Legends
Elite
- Joined
- Dec 31, 2006
- Posts
- 3,235
- Location
- Twin Peaks mall, 2nd floor
- Society
- Dirty Dingos
- Avatar Name
- Inherent Marxus Legends
LOOKING AT THE NUMBERS:
Earlier I promised I would write a post to address why I'm taking melee and MindForce skills now in the Codex. It's going to be long but I think it's worth looking at.
1. Weapon options and availability:
When I look at my Tabulated Results on the 3rd page of this thread, after cycling over 9k PED I see that I'm paying more markup then I'm getting back in loot, so the way I see it there's room for improvement there. But when I look at what's available in the auction that I can use with my current skills, most of it has a markup of more than 110%, and when I look at the Melee and MindForce sections, I see a lot of really cheap stuff there. And since I don't really have any other markup costs other then weapons (since I'm using unlimited armor/fap), then I only see one solution for reducing my markup costs, I'm gonna have to switch to Melee and Mindforce for a while.
Although MindForce and melee weapons are not as numerous (a quick check on auction shows that these 2 combined probably only account for about 25% of all the weapons listed), there are many good deals to be had:
Right now there's 4 Mindforce chips and 9 melee weapons you can buy on the auction for less than 103% buyout, while for laser, there are none (except for an LLP 3 but that's a noob weapon). Not to mention, MindForce chips are abundant in loot, I've looted several nice ones lately which I wouldn't mind using, but I don't have the skills to use them. So I could try to sell them on the auction for about 103%, risk losing the auction fee and then just end up TT'ing them so I can buy a laser rifle at around 113%-116% markup. Makes sense right?
No, I think the ideal scenario is the one where I can use anything I've looted, because a) I'll save myself from having to buy something and paying markup on it, b) I'll have a lot more options available to me when I do have to buy something, I won't be limited to just guns and I'll be able to take advantage of the better deals.
2. Skilling faster:
Okay so I've already made up my mind I want to skill up MindForce and Melee. I could grab the lowest level swords or Mindforce chips available and go all the way back to punys for a while and work on bringing up those skills. That would take a bit of time, I'd probably go up 2-3 levels per day if I was dedicated to it, but in the meantime, none of my other skills would really be increasing. In other words all of that time spent would result in mostly just the 1 skill going up. My defensive skills like Evade/Dodge and my Looting skills would hardly move at all.
I did some quick testing on this today, I went to Camp Icarus and killed about 30-40 Caudatergus Punys (L1), here's what I got for skills:
Skills gains were few, the amounts were low, and no attribute, looter or defense skill gains occurred.
Then I went to Boreas and killed about 20 Kerbs (L3-L6) and got these skills:
I got skill gains much more often, probably 3-4 times more often than I did whilst hunting the punys at Camp Icarus, also the gains were larger. Sadly though, in that short test, I still didn't see any looter or defense skill gains, but there was a very small gain in Agility.
Then I went and killed about 15-20 Atrax (L8-L11):
Now we begin to see some looter and defense skill gains in the form of Skinning and Athletics. Courage is another interesting one to get as it contributes to increasing your health. And I know from experience that the skill gains on these Atrax were only about half as good as they would be on the Allo/Estos I've been hunting which are L14 to L22.
So why does that matter? Well, I don't want to spend days and days hunting just to raise 1 skill, i.e. Mindforce. I want to maximize the skill gains while hunting and the best way to do that is to hunt the highest level mob I can hunt efficiently, that way my looter skills, defense skills, my HP, all that stuff is going to go up as well.
3. An advantageous trade-off:
Let's not forget what I'm giving up which is: Anatomy so I can take melee, and Perception so I can take mindforce. Anatomy contributes 7% to both Animal and Mutant Looter professions. Perception contributes 9% to all 3 Looter profession. But I'm giving those up so I can avoid wasting time on low level mobs and therefore get more Skinning skills while I'm hunting Animals, which contributes 35% to Animal Looter, Scourging skills when hunting Mutants, which contributes 35% to Mutant Looter or Reclaiming skills while hunting Robots, which contributes 35% to Robot Looter.
So in the end, it's quite likely that I'll actually end up ahead on my Looter professions doing it this way (in terms of time spent on hunting), though it seems counter-intuitive at first glance.
Conclusion:
Some have said in this forum the only skills that matter and that you should take in the Codex is Alertness, Perception, Anatomy, etc... Just the ones that contribute to your Looter professions. And the reasoning behind that is that your Looter profession has a direct impact on your loot returns. Fine, we all want more loot, I get it.
Well, the quickest way to raise your Looter Professions is by wielding the biggest weapon you can wield and hunting the highest level mob you can hunt, always. Because the frequency and amount of skill you get is directly tied to the level of the mob you are hunting. So taking Combat Skills might not be a stupid idea after all.
If you want to learn more about this, here is a thread where this subject was researched:
How Hunting Skill Gains Work
Earlier I promised I would write a post to address why I'm taking melee and MindForce skills now in the Codex. It's going to be long but I think it's worth looking at.
1. Weapon options and availability:
When I look at my Tabulated Results on the 3rd page of this thread, after cycling over 9k PED I see that I'm paying more markup then I'm getting back in loot, so the way I see it there's room for improvement there. But when I look at what's available in the auction that I can use with my current skills, most of it has a markup of more than 110%, and when I look at the Melee and MindForce sections, I see a lot of really cheap stuff there. And since I don't really have any other markup costs other then weapons (since I'm using unlimited armor/fap), then I only see one solution for reducing my markup costs, I'm gonna have to switch to Melee and Mindforce for a while.
Although MindForce and melee weapons are not as numerous (a quick check on auction shows that these 2 combined probably only account for about 25% of all the weapons listed), there are many good deals to be had:
No, I think the ideal scenario is the one where I can use anything I've looted, because a) I'll save myself from having to buy something and paying markup on it, b) I'll have a lot more options available to me when I do have to buy something, I won't be limited to just guns and I'll be able to take advantage of the better deals.
2. Skilling faster:
Okay so I've already made up my mind I want to skill up MindForce and Melee. I could grab the lowest level swords or Mindforce chips available and go all the way back to punys for a while and work on bringing up those skills. That would take a bit of time, I'd probably go up 2-3 levels per day if I was dedicated to it, but in the meantime, none of my other skills would really be increasing. In other words all of that time spent would result in mostly just the 1 skill going up. My defensive skills like Evade/Dodge and my Looting skills would hardly move at all.
I did some quick testing on this today, I went to Camp Icarus and killed about 30-40 Caudatergus Punys (L1), here's what I got for skills:
[System]: You have gained 0.1029 experience in your Weapons Handling skill
[System]: You have gained 0.0481 experience in your Rifle skill
[System]: You have gained 0.0521 experience in your Laser Weaponry Technology skill
[System]: You have gained 0.0608 experience in your Marksmanship skill
[System]: You have gained 0.0481 experience in your Rifle skill
[System]: You have gained 0.0481 experience in your Rifle skill
[System]: You have gained 0.0266 experience in your Anatomy skill
[System]: You have gained 0.1029 experience in your Weapons Handling skill
[System]: You have gained 0.1348 experience in your Ranged Damage Assessment skill
[System]: You have gained 0.0266 experience in your Anatomy skill
[System]: You have gained 0.0674 experience in your Ranged Damage Assessment skill
[System]: You have gained 0.0261 experience in your Laser Weaponry Technology skill
Skills gains were few, the amounts were low, and no attribute, looter or defense skill gains occurred.
Then I went to Boreas and killed about 20 Kerbs (L3-L6) and got these skills:
[System]: You have gained 0.3455 Coolness
[System]: You have gained 0.0467 experience in your Handgun skill
[System]: You have gained 0.1941 Serendipity
[System]: You have gained 0.0877 experience in your Combat Reflexes skill
[System]: You have gained 0.2448 experience in your Marksmanship skill
[System]: You have gained 0.3739 experience in your BLP Weaponry Technology skill
[System]: You have gained 0.0936 experience in your BLP Weaponry Technology skill
[System]: You have gained 0.1865 experience in your Handgun skill
[System]: You have gained 0.1942 Serendipity
[System]: You have gained 0.0936 experience in your BLP Weaponry Technology skill
[System]: You have gained 0.1225 experience in your Marksmanship skill
[System]: You have gained 0.0466 experience in your Handgun skill
[System]: You have gained 0.4669 experience in your BLP Weaponry Technology skill
[System]: You have gained 0.3455 Coolness
[System]: You have gained 0.0467 experience in your Handgun skill
[System]: You have gained 0.0681 experience in your Ranged Damage Assessment skill
[System]: You have gained 0.0467 experience in your Handgun skill
[System]: You have gained 0.1941 Serendipity
[System]: You have gained 0.0936 experience in your BLP Weaponry Technology skill
[System]: You have gained 0.0466 experience in your Handgun skill
[System]: You have gained 0.0681 experience in your Ranged Damage Assessment skill
[System]: You have gained 0.2451 experience in your Marksmanship skill
[System]: Your Agility has improved by 0.0012
[System]: You have gained 0.3454 Coolness
[System]: You have gained 0.1837 experience in your Marksmanship skill
[System]: You have gained 0.4154 experience in your Weapons Handling skill
[System]: You have gained 0.0934 experience in your BLP Weaponry Technology skill
[System]: You have gained 0.3509 experience in your Combat Reflexes skill
[System]: You have gained 0.0936 experience in your BLP Weaponry Technology skill
[System]: You have gained 0.0466 experience in your Handgun skill
[System]: You have gained 0.0268 experience in your Anatomy skill
I got skill gains much more often, probably 3-4 times more often than I did whilst hunting the punys at Camp Icarus, also the gains were larger. Sadly though, in that short test, I still didn't see any looter or defense skill gains, but there was a very small gain in Agility.
Then I went and killed about 15-20 Atrax (L8-L11):
[System]: You have gained 0.0268 experience in your Anatomy skill
[System]: You have gained 0.1941 Serendipity
[System]: You have gained 0.1037 experience in your Weapons Handling skill
[System]: You have gained 0.7202 experience in your Aim skill
[System]: You have gained 0.0467 experience in your Handgun skill
[System]: You have gained 0.1072 experience in your Anatomy skill
[System]: You have gained 0.0612 experience in your Marksmanship skill
[System]: You have gained 0.3454 Coolness
[System]: You have gained 0.1866 experience in your Handgun skill
[System]: You have gained 0.0611 experience in your Marksmanship skill
[System]: You have gained 0.1037 experience in your Weapons Handling skill
[System]: You have gained 0.0937 experience in your Anatomy skill
[System]: You have gained 0.2334 experience in your Handgun skill
[System]: You have gained 0.0936 experience in your BLP Weaponry Technology skill
[System]: You have gained 0.0611 experience in your Marksmanship skill
[System]: You have gained 0.4146 experience in your Weapons Handling skill
[System]: You have gained 0.1201 experience in your Aim skill
[System]: You have gained 0.0681 experience in your Ranged Damage Assessment skill
[System]: You have gained 0.1713 experience in your Skinning skill
[System]: You have gained 0.0681 experience in your Ranged Damage Assessment skill
[System]: You have gained 1.2084 Coolness
[System]: You have gained 0.0936 experience in your BLP Weaponry Technology skill
[System]: You have gained 0.1940 Serendipity
[System]: You have gained 0.3451 Coolness
[System]: You have gained 0.3450 Coolness
[System]: You have gained 0.0611 experience in your Marksmanship skill
[System]: You have gained 0.0937 experience in your BLP Weaponry Technology skill
[System]: You have gained 0.0611 experience in your Marksmanship skill
[System]: You have gained 0.0685 experience in your Athletics skill
[System]: You have gained 0.0268 experience in your Anatomy skill
[System]: You have gained 0.0268 experience in your Anatomy skill
[System]: You have gained 0.0937 experience in your BLP Weaponry Technology skill
[System]: You have gained 0.0937 experience in your BLP Weaponry Technology skill
[System]: You have gained 0.3450 Coolness
[System]: You have gained 0.8729 Serendipity
[System]: You have gained 0.0268 experience in your Anatomy skill
[System]: You have gained 0.3449 Coolness
[System]: You have gained 0.0611 experience in your Marksmanship skill
[System]: You have gained 0.3425 experience in your Skinning skill
[System]: You have gained 0.1430 Courage
[System]: You have gained 0.3449 Coolness
[System]: You have gained 0.1070 experience in your Anatomy skill
[System]: You have gained 0.1711 experience in your Skinning skill
[System]: You have gained 0.3448 Coolness
[System]: You have gained 0.2138 experience in your Marksmanship skill
[System]: You have gained 0.2722 experience in your Ranged Damage Assessment skill
[System]: You have gained 0.0267 experience in your Anatomy skill
[System]: You have gained 0.1710 experience in your Skinning skill
[System]: You have gained 0.0467 experience in your Handgun skill
[System]: You have gained 0.0937 experience in your BLP Weaponry Technology skill
[System]: You have gained 0.2101 experience in your Handgun skill
Now we begin to see some looter and defense skill gains in the form of Skinning and Athletics. Courage is another interesting one to get as it contributes to increasing your health. And I know from experience that the skill gains on these Atrax were only about half as good as they would be on the Allo/Estos I've been hunting which are L14 to L22.
So why does that matter? Well, I don't want to spend days and days hunting just to raise 1 skill, i.e. Mindforce. I want to maximize the skill gains while hunting and the best way to do that is to hunt the highest level mob I can hunt efficiently, that way my looter skills, defense skills, my HP, all that stuff is going to go up as well.
3. An advantageous trade-off:
Let's not forget what I'm giving up which is: Anatomy so I can take melee, and Perception so I can take mindforce. Anatomy contributes 7% to both Animal and Mutant Looter professions. Perception contributes 9% to all 3 Looter profession. But I'm giving those up so I can avoid wasting time on low level mobs and therefore get more Skinning skills while I'm hunting Animals, which contributes 35% to Animal Looter, Scourging skills when hunting Mutants, which contributes 35% to Mutant Looter or Reclaiming skills while hunting Robots, which contributes 35% to Robot Looter.
So in the end, it's quite likely that I'll actually end up ahead on my Looter professions doing it this way (in terms of time spent on hunting), though it seems counter-intuitive at first glance.
Conclusion:
Some have said in this forum the only skills that matter and that you should take in the Codex is Alertness, Perception, Anatomy, etc... Just the ones that contribute to your Looter professions. And the reasoning behind that is that your Looter profession has a direct impact on your loot returns. Fine, we all want more loot, I get it.
Well, the quickest way to raise your Looter Professions is by wielding the biggest weapon you can wield and hunting the highest level mob you can hunt, always. Because the frequency and amount of skill you get is directly tied to the level of the mob you are hunting. So taking Combat Skills might not be a stupid idea after all.
If you want to learn more about this, here is a thread where this subject was researched:
How Hunting Skill Gains Work
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