Keeper Breed Choice

[Deimos]

I would think, based on the description of the keeper, that the two main breeds to choose from will be atrox and solitus. When I take a look at the nanos on www.auno.org, I wonder if an atrox will have a hard time casting the top end nanos.

I just want to get peoples opinions and ideas on this subject so that everyone(including myself) can have the knowledge about the issue when creating their keepers.(and to pass the downtime for the patch

At this point I am leaning toward atrox but I am not 100% sure of my decision yet.

Discuss!!

[Rhynoman]

I'll probably go with Atrox because they seem perfect for melee, and they just look cool with a sword.

[SirAronar]

Atrox will have a very hard time casting the Auras and Sactifier buffs, a high class token board will help sided players, but Nano Pool is still going to be a constant IP drain if you want to keep up on your nanos. Make friends with NTs and Metas.

[Erukul]

Never had a problem with my atrox keeper.
If you played atrox you know what to expect, same thing different profession.

[Blackwing]

not to be über but to look wickedly cool.

[Racquel]

I think for the same reason that enforcers work well with all breeds, so too will the keeper. The buffs will be tough on an Atrox, and the armor/symbiants will be tough on a Nanomage, but I would bet that all breeds work equally well.

I would vote for Opifex just because I vote for Opifex for everything

[________Miniexplicit]

I'm going to be a Nano Keeper. Going to need a lot of Nano to cast those buffs.

I think that Opi Keeper will be the worst out of everything due to the Dark Blue Stamina and Keeper Armor requiring Stamina as the high stat.

[______________Aameul]

Originally posted by Minivasn
I'm going to be a Nano Keeper. Going to need a lot of Nano to cast those buffs.

I think that Opi Keeper will be the worst out of everything due to the Dark Blue Stamina and Keeper Armor requiring Stamina as the high stat.

I disagree with that sentiment... keeper nanos are much like fixer nanos, very much "cast and forget"... so all you need is to have your max nano just above your nanopool cost of your highest buff, and never a need to cast mid-fight.

I think that Atrox will be able to handle the nanopool costs with some unorthodox methods... max nanopool and psychic, maybe some nanopool implants, CPU upgrades for every level rather than just higher level, just to name a few.

Of course, Solitus will also end up being an excellent choice because solis won't need to work quite so hard as atrox keepers on the nanopool front. They'll suffer a bit on the health side, but they'll also have more armor choice over thier career as a keeper as well.

The strength of the opifex as a keeper will largely depend on how much evades will help at higher level. Will the trickledown from sense/agil into evades be worth it at TL5+? That remains to be seen. They'll certainly have problems with nanocost - from what I've seen, opifex only come in a bit higher than trox on the nanopool side of things. Fitting into the chosen/faithful armors will be a pain due to the str/stam requirement.

I can't see nanomages ever being a mainstream breed for a tanking class. They'll have the nanopool advantage for sure, but that's negated by keepers not needing any nanopool in combat. They really suffer on the health front, and the bad strength will definitely make fitting into the Keeper professional armor a chore.

[________Miniexplicit]

Never said Nano Keeper would be a mainstream Keeper. Just said Nano Keeper wasn't the worst choice you could make.

I quite agree that Atrox is about the best choice you can make for a keeper, even if you have to do unusual choices in order to get that extra little bit of nano. I'd almost compare it to an Atrox Engineer. The trox Engineer at some levels can't cast a higher bot because of not having enough nano... unless the Engineer tweaks out for Nano pool.

I agree Solitus would be second best for a Keeper. You'll probably see near as much of those as you do Atrox.

I just think that Opi would be the worse choice for Keeper than Nano. Yes Opi Evades would be a bit better, but I think that the Dark Blue Stamina is going to be a great hinderance when time comes to putting on Keeper armor.

Sure Nano Dark Blue Strenth (and Agility) is going to be a pain, but take a look at Keeper armor reqs. 1100 Stamina, 900 Strength. I think the Dark Blue Stamina will be worse to have to deal with than a Dark Blue Strength.

As for needing alot of nanos. Yeah alot of the buffs I saw lasted for an hour or more. Cast and Forget true, but you are going to be casting more than one of them.

[______________Aameul]

You're right - opifex are going to have some problems too. Atrox and Solitus will be the 'mainstream'. It may be a *little* premature to say that they won't be able to equip it at all, but it will certainly be a lot more trouble than for an atrox or a solitus.

But hey, at least Str and Stam are very buffable, and opi keepers aren't up a creek like Atrox Fixers are.

[Fragbait]

I think Solitus is probably you best choice for a Keeper. I see a keeper needing reasonable HP (so Solitus/Atrox) and Str to effectively use 2HE and most of the specials. But they are also dependent on nanos alot to add benefit to teams and help themselves, so the Atrox has real shortcoming here.

Admittedly in the end all a race, stops you from doing at 200 is basically wearing race specific items and you'll have more or less HP/Nano and a few skill points from trickledown. Because use of implants and buffs pretty much evens out all the rest. Sure one breed will cap faster in some skills, but ultimately they all catch back up again. Its like a Nanomage Doc casting CH a few levels before a Solitus Doc, but since your going to be levelling anyway it doesn't matter because eventually one will catch the other.

Also it depends alot on what you want to do with your Keeper:

Nanomage is a great choice if you know your teaming alot and with friends. Team auras and buffs will come before damage output.

Atrox is good choice if you like to solo alot, you need a bit of extra power in your swings and the extra HP will save you from some tough fights now and then.

Solitus is a good safe choice for nearly any profession. You won't excel at anything much but you won't suck either. Plus you'll look normal and stand out from the other freaks

Opifex, well I just don't like em, so thats a good reason to stay away from them.

[Scyris99]

Originally posted by Aameul


I disagree with that sentiment... keeper nanos are much like fixer nanos, very much "cast and forget"... so all you need is to have your max nano just above your nanopool cost of your highest buff, and never a need to cast mid-fight.

I think that Atrox will be able to handle the nanopool costs with some unorthodox methods... max nanopool and psychic, maybe some nanopool implants, CPU upgrades for every level rather than just higher level, just to name a few.

Of course, Solitus will also end up being an excellent choice because solis won't need to work quite so hard as atrox keepers on the nanopool front. They'll suffer a bit on the health side, but they'll also have more armor choice over thier career as a keeper as well.

The strength of the opifex as a keeper will largely depend on how much evades will help at higher level. Will the trickledown from sense/agil into evades be worth it at TL5+? That remains to be seen. They'll certainly have problems with nanocost - from what I've seen, opifex only come in a bit higher than trox on the nanopool side of things. Fitting into the chosen/faithful armors will be a pain due to the str/stam requirement.

I can't see nanomages ever being a mainstream breed for a tanking class. They'll have the nanopool advantage for sure, but that's negated by keepers not needing any nanopool in combat. They really suffer on the health front, and the bad strength will definitely make fitting into the Keeper professional armor a chore.

You must not have played a opifex then... They have the same stamina cap as a solitus, just takes more ip to get there. Thoug they end up with a bit less str. So therefor other than maybe 3 points in str, they will be able to get into it just as easy as a same level solitus, Providing the opifex has maxxed stamina for his/her level.

[________Miniexplicit]

Originally posted by Scythe
You must not have played a opifex then... They have the same stamina cap as a solitus, just takes more ip to get there. Thoug they end up with a bit less str. So therefor other than maybe 3 points in str, they will be able to get into it just as easy as a same level solitus, Providing the opifex has maxxed stamina for his/her level.

Since thats probably a misquote of me I'll go ahead and answer....

About the only breed I haven't played to breed cap is Atrox. I know what color they cap at and what skill they cap at. I also know that after abilities are capped the Opifex has the most IP remaining to spend on skills.

[________Miniexplicit]

okay...

Above 200 you get to raise all your base abilities again like so:

Green +20 pts
Blue +15 pts
Dark Blue +10 pts

Also at 200 your base ability max increases from whatever it was before to 603. You can't actually spend the IP to raise it there at 200, you have to wait until 201. If you try to raise it to 603 at 200, it'll pretend like its letting you put the IP in (which is how I saw the new cap and per level max) but when you click accept it won't take it.

This leaves the breeds with the following max abilities:

Atrox
Str/Sta - 1003
Agi - 903
Int/Sense/Psy - 803

Solitus
Everything - 903

Nanomage -
Int/Psy - 1003
Sense/Stam - 903
Str/Agi - 803

Opifex
Agi/Sense - 1003
Int/Psy/Sta - 903
Stam - 803

Keeper Chosen/Faithful armor reqs are 900 Str, 1100 Sta. Opifex Keeper CAN hit 1100 Stamina, it just takes alot of buffing, and a few items.

This is supposing that it lets you raise your base abilities by that much every level and doesn't breed cap you again before 220. This is also assuming that the values don't change as you get higher level.

It doesn't matter what your cap was before or even if your ability cap was the same as for Solitus. Color of the skill matters for new cap. As before: Opifex will likely be spending the least amount for raising all base abilities to cap.

[___________Evolucien]

Best Breed for Keeper?

Atrox - phat hp and that higher str helps with 2HE. Also, Keeper only casts nanos before battle, so nano pool is of no consequence.

Solitus - Good all around breed for anything. I'm going soli cause I like the looks and I know that breed the best....after 200 lvls not counting the alts.

Opi - Good for variation. Opi's will have lower AR than trox/soli but still not gimpy.

Nanomage - Why? Why would you pick nanomage for Keeper? Why would you pick nanomage for anything.... OK, I'm biased sorry. Seriously, that uber nano pool will mean nadda for the prof. Keeper is an in your face combat prof, Atrox Soli best picks.

I'm all for diversity however and I will not knock any breed for being a Keeper. The only thing that scares me is relying on a atrox doc to keep up the heals when your getting beat on by Ian.



Peace.

Keeper's forever!

[Deimos]

Just wanted to add some initial testing that I did last night...

I created both an atrox and solitus keeper and played them both to level 8. I have to say that after doing this test, I have no doubt in my mind that atrox is the right choice for my keeper.

The solitus was struggling with yellow mobs, he was missing a lot, and when he did hit it was for 4-7 with occasional 10-12 hits.

The atrox was able to kill yellow mobs and even some light oranges, he was hitting consistently and when he hit it was for about 4-10 and somewhat often hits of 14 or so. It felt a lot safer using the atrox because his HPs never got too low also.

I just got the first perk trained "Aura of Revival" with my atrox and he is doing great now with a Jobe Defender Naginata. I am taking out mobs very quickly and with my regen I almost don't need to heal.

I am kind of iffy about high level nanos and I am sure I will have at least some trouble with them. I just hope that my decision to go atrox will not prevent me from ever being able to use the highest nanos.

[Psy]

Opi for me i just like em and after the first days playing have to say i like the proff a lot . Only grumbles are lack of 2he weapons.
Ona side note once i started running the auras , even with a lower ql weap i could stand toe to toe with a red mob , and win !!,, tho it did kinda take a while

[Racquel]

Well, to support my claim for opifex choice, I would have to define my playstyle

I pretty much play any and all characters in a very "fixerish" style, so I max evades every level regardless of color, implant them at every opportunity, and make every possible effort to keep whatever initiative I am using at its absolute highest. With all of that in gear, I piddle with my Agg/Def bar until I can find a good setting that I can play at without gimping myself too much. Im an evade tanker.

So, my Opifex keeper would be played very differently than someones Atrox one. I tend to favor faster hitting weapons with lots of specials. It might not be the "uberest" setting for a Keeper, but who knows, it might work Opifex enfs are hella fun to play.

[______Corporate Crab]

Solitus struggling with yellows!?! Not counting the hp aura you will pick up around level 5, I was killing oranges at level ONE requiring use of the combat regen item, and after level one well it was not any problem at all. And well, with the hp aura...I don't think I have ended a fight without full hp fighting a yellow.

[Deimos]

Let me add that up to level 8 I was using the keeper sword(startup weapon).