Teras Kasi Archive

This won't be a long post unlike my last - The hour is late, my head is heavy and the eyelids are drooping

In the need to free up skill points to pursue Doctor, I've been considering dropping Master Brawler. Of course, my first concern was giving up my vaunted UnarmedLunge2, so I borrowed a friend to do some testing Friday evening.


The UnarmedLunge2/Dizzy combination that worked so well pre-patch is nearly worthless now, due largely to changes in Dizzy duration. However you may find this little ditty surprisingly effective:

-UnarmedLunge1
-Run OVER their body and stop a meter or two on the other side of them (this will largely remove the 'out of range' message caused by network lag)
-unarmedKnockdown2
-Equip knucklers
-unarmedHit2,unarmedHit2,unarmedHit2,..

Notes:
Your UnarmedKnockdown2 will catch them in the act of standing up, and floor them.
Surprise.. UnarmedLunge1 and UnarmedKnockdown2 are on separate timers. This is rather significant - It's what makes this combination effective. You can throw one right after the other. UnarmedKnockdown2 still dizzies, and even with reduced duration, it will give you 2-3 seconds to pull off 1 or 2 unarmedHit2 specials before your opponent gets back up.
Why UnarmedHit2? Because UnarmedHit3 has a 3-second long attack animation. You can throw 2-3 UnarmedHit2's in the same space of time for 2 1/2x as much total damage as one UH3.

This combination was 100% effective vs. my Master Smuggler friend, who saw fit to start every round of testing with Low Blow, Panic Shot and bleeding shot(s). At a measly unbuffed 850/700/900 HAM I won every attempt, usually finishing with about 1/2 H/A. Each of these test rounds began with us running around separated by a distance of 20-40 meters. Distances in excess of 30 meters, I burstrun.

I'm of the opinion now that 1 on 1, a TK Master can take nearly any other class with:
1. A good buff. Doctor buff, or carefully time-managed Neutron Pixie.
2. PSG2/3
3. Burstrun.
4. Tactically intelligent play.

Having said that, I'm finding myself convinced that the enormous 1,000+ H/A buffs that Doctors can apply are so essential, I'm working up the tree(s) to it now. If we're to be kited waiting for Lunge/Knockdown timers to restart, showing up to the fight with 2x the HAM of your opponent is something of an equilizer.

S.

This works in principle, but not realistically in my opinion. Here's why:
1) If you lunge once too many times, you're dead. Considering how getting our lunge off fast is very important, I often find myself hitting the key once too many times, and because of my attack speed being unable to clear it in time. This isn't an issue when testing with your smuggler friend, because I'm assuming he let you have first shot.

2) At 15m you can't clear the distance in order to KD most of the time, especially if your opponent is running(In which case he will slide for a distance also, again I'm assuming your smuggler friend just stood there).

3) If your KD is resisted(Note that pistoleers have a higher defense against KD than TKA's...) then you're dead. No one is stupid enough to give you a second chance, and it's almost impossible to get the first chance in.

This is not opinion; rather the result of exhaustive testing.

I generally try to avoid writing opinion or "idea" posts. The forums are 99% idea posts, opinions and complaints. If I said unarmedLunge1+Knockdown2 should work most of the time if you run a few meters beyond the opponent, you will be able to reproduce these results in your own testing. If everyone remembers the basics of the Scientific Method from high school science classes, then you know what I'm talking about. If you grab a friend, duel for an hour, and apply the technique I proposed at the top of this message, you should be able to reproduce this pattern with practice.

S.

What Sseese says works for me. I have been doing it even before the timers. The only way to compensate for the lag issue is to over compensate. Those that play FPS shooters like Counter Strike know this. You always lead your target. Sadly, we shouldn't have to do this kinda stratagy in a MMO but we do, and it works if you give it a try.

"-Run OVER their body and stop a meter or two on the other side of them (this will largely remove the 'out of range' message caused by network lag)"

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This is all well and good, but I have yet to figure out how to run over their body when I can never catch their body to begin with. Maybe I am just an unlucky cuss in finding every single PvP opponent who is aware that /Stand can be spammed and is effective against a 1 shot /unarmedlunge and keeps them out of range of a KD hit. Much less running 2 meters beyond their body. And burst run only lasts so long in a battle.

I agree that doctor buffs are sweet. I agree our damage output is devastating. But against a moving thinking opponent a "run and gun" is a no win situation. Give me a building!

You don't even need to /stand. Simply pushing in the direction you're running will cause you to stand automatically from being lunged. Oops, and as soon as they stand up, they're now immune to lunges for 30 seconds, ample time to kite you to death in. The only time I've been ever able to catch someone kiting me is to lunge multiple times. One lunge is simply not enough in practical application against a skilled opponent.

I perhaps didn't make myself very clear. What I meant to say was that your testing was faulty, and relied too much on tame, controlled factors.