Zurffette wrote:Sorry if i come off as hostile, but please never ever again post ANYTHING relevant to rvr on these forums. Just read and soak up the info you must obtain.

Just stated my opinion, I did not force anyone to accept it. Just a different approach in that case for an armsman pole spec, to get the max out of the damage possible in every occasion. (Also possible for Mercenary for example .)


It's part of free speech to be allowed to state your opinion and suggest different ways of thinking. You, on the other hand, seem to take my opinion as a personal attack to your thoughts and ideas, since you try to force me to do something as a direct result.


I don't take this as hostility. All fine.

No worries albion. You won't see him in RvR.

42 shields is mandatory if you actually want to be relevant in RVR.

9 second anytime stun. Arms are peelers. Not having this means people will just find an armsman that actually does.

44 pole , 35 thrust, 34 slash, 42 shield ,7 parry , using that autotrain to the max, bit hard until rr5 but we ll get there , swap to hit the midies in the but with thrust pole and slash pole dmg

Hi guys,

My realm transfer to Alb is going to be complete in 11 hours, and my main character is going to be an Armsman.

I want to go Highlander, +10 STR/DEX/QUI and end with a spec of 50 Polearm / 42 Shield / 39 Slash / Rest Parry. I'll be auto-training by leveling with Crush instead to 40, relying on the auto-trained slash taunt until 48 when AT is complete, and then spending those waiting points into Slash to bring it to 39 once I hit 48.

My question is around 'composite' skill, and why people go for a 34 weapon / 20 parry alternative as in the OPs first post (which he later decides to change to be the same spec as above).

1.) What IS composite weapon skill, and how is it gained? I understand that by getting 39, you get 11 invisible points from somewhere (help me out here) which makes your weapon skill 'effectively 50' - I understand that the closer a weapon skill is to max, to less variance there will be in the lower number of damage, i.e. hitting for 40-50dmg instead of 10-50dmg for example. Does this apply to auto-attacks, or spec attacks, or both?

2.) If this composite weapon skill and hitting 39 spec points is a magic number, why do people suggest 34 weapon skill and increasing parry? I can't imagine parry is massively useful in RvR? The best defence is a good offence, and all that.

as far as i know, is that +11 you can get with the bonus points on your template (armor and stuff) and if you go 34 instead of 39 thats I believe the RR points you get for being RR5.

Templating is like, optimising your gear and the bonuses it gives you, right? So by doing this right at 39 Wep Skill, you can effectively gain +11 right?

and if you go 34 instead of 39 thats I believe the RR points you get for being RR5.

I don't know what you mean by this?

---

How does this sound for aiming at for Level 20? 18 Crush, 18 Shield, 10 Polearm, 4 Parry (max 6 at 50)

Heskey wrote:How does this sound for aiming at for Level 20? 18 Crush, 18 Shield, 10 Polearm, 4 Parry (max 6 at 50)

I'm sure opinions will vary on this but I think unless you are in a group with enough tanks and you are asked to dps, or you are planning to spend a lot of time in the BGs, there is little reason to prioritize points into polearms while levelling.

From soloing perspective you kill a little faster with poles, but then you need to sit for minutes and heal hp afterwards anyway so there is really nothing gained. With high 1h and shield you can kill a few enemies and just sit for end refill and get back to it.

To comment on something else you mentioned, no reason not to AT slash to 40, fully agreed with this. At 40 I took the points out of crush and kept AT'ing slash but at 44 I gave up on it. You'll be doing all your levelling in groups, and you will be asked to tank. Doing stuff like needlers in LB was a complete nightmare with AT'ed slash. You whiff like crazy and do very poor damage, so even if you land 3 enrages in a row there's no way you're holding threat against high dps classes. It is possible to level this way, but you will be holding your groups back.

Thanks for such a full answer, Vadrigald - re the 18/18/10/4 spec, I was trying to make use of every skillpoint by level 20 to gain an ability for every point spent in a skill line; i.e. not leaving a skill dangling half-way between gaining a new ability and the old one I've just left behind, if that makes sense?

Or is that really not something to worry about, and just blow ahead with max points into crush/shield, regardless of whether or not it leaves me hanging just before another ability is gained?

I feel like its a bit nitpicky to say putting points into polearms is some kind of mistake, but I would personally prioritize keeping both crush and shield as close to up to level as possible.

It honestly doesn't make a big difference, and indeed you might well find yourself in situations where you need the extra 2h/pole dps.

Isn't crush the best for pole ? Neutral to mid, bonus on bm and bard

Bzo wrote:Isn't crush the best for pole ? Neutral to mid, bonus on bm and bard

I could see an argument for all 3 damage tables. I've been slash all the way so far, and I'm super glad I went that route. I hit savages and zerkers really hard, and some nights it feels like that's all we're fighting.

Lately though there are a lot of hib tankers out, so the crush bonus to reinforced would be nice.

I think thrust tables aren't terrible either, and if you drop pole spec a bit and go 44 thrust for the 1h peel it'd help if your group runs lots of casters. I think some armsmen are switching to this spec recently.

Why on earth would you ever use a 2 hit snare, when you have the best 1 hit snare @ this patch level?

Sector7G wrote:Why on earth would you ever use a 2 hit snare, when you have the best 1 hit snare @ this patch level?

you mean the thrust chain? yeah like i said I'm slash and I don't use it, but I can see it being useful for the extra long duration. sometimes when I slam and start the rear chain for dps ill end up switching targets after the snare lands, and that super long snare certainly helps. (50 polearm style is the same long snare as 44 thrust)

thrust chain is definitely way less reliable than crippling blow, but u can apply it while guarding, and if it lands it makes your job easier for the next 30s, so I can see why others are trying it.

Bzo wrote:Isn't crush the best for pole ? Neutral to mid, bonus on bm and bard

I would say - the thrust line ist the best way for RvR:

All Hibs are neutral, Mids Casters too
Mid Chain is vulnerable - warrior, healer, sham, thane, skald!
And only Mid Studded and Leather - lets say - bersis and sauvages are resistant. But they are to be peeled/stunned, which will done with shield slam and/or anytime Polearm.

All first targets, which are tobe killed fast, geting more or at least neutral damage.

Polearm stat depends fully of str for each damage type, even for the thrust plearms.

Just skill 50 polearm and composite 51 thrust to increase your weapon ability and your min-max damage. Styles with 1 h are interesting mainly for PvE-fights.

If an arms blocking for a bomb or a cleri, you ll anyway try to stun the enemies and then switch quick to pole, which has your greatest WA and Damage, and peel them with anytime snare or kill the enemy.