UAC warriors - anyone still out there?

[Aganii]

Been thinking about this for a while but does anyone out there still use UAC? Initially being disgusted with open UAC I had all but written off this as a viable hunting method but in retrospect I think I was approaching the training all wrong. For example, I don't know how I missed the fact that qstrike works with all UAC attacks for great results. I think a few things would be vital to this build:

2x brawling
3x shield/2x TWC
2x ohe or ohb for mstrikes/burst damage
Overtraining armor use when possible for AP reduction

Cman qstrike
Shielded brawler
punch mastery

First off, you need another form of attack for burst damage/mstrikes. Unless you want to dual wield you can have the defense of 3x shield and heavy armor, 1second jabs/punches to reduce tier up times, easymode 1second smite, get morningstar, amb head on non-corps if voln, and still have a normal weapon style to fall back on. The twc variant is probably too costly since you have to double dodge as well and cannot parry empty handed but you will have a better MM. Thinking about this approach makes me realize monks are not that bad, except for the cva issues, and probably are the best at open UAC since they can probably use qstrike on most attacks with the stamina reducing spell plus kyrnch. Monks probably wont be able to have another weapon style so they are still limited in that regard.

[Archigeek]

I only use it occasionally. I think the real value in UAC is in ambushing from hiding.

[waywardgs]

I only use it occasionally. I think the real value in UAC is in ambushing from hiding.

^

[Aganii]

Ambushing from hiding is by far the best use of UAC. But you could also say ambushing is better than a number of sword and board setups. However, UAC still has the inherent flaw in the tier system and ambushers bypass that while qstrike just minimizes it at the cost of 14 stamina. Since using qstrike and rethinking a bit its certainly not as bad as i had once thought. At the very least its been great using 1 second smites on non corp undead and crit killing them with my current setup which doesnt require any tiering. Thats really what brought me to see merit in that path should someone want to be a brawling warrior.

[Jeril]

I am a bit curious where you are getting these round times for things because as far as I know quickstrike is an AS attack using whatever you happen to have in your hands, not something that would reduce the rt of your next attack. Most people don't use UAC because it is rather hard to beat feint, ambush head, mstrike, whatever else. I still have my brawling training because I like the open handed DS and it is a big part of my character. I use UAC a lot when helping lower level people hunt just because the attacks are quicker and more effective, with a big enough level difference you get extra tiers just for attacking.

Speaking of tier ups, that is the largest issue why it isn't used more, you can sometimes end up spending 5-6 jabs with no tier up opening, and while some say just change the attack you use it doesn't make it any better. On the plus side, you mostly only need 1 tier up to kill things effectively and you can gain that tier up with a killing move. And what I mean by that is you get an opening and aim for the head, you connect with that attack so you get the tier up and a very nice chance to kill your target, long as you actually get the head shot anyway. I've also noticed that punch/kick work better for those at tier two while grapple not so much and likely better to just go for a leg if you can then follow up with a head shot using punch/kick.

[Aganii]

Type cman help qstrike it was a ninja buff I think cause no one mentioned it. You cant aim the attacks but that is ideal for things like tiering or smiting. Cman qstrike jab creature. You have to have rank 5 to bring smite to 1 second RT since its a 4 second attack, it also costs 16 stamina.

Im blunt/shield/brawl right with the brawling there for open handed ds. I had a bunch of spare TPs, shield points and cman points so i decided to give UAC another go before fixskilling to blunt/shield/twc. With rank 5 qstrike I have been able to approach ideal speeds for my morningstar headshots and its given me some hope about the combat type. Im not sure its something I will keep but I think it can be a fun and viable path instead of slow torture. Again im not optimized for UAC (no UAC masteries, tower shield, not fully 2x brawling etc) but close enough to see that its could work

[Aluvius]

This is either a stealth change or I totally misread the information on the cman when setting up my monk. We've talked about it on the officials though and no one else seemed to think it would work this way with UAC either. Huh, neat.

Skill Name: Quickstrike
Mnemonic: qstrike
Hostile: Yes
Stamina Cost: Base 8. Additional stamina costs are determined by the Base Weapon Speed of your attack. For weapons with a base speed of 5 or less, a stamina penalty of +2 per second of base speed is applied. For weapons with a base speed greater than 5, an escalating penalty of an additional +1 stamina per second over 5 seconds is applied. This additional +1 stamina penalty is applied on top of whatever the previous second's stamina penalty is. For two weapon combat, an effective Base Weapon Speed is calculated by taking the primary weapon's base speed, adding half the secondary weapon's base speed (rounded up), and adding 1 to the result. The minimum stamina cost is 8 and the maximum is 25.
Other Requirements: None
Available to: Warriors, Rogues, Monks.
Prerequisites:
None
CMP Cost:
Rank 1: (Squares) 2
Rank 2: (Squares) 4
Rank 3: (Squares) 6
Rank 4: (Squares) 8
Rank 5: (Squares) 10
Description: Reduces the roundtime for one swing with a penalty to Attack Strength. Can be used in an unarmed attack by specifying the unarmed attack type (e.g. "cman qstrike kick kobold").

[Aluvius]

If you used quickstrike to spam 1 second jabs to get a tier up, then punched a head for the tier up attack this could be quite effective. Why wasn't this mentioned/stressed with all of the complaining about open UAC lol. Granted you couldn't use it all of the time, but it would be effective with those things you absolutely want to put down quickly.

Hell, its the only cman that might get me to run 1213 over 1216 as a monk.

[MrMortimur]

Thanks for the info Aganii, Qstrike might be something I'll pick up. Need to look at my training spreadsheet now.