Pistoleer Archive

There is a seemingly large amount of space being taken up on these forums by template questions. I do occasionally find some interesting thing, but why not compile all the information in one place? I do believe that help should be given to those who need it but a lot of things get repeated so often.The following is to layout the benefits of each skill one might think of using with swordsman.Hopefully people can refer to this before they begin asking questions.Sorry if some of this seems redundant obvious but it seems to get repeated in threads constantly.

Swordsman: For high end PvE, master is essential. Swordsman doesn't offer as much melee/ranged defense or state defenses as other professions.It does offer high damage weapons and up to AP2.Your main weapons are the scythe and power hammer.

All the skill point values below do not include the any of the 92 SPs from swordsman wherever they may come into play (you already have novice brawler so I subtracted 15 from the SPs needed for things like master tka, its 77 instead of 92).

Please note that you should not develop your template around what other people think, but what you think you need because only you can identify your needs(more melee/ranged vs. more state defense vs. more damage types from mastering other professions).

Some popular skills to acquire along with swordsman:

Some people find this a must as it provides you with lunge 2(20m range KD), intimidate 2(longer lasting than intimidate 1 so you don't need to constantly spam it so your opponent is intimidated), warcry2(very useful when you have too many nightsisters and you need to break off some of the damage), and an extra +5 speed. I personally use all of these things a lot and think master brawler is really just part of the package with swordsman.

Further information on utilizing intimidate and warcry:

/forums.station.sony.com/swg/board/message?board.id=brawler&message.id=11032

/forums.station.sony.com/swg/board/message?board.id=brawler&message.id=9850

Teras Kasi Artist (tkm 77 SPs, 34 for your first column if you get it from novice brawler and add 14 for each additional one):

Novice provides 10 combat equilibrium.

Different trees can be taken from this or it can be mastered.

Meditate 4(4xxx tka)is a nice tree as it lets you heal your wounds in the wilderness.Precision Striking 4(xxx4) provides melee (60) ranged(45) defense, defense acuity only works with unarmed weapons (http://forums.station.sony.com/swg/board/message?board.id=teras_kasi_artist&message.id=78219).Balance conditioning (30 combat equilibrium and 10 defense vs. blind 30 defense vs. posture change(down), 20 defense vs. stun/knockdown) is another tree you can dabble in.Please note that when dabbling the 4th tier is useless because it provides no defenses, except unarmed toughness and if you are dabbling in it, it doesn’t affect you.

Mastering the profession is dependant on your play style.If you use master swordsman as your main and sole profession, it is pretty useless.It provides and extra 15 combat equilibrium and 25 defensive acuity though (at which point if you have master and use it, it is worth having), but I find it not worth spending the extra 16 SPs cause you then need balance conditioning 4 and all of power techniques (useless for dabbling purposes, as it only provides +damage/speed) which provide no benefit to swordsman.

Fencer (77 SPs for master, 34 for your first column if you get it from novice brawler and add 14 for each additional one):

Mastering the fencer profession for use in PvE is a mistake.It lacks high damage output and only has one AP1 weapon.It does have branches which do provide a lot of defense to help you.

Novice fencer gives you 15 melee/ranged defense.

Stances and grips is a very helpful line (4xxx).It provides you with 54 ranged and melee defense.This will greatly help you while tanking high level mobs. Foot work 4(x4xx) provides 50 defense vs. knockdown and posture change (down).If you feel that you are getting knocked down too much then pick up this line (and for those who solo giant canyon krayts).The techniques line (xx4x) provides 40 defense vs. blind and dizzy and 20 vs. intimidate (you may also feel a need for this when soloing giant canyon krayts).If the mobs you want to solo do deal those states onto you then pick it up.If not, don’t waste the skill points.

Fencer Template Thread:

http://forums.station.sony.com/swg/board/message?board.id=fencer&message.id=36168

Pikeman in my opinion is useless but I will layout what you can get from it.

Novice pikeman gives you 5 melee defense.

Defensive Techniques 4 gives you 10 ranged/melee defense and 20 defense vs. blind/knockdown/stun/posture change (down)/dizzy.The fencer defenses are much more useful and plentiful.

Support Abilities 4 can provide you with +60 polearm accuracy.If you like to use DoTs in PvE, to help you dwindle down and elder or krayt faster, you can pick up this line.

I wouldn’t recommend pikeman as reaping the benefits require you to have very good equipment which is quite rare(high end mind poison/fire pikes).

Pikeman Template Thread:

http://forums.station.sony.com/swg/board/message?board.id=pikeman&message.id=34829

Pistoleer (49 SPs)

Mastering pistoleer won’t really help you in PvE with swordsman, but getting 0040 just might.It provides you with 50 defense vs. knockdown, 40 defense vs. stun/blind/dizzy, and 20 defense vs. posture change (down).If you do find yourself experiences these states a lot it is worth getting.It may be considered more for PvP in some player’s eyes but if it fits what you are killing, get it.

Rifleman (92 SPs)

Dabbling in it is pointless as you need 2 columns to get melee and ranged defense when you can max out on it with the aid of 1 column from tka and 1 from fencer.

Mastering rifleman can help you in PvE as it provides you with AP3 and stun, acid, energy, cold, and heat damage, this already adds to kinetic and blast giving you a very wide damage spectrum.If you are looking to make sure nothing has resists against you, rifleman can help you a lot.It gives you 40 melee defense and 80 ranged defense.

Master swordsman/rifleman/tka 4004/novice medicis a doable template to give you really high melee/ranged defense. If you notice you have trouble just healing with stim Bs, warcry is the only way to counter this giving you enough time for 4 heals. Now that nightsisters have force powers back and the bleeds and choke take a lot out of you, it may get a little tough sometimes, but with experience is doable

Medic (77 SPs)

Mastering just the medic profession won’t acquire much benefit for you.Pharmacology 4 will give you 40 med use though.Toned down stim Ds can then be used to heal for 1000+ damage a time usually.In my experience, I find this a must for elders.First aid 2 gives you first aid which can be used to combat those nasty nightsister bleeds.I don’t use it because with the stim Ds I can pretty much heal the damage fast enough.Wearing +25 injury/wound treatment pants helps a lot, the shirts that go under you armor are +16.

NOTE:Currently in order to obtain full armor coverage you only need a chestplate, helmet, gloves, and boots.It is either those 4 pieces of armor or all 9.Wearing any more then the 4 unless you have all 9 on will cause an armor hole.This is a thoroughly tested thing.In my own experience, it works fine.This is why you can wear the pants in place of composite.

Doctor(140 SPs)

You can do many things with the doctor profession.If you master it you can buff yourself and heal poison/disease/fire and states.If you get 0240(106 SPs) doctor then you can buy 90 med use buffs to buff yourself.You might want 0440(111 SPs) as it gives you more injury/wound treatment which increases the power of your buffs.Used in conjunction with bivoli and +25 injury/wound treatment your buffs can be almost as good as a master doctors.With just 0240 doctor you can be a master brawler/swordsman/0440 doctor.If you go 0440 you are 1 point above for master brawler, but 0340 will still help you.

Ranger (97 SPs)

If you do not hunt high end mobs but just do PvE to gather resources and such, 0040 tracking is a good choice.You can gather lots of meat then sell it, etc.

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Message Edited by TreindTyde on 09-03-2004 12:18 PM