Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 20 of 22

Thread: Trader newbie Guide & Tips!

  1. #1

    Post Trader newbie Guide & Tips!

    NOTE! There's a revised and better version of this guide *here*


    Trader Guide
    A rough guide in the works

    Trader, the profession people love to hate.
    The Trader Profession is a very diverse profession.
    We get roots, calms, debuffs, heals and well .. even charms ..

    Considering our abilities, the trader is primarily meant as a backup team player,
    but with a bit of skill, they can be quite competent at soloing as well.

    The trader is also famous (or infamous) for his/her abilities in PVP,
    and especially towards lower through mid levels, we can be quite the damage dealers played well.

    ( Also check "Guide Update : Trader's Role" in a post further down )


    Choosing a breed :

    Any breed can be a reasonably good trader,
    It's just weighing some abilities over other and pick what you think you'd like.

    - Atrox traders get more HP, and they have a slight easier time getting into good Str/Sta
    armors. On the other hand, they get less nanopool and takes a bit more time getting to the
    really good drains. I'd say good early on, but may miss out on a few things later in life.

    - Opifex traders can get a little bit better evades and a bit higher attack rating,
    going the traditional way with shotgun, bit higher inits f.ex, but they get a bit less HP.

    - Nanomage traders get to their best drains a bit earlier on and the nanopool helps
    keep you alive, but they have less HP and can suffer a bit on the armor-wise.
    Nanomage may be a bit more difficult at start, but the strengths of the breed will
    be more prominent and pay off later on.

    - Solitus trader is an allround very decent trader choice. Probably "the trader breed" if any.


    As you can see, it's really just picking what abilities one appreciates over others.


    The way to play : Weapon to choose?

    There are many ways of playing a trader. However, the trader is the only profession
    that really gets the opportunity to excel with shotguns. Thus, I assume you'll want
    to go the traditional way, eventually ending up as a 100% crit dependent baddie
    with a miraculously unpredictable damage output. (Well, not all shotguns are crit dependent,
    but using one is, in my opinion, an interesting change from a lot of other profs )

    The reason traders are the only profession that really excels with shotguns is because
    soldiers are the only ones with a non-general shotgun buff and it's self only.
    For them, it's better to use something else. We only get expertise buffs, but we also have drains
    to help our attack ratings go up. Besides, it's a cheap weapon skill.

    When you're about to pick your shotgun,
    I recommend picking one of these :


    - Vektor ND Shotgun / Home Defender

    These shotguns have no specials at all. On the bright side, you don't have to put any special skills
    to use them, and that can save you some IP on the lower to mid levels. Also, on the bright side,
    twinking these babies on with drains and getting a wrangle from your fellow trader makes'em easy
    to equip on high QLs. Also, they're very easy to get a hold of and can be found in shop terminals.
    I think I'd pick Vektor over home defender as it hits for energy damage instead of the home defender's
    projectile. The way people put up duck explosives, they'll crit in pvp as well.


    - Pump Trainee/Pump Master

    Awesome gun. If you can get a hold of one, enjoy it while you can because as they only go from QL 40 (trainees) up to 50 (master),
    you'll outgrow it in no-time. It is a *very* good Shotgun, though, very good.


    - Ithaca

    This is an old PVP favourite. Truth is, being crit reliant as it is, it's best to wait with these until
    you can get on at least a ql 250 Vision Enhancer, granting you 8% crit chance. Also, having two specials,
    it can get a bit on the expensive side, IP-wise, on lower through mid levels. Also, having two specials,
    you'll probably end up wielding it on far lower QL than a home defender or Vektor.
    so, leave this one in the freezer for now.


    The Way to Play : Armor to choose?

    Ouch, this is a hard one. Generally, good strength agility armors like primus, secundus, tertius and flower tech
    is cheap and easy to get a hold of. Mantis is also great and dead sexy. At lower level, going the intelligence/psychic
    way, you could go and get some living cyber armor f.ex wich has some nice bonuses.


    The way to play : Distribute IP!

    A dreaded topic indeed. Some will agree, some probably won't.

    ABILITIES ]::..
    I think I'd say all, perhaps a little less sense/psychic
    on lower levels. Everything here is quite important.

    MELEE ]::..
    Nope

    THROWN ]::..
    Nope

    RANGED ]::..
    Go for shotgun skill here. If you're going with vektor or home defender, wait until later with
    putting up specials when you can use a change of weapon and it'll be cheaper.

    SPEED ]::..
    Ranged Init - Go for it. Going the way you're going, you'll soon equip scopes that will lower this skill,
    and it's generally a skill worth upping.
    Nano C Init - Yeah, put some IPs into this one as well. When you're well up some levels, you can put in a
    Nanoformula Recompiler that will add lots to this as well - so that should help.
    Evades, Duck explosives - These skills work great on a well played trader. Ladder some good drains on the mobs
    and they won't hit you as much, wich helps immensly. This should be effective in pvm up to and through
    title level 2.

    TRADE & REPAIR ]::..
    Comp Lit - Max this one. Anything else? .. No, if you made a trader to do tradeskills, it's better to be patient
    and wait until you hit title cap around level 130 or so before putting many of these skills up.
    You may want to put some up, but IP soon gets scarce, and I recommend you save what you can.

    NANO & AIDING ]::..
    Don't put up matter creation and matter metamorphosis.
    For now, those two skills are more worth in the ways of IP you can save on not putting them up.
    You can put those up later in your career.
    You may want to max the other nano skills, especially time & space and psychological modifications.
    These two skills are used for roots, drains, wrangles, the nanos that shorten down roots and
    probably something else not mentioned. Psychological modifications is also used in calms and (*gross*) charms.
    Charms will kill you, but calms are good. Biological metamorphosis is for heals.
    Sensory impression is for calms and our yummy Comp Lit buffs.

    SPYING & NAVIGATION ]::..
    If anything, put some in perception for PVP and perhaps some help on the scopes.
    Map Navigation can be imped, but enough to get the most basic map reader upgrades won't
    exactly hurt you much. Break and Entry should be *at least* your level if you want a chance at opening chests
    later on. If you don't want to open chests and doors, forget it. You can open them later in your career.
    By now, you've no tradeskill use for the skill anyways.



    As you go up, IP gets tighter. It's up to you to find out what to prioritise. I, myself, tried a somewhat risky
    approach and only put up time & space and psychological modifications and a little bit sensory impression
    up until level 70-80 where I had a bit more IP and got'em maxed. The reason was I wanted to PVP,
    and I thought I could be better at it if I spent my IP on other stuff than calms and health drains.
    Healing in teams could be done by others and in pvp, opponents would be dead before I relied on health drains anyways.
    I also left the calming on those levels up to others ..
    It worked, and IP never got really tight for me because when I started PVMing more, I got spare IPs to put
    on the other skills anyways. I doubt my way is something one would generally recommend, so think out your own strategy.


    The way to play : Laddering drains!

    You got your trader up and going. Now it's time to check out what you can do with him/her.
    The trader's strength lies primarily in his/her drains. There are two lines of drains for you once you're up and about,
    namely "Ransack Skills" and "Deprive Skills". These come in different QLs, some better than the others.


    This is how to put them to use :

    When you cast deprive skills on a leet, it's attack skills and nano skills will decrease.
    Your attack skills and nano skills, however, will go up.
    If you then cast ransack skills on the same leet, it will stack with the deprive skills,
    thus lowering the leet's skills even further and your skills even higher.
    Now that your skills have been temporarily upped, you may be able to cast a better version
    of deprive skills, wich puts them up further. Then you may be able to cast a better ransack.

    It goes on like this until you're at the best drain you can cast. Your attack skills and nano skills
    will be upped considerably, so you'll do more damage, crit more often, be able to equip better guns,
    throw nastier nanos and so on while the duration lasts. Note that specials, like fling shot, do not
    increase by draining mobs.

    When doing missions, etc. this optimal state of performance is where traders prefer to "work".
    when one is at one's highest drains, just make sure to recast your highest ransack/deprive before
    they time out.

    Keep track of the skills you have when fully drained. Also keep an eye on the drains you just can't use yet
    and get get them when you can. When you have a new drain run, recheck your skills to see if you can run an
    even better drain than before. Drain, check, upload nano and repeat if possible and you'll be uber in no-time.


    Using drains to equip "stuff" :

    - Better Shotgun

    This is really simple, and you'll probably figure it out on your own.
    Get a shotgun expertise, get your top drains going, note down your shotgun skill.
    Then check how much above your drained shotgun skill you can go before you are Over Equipped.
    This is easily done by doing a "/tell helpbot OE #" (# is your skill). Then check what QL shotgun you can use and
    not be OEd while at fully drained. To equip the shotgun, run expertise, find a trader that can give you the wrangle
    you need, then run and drain something and equip it. Now, you'll probably be OEd, but as soon as your drains hit the
    roof, you'll be under the 20% curse.

    Some prefer a bit lower QL guns in PVP, wich
    may be smart sometimes, considering what might happen.


    - Better NCU upgrades

    You can also use this method to get on NCU. Get a decent amount of NCU. When draining up, hitting the +75 comp lit
    buff doesn't take long. If you can afford it, get some comp lit or Psymod/senseimp assist imps in as well.
    What you want is to get enough NCU to do something like this :

    Sensory impression expertise + teachings (+25)/masteries(+50)/infuses(+90)/mochams(+140) +
    Psychological Modifications expertise + teachings (+25)/masteries(+50)/infuses(+90)/mochams(+140) +
    Biggest possible wrangle (up to 131 or 132) from a fellow trader +
    your own drains.


    This ought to get your nano skills up by a lot.
    Probably enough to run some nifty comp lit buffs, namely :
    Frequent Customer (+75), Bulk Trader (+160) and Trading Mogul (+260)

    Having run the highest possible of these, start swapping out your old NCU stuff with new upgrades.
    If you don't have enough NCU to do this process, do what you can so you get more NCUs to repeat.
    Along with more NCUs, you might want a "Nano Formula Recompiler" at as high QL as possible to get those
    drains flying. You'll feel like a whole new trader afterwards ..


    The way to play : Getting a proper scope.

    Yes, these help even at low QLs. I'm afraid I'll have to try and detail this section a bit later on, because I simply
    can't remember what perception buffs you can get at lower levels and how high. Anyways, it's as easy as this. If you're
    using a vektor f.ex in your lower levels, you'll want the vision enhancer that gives highest crit percentage while
    crippling your inits as little as possible. "Vision Enhancer" are easily obtained. Say you want a 3% scope, then check
    either http://www.aodb.info and look it up there or http://www.auno.org .. By investigating a little bit, you'll
    find that on QL 134, the Vision Enhancer gives you a +2% bonus to crit chance. At QL 135, it ladders up to 3%.
    Get the lowest for the wanted percentage and get it in. Both fixers and adventurers can buff perception,
    but there are some level caps on the buffs that I can't remember at the moment.

    ( Better check "Guide Update : Getting a proper TIM Scope" if you don't use crit dependent shotguns )


    The way to play : Basic PVP/PVM tip

    As you probably have figured out, drains are nasty in PVP and will cripple most others.
    I'd say the height of trader PVP would be during title level 3, from level 50 to 100.
    Also, as you might know, people don't tend to put too much in duck explosives as it's the
    less useful of the three dodging skills. The evadeskill for shotguns usually being duck explosives,
    you'll crit a lot.

    I won't delve into techniques and whatnot on pvp, but there's one tip worth mentioning :

    If you can, drain up before you enter the pvp zone.

    This is usually done by finding some low level mob, draining it and then calming it, keeping it as a "pet".
    These "drainpets" are often used in pvm or to keep your skills up in tower battle, etc. as well if there's nothing else
    to drain. You may have seen traders draining the ICC guards in Meetmedere as well or pulling rollerrats and whatnot
    with them when they're marching out to war.


    Some Final(?) Words ..

    Check later posts for tips from other traders!

    Also check out Arowen's Trader Guide - Also check the thread about it here ..

    Added Sections On Later Posts :

    Guide Update : Trader's Role
    Guide Update : Earning Money
    Guide Update : Getting a proper TIM Scope
    Guide Update : Implants!


    For you who may have looked this up for help on your new trader,
    welcome to the family ..
    Last edited by Didymus; Sep 15th, 2003 at 18:22:38.
    Didymus - Solitus Trader, Member of Instability

  2. #2
    Great job! Lots of good information in one place. Thanks for going to the effort to put it together. I especially liked the bit on how to fight.

    Ladykatt

  3. #3

    Re: Trader newbie Guide & Tips!

    Originally posted by Didymus

    The Way to Play : Armor to choose?

    Ouch, this is a hard one. Generally, good strength agility armors like primus, secundus, tertius and flower tech
    is cheap and easy to get a hold of.


    TRADE & REPAIR ]::..
    Comp Lit - Max this one. Anything else? .. No, if you made a trader to do tradeskills, it's better to be patient
    and wait until you hit title cap around level 130 or so before putting many of these skills up.
    You may want to put some up, but IP soon gets scarce, and I recommend you save what you can.

    NANO & AIDING ]::..
    Don't put up matter creation and matter metamorphosis.

    ...

    Evades, Duck explosives - These skills work great on a well played trader. Ladder some good drains on the mobs and they won't hit you as much, wich helps immensly. This should be effective in pvm up to and through title level 2.

    Great guide, but a few notes:

    Armor: Dont forget Servants of Eight! Annoying because it has a level restriction on it, but the evade bonuses really add up. Barter sleeves also have a nice ranged init bonus. Kevlar shoulderpad and figurine for RI bonus as well. For those that dont have high stamina or the armor itself, skip the albrecht and go for a notum threaded backpack. Great ACs on it, and easy to equip.

    Complit - Actually I always slacked at raising this since of course we have buffs.

    Nano skills - MC: High enough to cast the two top AC debuffs when fully drained up. They help soloing, and are quite useful at some unique raids as well.
    MM: I swore I would never raise this, but I recently did just enough to cast Fine Tuning (damage buff, has a +45 RI bonus) when drained.
    I wouldnt bother raising either one until at least midway between TL4 and TL5.

    Drain effect on mobs: No effect. Since mobs do not have skills, the drains do not affect them. They do have ACs though, so the AC drains do work on them.

    Scopes - dont forget the TIM scope! Not all that useful with a shotgun since its only a 1% crit increase, but its great for non-shotgun wielders like myself. I use a manex, which kinda really badly sucks in pvp (slow, short range), plus its tough to implant with my current implant layout. Great pvm gun though after you get about 1k ranged init.

    Oh yeah, and bump for making this guide sticky.
    Last edited by hhj; Aug 8th, 2003 at 03:55:53.

  4. #4
    Thanks for the feedback Ladykatt, Palle,
    and thanks for feedback and a few words of wisdom, hhj ..

    I'm not allowed to use anymore "characters" in the guide,
    but I will add section updates and add new information in coming posts.

    (Actually had a hard time getting it all in one post. Had to delete some sentences here and there.)

    As for the effect of drains on mobs, I've noticed it doesn't seem to affect them at all ..
    But I had this feeling it made'em hit less when I was in my lower levels.
    Still, writing that now, I feel almost a bit superstitious over game-mechanics,
    and I admit I might very well be wrong.

    Should anyone know something more on the specific topic,
    please post some info.

    At least You can't go much wrong with keeping evades up until TL3, though.

    Before I add more to the guide, I actually have to work some, but more will be up
    later in the day.
    Last edited by Didymus; Aug 8th, 2003 at 11:18:34.
    Didymus - Solitus Trader, Member of Instability

  5. #5
    Guide Update : Trader's Role
    A little bit of what you can expect during yur career.

    Trader's General role :

    Buffwhore :

    In the daily life, outside the battlefields, traders are buffwhores.
    The wrangle lines trader's get are often immensly helpful to other players and
    we get asked for them a lot. If you don't yet know what wrangles are, check the "Guide to Wrangles".

    Handing out wrangles is often a major stress factor to higher level traders,
    and common frustrations include :
    • Wrangled player hasn't got the buffs needed prior to wrangle.
    • Wrangled player notices he/she didn't have enough NCU.
    • Wrangled player didn't realise wrangles don't put up specials.
    • Wrangled player gets surprised when 3 minutes over, he/she is OEd.
    • Trader has to travel to someplace with mobs to wrangle one person
    • Trader can't find person to wrangle because he/she disappears when trader drains
    • Trader wrangles one after another using plenty of time because would-be-wrangled don't accept or ask for team invite.
    • Trader gets asked for wrangles by players who just want to "see how high their skills will go".

    ( Taken from the "Guide to Wrangles" )

    When people are looking for a trader, they sometimes try the /list approach.
    /list is a command wich you can use to get a list of players in the playfield
    with different variables you can specify. "/list trader" will give a list of the traders in the zone.

    Being a wrangler, you don't want people asking you for wrangles wherever you may be.

    In order not to be look up in this way, just type "/anon".

    You are now marked as anonymous and won't pop up on /list search.
    As many other traders have said, "/anon is your friend".

    I prefer to go outside SG and announce I'm handing out wrangles if I feel like being nice,
    and it happens every now and then. That way, I can help people when I have time for it.



    Tradeskillers :

    Yes, we have a knack for tradeskills and you'll probably find people who will
    want you to make something or need you for a tradeskill buff.
    In many ways, we are beaten by the engineer profession when it comes to high QL tradeskilling,
    but on the other hand, we are the ones with the buffs.

    If you want to become a tradeskiller, I advise you to be patient and wait until you are
    well into TL 4 on your way to TL5 when IP gets more plenty. Focusing a character
    on tradeskilling from the start is an easy way to cripple your character.
    Neither are tradeskills in much demand at lower levels, and when they are,
    low level players usually seek out high level players to do the stuff anyways.


    Trader's Team role :

    Damage Dealers :

    On the lower levels (100 and below), you can be an excellent damage dealer.
    On these levels, a trader's capacity for twinking is quite awesome.
    It is important to have as much hit points as possible, because using a shotgun,
    your crits will steal aggro.

    Of course, it is dependent on choice of weapon and so on as well,
    especially later in your career.


    Calmer/Healer/Mezzer :

    Anyways, the role you'll fill in a team will be diverse, but primarily calmer. Trader calms are excellent calms
    and, if my sources are right, only exceeded by crat calms. Besides, having drains,
    we reach our higher calms faster than other professions.

    The calms are sometimes far between in QL, though. Nevertheless, the calmer role
    is a fun role to play in my opinion, and calms are great when soloing mobs as well.

    We can also be backup healers and we even get roots. Also, on higher levels,
    you'll probably want to raise skills to get those AC drains going.
    Lots of nanos to play with, and they are very, very handy when soloing. Thus a high nanopool is nice,
    even if we do get stackable nano drains to keep the juice flowing.

    Players who use nanos made to "mess up" the mobs like roots, calms, ac drains and so on
    are commonly referred to as a mezzer. That will be you.


    Buffer? :

    We get team wrangles. Some people like the trader to keep these team wrangles coming.
    While this buffs attack/nano skills for your team mates, it will cripple your ability to do just
    everything else. So, if they don't need your abilities to do anything else, sure,
    you can wrangle them. Generally, most prefer not to ..
    And getting drains up after each wrangle runs out sucks.


    Tower Wars Role :

    You're the hunter. Especially on lower levels, chances are your shotgun is OEd
    unless you get to drain something and if there's nothing to drain, the damage
    you'll do to towers will suck. (Towers are not drainable) ..

    Besides, the trader is *the* pvp profession. Keep your eyes out for the enemy,
    go in and kill them. If mobs for draining are available, commonly referred to as "drainpets",
    get one to keep your performance up and it'll help you contribute some to the towers' destruction as well.
    ( Check "The way to play : Basic PVP/PVM tip" in the original post for tips regarding "drainpets" )

    Without players or mobs to drain, you'll just have to fight towers with crappy damage output.


    From mid high level, somewhere between TL4 and 5 (between 100 and 150),
    the trader's advantage in PVP will start even out, eventually being surpassed by other
    professions later on such as enforcers and soldiers, f.ex,
    who are considered the "best" high end pvp professions.

    Somewhere between TL4 and 5, there won't be many new nanos and so on,
    and you'll spend the rest of your career PvPing using pretty much "old tricks".
    You'll still get better skill-wise and gear-wise, but so will all the other professions and more.


    Final Words? ..
    Probably not .. If you have comments, correction, wotever, then post them.
    Last edited by Didymus; Aug 11th, 2003 at 10:12:49.
    Didymus - Solitus Trader, Member of Instability

  6. #6
    Guide Update : Earning Money
    A few, puny trader hints for making creds.

    First off, check THEDEACON's Making LOTS of money as a new player guide.
    The stuff I post here are just a couple of opportunity's for traders that I can think of.


    Trader Shops :

    You can't use these until you hit level 25. If you haven't seen'em already,
    and you don't want to spoil the surprise (or disappointment), skip this bit.

    The trader shop terminal can be found inside special shops.

    Trader shops contain profession specific stuff for other professions as well
    as a few dorky hats (including salesman's hat) and bottles of rum and glasses. Perhaps something else.

    The only item that people have asked me to get in one was katanas.

    The only use we have for them is that selling stuff in the trader shop terminal gives better
    price for the items than in the other terminals. If you're desperate for cash,
    grab what loot you can and head over to one.

    Also, getting your comp lit up by buffing yourself will also raise the amount of money
    you get slightly. This works on all shop terminals.


    Services :

    If you've read the "Guide Update : Trader's Role - Trader's General Role" section,
    this one's easy. Just accept what tips you get for buffing or tradeskill services,
    or you can sell your services .. The update is in the post above.

    Many traders wrangle themselves to their first yalm.
    Didymus - Solitus Trader, Member of Instability

  7. #7
    Originally posted by Didymus
    Tower Wars Role :

    You're the hunter. Especially on lower levels, <snip>
    Besides, the trader is *the* pvp profession. Keep your eyes out for the enemy,
    go in and kill them.
    that should be *ONLY* at lower levels.

    At higher levels all you've got is area root and divest, maybe fire off a special then run back to safety.
    --Rookie Teh "Wobble" Sux----------------------- AKA-----------------------Pirate "Ninjapirate" Dog--
    -+Legion+-
    WTB ATI T&L fix, h8 D3D.

  8. #8
    Originally posted by Wobble
    that should be *ONLY* at lower levels.

    At higher levels all you've got is area root and divest, maybe fire off a special then run back to safety.
    Thanks Wobble.

    "A little bit of what you can expect during yur career."

    I guess I should have mentioned trader PVP abilities get surpassed at high levels.

    I'll see to it.
    Didymus - Solitus Trader, Member of Instability

  9. #9
    Guide Update : Getting a proper TIM Scope
    hhj thought I should include it. So, here it is!

    So, you decided to choose another path than the path of crit dependence.

    Alright.

    If so, you might want to get yourself a TIM scope.
    The scope drops off a bio-mechanic robot named T.I.M.
    He's lurking down in the bottom of the "Foreman's Office" -
    the very end of the dungeon.

    The Foreman's office is a dungeon in the omni mine, quite west in the Longest Road.
    I'd say the dungeon contains mobs from about level 50 to 100.

    I think T.I.M himself is about level 100. You shouldn't venture down there
    alone until you're higher. Besides, T.I.M has a bad habit of being
    camped nowadays, and so it might be hard getting the kill on your own.

    Anyways, these are the stats for the TIM Scope :

    Reqs :
    Rifle 394
    Aimed Shot 317

    Effects :
    Aimed Shot 23
    Critical chance %1
    Ranged init 180
    Rifle 19
    Weapon Range 5


    As you can see, the extra crit chance isn't that great, thus you're better off
    with a Vision Enhancer if you're using crit dependent Shotgun.
    The good thing about the TIM Scope is the 180 Ranged Init Buff wich is ideal to
    anyone who value speed over crit chance and a great Aimed Shot/Range increase.
    It's especially sought after by manex users as manexes are horribly slow
    and shouldn't be used by people without an extremely high ranged init.

    It takes up the same HUD space as a Vision Enhancer, so you can't use both.
    Last edited by Didymus; Aug 8th, 2003 at 17:35:16.
    Didymus - Solitus Trader, Member of Instability

  10. #10

    bump

    Yay! A trader guide for people like me who don't know what they are doing! Please make this stickied/rooted/upontop!
    Udon (doctor), Koyangi (trader), Jajangmyun (adventurer) of Shattered Dreams of Rimor. [website]

    (now in order of play/activity! along with some other lowbie alts.)

  11. #11

    Re: bump

    Originally posted by Jajangmyun
    Yay! A trader guide for people like me who don't know what they are doing! Please make this stickied/rooted/upontop!
    Thanks a lot for the support

    Added section to the "Guide Update : Trader's Role" -> Team Section, "Buffer?".
    Can't see why that wasn't there from the start.
    Also done a few small changes here and there.

    Have a slight problem with the first post. I can't add without deleting because the
    post is too big, but I guess if I want, I can detail the sections there in their own posts.

    Anything you want to add or think would be well worth mentioning?
    Please post any comments, corrections, ideas, questions or feedback.
    Didymus - Solitus Trader, Member of Instability

  12. #12
    Bump for sticky.

    Consider reposting this guide as a thread with several different posts - each consisting of a portion of the entire guide?

  13. #13
    Originally posted by hhj
    Bump for sticky.

    Consider reposting this guide as a thread with several different posts - each consisting of a portion of the entire guide?
    Hmm .. Aye, that is kind of how I'm expanding it,
    but one day putting up a "revised version" like that is a good idea.
    Didymus - Solitus Trader, Member of Instability

  14. #14
    Guide Update : Implants!
    A few tips regarding your setup.

    As you may know, I've been out of the game for some time now,
    so I can't really remember what clusters go into what imps and so.

    Also, including an implant section in a guide at that level of detail is not a good idea.
    People have their own ideas of what they want from their implants,
    and so it could turn out messy.

    Nevertheless, there are a few basic tips.


    Get Nano Nanny!

    Basically "Nano Nanny" is a program that :
    "lets you build and maintain a list of implants and clusters with ALL the data you need to do it quickly and easily."

    Without Nano Nanny, implanting would be hell.
    With nano nanny, it's been reduced to somewhat of a nuisance.

    You can get Nano Nanny at http://www.timezulu.com.au/NanoNanny/


    What Abilities?

    The various clusters you can get for various implants relate to different abilities.
    For a trader, it's rather easy making a good implant set that primarily uses
    Strength and Agility. Strength and Agility is good because they are
    easily buffed, unlike abilities like intelligence and psychic. If you don't get the ability
    requirement you want from your implant, see if there's a cluster or two you can change
    to make it switch to an easier buffable ability.


    What clusters do want?

    Basically, it's just picking what you'd like frmo the drop down menus in Nano Nanny.
    There are some rather self explanatory hints, though.

    Hit Points - Life clusters for raising hit points will save your ass. Especially crit-dependent shotgun
    wielding traders get a ridiculously unpredictable damage output and will steal aggro.
    When that borg turns on you for critting it three times i a row, you'll thank yourself for
    getting these in. I *think* Shiny, Bright and Faded life clusters could go nicely in your set
    without putting you at a serious disadvantage with other skills.

    Psychological Modifications - This skills is used in roots, wrangles, etc ..
    and drains. You want the highest drains as quickly as possible, so imp this one.

    Time & Space - For the same reason as with Psymod.

    Shotgun - You want the highest attack rating and the best shotguns? Imp this.
    ( Or - if you've decided on using something else, imp that instead. )


    As for the rest, think of what you'd like to implant and also check the
    first post under the "Way to Play : Distribute IP" section to see what's important.

    Generally - implants are easier than people want you to think.


    Note : Please post any comments, corrections, opinions, tips, tricks, ideas, feedback, etc ..
    Last edited by Didymus; Aug 12th, 2003 at 11:05:32.
    Didymus - Solitus Trader, Member of Instability

  15. #15
    Originally posted by Wobble


    that should be *ONLY* at lower levels.

    At higher levels all you've got is area root and divest, maybe fire off a special then run back to safety.
    I have never been to a tower battle where (if I wasnt lagged to hell) I will have both Divest / Plunder Adv running, and GOD knows everything else I have room for like AC drains if I have fixer ncu. Someone is gonna get plundered haha that is for sure. For duels ^^ well dueling peeps at top levels is gonna be difficult to land plunder. Peeps that are always dualing are twinked for PvP and have nano resist tweaked as much as possible. At my level its just a switch of implants / armor / accessories / weapon to change setup from ultiamte PvM or PvP.
    Tergx 220 Atrox Trader | 220 Soli doc | 220 Enf & other toons
    Synergy Factor org ~ APPLY HERE

    When readin replies in AO forums, just remember ........ there is no cure for stupid

    Quote Originally Posted by Syyceria View Post
    Come on, it took me just 5 minutes to kill a level 178 MA with health-drains and trader pets...our toolset does work

  16. #16
    I'm gonna rewrite this guide in a few days, I suppose.
    As hhj suggested, I'll post the guide and give each section it's own respective post.
    Pretty much like it is now, only the original post is too big to add to at the moment.

    That'll leave me some room to detail some of what is written, and I'll revise the whole thing.

    I also want to bump it up in case anyone have any suggestions on what should
    be included. I can't think of much more myself, except going a bit more into detail.

    So, for now, consider this a prototype.


    ***** NOTE *****

    There's a revised version up now! -> Trader Guide & Tips revised!
    Last edited by Didymus; Sep 15th, 2003 at 03:06:43.
    Didymus - Solitus Trader, Member of Instability

  17. #17
    Just wanted to say that this is exactly what i was looking for when i was making my new trader toon.


    thx for great n00b guide.
    =Casual is the name of the game=

  18. #18
    New trader here. Lots of good info so I thought I would give it a


    *bump* to help all the true n00bs that started with SL (like myself) find this easier.

  19. #19
    Wrangeling the team is no problem now becous of umberela wrangels.

    My lvl 100 team loved me becous of the wrangel, dont know if its any good at higher lvls (becous of the AMS nerf). but you should add it to the guild
    w00p w00p!!

  20. #20

    This makes no sense at all to me, Reason?

    The reason traders are the only profession that really excels with shotguns is because soldiers are the only ones with a non-general shotgun buff and it's self only. For them, it's better to use something else. We only get expertise buffs, but we also have drains to help our attack ratings go up. Besides, it's a cheap weapon skill.

    Why is the shotgun the best for trader?

Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •