Rifleman Archive

I pretty much only use my laser rifle (25-330, 4.3 speed, sliced), and if mobs get too close I switch to 2H sword. (A great combo, by the way.) I'm planning to drop sword and go for master rifle + master CH, so I'd like to get used to using my rifles more exclusively. I'd like to hear what other riflemen use for different situations. I'm on Ahazi, so we don't have any T21s yet, and I haven't been able to find any rifles so far that are much better than what I have. (I just bought one that is about 40 more in max damage, but I'm waiting to get it sliced.)

Anybody use their E11s or spraysticks much?

I use my cheap little spraystick with a damage slice + powerup for killing lairs, because it's nice and fast Once I get some more speed mods, I'll upgrade it to a more powerful beast.

For actual hunting, I use my T21, though I need to go shopping for a couple more since it's decaying so fast, and with repairs its max condition is down to 458

I use an e11 rifle for PvP I hit for around 200-400 mind dmg with hs3 in pvp and the best part is it has super low ham costs, like 35 mind so i can spam specials al i want

Basically, you are asking what to do about melee attackers getting within melee distance. If you are going strictly rifle, the answer is that you cannot let them get to melee distance. With the 2.5x modifier, you are toast if you let any significant opponent go medieval on you. But if you do, Spraystick is the fastest weapon we have. You can switch to it and continue to fire rifle specials or just pound him with regular attacks. My speed sliced spraystick with a speed power up could fire at 1.0 seconds without all the Master Rifleman speed perks (which I do not have yet). The E11 will do more damage, especially against an armored target, but will not be as fast. But either, because of speed and ham costs, is a good choice depending on the situation. But the real issue is that you have to keep them off of you.

That means that you cannot wait for them to get into melee range before you change strategies. If they get in close on you and it does not look like you can take them (and anyone with them) down with your rifle before they get you with the high melee modifier against you, switch to the best pistol or carbine you can use. Remember, at Novice marksman you can use a D18 Pistol or a DH17 carbine, not great, but better than a CEDF version. Get the best you are certified for and use it.

Also, do you have any Ranged Support from Marksman? Ranged Support I gives you /PointBlankSingle1 and /PointBlankArea1. These both reduce misses at pointblank range. You also get /Overchargeshot1. This may cause more damage to your weapon, but it also does more damage to your target, and, after all, we are talking about your pistol or carbine here, not your expensive rifles. Ranged support III gives you /WarningShot. Warning Shot can cause the target to break pursuit and flee for a time. And Ranged Support IV gives you /SuppressionFire1. Even after the nerf on this skill, it is still valuable in this context.

/Flurryshot1 and /FlurryShot2 will cause the target to be Dizzy. However, for Dizzy to create a knockdown, you have to have a posture change. All Rifleman posture change shots force a change UP. Only Suppression Fire forces a posture change down. Since we are talking melee defense here, your attacker is always already all the way up, so you cannot force a useful posture change against a melee attacker without SuppressionFire (I could be wrong, and please correct me if I am, but this has been my experience). Even without the target being dizzy, A posture change down stops the target for a time, giving you a chance to get some distance.

But also keep in mind, that Ranged Support works with ALL ranged weapons. Therefore, you can use them with your spraystick or E11, or you can switch to pistol or carbine and use themif they get too close.

The bottom line is if you are going Rifle only, you MUST NOT let them get into melee range, and if they do, you have to have stategies and skills to meet that challenge.

Nice post. Thanks for the advice. Anybody else?

t21 all the time, sword when they charge. I'm not a CH.

mobs only fall down from being dizzied if they change their own posture. If you suppress fire them and they get up, if they have a dizzy state it will be cleared. Then again i'm not positive about that, but I am sure that if you dizzy an NPC and suppress fire them, they wont fall down from lowering their posture if you force them to, they changed that a month ago.

I use T21 for both PvP and PvE. Reason - T21 has AP3 and the average is better than Laser Rifle.

I use Jawa Ion Rifle for close range PvP. Reason - Jawa Ion Rifle has AP1 and its dmg is Stun.

I use SprayStrick combined with WarningShot in PvE. This is when I accidentially aggro the mob and need to "scare" them away. The x2.5 melee really hurts.

I use my Thoax Laser rifle (112-778, 6.0) sliced.

I tend to use a laser rifle for PvE stuff, mostly strafeshot 2. It does close to the damage of a T21, with better accuracy and less mind drain. In close range PvE, I'll switch to a good DLT and spam strafeshot2.

In PvP, I usually use a jawa ion with headshot2, since it goes straight through composite armor, and the mind is unhealable and usually unbuffed.

and what rifle u must use in a PVP vs a unarmored wookie ?

pvp: Laser for animal mobs, dlt20a for faction npcs (AP won't work, so better save some mind), Jawa ion if I need another damage type.

pvp: Jawa ion on composite wearers, dlt20a on naked, sometimes laser to try some lucky huge numbers.

T21-heavy armor mobs

Jawa ion-pvp

SG82-cold vuln. only (this one gets almost no use. It is not all bad, 125-200 5.0 speed unsliced, but it has 0 ap)

Laser-everything else (this one is used the most)