Smuggler Archive

• Reckless shot: Ive not noticed anything about this to be honest and i find i do more damage using critical shot making this special extremely limited and comes at a price of reducing my defences.


• Panic shot: increases the time between the opponent to attack again though i must say if it actualy does this then it is so limited i havnt noticed it


• Low blow: Again slows the opponent down and i do see some benefit though not enough to be worth doing and doesnt seem to have much effect on overall combat, i miss the KD which we used to have.


• Overwhelming shot: Should make the opponent more vulnerable to states and i have to say not really noticed much diference between using it and not though i do use it just in case though no evidence says it does much.

In the absense of content the smuggler is a combat character and a combat character is only as good as the specials and mods he/she gets and it appears as far as specials go im not impressed especialy when compared to my bounty hunter skills at the moment smuggler doesnt give value for skill points.

Now what the challenge is prove me wrong please really i want to say "im sorry guys we rule" but at the moment really the only move worth using is concussion shot for the root and feign death to get out of trouble when things stack up against us as far as last ditch i have used it several times and only been sucessful once though the time i was sucessful i did get a message saying what the hell happened there lol.

Ok guys impress me show me our moves are not just pretty icons to go under the opponents HAM bar.

I feel your pain.

I always feel kinda like a traitor for not using my Smuggler specials enough as well - I also seem to get more bang for my buck from my BH ones.

Saying that, I'm pretty certain that Reckless shot is on a different timer to Critcal, so I do use it if my target has already been rooted and I'm plugging away trying to get specials off with the minimum of delay.

I hardly ever use Last Ditch, which I think is a good thing as it proves that it's working as intended and really is a last gasp tactic.

Feign has saved me a lot - curiously it seems to work much better against humanoid MOBs rather than creatures...

Overwhelming Shot I try and use when I can - normally in fights that look like they might be long uns. Again, I too am lacking in evidence and use it on faith.

Never used Panic Shot. It's not even on my toolbar.

Low Blow rarely - I too mourn the loss of the ranged KD. Underhand Shot fills that need for me atm.

It's not all doom and gloom tho. There are some of my BH specials that I hardly use as well, but it has to be said it's more because I haven't managed to find as much use for them rather than in the case of the Smuggler ones which are just broken...

Saying that, I think in solo fights my MBH skills get more use, but when I'm in a group and there are other pure damage dealers around, I do try and use my crowd control Smuggler skills more.

We're still not a 5 on crowd control tho.

Hmmm, since I stubbornly refuse to give up Master Pistols, I can't master BH, and I don't have advanced critical. I don't even have critical shot, seeing as how I never used carbines before CU and I didn't change my BH skills any afterwards. Would you suggest I switch from 3/0/4/4 to 3/4/4/0? Torso shot is nostalgically my favorite, but without the burning its just not the same...

ok...NUMBER ONE Avanced critical is the hardest hittest "non rifle" damage skill out there. Reckless shot comes in a close second, but it drops your defense by 80 for about...10 seconds. But is the target is a Melee and you root it, the reduction of defense wont matter if it cannot hit you.

So you gotta pick one...advanced critical....or Reckless shot.

My Temp is this;

MS/MP, 0/0/4/0 BH to get a ranged knockdown shot. I LOVE this template gives me 220 melee, and 240 ranged D, andI dunno the accuracy/speed bonuses.....

and well...arsani, you saw me working that cave with you guys that night....perfect puller template...

As Smuggler/MCM/Commando, I use my Smuggler specials a ton, but I guess that should be obvious, since they're the bulk of my pistol Specials. I work with a Smuggler/TKM and a Melee-stacked tank, so i tend to hang back and reduce the enemy to a nubbin' of their former self. It usually goes aomething like this:

1. Wait for tank to engage.
2. Concussion Shot for safety.
3. Overwhelming Shot, to make sure my states and the tank's states all land.
4. Apply DOTs in the form of Fire and Poison(Disease is still broke).
5. Panic Shot and Low Blow. this significantly reduces the damage the tank's taking by severely limiting the attack speed on the target(-50ish speed is a pretty big hunk, especially in PvE).
6. Determine if there are any other mobs beating on the tank. If so, repeat the above for each one.(Steps 1-5 take about 10 seconds for each mob they're applied to).
7. Enter into the Smuggler Debuff/Damage cycle, following the tank's target lead to avoid aggro. this is usually comprised of a Reckless/Aimed Shot cycle(with a fast pistol), or a Reckless/Aimed/Ranged Shot cycle(with a slower gun). Reapply PS/LB as needed.

About the only Special I don't use frequently from the Smuggler tree right now is Last Ditch, but that's only because I don't ususally end up in a position where it's advisable to use it. :>

EDIT: Forgot some things: Restraining shot is great for pulling... especially with a Rocket launcher if you've got the commando for it. I pull ranged NPCs without taking a lick of damage, most fo the time. Plus, restraining shot, when soloing, covers the gap between Concussion shot applications nicely-- there's a 2-3 second gap during which you just can't stick the root again. FD, used all the time to save my butt-- almost a must-have for a healer these days. So much aggro is generated by healing a tank, that it's almost critical to have some way to clear it.

Finally... it's important to consider our role in combat. We're not there to deal damage. We're thre to enhance other people's roles. Our specials aren't just pretty icons... all those icons do something useful, and a group WILL NOTICE the difference when you're not applying your states or not applying them correctly. The fact we get Adv. Reckless, which is a pretty excellent dmage output for a non-damage class, is just a really nice bonus. We're not meant to cover a mob in damage. We're meant to play our shots over every mob that's attacking the group, keeping all of them heavily stated.

Message Edited by CapnKate on 06-03-2005 10:29 AM

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ApollyonTB wrote:

thing is...if your are out to be the uber temp...then find an uber temp...and MBH IS GONNA have to be a part of it.

I use my template...cause its a damn good RP template...and my skill in pistols...is insane.... my DL44 has a base BPS of 328...my modded (unsliced) is 523...I fire off a special in justoverone second. I can root, snare, state, and do decent damage to any target.....

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HOTDOG wrote:

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ApollyonTB wrote:

thing is...if your are out to be the uber temp...then find an uber temp...and MBH IS GONNA have to be a part of it.

I use my template...cause its a damn good RP template...and my skill in pistols...is insane.... my DL44 has a base BPS of 328...my modded (unsliced) is 523...I fire off a special in justoverone second. I can root, snare, state, and do decent damage to any target.....

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QFE.

MS/MBH is an AWESOMERP temp. And I hope itgets better with the revamp.

I don't have the best Def. But Pistol skills are the shizzy.

Unfortunately I really try to avoid having anyone get in my pistols range- ESPECIALLY ranged beings. It should be that I would want to lure people in close where I do the most damage with my best defenses up- but I haven't figured out the fastest way to dibilitate and chop up an opponent once they get in that 35m range (unless of course they are melee- hee hee!).

This is where I see a slight imbalance (as compared to rifles). I think I might need to find faster pistols or more damaging pistols but I DO pack a gun with a dps of 602 so idunno.

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I love the feel of being a master smuggler/ master BH not to mention having my YT-1300 i have got him the way i want him but one of the things which does annoy me a little if im fighitng an npc with a gun, they tend to mostly have carbines, i will have to whip out a rifle and root him then move out of his range otherwise i take alot of damage on occassions ive had to fight 3 or 4 ranged npc's and keeping them rooted and out of range is an art form itself and a fun one at that to be honest.

At the moment my best weapon is the proton carbine which is 480 dps though i hate using it because replacing it would be very dificult and/or expensive but i do find i have about 10 regular weapons in my backpack which i switch from i use my scatter pistol or renegade pistol against melee (esp nightsister they are my favourite) if im in a group i would use my jawa ion pistol for the low damage so i dont get agro it also looks cool, my elite carbine converted really well into the new system i use that if i need big damage at medium range or if im desperate i use my proton carbine, but against ranged npc'si will use one of my rifles so i can root and keep them out of range.

I think with my template im a walking swiss army knife with the amount of equipment i have and i have to say i love that part of my character i seem to have a weapon for every occassion including a blaster knuckler which is a must for those bar room brawls.

Thank for all your feedback i look forward to seeing what else comes out of this thread.

Unfortunately the devs has made MBH (or most of BH) the ultimate "add-on" tank/damage dealer profession for most of the other professions as well as among the best attacks in the game. MBH/MSwords has good defense and is able to use both melee & range weapons and grants high damage attacks, better than my smuggler/commando still. If you want the ultimate template, almost every one of those templates is going to involve BH unless you want to be crazy and do the triple-stack melee setup.

I don't see Smuggler as a damage dealer, however with my speed tapes & accuracy tapes for HW, smuggler/commando combines the two nicely and especially when elemental damage gets fixed I think commando is going to get quantum leaps ahead in damage dealer.

I have noticed the effect on Lowblow and panic shot, but overwelm and reckless don't seem to benefit all that much.