1.0
Introduction
1.1 Change List
2.0
Pre-Novice Questions ("So you're
thinking about becoming a Pistoleer?")
2.1 Is Pistoleer comparable to
Carbineer, Rifleman? How about
Commando or Bounty Hunter?
2.2 Can I take out "tough" NPCs like
Dark Troopers and Field Marshalls by
myself as a Master Pistoleer?
2.3 Do I need to be a Pistoleer to
use a Republic Blaster?
3.0
Pistoleer Questions ("I'm a
Pistoleer, now what?")
3.1 What branch of the Pistoleer
tree should I go down?
3.2 Which special is the best?
3.3 What is HealthShot or
"bleeding"? How can it help me?
3.4 Are HealthShot 1 and HealthShot
2 stackable?
3.5 Which pistol is the best?
3.6 What's the best HAM settings to
have for Pistoleer?
3.7 Where are the Pistoleer trainers
located?
3.8 What is Damage Mitigation?
3.9 What's the quickest way to
Master Pistoleer?
3.10 What other Professions
compliment Pistoleer?
3.11 How effective are Pistoleer's
Defense Mods?
4.0
The Bad Stuff ("What's wrong with
Pistoleer?")
4.1 What's not working?
SPECIALS / WEAPONS / SKILLS
5.0
The Future
6.0
Further Reading...
1.0
Introduction
The "official" pistoleer FAQ was
last updated August 2003 (not long
after the game was released!) and is
now unfortunately horribly out of
date:
Quote: "The DX2 looks to be the
best overall pistol in the pistoleer
certifications."
The DX2 is now considered to be
so inaccurate as to be worthless!
Quote: "Q. Which pistol tree
should I go up first?
A. Stances and Grips "
Which would be cool if "Stances
and Grips" actually existed!
Clearly SOMEONE needed to update
it and unfortunately our
corresspondent (Philospher1976) had
too much on his plate. This is where
you (and I) come in:
This FAQ us a Work In Progress!
I've put together as much
information as possible, but I
expect people will want to
add/change things. Please politely
make your additions/changes in a
post below and I will update the FAQ
sporadically.
Thanks!
~ Neutral
1.1
Change List
The old 1.0 FAQ from August 2003
was completely scrapped.
Version 2.0 - Released Jan 2nd.
Version 2.1 - Released Jan 3rd.
Added many important changes based
on suggestions ny Tullius and
Gold00. This should be the version
for some time to come.
2.0 Pre-Novice Questions ("So you're
thinking about becoming a
Pistoleer?")
2.1
Is Pistoleer comparable to Carbineer
or Rifleman? How about Commando or
Bounty Hunter?
In theory Pistoleer, Carbineer
and Rifleman should have roughly the
same amount of firepower, with
different advantages and
disadvantages for each. In practice
it's arguable, Rifleman seems to
stand out right now, but, at the
time of writing (Jan 2nd) the Devs
have promised a whole new combat
system to make the pros and cons of
each combat profession more
pronounced, obvious and balanced.
With this update coming in the next
month or so, there's not much point
in further speculation on the
current states of the Elite Ranged
Combat Professions.
As for Commando and Bounty
Hunter, these Hybrid professions
take a LOT more XP to master and as
you'd expect, offer significantly
more damage and skills for your
efforts.
2.2
Can I take out "tough" NPCs like
Dark Troopers and Field Marshalls by
myself as a Master Pistoleer?
In a sentence: A Master Pistoleer
with the right weapon, HAM stats,
buffs and armor should have no
trouble taking on tougher PCs. (It
should be noted that some PCs like
Krayt Dragons and Maul Graulers are
designed to be taken out in GROUPS
and will likely kick your butt!)
2.3 Do
I need to be a Pistoleer to use a
Republic Blaster?
Nope. At the moment there is no
certification for this pistol, so
anyone can use it (even an Artisan)!
It MUST however, have been crafted
AFTER the November publish as ones
crafted before are bugged for most
poeple.
3.0 Pistoleer Questions ("I'm a
Pistoleer, now what?")
3.1
What branch of the Pistoleer tree
should I go down?
A very commonly asked question!
If you are a Smuggler or have the
BH pistol line: Marksmanship branch
seems to be the best, as you already
have good Pistol specials.
If you're a Fencer: Grips branch.
Everyone else: Techniques is your
best bet (Fan Shot is very
useful).
3.2
Which special is the best (and what
are my choices)?
This is a difficult question to
answer, because despite the stats,
different people seem to have
different results. (Most claim that
BodyShot3 is worse than BodyShot2,
but some have claimed that BodyShot3
has offered them a significant
boost. Right now no-one has knows
why this is, but it is likely to
become clearer when the Devs revamp
the Combat system.)
Also your specific situation will
likely alter your most appropriate
special (is the enemy 2 feet away
for 30?).
Regardless, standard advice is
the same: Use BodyShot2
until you get FanShot, then
use that instead (sometimes
interspersed with StoppingShot,
depending on who you talk to).
You will also want to "bleed"
your opponent with HealthShot1
AND HealthShot2 before you
spam them with other specials. (See
below for a detailed explanation on
"bleeding".)
And for close encounters
/pistolMeleeDefense1 is good for
knockdowns.
Whatever you prefer, at the time
of writing (Jan 2nd), only the
following specials are working:
/fanShot
This is widely considered to be
our best special. It actually
attacks multiple targets and is
known to be very effective. It is a
tad unusual, however: When you first
use it it will aggrovate (make red)
all the enemies you can visibly see
on your screen (but NOT attack
them). From then on it will attack
all aggrovated enemies in your
"cone".
/stoppingShot may not doing
anything close to its ingame
description, but some claim to have
success with the amount of damage it
does.
/pistolMeleeDefense1 is a melee
knockdown.
/disarm1 and /disarm2 both do
double damage to lairs (but are
worthless against anything else).
/healthShot1 and /healthShot2 for
"bleeding" your opponent.
/overChargeShot2 is similar to
/bodyShot2, but it does a lot more
damage to your weapon so you should
move on to /bodyShot2 when you get
it.
For the rest of the Specials (the
ones that are not working)
see Section 4.1.
FYI: A common opening attack is:
/aim, /healthShot1, /healthShot2,
/stoppingShot, /fanShot
3.3
What is HealthShot or "bleeding"?
How can it help me?
HealthShot1 is actually given
when the player reached x/4/x/x in
the Marksman Tree ("Pistol
Specialist"). When fired, the damage
number you see on the combat window
is NOT damage you just did, it is
the value of the "bleed". Now every
20 seconds your opponent will have
this damage removed from their
Health Bar (the red one) until
they're cured or the bleeding stops
by itself.
You get HealthShot2 when you
become a Novice Pistoleer, and this
does the same thing as HealthShot1,
but with more damage.
If you or a team-mate start to
bleed, it can be cured with multiple
applications of the /firstaid skill.
Notes:
Nothing can be incapacitated or
killed by bleeding, health will
always stop at 1, including your
own.
If you try to do healthShot1
twice (for example) then it will
overwrite the previous healthShot1
(rather than stack) and reset the
timer.
In the combat window,
HealthShot1 is referred to as "Sap
Shot" and HealthShot2 is referred to
as "Sap Blast". It is my fond hope
that the devs will change this one
day.
3.4
So, are HealthShot1 and HealthShot2
stackable?
In a word: "Yup!". The really
great thing about HealthShot1 and 2
is that they work independently of
each other! Use both on an opponent
for twice the damage!
It is basic tactics to use
HealthShot1 and HealthShot2 on an
opponent before commencing a "real"
attack. (Note: You cannot
incapacitate/be incapacitated with
bleeding, health always stops at 1.)
It's perhaps also worth noting
that the two "bleed" attacks from
Fencer are stackable too (giving you
a total of four bleed shots if you
have the skills!).
3.5
Which pistol is the best?
Another highly debatable point.
At the time of writing a Republic
Blaster, FWG5 or Scout Blaster are
the most frequently
recommended weapons of choice.
The CDEF, DH17, Power5 and
SRCombat are basic pistols and very
poor.
The DL44 and DL44 Metal are slightly
better (depending on how well
they're crafted).
The Tangle and Striker are
notable for their special attacks
(Stun and Kinetic, respectively).
Using these pistols can prove useful
against Stun and Kinetic vulnerable
enemies (like Nightsisters, Kimos
and PCs wearing composite armor),
but they're not usually recommended
for general use.
The Scout Blaster, FWG5 and
Republic Blaster are all considered
to be the best all-around pistols.
The Scout Blaster has better speed
and lower HAM costs than the FWG5,
but the FWG5 does more damage.
The Republic Blaster is generally
considered the best of the
"all-rounders".
The DX2 (the only pistol you get
a Certification in when you become a
Pistoleer) is, at the time of
writing, hopelessly inaccurate to
the point of being bugged.
It is worth noting that some
people claim to have good accuracy
with their DX2s, so see if it works
for you. Some of the best things
about a DX2 is that it is an Acid
weapon (which most armor is
vulnerable to) and it also has a
high minimum damage with is
potentially useful against an enemy
with high damage mitigation (see
below for a detailed explanation of
how damage mitigation works).
Despite these bonuses the DX2 is
still a slow and inaccurate weapon
for the majority of people (Jan
2nd).
3.6
What's the best HAM settings to have
for Pistoleer?
I go for:
Health = Medium
Usage (Strength) = Low
Regen (Constitution) = Fairly High
Action = Medium
Usage (Quickness) = Medium
Regen (Stamina) = Fairly High
Mind = High
Usage (Focus) = Low
Regen (Willpower) = High
The logic is this: Health and
Action can be healed quickly and
easily (at the cost of Mind). I
hardly lose any Health doing
Specials so I keep the Health: Usage
(Strength) at a minimum. I keep both
Action and Health: Regen
(Constitution and Stamina) fairly
high. I DO lose Action doing
specials so I keep Action: Usage
(Quickness) reasonable.
Mind is a pain. I make sure I
have high Mind and high Mind: Regen
(Willpower) (because you use Mind to
heal Health and Action and also you
need it to regenerate quickly if
Mind is attacked). I don't bother
spending much on Mind: Usage (Focus)
because I find it more important for
Mind to be able to regenerate itself
faster.
If my Mind bar gets bad I take
off my helmet and run away for a
bit, trying to let my Mind bar
regenerate (doesn't always work as
planned though ). I then heal Health
and Action again and return to the
fight.
Some have said that with decent
enough Medic skills that the
secondary Action skills could be
better spent on Mind or its
secondaries.
Notes:
The secondary stat "Usage" (eg.
Strength) changes how much primary
stat (eg. Health) you use when doing
a Special.
The secondardy stat "Regen" (eg.
Constitution) changes how quickly
the primary stat (eg. Health)
regenerates itself.
Also, taking off any armor
will allow your HAM stats to
regenerate themselves MUCH quicker.
3.7
Where are the Pistoleer trainers
located?
Tyrena, CORELLIA (-5220,
-2488)
Keren, NABOO (1258,
2688)
Narmle, RORI (-5240,
-2455)
Dearic, TALUS (583,
-2871)
Mos Eisley, TATOOINE (3356,
-4837)
Note: You can create waypoints to
specific locations by typing
/wapoint x y
eg.
/waypoint 3356
-4837
(Just make sure you're on the
right planet )
3.8
What is "Damage Mitigation"?
Damage Mitigation is a defence
against attacks that you get at
various points on an Elite Combat
Profession tree (eg. Pistoleer ).
With Pistoleer you get Ranged Damage
Mitigation (as opposed to Melee).
Damage mitigation doesn't reduce
the TOTAL damage done to you -- it
reduces the RANGE of damage that can
be done to you. What does that mean?
Well let's take an example:
Someone shoots you with a weapon
that has 50-300 damage (50 is the
minimum damage that can be done and
300 is the maximum). With no damage
mitigation the damage done to you
can be anywhere between 50 and 300
points.
With damage mitigation it reduces
the RANGE of damage.
Here's the breakdown:
mitigation1 (Techniques I) limits
damage to 80% of the range (20%
reduction)
mitigation2 (Techniques II) limits
damage to 60% of the range (40%
reduction)
mitigation3 (Master Pistoleer)
limits damage to 40% of the range
(60% reduction)
So let's take that example:
Instead of 50 to 300 damage,
With mitigation1 the damage done
to you is reduced to between 50 and
250.
With mitigation2 the damage done to
you is reduced to between 50 and
200.
With mitigation3 the damage done to
you is reduced to between 50 and
150.
The flipside to this means that
Minimum Damage is now much more
important than before, so your
favorite weapon (your 60-500 Krayt
modified pistol) might not be so
good anymore.
Damage Mitigation in detail:
http://forums.station.sony.com/swg/board/message?board.id=pistoleer&message.id=29071
Damage Mitigation Dev Q&A:
http://forums.station.sony.com/swg/board/message?board.id=pistoleer&message.id=29202
3.9
What's the quickest way to Master
Pistoleer?
This is commonly asked question
when someone has just been told to
Master Pistoleer by a Holocron.
The basic answer is to go up the
Techniques branch using a pet of
some sort until you get Fan Shot.
Fan Shot will allow you to get
Pistoleer XP a lot quicker. Simply
move up the branches using
/healthShot1, /healthShot2 and /fanShot. |
