Choosing an offensive skill

Lesson #3 - Choosing an offensive skill

Ok, so you've fed yourself to the lions 20 times and gained a few ranks in evasion. You have sweated some mobs and now have a big stash of vibrant sweat. By now the urge to fight back is almost uncontrollable!

There is a very important decision to make right now before you go on your first hunt. What type of weapon do you want to specialize in? There are essentially 6 basic weapon types to chose from, each with it's own advantages and disadvantages. (additional input here is welcome)..

Rifle - Longest range, so you can get more hits in before the enemy gets to you, however even with a rifle most serious fights tend to have you using your weapon at point blank range for 75% of the combat. More weapon choices then any other weapon type. Easiest for "hunting" with, because you can pick one target out of a crowd without the rest also attacking you, also it's alot easier to stay out of other people's way when on a group hunt. Personally, I'd prefer if everyone used a rifle for that reason.

Pistol - Something of an enigma, the pistol has just enough range to get in one shot before a mob is on top of you, but when group hunting it has the same advantage as the rifle of allowing you to stay out of everyone elses way. There are some really nice pistols out there you can get at a decent price simply because not many people use them. The pistol is really the tactical middle choice between the extremes.

Longblades - Swords and axes. Ok Mr. Jedi, yeah cool glowing sword, well it was cool for the first 6 times I saw one, but now it's just another weapon... and you keep getting in everyone else's way! On the plus side, you have the potential to do MASSIVE damage in a single hit, which is great for overcoming armor in PVP.. if you are in the small octogon arena... oh yeah, where people usually dont wear armor.. but out on the open fields PVP you've got a problem.. that guy with the rifle gets to shoot you like 7 times before you can run up to him.. Luckily, training with your big conan sword is a hefty workout.. so you will get the benefits of improving your strength and adding extra hitpoints.. Good thing though.. you will need them. (ok, so I'm biased!)

Shortblades - Kinda fun as a "dueling" weapon, or if you think yer Rambo. There are some really expensive crazy damage daggers out there, but from what I hear the repair costs on them make them unviable as a daily weapon. Just like longblades though you will raise your hitpoints using one.

E-Fists - think of it like a cattle prod built into a boxing glove. These are fun, but the damage output is so slow that you will take twice as long to actually kill anything... meaning it will get to hurt you twice as bad.. and meanwhile it's regenerating.. So, dispite the insistance that this will minimize "overkill" and not waste money, remember that regeneration.. you may need to do 120 damage to kill a mob with 100 hitpoints whereas the guy with the sword wacks it twice perhaps "overkilling" it by 20 hitpoints.. same differance, except he's killing things faster. (I will explain "overkill" in a later chapter.)

Mindforce - Yes, this is a valid combat choice.. although a very expensive one. The "ammo" for mindforce is Mind Essance (M.E.) and currently costs about 210% compared to other ammo types, so you are totally inefficient as a result. BUT, if you have the money and the willpower to stick with it, this is potentially the most powerful attack form in the game. With a mere thought you will be able to cause all those people at your prom that were mean to you to burst into flames! Besides, this also "looks" the coolest when being used.. so for some people it's simply a fashion statement.

Until you master one of these 6 combat forms, resist the temptation to play with the others. Get good at killing before you start trying to get artistic at it. But once you are the master, then go back and train in all the rest of these when you feel like messing around. The skill gains from each weapon type are different and with what I sense is a large amout of cross-skill benefits, this is worth your time.

Also note that even if you deposited and have a million Ped to play with, you are still best off using the respective weapon sold in the TT as much as possible. When you start trying to tackle bigger prey, you will obviously need a better weapon, but it WILL be at the cost of economic efficiency.

Another observation worth noting is that when using a melee weapon you really have no warning when your weapon is about to stop working. Yes this happens with guns too, but much less often if you keep them in good repair. With guns, you see right there on the screen how much ammo you have and know when you are running out, so there's usually no suprise in the middle of combat like there is occasionally with swords and such.

Im relatively certain the game designers have tried to balance the weapon types so that there is not a true "best" choice, so simply choose what feels right for you and your enjoyment. It all depends on how you want to play, and who you want to be.

.. And now for the gratuitous cartoon everyone has come to expect and love ..