Fixer VS. Martial Artist

[FoxyJama]

My fixer is the same level as Shikome, and I dueled his character at Decavolt's show last week, twice. I'm a froobie, so I don't have any expansion set gear, but I didn't think I was that badly geared or anything, and I have the best nanos I can get. Fully buffed, with all my gear and my best weapon (Gamma Ejector), Shikome ... to put it lightly... wiped the floor with my ass.

I'm just a few levels from being able to use my Grid Armor nano, but I don't have the skills to use it yet. I would have called my evades "average" for a level 61, I haven't always maxed them (especially since I got lucky on a Grid Armor drop). Is it normal class balancing that I can be so effectively dispatched by another class at the same level?

Is there just something about my class that I might be missing? I had long term and short term HoTs on, I used my Burst, and I just got spanked.

With Foxy, I'm "Gimp As I Wannabe", but with my Fixer: She's my main, and I don't want her to be just an easy target. What advice can you guys give me to give her a little more oomph? Or should I just avoid picking on martial artists?

[Jairyn]

Essentially Fixers are fairly gimped at PVP. Martial Artists will almost always wipe the floor with us, because they have such high damage output that isn't really touched by the pvp damage cut. Their crit buffs, and damage buffs end up just wiping us out.

Grid Armor however is a different story.

(Above account is an opinion of a 2.5 year veteran fixer)

[Britt9081]

the evades of a fixer really come into play in the shadow levels. Do NOT let anyone tell you fixers are gimp in PvP, they arent. However, MAs are very well off right now, due to our (Im a 215 MA atm) high crit percentage, and if perked correctly one of our major weaknesses, ie roots/snares, will be resisted almost every time due to a SD/Unstunnable perklines.

But PvP now is all about the two expansions tbh. Chances are high that if your opponent has SL/AI you are gonna lose. Now thats not to say you will lose every time, just that the chances are greater given comparative skill between players.

[Jairyn]

(Note: Britt speaks of high level PvP. Low levels, specially on a froobie account, your gonna get beat by an MA, period.)

[FoxyJama]

Okay, so I'm gonna give it another shot when I'm able to put my Grid Armor on. I'm not too interested in PVP in general, but it's fun to see how classes compare at the same levels, and the difference your IP point spending and gear can make. And it's a relief to hear that it's not just my sad PVP skills that got me skunked last week.

[Draynam]

From reading the AO forums, it seems like all Fixers can do in PVP is zoom around like mosquitos and take little nibbles out of people every now and then.

I think the Fixer's main thing is being able to run away when things get rough. Which is exactly why I love them so. If only I had the patience to level one.

[Britt9081]

ahh Jairyn was right, I forgot the level range you spoke of. The lack of GA on a lowbie fixer will get you eaten very fast. You still have a chance against a MA of same level, however it will be very tough, and requires lots of luck. That is to snare/root the ma, and back off out of his fist range. *NOTE* use these tactics against any melee prof, whether or not you are wearing your GA. Upon equipping GA, it then becomes harder for the MA to hit you due to the add all def of GA.

[Jairyn]

*nods at Britt* Basic Fixer pvp tactic. Root Run Burst Repeat

[Decavolt]

*nods at Britt* Basic Fixer pvp tactic. Root Run Burst Repeat

...or, the Decavolt version: Open Drink Curse Repeat.

[Ashval]

*nods at Britt* Basic Fixer pvp tactic. Root Run Burst Repeat

...or, the Decavolt version: Open Drink Curse Repeat.

Damn...that sounds familiar...

[Boinky]

I've rarely been a Fixer and rarely PvP but in close combat with a MA you're asking to get killed. You are fast and have ranged attack, comparatively the MA is a turtle who needs to be much closer to be able to hit you. My advice, get flagged and fight outside. Don't fight in Hope bar! Out in the open you'll waste him every time so long as you keep your distance.

[Shikome]

Im a froobie as well, so i dont have any of the cool stuff, i didnt really wipe the floor with you though, you were doing a fair amount of dmg to me, thing is with that version of Shiky I was ~very~ evade based so alot of your dmg was evaded or absorbed by my crawler armour... but you saw what happened when i duelled Soma a short while after (for a chair no less), he completely anihalated me, only 2 levels higher than i was as well, same class, i was Opi though, whereas he was Solitus... Back on topic, i recon if you were slightly twinked you would have wasted me cause your gun was doing a fair amount of damage when it connected, thing about me is that im still a noob by most peoples estimation, having only been around Rubi-ka for 2-3 months now, so i dont even know how to twink up..

Good duelling with you by the way, was my first duel

[FoxyJama]

Most of the damage that I did manage to do what Burst damage, and the Gamma does have a sweet burst on it. I was just a little surprised that it wasn't much of a fight, despite my heal-over-times. I've only been in AO for about 2-3 months myself, although I did play back in the Beta ages ago, and I'm not really a newbie when it comes to MMORPGs. It was great to find someone at the same level and around the same lack of twinkage to duel against!

Still....

Rematch when I get my Grid Armor on!

[Shikome]

Deal.. well once i re-lvl up, i rerolled cause i for some reason decided i was bored of the MA prof... only to make a fixer and miss the MA stuff, so i rerolled again and im now lvl 9 (in 2 hours play)

[Regidoc]

If you want, shik, when you reach around level 25 with your MA you can try my GA fixer . There's not really any perks at that level so I won't be much different than you...other than the fact that I have GA and a beamer perhaps ^^

PS you're not in RS anymore! update your sig

[Highlander]

P.S.

I love your sig shikhome.....

it makes me laugh every time i see it.

[Shikome]

oops... :p ya, will fight ya when i hit lvl 25... which given my rapid leveling may be later this evening

[Aameul]

Don't let Jairyn get you down. :p

PvP as a fixer, especially at that level, and ESPECIALLY against a MA, is snare/run/snare/run. Standing toe-to-toe against ANY class will get you killed, and fast. Play to your strengths and keep moving. Your objective is to run the MA out of nano before you or hope thier health drops enough that a good burst will drop them. Once they're dry on nano, thier heals are gone, while yours are still ticking away.

Snares don't break as easily as roots do so your normal shots won't tend to break them. Your bursts will, so you might want to root before you burst in order to get some more seperation.

You don't mention your level, but PvP is very awkward for fixers until 125+. They dont' really mature until late TL4. Until then, the IP is just far too scarce. The evades aren't maxed, the nanoskills aren't high so your nanos aren't too great.

The wildcard in all that is Grid Armor. Grid Armor that isn't outdated (i.e. GAI through lvl 65ish, GAII through 100ish, GAIII through 165ish?) will serve you well in PvP unless you're facing a nanotech. If you're facing a nanotech, delete the Grid Armor immediately and run, armoring as you hightail it out of range. If you're lucky they won't notice your sudden nakedness and will still attempt to spam the anti-GA nuke at you while you gear up.

I still haven't forgiven Funcom for the GA nuke... an instant-win button targetted at a single class for no apparent reason, with no compensation on the fixer's end. Funcom promised that it was just the first step in a progression of rock/paper/scissors PvP design that, gee, whodathunk, never materialized, yet the GA nuke was never removed.