No doubt this is going to start a bit of an argument yet I want to ask it as I'm getting close to 50.

I've noticed in game that people are often running around with different names attached to them (Kung fu GM, Karate GM, Aikido GM) yet this doesn't really show all that's going on in truth.

There's lots of different combinations that you can use (I'm at lvl 47 now and I'm using a kung fu - karate mix) which give lots of different effects to your accuracy, damage and defense.

I was reading through that other thread here about the differences between the 3 MA styles, yet has there ever been what you'd class as "A perfect loadout"? Now, that's a bit of an o.t.t thing to say but I've been thinking about switching over to aikido once I hit 50, as I like the idea of the defense that you can get with that, yet would it then be better to mix that with Kung fu for more accuracy or karate for more damage?

Then there's the clothing too.

I've currently got a list of clothes I'm trying to get my hands on, on top of the clothes I've managed to collect already.

So I guess my overall question is this:

What's the best combination of loadout and clothing you've managed to work on and why does that work for you?

(note: I don't want you to go into specifics on every single ability you have and every item of clothing, just some key points about why you went with the loadout and clothes you have and why you like it. Does that make sense?) 

It sounds like a cop-out, but the answers to all your questions are best reached by experimenting yourself. 

There is no such thing as a 'better' load out, only builds preferred by the individual. 

Loadouts: 

- You could go with the most widespread load out of Kung Fu GM/Karate.  This is popular because right away you have the accuracy of Kung-Fu to, in theory, allow you to hit your opponent with a greater degree of success.
- The flip-side is Karate GM/Kung-Fu, used for Karate's damage properties.  The Kung-Fu aspect is negligible, and your tactics become more specials-dependent.
- Karate GM/Aikido gives you increased defence, but bar Aikido GM, the least accuracy.  This went through a popular stage as people realised they could sit on grab to cause off-balance, then use MA Prowess + broken Tomo Nage* to inflict ridiculous amounts of damage before really going to work.  It's the opportunists build, using the damage output of Karate to use combinations of specials when the opponent is at their weakest.
- Kung Fu GM/Aikido on paper is the stronger load out.  However, the memory you use for the Aikido Master tree arguably doesn't give you as much as the others, and you will have to sacrifice at least one key Karate special (you'll see which) if you truly take advantage of the Aikido tree.
- Aikido GM/either Karate or Kung-Fu is a totally defensive build.  Aikido MA's primarily use their defence to lure their opponent into spending mountains of IS on missed specials.  The damage output is relatively low, but you've really got nowhere to go if you use your IS trying to string together combinations of specials on an Aikido GM.

Clothes: 

The clothes you choose should depend on your build.  Personally, I'd advise counter-balancing your GM with clothes as much as possible.  If you're Aikido GM, ensure you wear some accuracy, with Kung-Fu, defence.  With the advent of the Quicksilver Gloves, this just became a whole lot easier.  

I personally don't go in for wearing a huge amount of damage bonus clothing.  A relatively decent rule of thumb to go by is that if you haven't got the accuracy and timing to hit anyone, your damage clothing is pointless.  This isn't to say that accuracy is everything.  It takes far more than pure accuracy to become a competent MA.

Or, you can fake it...

- Special bonus 'MA' load out: Kung-Fu/Karate + Combat Training from the Force Enhancer (?) tree.  This utilises the 60+ pts of accuracy Combat Training gives you to create a faux-MA build.  You may sense some disdain towards this build.  You sensed correctly.  I find it cheap and in no way indicative of a player's MA competence.  As always, it's important to remember that it's the player's prerogative to load it, so however they want to go about things is fine.  You can choose to load Kung-Fu/Aikido/Karate Master with it, and basically try to steam-roll your way through opponents with your vastly superior accuracy.  This load out is far, far from unbeatable, and it's not something I advise simply because I don't want to be the one to turn you onto it.

- Secondary bonus 'MA' load out: Any MA Master plus Fast Healing 1.0/Combat Enhancement 1.0/Bolster Health 1.0 from the Patcher tree.  This gives you additional health, accuracy and health regen, along with your MA Master trees.  It's not as successful as the Combat Training/MA combination, but it's a way-round nonetheless.  I have no disdain for this route at all, simply because I don't believe it gives much in the way of an advantage.

There you go, the choice is entirely yours. 

Good luck, sir/Madam.

*This whole ‘broken Tomo' comment will annoy some of you MA's reading this.  That's great, opinion should be divided, or we'd be living in a terrifying one-sided u(dys)topia.  If you do have strong enough feelings about it that you feel compelled to comment, PM me rather than derail the thread.  Much obliged.

It sounds like a cop-out, but the answers to all your questions are best reached by experimenting yourself. 

There is no such thing as a 'better' load out, only builds preferred by the individual. 

Loadouts: 

- You could go with the most widespread load out of Kung Fu GM/Karate.  This is popular because right away you have the accuracy of Kung-Fu to, in theory, allow you to hit your opponent with a greater degree of success.
- The flip-side is Karate GM/Kung-Fu, used for Karate's damage properties.  The Kung-Fu aspect is negligible, and your tactics become more specials-dependent.
- Karate GM/Aikido gives you increased defence, but bar Aikido GM, the least accuracy.  This went through a popular stage as people realised they could sit on grab to cause off-balance, then use MA Prowess + broken Tomo Nage* to inflict ridiculous amounts of damage before really going to work.  It's the opportunists build, using the damage output of Karate to use combinations of specials when the opponent is at their weakest.
- Kung Fu GM/Aikido on paper is the stronger load out.  However, the memory you use for the Aikido Master tree arguably doesn't give you as much as the others, and you will have to sacrifice at least one key Karate special (you'll see which) if you truly take advantage of the Aikido tree.
- Aikido GM/either Karate or Kung-Fu is a totally defensive build.  Aikido MA's primarily use their defence to lure their opponent into spending mountains of IS on missed specials.  The damage output is relatively low, but you've really got nowhere to go if you use your IS trying to string together combinations of specials on an Aikido GM.

Although I don't have the full tree of any MA, I think you've got the basic gist down.

Clothes: 

The clothes you choose should depend on your build.  Personally, I'd advise counter-balancing your GM with clothes as much as possible.  If you're Aikido GM, ensure you wear some accuracy, with Kung-Fu, defence.  With the advent of the Quicksilver Gloves, this just became a whole lot easier.  

I personally don't go in for wearing a huge amount of damage bonus clothing.  A relatively decent rule of thumb to go by is that if you haven't got the accuracy and timing to hit anyone, your damage clothing is pointless.  This isn't to say that accuracy is everything.  It takes far more than pure accuracy to become a competent MA.

Or, you can fake it...

- Special bonus 'MA' load out: Kung-Fu/Karate + Combat Training from the Force Enhancer (?) tree.  This utilises the 60+ pts of accuracy Combat Training gives you to create a faux-MA build.  You may sense some disdain towards this build.  You sensed correctly.  I find it cheap and in no way indicative of a player's MA competence.  As always, it's important to remember that it's the player's prerogative to load it, so however they want to go about things is fine.  You can choose to load Kung-Fu/Aikido/Karate Master with it, and basically try to steam-roll your way through opponents with your vastly superior accuracy.  This load out is far, far from unbeatable, and it's not something I advise simply because I don't want to be the one to turn you onto it.

I just stopped using this load about a week ago mostly due to a LE, so you're correct. I'm not a master MA but I can chop down any MA with the load due to superior accuracy while I can also boost up my defense and resistance. You can get it even higher if you got the e-mail, but I wouldn't suggest doing that. So my competance in MA is limited, but by now I know the numbers so I can understand the comparative gap between the MA trees. The only reason I use MA CT is to battle the onflowing scourge of MKTs, fighting fire with fire.

- Secondary bonus 'MA' load out: Any MA Master plus Fast Healing 1.0/Combat Enhancement 1.0/Bolster Health 1.0 from the Patcher tree.  This gives you additional health, accuracy and health regen, along with your MA Master trees.  It's not as successful as the Combat Training/MA combination, but it's a way-round nonetheless.  I have no disdain for this route at all, simply because I don't believe it gives much in the way of an advantage.

If you're going to go patcher/ma, you might as well go CT.

There you go, the choice is entirely yours. 

Good luck, sir/Madam.

*This whole ‘broken Tomo' comment will annoy some of you MA's reading this.  That's great, opinion should be divided, or we'd be living in a terrifying one-sided u(dys)topia.  If you do have strong enough feelings about it that you feel compelled to comment, PM me rather than derail the thread.  Much obliged.

OMG HOW DAR U DIS MAH CT LOAD NUB. U JUST SAD U GT PWNT BY IT. GGSON **Welcome to our forums**!!1!!1!!

exsuscito wrote:

Or, you can fake it...

- Special bonus 'MA' load out: Kung-Fu/Karate + Combat Training from the Force Enhancer (?) tree.  This utilises the 60+ pts of accuracy Combat Training gives you to create a faux-MA build.  You may sense some disdain towards this build.  You sensed correctly.  I find it cheap and in no way indicative of a player's MA competence.  As always, it's important to remember that it's the player's prerogative to load it, so however they want to go about things is fine.  You can choose to load Kung-Fu/Aikido/Karate Master with it, and basically try to steam-roll your way through opponents with your vastly superior accuracy.  This load out is far, far from unbeatable, and it's not something I advise simply because I don't want to be the one to turn you onto it.

I just stopped using this load about a week ago mostly due to a LE, so you're correct. I'm not a master MA but I can chop down any MA with the load due to superior accuracy while I can also boost up my defense and resistance. You can get it even higher if you got the e-mail, but I wouldn't suggest doing that. So my competance in MA is limited, but by now I know the numbers so I can understand the comparative gap between the MA trees. The only reason I use MA CT is to battle the onflowing scourge of MKTs, fighting fire with fire.

 

Ballak wrote:

exsuscito wrote:

Or, you can fake it...

- Special bonus 'MA' load out: Kung-Fu/Karate + Combat Training from the Force Enhancer (?) tree.  This utilises the 60+ pts of accuracy Combat Training gives you to create a faux-MA build.  You may sense some disdain towards this build.  You sensed correctly.  I find it cheap and in no way indicative of a player's MA competence.  As always, it's important to remember that it's the player's prerogative to load it, so however they want to go about things is fine.  You can choose to load Kung-Fu/Aikido/Karate Master with it, and basically try to steam-roll your way through opponents with your vastly superior accuracy.  This load out is far, far from unbeatable, and it's not something I advise simply because I don't want to be the one to turn you onto it.

I just stopped using this load about a week ago mostly due to a LE, so you're correct. I'm not a master MA but I can chop down any MA with the load due to superior accuracy while I can also boost up my defense and resistance. You can get it even higher if you got the e-mail, but I wouldn't suggest doing that. So my competance in MA is limited, but by now I know the numbers so I can understand the comparative gap between the MA trees. The only reason I use MA CT is to battle the onflowing scourge of MKTs, fighting fire with fire.

 

Some people would say "whatever goes". Any crossload that works like this and WORKS (e.g. also Artillerist/IH or Arbalest/IH or Nukersim/DMS LO) will be considered "legal" since it's "supported" by the system given. I'm not saying they're bad, anyways. Whatever floats your boat.

GoDGiVeR wrote:

Ballak wrote:

exsuscito wrote:

Or, you can fake it...

- Special bonus 'MA' load out: Kung-Fu/Karate + Combat Training from the Force Enhancer (?) tree.  This utilises the 60+ pts of accuracy Combat Training gives you to create a faux-MA build.  You may sense some disdain towards this build.  You sensed correctly.  I find it cheap and in no way indicative of a player's MA competence.  As always, it's important to remember that it's the player's prerogative to load it, so however they want to go about things is fine.  You can choose to load Kung-Fu/Aikido/Karate Master with it, and basically try to steam-roll your way through opponents with your vastly superior accuracy.  This load out is far, far from unbeatable, and it's not something I advise simply because I don't want to be the one to turn you onto it.

I just stopped using this load about a week ago mostly due to a LE, so you're correct. I'm not a master MA but I can chop down any MA with the load due to superior accuracy while I can also boost up my defense and resistance. You can get it even higher if you got the e-mail, but I wouldn't suggest doing that. So my competance in MA is limited, but by now I know the numbers so I can understand the comparative gap between the MA trees. The only reason I use MA CT is to battle the onflowing scourge of MKTs, fighting fire with fire.

 

Some people would say "whatever goes". Any crossload that works like this and WORKS (e.g. also Artillerist/IH or Arbalest/IH or Nukersim/DMS LO) will be considered "legal" since it's "supported" by the system given. I'm not saying they're bad, anyways. Whatever floats your boat.

Try fighting MA CT IL rolls, then you'll see why it's overly felt sort of unfair when used.

...Quiet shadow. I'll teach you my loadout soon.

-Goli

That wins???????? :pppppp

TH

As ex said there is no "better" loadout..See what works for you and stick with it.

Not all players are the whiny, unjustifiably scorned people you're jumping to believe them to be, Arcanoloth.  Your disdain for such forum posters has no place in this thread, so I ask that you holster it or go off via PM's if you must.  There's no battle here, just one person's opinion.

Time, I agree in theory that everything should be labelled 'broken' if their effects are applied before the ability hits.  It just makes logistical sense that way.  It may have been intentional to apply bonuses before the damage, but to me that just doesn't make sense.  If 9mm sees fit to post here and I'm corrected, then that's absolutely fine.

Furthermore, I'm not criticising anyone who uses Aikido, far from it.  My words were, perhaps an ill-advised swipe at those who sit on grab and rely on Tomo.  When all is said and done, anything's a legitimate tactic if it's within the 'rules' (ie: Not an exploit), so I concede that my comments were most likely a momentary lapse in judgement.