-INTRODUCTION-
This essay is intended for people who are looking for information on this profession and can't find any. This is the first essay on this profession, and the first one I have written, so I hope it can provide some insight into what Squad Leaders can do... and a little bit about how to make one.
This profession is the perfect companion for a group. Not only can they prepare campsites to heal in, give melee/ranged defense modifiers to the group, give burst run and terrain negotiation modifiers to the group, they can also be excellent marksman. (among other abilities). Squad leaders remind me somewhat of a bard on Everquest, since they provide beneficial modifiers to the WHOLE group. The only difference is, the groupmates get these benefits just for being grouped with you.
Squad leaders are the ideal class for a duo, if you have a friend that is interested in making a melee class. My friend made a Swordsman, so I put a lot of thought into what a good support class would be... and Squad Leader looked to be the best.
Creating a Squad Leader.
-Attributes
Squad leaders require a high amount of quickness and action. Also, its never a bad thing to have high hit points and/or strength. While reviewing the different races, I started with a Bothan. Human, Zabrak, Rodian were also ones that I considered. I went with Bothan purely because they had the highest quickness.
Since Squad Leaders need both Scout and Marksman abilities, I started as a marksman. Starting as a Marksman rather than scout gave me higher hit points, strength, and quickness. (all of which I consider to be most important for Squad Leaders). Action stayed the same, and everything else was lower.
*Note: If you choose to start as a marksman, you will not be able to harvest corpses until you train as a scout. But, it only costs 100 credits to train as a scout, which you start with 250 credits... so no problem there.
*Note: If you choose to be a marksman, you will not start with a Generic Crafting Tool, which is needed to craft camps. You will have to buy one, and they are often expensive.
-Race Modifiers
Certain races have different modifiers as you may have noticed while researching your character. The races that have modifiers that are relevant to Squad Leader are: Bothan (Camoflague +15, Cover +10), Human (Leadership +10), Trandoshan (Creature Harvesting +10). These are the modifiers that will be relevant to skills that you will be using, although there are other modifiers that might be useful... depending on the type of Squad Leader you plan on making. (such as the Trandoshan's regeneration, Zabrak defense, etc.).
Since I am mainly grouping with my friend, I wasnt too concerned with good defensive modifiers. However, if you plan on soloing a lot you might want to consider a race that has defensive modifiers.
Reaching Novice Squad Leader - Requirements
To become a novice Squad Leader, you must become proficient in two Scout branches and one Marksman branch (not including the weapon you plan on becoming proficient with).
-The Scout Branches
Exploration- Here's a vague description of what this skill is for, quoted from the stratics network... "This skill set allows players to navigate the wildness with ease and hide their trails from creatures". Basically, what this skill does is boost your Run Speed Efficiency, Camoflague, and Terrain Negotiation. For more information consult the link below.
Survival- This is basically a skill that allows you to build camps and forage. Building camps is essential for grouping. Camps must be built for you to heal in, and for others to heal you. Also, foraging allows you to potentially forage stat buffing food, which you can sell or eat. For more information consult the link below.
-The Marksman Branch(es)
Ranged Support- This ability allows you to gain defensive commands while firing a weapon. You also gain some melee defense and ranged defense by completing this part of the Squad Leader Requirements. For more information consult the link below.
For better information on what exactly the skills do... go to this link and click on the skills required to become a novice Squad Leader. There is great information about the specific skills here.
http://swg.allakhazam.com/db/skills.html?sortby=skill_name
Reaching Novice Squad Leader - Tips
So now that you know a little bit about what it takes to become a Squad Leader, here's my plan on how to get the skills up.
Getting Experience in Scouting and Marksman at the same time
-First, buy the type of gun that you want to become proficient with. I am using a Carbine. I chose this type, because it is a good weapon for both ranged and close attacks. Rifles are of course stronger at a distance, and Pistols are stronger up close. This just depends on personal preference.
After you buy the gun of your choice, then head outside the town and begin your combat training. If you stay outside the city limits, there should be plenty of small creatures to slay... but dont venture too far off, because you could potentially die. (you are allowed two deaths before any consequences).
After you find the creatures and kill them, use your scout skill to harvest bone or hides off the corpses. (bones and hides will come in handy later on, they are used to create the camps). Just keep killing and harvesting bones and hides. You can sell the bones and hides, but I prefer to keep them because you can use them later to get more scouting skill.
Killing these small creatures will give you Combat Experience, Ranged Support Experience, and experience in the gun that you chose. Harvesting the hide will give you scout experience, that you can use to train in your scouting skills.
Now that you have a stockpile of bones and hides, you can begin to make camps.... which will further give you scouting experience. If you started as a Marksman, you dont have a Generic Crafting Tool and you need to buy one before making the Camps. If you started as scout, you already have a tool.
Completing Missions and getting Credits
Completing missions is a fantastic way to get both experience and those ever elusive credits. I find some missions to be very difficult. If you have a friend that plays, like I do.. they should be no problem. Most of the lower level quests involve finding and attacking an animal lair, killing the creatures around it, and making sure to kill any creatures that spawn near the lair. If you can kill the lair, you have completed your task and should be awarded anywhere from 800-1200 credits. Make sure to keep the lairs clear of spawns because the spawned creatures will heal the lair. This is a good way to make money to pay for training.
Master Squad Leader
I have not yet made it to this point, but i can provide some insight on what they can do.
Once Master Squad Leader is acquired, they boost:
Group Burst Run Efficiency: +60 total
Group Melee Defense: +20 total
Group Ranged Defense: +20 total
Group Terrain Negotiation: +60 total
Volley Fire: +10 total
Steady Aim: +10 total
They acquire the commands:
/volleyfire- "This command automatically directs the fire of the entire group at the target designated by the squad leader." -http://.swg.allakhazam.com
/steadyaim- "This ability improves the chances of each party member hitting on their next strike." -http://.swg.allakhazam.com
/boostmorale- "This ability redistributes damages evenly across all members of the squad." -http://.swg.allakhazam.com
/formup- "This ability allows the squad leader to cure dizzy and stun effects on the squad." -http://.swg.allakhazam.com
/retreat- "Give the entire party burst run." -http://.swg.allakhazam.com
/rally- "Boosts the morale of the troops." -http://.swg.allakhazam.com
/sysgroup- "this command sends system messages to your group members that appear immediately in the middle of their screens." -http://.swg.allakhazam.com
Quotes from other research:
-Squad Leader Experience-
1. SL exp seems to be based 100% on the damage you do as an individual in the group. If you're not doing damage, you're not getting SL exp. (This sucks in my opinion, but who knows, maybe once I can start using some of the new abilities I'll get exp for them too.)
2. Getting SL exp is REALLY slow. You get something like 30-40% of the exp you get from weapons you use. That may not sound too bad, but when you need 175,000 for each of the first blocks in the SL tree (4.9million for master)... its gonna be a while.
3. The size of the group doesn't seem to make any difference at all. Spent my first few nights running groups of 8-12. Now I just have a friend run along and I get the same exp. (Of course, in the bigger group you can kill more, faster, but its still only based on the amount of damage you do.)
I'm just glad that %TT actually works for the /sysgroup message...
-Thugga
Novice Squad Leader
Corbantis
Conclusion
I hope this essay has provided some useful information about the Squad Leader profession. I look forward to becomming one myself, and I hope that you have considered making one. Squad Leaders are an essential part of Star Wars Galaxies, and prove very useful for groups. Thanks for reading my essay on this profession. And thanks to the stratics network and allakhazam.com for providing accurate and specific information about these professions.
-Tagri- |
Subscribe...
News...