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The Road Too Frequently Travelled - A Guide To Getting Through Unarmed
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TheinGrumm
SWG Chief Petty Officer
Posts: 199
Registered: 09-14-2003



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INTRO:

One of the questions that seems to be appearing more frequently on this board is, "how do I get through Unarmed in the fastest way possible?"  Over the past couple of weeks, I've tried to read through these threads and compile some of the information into a more accessible format.  Thus, this is my first attempt at a guide of any sort and it will probably be, true to past history, extremely long-winded and, if I'm lucky, marginally helpful.  Please note that this guide, in no way, is a replacement for the hard work that Ivoni did long ago in compiling the FAQ and, as I'm sure I'll repeat later, that is truely the finest source of information for our profession.  However, rather than us continually having to answer these questions and/or refer people to the FAQ, I felt it was time for a dedicated guide to this very frequently asked question.

THE TOOLS:

Speed Sliced Vibro Knucklers - It's true, you aren't certified for VKs at Unarmed III, but the certification isn't what you are interested in.  With a pair of speed sliced VKs, you will lose about 10-20 points per attack, but you will be hitting twice as often.  The key here is to get a speed slice, if you buy a pair of good VKs and get a damage slice, keep buying them until you get speed.  Because you aren't certified, a damage slice will do little, if anything, to improve your ability to take down creatures.

Non-CH pet - I consider this to be an optional tool, but I'll include it as a tool, since many people still advocate the use of pets to tank for you.  The greatest benefit to having a pet to tank for you is that your downtime, as far as healing yourself, will be significantly reduced and you get the group exp bonus.  But, with the recent patch decreasing the non-CH pet level to 10, you may be hard pressed to find a useable pet that can stand up to the kind of damage a lot of mobs do, and you may find yourself suffering some downtime because of low mind if you are having to constantly heal your pet.

Droid - If you are going the non-CH pet route, disregard this portion.  You aren't necessarily looking for a combat droid here (not that you could use a droid in combat anyways, probots are as fit for combat as my Honda), you just need SOMETHING to group with.  Talk to your local droid engineer and buy the cheapest, or if you are in a giving mood buy the most expensive, droid you can and teach it at least group, follow, and stay.  Buy a few stacks of well made batteries (my droid eats batteries like candy bars, so stock up!), and everytime you head out on an unarmed killing spree, pull out the droid, group with it, and have it follow you.  Once you get to the lair, have the pet stay a reasonable distance from the mobs and go to work.  Be careful here though, with the recent patch, mobs have a tendancy to disregard you and attack whatever/whomever you are grouped with instead.  If you are fighting higher level mobs while grouped with a mouse droid, your trusty metal friend may take quite a beating.

Armor - Because of the expense, and the fact that a lot of people seem to be really against the idea of armor due to its encumbrances, I would say that this is an optional tool.  My personal recommendation is that, if it's affordable, you should pick up a set of 70% Kinetic Ubese from your local armorsmith.  As a relatively new TKA, my Ubese has been a great help to me in advancing through the TK tree, and the same would apply with advancing through the Unarmed branch of the Brawler tree.  The encumbrances on Ubese are lower than those on composite and, generally, a set of Ubese is cheaper than composite.  But, if you plan on getting Unarmed IV, then never touching your VKs again, a full set of armor may not be a worthwhile investment.  Personally, I don't ever PvP and I don't ever plan to and when it comes down to choosing between my set of composite and my set of Ubese, I almost always opt for the latter while playing PvE.

Novice Medic - I don't think we need much explanation here, having Novice Medic skills will allow you to use Stim B's and will prove to be a great asset while your out in the wilds getting beat on by various nasties.  If you haven't invested the 15 skills points here, you are going to be at a significant disadvantage in your progression toward Unarmed IV.

THE METHODS:

The Bleed and Punch - I've actually read that this method doesn't work with the new patch, but I haven't confirmed this myself, so I'll still keep this as a viable method.  Most that use this method head out to Rori and pick up missions for leviasqualls.  Leviasqualls are creatures that look like Fluffy and Muffy, the pet bunny rabbits of the little girl down the street who reproduced at such a prodigious rate that every other week there's a sign in the yard for a free rabbit give away.  The single exception to this aesthetic similarity is that leviasqualls look like Fluffy and Muffy on steroids.  The reason you will want to you use leviasqualls is that, disregarding the warping bug which apparently allows creatures in SWG to bend the fabric of space and time, they are the slowest animals you can possibly run across.  Because they are so slow, it is relatively easy to apply Health Shot 1 (along with Health Shot 2 if you have some Pistoleer skills) and run around until the bleed takes the leviasquall's health down to 1.  After health is at 1, simply run up and hit the leviasquall to collect around 2-3k of unarmed experience.  In using this method make sure that you ONLY apply the bleed using the pistol, if you hit the leviasquall with the pistol's default attack, you will lose out on some experience.

Lair Slayer - Of course, whatever method you undertake, you are going to want to destroy the lair unarmed to receive a large sum of experience.  However, this method involves heading to a more advanced planet, such as Dathomir or Dantooine, finding an outgoing group and tagging along just for the lairs.  Typically, if you find a group doing missions for money, you can follow them around as a non-member of the group and they will let you destroy lairs for them until the cows come home.  Of course, this method won't get you any substantial monetary rewards, but following a good group around for a few hours should amount to a good sum of experience.  A quick word of warning, it will often take a LONG time for you to destroy one of these lairs unarmed, so be prepared for a relatively boring experience.

(H.R.) Buff 'n Stuff - This is my preferred method, and it's relatively simple, though it does require some money.  Getting to Unarmed IV, and subsequently Novice TK, master doctors were my best friend.  On my server, I've bought a full set of buffs from anywhere between 3k and 7k.  These buffs last about 2 hours, during which you are as close to invincible as you'll ever be.  Doctors can only buff non-mind stats, so you'll need to get entertainer buffs to take care of your mind or buy a crate or two of muon gold and head out to into the wilds.  Now, maybe I shouldn't have dropped the word invincible in this method, because you shouldn't begin to consider some crazy notion that at Unarmed III with your uber speed sliced VK you're gonna be able to run off and solo Ft. Tusken.  The truth of the matter is that this will probably result in a quick trip to the cloning facility more often than not.  Your buffs will allow you to solo critters that would normally be out of your league, but take into consideration that even buffed, at Unarmed I-III you are going to be doing relatively small amounts of damage.  Some of the higher level mobs would take a lifetime to whittle down to death at the rate you do damage, and you're still not going to get more than 4k or so unarmed exp for all that effort.  A lot of people recommend running picket missions on Dantooine with this method, personally, I like rontos out in the Western Dune Sea on Tatooine.  Whatever your choice is, pick something that won't take an eon to kill and once you've found your target, use berserk like its going out of style to speed up the killing process.

The Newb Area Mass Murderer - If you just can't find a master doctor, or maybe you just dropped your character's life savings on a glowy box that told you to go commando, thus putting you in this predicament of having to get Unarmed IV in the first place, this might be the method for you.  I'm going to put a personal disclaimer on this method and claim it to be, by far, the most monotonous and boring method available.  It's an easy method, and unlike some of the others that require travel through hostile terrain, this one is relatively safe.  Simply head to the newb area outside of any town and slay everything in site.  Some towns, particularly some on Naboo even have lairs in the newb areas, which can provide a boost to the rate at which you collect unarmed exp.  If this is the method you find yourself undertaking, just be careful of aggro if you are killing lairs.  Yes, they are low level creatures, but it can be a tough fight without some supplementary skills if you have 6 low level creatures gnawing at your ankles.

The Macroer - I'm not going to list any macros here, they are spelled out in detail over on the TKA forum in the FAQ.  Now, a lot of people - let me type that again in all caps to emphasize this - A LOT of people will not like you very much for using this method, but in all fairness, it's an available and viable method, so I'll include it in this guide.  Pretty much all you have to do is copy and paste the macros from the TKA FAQ and leave your computer while you head out to enjoy the finer things in life such as Pabst Blue Ribbon and Olde English 800 with your friends.  When you wake up in the morning with an upset stomach and the feeling that, at some point in the night, a garbage truck may have rolled over your head you will be able to rejoice as you check your computer to find that you are well on your way to Unarmed IV.  The trade off here is that, while this is an easy method of grinding the unarmed exp, it can be very time consuming.  A close friend of mine macroed all the way from Unarmed IV to Novice TKA (125k unarmed exp) and it took him right around 27 hours of unattended computer time to finish it up.  Now, because I listed this in here for those that hate the idea of grinding out this kind of experience, I ask personally that you be considerate in your selection of places to macro this exp.  Please do not run this macro in newb areas around starter cities especially, take note of the fact that these are starter cities and may, therefore, have players starting out in them.  These players have no real means to travel and need things to kill to level their characters, so be courteous and stay away from heavily populated/starter areas.  There are a myriad of cities that I travel through consistantly where, at any given time, there are no more people there than I could count on one hand.  These are the kinds of places you are looking for, if you stick to these areas, even the macro-hating players shouldn't give you much trouble.

IN CONCLUSION:

In writing this little guide, I've tried to spell out some of the more effective ways of SOLOING unarmed exp.  Of course, if you have online friends that you can group with, the process can be much more palatable and perhaps even a bit faster.  Also, I will again highly recommend a read through Ivoni's FAQ stickied at the top of this forum.  That FAQ is the foremost guide to the commando profession and if you are working through Unarmed on your way to Commando, you are doing yourself an injustice if you don't read through it.  To those out there with alternate methods of grinding unarmed exp, I encourage you to post them below and lend your assistance to those that are struggling through in attempt to join our ranks.  I am both certain and comfortable with the fact that this is, by no means, a comprehensive guide to getting through Unarmed.  In parting, I wish you the best of luck on your journey through the commando profession.  If you are on Scylla, feel free to send me in game mail or a /tell and I'd be more than happy to assist in any way possible.

Thein Grumm - Master Commando - Scylla
12-22-2003 04:24 PM  

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Re: The Road Too Frequently Travelled - A Guide To Getting Through Unarmed
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eXcelsius
SWG Petty Officer
Posts: 6
Registered: 11-04-2003



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Nice guide.

I wish I had seen this before just doing it the hard way.

-=Oni=-

12-22-2003 09:39 PM  

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Re: The Road Too Frequently Travelled - A Guide To Getting Through Unarmed
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Ajo79
Jedi
Posts: 2535
Registered: 07-10-2003


Ajo79

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I'd say thats a good guide. Covers all the good strats. Nice work.

Ajo Nibor | Ryler Erlovski | Rofy Vrell
Tic Nibor | Jovy Rellno | Inyra D'Forge & Li'wyn Daine
Eclipse - Citizen of Mos Mosel
12-23-2003 02:56 AM  

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Re: The Road Too Frequently Travelled - A Guide To Getting Through Unarmed
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NobodyHasThisHandle
SWG Chief Petty Officer
Posts: 192
Registered: 10-25-2003


NobodyHasThisHandle
PA: Secret Order
Server: Eclipse

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Vote for sticky!

___________________________________________________________
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To the Devs: More fixes.
To the Players: Less complaining.
12-23-2003 04:17 AM  

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Re: The Road Too Frequently Travelled - A Guide To Getting Through Unarmed
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TheinGrumm
SWG Chief Petty Officer
Posts: 199
Registered: 09-14-2003



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Thanks for the kind replies, I certainly hope someone gets some use out of this!

Thein Grumm - Master Commando - Scylla
12-23-2003 02:58 PM  

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Re: The Road Too Frequently Travelled - A Guide To Getting Through Unarmed
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Cibeo
SWG Lieutenant
Posts: 67
Registered: 08-16-2003



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Great guide,

I did do it the hard way... every day I would sit there an calculate how many more fanned rawls I had to kill inorder to get Unarmed 4....

one down...  375 to go...

 

12-23-2003 04:03 PM  

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Re: The Road Too Frequently Travelled - A Guide To Getting Through Unarmed
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kayxfour
Jedi
Posts: 1651
Registered: 08-10-2003



PA: Alliance
Server: Bloodfin

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I ground out most of my unarmed 4 exp on feral banthas. With or without a buff, 70% knetic armor and a speed sliced vk will let you reasonably take down a feral bantha. In a group (group with a droid or pet) you can get around 1470 exp per kill, and they only have a 1k ham. If you have a decent buff you should be a god against them, I was taking on four at once and didn't receive so much as a scratch. Also note that feral banthas spawn insanely fast, often by the time you have killed two out of a spawn of three or four, there will be whole new set waiting. They do group aggro, but if you use a ranged weapon to take a first shot at one, you can usually draw out one at a time. This is irrelivant with a buff and ubese since you can take them on in large groups easily.

The only hard part is finding them They normally spawn north and west a bit of mos entha, and in some other places as well. You might enlist the help of a ranger if possible to find them, although usually you can find them by wandering. Each spawn should yeild you 20k+ exp if you milk it all, meaning you only need to find them 3-4 times to complete unarmed 4.

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12-30-2003 04:49 AM  

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Re: The Road Too Frequently Travelled - A Guide To Getting Through Unarmed
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atimes
Jedi
Posts: 6042
Registered: 07-04-2003


atimes

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The Road Too Frequently Travelled - A Guide To Getting Through Unarmed

Just do like me and get Master TKA and then say. . .hmm I wonder what commando is like?

Unarmed IV is done for me

Seriously though it's a tough road.  Basically I just got a pair of VK's and killed EVERYTHING with beserk.

12-30-2003 06:14 AM  

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