APU questions

[eNTi]

i'm starting to think that this class is completely broken and only works for a quicker way to reach max level to lom to ppu. you are able to gain xp quite well with aoe spells, if i got support. i find it impossible to do anything useful on my own though. hunting is out of the question, because you are basically made of glass. also, in comparison to many weapons, the single target damage output on most spells seems somewhat lowish. my biggest problem is psi costs on single target spells. even though they do decent damage i constantly run out of psi. i understand that psi boosters are some kind of ammo replacement, but you need to use them manually and if i try to level by killing mobs with lots of hp, i'm burning through them faster, than i can clone them. my psi pool is around 350.

i almost always use barrel spells even vs single mobs. they just seem to be more cost effective and more reliable as well. i think halo spells are almost ok, but beams are simply psi eaters. maybe i'm missing something here. are they mainly used in pvp? their damage output seem good, but the handling is a bit off and i find myself out of psi almost instantaneously.

having said that... i don't know what to do with my apu other than loming him to ppu when i'm done leveling. what do i not get here. am i doing it wrong?

[Eternal Pink]

I have an apu and I generally set up the quick belt so its Spell 1, Spell 2, Con 40 heal tool, survival kit and then psi booster 2's in the rest of the slots so I can munch as I kill.

I tried the psi booster 3's but there isn't enough high level junk in somewhere like crp for you to clone many for it to be cost effective.

All the apu spells are short range and the mobs do more damage at short range than long range (pistols have this as well to a lesser effect) so you really need to take advantage of apu spells not needing line of sight to work since you can start a spell and break line of sight and still do damage with a single target spell and as you've mentioned barrels themselves are area of effect so you can cast it into a room and do damage to everything in the room unlike HC where the damage is based on how close the mob is to the detonation point (to achieve full damage you want to hit the mob/very close to which means getting line of sight and potentially taking damage)

[SilentEye]

I do agree that I would like to see the APU a little less dependent on PSI boosters.

I understand that PSI boosters are there for a reason, of course, but for someone who is skilled in the use of aggressive PSI I do think that you should be able to go on a little longer without needing to rely on a booster.

I can't judge too much in regard to their defensive capabilities, I don't know if they are too vulnerable.

I haven't played an APU beyond the bunker, as I LOM'ed straight to PPU then. However, at the bunker, I never had much issues as my spells were working well enough to stay out of their range. So I wasn't getting all that much damage.

I'd like to suggest that if you have any ideas on how the APU class could work better, create a thread in the Brainport section of the forum.

[William Antrim]

Levelling at mb bunker should not be counted as you have a bona fide hiding spot there where mobs can only ever target you for about one third of the time. Levelling an apu there is easier than any other class due to barrel mechanics. It is shockingly easy. After this as enti states its a nightmare. There are plenty of threads discussing improvements though, and tactics too. I would suggest searching through them. I do feel your pain though. Solo levelling an apu is horrendous.

[Dropout]

Levelling at mb bunker should not be counted as you have a bona fide hiding spot there where mobs can only ever target you for about one third of the time. Levelling an apu there is easier than any other class due to barrel mechanics. It is shockingly easy. After this as enti states its a nightmare. There are plenty of threads discussing improvements though, and tactics too. I would suggest searching through them. I do feel your pain though. Solo levelling an apu is horrendous.
Define nightmare..? APU's is the only class I do not HATE going to Regants with, because its so fast and easy..
Thats strictly for leveling though. It is true that APU's are one of the worst farming classes in the game, right after melee :p

[William Antrim]

Regants Legacy has its own set of issues - lack of damage AT ALL from mobs means you get level 20s going in there.


I say it is a nightmare levelling an APU (outside of Regants and MB Bunker) because anywhere the mobs can do any form of reasonable damage to you it slows down your levelling exponentially. Having some of the weakest defence/slowest healing rate in the game means you spend a good majority of your time hiding and healing. This coupled with poor range generally makes the APU a fucking nightmare to level.

Pistol Spies and melee have a similar problem.

PVE of old was much better because the mob damage was significantly lower meaning that you could hunt reasonably well with these classes. As a Pistol PE in NC1 I used to kneel in front of Chaos Lieutenants to cap my con. I knew I could do this because I could rely on my own abilities to keep me alive whilst taking sustainable damage and healing a portion of it.

Admittedly that anecdote focuses on a PE rather than the classes discussed but the difference is minor. All classes got an easier ride of it back then. Admittedly Tanks huge health and con set ups meant they were the easiest to PVE with but that is still the same.

The problem is with the upgraded mob damage and possibly hit points too it just means that PvE takes so much longer. This is a battle that the APU will always lose out on. They need more range as I have said in several threads. This is my opinion only.

There are a plethora of other changes that could be made to the APU directly or passively and we could wax lyrical about them all day long but I suspect the Dev team are fully aware of what they are. The problem is if you make wholesale changes to PVE just to suit the APU players then everyone gets a benefit and some people will come out and say the game is too easy.

You cannot please all of the people all of the time I guess.

[unc0nnected]

Levelling at mb bunker should not be counted as you have a bona fide hiding spot there where mobs can only ever target you for about one third of the time. Levelling an apu there is easier than any other class due to barrel mechanics. It is shockingly easy. After this as enti states its a nightmare. There are plenty of threads discussing improvements though, and tactics too. I would suggest searching through them. I do feel your pain though. Solo levelling an apu is horrendous.

I would say that leveling a droner here is still easier than an APU.. Sitting with my RG drone 300 feet in the air and herding 10-15 launchers underneath who can't target me because I am out of their range but still follow me in a huge clump just can't be beat :) Props to anyone going APU though, it definitely seems like the toughest of classes to level.

[SilentEye]

I've just reLOMmed to APU because XP as PPU was just too slow.

I've got myself the energy barrel and beam for Regants. I can confirm that the PSI required for the beam is absolutely insane. I've got almost 400 PSI but still I run out wayyyy fast!

Can someone tell me how long does the energy barrel last? Does the effect give a few ticks of damage or should you cast-cast-cast continuously?

[eNTi]

afaik, the barrel lasts for about 5s and ticks around 3-4 times. i usually cast them constantly though, because the ticks stack, so instead of just doing 156 each tick you can do 2-3 times the damage. i honestly think single target spell costs need to be 1/2 or 1/3 of they are now while the barrel spell is probably a little too cheap, but not by much.

[[TgR]KILLER]

Without reading the whole topic. I'm sure there is allot of bitching about the APU's ability to heal.. well isn't it a APU for that fact? xD thats the main idea.. so yea maybe dmg needs to be buffed somewhat and things tweaked.. but APU's are lucky they already get a heal tool before the heal tools where there you didn't have any heal or you should be a hybrid.

[eNTi]

KILLER;2210706']Without reading the whole topic. I'm sure there is allot of bitching about the APU's ability to heal.. well isn't it a APU for that fact? xD thats the main idea.. so yea maybe dmg needs to be buffed somewhat and things tweaked.. but APU's are lucky they already get a heal tool before the heal tools where there you didn't have any heal or you should be a hybrid.
you mean, without even reading the topic??? this is not a thread about bitching about his healing capabilities per se, but rather about his solo survivability in respect to all other classes, while not being able to do the same damage without HEAVY use psi boosters. i simply don't understand how to play an apu properly and if i'm missing some basic things here. maybe i misunderstood the class altogether. atm an apu seems essentially the worst class to play. there's absolutely no benefit of rolling one, unless you got some ppu friend to fight with. be it as a trader, a hunter, in pvp... each niche in neocron has a class that's better suited than the apu. so again, what am i missing???

[Ascension]

you mean, without even reading the topic??? this is not a thread about bitching about his healing capabilities per se, but rather about his solo survivability in respect to all other classes, while not being able to do the same damage without HEAVY use psi boosters. i simply don't understand how to play an apu properly and if i'm missing some basic things here. maybe i misunderstood the class altogether. atm an apu seems essentially the worst class to play. there's absolutely no benefit of rolling one, unless you got some ppu friend to fight with. be it as a trader, a hunter, in pvp... each niche in neocron has a class that's better suited than the apu. so again, what am i missing???

I used to enjoy playing an APU, its my class. However its now tricky to venture out anywhere as an APU as you're dead before you have chance to react. Admittedly I'm totally out of practice, and likely to be given that I have little incentive to log on and play the broken class.

Its really much fun hugging zone lines, but are still fun in OP wars, bar the complete frequency issue and reticle issue, if you miss a cast, you have to wait for it to 'recover' before you cast again.