Rifleman Archive
Thread: PETITION: Simple Rifleman Fix (Needs Dev Attention PLEASE)
Here it is. We've all been looking for it. And I've FOUND it. Bwahahahahaha!
Er, sorry. So, anyhow, I've figured out how to fix the Rifleman's major internal problems, and it requires no rebalancing of skills. It requires no new skills. It requires no nerfs, hell, it doesn't even require any new CODE. Ready?
Swap both the location and the XP requirements of Coutnersniping Techniques and Rifle Special Ablities.
That may not appear to make much sense right now. In fact you may think it's a bad idea at first. But hear me out and I think that you will change your mind.
People partway up the Rifleman tree are hurting. Badly. We're all screaming for better weapons with more damage. We're all begging for tweakier T21's. We're all weeping over out Melee Multiplier rating. But if you read the posts, you will consistantly see that Master Riflemen don't really have this problem very much. I started wondering why.
And the obvious answer is, "Because they reached Master!" but I wanted to look deeper than that. Because they reached Master. No offense, but so what? What particular attributes did they earn as a Master Rifleman that suddenly made them viable characters? Because the honest truth is that the Master Rifleman is a force to be reconed with. The incredible power of the Master Rifleman is the reason the Devs don't want to give us freaky-strong T21's. They know what Master Riflemen will be able to do with that kind of firepower.
Unfortunately, in order to deny the Master Riflemen that sort of power, they have, by default, nerfed us hrorribly. In order to limit the Master Rifleman's ability to dish damage and get away, they have had to impost limits on the entire Rifleman Profession. There was really no other way to do it. And I can understand WHY they did it.
Look, what kills Riflemen more than anything else? Being rushed by Melee MOBs. We know that. We take out MAYBE one of them, the others reach us, and BLAM! We're in the cloning center. People have suggested increasing Rifle Damage. But that makes the Master Rifleman hit TOO HARD. People have suggested increasing Rifle Attack Speed. But that makes the Master Rifleman hit TOO FAST. Well, a closer look at the skill tree for Rifleman reveals the problem.
Rifle Special Abilities is the hardest tree to get. It requires Combat XP, which you earn much more slowly than Rifle XP. It usually takes you as long to fill up that one Rifle tree as it does to fill up the other THREE. But that one tree contains the secret to Rifleman dominance.
Rifle Speed +10
That is why Master Riflemen can survive being rushed by MOBs. Because they are actually able to HIT them before they reach the Master Rifleman and knock him out cold. The increases to speed are FAR more important for the Rifleman than they are for the Pistoleer or the Carbineer. What's more, that same tree contains Melee Defense +5 each step of the way. If people could level that tree quickly, the same way everyone does with Sniper, we would be able to hurl enough damage at the enemy at a quick enough rate to survive. And unlike increasing the Attack Speed on our weapons,the Master Rifleman would remain EXACTLY the same, so he would not be unbalanced compared to the other Masters. It would also leave the player still inferior to the Master Rifleman because of the Rifle Speed +20 that can be found in the Mastery Skill (as well as all of the other passive bonuses along the way).
Now, I am not saying this is the only help Rifleman needs. We still need our Mind Drain migrated to a Health/Action combo. We still need Take Cover and Block to work. We still need Surprise Shot to, well, work with RIFLES. But those things are all secondaries. Those things aren't working for the Master Rifleman either, and he is still cleaning house. All I am asking is that the Riflemen In Training be given a taste of that power and a chance to survive. Giving Riflemen better access to their most important passive bonus would go a long way towards that goal.
hmmm =) its a great branch, let it be hard to obtain, otherwise everyone who's a dweller (those that are only into rifleman for the the good parts) have it too easy.
if you say switch it with sniping technique (which is a killer branch in PvP yet kinda useless in PvE... then i'd agree more...
as of now countersniping is kinda a crappy branch. so unless u're aiming for master, no one is gonna get it.
Sanlen wrote:
Are you sure you want this? Because if push comes to shove, I'm forseeing our rifle attack speed modifier getting the next nerf. I truly don't think they know what it does.
Yep I have a feeling Master Rifleman speed is going to get hit HARD by the nerf stick soon.
This however shouldn't stop them from making it easier on novice riflemen.
On the other hand, Rifleman is so gimped, and when it works it will be SO interdependant, I can't imagine (nor have I ever seen) a dabbler in Rifleman. They usually grab at least two whole trees.