Pistoleer Archive
Thread: New Novice Pistoler Needs Some Grinding Advice.
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Agaltero
Wed Nov 12, 2003 2:12 pm
#1
From the title of your post, I would conclude that you're looking for advice on where to hunt in order to reap the maximum benefit in xp with a minimum of risk. Well, I'm afraid that this is not only a matter of subjective opinion, but also creates a lot of grief for folks because when someone posts about the latest new 'fishing hole', we suddenly see an influx of campers and grinders, to the point that the ol' fishing hole just ain't what it used to be. That said, let me give you some advice on how to make your advancement through the Pistoleer profession easier (if not faster):
1. First, don't grind. Yep, that's right. Grinding turns a game into a chore, and frankly, I pay my monthly subscription to have fun. If you find grinding fun, more power to you, but it wouldn't be called 'grinding' if it was all that enjoyable, would it? Besides, I think you'll find that progression can still be steady even if you aren't necessarily trying to rip through the skill tiers in a single day or two.
2. Forget about being 'pure Pistoleer'. Where I come from, 'pure' Pistoleers are one-trick ponies that have very little to offer, other than the hot end of a blaster. To that end, I've included some tips beneath this bullet to help out along this line:
2a. Go get a pair of Vibroknucklers and train Novice Brawler. Then, work your way up to Unarmed 4. Sure, you don't have the cert to use VKs properly, but the speed inherent to the VKs will increase your hitting speed, while your damage will be comparable to using no weapon at all. Faster hitting + same damage = more damage.
2b. Once you've got Unarmed 4, train in Novice Smuggler. Sure, you're going to use some of your precious Pistol xp here, but the tradeoff is worth it for one reason alone - Feign Death. This little gem will help you take out just about anything in the game, if you're patient enough and your FD is successful. Even creatures that ADD can be fooled with FD, so if you want to take on bigger game with bigger rewards, check out Smuggler (plus, slicing and spicing are good means of supplementing your income).
2c. Train in Novice Medic. This will give you access to Stim B's which are just about the best thing in the game since Tatooine Sunburns. Being able to heal yourself is crucial when you're using higher HAM cost specials and hunting the really big game.
That said, let's get back to the other useful tips:
3. Get yourself some good armour and be conscious of the armour hole bug. The armour hole bug is the bug that treats armour as no armour if you're wearing clothes underneath the armour or wearing a backpack. When you've got armour on, make sure you've JUST got the armour on. You should notice that you take less damage. Do be aware of your encumberance, though, and adjust accordingly. Yes, good armour costs a lot, but believe me, it's worth it.
4. Get yourself an MSE droid. Not only will you make some poor Droid Engineer ecstatic that he or she actually sold something, but you can group with the MSE droid and then tell it to stay in some small corner of the city while you go out hunting. Grouping gives an added bonus to the xp you bring in from each kill, and keeping the droid in the city avoids unpleasant pathing and following issues (plus the possibility of your droid getting trashed).
5. Finally, don't discount small game as a source of good xp. Sure, it may not be as exciting or satisfying as taking down a tortur or something, but if you can easily blow away 10 things that give 100-300 xp in a given amount of time, you'll likely end up making more xp overall in that given period of time than you would hunting something larger, and you'll likely incur less downtime from having to Feign Death, heal, or recover from wounds or incapacitation. Less downtime means more time to hunt and kill, getting xp and cred. The trade-off is subtle at first, but if you're paying attention, it can end up being quite significant.
Hope this helps you somewhat.
Cheers!
1. First, don't grind. Yep, that's right. Grinding turns a game into a chore, and frankly, I pay my monthly subscription to have fun. If you find grinding fun, more power to you, but it wouldn't be called 'grinding' if it was all that enjoyable, would it? Besides, I think you'll find that progression can still be steady even if you aren't necessarily trying to rip through the skill tiers in a single day or two.
2. Forget about being 'pure Pistoleer'. Where I come from, 'pure' Pistoleers are one-trick ponies that have very little to offer, other than the hot end of a blaster. To that end, I've included some tips beneath this bullet to help out along this line:
2a. Go get a pair of Vibroknucklers and train Novice Brawler. Then, work your way up to Unarmed 4. Sure, you don't have the cert to use VKs properly, but the speed inherent to the VKs will increase your hitting speed, while your damage will be comparable to using no weapon at all. Faster hitting + same damage = more damage.
2b. Once you've got Unarmed 4, train in Novice Smuggler. Sure, you're going to use some of your precious Pistol xp here, but the tradeoff is worth it for one reason alone - Feign Death. This little gem will help you take out just about anything in the game, if you're patient enough and your FD is successful. Even creatures that ADD can be fooled with FD, so if you want to take on bigger game with bigger rewards, check out Smuggler (plus, slicing and spicing are good means of supplementing your income).
2c. Train in Novice Medic. This will give you access to Stim B's which are just about the best thing in the game since Tatooine Sunburns. Being able to heal yourself is crucial when you're using higher HAM cost specials and hunting the really big game.
That said, let's get back to the other useful tips:
3. Get yourself some good armour and be conscious of the armour hole bug. The armour hole bug is the bug that treats armour as no armour if you're wearing clothes underneath the armour or wearing a backpack. When you've got armour on, make sure you've JUST got the armour on. You should notice that you take less damage. Do be aware of your encumberance, though, and adjust accordingly. Yes, good armour costs a lot, but believe me, it's worth it.
4. Get yourself an MSE droid. Not only will you make some poor Droid Engineer ecstatic that he or she actually sold something, but you can group with the MSE droid and then tell it to stay in some small corner of the city while you go out hunting. Grouping gives an added bonus to the xp you bring in from each kill, and keeping the droid in the city avoids unpleasant pathing and following issues (plus the possibility of your droid getting trashed).
5. Finally, don't discount small game as a source of good xp. Sure, it may not be as exciting or satisfying as taking down a tortur or something, but if you can easily blow away 10 things that give 100-300 xp in a given amount of time, you'll likely end up making more xp overall in that given period of time than you would hunting something larger, and you'll likely incur less downtime from having to Feign Death, heal, or recover from wounds or incapacitation. Less downtime means more time to hunt and kill, getting xp and cred. The trade-off is subtle at first, but if you're paying attention, it can end up being quite significant.
Hope this helps you somewhat.
Cheers!
Gaellen
Wed Nov 12, 2003 3:00 pm
#2
From one new person to another.. buy buffs. You can hunt considerably meaner mobs, with no real impact from using specials, and very little downtime.
Dros
Thu Nov 13, 2003 1:17 am
#3
I just would like some Pistol EXP grinding advice. I'm a pure pistoleer so please keep in mind I only have the moves associated withNovice Pistoleer.
THX
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