Rifleman Archive

First off, I'm loving leveling in rifleman. I'm mainly a solo hunter and prefer that, but am not totally against grouping. I'min the lower stages but find myself to be enjoying the profession even still. I'm still learning as I go but have a couple questions that I'm sure those moreexperienced than I can answer. While I rarelyuse armor AND buffs due to the way I play my rifleman, some protection is needed for those close encounters, so I bought some Enc. Sliced Composite Stun layered armor and realized that when I tried to equip it that I didn't have enough stats to equip it all. *slaps forehead* I see all these people wearing a complete suit all over the place. Do they only wear it when buffed or have they modified their stats in order to wear the entire suit when they want? I tinkered w/ my target stats and I would have to lower Health/Action/Mind to 500, just to get enough points to distribute to wearthisentire suit unbuffed. Will this decrease matter when buffed or should I just equip the composite while buffed and not worry about messing w/ my stats?

For those occasions when the mob charges, I've gone with novice pistoleer. I'm sure there's a better damage dealing combo here, but I just like the concept of having a pistol strapped to my leg when I need it for backup. Anyway, w/ the new delay in changing weapons, I've started to wonder if just leaving my rifle equipped would be as effective. Does your point blank accuracy improve as you get better rifle accuracy or is it all dependant upon the range mod on the rifle? Should I just use my rifle in close combat, use /pointBlankshot,and not worry about switching out weapons?

My current setup is this:

Rifleman 2/2/1/1 - i think

Novice Pistoleer

Marksman 4/4/0/3

Master Artisan

Medic 2/2/1/4

Scout 4/0/4/0

I know, dabbler newb. But I have decided to eventually get this setup:

Master Rifleman

Novice Pistoleer

Marskman 4/4/0/?

Master Medic

Doctor 0/4/4/0

If I got the point distribution right, then I should have 27 points left over to spend. Is marksman ranged support necessary? Is suppresion fire and the other ranged support specialsworth spending the Combat XP on? Can I just dump the ranged support tree and be ok? I'd like to keep some scoutingExplore/Hunting if possible but would rather have the ranged support or more pistoleer skillsif it would be more beneficial.

I think knowing more detail on the different specials (dmg mod, dly mod, etc.) would help me out as well, but Isaw someone has already posted on this subject and a kind soul is working on getting the info on the boards so I'll keep an eye on the FAQ. /salute kind soul

Thanks for your attention and responses.

Aolas
Master Rifleman
Master BH
Combat Medic 4-0-0-0
Sales and Drop Offs vendor located -120, -3020 Coronet, Corellia

Yep. They all playing in god mode.

Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well-preserved body, but rather...
to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out and loudly proclaiming: "WOW - What a ride!"

i wear stun composite also but 90% of my time is pvp combat. are you planning on doing pvp or pve? your template sounds more like pve to me. that being the case, you should get a set of ubese armor. on my server 74% kinetic ubese can be had for fairly cheap (around 150k). the encumbrance is significantly lower and you should be able to wear the entire suit unbuffed.

if your heart is set on composite armor then skip the stun layered composite and just get kinetic composite. the extra layer adds encumbrance and there's not much(any?) pve stuff that does stun damage anyway. personally, i always fight with buffs(doc/dancer/musician). if thats a problem for you or you prefer to not use buffs then there are foods/drinks/spices that will increase your secondary stats so that you can use composite without buffs(well food and drinksare sort of buffs i guess ).

Due to the fact it takes so long to switch armour now, I generally keep my composite on at all times - You need buffs to be of much use, but when they have dropped you can still keep the armour on - your secondary stats will mostly be 1, but you can still wear it.

This is fine for me though as I have an alt that is master doc, so I can guarantee buffs whenever I need them..

As for stun layers, I'd advise to save this for PvP only - The only mob I can think of that hits with stun damage in PvE is Geonosians (using thier pistol) - If you close to melee range, they ditch the pistol and try to go Jackie Chan on you (to little effect i find), thus changing the damage type to kinetic.

Excellent solution for PVE. There are very few cases in PVE where you will need anything but ubese and you will appreciate the encumberance I'd imagine. You will still notice a lot more drain on your HAM with your ubese equipped and may have to start using buffs in order to use the entire suit effectively, but that'll be for you to decide. If you ever get into going to the genosian caves, the corellian corvette, or the deathwatch bunker, you will probably have to break down and get a suit of stun-layered composite, but that will be for after master riflemen anyways. Cheers and glad to hear you're enjoying your trip up.

♣Odite Fosore Rahu Coteau
Imperial Soldier 12 Point Master ChefΨ

---

I always try to give specifics, but it seems I failed to list everything that mattered,
I'm in it for PvE. I hear alot less mouth from an NPC killing me than I do another player and I'm not one to brag about myself after winning a fight so PvP is not my style of play. *insert - no offense to those who might actually use PvP as a way to improve their skills and not their ego*
I sold the composite and bought some 68% kinetic, 16% base, ubese suits. The HAM difference is certainly more along the lines of my taste and style of play, thanks for the suggestion. I was fighting some Torton's on Rori last night, w/ no buffs except for one swig of Brandy and no helmet on. Granted these are not monster mobs for most people, but I would let them charge me and would rarely, if ever, have to use a stimpack the whole fight. The armor absorbed almost all the damage.
I could get buffs just like the next guy/gal. But I don't want to depend on buffs because I see what it has done to too many people in the game. It's made them and the game something they/it shouldn't be. I like the fear of taking on something that out weighs me by 20 tons. Even though I feel secure enough in my skills to win the fight (go figure), there's still that uncertainty when I see it look at me and feel/hear the ground shake as it comes thundering toward me. Current buffs turn people into fearless, mindless, zombies, sucking the life out of anything that moves *barring Jedi (**edit**?)* because they can...and get paid for it. Besides, who knows how the CB will affect those who have become dependent on buffs to be effective. I hope with it comes the need for more brains than braun, but at the same time keeps it rewarding (not necessarily monetarily) and do-able for those (especially Riflemen, and Riflewomen :b, *hats off to all you rifle ladies out there*) who prefer to take it slower and solo their way through alot of the tougher mobs. Yes...tougher, not uber mobs like Krayt's and Rancor's which are not uber anymore except for their loot. Everyone needs something to challenge them and I hope that the CB brings just what it says...balance...I don't envy the devs jobs one bit. Current buffs tip the scale way too much so, therefore, I choose not to depend on them for my successes.
Anyway, if anyone wants to answer any of the other questions I posed in my original thread, feel free. I'm sure I'll learn it on my own eventually and probably the hard way. :b

Aolas
Ahazi server

/prone
/takeCover, /takeCover.../takeCover....../takeCover
*you take cover*
/aim
/headShot2
*your target is out of range*
DOH!

Aolas
Master Rifleman
Master BH
Combat Medic 4-0-0-0
Sales and Drop Offs vendor located -120, -3020 Coronet, Corellia