Pistoleer Archive
Thread: What to kill ?
) but i just wanna get started on my inverstagation skills 
so plz, what should i kill ?
want some one killed ? Give me a tell 
- Scout Blaster (Energy, AP0)
- FWG5(Heat, AP0)
- DX2 or Scatter Pistol (Acid, AP1) -- I prefer a speed-sliced Scatter for grinding, as I find they have lower HAM costs generally.
- Geno Pistol (Stun, AP0)
- Modified Republic Blaster (Energy, AP1, Health Bleed DOT)
If you can't get your hands on a Geno Pistol, don't worry. You shouldn't need it for grinding.
Third (and this is where that speed-sliced Scatter Pistol or DX2 comes in), Huurton Stalkers. Stalkers are vulnerable to Acid, and give about4700 exp each! Imo, they are the fastest way to grind out Pistols. Go to kneeling with your armor and your buffs, and just shoot them as they come. As you gain Pistoleer skills, stick with HealthShot2 as your main attack, even after you get Double Tap, Stopping Shot, Fant Shot, PointBlank2, BodyShot3, etc..... HealthShot2 will give you the best DPS and target only Health, which makes your target die faster than random pool attacks like Stopping Shot and Fan Shot.
Remember, you do added damage against enemies while they're Knocked Down, so use Pistol Melee Defense 1 (aka Pistol Whip) early on to get bonus damage. Also remember that HealthBleeds from different sources stack. So you could hypothetically stack HealthShot1, HealthShot2, BleedingShot (BS causes a random pool bleed, I believe), and a bleed from the Mod Republic Blaster. Usually more bleed than you need for a Huurton Stalker, but I have a macro that hits RollingShot (puts me in kneeling position), BleedingShot, HealthShot1, HealthShot2, and then I spam HealthShot2 the rest of the fight. I Pistol Whip as soon as the target's in range.
If you stick to Huurtons, should only need your Scatter Pistol or DX2, but the other weapons are for chance encounters and PvP (in the case of the Geno Pistol). Always examine your target. Pistoleers have lower DPS than other professions, but we have one of the widest range of damage types so it's rare for us to have to fight through resistances. Use that to your advantage to maximize your DPS in EVERY encounter. Switch pistols based on your opponent's weakness. You shouldn't need the other Pistols for grinding if you stick to Huurton Stalkers (I think they're the best Pistol exp atm), but it's good to have options at your fingertips.
Well, that's my Pistol Grinding help guide in a nutshell. Hope it helps. Feel free to ask questions if you have any.
RenKesson wrote:
If you're already a BH, I recommend a good speed-sliced Scatter Pistol with low HAM costs for most grinding. It's AP1, high minimums, and acid damage will be your best friends as a Pistoleer.
That's a good pistol for sure. Personally, I use my Modified Republic Blasters for most of my grinding ( I just do FS grinding these days). They have better accuracy than acid pistols (acid pistols can have pretty awful accuracy at certain ranges, if you don't have good accuracy mods), and I haven't been able to consistently find Scatter Pistols that do the damage of my MRBs, I do sometimes use acid pistols on acid-vulnerable targets, although Isuspect that I can deal more damage on most of them with my MRBs. I've never worked out the math, but myMRBs have enough damage output to overcome minor energy resistances (compared with lower-damage DX2s). If you're not speed-capped though, then you're right, any speed-sliced weapon (like a scatter) is a good choice, if matched to your target's vulnerabilities. HAM costs for grinding are really only a consideration if you're not buffed, have poor Mind stat migration, or have high armor encumbrance. If you're buffed, take a couple of hits of brandy or ahrisa, and have your mind statsmigrated properly, you never really have to pay attention to HAM costs (at least I don't). Perhaps that will all change after the CU.
If you don't have Novice BH, get a DX2, speed-sliced again.
A good suggestion. Personally, I prefer a DX2 over a scatter pistol, but a lot of people are the reverse, so to each his own. I just can't find "disposable" scatter pistols (I don't waste uber pistols on grinding because I go through them like water)on my server that have the damage of my DX2s.
Don't spend a lot of money on uber-krayted pistols yet, although I do recommend having at least one good pistol at your disposal for high-end content. A Geno Pistol or a Krayt-FWG5, or something like that.
I agree. Carry a couple of uber pistols of various damage types if you can afford them (I carry a DE-10, a krayted Scatter Pistol and Geo blaster, a nice FWG5, and a Striker Pistol, along with my grinding pistols, but for griding pick the creatures that you want to grind and buy several inexpensive pistols to match their vulnerability types.
As for what to kill, everybody has a different opinion on that, and it depends on several factors, like what pistol you are using, your current skill level, what type of armor you are using (if any--I can grind unbuffed on a lot of creatures wearing no armor at all to get rid of my encumbrances--you just have to make sure you kill them before theycharge you!), what specials you like to use, whether you prefer to grind buffed (again, being buffed makes it a lot easier, but is not always essential), and whether you are solo-grouped (it's not always easy to find a large solo group at some times of day), among other things. Personally, I usually get buffed and wear either a full set of ubese or comp (depending on what I am grinding on--ubese is great for kinetic-only damage dealers because of the low encumbrance), and do most of my grinding in various caves with a high spawn rate. Lairs can beexcellent though if you want to get immediately paid for running the missions.
Here's my list of essential pistols for a Pistoleer and their damage types and AP:
- Scout Blaster (Energy, AP0)
- FWG5(Heat, AP0)
- DX2 or Scatter Pistol (Acid, AP1) -- I prefer a speed-sliced Scatter for grinding, as I find they have lower HAM costs generally.
- Geno Pistol (Stun, AP0)
- Modified Republic Blaster (Energy, AP1, Health Bleed DOT)
That's a good list. I'd add a Striker Pistol to the list, and personally I have no use for a Scout Blaster, though you can find some really good ones.
If you can't get your hands on a Geno Pistol, don't worry. You shouldn't need it for grinding.
True, unless you like grinding on stun-vulnerable creatures (which I often do).
Third (and this is where that speed-sliced Scatter Pistol or DX2 comes in), Huurton Stalkers. Stalkers are vulnerable to Acid, and give about4700 exp each! Imo, they are the fastest way to grind out Pistols.
Yeah, those are definitely one good grinding choice. I suppose it's not so much the XP-per-creature that I look at, but total XP per buff (or per hour). These are not necessarily the same, if you are hunting high-HAM targets, targets that can stun or otherwise state you,or are spending a lot of time running back and forth to mission terminals. You can get good total XP by hunting lower-individual-XP targets, if you are able to kill a lot of them quickly. Again, to each his own--it depends on how you best enjoy grinding and what else you are interested in obtaining other than XP.
Go to kneeling with your armor and your buffs, and just shoot them as they come.
That's good advice in general, but these days (I have good accuracy mods as a MP/Desperado), I don't bother kneeling much of the time. Even standing, if I watch my combat chat log as I shoot, I very rarely see the message "you shoot at a<insert creature name here>and miss." I like to be standing so I can move around quickly. But if you have low accuracy mods, you definitely want to kneel or go prone.
As you gain Pistoleer skills, stick with HealthShot2 as your main attack, even after you get Double Tap, Stopping Shot, Fant Shot, PointBlank2, BodyShot3, etc..... HealthShot2 will give you the best DPS and target only Health, which makes your target die faster than random pool attacks like Stopping Shot and Fan Shot.
I couldn't agree more.
Remember, you do added damage against enemies while they're Knocked Down, so use Pistol Melee Defense 1 (aka Pistol Whip) early on to get bonus damage. Also remember that HealthBleeds from different sources stack. So you could hypothetically stack HealthShot1, HealthShot2, BleedingShot (BS causes a random pool bleed, I believe), and a bleed from the Mod Republic Blaster. Usually more bleed than you need for a Huurton Stalker, but I have a macro that hits RollingShot (puts me in kneeling position), BleedingShot, HealthShot1, HealthShot2, and then I spam HealthShot2 the rest of the fight. I Pistol Whip as soon as the target's in range.
That's almost exactly how I fight. Hit them first with every bleed you have at your disposal (unless it's an easy-to-kill target where don't really need a prolonged bleed), then switch to HealthShot2, and use PMD1 as soon as they're in range. Sometimes I will start with a PMD1 (if I am close enough), so I can finish them off without them ever doing any damage to me at all as they lie there motionless.