Cavadus
Sun, 20 Jan 2008, 11:12
Commando Skills Guide
Somewhere... somehow... someone's going to pay.
http://www.crushkill.com/archives_2/commando.jpg
The commando skills are frequently overlooked in Tabula Rasa while people gaze ahead onto their final destination of grenadier or guardian. Personally, I am a commando, not a grenadier. I do not have a single point invested into any grenadier skills on my main. Yes, you heard that right, not a single one.
SKILLS
Force BlastDescription: A powerful directional attack which is basically cone of effect. The damage starts at extreme even with one pump and each additional pump simply offers the exact same attack but with a different damage type. The range is fantastic; 60 meters for all attacks.
Bottom Line: Personally, not a fan. While the damage is listed as extreme it seemed to me underwhelming. I am also not a fan of attacks which have multiple damage types as they are simple not intuitive to use and switching between them on the fly is impossible. The saving grace of this ability is the relatively low power cost (50 points), the range, and the quick cooldown. You can use it quickly and frequently. For a one or three point skill investment it's worth a look.
"I eat green berets for breakfast and right now I'm very hungry!"
Rushing Blow Description: This attack makes a player lunge at great speed at a target and then slam into it. The more pumps you invest the further you can lunge and the more damage you do on impact.
Bottom Line: I rather like this ability. At pump 5 I can I basically shoot myself like a cannon ball into any enemy before they can respond or aggro me. Rushing Blow can also be used during PvP to move your character when you are rooted via a stun or a netgun (it does not break the root of netgun; once you reach your destination from rushing blow you will still be rooted). The utility this ability provides is more attractive than the actual damage as it allows you to not only to traverse the horizontal plain quickly but the vertical one as well. This ability can get you over walls if you know what you're doing. The power use isn't that bad either (25 at one pump, 70 at five). I recommend it.
"Don't disturb my friend; he's dead tired."
Scourge Description: Scourge is a damage over time effect which eminates from the player. It pulses once every other second for fifteen seconds. Each pump increases damage and the radius of the attack.
Bottom Line: Quite a powerful ability. When you're getting grouped on by mobs the DoT effect of the attack stacks up a ton of damage so as long as you can survive for the duration you should be able to take down a lot of mobs. For those players who relish the tank role and will be moving on to guardian I would recommend this ability if you're looking for a solid damage attack or two to compliment your aggro and damage reduction abilities.
http://i.imdb.com/Photos/Ss/0088944/6030_16_4.JPG
"I remember you, you scumbag. Especially the people you've tortured and killed."
Launchers Description: The launcher skill encompasses both launchers and RPGs. Aside from the damage bonus each pump increases the stun chance for RPGs (which will be 50% at five pumps) and decreases the reload time for launchers (60% faster reload at five pumps).
Bottom Line: Both launchers and RPGs... suck. At higher levels. I have and plan to keep this skill indefinitely fully pumped simply because I love the idea of the weapons but the performance of them at end game is pretty abysmal. Consider the fact that with equal quality weapons a spy's frontal blade swipe does more damage than a launcher's critical hit.
RPGs are no better. The AoE damage is weak and even the on target damage is weak. Weaker than a basic rifle shot as a matter of fact. At level 50 a prototype physical RPG launcher was so weak that it could not overcome the regeneration of a Thrax Technician miniboss (specifically the one that roams around the Strider Refueling Depot on Howling Maw). That's pretty bad. On top of that my prototype level 50 pulse cannon can't overcome the armor regeneration on a level 47 Strider. That's even worse. Honestly, unless you're just determined to use these weapons or they fit your "vision" for your play stlye steer clear of them. If you do take them pump'em to five because any less and you're literally throwing away your skill points.
"Why don't they just call him Girl George? It would cut down on all of the confusion."
Graviton Armor Description: What's there to say? Fantastic armor protection and slow regeneration. It's that simple. Graviton offers the greatest armor protection in the game and each pump also adds immunity to stuns and knockdowns.
Bottom Line: There's really no reason not to pump graviton armor to at least three. I rolled with three pumps well into my forties and was knocked down once in that entire time. I was never stunned. I ended up pumping to five after a knock down around level 47 and the realization I had no where else I wanted to spend my skill points. At that many pumps you are basically immune to stuns and knock downs in PvE while the 75% as stated in the tooltip is most directly applicable to PvP.
http://data-allocine.blogomaniac.fr/mdata/3/3/3/Z20030403093721417852333/img/commando_02.jpg
---------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY
The skills within the commando profession are few but diverse, some better than others. I am not a min/max player. I'll wear inferior armor so long as it looks how I want to look. When I first began my profession grind in this game I had a very clear vision of what direction I wanted to take my character and I stuck to that vision all the way to level 50. For me it was all about movement and firepower which led me the in the direction of sprint, rushing blow, and machine guns. I also simply loved the concept of the launcher against large targets. As a military man in real life the weapon system simply "made sense" to me even though it's performance dropped considerably post-40. Rest assured I bitch plenty about getting them buffed so keep your fingers crossed on that one, kids.
So when you're deciding which skills to choose and are having trouble making up your mind simply consult that vision on what you want to do and how you want to play because any other route will leave you dissatisfied with the choices you make.
If you have any questions feel free to ask away.
http://www.badmovies.org/othermovies/commando/commando7.jpg
Somewhere... somehow... someone's going to pay.
http://www.crushkill.com/archives_2/commando.jpg
The commando skills are frequently overlooked in Tabula Rasa while people gaze ahead onto their final destination of grenadier or guardian. Personally, I am a commando, not a grenadier. I do not have a single point invested into any grenadier skills on my main. Yes, you heard that right, not a single one.
SKILLS
Force BlastDescription: A powerful directional attack which is basically cone of effect. The damage starts at extreme even with one pump and each additional pump simply offers the exact same attack but with a different damage type. The range is fantastic; 60 meters for all attacks.
Bottom Line: Personally, not a fan. While the damage is listed as extreme it seemed to me underwhelming. I am also not a fan of attacks which have multiple damage types as they are simple not intuitive to use and switching between them on the fly is impossible. The saving grace of this ability is the relatively low power cost (50 points), the range, and the quick cooldown. You can use it quickly and frequently. For a one or three point skill investment it's worth a look.
"I eat green berets for breakfast and right now I'm very hungry!"
Rushing Blow Description: This attack makes a player lunge at great speed at a target and then slam into it. The more pumps you invest the further you can lunge and the more damage you do on impact.
Bottom Line: I rather like this ability. At pump 5 I can I basically shoot myself like a cannon ball into any enemy before they can respond or aggro me. Rushing Blow can also be used during PvP to move your character when you are rooted via a stun or a netgun (it does not break the root of netgun; once you reach your destination from rushing blow you will still be rooted). The utility this ability provides is more attractive than the actual damage as it allows you to not only to traverse the horizontal plain quickly but the vertical one as well. This ability can get you over walls if you know what you're doing. The power use isn't that bad either (25 at one pump, 70 at five). I recommend it.
"Don't disturb my friend; he's dead tired."
Scourge Description: Scourge is a damage over time effect which eminates from the player. It pulses once every other second for fifteen seconds. Each pump increases damage and the radius of the attack.
Bottom Line: Quite a powerful ability. When you're getting grouped on by mobs the DoT effect of the attack stacks up a ton of damage so as long as you can survive for the duration you should be able to take down a lot of mobs. For those players who relish the tank role and will be moving on to guardian I would recommend this ability if you're looking for a solid damage attack or two to compliment your aggro and damage reduction abilities.
http://i.imdb.com/Photos/Ss/0088944/6030_16_4.JPG
"I remember you, you scumbag. Especially the people you've tortured and killed."
Launchers Description: The launcher skill encompasses both launchers and RPGs. Aside from the damage bonus each pump increases the stun chance for RPGs (which will be 50% at five pumps) and decreases the reload time for launchers (60% faster reload at five pumps).
Bottom Line: Both launchers and RPGs... suck. At higher levels. I have and plan to keep this skill indefinitely fully pumped simply because I love the idea of the weapons but the performance of them at end game is pretty abysmal. Consider the fact that with equal quality weapons a spy's frontal blade swipe does more damage than a launcher's critical hit.
RPGs are no better. The AoE damage is weak and even the on target damage is weak. Weaker than a basic rifle shot as a matter of fact. At level 50 a prototype physical RPG launcher was so weak that it could not overcome the regeneration of a Thrax Technician miniboss (specifically the one that roams around the Strider Refueling Depot on Howling Maw). That's pretty bad. On top of that my prototype level 50 pulse cannon can't overcome the armor regeneration on a level 47 Strider. That's even worse. Honestly, unless you're just determined to use these weapons or they fit your "vision" for your play stlye steer clear of them. If you do take them pump'em to five because any less and you're literally throwing away your skill points.
"Why don't they just call him Girl George? It would cut down on all of the confusion."
Graviton Armor Description: What's there to say? Fantastic armor protection and slow regeneration. It's that simple. Graviton offers the greatest armor protection in the game and each pump also adds immunity to stuns and knockdowns.
Bottom Line: There's really no reason not to pump graviton armor to at least three. I rolled with three pumps well into my forties and was knocked down once in that entire time. I was never stunned. I ended up pumping to five after a knock down around level 47 and the realization I had no where else I wanted to spend my skill points. At that many pumps you are basically immune to stuns and knock downs in PvE while the 75% as stated in the tooltip is most directly applicable to PvP.
http://data-allocine.blogomaniac.fr/mdata/3/3/3/Z20030403093721417852333/img/commando_02.jpg
---------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY
The skills within the commando profession are few but diverse, some better than others. I am not a min/max player. I'll wear inferior armor so long as it looks how I want to look. When I first began my profession grind in this game I had a very clear vision of what direction I wanted to take my character and I stuck to that vision all the way to level 50. For me it was all about movement and firepower which led me the in the direction of sprint, rushing blow, and machine guns. I also simply loved the concept of the launcher against large targets. As a military man in real life the weapon system simply "made sense" to me even though it's performance dropped considerably post-40. Rest assured I bitch plenty about getting them buffed so keep your fingers crossed on that one, kids.
So when you're deciding which skills to choose and are having trouble making up your mind simply consult that vision on what you want to do and how you want to play because any other route will leave you dissatisfied with the choices you make.
If you have any questions feel free to ask away.
http://www.badmovies.org/othermovies/commando/commando7.jpg