Combat Maneuvers (as a Warrior)

[GoblinAttorney]

I've never played a character that focused on CM, such as a Warrior. I'm a little fuzzy on what the general training expectations are:

1) Picking up a rank in a CM skill: is it with the intention of eventually mastering that skill or are there diminishing returns in effect? In other words do you master few skills or pick up a few ranks in many more skills?

2) Mastering a skill: a goal for much later in life or do you strive to achieve mastery as soon as possible once you've started down the path of that skill?

3) Dabbling but not mastering: if I want to be at least competent against like level how many ranks should I aim for (assuming 5 ranks possible)?

4) What are some of the "hands down required" CM skills?

[Taernath]

There are a few skills that you're probably better off only getting a few ranks in, like wspec, because 8+ CM points for +2AS/CML isn't that hot.

AS for what's 'required', it mostly depends on what weapon you're using or what your problem areas are. I think everyone goes for bonding, surge is also very popular.

[Gelston]

You need at least 3 ranks of wspec for bonding. Get all 5 ranks of bonding.

[GoblinAttorney]

Thanks for the replies! Looking back, I guess I should have just condensed my question down to this: is mastering a CM skill required for it to be effective?

It doesn't seem so based on warrior builds I've seen with a bunch of CM skills at only 3 of 5 ranks.

As with all things, what I need to do now is just try it out for myself and see what works.

[Gelston]

Thanks for the replies! Looking back, I guess I should have just condensed my question down to this: is mastering a CM skill required for it to be effective?

It doesn't seem so based on warrior builds I've seen with a bunch of CM skills at only 3 of 5 ranks.

As with all things, what I need to do now is just try it out for myself and see what works.

A lot of your skills you'll be getting through guild, feint, disarm, tackle, so have you. If you use a shield, you can get shield skills too, so that takes care of sbash or scharge or what have you.

My warrior I have Bond to 5, with Wspec to 5, because fuck you Taernath, I do what I want. I also have both ranks of mobility, which I think is vital for berserking in camps. I have focus maxed out because TD is good. I have charge maxed too, because I use polearms.

[Taernath]

Wspec to 5, because fuck you Taernath, I do what I want.

I mean yeah, sure, get them to 5 eventually when there's nothing better, but there's no rush.

[Maerit]

To answer your question directly - offensive CMANs will perform best when maxed. You will find they work poorly on "square" opponents when trained less than max, but work adequately on semi/pure targets.

This is also augmented by your CM skill, and various stats. This is also the reason training a guild skill is stronger than the CMAN version because you can get 6.3 (63 ranks) in the ability vs 5 ranks with cman points.

[GoblinAttorney]

Thanks, Maerit. That definitely brings cmans into better focus for me.