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  • FROM NOVICE TO MASTER - HOW TO BECOME A MASTER COMMANDO
    By: Ivoni the Bunny Slayer, Posted at: Tue, Sep 9th 6:13 PM 2003, Last Edited: Fri, Aug 13th 5:21 PM 2004
    Rated 4.50 by 16 people

    FROM NOVICE TO MASTER - HOW TO BECOME A MASTER COMMANDO

    by

    Ivoni the Bunny Slayer
    Master Commando

    INTRODUCTION

    Let's just say that after making Master Commando I've had a little free time. I also like to be helpful and felt that the Commando's were missing their guide. Well, here it is. I hope that the tips, tricks and hints that I've provided here help you as much as they helped me.

    As I write this guide, the Commando profession is, for the most part, working finally. The developers changes to our weapons have finally made us a viable functioning class. However, please note there are still several outstanding issues that need to be addressed.

    Also, if you are reading this because you want to create a commando and wondering what the best class is, there really isn't one best. There are those that have disadvantages.

    Wookies have great stats, but can not wear any armor except a shield generator which gets eaten faster than candy on Halloween. This hurts later on.

    Trandoshan do get bonuses for TKA but cannot wear gloves or boots. The regeneration skill can only be used once an hour and really does little to save you when needed. However nice the Melee Defense +10 is, the other bonuses are not used by Commando (at this time) although they do help slightly in earning the unarmed xp compared to others.

    Then there's the ones with the advantages.

    Zabrak. Their stats are good and Equalize is an amazing skill used in PvP and when needed. Also Commando gets few defenses. Defense Vs. Dizzy +10, Defense Vs. Stun +10, and Defense Vs. Intimidate +10 and Anti-shock +5 are very welcome.

    Human. No faction penalties playing Imp.

    Rodian. Lots of action to spam specials with the Launcher Pistol. The Defense Vs. Blind +15 is nice as well.

    In the end, play what makes you happy. It is a game after all.

    Now that the disclaimer is out of the way, let's get to it.

    THE BASICS - GETTING NOVICE COMMANDO

    Commando is a hybrid profession. It's going to take more time to master than any other combat class, and lots of hard work to become useful. Know this going in - while you may have made Master Marksman and Master Unarmed in two weeks, unless you have no job, no life or never sleep, it will take you much longer to hit Master Commando.

    Now that you've decided to take the plunge and become a commando, the first thing that you need to do is to visit a Commando trainer. Like any "novice" profession, you cannot be trained as a novice Ranger by another player. You will need to visit a Ranger trainer and pay the 5000 credit fee.

    The unfortunate thing is that Commando trainers are rare. I have located trainers in the following locations:

    Corellia - Kor Vella (-3344, 3292)
    Rori - Narmle (-5180, -2350)
    Rori - Rebel Military Outpost (3695, -6485)
    Tatooine - Mos Entha (1553, 3338)
    Tatooine - Imperial Oasis West of Mos Espa (-5292, 2718)
    Tatooine - Wayfar (-5038, -6609)

    Once you are trained in novice, you can be trained by other players for all other levels, including Master Commando.

    ...END PART 1

    BEGIN PART 2...

    ASSUMPTIONS

    First, I'm going to assume that you've made Master Marksman and Master Unarmed and are working on that 40k combat xp. If not, you're in the wrong spot. Go to those forums if you want a guide on how to obtain those, best place to hunt, etc.

    There is a useful tip though to earning the unarmed xp. Get Master Marksman first. Go find a slow running mob. Punch it once and run. Then shoot it once with one of the bleeds. Make a macro
    /healthshot1;
    /peace;

    This will result in you receiving full unarmed xp when the mob dies.

    Anyway, as our only means of gaining XP, we needed to kill everything that moves.

    How much? A LOT. 3.6 million heavy weapons xp to be exact.

    With which weapon? The launcher pistol. Why not the flamethrower? Until you achieve at least flame3 you are going to be incredibly inaccurate. The Launcher Pistol is still faster until then.

    But before we can do that we have to earn 40k combat xp or 400,000 weapons xp to get Novice Commando. Which weapon to earn it with?

    I'm recommending Pistol. Why? Well let's see where that 400,000 pistol xp would get you in gaining useful specials for the LP. 125k = Novice Pistoleer. 175k= Intermediate Pistol Stances and Grips. 250k=Advanced Pistol Stances and Grips. Mind you this is 15k more combat xp than you need, but in return you gain Healthshot 2, Double Tap, and Disarming Shot 1. Not to mention +5 Pistol Speed/Accuracy and Defense Vs. Blind +20 and Defense Vs. Stun +20.

    Healthshot2 is a bleed DOT that stacks with Healthshot1. Condsider it a free 1k damage over a minute.

    Doubletap is a special that has a 2.8X multiplier to the gun. It turns a 45-176 damage 2.9 speed Launcher Pistol into 176-493 damage 3.9 speed.

    Disarming shot 1 is a random HAM damage special that does double damage to lairs. In most cases, this will do the most damage over time of any pistoleer special to lairs. Otherwise, it's not advisable to use this on opponents/mobs since it does less damage then the default attack mode.

    Also, if you want to give up precious combat xp you can get PistolMeleeDefense1 or pistol whip as it's called. This has a knockdown component to it. However, with the possible upcoming changes of only one knockdown every 30 seconds I'm not sure how much I recommend this as a prequisite. It all depends on your playstyle. I'm a shoot and run versus stand and be beaten on person.

    You can also choose Smuggler if you like. Feign Death is useful against NPCs when you don't want to die. Panic Shot is very useful when grouped to save melee's a beating. Low Blow and Last Ditch do good damage. However, considering how much more xp it takes to get these and the comparison to the pistoleer, I don't recommend getting them unless you want to.

    Some recommend going with Rifleman to get Mindshot2. Be aware, though, that none of the accuracy/speed mods for rifle and none of the rifle specials work with any Commando weapon. Thanks to macros it's easy to switch to rifle, do mindshot1 then mindshot2 then switch back. It only takes 300k xp xp to do this leaving you with 100k more weapons xp to do as you please.

    Carbineer is also an option. For only 125k Novice Carbineer adds actionshot2. No Commando weapons uses Carbine accuracy/speed nor any carbine specials.

    If you have not trained in one of the alt professions to gain the two stack bleeds then expect your path to Master Commando to be much slower. As of this date we have no unique specials with the Launcher Pistol so it is recommended at some point to get Pistoleer under the assumption that it uses pistol speed/accuracy.

    Choose which you want. It is up to you.

    I'm also going to assume that you have a good weapon. If you don't, get out and make some money and get one. Read the galaxy forums and learn who the best weaponsmiths are and get out to their shops. Once you get that good weapon, find a trustworthy Master Smuggler and get it sliced. The harder you hit, the faster you can kill and harvest your prey, and the faster you'll go through the trees.

    As of this writing an average Launcher Pistol is 45-176 damage 2.9 speed.

    A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF THE COMMANDO TREES

    There are four trees in the Commando profession. Sadly, two of them are carbon copies. I will outline them here to make it easier:

    NOVICE COMMANDO
    Field Tactics (Artilleryman)
    Heavy Weapons Support (Expert Commando)
    Flamethrower Specialization (Grenadeer)
    Acid Rifle Specialization (Ordnance Manufacturer)

    All but the Field Tactics require heavy weapons xp. Field tactics is combat xp.

    Please note - yes the titles are off. This class had abilities in beta that have since been removed. The Devs are aware of it and we have no word on what and when the changes will occur.

    END PART 2 ...

    ... BEGIN PART 3

    TACTICS - WHAT SHOULD I DO DIFFERENTLY FROM MARKSMAN?

    This will be the absolute hardest part to accept. You get to start all over.

    Other than the Launcher Pistol which uses the 60 accuracy/30 speed you have earned as a Master Marksman (this is assumed mind you), your accuracy with all heavy weapons is worse than a Novice Marksman.

    Don't go with the flamethrower initially for getting xp. With a Flamethrower at Novice Commando you will miss 9 times out of 10. Seriously. Your accuracy is only +10. It isn't until you master the tree that you will actually be able to hit commonly with the weapon. At flame3 is when your skill is greater with the flamethrower than the launcher pistol.

    Fortunately it isn't all bad. There are tactics and tips to be used to make life easier.

    1. When Soloing, ALWAYS have a bot (any bot) grouped with you and parked in town for safety. Why? They give an xp bonus. Which sounds better 1497 xp or 1871 xp? Same mob, just grouped or ungrouped.

    2. Bleed shots stack. For example, Healthshot 1 and Healthshot 2 stack. Put both on a target and run away. They will help greatly.

    3. Have Novice Scout Exploration 1 at a minimum. Be sure to harvest your solo kills and sell them for cash.

    4. If you are soloing a lot, get novice medic and buy good stims. Stop buy and buy buffs from Doctors. They last up to two hours.

    5. Buy crates of powerups. They really help. They only work on launcher pistol.

    6. Make friends with a master weaponsmith and get crates of grenades. Use them exclusively on lairs as you can get full combat xp off a lair. 2k of combat xp is very nice. Or just kill lower level things with just grenades. Makes killing newbie mobs much more productive.

    7. Find a Master Smuggler you trust. All commando weapons, including the grenades and consumables, can be sliced. Told 35% is the best possible for weapons.

    WHAT PLANETS SHOULD I HUNT ON?

    The starting planets remain good choices for soloing since we are weak. Search out the "elite" level creatures that give good XP, like Leviasqualls on Rori. These will be your fallbacks when you can't find a group to go off planet.

    If you like a more challenging solo experience there are Snorbals on Lok and the Baz Nitches on Dathomir. You will also find the higher level missions on these planets, and the payouts are outstanding - generally 10k - 20k credits per destroy mission.

    I have grown fond of the Torturs on Talus, Leviasqualls on Rori, and the Snorbals on Lok. Both are large creatures that give good XP, are slow enough that you can generally outrun them. If you trained in the scouting trapping skill then using Adhesive Mesh or Phen Dart will slow them down and makes them solo capable. With a mix of traps, warning shot, stopping shot, or surprise shot (if you have them), you'll be able to solo these critters if need be. Always keep in mind the XP over time rule, but if you want a challenge with a good reward (and some good harvests) these are the way to go.

    END PART 3 ...

    ... BEGIN PART 4

    THE QUICKBAR AND MACROS

    Your combat quickbar will be free of all the carbine and rifle specials, but macros really help out.

    One of the most useful macros I've ever made besides the harvesting is my Launcher Pistol macro. It is very simple:

    /healthshot1;
    /healthshot2;
    /bodyshot2;

    This hits the three shots that I typically use in each battle, whether against a critter, NPC, or in PvP. It saves me the time of doing this, and clears up a quickbar slot or two. I still have /bodyshot2 on the bar for single use and for cleaning up anything that the macro didn't take care of, but this has made life simpler.

    Another useful macro is for using the left click weapons like the beam cannons and grenades. In short, our accuracy is atrocious. The good news is the general ranged accuracy bonus we have. That's +30 which definitely helps. So if some of you don't know about macros let me explain.

    The toolbar has 24 slots. They are numbered 00 to 23. There is a command that will click them.

    /ui action toolbarSlotXX;

    This is key to this is the capital S. VERY IMPORTANT. It won't work otherwise.

    So I keep a grenade in slot 13 (shift f1) and my macro anywhere else. My macro goes

    /kneel
    /aim
    /ui action toolbarSlot12;

    I could then hit it again and it will cue up another grenade/rocket launcher/ etc.

    You could create macro to take advantage of all the bleeds you learned as a master marksman. The following will equip rifle, do bleed, equip carbine, do bleed, then equip the LP and bleed some more. They all stack.

    /ui action toolbarSlot13; (rifle there)
    /mindshot1;
    /ui action toolbarSlot14; (carbine)
    /actionshot1;
    /ui action toolbarSlot15; (launcher pistol)
    /healthshot1;

    Or say you are needing some combat xp. Bleed damage doesn't get assigned to anyone. If it dies to bleed damage with nothing else you get no xp. But if hit it just once with a grenade, it's 100% combat xp. Key thing is to not shoot it. This is hard as fast as the pistols are. So.

    /ui action toolbarSlot15;
    /healthshot1;
    /peace;

    Then just toss a grenade.

    When you get your specials for the HAR and Flamethrower you will want to replace them with a macro that uses AIM. Mainly because of the heinous 10 to 15 second downtime. You don't want to miss. For example.

    /aim;
    /flamesingle1;

    TIPS AND TRICKS ON GETTING XP

    I've outlined a number of good tips already. The #1 thing you must keep in mind while getting XP is the concept of XP over time. You need the highest average XP over time that you can get. If you can get this in a group, group. If you can get it solo, get it solo. But always be figuring out what will give you the most bang (XP) for your buck (time).

    I won't go into specifics here on what creatures to kill, or where to find them, other than what I've already added.

    END PART 4 ...

    ... BEGIN PART 5

    WHICH DO I TRAIN FIRST?

    The Flamethrower is our most powerful non consumed weapon. Highly Recommended.

    Heavy Weapons 1 is useful because it allows you to go on Faction Base raids and be instrumental in switching the base. Of course this only applies if you go Rebel/Imp.

    After that I advocate getting the trees with the largest amount of xp out of the way. I went Flame > Acid > Heavy Weapons.

    After the ordeal of getting the xp for the Flame column, the others seemed to zip by.

    STAT MIGRATION - WHERE SHOULD I PUT MY POINTS?

    This gets asked a lot and the answer depends on what you do with your extra points

    If you plan on wearing armor, having high secondary stats will help but you really need to make friends with a master doctor. Their stat buffs will allow you to wear a full suit of composite for two hours.

    I like being able to use Stims (mind use) and spam specials if need be (action).

    This is what I do because of that in order of importance.

    Max Willpower for fastest regeneration of unhealable Mind.
    Max Focus so lowest multiplier using Stims - lower cost, more heals
    Max Action for lowest multiplier on specials
    Max Quickness for quickest regen of action - this is healable which is why it's behind action
    Min 800 health/action/mind

    Tinker with the rest of the points accordingly till I'm happy.

    END PART 5

    ...BEGIN PART 6

    WEAPONS AND SPECIALS - WHAT SHOULD I GET AND WHAT DO THEY DO?

    We have several different weapons and their specials.

    Launcher pistol: Our bread and butter. Sadly we never get any better with it nor do we receive any unique specials. It is assumed to use pistol accuracy/speed skills and it uses all pistol specials. Unfortunately it only has AP0 but it does blast damage to which At-St's and Turrets are being made vulnerable.

    Be forewarned, it puts out an amazingly large video graphic explosion. Melee will hate you for using it. Being prone only makes it worse.

    As of this writing an average Launcher Pistol is 45-176 damage 2.9 speed.

    Flamethrower: This is a weapon to which an entire tree is dedicated to. As a Novice Commando be forewarned you will be incredibly inaccurate until Flame 3. This is due to the +10 accuracy/+0 speed you receive as a novice. You can honestly expect to miss 7 out of 10 times. It does Heat damage of course but sadly only AP0.

    It has two specials (flamesingle & flamecone) which both get upgraded but can only be used 16m or closer. All four specials have dots which all stack. The downside is the massive delay. It is a 15 second delay when you get it speeding up to 9 seconds at mastery .

    The only difference between the two attacks is single target vs AOE.

    Be forewarned, if you thought the Launcher Pistol graphic explosions were bad, go prone with this and Melee will curse you even louder.

    As of this writing an average Flamethrower is Flamethrower 423-814 damage 5.0 speed.

    Heavy Acid Rifle: The other weapon to which an entire tree is dedicated to. This has the same warning about accuracy as with Flamethrower. It does acid damage and sadly AP0 as well.

    Its specials are a carbon copy of Flamethrower (acidsingle & acidcone) but it is missing the dot effect. Same delays as well.

    As of this writing an average Heavy Acid Rifle is 318-704 damage 5.4 speed.

    The following are the consumable weapons gained from the Heavy Weapons Support tree. They all have charges vary from 28 to 50 depending on what the weaponsmith did.. Again, you must commit to the tree to not miss with these. They all hit incredibly hard and using them cues up like any other special.

    Acid Stream Launcher : Consumable. Acid Damage. AP2
    Lightning Beam Cannon: Consumable. Electricity damage. At least this is AP1
    Heavy Particle Beam Cannon: Consumable. Energy damage. Even better, this is AP3
    Rocket Launcher: Consumable. The most time consuming, most resources needed to make weapon in game. It's Blast Damage and best of all AP3. Soon to be made At-St's worst nightmare.

    Grenades. These result from the Field Tactics Tree. They come in stacks of 5.

    Fragmentation Grenade:
    Cryoban Grenade: Cold Damage. AP1
    Glop Grenade: Acid Damage. AP0
    Imperial Detonator: Blast Damage. AP1
    Thermal Detonator: Blast Damage. AP2
    Proton Grenade: Heat Damage, Ap1

    END PART 6

    ...BEGIN PART 7

    WHICH GUN SHOULD I USE? OR HOW TO BE EFFECTIVE IN COMBAT 101

    Key thing is to EXAMINE your target. Look at its stats.

    There are two factors to improve/reduce your damage.

    The targets armor versus your armor piercing. Highest piercing versus lower armor is best.

    The damage multiplier works like this. For every level of piercing you have versus their armor add 25% more damage, EACH TIME.
    AP3 vs AR3 - there is no bonus
    AP3 vs AR2 - 125% or 1.25x
    AP3 vs AR1 - 156.3% or 1.563x
    AP3 vs AR0 - 195.3% or 1.953x

    Here's the bad news. For every level higher armor than your weapon it's damage is reduced by 50%. So if you have an AP0 and it's a heavy armored target (like the at-st) then it's reduced by 50%, then another 50%, then yet another 50%.

    Then we need to take into consideration the targets resistances to types of damage.

    The good news. If it has no numbers listed next to the damage type, it is weak to that type of damage and the Armor Rating is ZERO even if it is a Heavy. This is your IDEAL damage type to use to attack.

    The bad news. If it has a resist to this type of damage, then whatever percentage is listed is taken OFF whatever damage the armor already did or did not reduce.

    The commando has at its disposal 3 damage types for non-consumed attacks. Heat (ap0), acid (ap0), and blast (ap0).

    The commando has several consumed attacks from heavy weapons. Acid (ap2), Electricity (ap1), Energy (ap3), and Blast(ap3)

    The commando has several grenade types as well. Heat (ap1), blast (ap1 & 2), acid (ap0), and cold (ap1).

    To compare with other classes:

    Pistoleer has Acid (ap1), heat, energy (ap1), kinetic, and stun.

    Carbineer has heat, acid (ap1), energy (ap1 and ap2)

    Rifleman has cold, stun (ap1), kinetic (ap1), energy (ap2 and ap3)

    Bounty Hunter has acid (ap1), electricity (ap1)

    So, thanks to the prerequisite of Master Marksman, a well rounded Master Commando can use ALL but 5 guns in game.

    By carrying one of each of the following with you it allows an attack on the weakest resist on anything non-stop.

    Granted you do have to train novice pistoleer to get the dx2.

    Our only weakness is electricity which is compensated by our lightning beam cannon:

    Kinetic - Striker Pistol or Tusken Rifle (ap1)

    Energy - SR Combat Pistol (ap1) or scout pistol (best dps ap0), or Laser Carbine (best dps - ap2)

    Blast - Launcher Pistol

    Heat - Flamethrower

    Cold - SG82 Rifle

    Electrical - nothing - only LLC does this. Lightning beam cannon works, but 28 charges goes quick.

    Acid - Heavy Acid Rifle and DX2 Pistol (ap1)

    Stun - Tangle Pistol or Jawa Ion Rifle (ap1)

    So, there you are. Shop around and get the best guns you can.

    That way you are prepared because if you find that your target resists acid, blast and heat heavily the commando itself has little to do. But we are already trained in all types of attacks and can contribute as long as we come prepared.

    END PART 7

    ...BEGIN PART 8

    ARMOR - WHAT SHOULD I GET?

    For armor, this depends upon your combat tactics. Do you avoid being in melee range or snipe? If you plan on being in range to use our specials, you can count on being in melee range.

    Generally stick with Mabari (for kinetic damage) or go to a higher end set like Composite, but only if it has good encumbrances (the lower the better) and can protect well against kinetic damage - animals don't shoot at you.

    Always keep in mind that just because it's "Composite" or "Ubese" doesn't mean that it's better than a lesser armor. Always look at the attributes. A very well made set of Mabari is significantly more useful than a poorly made set of Composite.

    There also exists shield generators which anyone can wear, including Wookies. Only use these for PvP though as they get eaten up pretty quickly. They can be repaired though making their lifespan somewhat longer.

    I'll throw in here the stat modifications. Currently they are broken. Yes you can wear them, but they don't affect anything. When it works I will be able to use Stim D's as a novice medic. Also, there is no way in game to use the ones for armor. That said,

    Get some decent clothing. Did you know each piece of clothing can have 4 sockets? Look on the bazaar under misc > general items and notice the tape looking stat enhancing tape (not the disks). Also, Master tailors can imbue certain cloths with buffs on top of that. For example, I have a jacket, pants, hat, and shirt. Each give +12 medicine use, injury treatment, and wound treatment. Thats +48 in medical skills.

    Of note, just how many clothes can you wear? Well boots, pants, shirt, jacket, belt, hat, gloves, and either a backpack (broke at the moment) or a sash. That's EIGHT pieces coming out to 32 skill modification slots.

    Unless Trandoshan, then 6 because no boots or gloves. That's 24 skill modification slots.

    Or Wookie and It's wookie specific clothing. They can wear Head Gear, Shirts (Torso Gear), Smocks, Wraps (Kilts), Gloves, Belts, and BackPacks. That's seven pieces or 28 skill modification slots.

    So do some decent shopping. Get Heavy Weapons Accuracy / Speed, and Thrown Weapons Accuracy / Speed. That fills your 4 sockets with skills for Commandos. I've found +1 to +5 stat items, so bide your time and you'll have +40 to all skills commando when it gets fixed. Or hold out for the +15 and +25. I've seen them.

    Also you can get terrain navigation skill mods which will eventually allow you to unlearn Exploration freeing up even more slots.

    END PART 8...

    ...BEGIN PART 9

    MONEY MAKING - HIDES/BONE/MEAT AND THE NEW MISSION TERMINALS

    First, sell sell sell those harvested materials! Nearly 1/3 of the professions in SWG need either hides, bones or meat, and the better the quality, the more money you can get from it. Searching out higher quality goods is a necessity. While you can never know for sure what will give you the best material (it shifts, just like static resources do), you should always be checking the overall quality of the hides that you harvest, and be sure to "farm" an area with the best hides, as they will give you the most XP.

    The new Explorer mission terminals are excellent - they provide us with a monetary incentive to do the things we already do. Some of them can be very tough, but they can also be a great way to get out and see the planet. There are two types of missions - hunting and recon. Recon is exactly what it sounds like...you get paid to take the mission and run out to the Waypoint. Once you get there you are successful and get the cash award. Generally these missions are 3k to 5k away from where the terminal is, so expect a good hike. The hunting missions are much more difficult, but provide better compensation. They require you to kill between 15 and 45 of a certain type of creature.

    Be careful: they are EXTREMELY specific. If you get a mission to kill Spineflap Soldiers, you can kill Spineflap Guards until the cows come home and you won't get any credit. They HAVE to be the same critter the mission calls for. Each time you kill one, you'll get a spam letting you know how many more you need to kill to complete the mission. The other difficulty is that you don't receive a waypoint for the mission - you need to find the creatures yourself.

    The higher end hunter missions can go for 10k credits and above...so while they are time consuming, they also are very lucrative.

    With the current story line, I've killed NPC's to get the disks for the story mission and sold them on the bazaar for 3k.

    PVP - WHICH SIDE SHOULD I GO WITH

    This is strictly a personal issue. Each side has pluses.

    Commando Heavy Weapons Support 1 is required to deactivate enemy bases. So good for both sides.

    At-St's are becoming vulnerable to blast damage. Good for Rebels.

    Turrets are also. Good for both.

    Stormtrooper and Marine armor is weak to commando attack by flamethrower and acid guns.
    ST/Marine armor - Armor Rating: 1 Kinetic/Energy/Blast/Restraint/Cold/Electricity: 30%
    Good for both.

    Imps are xenophobic. Not human = paying more in faction.

    Rebels aren't.

    Of note, none of the weapons you can buy with faction points are worth it. Especially the rocket launcher.

    END PART 9....

    ....BEGIN PART 10

    UPCOMING CHANGES TO COMMANDO

    As the developers continue to focus on balancing out all of the professions, we can expect to see even more changes to make this currently useless profession of ours actually function and hopefully amazing.

    Currently in Development.
    1. At-St's and Turrets are being given a vunerability to blast weapons. This opens the door to rocket launchers, launcher pistols, and some grenades having a use.

    LISTING OF KNOWN COMMANDO ISSUES - in no particular order

    1. Lack of definition: What exactly we are and are not supposed to be has never been said since the changes in beta. STATUS: With the new changes we are devastating in short range. Still some depth lacking, but it's a wonderful start.

    2. Inadequate Armor Piercing. There is a question to the AP value on several weapons we have. All other acid weapons in game are AP1 except the HAR and glop grenade. Also, in light of 40 charges or less on the consumable weapons they all need to be AP3. Otherwise their time and cost to manufacture isn't justified. STATUS: No Change

    3. Launcher Pistol. In addition to the AP0 issue, there are no specials for this nor do we get any better with it. With the recent fixes to the rest of our weapons we feel a need for a better answer than get Master Pistoleer as well. As it stands a Master Commando duels a Master Pistoleer/Novice Commando and gets beaten with his own gun? STATUS: No change.

    4. Crism Silicate Ore not removed from Proton Grenade spec. This gates not only making proton grenades but rocket launchers as well. STATUS: No Change

    5. Grenade Revamp. There is a serious desire to see the entire grenade manufacturing and use revamped. It takes 5 factory runs to make one crate. This doesn't seem bad till you consider it takes 27 minutes to make one five charge grenade. ONE! STATUS: No Change

    6. Reduced number of charges on consumed Heavy Weapons. Prior to patch some had up to 200 charges on weapons. Now we are ranging 28 to 40. Considering the huge time involved to make them they are excessively costly. Can this be returned to 200 charges? STATUS: No Charge

    7. Radius attack from consumed Heavy Weapons not functioning. Beam Cannons and rocket launchers with a radius don't seem to be hitting anything in said radius. Not even a miss message. STATUS: No Change

    8. Accuracies are wrong with weapons. Kneeling is more accurate than prone. As designed? STATUS: No Change.

    9. Range modifiers for all weapons save Rocket Launcher make no sense. The range modifiers are supposed to indicate to the user where to ideally be when using the weapon. STATUS: No change. To give a few examples:

    - Flame Thrower: +11@0m/-55@50m/0@64m. I can shoot it at 64 with no problem? Ideal should be 16m
    -Heavy Acid Rifle: +16@0m/-13@35m/-116@64m At least this says to use point blank. But ideally I should be at 35m?
    -Acid Stream Launcher:+1@0/+26@16m/-120@64m This reads like what the flamethrower and HaR should be, but not a launched consumable.
    -Heavy Particle Beam Cannon: -120@0/+14@48m/-122@64m. This is exceptionally harsh. In 16m you go from +14 to -122.

    10. Large Pause when initiating combat with Flamethrower & Har. If you are running you will stop to start fighting and then start running again. STATUS: No change

    11. Two Different Accuracies for Acid Rifle. The +10 given at Novice Commando does not stack with those given by the Acid Rifle line. You end up having a +10 and a +70. STATUS: No change

    12. Lack of use of unarmed line prerequisite. Not that we wish it removed, it's just that absolutely nothing is done with it. STATUS: No change

    13. NPC's regarding Flamethrower as melee. If you start a fight vs a NPC with the Launcher Pistol, he will shoot back. If you switch to the Flamethrower the NPC will pull out his melee weapon and charge you. This also allows for excessive damage versus rifle wielders. STATUS: No change

    14. Questions about the knockdown given to Bounty Hunter in Carbine 3. Reading the description of it implies it is a flamethrower attack. "Fire Knockdown: This ranged attack blasts the target with a quick rush of flame aimed at their upper body, which can cause them bowled over by the sheer force directed at them, causing them to be dizzy as well." STATUS: No Change

    15. Beam Rifle. No one has a cert for this. STATUS: No Change

    16. Incorrect titles per column. These reflect beta idea of Commando which has since changed. Field Tactics: Artilleryman (?), Heavy Support Weapon: Expert Commando, Flamethrower Specialization: Grenadeer (?), Acid Rifle Specialization: Ordnance Manufacturer (?) STATUS: No Change

    17. No Heavy Weapons Powerups exist. Short of the pistol powerups and grenade powerups, we have none. STATUS: No Change

    18. Odd Certification for Acid Rifle. It says cert rifle acid beam. This doesn't follow the format of any others. STATUS: No Change

    19. Typo in the abilities description of Flame Cone2 in the abilities and commandos menu. It says to type /flameCone1. STATUS: No Change

    20. Using Flame Cone type attack = no xp from additional targets killed. Only xp from targeted mob. STATUS: No Change

    21. The rewards for Master Commando are quite slim. Any chance of a better reward for such efforts? STATUS: No Change


    CONCLUSIONS

    Commandos are a looking to finally be a rewarding class for all the work that's involved in getting there.

    I'm already seeing a definite increase in popularity due to the previous changes we have worked hard to secure in the game.

    For all of my fellow Master Commandos, this is icing on the cake. We worked hard to make it here and when the patch hits it will be a whole new world.

    For those new to Commando, or who just read this guide to see what it was like, I hope that these hints, tips and information will help make your experience a little easier, a little quicker and a little more fun.

    If you've read this far, and you're on Intrepid, all you need to do is send me an in-game tell and I'll train you.

    Good luck, Commandos! And remember our motto

    ALL YOUR FRAME RATE IS BELONG TO US!

    SWG: Profession: FROM NOVICE TO MASTER - HOW TO BECOME A MASTER COMMANDO, by Ivoni the Bunny Slayer
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    19 threads, 1 page(s) long 
       Missions Reply...
      Posted @ Mon, Sep 13th 1:20 PM 2004
      By: Sinaya
      3 posts
      Score: Decent [3.00]

      When taking the Explorer/hunting missions, I've found an easy way to find the creature you need to kill.

      Before you take the Explorer mission, look at the General Missions terminal. Find one to destroy a lair of whatever creatures - then check the Explorer mission terms and see if those creatures are on it to be hunted. Just keep taking lair destruction missions that are the same critter as your Explorer/hunting mission until you've killed the required number of critters.

       
      0 Replies
       Good XP tactic Reply...
      Posted @ Thu, Jun 3rd 7:27 PM 2004
      By: kuroikenshi
      3 posts
      Score: Decent [3.00]

      If you are a master smuggler, go to Dantooine, get some janta missions, hit their base so they all agro to you. Target one that is in the middle and start to run, when they are somewhat following you, flame cone 1 them maybe 2 or 3 times, then feign death. Rinse and repeat! =D                         

       
      0 Replies
       Easy Way To Get Hvy. Weapons XP Reply...
      Posted @ Sun, Apr 11th 4:04 PM 2004
      By: XiasLarkand
      Scholar
      52 posts
      Score: Decent [3.00]

      I used this technique to easily get 150k xp in under an hour. you should only have one other person in your group,and that should be a master CH. Or if you are a Ch then take your pet out(it should be farly strong) and then get 2 missions that you can handle that give good xp. First sick your  giant good pet on the lair. then just Flame Cone your target.once it dies switch targets and flame cone it. by flame coning,it damages all of the other animals around your target. you should be able to complete a mission in under 3 minutes.

      Xias Larkand
      ==Ahazi==

       
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       bah Reply...
      Posted @ Sun, Jan 11th 10:54 AM 2004
      By: FEEniks
      4 posts
      Score: Decent [3.00]

      prone positiom is for snipers. have u ever tryed to fire rocket launcher from prone position? u'll bake ur butt that way! :).                                                                

       
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       Stacking Bleeds Reply...
      Posted @ Wed, Oct 8th 3:34 PM 2003
      By: Tenfo
      1 posts
      Score: Decent [3.00]

      HS1 and HS2 do stack.                                                                              

       
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      "Mat the FORCE be with me!"
      0 Replies
       A bunch of stuff... Reply...
      Posted @ Sat, Oct 4th 9:09 PM 2003
      By: Anonymous
      Score: Default [2.00]

      Okay, I'm not exactly sure about this as a BH, but Heavy Weapons xp is EXTREMELY easy to get... I got LLC 4 in one day.

      As for the Fire Knockdown attack, if anyone ever got the SW encyclopedia or whatever, or even played Shadows of the Empire, Boba Fett has a flamethrower in his armor (also a rocket launcher on his backpack and a dart gun in his armor's knee =D) , I'm assuming the Devs are going for the same kind of thing- versatality in the BH's attacks.

      Finally, for all of you whining about nerf commando, try fighting from beyond 16m... if you are out of their special attack range, they will do super-gimpy damage to you, around 300 a shot without armor, and it's to a random pool too.  Save the bitching for the official forums.

       
      0 Replies
       Great guide Reply...
      Posted @ Mon, Sep 29th 11:32 AM 2003
      By: DeltaXi
      2 posts
      Score: Decent [3.00]

      Great guide!

      I'm glad to see that my "From Novice to Master" is becoming a franchise. :)

      Brisc
      (DeltaXi65)                                                   

       
      0 Replies
       Extra tips for a killer commando Reply...
      Posted @ Wed, Sep 24th 7:32 AM 2003
      By: Anonymous
      Score: Default [2.00]

      You can be a master commando, novice medic, and still have points left over to become a Creature handler.  You can get taming 3 and training 1, this lets you have a graul pet. Find a high skilled creature handler to buy one from, they usually have all the good commands taught to him. With this pet tanking for you, commando's become the most illist soloers. Though ya gotta becareful cuz sometimes when using your weapon abilities can cause a mob to switch to you

       
      1 Reply
         RE: Extra tips for a killer commando Reply...
        Posted @ Wed, Sep 24th 7:34 AM 2003
        By: Anonymous
        Score: Default [2.00]

        oh forgot one thing, and up until your master commando you can have training 2 and use a graul mauler, which has something like 75% kenetic resists, man do most creatures have a hard time bringing one of these down.  Doing faction based missions just send the pet at the lair, then when all the npcs are attacking your pet go around and slaughter them. You get the max fp's you can get from killing them cuz the pet didn't touch them. Then when there gone just finish off the lair

         
        0 Replies
       L. Reply...
      Posted @ Tue, Sep 16th 8:34 PM 2003
      By: Anonymous
      Score: Decent [2.50]

      Max Willpower for fastest regeneration of unhealable Mind.
      Max Focus so lowest multiplier using Stims - lower cost, more heals
      Max Action for lowest multiplier on specials
      Max Quickness for quickest regen of action - this is healable which is why it's behind action

      Min 800 health/action/mind
      ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
      This section has me baffled.  It's unclear what you are trying to say here.

      In one sentence you say raise Action(Quick + STA) and on the next line you say raise quickness of which stamina is a component of. Did you mean Stamina ahead of Quickness instead of STA ahead of Action?

      You say min for Health/Action/Mind is 800. If Willpower and Focus are so important why would want them anywhere near 800?





       
      1 Reply
         RE: L. Reply...
        Posted @ Sun, Sep 21st 12:32 AM 2003
        By: Methuselah the Wise
        22 posts
        Score: Decent [2.89]

        I was confused a bit too with this.  It is however the right info just slightly mixed up when he typed it out. I sent a message to Ivoni about it and basically it works like this:

        -Max Willpower for fastest regeneration of Mind.
        -Max Focus so lowest multiplier using Stims
        -Max Quickness for lowest multiplier on specials
        -Max Stamina for quickest regen of action

        Min 800 health/action/mind

        The secondary stats for Health and Action pools don't matter much as you get those back using stim packs.

        I play a human, here is an example of what I did to my stats. The only thing I did slightly different which I might change at some point is that I put 100 each into Strength and Quickness instead of all 200 I had left over into Quickness or 100 each in Quickness and Stamina.

        Health: 800
        Strength: 500
        Constitution: 400
        Action: 800
        Quickness: 500
        Stamina: 400
        Mind: 800
        Focus: 600 (maxed)
        Willpower: 600 (maxed)

        This method is pretty good depending on how you play. Ivoni likes to use stim packs, a lot. I do too which is why I set mine up like that. It really just depends on how you like to fight. Obviously with other races, you will have more or less points than I did.
        As another example here is what a wookie's stats would look like if you did this. (wow i should have been a wookie)

        Health: 800
        Strength: 650
        Constitution: 550 (maxed)
        Action: 800
        Quickness: 550 (maxed)
        Stamina: 500 (maxed)
        Mind: 1000
        Focus: 650 (maxed)
        Willpower: 600 (maxed)

        (mind pool could go down a little to give more for health or action pools if you wish)

        Hope that helps a bit, good luck.




         
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        Vote Quimby!
        0 Replies
       nice Reply...
      Posted @ Sat, Sep 13th 11:37 AM 2003
      By: Anonymous
      Score: Decent [2.50]

      I really loved this guide, too bad i didnt find it until just now. I am about 10k cxp from getting master commando ont he tempest server. The commandos while they are strong still have a long way to go before they are where they should be with the work that is required for them. one thing that i did find useful for anyone who wants to get master commando a little bit faster is to get rifleman, carbineer, and pistoleer novice professions. pick them up and you can hit the creature with 6 stackable bleeds (2 to each ham) and kill much stronger creatures. as you gain levels in commando slowly drop these professions if you want. i think dropping rifleman then carbineer and holding onto pistoleer as logn as possible (if not indefinately) is a great idea because you can just wreck most creatures even with you crap accuracy. anyway, loved the guide and since these patches commandos do rock pretty hardcore now as even a master BH is hesitant to duel me :D

       
      0 Replies
       Kneel or Prone Reply...
      Posted @ Fri, Sep 12th 9:42 PM 2003
      By: Anonymous
      Score: Decent [2.50]

      First off I'd like to say that this is a very good guide for the Commando class.  Also don't take this as flaming you, that is not my intention. Having said that I do have a problem with one of you point that you think they should change:
      8. Accuracies are wrong with weapons. Kneeling is more accurate than prone. As designed? STATUS: No Change
      If you look at this logically the accuracies aren't wrong. If you fired a rocket launcher or flamethrower in real life the best and most stable position you could be in is kneeling. If you were in a prone position you'd have a greater chance harming yourself when firing these weapons.
      This is just my 2 credits.

      Lupzz'ka-Kettemoor Galaxy

       
      0 Replies
       Power Reply...
      Posted @ Thu, Sep 11th 4:40 PM 2003
      By: KBarsoom
      2 posts
      Score: Decent [2.50]

      Ok, first off this is a great guide especially for casual players who want to maximize their play time.
      Second, I wish every other elite combat profession would stop screaming for us to be nerfed. Yes, we do a horrific amount of damage when the cards fall right. But we are right up in the middle of what ever is happening. I watch a Rifleman friend of mine snipe for 2k to 3k of damage sometimes from WAY out in left field, but you don't hear me cryin for them to nerf Riflemen. Commandos have powerful weapons, Commandos also have to be right in the middle of the action with relativly slow weapons. Commandos can sway the balance of power in a group and make them almost unbeatable under the right conditions, on the other hand a Commando can't, especially at novice level, solo alot of creatures that may con blue to them because they're wildly inaccurate with their flamethrower and acid rifle.
      Face it, Commando is a great class if played properly. It may not be perfectly balanced but who's profession is PERFECTLY balanced? And for all you guys and gals screamin "Nerf the Commando!!!", when your shots are bouncing off the hide of that ATST and it's laying waste to your group maybe a generous Commando will happen to stroll by and let fly a couple of 1k or 2k credit rockets to help. Or maybe he got nerfed in a "balancing" patch and just have to sit by and watch you get creamed. Just my thought... flame me if ya want, I'm used to the heat now :)

       
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      Dyin is easy, it's the complexity of living that's interesting.
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       to all those who think us overpwered Reply...
      Posted @ Thu, Sep 11th 7:29 AM 2003
      By: Anonymous
      Score: Default [2.00]

      how can commandos be all-powerful

      now if u mean that we deal more damage then ur typical pistoleer, we have a right to that

      a few things that need to be cleared about the flamethrower:  
      1) it has delay 9-15 secs so u cant spam it with specials.. it uses 1 special and then totally stops for that time( pullin ohter wep dont work)

      2) it has a 16m max range for specials what this means is we must get close to our targets very close... in terms of pvp we dont have much of a chance vs the bhs and rifleman that hit mind or a good pistoleer who will take away your life at range

      3) we are commandos what this means is were supposed to be using heavy hitting support weapons that burn and blow... a carbineer can hit for 3k damage so why shouldnt a flamethrower at 10ms hit for 5k. rifles can bleed 1500 damage with their piercing t21s and good thing is they got more speed-more accuracy-more range and no special attack delay.

      4) revenge tef sucks.. i hate those commandos that use revenge tef to get close to targets and then burn em down (targets like atsts).. but its no reason to nerf our weapons or skills. because of these pple im afraid we will get some bad nerf.. like less burn damage.. and then flame throwers will suck... calculate: 5k damage every 9 seconds less than a pistoleer.. of course if it bleeds 2k then its on par.. but if they take away our burn or damage well be screwed

       
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         RE: to all those who think us overpwered Reply...
        Posted @ Thu, Oct 2nd 12:15 PM 2003
        By: Anonymous
        Score: Default [2.00]

        A pistoleer does maybe 8 to 10 times less damage than a commando with a single shot but he will prolly shoot about 8 or 10 times during the delay the commando gets from his special. And if you count in the miss chance everyone has the pistoleer will do way more damage over time.
        Just My two cr                         

         
        0 Replies
       Wrong Reply...
      Posted @ Thu, Sep 11th 7:24 AM 2003
      By: Anonymous
      Score: Default [2.00]

      This is wrong quickness is the multiplier for action usage when doing specials... stamina is the regeneration                                                                

       
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       Stacking Bleeds? Reply...
      Posted @ Wed, Sep 10th 11:45 AM 2003
      By: Anonymous
      Score: Default [2.00]

      My understanding from several board threads is that Healthshot1 and 2 do NOT Stack.....the damage is calculated from the First special that hits...so hitting with HS1 will defeat any effect from HS2                                      

       
      0 Replies
       Heavy Wep XP Reply...
      Posted @ Wed, Sep 10th 11:32 AM 2003
      By: Anonymous
      Score: Decent [3.00]

      OK so im not a commando but a Bounty HUnter, but the LLC is Heavy Weapon Class, The best way to get XP for it is just to use it, so what if you miss , the damage you will deal out when you hit more than makes up for it, and you get ALOT of points for killing stupid things like dwarf nunas (bout 160 pts) its like shooting fish in a barrel, Tuskan fort is a forever 3k + dream , and once get the first Heavy Weapon shot "gunnamesSingle1" its an upclose shot, but its devastating, you get Xp so fast, just use it



      oh and

      11. Two Different Accuracies for Acid Rifle. The +10 given at Novice Commando does not stack with those given by the Acid Rifle line. You end up having a +10 and a +70. STATUS: No change

      Yeah same for the LLC its odd

      an

      8. Accuracies are wrong with weapons. Kneeling is more accurate than prone. As designed? STATUS: No Change

      Same for LLC, however kneelings more preferable as if they charge you can stand faster than if you were prone.

       
      1 Reply
         RE: Heavy Wep XP Reply...
        Posted @ Wed, Oct 8th 11:56 PM 2003
        By: Anonymous
        Score: Default [2.00]

        I think that the accuracies are screwed up too, but for practical reasons.  

        Thrown weapons should be the exact opposite of rifles, when was the last time you saw a QB take a knee to throw a pass. We are much more accurate throwing when standing, even moving, than when we kneel or go prone.

        High yeild shoulder weapons should experience their best accuracy when kneeling, the next should be standing, and the should be horrible with any movement, or when prone.

        I think the weapons should reflect life.

        But that's ust me

         
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