Well I just wanted to know, what's better: melee or ranged?
Im really a noob so any tips are great....
Questions concerning weapons and more
I found melee to be more powerful. Guns are not as powerful against vampires as they are against humans. Guns need expensive ammunition and leave you vulnerable while you reload. Guns are not as accurate as melee weapons.
I also found melee weapons to be faster than guns, and you can do a three-bie combo of sorts with them which will knock your opponent over if it hits, giving you some time to breath. Oh and if you can go unarmed.
Not only fists actually do deal a nice share of damage, a high unarmed feat also makes it harder for unwilling opponents to resist your feeding. And being able to feed during missions not only restores your blood, it also provides some nice and quick healing.
My 2 Cents.
I also found melee weapons to be faster than guns, and you can do a three-bie combo of sorts with them which will knock your opponent over if it hits, giving you some time to breath. Oh and if you can go unarmed.
Not only fists actually do deal a nice share of damage, a high unarmed feat also makes it harder for unwilling opponents to resist your feeding. And being able to feed during missions not only restores your blood, it also provides some nice and quick healing.
My 2 Cents.
The question shouldn't be-- what's better, melee or guns?
It should be-- What style is more fun to play?
Well, melee is sure great. When it comes down to it, its probably more powerful, pound fof pound. You get to throw people back, flip them over, whatnot... its great. Its very easy to play, even in the beginning of the game.
But ranged can be just as devestating. When you're using Auspex and Celerity with 10 points in Ranged on your Toreador, tell me that it is not simply amazing to walk into a room with Special Forces and just waste them with your Killmatic, all while in Bullet Time (tm). Still, ranged weaponry gets more powerful with time, and in the beginning of the game you'll be cursing me for recommending ranged while you're screwing around with your .38 pop cap gun.
The solution-- play through twice. The two styles are unbelievably different. My Protean Gangrel (unarmed, not melee, but close enough) is very, very different from my gun-toting Ventrue, and each fight differs from how I played the other time through.
And some tips-- if you want an easy-to-play melee character (and all around easiest to play in general), play as a Brujah. They rock, but are still accessible. If you want the most awesome-tastic ranged character, play as Toreador. Either way, I guarantee a fun time. Have at them!
It should be-- What style is more fun to play?
Well, melee is sure great. When it comes down to it, its probably more powerful, pound fof pound. You get to throw people back, flip them over, whatnot... its great. Its very easy to play, even in the beginning of the game.
But ranged can be just as devestating. When you're using Auspex and Celerity with 10 points in Ranged on your Toreador, tell me that it is not simply amazing to walk into a room with Special Forces and just waste them with your Killmatic, all while in Bullet Time (tm). Still, ranged weaponry gets more powerful with time, and in the beginning of the game you'll be cursing me for recommending ranged while you're screwing around with your .38 pop cap gun.
The solution-- play through twice. The two styles are unbelievably different. My Protean Gangrel (unarmed, not melee, but close enough) is very, very different from my gun-toting Ventrue, and each fight differs from how I played the other time through.
And some tips-- if you want an easy-to-play melee character (and all around easiest to play in general), play as a Brujah. They rock, but are still accessible. If you want the most awesome-tastic ranged character, play as Toreador. Either way, I guarantee a fun time. Have at them!
-
pennypincher
- Posts: 420
- Joined: Tue Dec 07, 2004 10:21 pm
- Location: Australia! WOO!
- Contact:
Tradtionaly, vampires... Your most deadly enemies in the game bar the odd shifter and KoE... Take very little dammage from guns. After all, what does it matter if someone punctures your organs with a whole as big as your fist when you don't use them any more anyway? Melee weapons are much more effective, working on the assumption that severing a vampire neatly in half with a sword makes it impossable for it to conitue combat.
So, my take? Save ranged weapons for when theres lots of human enemies and you don't wanna get caught in the middle... Unless your playing a clan with celerity or fortitude, in which case... Get in the middle and laugh at their folly!!
So, my take? Save ranged weapons for when theres lots of human enemies and you don't wanna get caught in the middle... Unless your playing a clan with celerity or fortitude, in which case... Get in the middle and laugh at their folly!!
I was Diablorised once. I got better.
-
Jandau
- Posts: 132
- Joined: Mon Dec 06, 2004 5:21 am
- Location: Twisting Nether (an obscure European country known
- Contact:
Try melee Tremere: Purge is great for crowd control, and Blood Shield can soak up those nasty hits.
But even if you take up a mellee character always keep a gun handy (I reccomend a shotgun/combat shotgun - effective even at low skill levels; later you might want to switch to an Anaconda). I found there are some enemies I just don't wanna get close to, such as Ms. Locke or some of those oversized Tmizce freaks. You can get your firearms skill up to 2 using the books from Trip's Pawnshop, and perception lvl2 is fairly cheap....
But even if you take up a mellee character always keep a gun handy (I reccomend a shotgun/combat shotgun - effective even at low skill levels; later you might want to switch to an Anaconda). I found there are some enemies I just don't wanna get close to, such as Ms. Locke or some of those oversized Tmizce freaks. You can get your firearms skill up to 2 using the books from Trip's Pawnshop, and perception lvl2 is fairly cheap....
-
Shadow_Man
- Posts: 8
- Joined: Fri Nov 26, 2004 5:47 pm
- Contact:
Personnally I think you can do both in the same time through, I started again as a malkavian and pretty much all I did was put up my ranged skill, its now 9 and I only just got to downtown, I also put up one or two other things, when I'm finished I'm goin to do my obfuscate and my stamina and melee, I should have it at 10 well before I get my first sword.
Another thing to consider is what other characteristics do you want, if you want to be sneaky then I recomend melee as your dexterity affects melee, sneak (and lockpicking?) attributes. However if you want research and investigation up then pick ranged as it will also affect these stats.
Another thing to consider is what other characteristics do you want, if you want to be sneaky then I recomend melee as your dexterity affects melee, sneak (and lockpicking?) attributes. However if you want research and investigation up then pick ranged as it will also affect these stats.
-
Ghostmaker
- Posts: 4
- Joined: Thu Dec 09, 2004 6:08 am
- Contact:
This may contain spoilers, Ive tried to keep them out of it.
You can purchase books to get ranged skill to 2 in a very early stage of the game, and use blood buff and a very early weapon to get an idea of what each are about. When you have the second gun you'll aquire, it's power (relative to the enemies you face) will give yoiu a good idea of what guns are about. The first melee weapon you're given by someone you interact with in dialogue will give you a good idea what those are about, again relative to the enemies you encounter.
When I played through I ended up with both skills at 5, but this had more to do with my eneding up with a very high research skill over any choice to do so at the outset..by the end if I had to pick one, it would be melee, marginally.
You can purchase books to get ranged skill to 2 in a very early stage of the game, and use blood buff and a very early weapon to get an idea of what each are about. When you have the second gun you'll aquire, it's power (relative to the enemies you face) will give yoiu a good idea of what guns are about. The first melee weapon you're given by someone you interact with in dialogue will give you a good idea what those are about, again relative to the enemies you encounter.
When I played through I ended up with both skills at 5, but this had more to do with my eneding up with a very high research skill over any choice to do so at the outset..by the end if I had to pick one, it would be melee, marginally.
I have had success with a melee/ranged balanced character, though usually my melee was a point or two ahead of the ranged. There are many different encounters in the game, some where melee is important, others where ranged works better. The trick is to recognize these situations and act accordingly.
I finished the game as a katana wielding Malkavian, and now am playing through as a ranged Tremere. My Malk threw a Bedlam into a bunch of enemies and just jumped in like a madman, which was fun - although 90% of the time I obfuscated and stabbed everyone in the back. Currently I'm now going to the Dane. My Tremere generally brings up a Bloodshield, keeps Bloodstrike on ready and fires a Brokk 17c. Bloodstrike keeps blood levels up, and also keeps the damage going (and enemies occupied) while I reload my weapon. If I were to do a comparison, my Malk did far more damage than my Tremere, but took alot more damage as well. All in all, I've had to restart my Malk a few times when facing bosses (at least, in the beginning, when I didn't have a katana), and came close to dying (almost a whisker of life left) many times. My Tremere comes away from boss fights with at most half of his life taken away (yes, even the two plague bearers). My ranged is at 7, while at that point in the game my Malk had 6 in melee.
So - it depends on how you play. If you like to jump in an whack away, then melee is for you, especially with fighter disciplines like Fortitude, Celerity, Potence, Protean. Admittedly my Malk wasn't really good for melee, but it was fun nonetheless. One thing of note - especially for clans without celerity, some bosses and enemies hit faster than you can. Sometimes my Malk had been unable to even approach because the target slammed me away before I had time to attack.
spoiler
Also ranged certainly is better against one of the final bosses. My Malk was pretty much useless against that big bat. For some strange reason the humans ended up shooting at the bat, so I managed to finish the fight.
So - it depends on how you play. If you like to jump in an whack away, then melee is for you, especially with fighter disciplines like Fortitude, Celerity, Potence, Protean. Admittedly my Malk wasn't really good for melee, but it was fun nonetheless. One thing of note - especially for clans without celerity, some bosses and enemies hit faster than you can. Sometimes my Malk had been unable to even approach because the target slammed me away before I had time to attack.
spoiler
Also ranged certainly is better against one of the final bosses. My Malk was pretty much useless against that big bat. For some strange reason the humans ended up shooting at the bat, so I managed to finish the fight.
-
Shadow_Man
- Posts: 8
- Joined: Fri Nov 26, 2004 5:47 pm
- Contact:
Spoiler:
There's a much, much easier way to kill the behemoth, just use the flamethrower. He gets 2 swoops max
Just thought about it there and I think melee is the best cause the flamethrower doesn't need any ranged ability, so just use that as your ranged weapon and the special sword you find will suit you well.
There's a much, much easier way to kill the behemoth, just use the flamethrower. He gets 2 swoops max
Just thought about it there and I think melee is the best cause the flamethrower doesn't need any ranged ability, so just use that as your ranged weapon and the special sword you find will suit you well.
I'm so happy firearms didn't suck after all
Hi,
Just finished the game for the first time with a mostly ranged char, I had no trouble at all with the fights. Would have had maybe with the bosses without celerity, but it seems like most of them are easier when you don't have to stand next to them
I put a few points into brawl (to help feeding) and melee, so that I could handle massed enemies in the beginning with knife or later katana (and used blood buff if the going got really tough). I put no points at all in any physical stats, and I didn't need a single blood pack during the game.
So if you handle the beginning with mostly meleeing and then just up your ranged you'll really kill everything with the better guns. I read a lot about people saying melee was much easier, but seemed almost too easy with the ranger char too.
-mink
Hi,
Just finished the game for the first time with a mostly ranged char, I had no trouble at all with the fights. Would have had maybe with the bosses without celerity, but it seems like most of them are easier when you don't have to stand next to them
I put a few points into brawl (to help feeding) and melee, so that I could handle massed enemies in the beginning with knife or later katana (and used blood buff if the going got really tough). I put no points at all in any physical stats, and I didn't need a single blood pack during the game.
So if you handle the beginning with mostly meleeing and then just up your ranged you'll really kill everything with the better guns. I read a lot about people saying melee was much easier, but seemed almost too easy with the ranger char too.
-mink