Pistoleer Archive

Here is the updated issues post that was submitted. Please list any new issues in this post, or changes on the old issues...thanks for the great feedback everyone!

Pistoleer Issues Report #1 Updated

7/27/03

Technical Questions/Issues (top 5):

=============================

1. Disarming Shot 1: Seems to just do random HAM damage (redundant). The name and documented description is misleading if it's intended to just be a random HAM pool special like the other styles in the stances/grips line. It makes sense to be there (double tap, stopping shot, fan shot, are all variations of random HAM damage), but maybe it's a bit confusing being named “disarm shot 1”. I have yet to test myself on a player, but posts have been made about duels where they checked weapon condition and it remains the same.

** fix in progres: 2. Multi Target Pistol Shot: Several master pistoleers report that this special seems ineffective/broken (especially considering it’s achieved at mastery)

3. Is there a cap on pistol accuracy and speed? With the bounty hunter + pistoleer line, some report speed capping at +100. Bug or hard cap?

4. Dodge does not seem to work very often. Even at mastery, folks report it rarely going off. We aren’t sure if that’s designed or if defenses in general are set a bit low. What does +20 mean in terms of dodge (or block, etc.)?

5. Pistol melee defense 2 – Does not have the same knockdown component as pistol melee defense 1. I suggested that it was fine to use pistol defense 1, then follow up with pistol defense 2 for more damage, but with the sporadic nature of knockdown, no one wants to miss the opportunity by swapping hits, and no one wants to juggle two specials trying to eek out a little more damage, and as a result, many don’t even have it on the hotbar. I just got melee defense 2 last night and while it does do more damage, I see their point about not wanting to worry with it when it cannot provide the same effect + additional damage. While it doesn’t seem to be a mistake in the special, the community wanted the question raised about it since in practice, it doesn’t seem to be utilized.

General Game-play Suggestions/Concerns (top 5):

==========================================

1. Holsters – Store pistols in a holster when not in combat mode.

2. Bounty Hunter (pistol) vs Pistoleer - A lot of confusion and jealousy stems from the bounty hunter profession “competing” with the title of “best pistol user”. Many address this by buying bounty hunter pistol line + pistoleer skills. It's still very popular on the board(s) even after numerous debates. Many of us have posted that indeed, if you look at overall defense, overall skill points left over after hitting master, overall accuracy/speed (which are very close to BH), and overall special abilities, that pistoleer seems fine compared to BH, which leaves far fewer points remaining they DO have very useful specials that pistoleers don’t have equivalents of (mind pool attack, torso shot w/fire DOT), but then also lack defense (Does defense make a big difference?) variety in their specials, no pistol knockdown, and mastery BH has 33 skill points remaining, or 76 if they just choose the pistol tree (vs. the 158 points remaining if you hit pistol mastery). Others still insist BH having more “general pistol accuracy” is an issue, and having 50 speed vs the pistoleer 49 speed seems odd as well (I’m pretty sure personally that +1 speed isn’t going to matter, but it was the fact that pistoleer was indeed lower was causing some eyebrows to raise). Any official discussion on this might help clear the air.

3. Gun twirling emote(s) - or make it a special attack at mastery level (would be another carrot to achieve mastery in a profession.). Could be tied to an intimidate effect, for instance, if changes to specials are desired. Another suggestion might be to have this go off randomly when holstering your weapon.

4. Certifications - common to all combat classes– all but the DX2 certification is achieved in the marksman line, which takes relatively very little time to climb, often just a few days. As a result, no real excitement occurs when getting a new certification. Consider having some pistol certifications achieved along the pistoleer ranks where progress is more costly and far slower. We realize pistols seem to be different primarily for the strategy involved in switching them out depending on opponent (tangler doing stun, DX2 doing acid, FWG doing fire, striker doing kinetic, etc.), but those fast marksman pistol levels are a blur of ease to achieve and many don’t even notice them (By the time they can afford a good pistol, they can use all but the DX2 for instance). Certifications on the pistoleer tree or at mastery might provide more of a carrot to hit mastery, and something to further distinguish masters from dabblers.

5. Dual Wielding pistols – very popular request, whether it’s cosmetic or confers some actual benefit.

Thank you for slightly unnerfing the BH vs. Pistoleer issue. I think you at least communicated our concerns in this one. And you asked for a dev discussion/comments which is whatI would really like.

Looks good. Good job.