*new And Improved "wth Should I Do As A Fixer?"*

[exilio]

Hey all,

There was a great thread from a couple years ago that helped new fixers figure out how to work with their new Fixers. Basically the thread starter asked a series of questions and people responded line by line.

Many things have changed since that thread, so I thought this would be a great time to start it anew. As a n00b I would really appreciate a veterans opinion on all of these topics.

Feel free to answer one or all of the questions, and please list the number of the question you are answering.

1) ATTRIBUTES
What are the attributes a Fixer needs to focus on most? Str, sta, int, etc etc etc.

2) RANGED SKILLS
Where should MG/SMG, Burst, Full Auto, Multi-Ranged skills be? Is it wrong to dual wield? Is it a waste of IP?

3) SPEED
Where is it important to focus on evasives? How much duck, ranged, close combat? What about run speed? Invest in it, or are the nanos enough?

4) How high should computer lit. be?

5) Are putting scopes on your SMG's worthwhile?

6) NANOS (HUGE)

* So many nano skills, so few IP! Where is wise to invest and what is going to give a Fixer the most bang for their buck?(My concern here is that many Fixers pigeon hole themselves and other Fixers as juut being tanks or just being somethign else...can't they do many things well?)

* Which nano line are worth investing in? Is the root good? What about the snare?

* What is up with all the skills for getting ammo or items..are those worth the money and IP to get thsoe skills?

* What are the nanos you can't live without?

What about treatment and first-aid; how high should these be taken?

7) Is Grid Armor worth it? If so, why? If not, why?

8) Do Fixers need breaking & entering, conceal, lock pick, trap disarm?

9) What is the purpose of map skill and do I need it? Especially considering all the highly detailed maps that you cna download and view in-game.

10) TRADESKILLS
Should a Fixer get involved in tradeskills, or leave this to Engineers?

11) What are key quests for a Fixer? And does blitzing really work?

12) What is the Fixers role in AO?

[Hukk]

1) ATTRIBUTES
What are the attributes a Fixer needs to focus on most? Str, sta, int, etc etc etc.

You'll eventually max all your attributes, but until then I would say concentrate on str, agi, sta and sen. These are your main SMG, burst, HP and runspeed skills. And most of the new fixer stuff has agi/sen requirements.

2) RANGED SKILLS
Where should MG/SMG, Burst, Full Auto, Multi-Ranged skills be? Is it wrong to dual wield? Is it a waste of IP?

SMG should be maxed. More skill = more damage. Personally, I have burst maxed too, but many people only up it as far as they need to equip weapons. I wouldn't put any IP into specials other than burst until you've got spare IP coming out your ears - and even then I wouldn't bother because you'll need it all 200+. Mulit-ranged isn't a waste. There are several good dualable options.

3) SPEED
Where is it important to focus on evasives? How much duck, ranged, close combat? What about run speed? Invest in it, or are the nanos enough?

Max all your evades. They will keep you alive. Run speed is important for blitzing, or just generally getting around. When you're lower level, you can probably let it slip a bit, and rely on your buffs, but by the time you hit TL6, say, you'll probably max it anyway.

4) How high should computer lit. be?

As high as you can get it. The new Yuttos NCUs need a lot, and there are some very nice pieces of armour and other stuff that need it too. When you're lower, you need as much comp lit as you can get to use the grid properly, and get decent NCU in.

5) Are putting scopes on your SMG's worthwhile?

Only if you have enough Ranged Init to cover the loss from the scope, and the gun has a decent crit bonus. The only gun I regularly hear about people using with a scope is the SMG. I certainly wouldn't use a scope with anything I own.

6) NANOS (HUGE)

* So many nano skills, so few IP! Where is wise to invest and what is going to give a Fixer the most bang for their buck?(My concern here is that many Fixers pigeon hole themselves and other Fixers as juut being tanks or just being somethign else...can't they do many things well?)

Dunno about this... you'll be able to cast most of your stuff eventually anyway. I would say, pick a nanoline you want to concentrate on (long HoTs might be a good choice, or runbuffs) and work towards that. Any other lines that you can gcover at the same time are a bonus. And never, ever put IP into Matter Creation.

* Which nano line are worth investing in? Is the root good? What about the snare?

They're all good. Ish The roots and snares are good on RK... the SL roots and snares work better in SL (duh), but they're not great. Onece you get higher, your roots and snares might be a little hit and miss - sometimes you'll have to cast them several times before they stick.

Some lines are worthless - the Summon Crap line, for instance, and Backpain. And, in my opinion, Grid Armour

* What is up with all the skills for getting ammo or items..are those worth the money and IP to get thsoe skills?

No, and no.

* What are the nanos you can't live without?

HoTs. They keep you alive. And SMG buffs. And runbuffs.

What about treatment and first-aid; how high should these be taken?

Treatment - generally as high as you can. You'll use it for implants and symbs, so the higher it is, the better the imps you can fit. First aid is a matter of personal preference. Some people max it, some don't. I keep it high enough to use ql 125 stims, because I can buy those in the shops, and I'm too lazy to find higher ones in missions.

7) Is Grid Armor worth it? If so, why? If not, why?

I'm not going to answer this. I have GA issues

8) Do Fixers need breaking & entering, conceal, lock pick, trap disarm?

B&E is probably the only spying skill we use - lots of new tradeskill processes for weapons or armour need a hefty whack of it. The Perennium weapons need to be hacked for instance, at 7 x the ql of the gun. So, 1400 B&E for a ql 200 gun. I never use trap disarm. It's easier just to run over a mine than spend time searching for and disarming it. Lock picking is based off B&E, so if you have decent B&E, you'll always be able to pick locks. Conceal might be useful in PvP. I don't PvP, so I don't know.

9) What is the purpose of map skill and do I need it? Especially considering all the highly detailed maps that you cna download and view in-game.

Map Nav is used to upload area maps, rather than the planet map. It's also for reader upgrades, so you can differentiate between sides, stuff like that. Most people will make temporary implants for Map Nav, rather than spend IP. Once you have a map uploaded, it will still work once your skill drops back below the requirement, so you only need to raise it temporarily.

10) TRADESKILLS
Should a Fixer get involved in tradeskills, or leave this to Engineers?

Apart from B&E, probably leave this to the other tradeskillers.

11) What are key quests for a Fixer? And does blitzing really work?

The two fixer grid quests. And yes, blitzing really works.

12) What is the Fixers role in AO?

Pass.

[kaghelion]

12) What is the Fixers role in AO?

Based on nanos/perks and other stuff we've been getting for the last two years I'd say we're the lone rangers of AO, self-sufficient and very good at surviving on our own but have harder time helping our team then other professions.

Notes: This doesn't mean that we're useless to teams, just that a lot of fixers would like to be able to contribute more.

[Gene13]

1) ATTRIBUTES
What are the attributes a Fixer needs to focus on most?
A) Intelligence and agility
B) Stamina and Sense
C) Strength and Psychic (it's possible to go from lvl 1 to 150 without ever touching Psychic as a fixer)

2) RANGED SKILLS
Where should MG/SMG, Burst, Full Auto, Multi-Ranged skills be?
Is it wrong to dual wield? Is it a waste of IP?
SMG and Burst maxed. Don't touch FA unless you're absolutely 100% sure of what you're doing. If you have to ask you shouldn't touch it.
Dual wielding is no longer a complete wast of IP, but it's still mostly a style choice.

3) SPEED
Where is it important to focus on evasives? How much duck, ranged, close combat? What about run speed? Invest in it, or are the nanos enough?
Raise evades as high as you can. If you have to cut something I'd go for duck (which I usually keep at 50% of the other two.)
SL mobs don't all check Evade CC, even if they look like melee mobs.
Runspeed - Faster is better. Go easy tho, not all systems/players can handle a maxed out speed junkie.
Ranged initiative - Higer RI means you can go for a more defensive playstyle, hence using the strength of the profession better.

4) How high should computer lit. be?
High enough to equip a Ql 160 6-slot belt. High enough to equip NCUs you already have. High enough to get you to the places you want to go (grid access).

5) Are putting scopes on your SMG's worthwhile?
Only w/ a fast weapon with high crits if you have enough ranged initiative.
Scope + Sol Chironis = good
Scope + Manex Catastrophe = bad

6) NANOS (HUGE)
I'll pass on this one.

What about treatment and first-aid; how high should these be taken?
Treatment is important for implants/symbiants. The sooner you get 200 implants in the better.
1st aid. Often over looked skill. HoTs are not enough for healing. In teams you can use nano kits to juice up the doc.

7) Is Grid Armor worth it? If so, why? If not, why?
(From a PvM perspective mind you)
Creds: Sure, prices have dropped and all GAs are atm affordable for the targeted lvl range.
IP: No way in hell! You simply don't get that much for your IP.
Boils down to style choice and whether you want it or not.

8) Do Fixers need breaking & entering, conceal, lock pick, trap disarm?
No, not really, but B&E ( = lock picking skill) is cheap and we got the buffs.
Max B&E needed for RK missions is 2xMissionQL. Dunno bout SL dungs.

9) What is the purpose of map skill and do I need it? Especially considering all the highly detailed maps that you cna download and view in-game.
You "need" all upgrades but side. If you don't have them sooner or later you'll walk into something you wish you wouldn't have. If you plan on doing missions in broken shores (City of Home) you'll need that map (multiple mission entrances very close to eachother, takes forever to find the right one w/o a map).

10) TRADESKILLS
Should a Fixer get involved in tradeskills, or leave this to Engineers?
This used to be a sure way to **** up your char, but now trade skills as a fixer works. Especially with the additions that has been implemented lately.
I still recommend you pay a trader or engie for the service tho, it does suck up quite a bit of IP.

11) What are key quests for a Fixer? And does blitzing really work?
Social clothes quest of your choice
Fixer grid 1 and 2.

Yes, Virginia, blitzing works. There's not much to blitz for atm tho.

12) What is the Fixers role in AO?
Imo the fixer hasn't been this well defined in a long time.
(If we set aside the mess that is the SL expansion)

Anyways, the role is the same as ever, the only thing that change is if we got the tools to do it.

Solo: Go anywhere, do anything. And if you fail, get outta there quick.

Team: Stand back, look cool and wait for the **** to hit the fan.
I haven't tried evacing from an alien ship, but I really hope it works.

PvP: Buffing and transportation I guess. PvP is ****ed up in so many ways I don't even care.

The 'fixing' part of the profession is seriously gimped atm imo (the only items fixers get faster/easier access to are mission rewards and fixer shop, and neither has much to offer atm), but there are indications that some raw materials might be found in some out of the way locations, and who'd be better to get them than a fixer with f-grid.

/G13

[Vega2x]

keywords: fixer guide attribute role ranged evade tutorial tradeskills GA grid armor B&E abilities

well, i think i ll go and give my interpretation of answers to your questions, since i really disagree with Hukk on some points.

1) ATTRIBUTES
What are the attributes a Fixer needs to focus on most? Str, sta, int, etc etc etc.

Here is the list of attributes in order of importance (assuming you are opifex)

• intelligence - absolutely most important. we have all 6 dark blue nano skills. 5 points into int trickles down to 1 point to all nano skills, it helps us to have nano skills higher, and it's cheaper than directly raising the skill as intelligence is lightly blue. moreover trickles down to treatment and comp. lit
• agility + sense - very important - most cheap and trickles down to our most important skills - evades. as well there are good armors for agi/sense like steel ribbed and sided trade skilled armor apocalypse/omni steel ribbed. there's predator armor too, and armor from Crypt of Home that has agi/sense reqs. Cyborg Death Armor and tier amor - that are best fixer armor up to at least level 175 or so, are agi/sense too . moreover, most important implants for fixer (evades, SMG, burs and moret) could be fit into agility/sense requirements too. in fact most implants could be made to have agility requirement, that would enable you to twink into very high ql implants.
• stamina - important. it trickles down to body development that increases HP. it's req on very good armors like carbon armor/sided carbon which is trade skill made, has very good stats and very easy to make which makes it perfect choice for at least 100 first levels. it's very sound to level in it up to 200 or something when you can start using high end armors like azure, sentinels, tier 2/3 or something of your choice.
• strength - important - trickles down to some important fixer skills like SMG, burst, run speed. requirement for CAS armor. still, not very important, don't max, raise when you wish.
• psychic - not important - just forget about this attribute. we dont really need it. raise when you title capped.
• body development - very important. if you low on IPs, you can skip raising for level or two, since we are mostly depend on evades to keep us alive, not HP, but still you cant go wrong with putting IPs into body development(when you have it).
• nano pool - not important. we mostly use nanos offline, which means b4 combat. which means we can just recharge the nano from nano kits. moreover special from genious perk - the nano HoT helps a lot. make sure you have % nano cost reducer in your deck (nano formula recompiler) ql 200 reduces nano cost by 15%. since fixers have too much NCU anyway, you can safely use deck6 slot for recompiler

2) RANGED SKILLS

Where should MG/SMG, Burst, Full Auto, Multi-Ranged skills be? Is it wrong to dual wield? Is it a waste of IP?
SMG should be maxed. busrt high but not maxed. FA - don't touch it, unless you think you know what you doing. MR - read weapons guide, dual wielding is not waste of IP, it can increase your dmg if using right weapons, but be sure you know what you doing.



3) SPEED

Where is it important to focus on evasives? How much duck, ranged, close combat? What about run speed? Invest in it, or are the nanos enough? It's easy here. max your dodge ranged/evades cls. dont touch duck exp unless you are title capped. in SL some brink mobs can use wapons checking against duck exp. if you see that hecklers crit on you too much - raise a bit duck exp, but no point to max untill much later. ranged init - raise it. we fight on full def, and you need 1050 RI to be fully operational on full def with 1/1 weapon. so you need to raise it. you might put on a crit scope for more dmg, but that will require you to move aggdef slider to the left = you get more hits. might not be big issue if in team with good doc/tank.

4) How high should computer lit. be?

the answer here - just high enough to be able to twink into next NCU belt/NCU. in first few levels it's adviced to max it, so you can access the grid as early as possible. comp. lit influences how many creds you get when you trde with shop terminals. it might be good idea to get help of someone with high comp lit when you need to sell stuff to shop terminal. if you are clan/neutral use the map terminal in omni shops for more credits.

5) Are putting scopes on your SMG's worthwhile?

already answered. but you can use scops to increase the dmg you do - will require to go more aggressive = more hits. bad idea when soloing. could be good in team especially with weapon that has good crit bonus. for example for Syndicate Messenger Gun is 200-350(500). which means when you crit it will hit for 300 + 500 = 850 dmg b4 multiplier. let's say you have 1000 in smg with 0 add all off. the max beneficial skill on SMG is 1600 (ql 240), that is way above 1000 we use in example, so our efficient attack skill is 1000. you have none add chem dmg modifiers. then it will hit 1+(1000/400)*850 = 2975 points of dmg. nice, ehh?

6) NANOS (HUGE)

* So many nano skills, so few IP! Where is wise to invest and what is going to give a Fixer the most bang for their buck?(My concern here is that many Fixers pigeon hole themselves and other Fixers as juut being tanks or just being somethign else...can't they do many things well?)


Ok, it's right. early in levels you need to focus on skills, you can't raise all of them. if you try to use highest possible nanos in all out nanolines - you ll end gimped in all.
So, first forget about MC. it has use mainly for grid armor, dont raise it unless you have GA instruction disc in your inventory already. and even then, it might be wise to raise MC only to level when you can cast GA with external buffs.
Secondly, the sciene of raising nano skills is very complicite, it depends on what is your playstyle, current buffing items, your credits account etc. The most easy way is to focus on nano lines that are reqs for HoTs. it means MM,BM,TS in this order of importance. this is best for new be fixer. if you raise this skills you ll be able to cast early your HoTs, while snares/roots will stay behind. anyway, it's really hard to keep your roots/snares on level where they will be relliable enough to use. low ql root snare will possibly wont work good on mobs making it useless. if you want to be able to kite(snare/root mob and shot it from distance where it's out of it's range and can't hit you), you need really good implants/symbiants and good level of twinkage. anyway, at low leves it's much faster and easier to find a team and level, later on you can decide for yourself what's more important. run buffs and supresor buffs use SI/PM too, but in different proportins, one requres SI to be highest, other PM. you need to decide what is more important to you. in Any way - don't raise nano skill more than you currently need. plan the order in which you upload nanos. if you raised MM/BM, no point to dumb IPs to SI/PM as it will gimp all of them.

What about treatment and first-aid; how high should these be taken?

first aid is very efficient in SL - health coild heal for twice as much as RK kits. if leveling in SL, try to use highest ql health coils you can. no point to raise it over the requirement point. the same about treatment. try to get into highest ql implants/symbiants you can. if you don't plan getting into imps right now - save the IPs, dont raise treatment. raise it only when you decided to get into new implants, and then only as much as needed. check threads for guides on treatment twinking.

7) Is Grid Armor worth it? If so, why? If not, why?

I ll not discuss it here. hundreds of threads on this issue already exists. in few words - if it falls in your hands - then why not. otherwise you can live without it.

8) Do Fixers need breaking & entering, conceal, lock pick, trap disarm?

not really. we need some B&E for our fixers grid quest nanos. and to access the fixersshop. but that's all. save IPs on it early in levels. raise it when you feel you have some purpose for it.

9) What is the purpose of map skill and do I need it? Especially considering all the highly detailed maps that you cna download and view in-game.

the use of map navigating - to upload maps you need some map navigating skills. as well as map upgrades, like showing directional arrow, monsters, enemies. human NPCs. nice to have, especially for fixers as we happen to blitz a lot. preferably use temporary implants with map navigation, as you only need it when uploading.


10) TRADESKILLS
Should a Fixer get involved in tradeskills, or leave this to Engineers?

it's generally out of scop for this post. in few words - leave it to engis and traders. some trade skills have use outside tradeskilling like weapon smithing - range increasers have reqs with WS. agression taunters have reqs with psychology etc..

11) What are key quests for a Fixer? And does blitzing really work?

easy question. fixers have to do fixer grid quests. blitzing is a must for new fixers. well, if there's something in this game that we are best at it - it's blitzing. take advantge of it. the first thing after reading this post - get clicksaver. just search for "clicksaver" with google.

12) What is the Fixers role in AO?

I can't answer on this question without bitterness. our role diminished with every expansion. right for the moment of this post - fixers dont have specific role in team. generally in game we needed to hack some items. but to be fixer means - style over substance, being fast, take the hits of nerfbat with smile, enjoy best community in AO, and be spammer kings of AO forums

[Moscatinka]

Solo: Go anywhere, do anything. And if you fail, get outta there quick.

That's the best description of a soloing fixer I've ever seen

[zenzio]

[...] And does blitzing really work?

I would just like to comment on this. If you're willing to put time (and some effort) into it, then definitely yes, it does work. I gave away most of my stuff when I took a long break from AO last year, and when I returned, I blitzed together money for my Superior Perennium Beamer, complete QL200 CDS set, awakened brain (artillery) symbiant, Azure boots, HNTA, pair of +53 chem Arul Sabas and Syndicate Messenger Gun. Total of about 800M. Took a lot of time, but as you can see, it worked.

-- Zenzio

[exilio]

Aesome responses guys! Not only doesthis help me, but every other n00b fixer. Thanks for taking the time and I am sure more responses would be greatly appreciated by all on this forum.

There does seem to be some inconsistency on where to put attribute points; however, peoplehave done an excellent job of explaining their rationalization. Thismakes it easier for the new fixer tomake their own decision about what to do. And i know much of this has to do with race, which is why I didnt ask about a specific race as I want this post to work for anyone that wants to be a fixer.

Thanks again and lets hear more!

[Remmance]

There are definitely roles for the fixer in AI.

In city attacks everyone likes NCU/Double HoTs/GSF. Also when the train of aliens comes out of the dropship the area snare really slows em down giving the CT team a chance to take em a few at a time and mezzers to mezz extras.

Inside the ship the high evades and speed allow the fixers pull from rooms where there are 4-5 mobs overlapping and get back fast enough to only bring 1-2 mobs. At high levels a fully buffed fixer can have a good amount of HP (I have 17K) and be able to survive those 11K nukes that can happen when you pull.
Also not sure about the reqs but there are locked doors in alien ships too although might not need high BE.

[Takalon]

I'd like to comment on that maxing burst.

I'm not 100% sure about this, but a guild mate told me, that also the burst skill affects how good you hit with the burst.

[Vega2x]

according to what i read on soldiers forum, Attack Rating for burst is (AR+burst)/2. but it's only for calculating the chance to hit. so you need now, to raise burst even if you meet the requirements on weapon and you already reached the cap on burst recycle.

[Hukk]

There does seem to be some inconsistency on where to put attribute points; however, peoplehave done an excellent job of explaining their rationalization. Thismakes it easier for the new fixer tomake their own decision about what to do. And i know much of this has to do with race, which is why I didnt ask about a specific race as I want this post to work for anyone that wants to be a fixer.

Absolutely right. Most of the disagreements over attributes are because of the different breeds - I prefer to max str/sta because they're green for me, whereas the squishy opis will go for agi/sen. They're wrong, but what'ya going to do?

And Gene13 is correct, you can leave psychic for ages without touching it. I had only 100 psychic until level 160, and then I put about eight levels worth of IP into it to max it.

[mosthula]

Off Main Topic but:
Evacing from Alien Ships does work Gene13. Found that one out when I was the only one alive in the alien ship and was standing toe to toe with the boss. Not a friendly situation and was thankful MEEP worked.

[Gene13]

Off Main Topic but:
Evacing from Alien Ships does work Gene13. Found that one out when I was the only one alive in the alien ship and was standing toe to toe with the boss. Not a friendly situation and was thankful MEEP worked.

That's one un-nerf for the fixers. Good call FC.

F10 Audio Voices Military
/macro EVC! /voice run

/G13