Some things about the soldier class

[______________Scyber]

Thug- I wish you had the chance to fight Brakish in the arena on RK2, he would make you eat those words. If you can't outrange his mausser then your ass is dead.

[____________Founding]

Brief comments as its 3am.

I've played the following classes Soldier, Doctor, Trader, NT and recently started on an Engineer.

All I can say is Soliders really do start to suck at higher levels. The following changes would be my suggestion.

TMS : x2 or x3 the current max reflect damage.

Reflect Shields : x2 or x3 the current max refelect damage

Weapons : Add some more weapons types, add some real impressive heavy weapons as well as assault rifles.

Tank Armour : Reduce the nano penality on Tank armour before we are all wearing those ugly coats. However a soldier should still be made to invest in raising their nano pool as well. Excuses such as "oh dear I've run out of nano how unfair", and then finding out the person has hardly spent any IP's in nano pool is rediculous.

Nanos : Give Soldiers a better self heal and self health buff, the current lines are a joke that only a gimpy Soldier would take. Look at giving Soldiers more weapon masteries but make them self only. MG and Shotgun would both be examples.

Weapons attacks : Unnerf weapon attacks, the whole point behind a soldier is to be able to do a frightning amount of damage though access to a number of special attacks, otherwise we'd all just head down the route of using a weapon with only 1 special, or with fewer weapon skills, not the 4-5 weapon skills they currently require.

Hint to Soldiers :
Invest in using Aggro enhancers to help keep your docs alive.
50-100 are your hard IP years after 100 you start having stacks of IP's again.

Hint to Others :
Invest in evade, dodge and duck.

Comment to NT's finding it Tough :
You suck badly, NT's are easily one of the most powerful professions in the game, I love playing my NT, so much more powerful than my Soldier was.

To the person or persons who was thinking of giving up on his NT and go Soldier, go do it, bet you'd be back on your NT so fast the servers will not even have time to update.

Doc comment :
Why were Doc's made into PvP specialists with the recent patch, the whole point behind the doctor was healing and protecting others, not to PvP. It so goes against the image of a Doctor (Well at least the image I want in a Doctor thats about to treat me)

Docs are a hard, at times unrewarding and very neccessary part of the game, the reent changes have made Doctoring very hard, I have mainly played my NT since the changes as my poor old 88th level Doctor is finding it a little tough, though thankfully I'm in a good guild so I 90% of the time have good teams that know how to maintain aggro etc. Thank God for guilds. I'd have left this game long ago if it wasn't for them.

[______________Sredni]

bump


Oy, and there's several soldier nano's missing from the shops as well. As if using our insanely high req requiring nano's wasn't bad enough there's nano's that you can't get unless your lucky.

Yes the ql60Absorption Shield nano is a lewt item only, as are two reflect nano's as well I suspect. If you look at the ql's of reflect line nano's you'll see a con****uous hole right between the ql37Deflection Shield Extended, and the ql50Greater Deflection Shield. I think there's another 2 missing reflect nano's in there, and you can only find em in missions

[_____________Ducimus]

I just had to comment on the bitter responses about soldiers in this thread.

To those soldier haters (and appear to be just that by your closed bitter remarks); im sorry, you folks dont have a clue.

All people see with soldiers, is some guy in an arena or MMD or 2HO, doing a fling, burst, full auto for massive damage and someone dies.

What they dont see, is how the soldier class is very fixated on doing ONE.. just ONE thing. Just to equip a flashpoint it takes a high skill in FIVE WEAPON SKILLS. My point is the soldier lives only for the alpha strike, he doesnt really have anything else, nor does he have any IP to spare for anything. And on top of his weapon skills (6 total that have to be maxed), he has to worry about comp lit, map nav, evades, treatment, first aid, etc. (MK shields are expensive in IP btw, both skills dark blue)

It can be said that the soldier exists soley to point a flashpoint or other similar weapon at an enemy, and for no other reason. Take that away, or its effectiveness, the soldier has no place anymore. The higher you go PvM, the tougher it gets to solo; despite the "uber alpha strike", and a fat load of good a couple of first aid kits do.

The class, is acutally boriing to play most of the time. All you do is shoot at stuff, and nothing else; no neat nanos, no pets, no IP to dabble in trade skills. Your a very focused and specalized COMBAT PROFFESSION. What i dont understand is why people seem to think that a salesman(trader) or any other proffession should be able to do as well as a trained soldier.

Why should a doctor, a guy who is supposed to fix broken limbs, sew stitches, and give ya 2 asprin and expect a morning phone call from you, become the uber PvPer now?

AO has proffessions. You chose your own proffession, no one eles did. Some are non combat related, others are support related. An engineer is combat support. An agent is a fricking sniper.

I think the old PvP rules were closer to how things should be than they are now; in terms of proffessions.

For some reason, alot seem to think that proffessions should be different, but equal in all things... hell why not do away with proffessions and we can all be classic "tank/mages". They ppl cant envy other classes for something they wish they could do but weren't meant to.

[__________NicholaSix]

Soldier are really peeved. This thread has more posts on it than any other thread on this sub-forum. CAN WE PLEASE GET SOME KIND OF RESPONSE?

look on the soldier forum, same deal there.

PLEASE FIX THE BUGS AND BALANCE THE CLASS TO PVM

[___________Stanbeast]

I don't really care that much about PVP I don't pvp, never really did pvp and probably will never pvp much. I like to MISSION but unfortunatly I cannot do 50% missions all that well an that just takes all the fun out of doing them. I don't get xps, I don't get cool items.. so why the hell bother.

I LOVE to team hunt but when you are lvl 91 you are really not a very big addition to a team around your lvl. We can't take alot of hits (2.2k hps is what I think I have and I am an atrox with maxed body dev for my title). I hit for lower then 100 damage most of the time I would say about 80% of the time (medussas) on bothackers I hit for that about 40-50% of the time. I have actually hit for 1 damage, I didn't think that was possible but it is.

So I feel like I don't help in team hunting (so why should teams recrute me)

I can't do missions

WTH else is there left to do?

I am President of NANO... only thing taht keeps me in the game.

stanbeast

RK2 lvl 91 GIMP err soldier

[________Adolanabantz]

Just throwing my agreement with the last 2 posts in.

Help us. Not to make us uber or invicible, but to let us keep enjoying the game.

I can't run a 50% mission without get my butt kicked, the more I level the more and more useless I become to a team, and so and and so forth like the other's playing a Soldier have stated...

Its simple. Solider = no fun anymore. That is the bottom line and in the end the only one that matters.

Am I wrong??

[Whiterrabbit]

Look guys, compare soldier to the crat.
now do the same with soldier verses fixer.

now who needs more work? you may suffer, cuz of burst nerf, etc etc, but i think fixers have a harder time.

As for the crat..... anyone seen one of these recently?

[zomg]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Stanbeast

I did loose pvp against.
fixer (he had evades that were 100pts over my attack skill)
enforcer - no need to say way.. he simple hits very hard
MA <--- my alpha doesn't kill him and he can outlive my consistant damage.
mp heal pet and first aid heals him faster then I can kill him.


main 3 ac's are at 2.4k I use a full suit of assult armor from QL 100-119 and light tank armor QL 106.

I have a full set of custom QL 80 implants that are focused on armor (str/stam) and weapons.

I pvp with Novaflow QL 116 (normal shots)
Portable Laser (burst)
IEC (full auto) [/i]

If you're going to pvp, you'll need much better gear than that. QL80 implants at level 91?

[__________WGMelchior]

There is a point that most people seem to be missing:

This isn't a competition about who plays the profession that sucks the most. If you go for the grand price in that race, you are in the wrong place. Sorry.

Some of these things are general changes, which benefits ALL characters. I can't see why you have something against that.


Additionally, reflection shields sucks. Yes, they do. Not just the ones soldiers gets. My shield, which is the highest one until the 317 requirement one, deals a maximum of 3 (three) points of damage. Not really what you call enough, right?

[________Adolanabantz]

Originally posted by WGMelchior
There is a point that most people seem to be missing:

This isn't a competition about who plays the profession that sucks the most. If you go for the grand price in that race, you are in the wrong place. Sorry.

I think this sums it up fairly well. The fact is that ALL the classes need tinkering. The point of this thread is to point out the areas that need work for Soldiers, not in relation to other classes but in relation to the game itself. It is the fact that Funcom has been trying to balance PvP without making adequate changes to also balance PvM that is the real problem. No one is saying that crats and fixers don't have issues. I also have a crat character and I realize that this class also has issues, but that is not central to the discussion in the thread.

So please don't bother pointing out things like "Ya but wow are crats ever messed so shut up about soldiers". You miss the point. Funcom claimed that they wanted these forums to be a place for players to provide feedback and that is what those who are posting to this thread are trying to do. I am not trying to flame anyone but if you have a problem with how crats (or fixers, NTs etc) operate, post them in an appropriate place. Those are also important thoughts and ideas Funcom should know about, but they do not detract from the validity of what has been said here regarding the Soldier class.

The fact is that as far as I can see, Funcom needs to go over every single class and revamp them all, including, but no limited to soldiers. While I understand the concerns about balance (in terms of PvP) that have been raised by some people, I have to say that as far as I am concerned that should be a secondary consideration. The most important thing is to balance the game as a whole first in terms of PvM as this effects the game the most. Regardless of if you are a diehard PvPer or not, I think it is fair to say that PvM is the foundation of the game. It is the "basics". To be cliche, you can't build a mansion on a crumbling foundation. Funcom can tinker as much as it likes but until the basics of the game operate properly we will all continue to be frustrated. I like AO a lot. But I also think it could be WAY better. Let's hope that Funcom can realize on the potential this game has.

Sorry, that turned into a bit of a rant

[Whiterrabbit]

it wasn't a "soldiers are uber, so stop whining" post, i just wanted to highlight the need for priorities here.

I think that pvm balance is a huge issue, i just fail to see why mobs need twice as many hps as us, or why they have uber ac. i dont see why we should have to overequip to survive. i understand that soldiers do have problems, (and yes, so does everyone else) but what do you think priorities should be for fixing?

this is getting off topic, i appologise for dragging it that way, but i wanted to
b!tch.

So, what should be done to the soldier?

[gonzorage]

Suprised not to see any response from Funcom on this (actually not surprised when I think about it). I would like to know what Funcom's definition of a Soldier is now, because what is defined in the manual is now WAY off. Here is what it says strait out of the game manual.

you can link to by going to http://www.anarchyonline.com/content...6/soldier.html


"The Soldier is the master of firearms, and the pillar of any combat squad. He has a huge potential for dealing damage at long range, and the health to withstand being on the receiving end. The Soldier is lacking in most other fields though, but with the use of the proper nano programs he is so effective at dishing out damage, that anything else becomes insignificant."

Also check this out...

"Strong fields
Health
Ranged combat
Some trade skills
Navigation

Weak fields
Close combat
Nano formula skills

Key skills
Body development
Operate Heavy Weapons
All ranged skills except bow skills
Ranged initiative
Tutoring
Vehicle Ground

Nanos
Damage deflect shield
Damage buff
Armor buff
Health buff
Healing
Ranged weapon buff
Taunt
Speed buff

**i am strictly talking about PVM, PVP is another whole issue**
1. We are not the pillar of any combat squad...We dont deal the most damage as other classes.

2. Health?? How come when I am grouping my Doctor has to heal me twice as much as other professions....

3. Nanos....WTF? Health buff? Healing?? what?

I could go on but I think that my time may be wasted. I would like Funcom to consider redefining the soldier profession as the current one is laughable.

[__________NicholaSix]

They should fix it all at once. That should be their priority. Some crat fixes are already in the pipeline. I could make a simple argumet based on yours that would give priority to fixing the soldier class. Here it is, you say "how many crats do you see now-a-days?" The answer is very few, so fixing soldiers should be a good business choice for funcom since we have more active accounts to cancel. Personally, I re-rolled a MA because they are a lot more fun to play and there are far fewer bugs associated with the class. Still soldiers need to be fixed and if you want crats fixed there is nothing stoping you from starting a "FIX BROKEN CRATS OR DIE FUNCOM" thread. I won't waste space in your thread as another silly detractor of progress in the development of this game we all like to play.

[____________Meligant]

I would like the add the following points for discussion:

NOTE: I have a level 43 soldier, 28 Agent, 6 enforcer, 32 Trader.


1. Compared to Agents and enforcers soldiers don't have the IP to dump into evades compared to MAs and Enforcers etc. My level 43 soldier went Ranged Energy and some nano abilities to use an MK2 shield. With mostly Full Auto QL30 implants she can use QL 60ish guns (nova flow/flashpoint). I can deal ok damage but can only use a +105 healing kit and if evades REDUCE damage then I need to dump the title limited levels (43-50) into them because I have NO staying power verse oranges at all using guns 20 QLs over my level!

2. Staying power seems to revolve around one thing...Health. Soldiers get a good amount of it but they have no way to convert nano to health. As it stands now an MA has better "staying power" in PvM because he has roughly 170% his total health to play with during the fight while a soldier has about 110% (using healing kits). Couple that with lower evades and OOCH.

3. Soldiers have to raise AT LEAST 4-5 ranged skills unless they go for a shotgun-soldier path. The classic AR, RE, Burst, Full Auto, Fling soldier has to dump a lot of IP just to use a weapon his level. This makes spending any IP on Evades near impossible.


Didn't have much time to post but this is what came to mind.

[Brokenfang]

"As for the crat..... anyone seen one of these recently?"

Dont make me laugh, I personally know a crat below lvl 100 that can do qu 130+ mission getting chests and items.

Me, I can barely do a 50%percent mission at my lvl 80.

I agree that all classes need help, this is thread about helping soldiers and our ideas. I pray FC will respond or at least read and consider some un-nerfing or changes to us. I willnot even go into our lines of nano which is my personally pet peeve as it totaly s*cks compared to all other classes with the 1 exception of MK shield which doensot last very long and takes a huge amount of nano now.


As for tank, take a look at a comparible ducas cloak, damn what a major difference. The cloak offers better AC to more protection areas with NO negatives to anything. Wearing Tank you would think would have the highest AC, but it doesnot and it has alot of negatives to it so why wear it anymore? Only answer to have for that is the cloaks have shot so far up into the sky in price to become ridicules.



awaiting a response from FC.......

[___________Atrocious]

Bah.. I couldn't resist.

Can someone please show me a lvl 60 or below soldier that burst, fling or FA for over 1k consistently in PvP?

Or is everyone just assuming that soldiers always alpha for 1k and above since they saw one soldier do it once?

Granted I don't PvP much, but I've done some experimenting with my guildmates. In PvP maxed evades makes a huge difference, so does moving your agg/def slider all to def vs agg.(BTW this also goes for PvM)

Also bear in mind that the agg/def slider has been broken(might still be). Ie. you cannot change speed during an encounter. I think it might be fixed so spells that lower inits work, but not 100% sure if sliding the slider during combat has any effect.

Let's put it like this at lvl 30ish(which I was when I did this test) with no points in evade I took crits from a trader(4-5 lvl above me, with a ubertwinked shotgun) with a vector shotgun about ever 3 or 4 shots with full agg. When I switched to full def. It was lowered to every 6-7 shots. I then maxed duck exp, and tried again with full agg. I got hit for crits about every 5-6 shots. I then put my agg/def on full def again, and I don't think I got hit with one crit.

I didn't try this too many times. About 2 times with max aggro, middle and all def, with no evages and max evades. All I wanted to test was that there was a difference.

So those of you that keep getting hit for max damage from any profession try to raise your evades. I would also like to hear if someone has had different experiences than mine where evades and agg/def bar makes no difference.

Maybe I'll try PvP later today, but not sure if I get any decent results since I have a tendancy to die faster then hell even with outside help(yes, I do suck at PvP, but you don't see me scream nerf nerf do you?).

I'll do three or four pvp battles today at the Tir Arena, and we'll see if I'm as overpowered as everyone wants me to be.

About pvp we're all nerfed in PvM, some worse than others. I've seen some enforcers say that it's still doable since they use hammers. Same with NTs... An NT in my guild at about lvl 65 or so. Took on two sandworms at the same time and won.... I'd like to see a soldier do that???? Any takers?

[Whiterrabbit]

hey, ultra1 and all you other ppl out there who want me to **** off and die, did you actually read my post?

So, what should be done to soldiers?

Man, ultra, you really got pissed that i showed you the flip side.

Heres what i think the soldier class needs:
MK shields to last longer, and stop preventing weapon switches.
Burst to be un-nerfed.

What i think everyone needs:
Sensible mobs that dont have more hp than god, or more armour than a battleship.

Now, what did i do wrong this time?

[________________atli]

In their defense, Funcom has a tough job to do and seem to be making progress on a few issues, no matter what they do they can never do it fast enough for us.

But FOR CRYING OUT LOUD, 57 POSTS AND 1896 VIEWS AND STILL NO RESPONSE???
/loud applause

atli.

also, fellow soldiers have a quick look at the profession boards. They, like us, all say the mobs are too hard!! Why the hell did Funcom make the damn things so tough?? Its seems nerfing the damn mobs would solve a lot of everyones problems. We all say that "our profession can't do 50% missions 'cause we get whupped as our prof' has x,y and z wrong", well maybe our professions aren't broken at all, the mobs in the missions are just too tough!

RISE UP! NERF THE MOBS!!

[_________Chaosengine]

Indeed, I find in hard to believe that Funcom still has NOT commented or replied for their plans for this thread. Soldiers need some work ( Indeed a lot of classes do, but I am a Soldier ). Like ULTRA said, trying to compare one class to another is like comparing apples and oranges.

In PVM situations, Soldiers have a tough time, thats not to say other classes are not having problems, I only speak for Soldiers. I just turned 101 and trying to find buffs like Feline Grace, a hig level Wrangle, IC or an Enforcer buff is easy. Trying to find Riot Control is a painful process. What does this show? Its shows that high level Soldiers are few and far between.

Here are my suggestions :


1) More Guns

Relying on 2-5 types of guns is getting annoying. Nova, Flash, Westinghouse or Stiener. Please provide more variety.

2) Better Nanos

Our nanos are weak, our health buffs are laughable and our AC buffs are not even worth investing in. The only things we have going for us are out Mastery Lines and our Deflection lines. With the tank nano delta, TMS is very hard to use. Soldiers now have to invest in 3 skills, 2 Dark Blue and 1 Blue ( Solitus ).

3) Gun Delay

For PVM, the gun switching should not be an issue at all. In terms of the website description, Soldiers in game are very lacking. A long time ago, MA's were complaining about Mob Melee AC being too high and their claims were right! I also submit that Mob Energy AC is also too high, since these guns are the only viable guns for Soldiers in game.

I, and many others only require to be viable in missions and against the silly HP/AC induced monsters in this game. Either reduce the Mobs so they are more player like or make Soldier more effective in PVM. Indeed this argument can be used for many other professions.

I eagerly await your responce Funcom.