Swordsman Archive
Thread: PvP battle guide for Heavy Sword.
I have been working on my Heavy Swordsman character for quite a while now.
a few things I have learned are....
Master Brawler is a must for this profession, it really really does help.
Tatooine Sunburns are a must for the PvPing heavy sword.
Muon Gold is tricky, I only use it as a last resort when I'm about to be incapped from mind.
Charging in at the front of the line is a good way to waste yourself, ranged can start attacking from 65 meters away, that's a long run if you are getting slammed by a rifle or even pistol.
3rd person perspective, being able to see an overhead view of your battle area is a must, when you are being kited, try and stay even with or ahead of the person you're attacking. It's easier to stay with someone when you're looking down on the scene, plus you can see if you are being attacked from behind much more easily.
If you wear no armor at least get a helm.
On armored enemies always lead with the bleeds. I have seen some 80% kinetic resist armor out there, after you've wasted half your ham on your major damage attacks is no time to realize you're doing no damage at all. Get that bleed in first thing on armor guys, even if you get taken out that person is out of the fight.
Team up with a complementary profession, Doctor, Rifleman, Pikeman ect.
Doctor buffs are almost God Mode for the Swordsman...
Riflemen and Heavy Sword are the mind killers...
Pikemen have some awesome area attacks like the swordsman...
The most important thing is practice. You have to fight, and fight a lot to learn the subtlties of SWG PvP combat.
Got some more tips, from a group-warfare perspective...
Don't waste time trying to outpace a TKA or Fenceron their efforts to Dizzy/KD you. Focus on landing your mind bleeds, then worry about direct damage. If you start the fight with Lunge instead of your most powerful bleed, you're probably not going land the hit anyhow. At least this way you WILL make that TKA vulnerable to anyone else who does mind damage out there, even if you die.
In larger fights, an amazing number of people forget to watch their backs. I find this most true with Riflemen, who are usually so focused on a target ahead of them that they don't see your dot sneaking up. Climb in from behind and land a Warcry on a person, and usually they're sufficiently stunnedand disarmedfor long enough to kill them.
Indoor areas are your friends. Especially buildings with narrow hallways and tight turns. Hang out just on the inside of a corner near a door or at the top or bottom of a flight of stairs. They'll charge headlong into your damage, without many easy escapes. I like the stairs one especially - because they can't take advantage of their range from the other end of the stairs(maybe this qualifies as an exploit - I'll take whatever I can get).
Flexibility is key. If you want to compete seriously in PvP you need at least some skill in a ranged weapon. Rifle 4 in Marksman is actually enough to do critical harm to an opponent who's distracted by somebody else. Pistol 4 is also pretty decent for putting in the last few hits on a fleeing opponent. But especially now that the Mitigation skills are in, I can't emphasize how important it is to have at least some Ranged Mitigation. I tried to make a total-melee character, with all my points invested in the various trees - I was getting butchered even by Marksmen because they could hit with their most powerful shots. Ranged Mitigation 2 is probably enough for most purposes, and that's relatively easy to get.
A swordmans strongpoint is the fact that he can attack the mind! Most often, the mind is the lowest stat and most vulnerable as it is muchharder to heal.
The most important concept for a Swordsman is simple: Stack your bleeds!
Mind Hit 2 and Mind Hit 1 stack, you can use both on an opponent forwhat is essentially two bleeds. Spamming MInd Hit 2 will only result in 1 bleed, the highest you've hit for, but by using both Mind Hit 2 and Mind Hit 1 you create 2 bleeds.
Kiting can be stopped with 2H Lunge!Itcan be used with 16m. Once you have changed their posture, they are yours!
If you have a hard time readingdistanceof an enemy b/c their name is too long shorten the width of your hotkeys and increase the width of your target's are on the upper left hand side of the screen. Knowing distance is a must.
Many people will complain after you've dueled and won that you were buffed. Buffs affect a Swordsman more than other professions because our HAM costs are so much higher. But if you are actively raiding or attacking other PCs and you are not buffed, you are your own worst nightmare! I've lost many times because my specials brought my HAM down more than my opponent.
In this case remember that warcry is your friend. When you successfully hit warcry and you do not think you can incapacitate your opponent in that 10 or 20 seconds,save your specials for the time being.
Also, you should never have more than 2 attacks in your combat queue. Combat is unpredictable and when you lock yourself in to 3 or 4 commands, you are leaving yourself open to something else.
Also, when you go into combat, be prepared!
This means making sure you have stimpacks, food, spice, and buffs. Also, do not try to max your stats up front. Stagger them so you will not be forced to quit playing or endanger yourselfon a downer or when the food runs out.
Another reason to do this is to break an opponent's spirit. For example, if a TKA successfuly hits you with dizzy/KD they are going to try to incap you. Just b/c you are dizzy doesnt mean you can't eat. Let an opponent attack a stat and when he thinks he has you, eat food, or spice, or both if necesary. Many times they will expend all their HAM trying to incap you to have you stand up and incap them with one hit.
Muhammad Ali coined that as the rope-a-dope, and I've won MANY matches with my uber armor by letting an opponent think he was about to win only to beat him when I got up.
Also, know what you need to eat in order to equip your armor. Do not rely on a doctor for buffs, because when you need them, they wont be there. For me, 1 Breath of Heaven (drink), 2 Vegeparsine (food), and 1 Neutron Pixie allows me to wear any suit of composite I own.
Lastly, Do not deathblow an opponent who has no mind and has a mind bleed. You are doing them a service by killing them. With no mind, they are essentially "out of the game." Even if you do not get the points for killing them, they are no longer useful to their group or team and will spend more time trying to recover than if you were to kill them. The exception to this rule may be Zabraks who can use equilibrium to bring their mind up quickly.Even food will not last long if they are still bleeding.
Hope this helps, If you have any questions, I play on Sunrunner, and have been a master swordsman since July.
Sharc
facing tka. while they are charging spam warcry several times, then go cob. stack mind bleeds and make sure you use a 2-handed curved. if they kd/dizzy u eat and drink your way through it. use light armor if they ar not using vibros, and if they are equip a heavier set.
ch/anything. disregard the pets and charge them... depending on whether they are ranged or not use the tactics above.
as stated before buildings are extremely useful. dont have a title equiped that would hint to you being a melee of any type. if u only have melee use no title. if ur trying to lure ur opponent into a builing have a ranged weapon equiped, run to ur desired kill spot, and then swith to ur swordsman weapon. in tight buildings with hallways you can easily take down a ranged opponent, as they constantly run into walls and such.
extra tip, if you want to have a little innocent fun, get a mansion between bestine and anchorhead and lure in all the imps that come by. kill them all
I've also done some skill point work...
Master Heavy Swords, Master Brawler -- and Doctor 0/2/4/0 (buy enhance packs, or have a guildie make them)
If you like to solo (like me) this is a good template. I rely on basically myself.
to be part of this cute guide, i give a a really nice template which kick ass for swordman:
Master swordman
Master brawler
TK 4 3 0 0
Medic 0 04 0
Marksman 0 0 4 0
Carabeener 0 0 4 0
u have a nice + 60 in defense vs kd
arround 190 in counterattack and this jeezzzz its rocks
u have meditate for ur wounds and power boost.
and medic to help a bit
with this template, buffed, with a crate of stims, one of muon, some tatooine sunburns, and a helmet, chest,pants,boots compo arround 60% i emptied SOLO the fort tusken... our profession is just the best in the game so enjoy :}