Rifleman Archive

---

zonkrd wrote:

With the up and coming "balancing" of defense stacking, I am dropping all of my skills used for defense bonuses and going to try out the Rifleman prof. I am keeping Heavy Sword though as well as Master Brawler. Hopefully with Mitigation 3 in both Melee and Ranged it will help this Wookiee keep from getting wiped out in PvP too easily.

Anyway, a few questions.

Is there an advantage of /cover vs. /prone? I realized I can't /peace when using cover and I am immobile. This must come with some kind of advantage but I will be danged if I can realize what it is.

Also, is there any benefit to using a Bow-Caster? I am using a speed sliced laser-rifle to start (2.7 spd w/ power-up and 45-405 damage)

Last, I have Master Brawler, but have wondered, if I have a dizzy shot landed on a mob and then use the base brawler lunge (posture change) once the mob gets to me, will that act like a TK dizzy/kd and keep the mob down for the duration of the dizzy? If this would work, it would free up enough points for the Meditation tree of TK (providing it is still available after the revamp) and some extra points for the ranged tree as well.

Thanks in advance, I look forward to this prof, It seems to have a Ton of potential in it.

---

The mix you are looking at is a good combo. There are better defensive builds out there, but I have Master Rifleman/Master Swordsman/Master Brawler, and I find the combination to be extremely enjoyable to play. I took Master Swordsman after taking Master Rifleman specifically for the damage mitigation in melee, plus Rifleman and Swordman are a good offensive mix.

To your questions:

Cover is supposed to add defensive bonuses while in cover. This would obviously only affect ranged defense as you take extra damage from melee when prone. However, most people agree that there does not seem to be a lot of benefit go going under cover. You probably get hit marginally less, but not enough, IMHO, to justify the trouble and HAM it takes to get into cover. Prone is sufficient. BTW, once you hit Concealment III, you will no longer be immobile while in cover because of the Sneak ability added at that level. You will be able to move in cover, and as such, you will be able to /Peace while in cover. It is just that, by that time, you have probably given up on using cover like just about everyone else.

I can't use a BowCaster, so I will leave that answer to our Wookiee experts.

Flurryshot1 (single target) and Flurryshot2 (area effect) have a chance to dizzy. Swordsman Hit3 and Areaattack3 also have a chance to dizzy. As a Swordsman, you will have Lunge1 plus several other Swordsman attacks which can change posture down. Asa Rifleman, you will also have several shots that change posture up (Flushingshot1 and 2 and Startleshot1 and2). If you haveMarksman Ranges Support IV, you also have Suppressionfire, which has a posture down effect.These posture changes can be used to trigger aKD with dizzy, but, bear in mind that posture changes have to be voluntary for a Dizzy/KD to work.So you have to change their posture then hope they change againto get a chance for the KD to take effect from the Dizzy. Also, even if they change posture, the Dizzy may not knock them down. Thus, you will have the tools to do it without Master Brawler's Lunge2 KD, but it is not somethingyou will want to count on.

To have a morereliable Dizzy/KD combo, you will need to keep Master Brawler for the Lunge2 KD. However, Master Brawler also gives you Intimdiate2 (to better lower their defenses, making it more likely that the KD or Dizzy will stick) and Warcry2 (20 second area effect delay). Additionally, you will be picking up a blind attack from unarmed in Bralwer and the ability to target the Health pool (1H Swords) and the Action pool (Polearms). So thereare more reasons to keep Master Brawler than just the KD of Lunge2. But either way, the Dizzy/KD combo is much more reliable with Master Brawler.

prone helps when using the concealshot skill it maximizes your inherent rifle accuracy. the bad thing about prone is it gives the same regen rate as standing. cover was intended to be used for riflemen to duel other riflemen hence all the posture raising skills. the thing is that their ideal for a pvp model hardly translated into reality. what cover DOES do is improve your defenses against ranged attacks. however most people that you duel will not keep their distance and will close on a prone rifleman as quickly as possible.

if rifles could be used at point blank from a prone position cover would be a VERY useful skill. cant be KD'd lying down...

since that isnt how it works for all intents cover is a useless skill.

kneeling is the prefered stance for most PVE fights. it gives a nice blend of regen and accuracy.

---

Barb-Wire wrote:
prone helps when using the concealshot skill it maximizes your inherent rifle accuracy. the bad thing about prone is it gives the same regen rate as standing. cover was intended to be used for riflemen to duel other riflemen hence all the posture raising skills. the thing is that their ideal for a pvp model hardly translated into reality. what cover DOES do is improve your defenses against ranged attacks. however most people that you duel will not keep their distance and will close on a prone rifleman as quickly as possible.

if rifles could be used at point blank from a prone position cover would be a VERY useful skill. cant be KD'd lying down...

since that isnt how it works for all intents cover is a useless skill.

kneeling is the prefered stance for most PVE fights. it gives a nice blend of regen and accuracy.

---

prone is also good against npcs/creatures, as you get three free shots if you are at least 40 m away

you get those from knealing too.

shooting at rancors with strafe2 they often dont even start towards me until they are half dead. they usually drop at about the 20-25 meter mark. gnarled rancors sometimes never come after me at all when firing from the knealing before dropping over. this is without pets BTW. oh and enraged only require a small bit of kiting to kill maybe a short 40-50 meter run.

---

zonkrd wrote:

Is there an advantage of /cover vs. /prone? I realized I can't /peace when using cover and I am immobile. This must come with some kind of advantage but I will be danged if I can realize what it is.

---

---

Discount wrote:

also, you cannot peace from /prone either

---

I've never had any trouble with the peace command from a prone position.

It sounds like the general consensus is that taking cover serves little to no purpose in the game currently. Does anyone have any suggestions as to how it could be improved, what function it could serve? Or do you think we should just write it off as a failed idea and move forward with new and different Rifleman abilities?

---

Discount wrote:

---

zonkrd wrote:

Is there an advantage of /cover vs. /prone? I realized I can't /peace when using cover and I am immobile. This must come with some kind of advantage but I will be danged if I can realize what it is.

---

also, you cannot peace from /prone either and you *need* to be in cover to use /surpriseshot

---

According to the description of the shot, you must be in cover for Supriseshot to work. However, people have reported using it from any position and it still working.

Message Edited by Sotaudi on 02-03-2004 11:07 AM