Welcome to the Enforcer Profession

[Deng]

Welcome to the Enforcer profession. During your playtime I can promise you that you will recieve a lot of attention, you will die quite often and you may become the hero you probably pictured your enf would become

This guide is ment to help you avoid some "traps" that we, the old farts with walkingsticks, allready have been through, and, if possible, show you a few good alternatives. (PS. all input is welcome as allways)

First of all, let's start out with some general Knowledge.

Your useful links:
AODB/Auno - Here you can look up all items and design your perks/implants/utils
Anarchy Arcanum - if you wonder about how to make something, SL things or RK things, here's the place. Also contains Dynaboss locations and ql.
-------------------------------------------------
IP Usage:
IP's aren't unlimited in any way. You will have to use both IP's and IPR with caution and care. It is said "the systematical enforcer is rich on IP", and I believe that is right. Whenever you raise a skill, know why you raise it. To use a nano? To get better armor on? or maybe just because someone said so.

What skill is sensible to keep at max all the time?

1: Intelligence/Stamina/Strenght/Body Dev/Nano Pool
2: Your primary Weaponskill + Melee Init
3: Treatment

Other than these, your path chooses your IP usage on Abilities, Evades, nanoskills etc.

Choosing Path:
Unlike most other professions, the enforcer has a *vast* ammount of weapons to choose from. Some are more efficient than others, but all in all, you can go all the way with one weapontype alone. Some people say "Atrox go 2h, rest go 1h". That's rather limiting IMO, because aside from very few weapons, all classes can wield all types with great efficiency.
Here's a short description of the various paths.

1 Hand Blunt:
Clubs/Dual Hammers cover this path. The selection is fairly ok, with a few gaps (depending on level). this is a typical "tank option", that shows its true strenght on the very high levels. I *definitely* reccomend 1hb on higher levels. here are a few typical weapons Enforcers use at early levels:
Schiacciamento Vento, Foschia, Rabbia, Tuono
Mortig Beater
Skull of Lamentation
Skull of Woe

1 Hand Edged:
Blades, axes and short swords makes up for the 1he weaponrack. As 1hb, the selection of 1he weapons covers your path from newborn to the high levels when it comes to efficiency.
Here are a few examples of lower 1he weapons:
Phase Blade
Meibutso Daito
Kinetic Axe

2 Hand Blunt:
Sledgehammers, Staffs and even a Banjo is found in this Path. 2HB is the original "stereotypical" Atrox enforcer. this line is not the easiest to start out with comparing with the efficiency contra availability with 1he/1hb/2he, but it's a great path if you got the weapons for it. Here are a few "lowbie" 2hb Weapons:
Icebreaker
Gravity
Loose Support Beam

2 Hand Edged:
Swords, Bladestaffs and Massive axes cover this line and it is known as "the easiest path to start with", because of a few nice startout weapons that will take you through the first 100 levels. 2HE will also take you all the way with few gaps.
Frost Scythe of the Legionnaire
Longmoon

Piercing:
Daggers, Spears and Piercing swords have mostly been said to be for the Shades, but enforcers can wield these efficiently. This line will take you from bottom to top, but you may have to search for some time to find weapons to avoid the gaps. Not a typical "first time enf" weaponline.
Improved Tango Dirks
Staff of Pelias

Melee Energy:
By the time you know the alternatives here, you also see there are no perks to support this line. Even if there are ok alternatives for the highlevels, I won't go into detail about that line in this thread.
-------------------------------------------------
Perks:

For every 10 levels you gain *or* for every alien level you gain, you recieve a Perk Point. You have several options here. Alien perks points are different from normal perk points and you can only assign alien perk points into alien perklines (and normal perks in normal perklines) You can choose to enhance your abilities, weaponskill, hitpoints ++ with the perkpoints you recieve. Here are a few "popular" choices. (using level 60 as template)

Bioshielding (4 perks at level 60):
This perkline gives AC, Shielding and a few very nice perks most enfs enjoy today. Bio Cocoon, a Layer eating damage dealt to you, is a blessing for every tank. This grows stronger the more perkpoints you put into it

Colossal Health (3 perks at level 60):
This is a combined HP boost/healing perkline that grows stronger the more Perks you put into it. At 3 perks, you gain 250 HP and a teamheal every 50 seconds.

Form of Troll (2 perks at level 60):
This perkline is great to have, but.. not at lower levels eventhough it adds more HP than Colossal health, I advise that you wait with this line untill later on

Genious (1 perk at level 60):
At level 110, this perk is a blessing for any enforcer, especially atrox, as you recieve a Nano-hot perk special at this level. Untill that level, it only adds some Int/psychic and isn't *that* useful.

Weaponperks:
1hb/2hb/2he have their own perklines that will increase your weaponskill and also, once you got enough perk points into it, it will give you some pretty nice attack perks. These aren't *too* useful at lower levels, but you will turn into a mean alphamachine on later levels with these. 1HE has a perkline but isn't too usable for us (as you won't be able to use the perkattacks depending on adventurer perks)

(there are several other perks out there. Enhance DNA, for instance is excellent for raising abilities, but I'll let you have a look and make up your own mind about it... after all, who says us old farts are allways right? )
-------------------------------------------------
Armor:

Yes, you need that too, I'm afraid
How much a mob hits you for depends on your AC. There are *many* different setups you can choose from. Some armor only adds the AC, while other can add everything from Hitpoints to Additional damage to your weapon... or maybe even some extra effects Here are some armor setups you often see at lower levels that are usable and not too hard to get.

Flower Tech/Omni-Pol Elite - This armor is possible to buy/roll as mission reward and run. Cheap and usable armor for the new enforcer

Carbonum - This is tradeskill produced armor, but due to it being so common, it is sold all the time and shouldn't be too expensive. It adds to your Nanopool and Max NCU, 2 things you never can have enough of as an enforcer

Metallic Mantis - Can be bought, great armor for the low enforcer.

Infantry - Drops in Shadowlands alone (mostly from Sided mobs).

Nonpartisan - Same as Infantry armor. Drops in SL (Neutral only).

Other than that, HERE is a link to equipment config where you can try out various setups.
-------------------------------------------------
Implants/Symbiants:

First step. Open this page: Implant Designer

Yes, it's time to remove those old bones and replace them with some proper technology. Both implants and Symbiants add points to various skills. Implants are tradeskill made with Nanoprogramming (don't raise that btw. Get someone else to do it for you). The basic shops have some "basic enforcer implants" that cost your shirt, so unless you have the cash for it, you have to design your own implants or ask for some help. Now.. I could post setups for all the various levels, weapontypes and twink processes, but... a lil sentence in the back of my head told me "Don't give a man a fish, teach him how to fish".
Implant design may look complicated at first look, but it's really just a matter of choosing what skills you want to raise. Every implant can contain 3 "clusters" to raise your skill. Shining adds more than Bright, Bright adds more than faded. The quality level of the implant also matters. You should aim at having Higher Quality level implants than your own level.

now.. as you look at the implant designer, you can start playing with what goes where. Here is an example of a 2hb setup for atrox/solitus.

- Max Health(Body dev for atrox) is obvious... we need HP to eat damage
- Weaponskill. The more weaponskill, the better the weapon.
- Nanoskills. *what* nano do you want to upload when? Have a look at the enforcer nanolist Here and see what you can use if you pop in some nanoskills in an implant.

When you start getting some levels, it's time to think about Symbiants. They are normally left a bit on the shelf untill the player passes level 100+ due to the low levels going by fairly quick nowdays To find the correct Symbiant, use THIS tool to find out where to find.
------------------------------------------------
Hot tips from old farts:

Yeps... it's time we threw some "do's and don't" out here

1. Get an Assault-class Tank Armor - This is a "use" item that gives you a 2K absorb layer when you right click it (or use from shortcut bar). Drops from Bodyguards in the deep end of the "Biomare" dungeon in The Longest Road.
2. Visit Temple of Three winds - This dungeon will be your home for a few levels. You will find excellent weapons, some armor, rings, shoulderpads etc etc... don't miss out on this dungeon (level 60 is max level to enter, so do it before that)
3. Check out Tsunayoshi Smith - This is a Vendor in SAV that sells Melee weapons. He should be visited atleast once. If not to buy something, call it a Crusade to the friggin huge Soul Fragment.
4. Buy this nano as early as possible. Should be able to upload around level 15 or so
5. Get yourself a Flurry of Blows early. You will turn into a mean Killing machine for some seconds.
6. Be careful with your IP. You have only a limited ammount of IP-Resets. Try to follow a path for some time before you choose to reset to another weaponclass. Most Enforcer pioners suffer from lack of IPR today. Don't end up in that mess

Final words of "Wisdom"

Kissysuzuki once said "Mongo won't save you, but it may just save your team!". That sentence stuck with me and I keep trying my best to live the idea behind it.

We, in this forum, are the closest you get to a walking Pinyata. We expect to take the heat from our team members. Even if we don't do most damage, we *can* hold aggro when we do our job properly (and sometimes tie up the shades + NT's to a pole). Being an enforcer isn't about being the best equipped, most skilled or cool player out there. It's about your attitude. Ofcourse equipment and skill counts, but if you lack the attitude, if you can't stand aggro, I think you are on the wrong shelf.

On the positive side.. as an enforcer, you have more HP than god, bigger hammers than Thor and not many want to pick a fight with you once you stand there 3 times their height.

Cheers all

(For those of you who want to read the *old* guide, HERE is the link

[strawpeter]

Hey, this is an amazing co-incidence!! About two hours ago I went searching for an up-to-date thread on starting an Enf, and cdn't find one - then up pops this!!

Didn't know Enforcers had ESP as an extra attribute .

Thanks Deng - nice stuff, hope all your fellow Enforcers throw their two-penn'orth in to supplement your good advice.

[Kissysuzuki]

hahaha I'm quoted in words of wisdom! (that ought to hack a few of you off!)

Na na na na na

(this is actually a holding post while a write something more fitting so don't go getting all huffy )

[Painful]

A nice starter guide with some neat, clear advice.

Having developed a few Enfs, I must say that Temple of The Three Winds (ToTTW) is a must visit place. Many of the items are Nodrops but can be used from lvl 20/21 upwards.

Must haves from here are:

Exarch robe - These drop from the Exarchs in Aztur's room - there are three Exarchs here and the middle one always drops a robe, sometimes two.

Touch of The Gripper: A neat little implant that will always drop off The Curator

Rockcrusher gauntlets: Also a Curator drop and very nice gloves

GOT's belt: This drops off the Guardian of Tomorrow (GOT) - it is called a circuit board on the corpse but is actually a very nice 5 deck belt requiring only 225 in Computer Lit to fit.

Dark memories and loops: These are NCU's which drop off Lien - The dark Memories (DM's) give 26 NCU and 40 to Nano - they require only 141 in Comp Lit to fit. The loop is rarer but gives 33 NCU and has the same requirement.

Stygian Desolator: The SD drops from Aztur and is a very nice 2he weapon.

Guardian Tank Armour: The GTA is a very rare drop from GOT and you may well want one for its AC's but the rarity of the drop makes it silly to camp for given how long it may take to drop. And, besides, the Exarch robe will do just as well.

Keeper's Vitality: This is a nice waist implant that drops from Gartua who spawns in the room between GOT and Aztur. Its has some very nice AC's but is quite rare.

There are also a range of rings which drop and Phase Blades (1he) which drop from the Exarchs.

Energy Scythe: This is a nice lowbie 2he weapon which drops from some Exarchs.

Frost Scythe: A nice 2he weapon which drops from the legionaires you will encounter on the way to Lien.

If you go 2he then the frost scythe and stygian are probably must have weapons. The Stygian is an energy weapon and is good in RK but poor in SL where the frost scythe is better.

A bit later on you can get a Panther from the Crypt of Home. The ql100 is a very nice 2he which gives radiation damage and is good in both RK and SL.

You can also get Chiropteras in CoH which are 1he and also give radiation damage and are good in RK and SL.

The Crypt also gives us the Howlet which is not too bad a 2hb weapon although I have never gone either 1hb or 2hb so my knowledge here is not too strong.

As for armour, the best early armour is probably CAS although you will want to get Jobe armour and upgrade this to Tier 1 as soon as possible.

One last comment: ToTTW can be quite a mad place to go these days. It appears there are many 'trains' in there so be prepared to die. Also the main bosses: Lien, GOT, Curator, Gartua and Aztur are not easy. But these days many teams will let you freely loot items like GOT's belt and some teams are only too happy to help you get a Stygian or Exarch robe or gripper and rockcrusher. Most of the other items are quite highly valued and teams will 'roll' for them.

I have always found ToTTW to be great fun and a good place to meet many new players.

Enjoy!

[Mamman]

Good, posts.

I disagree with one thing though and that is the Frost Scythe being better than the Styg in SL.

The Styg is a lot faster, both in regular attackspeed and fast attack recharge and it has a much higher max damage. Yes the min damage is lower but in nasence and elysium that doesn't really matter much because mobs AC isn't very high in those zones (except on ely hecklers and horrors.)
Theres no real point in comparing how the weapons will preform in the higher zones in SL since when you are good enough to go there you will not want either one of those weapons. At that point you will be able to use better ones without much trouble, atleast if you have made some friends or some money

Also a clarification:
The assault tank from foremans is not supposed to be used in your backslot (It can be, but it's not the best option you have). It's supposed to lay around in your inventory and rightclicked when you think you're in deep trouble
A sanguisent body armour is also neat thing to use in the same way as it heals you for a small ammount when you rightclick it. It's not a pocket doctor, but if you're soloing every little bit of healing counts

What you're supposed to do as an enforcer:
Take every hit from every monster that ever looked in your general direction so that your team-members doesn't have to, and preferably but not nessecarily live.
You are also supposed to be sexy and I advise the atrox breed for that
Do that and you have succeded.

[patrick187]

Being an enforcer isn't about being the best equipped, most skilled or cool player out there. It's about your attitude. Ofcourse equipment and skill counts, but if you lack the attitude, if you can't stand aggro, I think you are on the wrong shelf.

Truer words were ne'er spoken.

Where I would amplify what Deng wrote is that it isn't "about your attitude" it is "completely about your attitude." And the attitude comes not just accepting that your primary function as an enforcer is to ensure that the only red bar on the team that ever moves is yours, but basing your character selection on that fact.

I know right now that a shade, agent or MA is going to OD me. Good. Great. Fantastic. The faster the mob dies, the faster I can go pull another one. Heck, if a mitaar wielding trader OD'd me, as long as mob dies and I was the only one hit...SWEET. I don't care about being on top of the damage heap. All I do care about is that the shade, agent or MA can do whatever they want and the mob keeps hitting me.

Aggro is all I care about. In the last 30 or 40 levels I couldn't even tell you a ballpark average of how much damage I am doing. But I ask after every teaming session how I did with aggro. Who besides me got hit and how often, how long before I regained, etc etc etc. I ask advice on aggro from higher level enforcers. I ask advice from other professions on ways to do sick damage while making sure nobody but me gets hit.

To that end, I have invested a lot of research, Q&A, and asked for tons of feedback on ways to things better. I pay very close attention to my tanking toolkit where AC, HP, evades, taunts (nanos, devices) are concerned. If I am trying to take all the beatings, I better be good at survivng them, because only docs are more aware of heal nano recharge times than enforcers are.

Another thing the right attitude will help with is making sure your teams work with you, not near you or against you. Kissysuzuki has the best quote ever on teaming and aggro:

Taunt tools are just no substitute for intelligent teamers.

If you love the aggro, and want to keep it all to yourself, then on those occasions where your team's lack of intelligence is overriding your taunting ability, you will be more likely to "educate" your team on how aggro control is a team concept. It's your aggro, don't let anyone tell you different. Discuss strategies, try and find the best solution, be a good teammate, but always from the perspective that if you don't have the aggro, then there better be a higher level enforcer in the team. Be the enforcer who is so good that the people you team with dump their mains to make enforcers because you made it look so easy.

And one last thing....

I don't care who messes what up. Your team refuses to stay back on pulls, the pet casters think sending attack pets to "help" you pull from a pack is a good thing, the damage junkies who break mezz to pad their damage dump numbers, whatever. No matter how it happens, make sure Doc either lives through it, or lives longer than you. Taking care of doc is what keeps an enforcer vertical, and taking good care of doc is the path to getting teams easily and moving the hated exp bar. Protect doc like you would your bank account. The rest of the team is important too, but the longer doc is up, the longer you have to get a mistake under control without reclaim visits.


In the end, it isn't for everybody, and it is all about attitude. But if you have that attitude, it is AO on the "Super Fun" setting. IMHO, YMMV.

[Thwarn]

Awesome Deng
Couldnt have said it better myself.
Absorbs are your friend. get as many as you can, Fortify, Bio Cocoon and Assualt Armor. With these i solo hecklers and take at most 2k worth of dmg. Also with AI Perks Mutate is a must imo, nice dmg and it causes aggro.
And Get Used To Dieing. I lost count somewere back in the 50s on how many times ive died saving my team.

Later all and have fun being an Enf

[Draconian]

Got to agree with the keep agro statement! While doing Ely hecks myself and my team were trained, we think by an NT kiting. By doing my job and taking the agro I died, but with all my absorbs i managed to give the rest of my team time to regroup and run - end result only i died. Such is the job of the enforcer. The team contained two docs who were both extremely grateful for the sacrifice and like to team with me anytime now. So remember, just a little self sacrifice can get you a long way

[Madpower]

What can i say? Nice as always Deng.

[Shrubberyman]

Hi there.

I know I'm asking for more than I'm able to give, but would it be possible to have a quick glance at how AI updated all those fantastic infos?

Thanks.

[Deng]

I'm not sure if I understand the question :-) Trox need it in with a spoon you know

[Shrubberyman]

Spoonful : I meant how do Ai's new phat weapons, perks and armors come to complete this already helpful list. Hope I was clearer this time.

Thanks.

[Mamman]

AI weapons are pretty good overall but generally not the best choice until you can equip really high QL ones. When you have the skill to do that you will know what you want.

1hb seems to be top notch for PVM damage atm but all the weapons are very viable

[Divine]

Good guide indeed, helps alot.
I am currently interested in making low level twinks, and after made one lvl 60 PvP agent twink, i want to make a lvl 60 Enforcer twink.
Will be fun.

[Californa]

Very nice post and just want to say again what has already been said.

You want a teams to do the best damage and kill faster and get more xp. The hold aggro no mater what. DO NOT LET MOBS EVEN LOOK AT A DOC. Know that if the s*&% hits the fan that you are going down.. except that. Do not die and have a heart attack and flip out. When you die first thing you should want to know.. Ddid everyone else make it?

YOu get a rep eventually of being a good tank .. people will want to team with you and you hold true to the enfo proffesion.

Cali

p.s. also as an enfo you are required to hate shades :P you will understand why before to long

[Kissysuzuki]

...
p.s. also as an enfo you are required to hate shades :P you will understand why before to long

rflmao add lowbie over twinked Agents to that too!

[skybert]

p.s. also as an enfo you are required to hate shades :P you will understand why before to long

rflmao add lowbie over twinked Agents to that too!

heh, having played both agent and shade, I know how tempting it is to spam all the specials you can and dish out as much damage as you can in as short time as possible. But then, having an enfo main, I don't get angry when the designated tank can't keep aggro off me. As an agent, you learn to not use aimed shot all the time, even though it makes you feel warm and fuzzy inside when you see that 10k+ message coming. Same with shade, you learn to space your specials, even though it means you don¨t get to finish both chains

[kazragis]

p.s. also as an enfo you are required to hate shades :P you will understand why before to long

Bio cocoon, rage , and bio shield, and they are basically grinder meat, in the pvp situation

[Californa]

well shades in pvp i have never had a problem with honestly . ... alteast not since i got my hammers that is. was mostly talking about in pvm as far as tanking over the amount of damage they put out.

Cali

[Diogenez]

yeah, cali just loves me