Teras Kasi Archive

Situation:

I'm running missions around my city for FP's when the call goes out that we're under attack (again, what else is new?) so I return from my dilligent Rebel NPC stomping to stomp some real Rebels.

Problem:

I made several mistakes. One, I took on two fully buffed and godknowswhatelse Rebels (it doesn't matter which faction anyone is, for the purposes of this forum, but this is what happened) and wanted to use my TKA skills to give them a proper thrashing. I went after the one who ran because he was still healing up from his wounds obviously from a previous engagement. Like a shark, I smelled blood in the water and soon made a tasty snack of him. Trouble began when I failed to notice the little "blunderbuss" (history buffs know what I'm talking about here) in the hands of his partner. I did notice a peculiar sound eminating from behind me over and over when I realized it was a Jawa Ion rifle. Those clever little Jawas! I must send them a thank you card! Well, fortunately for me, I was wearing Composite armor 80% or better to all with 38% to stun and a PSG also with stun effectiveness. Furthermore I was buffed to the gills with food, drink and anything else I could put in my stomach to help. The friendly rifleman with the Ion rifle probably was starting to wonder why his uberness seemingly had no effect on me for the first several minutes of the engagement. It was simply that my mind pool was double what he was used to seeing and shooting out.

Next problem, the kiteing (sp?). Strictly regarding TKA, there was nothing I could do. He ran, I chased. I sent many lunges his way to no effect. I'm guessing he was using some food with defense vs. posture change (down) or something along with Fencer skills. Couldn't KD, again great food out there for that. I decided to mind poison him with my Janta knife because it was hotkeyed next to my VK's. Again, stupidly on my part, I forgot I had just picked up a NS Lance with twice the mind poison strength of my knife. Shame on me. Anyway, on this went when no buffage on Dantooine could save my head from this brain assassin. So, I figured it was about time to lead him into my buddies waiting at a nearby base. Hot for the kill, he followed me and was in turn slain, but not before slaying me, job well done.

Self Honesty:

I shouldn't have taken two on alone when I knew I had help. I should've been better prepared with my NS Lance at the ready to poison his mind pool that he was beginning to empty trying madly to kill me. I SHOULD have switched to my pistol, but dammit I love TKM and wanted to use it. I know you have to use a variety of skills and go ranged when they do, then melee when you get them close. My mistake. I should've put a call into guildchat about where I was and what I was doing, but didn't.

I know what I need to do next time.

Fellow TKM's deposit two credits here:

Strictly melee, what could I/should I have done to defeat the rifleman? Is there anything beyond what I know I did? Or do you just have to go to the pistol, or whatever ranged weapon you prefer and duke it out from there? Just seems silly that his rifle seemed damn near as effective up close as when at range, as well as on the move. I know these issues are being worked in the combat balance, but damn frustrating isn't it?

/vent

Honestly You had an advantage because you can use the pistols. I have an all melee templet and I would have chosen to cut and run sooner and called for back up as soon as I saw them. Now I was alittle confused as to who you were attacking. Did you kill one and weren't able to catch the riflemen? If that was the case you should have switched to ranged right there IMO when you found it difficult to hit him. Did you use your intimidate or warcry? Either one or both could have aided you here while you regrouped or cut and ran to base. It easy to monday morning quaterback but I seriously would have just tried to bait them/him in following me to my awaiting friends sooner. Taking on two vsone was a bold move but maybe not thebest one. I could see keeping them busy while your friends made there way to your location but in not calling for back up was your only major mistake imo. With all the focus on you they had the advantage you did not.

Good points. I have a macro set up for Intimidate1 and Warcry1 I was hitting him with as well as Center of Being. I was also using an auto-follow macro at times when he was going round and round in circles. Lunge1 works great on NPC's for me, but can't get it to stick a wiley rifleman just yet. I was actually thinking of re-working my template and finish out Brawler, going master, to get Intimidate2, Warcry2, and all the Lunge2's therein. However, with the combat rebalance in the near (?) future, I'll wait and see what changes come.

I've also been researching foods and drinks a bit more and what combinations I use in certain situations. And yes, I had DB'ed his partner and couldn't catch the rifleman due to his kiting.

Oddly enough, everyone says everyone's a TKM, but I easily see as many Rifleman/Doc/CM templates out there. I encountered this same situation the very next night. We had a Rifleman/CM, at least--not sure what else he had, running loose in the city dealing a good amount of damage with Poison/Disease and, once again, aJawa Ion rifle. Fortunately there were 6 of us (fortunately!?) and we eventually subdued him with poisons of our own. But once again, I was impressed with what a powerful template the Doc/Rifleman is. It really does need to be addressed in the combat rebalance. Good speed, good accuracy while standing and better while moving, shooting out the mind pool and healing all damage instantaneously, plus the use of poisons and diseases.

I have polearms 1-4 just to use looted NS lances and LVA's. I had a NS lance at the ready with a 236 strength mind poison with 63% potency ready for him and did massive trauma to his mind pool to which he shortly succumbed. I kick myself though in thinking that my TKM didn't really do much for me, but begginer skills with Polearms 4 was the most devastating thing I could do.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining about the players utilizing this template. I say do what works, and for now, that's what works. My template is outstanding for PvsE, but a notch under what the rifleman/Doc/CM can do in PvsP. I don't think they should make poisons worthless or nerf them like they did bleeds, but they should not be the decisive point in an engagement either. Nor should they be able to throw them further than even the mighty rifleman can shoot! It just seems silly that a medic would be the most feared man/woman on the battlefield. I just don't recall Darth Vader kicking in the front door of Echo Base with a team of Combat medics close behind...

And I like my TKM using lances and whatnot. I like having to diversify a character to adapt to situations. This isn't really a rant on uber FOTM templates, just a sounding board for fellow melee players like myself and what could/might/would work under a certain set of circumstances.

So, if you've been having the same kind of encounters I'm listing here and have tried things out that seem to be working for you, let the rest of us know. I'll continue to report anything I figure out here as well.

Well, in that situation, it's tough to do anything. All you can do is keep intimidating him while running, and try burstrunning to catch up to him. Another way, however, is using the terrain to your advantage. If there were any buildings around, run around behind them, and make him run around it to hit you. Most people seem to close in in this situation, and so you turn around after about 10-15 seconds of this and rush him.

Another way is if you are near one of the outposts or a base, run behind a wall. Again, the person would have to swing around to hit you, working to your advantage. If there's double walls like on a base, it's all gold, because then he MUST get close to you if he's gonna keep attacking.

Always remember that skills aren't the only factor in a fight, that terrain can play an important role in combat. If you can force them near you, they stand no chance