Squad Leader Archive

I use it first thing. Gives my group that extra edge, even if it does last for just the first shot.

yeah i can see how using it first thing is a good use of it. hopefully it will be more usefull and less broken after a fix.

How I usually do it, if I don't get a lot of hot-heads in my group is Steady Aim then Rally, then Aim, then Volley Fire then followed by my regular attack or as Master Carbineer Charge Shot and then my regular attack. It just depends upon the situation. It works for me, so...*shrugs*

I fire it off alot during xp hunts, to make sure the lower CU characters are getting hits in. I pretty much alternate between Steady Aim, Volley Fire, and Rally.

I did a small mathematical analysis on SteadyAim. Result is, you're better off, not only in terms of action costs, but even in terms of damage inflicted, when not using it.

Well, I have to disagree with Sylow on this.

I try my best to keep the Volleyfire up all the time, especially on big critters. And, in my experience, steadyaim provides a VERY NOTICABLE improvement in damage when stacked with volleyfire. I've noticed sudden drops of 10-15% of health when both are stacked on things like Nekrosis.

---

I try my best to keep the Volleyfire up all the time, especially on big critters. And, in my experience, steadyaim provides a VERY NOTICABLE improvement in damage when stacked with volleyfire. I've noticed sudden drops of 10-15% of health when both are stacked on things like Nekrosis.

---

I definitely agree upon the VolleyFire, that it significally improves damage. Though, i dare to say that the increase in damage you see is mostly thanks to this ability, the steadyaim contributes very little to it. Instead of applying steadyaim, i advise you to use rally, you get:

- the same damage increase as with steady aim.
- some nice defence bonuses

Both these modifiers apply for the complete duration of rally, not only for one attack. Still steady aim has similar windup time and action costs as rally, making it a very bad choice.

About the maths, you can agree or disagree, but up to now nobody pointed out any flaw or weakness in my calculations thus i still dare to say that steadyaim in effect decreases (!) the cumulative damage output of the complete team.

Message Edited by Sylow on 07-02-2005 08:38 PM

i find that steady aim works well..its accuracy, not damage that its usefullness is measured by. things will die faster if everyone is landing thier shots. but if its not timed right or used enough it is a waste of action.

---

its accuracy, not damage that its usefullness is measured by. things will die faster if everyone is landing thier shots. but if its not timed right or used enough it is a waste of action.

---

1. I yesterday wrote a small mathematical analysis on the whole model, accuracy and damage increase included. Of course, the result can vary if the given numbers are different, but i've gone through several different starting conditions, and in any case steady aim turned out to be contraproductive, even if you assume that steadyaim gives you +15% of actuall chance to hit. (Which it definitely does not.)


2. There are very few situations where using it might actually make sense. This is when you are setting up for PvP and are the one who can determine the attack, and when you fight an NPC target where the very first attack absolutely has to score as you need to put an absolutely deciding debuff on the target. Unfortunately these are very theoretical situations, if a special is only useful for that, it could as well be deleted and it would take weeks or months till anybody notices.


3. Can you please explain to me the "not used enough" passage? If it's contraproductive when using it once, how can it be more effective when using it several times? It's not stacking, use it once and you're back to start, only with less damage inflicted than when not using it and having wasted some action...

Message Edited by Sylow on 07-04-2005 01:03 PM

It is one more thing to do just before your group starts firing on your target. That always helps. I sometimes outdamage everyone in my group, so on those occasions I usually sit back and do Steady Aim and Rally, get a few shots in. If I am actively in combat, I usually don't bother.