) MULTI TARGET PISTOL SHOT IS BROKEN (Reported in SEPTEMBER): Multi Target Pistol Shot, one of our Master Pistoleer specials, works only sporadically and even then is ineffective. I can't get the special to fire most of time when I've tried to test it, and even when it "works" it is worse than just firing by using the TAB key to move to the next target. As a Master Pistoleer special, it should provide a significant benefit -- right now it rarely works and isn't worth using when it does. Just make this into an AOE attack (since we know that the AOE code actually works) that targets the Health pool, and add a bleed/DoT or state effect. If that isn’t possible, make it a high damage AOE random HAM attack with a useful state effect (knockdown, blind, etc). Maybe even the “attack everyone within 32m” idea that the Combat Dev mentioned would suffice, as long as the code actually worked so we could hit everyone instantaneously. As a Master Pistoleer special, MTPS should be worth using and provide an incentive to climb up the tree instead of just dabbling at the bottom. Pistoleer specials are in general redundant, vanilla, and are seriously lacking without any ranged state effects, ranged knockdown, etc. One way to improve them is to have effective AOE attacks that work, such as MTPS.
5) PISTOL MELEE DEFENSE 2 DOESN'T WORK (Reported in SEPTEMBER): This special currently does nothing -- it doesn't knock down the target, cause a state effect, or do anything else worthwhile ... yet it has a HIGHER HAM cost than Pistol Melee Defense 1, which is a melee knockdown. Right now it causes as much damage to the Pistoleer using the attack as it does to the enemy and is never worth using, as a MELEE range random HAM attack with high HAM cost. Please add the dizzy state effect to this special, so it's worth using as a combo with Melee Defense 1, and lower the HAM cost to be in line with the other pistol specials. Right now this special is totally broken.
6) FANSHOT IS BROKEN ON TESTCENTER: Prior to the last patch, FanShot was yet another useless Pistoleer random HAM attack that had no state effect and spit out the same DPS as Marksman specials. In the last patch, an AOE effect was added to the special, which suddenly made it a useful and unique change-of-pace attack for Pistoleers. Now, on TestCenter, the AOE effect has been removed. Why? Is this a bug? I haven't gotten Correspondent access on TestCenter yet, and you've asked me to write this Report ASAP, so I'm not able to investigate further. If the removal of the AOE effect is intentional, do SOMETHING to FanShot to make it useful. Right now Pistoleer is full of vanilla random HAM attacks that have no state effects and spit out the same or worse damage-per-second as Marksman specials.
7) STOPPING SHOT IS BROKEN (Reported in SEPTEMBER): The description of Stopping Shot is that it stops or incapacitates an opponent in one hit. We get a lot of questions asking if it slows an opponent, if it has a % chance to incap, etc., but all it currently does is spit out random HAM damage with a long delay modifier (it's slow). As currently implemented, StoppingShot is worthless to the average Pistoleer. It does less damage per second than Double Tap (Techniques II Pistoleer), and less damage per second than Roll Shot and Kip Up Shot from Marksman! Actually, it even does less damage over time early on, when compared to Overcharge Shot 1, which you get at NOVICE Marksman! The only folks who find this attack useful are folks who have the BH Pistol line, because they can dabble in Pistoleer and use the borked speed equation (see Gameplay Issue #2, below) to fire this special at the one-second speed cap. Please lower the delay to make this attack better than the Marksman specials for the average Pistoleer -- as we climb our tree, we should get better abilities, not worse ones! Also please add a state effect (like Posture Down) so this special actually stops/slows the enemy, as its description states. Right now, like so many of our attacks, this is just a random HAM attack with no state effects ... which means Pistoleers are better off using BodyShot because at least BodyShot’s damage is hitting a single pool instead of being spread across three (only 55% of random HAM attacks hit health, on average, based on our tests).
8) POINT BLANK AREA 2 IS BROKEN (Reported in SEPTEMBER): It is only hitting one target and not multiple targets -- please fix the area of effect. Also, the damage should be increased to make up for this being a point blank attack -- right now it has a similar DPS to Marksman specials, even though it is not attained until Pistoleer Grips 4 and is limited to melee range. Point blank attacks are so limiting to fast moving ranged combat professions that they need to offer significant benefits in order to be worth the risk of using. Significantly increase the damage on this special, and consider making it an AOE Warning Shot, so it can be useful to a Pistoleer who is being aggroed by multiple creatures.
9) DOUBLE TAP IS WORSE THAN MARKSMAN SPECIALS (Reported in SEPTEMBER): This special, achieved at Pistoleer Techniques 2, is currently outperformed by the Marksman skills that any Pistoleer already has (Kip Up Shot, Roll Shot) in terms of pure DPS. We suggest a damage increase, or a drastic delay decrease so this can become the "quick attack" for low level Pistoleers. If there is something that could be done with this special attack to make it unique, that would also be welcome, since we have so many redundant special attacks that only do random HAM damage (and as you see, far less than they should).
10) POINT BLANK SINGLE 1 IS WORSE THAN MARKSMAN SPECIALS (Reported in SEPTEMBER): This special has the same damage-per-second as Marksman specials, yet is limited to melee range. This special ability offers no advantage to a Pistoleer that acquires it since they could use a non-range limited Marksman attack instead to deal out the same damage. Consider:
- increasing damage appropriately,
- decreasing the HAM cost for these specials,
- or adding a state effect to make it unique and worthwhile.
Please note that pistols are MOST effective at short range already, having a better chance to hit at short range is essentially overkill on accuracy, it needs something more than that to be useful.
11) HEALTHSHOT2 IS BUGGED (Reported in SEPTEMBER): Based on multiple tests (against other players), the wound levels for HealthShot2 are bugged. Each time that HealthShot2 hits an enemy, it has a chance of causing Strength or Constitution wounds. However, if the first HealthShot2 causes 58 Strength wounds, for example, the next HealthShot2 could cause the number of wounds to GO DOWN to, say, 43 or whatever. The wounds can actually DECREASE or increase with each subsequent hit, randomly. If this is supposed to be a way for Pistoleers to cause wounds, each shot should have a chance to cause Strength/Constitution wounds and they should add rather than fluctuate up and down (we think that is a bug). It’s obviously not functioning properly.
12) THE REPUBLIC BLASTER CERTIFICATION IS BROKEN (Reported in SEPTEMBER): Many players have the certification for this pistol, but others don't, and no one knows why. Even for players who have the certification, the certification is broken -- they get a "you are not certified" message and extremely reduced damage output when they attempt to use this pistol. Weaponsmiths can craft this weapon, so can you enable us to use it by fixing the certification? And please explain to us why some players have this certification and others don't? We'd like to see this certification somewhere in the Pistoleer tree, since the Republic Blaster is an AR1 pistol that is better than the broken DX2 that we have right now.
13) DODGE IS BROKEN ON LIVE SERVERS (Reported in AUGUST): The Dodge skill is currently broken on Live servers, and has been broken since release. This has been changed on TestCenter -- the modifier has increased -- but I don't have Correspondent access on TestCenter and you want me to write this report ASAP. On Live, it's very clear that Dodge isn't working:
Defender: Master Pistoleer (+30 DODGE)
Attacker: Master Marksman (no Pistoleer or BH skills) using a CDEF Pistol from 7m away
Number of attacks: 194 Number of dodges: THREE (1.5 PERCENT)
This skill is useless -- a Master Pistoleer is dodging only 1.5 percent of attacks versus someone with only Marksman pistol skills. Anyone at less than Master is dodging even LESS, if that's possible. We really need this defense to be useful for us. As a basis of comparison, the -Blind- state effect (from BH EyeShot, in this case) is far more effective:
Same attacker and defender
WITHOUT BLIND: Number of attacks: 194 Hit: 168 (86.6%)
WHEN THE ATTACKER WAS BLIND: Number of attacks: 203 Hit: 129 (63.5%)
Given that the -Blind- state effect made the attacker 2.72 TIMES more likely to miss the target (a 23.1 percent reduction, in this example), it's not unreasonable or unbalanced for a Master Pistoleer to dodge, say, 20 percent of attacks. Our profession has no armor piercing weapons, no state effects, no ranged knockdown, the lowest DPS -- the bottom line is that we need working defenses to make this profession worthwhile. Right now Dodge doesn't help us at all.
Unfortunately, there’s an even bigger problem with Dodge right now. Many Pistoleers don’t even WANT to dodge an attack because the dodge animation brings the Pistoleer to a halt. That means that dodging actually makes it easier for our enemies to catch us and prevents us from staying on the move, which is usually one of our advantages. Please remove the dodge animation and find some way of indicating that we have dodged an attack that doesn’t bring us to a stop.
And I leave this post with... /sign
NOTE: The Republic Blaster is fine now.
NOTE: Not sure if Fan Shot is still broken on the TC. Leave it as it is on Live please.
petitions=ineffective
look at the bounty hunter forum. they startnew petitions on a daily basis. it's just stupid. no one one's going to read it. our specials are going to get fixed whenever the developers are free enough to participate in the correspondent program and not before that happens.
dodge is not broken anymore.. i dueld my friend who is a master pistoleer and i must have gotten 10 shots on him (we were testing dodge) and he dodged6 of my shots....hell thats not bad lol
I would sign if it wasn't for the fact that you copied an old post and pasted here. You should have at least taken out the dodge and fanshot lines. Plus, this post makes pistoleer seem like the worse class ever created in the history of MMORPGs when in fact, the worst class are Skalds from DAoC. Anyway, pistoleer is great. All i want is Body Shot 3 to do damage to the health,more or less torso shot damage without the DoT, we dont need the DoT.
This is a good effort, and people shouldn't get on his case.
The post is out-of-date because he copied and pasted from my Report, which was before the patch. The FanShot bug was fixed -- it is still AOE -- and the Republic Blaster now works. Also Dodge was fixed. You guys are right about that. He just copied that from my Report, though, so don't give him a hard time.
I wish I knew what would get the Devs' attention ... somehow I don't think a petition on this forum will do much, because it's pretty clear that they don't read the Pistoleer forum. 
We're just not high on their list of priorities right now,for whatever reason.
I'm doing the best I can on my end. Hopefully we get some responses from them soon.