Rifleman Archive

We can be support, but sure as heck don't have to be Just logged off from a looong night of PvP. I was with some friends of mine(Master TKA, Master Pikeman, Master Doctor). We destroyed Bestine after some defending of Anchorhead from an Imperial raid. They came back to Anchorhead and were there(still are, at this time) for for a couple hours. Definitely had some help from other Rebels in Anchorhead, but it was our doing to a great extent

What's the point of this? I got around 150 FP from a few battles while my friends lost 100-200. Tells you how good riflemen are even without an army to cover for them. I easily killed 3-5 guys for every one time I was DB'd. Of course, SniperShot is pretty useful....

But always remember the Jawa Ion Rifle- it kills people in Composite real quick As long as you know how to play the game, Riflemen are one of the toughest classes there is.

Another side-note- Had fun when someone ran by as I was soloing a Giant Dune Kimo earlier tonight. They just stopped in their tracks and could not believe what we are capable of. We can solo anything in PvE- no problem(At Master anyways). Goes to show you that as broken as many things are, we have a lot in our arsenal. And we can quite often take our enemies by surprise as the majority of them are extremely under-educated about our class- use that to your advantage

It doesn't specifically state anywhere that we're a support profession, but if you just go by the way our class is designed, it's quite obvious that we shine in situations where we're playing as such.

That being said, I've heard too many masters say they easily hold their own solo against *every* other class in pvpto discount it. Seems to come down to just using tactics that take into account our unique mix of strengths and weaknesses (and we all know we don't really come into our own until master, though quite a few have given their success stories at earlier levels as well). CH's with fast pets are probably one of our biggest counters at this point I'd wager....

Don't take my word for it thought, I don't pvp nearly as much as others. I'm sure the regulars will come through and say roughly the same things though.

I'd like to aska question about these Soloing masters.

How many of you have not invested your other skill points in Combat/Medical skills?

Get my point- we use all our SP to be a better, don't give me that crap we are over powered.

Ya a MasterRifleman / MasterCH / MasterMarksmen who uses 244 skill points should be better than a Master BH who only uses 217 Skill points. -Thats my point

Bah,

I consider any melee my support profession. They keep the mob rooted so that I can pop off a ranged AoE.

I think it comes from the combination of using mind for specials, 2.5 melee penalty, low defences and high damage AEs.

Amaster rifleman can do an insane amount of damage if protected by another class, however if someone only has master rifleman they will find it harder to solo kill than other classes. Sure you can solo kill as a MRM, but it will be harder than for other classes, however in large scale combat we are unmatched if usingthe right tactics and buffsIMO.

Once you add in the spare skillpoints to get Doc, TKA, CH...whatever, you have a powerful character that is no longer a support character in my mind. As a MRM/doc the only people I truely fear are BHs that know about KD + dizzy or smugglers until the armour holes are fixed.

A pistoleer will not even come close to the damage a MRMcan do in the right situation, but they do not need protection from other classes, that is the balancing factor.

There is also alot of assumptions made about what "support class" means. Most of the times I have seen it used in this context it is not used in the traditional MMORPG sense, but in the infantry sense. (rifleman are a support class, like a machine gunner in a squad).

In alot of ways this is true of pure riflemen, meaning those without additional supporting skills. This is due to the tremendous strengths and weaknesses of the class. If you compare the ranged elite classes, Pistol has the fewest weaknesses, but also minimal real advantages (apart from the skill stacking possible.) Carbine has medium strengths and weaknesses. Riflemen have the greatest peaks.

This results in alot of riflemen performing better in PvP with groups than alone, and is the source of the "support" theory. On the other hand, alot of other riflemen take complementary skills to offset our vulnerabilites. (Doc, CH, TKA, 2H) These combinations act as multipliers to rifleman, making us much more deadly.

Sorry ofr rambling a bit, but there are many different ways to play as a rifleman. None of them are more "correct" than the others. Everyone should find the style that suits them best and have some fun with a very well rounded profession.

Ok today I posted a message on the Rifleman forums about our profession, specifically it was about being a Wookie and also a Master Rifleman, anyway somewhere in that thread someone mentioned that we are a support profession and that any problems I have regarding our profession I should just chalk it up tobeing that we are just that, a support profession. There lies the problem, who said we were a support profession, no where in the title of either Novice or Master rifleman does it say support profession. If you are to assume that we are a support profession then the same must hold true to Pistoleer, Carbineer and all the melee prof's. But then no one considers those support prof's, so why are we? All I'm saying is that aMasterRifleman should have the same chance as any other Master combat prof with the exception of Master BH and maybe Master Commando, however never should a BH who has just enough to get eyeshot be able to defeat over and over again someone who is a Master Rifleman. Every master combat prof should be on a even playing field w/ the exception of BH. Before someone starts to say well maybe u need to use this gun or that spice and wear that armor, I do. This is about people, including fellow Rifleman, labelling us as a support profession when we are not, we are a combat prof. Support is anyone who helps those in combat.

I'm not saying that our profession is not without merit, it has it's pros, but surely you must agree that not all is fair between the combat prof's as far as being balanced on the battlefield. Which is my point if we were a support prof I could understand the reasoning, however we are not a support prof so instead it just becomes baffling.

Synnkharra ( Shadowfire ) Master Rifleman / Master CH / Master Scout

All Wookie

PS- forgive me if this is hard to read or make sense of, but I just came home from work and it's after 3 in the morning so sorry if it's bad.

Night or good morning all

Synnkharra

I strongly agree with what has been said in this thread, some very enlightened posts, imo.

I really agree with the statement that rifleman have the greatest peaks and valley's as a class -it's completely true.

Yes, we CAN act as a "support" class in medium/large scale PvP and be extremely effective, like no other. (actually, would say that every other class in your group is a "support" roll for YOU as the rifleman, as you will be dealing the most dmg -they're just being decoys while you do the real dirty work.

that said, if you spend your skillpoints to minimize your inherent weaknesses as a Rifleman, you will become one mean son of a bi...ch.

Take up doctor to max your mind + buff, or TKA to get those defenses and powerboost... so many combinations. But at the heart of it is your dmg dealing capability as Master Rifle (add master marksman for true 'uberism'). You just have to spend your skill points to enhance your defenses and longevity when using specials.

When you spend those skillpoints, then you are ready to venture out on your own, PvP, and be one hell of a terror on the battlefield, or in duels.

As was mentioned, there are not a lot of us (comparitively speaking) that PvP and you will find that you continually surprise people! I spent all day sunday afternoon and yesterday outside bestine by myself overt (reb) playing with the good imperial players at Bestine. I had a blast, and i rarely die, as a master rifle/master marksman/doctor - badass CH pets really are the only fear, aside from seriouslyoverwhelming numbers. My record thus far is 27 imperial DB's (over 2 hours of playing), before I died. and i had a good mix of everything thrown at me, including what should have been overwhelming odds.

after dying and cloning at bestine, i participated in a lot of "what the hell are you? what gun is that? I always thought a jawa rifle was worthless!" etc.

proceeded to duel every single major class. BH with eyeshot, BH with LLC, Master commando at 16m, TKM/Carbineer, etc.

the only incap i received in all these fights was to the TKM/Carbineer. i made the stupid and cocky mistake of standing still at 30m , he got a KD and proceeded to kick my ass (though it took him two more KD's to incap me!). We dueled twice more and I didn't make the same mistake again - while moving, i beat him handily and i'm not sure he ever landed more than a glancing shot.

Later that night, I dueled a Master BH with an 'uber' LLC (over 1000 max dmg) - at 23m in a cantina. I incapped him once, with headshots to his composite helm. we dueled twice more and he was able to 1 shot me with the LLC, though i was buffed to over 1200-1400 health/action, and wearing composite chest/helm with over 50% electric resists/marauder leggings. he was brought to within an inch (less actually) of his Mind's life by my 3headshots each time, but that one LLC hit was devastating. Had we been starting from max range and running at eachother, or even starting at over 30m i suspect i would have won. I had to give him props though - that was a hell of a feat, imo. He gave me a very good congratulations as well, apparently he doesn'toften come so close to death with the LLC in his hands, at that range. I wasn't able to duel him again, to adjust my tactics.

spend the skill points, you can go toe to toe with absolutely anything/anyone - except perhaps a jedi.

hope that confirms your already good opinion of our class!

(too long and too many stories, i know!

No novic rifleman is a support profession. Master rifleman is a frontline one man army, we have powerful aoe attacks. Use them. We could be most compared to the S.A.W Squad Automatic Weapond

And now for you random meaningless history point for the day:

The difference in the role of the squad automatic weapon in WWII infantry squads:

# of the major combatants had nearly identical squad organizations, an NCO with a submachinegun, a Automatic rifle or light machine gun with loader, and the rest of the squad armed with rifles.

In US and British squad tactics, the automatic rifle (BAR or Bren gun) was used in a support role to lay down a large volume of covering fire to allow the riflemen in the squad to maneuver to bring direct fire on the enemy and kill them.To this end the US army adopted the semi automeatic M1 to increase the firepowr of the individual maneuvering infantryman. (this is the lowest level of Patton's famous "hold them by the nose and kick them in the @ss)

On the other hand, the German infantry squad was organized so that the MG34/42 was the main killing instrument, and the riflemen in the squad were intended to suppress the enemy and protect the machine gunner, letting him get on with teh business of killing the enemy.

Anyone see the simularity here?