Rifleman Archive

why is it that every other class meant for fighting, has some distinct feature that makes them good.

Pistoleer - stop shot can one hit kill, riflemen are supposed to be snipers or the closest thing, Why is it that snipers can't kill in one hit, but pistols can, also the melee attack for pistols is dumb, in a hth fight I'd much rather use a rifle than a pistol.

Carbineer - they can shoot more than once giving extra damage, not to mention they can use knockdown which can be cheap as hell if properly used. I've never seen critical shot yet, but I'm assuming it's good.

Two-handed swordsmen- I've seen people with garbage weapons do twice as much damage as I've seen any rifleman do, with the ability to deal the least damage, and suffer the least damage doing it, these people are gods.

Fencer - the one class (other than rifleman) with no real distinctive feature, they can attack multiple healthbars though which is usefull, but they can deal lots of damage in a short amount of time, while sustaining little damage.

Pikeman - the ability to sweep multiple targets is very usefull, if used right. when you're knocked down you can't do anything untill you're back up at which point you can be knocked down again.

Teras kasi artist - lets see, defence against everything, pin point striking, and knockdown, suffering little damage also. enough said.

Now back to rifleman - Strafe shot 2 (the master rifleman skill) if this is the best rifleman has to offer, that sucks, this skill works against covered targets, ONLY RIFLE USERS HAVE COVER. Or someone who got it from the rifle section in marksman. Sniper shot, sounds cool, killing people who are already dead.... thats garbage, why use it? so the brawlers don't have to deathblow people? It kills incapacitated targets, how usefull against npcs. and also riflemen and bring people out of prone or kneeling, if you're in a group, that'll just piss the brawlers off. And it's also useless against creatures. Riflemens amazing thing is supposed to be "sneak" because the class uses a lot of cover skills, last time I was covered I wasn't allowed to use head shot 2. Everything else riflemen get, all other fighting classes get (ex. the dizzy and stun).

There you have it. I'm not asking you to make everyone else worse, or make riflemen gods, but to give them a distinct move to make them more sniper-like. Or able to defend themselves after their first shot either misses or doesn't one hit kill, becuase that happens a lot with any other class they can stand there and take the hits and eventually kill the thing, but not riflemen. You know it's uneven whent one class if forced to make up survival tactics and all others can just stand there and still win.

They need to up the max range for rifles. It is ridiculous that I can use my rifle, carbine or pistol all for the same range. The modifying for distance and range makes a little difference, but come on. 64 meters max, give me a break. I qualified for sharpshooter in real life at 100 meters when I was 14.

What is this 64 meter max range b.s.?

double post sorry

I should at least be able to sight in and shoot at a target from a long distance away. Why can I not sit back at a distance and take pot shots at pistoleers and carbineers without them being able to one shot/tow shot me from 64 meters away, its ridiculous.

Well , I'll play Devil's Advocate here and lets see if I can come up with some stuff to make the class seem more appealing .

We do damage to a pool that can not be healed . Most PC's haveMindPool as their lowest stat . So in PvP we have the edge , as long as we keep on our toes when they get close . I would suggest switching to two handed swords for the Mind Pool attack they get at melee range , or switching to Pistol and using Eye Shot for another Mind Pool attack that can be done at melee range .

Now as far as PvM goes , I'm having an easy time killing the hardest red con mobs on Lok . Now granted there are some that are just too tough , but I don't think they are meant to be killed by a single player . I get off terminal shots before a MOB even knows where I'm shooting from . When most NPC MOBs get close I disarm and throw a glue trap that roots for 30 seconds or so . You can sit and wait for your DOT's to finish off the MOB or switch to a Sprayer and kite at range , or you can just throw another trap once the first one wears off . Or you can have your tank ( Probot , animal whatever ) take the damage from that point , and you'll still get most of the XP .

For example , last night on Lok I was with a team of about 8 people , and I was the only Rifleman . We came across one of Nym's higher level red cons . Incredibly tough Mob with like 10k in every stat pool and shooting at range for 300+ damage every few seconds or so . All the other fighters were zerging at range , targeting the Health pool . 7 of them all firing at once at the same pool . I fired into the Mind Pool with MindShots I and II and then Headshot II's . By the time Mr.Nym got down near death , I had the same amount of damageblasted out of his Mind Bar than ALL 7 OF THE OTHER SHOOTERS PUT TOGETHER working on his Health bar . So , there is the power of the Rifleman . And I'm not a super Rifle guy or anything , just stacking the two Mindshots and cranking out Headshot II's at 60m with a Laser Rifle .

The DoT's can stack , so you can have like 1500 points being drained from the target every 15 seconds or so . Not many MOBs in the game can withstand that for more than afew minutes .

Also , we get the strongest weapons in the game that can be used at the maximum range ( which I agree sucks at 64m ) reliably and with lethal precision . Sniper shot will be immensely usefull once full scale battles are going on .DeathBlowing an incapped playerwill prevent him from being healed back up to his feet by anyone with a stimpack . I'm pretty sure a DB'd player will be out of the fight for quite some time .

So that is it that I can come up with ! I agree with some of your points but I have to say there are some pretty lethal attacks in the Rifleman line . The real trick is staying alive long enough to get them off at range .

What I think should be added is the ability to hide on other players radar , and additional range , I mean LOTS of it , like 40 more meters at least . This would make us true " Snipers " .

PS guys to get around the whole " you can't do XYZ while tumbling thing " , don't use the take cover skill to get into prone . Instead , use the prone command located in macros / other . Once in Prone , use a hotkey Take Cover macro to get into cover . Now you can use your specials right away ! No delay . It's the flopping into prone that causes the delay , not the actual skill " take cover " . The flop into prone is just tacked onto the take cover skill as default . You can also do your other things like MaskScent and ... well anything you want really , with absolutely no delay .

Best of luck all

Jon

I think that Rifleman is a very very effective PvE class but you have to approach things in the proper way. IE - not "guns blazing"

Use max range wherever you can - use whatever concealment tactics you have at your disposal - even if its just going prone.

Don't fight up close.

Use your DoTs.

You might even consider finding a group to get you through some of the grind. Much better with a pal or two.

PvP well -

from what i have seen when i group in general, everyone just rushes to the mob... for a rifleman that is not effective. keep your distance you will do fine. once you figure that out, nothing to complain about.

the range isn't all that good, less loots, and this has happened to me many times - I'm fighting something with my brawler friend, and when it's weak it runs out of my range, while I'm getting up from kneeling, my friend kills it, since I'm not in range, I get no exp.

I think the distincive ability of the rifleman is being able to kill everybody in one hit.I mean, in PvPyou have all these brawlers who max out their action and health at mind's expense, I can take those guys out and I'm not even rifleman yet, Masters can get pretty much anybody in one. Drawbacksare that we don't really work in groups (I picked up a little pistol for that when people whine I'm not helping) and we get wankedin melee (2h sword, just like a rifle for anyone who manages to survive the run towards me)

And Sniper shot is REALLY USEFUL. Think about it, the problem in a PvP battle is that you never getXP unless you DB,if you're using a rifle there's no chance in hell you'll be able to run up and DB your kill before some loser does. It lets you have a chance atthe XP you earned.ThoughI would like to see some of the sniper skills become more useful, they seem pretty pointless to me currently. Some extra range would be cool, just 10m or so would give us anice, logical edge. And cover seems pretty useless to me, sure you get 1 or 2 extra shots with mobs but otherwise it just sucks, maybe if it made you not show up on radar for a bit. The problem is that might be rather unbalancing, all our effect shots are crap compared to everyone else, but we still deal the most damage, so do we need the advantage. I think so, with one shot to everyone else's 3 or 4 their ability to slow us down further is crippling, being able to avoid that at the very least would make us more viable in a fray.

It sounds to me like you really need to just work on your rifle tactics more. I've beensoloing missions for a week that my TerasKasi buddy still can't. One question:does cover actually do anything besides keep mobs off a little longer? It might, but It's not really discernable, extra speed, damage, rangeor not showing up on Player radar would really make thatworthwhile for all the XP we waste on skills for it.

Fodder,

You mentioned not being useful in groups so you use a pistol. Well I'd just like to point out that the spraystick is a rifle that pretends to be a pistol (2.4 speed - close range weapon, 15-120 damage) and most importantly will get you that ever necessary rifle experience.

It still has the rifle drawbacks and you will still take huge damage if you tank, however.

Galad on Kauri

I don't know whats up... I one shot people ALL the time now I NEVER get the DB and end up getting killed after one or two drops.. its nice to hit somone for 1500 mind pool...the key is look for the melee and pistols they normally have low mind pools but hey..the life of a rifleman is a tough one

yeah most of the skills we get suck unless you are going after another rifleman.

i would like to see a better master rifleman skill, itsd only usefull on 1/8 of the combat professions.