Rifleman Archive

I am currently working my way through Rifles IV on the Marksman skill tree and am gettin a bit discouraged. I have a Laser Rifle and a Spraystick and it looks like the only weopon left to certify in is the T21 at Novice Rifleman. Can this be it? I don't really see any big advantage to the T21 over a Laser Rifle. Can someone educate me in the relationship between Rifleman weapon stats and skill progression?

Thats because really there is no advantage. The devs stole it about 2 months ago. It was a great weapon but now its HAM costs are almost suicidle if you use it constantly in PvP. Only good its for now is mind bleeds. Get one good mind bleed shot off and then switch back to laser. All you need is a good laser and possibly a fast weapon like the spraystick and you will be set. I recomend going for conceal shot first. With that you can take down non-social mobs with little or no risk to yourself, what with the CH nerf in now.

check around and look for "T21" threads...

anyways. there's a rifle for almost every purpose - except Spraystick and Tusken being bugged (spray is supposed to be acid, it's energy. tusken is supposed to be kinetic, it's energy).

get yourself a DLT20a as well, cheap on mind, good reliable dmg, only use it against un-armored mobs.

laser has fairly unreliable damage, due to it's low minimum. a good t21 looks like, 7.2 speed, 71 mind, 130-357 dmg, and bonuses at 50-64m. and it's Heavy AP (AP3) as opposed to a laser which is medium ap (AP2). check VolstedGridband's (sp?) threads on the differences and calculations.

when leveling rifleman, i highly suggest you keep a scout blaster or something on hand for warning shot. also, put Speed/Mind powerups on all your rifles. get countersnipe3 (Flushingshot2, area of effect shot, 4x damage multiplier) AFTER you get sniper1 (mindshot2 will help you level to countersnipe3). after you get flushing2, you'll be hooked on rifleman! and your Xp will come in by the truckload.

i rarely use a laser (read: never) due to the fact that my T21 does more reliable dmg. although the laser's mind costs are slightly less.

also, look for speed slices on most rifles, before master.

there's a bazillion threads on why we love rifleman, what works well, what doesn't, what to hunt, quickest leveling strategies..etc. have a look around, you'll find it all

i don't think you'll be disappointed with rifleman, IF you master it. if you're dabbling and can't master it - don't bother with it at all. at master you fire a t21 at speed cap, with specials slightly less than 1 shot per second. if you master marksman as well, you'll fire specials almost right at the speed cap (1 shot per second)

if leviasqualls are still around on Rori - go try them. bleed each one (they move veeery slowly) and kite them. just make sure you hit them with any other shot other than bleed (autofire is fine, probably stick to headshots). kite them away from lair at least 160m, when they all die, head back to lair and repeat. it's extremely boring, but good xp and probably the quickest way to level without a tank pet . if you have a good tank, (gsp or better) maybe try Huurton Huntress lairs on dantooine.

hope that helps, good luck, stick with it! Dlt20a for unarmored, spraystick for close encounters, (or blaster), Jawa for stun dmg, laser for max dmg (but unreliable), T21 for dropping anything in the galaxy other than very energy resistant creatures. the faucet (sg82) for mobs vulnerable to cold dmg. -except krayts, use t21 on them.

oh, and when you start to PVP(i suggest waiting until master) use Jawa on composite. at master, get all new weapons sliced for dmg, and put Max Dmg/Mind powerups onall of 'emexcept in special cases.

another thing - find a master rifleman on your server and ask if he's got any speed sliced T21's he'd sell for cheap. as a master, i've got about 8 speed sliced T21's on me at any time that i either give away to new rifleman, or sell for 20k or less.(they're 30k brand new).

Jeisyn Blackwell ~ Master Marksman ~ Master Sharpshooter ~ Doctor in training ~ Tempest <CH>

Thanks for the great advice! I'll be sure to bookmark this thread.

IMHO T21 is the better weapon. I agree that damage min/max doesn't look good, but overall damage is FAR FAR better than laser rifle.

Btw, i used T21 only after i got master cause our server couldn't build them. So really don't know how they work at novice level.

they work well - preMaster (they became available to me about half way through my rifle grind) - just make sure you put a Speed/Mind powerup on it.

another quick suggestion. get novice medic and maybe FA2 (you can use Stim B's and stop bleeds). or get pharmacy 2 and you can use better stims i guess.

then migrate your stats to mind. (you get hit for 2.5x melee dmg, so basically, one or two hits from anything substantial is gonna incap you anyways... might as well make your mind as large as reasonably possible

before going doctor, my stats looked something like:

750, 400, 400 (health) ~ 750, 400, 400 (Action) ~ 1000, 700, 600 (mind/focus/will , give or take 50 points).

use stims to bring health and action back up to max levels when you must. (and keep that pistol handy!

obviously, make a macro for /peace; /healself or whatever the "stim yourself" command is.

I have a question about the SG82. I was looking at one on the bazaar and (of course) its damage sucked but I noticed that its HAM costs were very low. If Igot one made by one of my master weaponsmith friends and sliced and use a nice damage/mind powerup I was wondering if the DLT20a is still better. From what I know, which isn't much, the main bonus of the DLT20a is lower mind cost but the SG82 also has this. As well as doing cold damage, which might be bad for all i know.

Thanks.

-Chewon

1/0/0/1 Rifleman, 2/2/0/3 CH, Master Marksman, Master Medic

there is a time and place for each dmg type.

basically, /ex(amine) a mob you're new to/not sure about. it will tell you what it's vulnerable to, and try to use that type of dmg. SG82's aren't too bad. most of the time a jawa is better, i would say.

if you get one from a good WS, it should be something like 105-185 dmg, before slice. can't remember the speed or mind costs, both were reasonable i think.

also> dont' discard the E11 either, it's a very reliable rifle. medium armor piercing, and on most servers it will hit 110-250 with a 30% dmg slice, and be 4.5 speed with 37 mind cost. put a dmg powerup or speed powerup and that's a nice all purpose rifle.