Weaponsmith Archive

As a Smuggler and Pistoleer, I believe slicing your weaponsare a good thing. However, you have to realize that sometimes the % increase is small and that it's all random (Speed or Damage and % increase are all random). So don't get mad at a Novice Smuggler because your Uber Weapon only got a 12% increase in speed...

Here are the unofficial, but largely tested and most likely true, %s per Slicing Tree...

Note: I'm only listing Weapon slicing %s because I'm unsure of the range on Armor...

Novice Smuggler-Slicing III: 10-25% on Weapons

Slicing IV (Slicer):10-30% on Weapons

Master Smuggler:15-35% on Weapons

Hope that helps...

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Riddix wrote:

Well, I'm working on smuggler as well, but I know that I won't be charging for slices, even at Master. Tips are welcome. I just don't see the need in charging people for slices.

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You do realize that by not charging for Weapon or Armor Slicing you will become POOR? I never charged for containers, and it takes 2 Laser Knives for each successful slice. For Weapons and Armor, it takes 1 WUK or AUK (Weapon Upgrade Kit and Armor Upgrade Kit), a FAN or Clamp (FAN is 75% successfull, Clamps are 100% successful) if you don't want to fail, and 2 knives per weapon. I charge 2k per weapon or armor and I barely make a profit.

So if you buy crates of WUKs, AUKs, FANs, or Clamps, they range from 5k per crate to 15k(for clamp crates), roughly speaking. To completeSlicing IV you need to get 90k of Slicing XP from Novice Smuggler. Now you tell me how and why won't charge for Slicing? Good Luck...

I just made Slicing IV yesterday (yay me!) and I've spent over 50k just on smuggler expenses just to finish the Slicing Tree.

But that's just my 2 cents...

Minimus... This brings up a question I have about slicing....

I know you guys dont get to pick damage or speed, but it sure seems like I get speed slicing70-80% of the time. I prefer damage. Am I just getting a bad roll? Should it be 50-50?

Most people on my server charge 100cr/1% also, I find that it is a reasonable cost. No one wants to pay 2k credits for a 12% slice when they pay the same amount for a 24% slice.

I've only had one weapon sliced so far, another I bought was pre-sliced.

BUT...I intend to become a slicer myself Too bad I won't have enough points to make it to master smuggler like was in my original character plan

So only master smugglers can get above 30% slices, eh?

For grinding, why not get novice artisan, buy or mine a whole lot of grinding materials and make cdefs out the wazoo and slice them? I'm sure some people do that. Is the xp gained from slicing based on the weapon?

Denzien, Bria server


Artisan 3/0/0/4          Scout 4/0/4/2


Brawler 4/0/0/0         Smuggler 1/0/1/0


Marksman 4/4/0/4      Rifleman 4/1/3/3

WayneInAustin,

Yeah, it should be 50/50 but speed does seem to pop up more than dmg. Your right, we don't get to pick. I wish we could though. Most people like the speed upgrade so it's not a big deal. I personally like speed better. Let's you get a lot of quick shots off in the beginning of a fight (health shot, low blow). Sorry

Just FYI Minimus...

It could be that many of the lower level riflemen prefer speed because they haven't gotten enough speed bonuses moving up the rifleman tree and are firing slowly. But once you hit the third or fourth box in Rifle Special Abilities branch, then you are generally firing your rifles at almost 1/3base speed anyway, so speed isn't that big of an issue. I'm in that third box myself, so that's why I prefer damage.
BTW, even though I'm not happy with it, I'm glad to hear you say that you think speed slices come up more often than damage. At least makes me feel like maybe I'm not cursed!

I was a smuggler for a long long time. I quit the profession just because I wanted to try something different, but that's another story

The one thing that I absolutely detest above all other things when it comes to slicing is the per-% pricing system. There is no justification for charging based upon the slice %. The WUK's, clamps, and laser knives have no effect on the slice % (meaning, better WUK's won't get you a better %), so there is nothing the smuggler can do to increase the slices on weapons. It is completely random. Due to the fact that it is random, you did not earn that 30% slice. You did not cause that crappy 15% slice. Therefore you should not be charging for something you have zero control over. If you slice two of my weapons, one for 20%, the other for 28%, you can't claim that you put more effort, time, or money into getting me that 28% slice so there's no reason that I should pay more for it.

The only way smuggler can attempt to justify per-% pricing is for crappy slices. When you slice and get a low % you feel pretty bad for your customer, and sometimes you want to charge a bit less. But this does not work inversely. Just because you feel happy for your customer that you got a 30% slice doesn't mean you should want to charge them more.

I used to charge a flat 1500credits for weapon slicing (many people said I was undercutting, but I had been doing it for a month before they even hit novice so it really can't be called undercutting). At 1500 credits I was making doublethe money spent on equipment (at the absolute least since that's assuming 5 creds per resource cost on the clamps and 200 per WUK).

If you used a range pricing system it wouldn't be AS bad. For example, if you grouped %'s into 5's and each set had a different price. So a slice from 15-19% would cost 1500cr, 20-24% would be 2000cr, 25-29 is 2500cr, etc. That wouldn't be as bad for two reasons: 1. The prices are simpler as they are in 500cr increments, and 2. it's less of a rip off.

Per-% slicing costs promote scamming. If the weapon owner does not write down the weapon stats (or if the stats aren't in the weapon name), then the smuggler can make up any old % he wants to. Yeah, many people have the intelligence to know how to figure out the % based on the numbers, but not everyone does. Not to mention I've heard (in game) some smuggler's say they got a high slice, then when the customer does the math they reply "well the game told me it was xx% increase to damage, maybe it's a bug." Pure scam, pure rip-off.

Charge a flat fee, even if it's 2k creds. You didn't earn that 30%, so I don't want to be charged more for it.

On Intrepid, we always pay for weapon and armor slices. Typical prices are 3 to 5k. In fact, this has spilled over to the weaponsmith market. I have a friend who sells crates of weapons reasonably often because people like to slice them all and keep the best slices.

Relying on tips is a surefire way to keep your bank account empty (trust me, as a Doctor, I know). Charging for services is absolutely justified. Your process takes considerable cost and resources on your part (to parallel Doctors), and provides a benefit to the customer.

But slicing is something my server has considered very, very valuable and we expect to pay accordingly. We don't pay for container slicing (heck, some Smugglers pay us to open things for us), but weapon slicing is a skill in great demand.