Scout Archive

Which weapon grp should i focus on, Pistol, Carbine or Rifle?

I hear Carbine is good for support professions since it can 'knock down' things and thus prevent their movement/combat.

Myself? I'm going rifle.. but I'm not much of a scout either. Carbine should keep you going longer without death. Just my newb opinion after playing 4 hours of the game (2 of which were spent in hopeless newbification!)

Although I must have read so many posts after NDA was dropped ...

Second opinions, anyone?

How do we get ranged weapon skills, anyway? Yeah, this is a clueless newbie question.

Do we have to train Novice Marksman first?

Yes you need to purchase the initial novice marksman skill from a trianer (Think it's 15 skill points and 150 credits or so) Then anytime you use a weapon, and do damage with it, you will gain skill points associated with that weapon and usually some combat points you can put towards other things.

Keep in mind that you can always set a macro to switch between weapons thus giving you the chance to gain skill points on three different weapons from one kill. That is if you're wanting to train all the weapons. Also from what I've experienced so far the rifle seems the slowest to gain followed by carbine and pistol, but I guess in the end it will all come down to personal preference and the path you choose to take with your character.

I'm going rifle, but only because I'm running a wookie and want to lay waste with a bowcaster eventually. I might double-up into carbine a little, but I'm going to be running tight on skill points as it is. I wish they'd give rifles increased range, it'd make 'em more useful, especially when prone.

I am focusing on rifle because of the range and because in rifleman you get concealment bonuses which will compliment my ranger profession

The past couple days, I decided to give pistol a shot. couldn't resist the pun, sorry.

I would have preferred to excel in rifles, just out of personal taste, but I read a lot of interesting posts on pistols and their strenghts. I was all the way up the marksman rifle & general ranged trees.

Holy **edit**, what a difference. The stats don't really tell much, but the pistol is sooooooo much better. The power of the rifle just isn't there like it should be.The melee damage reduction is so huge. My defense must have gone up about 500% or so. I can stay in a fight for minutes now, instead of 30 seconds. The speed bonuses are nice too. I can get off about 3 or 4 shots before most mobs detect me. By that time they are almost 2/3 down, in any HAM level. This is way better than the 2 mind shots the rifle gave me.

Kinda crappy that rifles suck so bad. Like some of the posters stated, it was nice to mind shot with some noisemakers and spurs, but **edit**, I'll take good ol' ass whooping power over any of that. That combo becomes useless later on. Perhaps in a better world the balance would be better. Rifles would have some better special attacks early on, and their power would be as significant as the pistol's melee dam defense.

If you have a pet/droid that does health/action dam, you have no choice. Dump that rifle, trust me.

Holding a rifle at melee incurs a 3x damage penalty. If they would ordinarily hit you for 50, holding a rifle will make them hit you for 150. If you're soloing, a pistol's going to be your best friend. If you have a group that you regularly hunt with, you should coordinate weapon choices with them. Personally, I start off with a few rifle shots and finish them off with pistol. Be flexible and try a variety of things - you'll be surprised how well they can work.

Pistol pistol pistol

did I mention Pistols?

I have to agree, I go to a nice safe distance and start prone with the rifle. Then as they come rushing towards me switch to the pistol to finish them off. Sometimes start with the Carbine instead to try and even out the XP that I am getting.

But the Pistol is a Scouts best friend. Just wish I could find a good Scout Pistol after my last one went missing. (please fix my bug devs)

Contrary to many beliefs, rifle is the scouts best friend.. why you ask?

Well, most kills will be done prone, with mask scent, from a range. Rifles key purpose. Second, Rifles to mind damage as their specials... scouts traps, lo and behold, do mind damage as their primary effect (on those that do damage).

What does this mean? Most of our time is spent lying in the grass popping off critters from a far (unless you are a psycho scout) so the rifle is perfect there, can't tell you how many times the mob is dropped before it even gets into my pistol range.Also, if you are getting into trouble, or you just want to clear and lay waste to some mobs, hit it with a few Noise Makers or Lecapines or both, drop it's mind pool (usually a quarter to a half. . unless it is a blue in which case it is almost dead. Remember traps dont kill just really mess up) and pop it with a mind shot real quick. Done deal, get to the other stuff scouts do like camping and building traps and skinning small furry animals. Leave the long combats to the gunslingers =)