Thats what I hear. The truth is most everyone is on SVER so you'll have a better chance of playing with them, and not against them. I still have my copy too, so if you have ususal days and times you play, let me know what they are and we can also meet up!

SVER is what all of us play on, and they are definitely the "best" faction. We have the best maps, arguably the best weapons, and we have a ton of great players. Even our randoms, blue dots, as they're affectionately referred to, are better than the average blue-dot of Raven or Valor.

As far as not being able to choose again, if you don't like your chosen PMC, you do have a few options. The first of which, is obviously to delete your character, and when you restart your solider, you'll have your choice of PMC. The next option is the ability to "veteran" over to another PMC, and this option opens up once your character reaches level 70. This will let you "start over" in another PMC. Your stats and your achievements will still be on that character, but you'll start at level 1, on your chosen PMC, and you'll lose all of your weapons/attachments. Think of it like a Prestige in MW2. You'll also receive a small experience bonus if you veteran, I think it's 5%.
This isn't too hard to achieve, with Escalation having a 200% EXP bonus, and being a highly populated game-type. Games come quickly, and they're worth a lot of experience.

Another option is also the ability to purchase an additional character slot, B and C. These are available in the PSN store, and are one dollar. They're one dollar per month, to upkeep, but if you choose to not pay the fee, and lose that character slot, your character and all of your stats will still be stored server-side by Zipper. If you re-purchase that character slot, you'll have that character occupying it, right where you left it.


Went back to my DMR, and loving it. The SASR-M is a hell of a gun, and I'm getting better up-close with it. I'm also trying to balance it with using my handgun, since I do plan on going back to using the AGVK, and although quickscoping with it is still powerful, the handgun is going to be doing a lot of the close-range legwork for me.

I have the game in the mail as we speak.

And now Endlo has no reason to tell my I'm dumb. Lulz on AIM or lulz worthy

ur so dum lolz

Going back to my Tamsen. Going to start working on a different theory behind how I play, I've been talking to a few other players, and trying to get some insight into how they handle themselves, and their styles of thinking about the game.

The SVER DMRs are just so inconsistent, if we had a twenty-round clip, it would be much more manageable, but as it stands, they're just prone to failing sometimes. I want a weapon that's more reliable than that, on both attack and defense, and that would be the Assault Rifles.


Good games earlier, Turtle, you handled yourself really well, and did a great job, considering that you booted the game up tonight for the first time. Keep it up, man, and we'll get you into turned into a Sabo beast in no time.

First, I wants a med kit.

Then, I really wants a shotgun.

I'm working on my Motion Sensor. I cannot wait to get it back, I'm so excited.

At this point, I'm just glad to have an actual gun back. The AK-47u is not one of the weapons that one thinks of, when you think of the powerful SVER arsenal. It's hands down the worst gun in the game, so I'm glad to be able to put it down, and go back to my beloved Tamsen.

If I see you on tonight, Turtle, we'll try to get a group rolling. I'll see if I can get you in a group with some of the other PPH guys, if you're down. It'll give you a slightly different perspective, and you'll see a bit of how we work as a squad, and what it's like to redline and duck-hunt.

Plus, we should be able to blow through some games, which should help net you that CP by volume of games played. Can't go wrong with that.

What do you recommend for skill point allocation (keeping in mind I already put those five into the medical tree that you told me about last night)?

There are a few ways that you can take it.

I would suggest going into Resistances next, if you plan to use the shotgun. Your priorities here are 120 Health, first. After that, you can put your points into Explosive Resistance. Gas Resistance is handy to have, but I would wait on that, and come back to it later. It's not really the damage that kills you most of the time, with poison gas, it's the loss and blurring of your vision, and the damage it does to your aim.

If you're looking at using the shotgun for a long-haul, I would consider going into Close Quarters next, and starting to improve your shotgun. I would skip on the Knife Frequency and the Knife Damage for right now, until you're more comfortable with how the knife works, it takes a while to get used to. If you're already having a lot of success with the shotgun, you could put the Close Quarters points third, and focus on Athleticism after you get your Resistances tree sorted out.

That will give you increased sprint duration, a smaller cooldown between sprints, faster move speed, without sprinting, and faster sprint speeds. All incredibly handy, to get around, and keep your mobility. Again, I'd recommend this third, after Close Quarters, unless you're already having really solid results with the shotgun. It's the kind of weapon that's good on it's own, but won't really shine until it's fully improved.


If you're looking for a better weapon to hold you over, until you get your shotgun, I would suggest trying the RTK. It's the SVER LMG, and you have it by default. It's probably going to treat you better than the AK-47u will, and it's going to give you a lot of firepower, to boot. It's a pretty from the hip weapon, so you're probably going to be hipfiring a lot, and working that strafe, if you decide to try it out. The LMG was actually my weapon of choice back in 1.x, when I was playing, although I've grown to hate them, now. I can barely stand to use them, but that's because I've grown to prefer the mobility and the versatility of the assault rifles. Nothing wrong with the LMG/MMG options, though.

Yeah, I briefly switched over to the scoped, "pseudo-sniper" default gun. It sucked. Then I went to the RTK. It's definitely better than that first gun, but that's not really saying much.

Can't wait for that 1800 CP.

The SASR and SASR-M are incredible weapons. They're actually among the best sniper rifles in the game, although I do prefer the Valor Designated Marksman Rifles. I actually had a long stint with them before I went back to my Tamsen, and they were the weapons I used exclusively on my last tours through Raven and Valor.

It depends on how you approach the weapon, and they really need a few extra things, to help them along. I've grown to hate the Suppressor on it, for how I use them, I feel like it's a hindrance, because of the loss of accuracy, and they hurt the close-range ability of the SVER Marksmen rifles. It's a little easier on the Valor and Raven Marksmen, because they have twenty round clips, compared to the 10 rounds of the SASR and SASR-M.

To use them effectively, you really do need the support from the Marksman tree. You definitely want the reduced scope wander, the improved fire rate, and the lowered recoil. Think of it almost like a FAL. It's a weapon of angles, and range, that happens to be serviceable at close-range, but not exceptional. It also has the benefit of being a sniper, and delivering one-hit kills on headshots. It won't auto-bleed on a headshot, like a .50 caliber will, but you can still drop anything, regardless of armor class, with one shot.


They also really want to have acoustic locators, with the full range. This is going to give you the maximum amount of awareness, giving you both red indicator triangles on targets, as well as the tracking on the CNI. If you do try that route at some point, and stick with it, you'll actually find yourself able to flick off a quick headshot or 3-round burst at a triangle way off in the distance, and drop it.

I tried to cultivate a mobile counter-sniper and pseudo-sniper playstyle with it myself, and it's actually the build that I keep finding myself going back to, along with the Tamsen. There are times where I get incredibly frustrated with how clunky the SASR can be at close-range, and I go back to the Tamsen, but then I find myself missing that range, and that somewhat unique role among PPH, with the ranged support, and sniper removal. We have a ton of front-line beasts, with ARs, but Vash and I were pretty much the only Marksmen.


I'll actually be hopping back on MAG shortly, if you're going to be on. I just missed you earlier, but I'll probably be on the rest of the night, if you want to group up. I can try to show you around the maps a bit, and give you some perspective, depending on what you want to use, and how you decide to play your character.

Please tell me how the SASR is one of the best sniper rifles in the game? 3-4 hit kills. I don't think that is too good.

The SASR-M, and the other Designated Marksmen Rifles are among the best sniper rifles in the game. We talked a little bit about it tonight, but I'll go ahead and post up some of my thoughts and perspective, and elaborate a bit.

It also gives me an excuse to post that MAG Skill Tree Calculator for you guys again, it makes life much, much simpler.

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To me, there are a few factors that set the DMRs apart, and beyond that, even the SASR-M.

The most immediate point is the stopping power, and it's actually the point you brought up, Charlitos, against the Marksmen. There are 12 "likely" combinations for armor and health combinations. Of those, the AGVK, and any .50 will one-hit 7 of those combinations. Sounds pretty awesome, you one-hit kill over half the players you'll see, yeah?

The problem is, it doesn't quite work out that way. Most players will have 120 health, which will immediately cut that number in half, down to 6 possible combinations. Of those, the AGVK will one-hit 2, one of which is the 4c armor, which isn't very commonly used at all. All of the sudden, you went from super knock-out stopping power, to only being able to kill guys in 2c armor in one-hit.

The SASR-M still has the unique sniper rifle ability to drop anything in one headshot. The only advantage the clunkier .50's have here, is their instant bleedout on headshots. The Marksmen will one-hit drop anything, but won't always instantly bleedout. Happens occasionally, but bleedout rules are inconsistent at best sometimes.

The Marksmen rifles, especially the SASR-M with it's higher stopping power, compared to the Valor and Raven counterparts, will drop anything in 3 to 4 four hits. Couple this with it's rate of fire, another area the SASR-M wins out over the other faction Marksmen, and it's accuracy, and you have yourself a powerful weapon at all ranges.

Medium to long ranges, you have the high accuracy of your standard scope, and play more like a "sniper" rifle. Headshots and tracking moving targets are going to let you be incredibly effective at this range, when you're out of the range of retaliation. The exception here is Assault Rifles with Optical Sights. The ATAC is a monster at any range as well, and can definitely tag you, if you're not aware.

Close range, you play like an assault rifle. Fire from the hip, and you still have a highly accurate weapon, especially if you forsake the Suppressor on it, like I do. You also maintain the ability to drop any player, regardless of their armor class, on a headshot. The SASR has an insane rate of fire, which also helps it in close-range combat, because you can spray your clip, and put down targets very quickly.

Just to throw out an example of how true this thing can be, even from the hip, with no Suppressor. Darien Network, Raven's Sabotage Map, on the A objective. From the top of the structure over the resupply, I've gotten multiple headshots from the hip, on people who are coming across the river, and up the hills.

The only real advantage I'll give to the Raven/Valor Marksmen is in their capacity, which is sometimes frustrating in close-range situations with large numbers of people. 10 rounds just isn't enough sometimes, compared to the other faction's 20-rounds, and you can only scramble so much, sometimes.


Like I said on MAG tonight, Charlitos, think of it more like a FAL that's single-shot, instead of burst, and less like a traditional sniper rifle. The .50 cals are pew....pew....pew, the DMRs are pewpewpew...pewpewpew. Burst it out, adjust your aim, burst. If you can, go for the face, and after a bit of practice, you'll be able to flick off quick-scope headshots, and quick headshots on groups of people. It's a gun of angles, and cover, it's not bad up close, but you definitely want to take advantage of cover, and your ability to rattle off 3 or 4 quick shots, put someone down, and bail.


If you tried the SASR without an Acoustic Locator that was fully upgraded, and 15 points in your Marksmanship tree, and didn't like it, I would wait until you're able to provide those things, and give it another go. One of my favorite loadouts, before the Tamsen completely won me over was...

SASR-M with the standard scope and Foregrip
Medical Kit
Frag Grenades
Acoustic Locator
Medium (6c) Armor

That gave me the ability to survive Tier 3 snipers, and punish them with quick headshots. I played this build as a very mobile marksman and counter-sniper. The Locator will let you see and have tags on other snipers, or really, anyone who fires, from an insane distance away. You'll get a red triangle over their body, which is all you really need to headshot anyway, as well as the red circle on your CNI.


If anybody is waffling on a weapon to use, and is on SVER, use the Tamsen. The thing is absolutely insane. It's recoil is minimal, at worst, it's rate of fire is insane, and it's just built to headshot everything. It's so stable from the hip, and with the Reflex Sight, it's just so good at everything. You have a huge clip, compared to previous Assault Rifles, and you also get the benefit of a huge ammo reserve, on spawn. The Tamsen addressed just about every issue the AG-94 had, and just completely outclassed it. It's not quite as long-range as the AG, but I'm still picking off plenty of snipers, and the faster rate of fire more than compensates in close to mid-range encounters.

This is the loadout I'm working towards, with the Tamsen, inspired by some conversations with DeathbyChair.

Tamsen mk.2 with Large Suppressor, Reflex Sight, Foregrip
Medical Kit
Motion Sensor
Acoustic Locator
Light (2c) Armor

The Motion Sensor is such a huge boon, it lets you be aware of so much that's around you, and to give you so much free information. Most players advocate the Sensor Jammer so highly, but it really doesn't hurt how effective the Motion Sensor is. You also have the Acoustic Locator, which is unaffected by the Sensor Jammer, as an additional source of free information, and highlighting of enemies.

My numbers are fine, and I don't see some sudden immunity to Motion Sensors, which is still highly debated, changing that all that dramatically. The Jammer is definitely more relevant in larger gametypes, where Commando-style gameplay is both more relevant, because of assets that need destroyed and because of it's ability to prevent detection from Sensor Sweeps.

That calculator is pretty handy. Getting to 70 will be daunting, though...

My next stop is the tamsen, once I get enough CP to do so. Good post, Endlo-. I just don't think anymore that sniping is for me. I get maybe one out of.. I dunno... ten kills a headshot? So I am not very good accuracy wise.

I reached level 54 yesterday. I'm thinking that I'm at least halfway there by now, and I still have uder 2 days of playing time. Doesn't seem like it's too hard to reach the final level in this game, as opposed to other games (Uncharted, Call of Duty)

I love the shotgun.

Now, instead of sucking because I'm at a huge disadvantage in the way of weaponry, I suck because... well, because I suck!

But that will change with time. The shotgun is really nice, even at medium-long ranges. It's loaded with more ammo than I could ever need at the rate I die (again, hopefully that will change), it's insanely powerful, and it's got a good rate of fire, thanks to my Close Quarters allocations.

I also bought the Goggles, because they're freaking sweet.

I bought the Tamsen. All I can say is WOW. That is a hell of a gun there. Quick drops, low recoil, nice mag capacity, and a good rate of fire. It is accurate, and has very long range. Me likes

Yeah, the Tamsen is hands down the best weapon on SVER. It's better than the AG-94, which was arguably one of the best rifles in the game, and it's actually lighter, to boot.

As far as getting to level 70, it's pretty easy, especially with Escalation and it's 200% experience bonus, and happy hour bonuses. Zipper never really meant for it to be a symbol of prestige, like X used to be in Uncharted. The main reason they even raised the level cap was more to give us 10 more skill points, because of the revamped tree, instead of adding some arbitrary achievement and grind.


Turtle, glad to hear you're digging the shotgun. It's a great stand-by weapon, but I definitely will encourage you to step outside of it, once you have some other elements of your game down. The shotgun is powerful, don't get me wrong, but it's also limiting in your potential. It's definitely a weak weapon to redline with, and it has problems outside of crowded objectives.

If you want to work on your gun game, I'd definitely suggest trying out the Vipera, or the Tamsen. You'll be able to sneak around a bit more, because of the Suppressors, and you'll be more versatile, overall. You fire that shotgun once, you're a huge red dot on everyone's CNI. You can take down a few guys with the other guns, and you still won't pop up, or be noticed if they're not paying attention.


As far as Goggles, you're doing it wrong. Skull Hockey Mask, Shadow Green armor is where it's at. Warpaint is also an acceptable mask choice.


Glad you guys didn't get into some PPH games last night, we're apparently becoming hated on SVER, too. If you do group up with us, just be expected to get some shit thrown your way by proxy, I suppose.

Goggles were the only face item on there that wasn't a hockey mask of some kind. They're just more my style.

Jumping on in a few minutes here, if anyone wants to group up.

Fair warning, I make fun of Vash for his goofy shop-class goggles, and I'll probably make fun of you too. With love, of course.

I'll probably be on in an hour, hour and a half, I'm making dinner right now. I'd definitely be down with trying to group up though, Turtle.

Oh noes, doubleh-post.

I'll be moving to Raven either tonight, or tomorrow. I'm looking forward to finally getting to shoot bullets at you guys, and not get that pesky -5 XP and that whole kicked from game thing.

I mean, I get untz untz untz when I go on killstreaks, I get to wear spandex, and have a funny hat. What's not to love? Plus, I'm pretty sure Raven secretly has Extended Reach on their knives still, and lordy, do I miss me some katana-length knife action.


If you guys see me on, feel free to join up, and I'll probably hop into your guys games, and try to hunt some of you down. Nothing like some friendly shanks and headshots between friends, eh?

Turtle, I still owe you that super pro spot on Copper Hills, I'll try to show you sometime before I vet, or worst case, I can explain where it is. Once you see it, it's pretty obvious, but if you don't think about it, it's kind of a brilliant little hiding spot.

I'mma be a bird, guys! A bird!

Endlo- wrote:

I'mma be a bird, guys! A bird!

Birds shit everywhere and chew things up.

Black-Op's campaign sucks and currently not interested in mp, so you'll likely see me back on-line in mag.

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just don't be shitting on everything!

Ooooh, this is gonna suck.

:rain:

Valor's assault rifles are the most ridiculous things I've ever seen. Two bullets from one of those things and I'm on the ground bleeding to death.