Rifleman Archive

I would not make the decision based on how things are now. We are in the middle of the Combat system overhaul. The devs have already stated that the new combat system is being implemented in stages and that things will be out of balance for a while. That is, some things that should be easy to kill will be harder than they should,and things that should be hard to kill will be easier. The overall system will balance this out when it is fully implemented. Since the removal of the 2.5x melee damage modifier andsince melee and ranged damage mitigationare part of this, it will be hard to say how it will be until everything is fully in place.

I am noticing a lot less problems with melee damage, but do not go by me. I made Master about the time all this started being implemented. That gives me all the benefits of the modifiers we do get, and a lot of things that used to get to me no longer do. Someone still working the tree would be abetter judge of the difficulty here.

I willsay that Ido assume melee damage will still be an issue for us. Therefore, I went ahead and dumped all my Ranger and most of my Scout to pickup melee damage mitigation (along with the complementary mind attacks) of Master Swordsman.

In summary, do not let the melee damage be the deciding factor. Thechanges are still in progress, so no one knows howthey will affect the overall game (and, in fact, the changesto HAM costs will probably be an overall benefit to Riflemen).And do not judge by the climb, either.As is often said in this forum, there is a world of difference between Novice and Master for Rifleman, possibly more than any other profession. If you have the points to spare, Master Rifleman is worth the climb. And no matter what the issues with melee damage are going to be in the end, you can always compensate for this by improving your medical skills, being a doctor to self-buff, or pickup melee defenses from other skills. You will have the points available.

Not sure on true melee defense etc.. but I have noticed something odd about my new rifleman. The character has no armor and only scout/CH as other professions. Can hold a rifle and even when white con or lower creatures hit her it doesnt seem to do all that much damage.

My other character, a BH, gets hit harder no matter what weapon she holds.. and at least double dmg from melee when holding an LLC..

Its quite odd and the defense mods of a rifleman dont, in my mind, explain the difference between the two..

The short answer is no, at the moment we are no longer absolutely hosed when something or someone attacks us in melee.

Well, okay, depending on the person, we might still be hosed, but that wouldn't be because we're holding a rifle.

But gone are the days of hunting mobs and making more pistol than rifle exp because I didn't want to get incapped in the next 2 seconds. Thats a nice change.