Making an ideal matrix-operative... Help?

**Vallant**

Hey guys/gals,

I've been thinking a lot about what paths to go down, I've never been one for the Hacker/Code pure classes, but the main obstacle I find in deciding where to go with my characters is whenever to put them through Martial Arts or Gunman paths.

I already know which one I favour, but I'm interested in setting up a character that is very self-effecient but follows the movies quite well in terms of style. From that personally I feel people in Matrix can switch on the fly quite easily between gun-combat and melee combat but my main worry is for MXO not permitting this to a good extent statistically.

Hence, why I'm here asking for a bit of advice and a bit of a refresher on how things work here. I've never been beyond level 20 and am starting clean characters for my return to MXO with the aim of getting there and finally chilling out having broken that particular barrier;

So is it possible to pull off (particulary at max level) a character that could switch fluidly between MA and Gunning in and out of interlock? I'd like to favour on gunning preferably with a mix of the styles/weapons that are available as opposed to focusing too much on one extreme.

Is there any "better" gunner style? I know Kung Fu tends to be favoured a lot in MA, but my knowledge of the gunner classes is pretty zilchy. I'm leaning towards handgun combat for the defence boost but hey the point is to kill right so >_>

Anyway to summarise:

1) What's the max level for stats
2) What's the more well-rounded/best stastical gunner style? Alternatively what is the more "prettier" to watch!
3) Is it indeed possibly to make a gunner/ma PVE'r that can actually handle just about everything short of agents
4) Even with minimum Reason, can this operative work down the Coder path for decompiling items and of course making decent ones for myself (this is purely a self-reliance option, I've always loved crafting though...)

The third question is more to do with the stat set up because from what I'm guessing I should do this:

Max Perception = Gun Damage and Defence with fast recovery from status effects...
Max Focus = Gun Accuracy and resistance along with Melee Damage and Defence
Leftovers in Belief = Melee Accuracy and Resistance along with Viral defence

I would take it that Belief would never be high enough to allow for this operative build to be as good as say, a pure MA fighter right?

Also I've seen a lot of complaint's/points made about Vitality being useless, I'm guessing the HP/Regen/IS bonuses aren't worth that much? Obviously defence = hp as far as I'm concerned but it seems strange it's fallen down the way-side.

Opinions? Advice? Addenums? Notes I should look at? Hairstyle I should use? Cool factor clothing?

Thanks ^_^

-RVallant

**GypsyJuggler**

All your stats max at 30 and the first 5 points don't count. So when you max your Focus you'll be getting a 50% bonus to your Ballistic Accuracy. If you set your stats how you describe, an MA would beat you if you were using a Martial Arts style but you'd have the upper hand while using a Gunman style. Vitality isn't useless but it depends a lot on what clothing and buffs you are using. While your other stats influence Accuracy, Damage, Resistance and Defense directly, Vitality only comes into play if you already have something influencing your Regeneration and such.
Every style has a forte; Karate & SMG are good for Damage, Pistols & Aikido are good for Defense and Kung Fu & Rifles are good for Accuracy. Then you need to consider what abilities are available to you from each tree. The more trees you try to straddle, the less effective you will be at any one thing but the more variety you will be able to choose from. Generally though the variety doesn't make up for the sheer power you will be missing out on.
As an example, you could load Kung Fu GM and Rifles up to Three Round Burst with enough points left over for some other stuff like Awakened abilities and Passive Buffs. With a load like this, it's possible to Stagger an opponent and hit them with a combo made of Three Round Burst and Piston Kicks. It'll hurt a lot, but since you're not maximised for a single class it won't be as effective as say a Karate/Kung Fu fighter using Piston Kicks with Ki Charged Punch. On the other hand, you can't run Hyper Block and Hyper Dodge at the same time, so you may be able to take people by surprise and exploit the hole in their defense.
Another possibility is Aikido and Pistols which both have specials that affect Off-Balance opponents. Since both styles are very good for defence, a load like this might be able to survive a long time in PvP. I haven't tried it myself though, part of the fun of MxO is exploring new hybrid loads and finding out what works for you.
Anyone can be a Coder. You only need to worry about your stats if you actually intend to fight with Simulacrum, for general Crafting purposes it doesn't matter.

Hope this helps.

**Pylat**

I tried Gun-Fu for a bit, it works well enough in PvE but generally got hammered in PvP cause everyones accuracy was far superior to yours.

Go a devoted ascetic, vitality isn't that needed. Spread your stats out evenly between Belief, Perception and Focus, if you have 1 point spare put it in focus.

Dual Pistols is the best for this, lots of moves in interlock, use Kung Fu cause of it's flexibility and it's large range of state specials.

Cause you are using both Guns and MA I found the operative buff served best, so there is no reason to load up to a level 50 title buff. My loadout was basically a beeline to Dual Pistol Execution and a beeline to Wooden Dummy Drill, with a few other abils picked up on the side, Piston Kick and Pistol Barrage I think.

This loadout was good for beating MA's, cause guns>MA and also good at beating hackers cause MA>hax.

**Marias**

Arcanoloth wrote:

I tried Gun-Fu for a bit, it works well enough in PvE but generally got hammered in PvP cause everyones accuracy was far superior to yours.

Go a devoted ascetic, vitality isn't that needed. Spread your stats out evenly between Belief, Perception and Focus, if you have 1 point spare put it in focus.

Dual Pistols is the best for this, lots of moves in interlock, use Kung Fu cause of it's flexibility and it's large range of state specials.

Cause you are using both Guns and MA I found the operative buff served best, so there is no reason to load up to a level 50 title buff. My loadout was basically a beeline to Dual Pistol Execution and a beeline to Wooden Dummy Drill, with a few other abils picked up on the side, Piston Kick and Pistol Barrage I think.

This loadout was good for beating MA's, cause guns>MA and also good at beating hackers cause MA>hax.

And the first thing that you'll learn in MxO is that there is always an exception to these rules. I would highly advise against using gunman/ma, or anything else mixed in classes for that matter with the exception of the very rare hacker/healer combination. If you're using guns, load up all trees that are gunman. If you're using MA, pick a specific attack ideal and build the rest of your load around it. If you want damage, load high damage moves and every damage bonus from the surrounding trees for your respective class.

Also, while Vitality is broken in most aspects, you need it to roll out in fights. If you're a Spy, or like to keep close combat restricted to your own terms, or you want to roll out when a massively damaging move is imminent, Vitality will save you a lot of trouble. It's all about your playing style, and later on you'll be able to adapt to any situation. Well, if you're good you'll be able to...

=D

**SolidRevolver** · 08/29/2007 10:01:54

9mmfu has said, his normal (as in non-Admin character) level 50 character has stats of 20,20,20,20, 11 (or was that last one 8?) With that you can switch to any tree and be reasonally affective, you wont have best damage/accuracy but you will have better protection from other tree's. It would be a lot more ill-advised to load up a hybrid then though as your accuracy/damage wouldn't be worth mentioning.

Personally, I am a gunner, I do little PVP but with the Yuki Dana/Area K/Quicksilver gloves, and as most NPCs use guns/hacks, I can clear the biggest busiest mission area single handedly without a single thought of health.

**Shinryu** · 08/29/2007 10:05:44

I've been running as a Karate GM / SMG Specialist for a long time now... and what these guys have said pretty much hits the nail on the head. It does have definite advantages in certain situations but for the most part, especially in one on one PvP, the accuracy you lose by splitting between the two trees is too big of a penalty. If you PvP at all with a loadout like mine, you really have to accept that you're going to be more of a supporting player than someone who can go out there and do overly well by yourself. Either you'll need others to help you dish out the damage and buff you, or you'll be the one doing the assisting.

That said, go with what makes you happy. You will find some success, particularly in PvE, with a mixed loadout and I know (for me anyway) combat just wouldn't be fun if I was running with something strictly because it wins me fights instead of something I enjoyed using. Besides, it's always great fun to have someone see you con as a Karate GM and think they can root you and solve all of their problems only to get hit by a Full Auto Redux.

**Zerotolerance**

This thread could use a sticky. A lot of good stuff mentioned here.

The lack of damage/accuracy with mixed stats and hybrid loads isn't worth it. There's plenty of hybrid trees that work with certain stats, though. For example, a gunman [with gunman stats] using MA has poor accuracy but good damage. They also have good Melee defense. I just wouldn't rely on this loadout for PVP because of its unreliability and an inability to defend yourself against more than two damage types.