Question about CH/rifleman damage

[jazzibleue]

I currently have Master CH and Master Rifleman.

I am wondering if they are complementary professions, because Rifleman damage targets the Mind pool, whilst pets target the Health and Action pools ... which means that my pets don't actually help me kill a creature. It would be great to have my pets targeting the same pool as me (or me targeting the same pool as my pets). So I have three questions:

1. Are there pets that can damage the Mind pool (so that they hit the same pool as me) ? (I've searched but cannot find any)
2. Or should I switch to a ranged profession (Carbineer/Pistoleer) that damages the Health/Action pools (so that I'm hitting the same pools as my pets) ?
3. Or would I be better off forgetting about pet damage, and just using them to debuff with their Specials (intimidate, stun, etc.) ?

Thanks for any help/advice.

[lassic]

Well, the type of damage done, is not the same as the pool that you can target. As a rifleman, your ability to hit the mind pool specifically is an aspect of your Profession. The type of damage done, is based off of the weapon you are using. As far as creatures go: It is all about flavor. The best creature for raw damage and to hit modifier is a Bull Rancor. It has dizzy and plague strike. There are lots of mobs out there to choose from and are effective. mereks, gaping spiders, arachne webmaster, mantigrue screecher, and the list goes on. You can choose to not hit the mind pool and use another attack. You will always put out more damage than your pet will. I use my pets for Debuffs. poisons, diseases, states, etc...

http://swgcreatures.com

Check out this site as well.

Hope this helps.

[jazzibleue]

Well, the type of damage done, is not the same as the pool that you can target. You can choose to not hit the mind pool and use another attack. I use my pets for Debuffs. poisons, diseases, states, etc...

Thanks for your reply Lassic.
My bad, I used the wrong terms. Of course I meant to talk about the HAM pools and not about damage type, and I have corrected my original post so that it now makes sense !

I realise that I will always do more damage than my pets. I'm trying to work out if it is worthwhile having my pets and myself hitting the same pools? This would mean either having a pet that hits the Mind pool, or else me having a profession that hits the Health/Action pools.

If not, the alternative is to not care about us both hitting the same pools, and to simply use my pets for Debuffs (as you suggest).

PS:
1) You mention using your pets also for poison and disease. Are these mind poisons and mind diseases ? I'm guessing that they are in fact poisons and diseases that attack the Health pool, which means they won't help my Rifleman who is hitting the Mind pool. Which would be another argument for me switching to Carbineer or Pistoleer.
2) You also say that I could use an attack that does not target the Mind pool. But don't all Rifleman attacks target the Mind pool? The only other attacks are Flurry, Flushing, Startle, Strafe and Warning, which are not damaging attacks. Unless I've missed something?

[Koven]

Don't overlook armor piercing when you make your decision. While you may be able to focus your fire on the same pool your pet (or at least hit the same pool more often) you give up the ability to use a heavy AP weapon. The best you will do with pistols is light AP, medium if you go with carbs.

I can't comment much on the CH aspect here except that publish 8 may have improvements that make pets more effective tanks. If true, it may be in your best interest to let your pets hold aggro and state your target while you continue to spam /headshot3 from ideal range. It may be something you want to experiment with on the test server before making a decision to switch.

[lassic]

The poisons and diseases hit a random pool. Each time it triggers and hits with an attack it can hit a random pool with the disease or poison. Go hunt bull rancors, and you will come back black barred, because it will hit all of your pools.

[jazzibleue]

Okay, thank you Lassic and Koven, your comments were VERY useful, thank you for taking the time to help.

I'm going to stick with Rifleman (for the AP) and use pets with appropriate debuffs

[Zeth]

I am wondering if they are complementary professions, because Rifleman damage targets the Mind pool, whilst pets target the Health and Action pools ...

I thought a pets attack would hit random HAM pools and not just health and action.

2) You also say that I could use an attack that does not target the Mind pool. But don't all Rifleman attacks target the Mind pool? The only other attacks are Flurry, Flushing, Startle, Strafe and Warning, which are not damaging attacks. Unless I've missed something?

Every attack is a damaging attack and many have an added effect. The 7 main combat profs have an attack that can focus on a certain pool. Rifleman has headShot and mindShot. Give StrafeShot2 a try with a nice 500+ damage T21 and try not to drool on yourself. StrafeShot2 with a T21 probably does the most damage in game.

Make sure you are speed capped. Non enhanced, damage sliced T21 rifles on this server typically have 7.8 speed. You will need at least +94 rifle speed to get speed capped. +100 rifle speed and you can use any speed rifle you want and still be speed capped. You need SEAs (Skill Enhancement Attachments) to achieve this.

Every special has a damage and delay modifier. Here are the rifleman specials that do the most damage...
Strafe Shot 2 - 5x
Flushing Shot 2 - 4x
Startle Shot 2 - 4x
Head Shot 3 - 3x
Conceal Shot - 2.5x
Flurry Shot 2 - 2.5x

Far as using a CH/rifleman build. That really depends on what you want to do in game, your play style and what you enjoy. That is what makes this game so great. You can do what ever you love.
CH can provide added damage and/or debuffs. Tons of fun. Can collect rare pets!
Replacing CH with Doc, CM, master brawler prof, BH, ranger, etc drastically affects survivability, flexibility or having a support role.