ISO: Mutant Help/Insight

Howdy folks! Unexpectedly found myself back on SS2 after a 3+ year hiatus.

Not entirely sure where I left off, and seeing as how a lot has changed, I need insight

Doing my normal FC farm routine while I type this and get familiarized with the game mechanics again.

Current Equipment:

Gamma Bite Dose 1 -Good- Upgraded x5
Scout Scope Upgraded x5
En-KR5 Weapon Add-on -Good- Upgraded x5
Desert Rage Set (Avg, Avg, Perfect. Unupped)

I have 2 lvl 275 DP buffs sitting in inventory & 60 Bound FC.
Current Stats:

Attack: 1
Defense: 1
Armor: 1
Damage: 71
HP: 10

Skills:

Lvl 100 Data Processor

7- Unique Data
3- Bite Mutation

Currently 25 unused skill points.

Anyone who feels compelled to take the time to guide me in the right direction is awesome, and it's greatly appreciated

Good luck and happy hunting ^_~

20 views and no reply? Q_Q;

I guess i'll continue to go at this blindly.. xD

How best to spend your skill points (Mutant).

Well, firstly...my philosophy is to try to be as self-sufficient as possible - meaning, have the buffs you need so that you don't have to rely on other people. I'm in one of the most busy Factions in the game, and yet I still can't rely on other Faction-mates being online to buff me when I need them...it's just not realistic.

Second...if you haven't already, max out DP and RES. Lots of people have this, yes, but...remember my first point.

Third...are the buffs that help you with 1-hit killing. On the "Core" side of things, are KR and COR. On the "Mutant" side of things, are Glowing Hands and Variance. It is my suggestion to max out the Mutant buffs, GH and VAR (you need to use a RAD Weapon to get use out of these), before maxing out KR and COR. Why? Because, if you get GH and VAR and still need KR and/or COR, there are many players that can buff you with these, or even stims you can use...but if you get KR and COR, and still need GH and/or VAR, then you can ONLY get these from Mutants, and even then, only from Mutants who still have some Rad points left.

Fourth...I don't put points in the "Mutation" (Bite Mutation, Claw Mutation) skills, nor do I use the Weapons that require points in these skills. The skills by themselves just seem crappy to me...and the "Mutation" Weapons -- well, while they come with extra stats like HP and/or DEF, which seems nice, the fact that they have extra stats means that their most important stats as weapons - ATK and DMG - don't get as much of an increase when Engineered, so they tend to be weaker.

Fifth...the only Mutant buff after GH and VAR that I've gotten is Searing Edge (and I've also gotten 100 points in Toxic since that's a requirement of Searing Edge).

Sixth...put 1, and only 1, skill point in Recover. Then, you can press the "H" key to heal yourself 11 HP if you have 10 Rad points. (Note: "H" key only works with SS2Helper, which only works with Firefox 8 or earlier.)

How best to spend your Evolution Points (Mutant):

(Note: I don't put points into ARM. I put them into HP. From what I understand, in order to survive a hit, my ARM + HP much be larger than the enemy's DMG...so, as I see it, it doesn't matter where the points are in the "ARM + HP" calculation. Therefore, I have chosen to put the points into HP because there's a low level skill with a cheap stim (Internal Reserves) that boosts it. The comparable skill that boosts ARM, "Hardened", is a high level and doesn't have a stim, so it's less available.)

I used to use a kind of "10% here, 40% there" list for allocating my Evolution Points. But I no longer do that. What I do now is, after each level, I put the 2 points into whichever stat I needed more of on the previous level.

At my level, Enemy Stats get extreme, and it can be hard to get enough stats...so, I often have to switch up gear from level to level, and add skills. For example, I don't always need KR and COR to get enough DMG...but, if I do need them, it means I was deficient in DMG, and so I put my points into DMG after I level. Other times, I have plenty of DMG, but I'm low on HP...so, if I find I need to use Int Reserves (I buy the stim) and Protection Field to get more HP, then I put my points into HP.

My methodology, however, requires that you actually have a bit of a hard time getting the right stats. You most likely will not have a hard time getting the right stats until level 140 or 150 or so. And then, at level 190, it becomes easy again (with the HK set) for about 50 levels. So, what do you do during these "easy" times? Well...I guess you need to use a "10% here, 40% there" list.

Here are my stats, and their relative percentage to the total points (with ARM ignored):

Attack
72 (9%)

Defense
220 (28%)

Armor
2 (just 2)

Damage
358 (46%)

HP
136 (17%)

Regarding Attack: it is VERY rare that you can't get enough ATK. And, when you can't, it's because you're fighting a Champion or Elite, and in those cases, you're not just a little low on ATK, you're VERY low on ATK, so having more Evolution Points is not the solution. I've often wished I had my 72 points elsewhere.

But, on the other hand...having Points in ATK allow the Strike stim to do some good (I buy the stim or get buffed by Faction-mates). Also note that Mutant is the only class that has 0 class skills that help with raising ATK or lowering enemy DEF. (All the other classes have 3 or more.)

Hopefully, your Faction has a Hoarime Frost Saber or one of the Zakesh Fragile weapons to help you with ATK in those extreme instances. (Level 250 Elite is a nightmare without one of those.)

Well here's where i've been since making my last post:

(If I knew how to link my profile here I would >_>)

Lvl: 50

15 SP Available
31 FC Budget (Still farming offers)

Outstanding Missions:

Call to Arms (Lvl 10)
Way of the Old (Lvl 16)
Berserker Bots! (Lvl 40

I currently reside in Highridge Crag. Finished with this area and getting ready to move on. Before I do, i'd like to complete the above mentioned missions. What's the easiest/quickest and energy-conserving way to get to each of these? I haven't seen a teleporter since the mines.

Skills:

Mutant:

Bite Mutation (Lvl 3) -Early stages of SS2-
Glowing Hands (Lvl 100)
Variance (Lvl 1)
Recover (Lvl 1)


Core:

Data Processor (Lvl 100)

I still have my free skill/class reset, should I bother using it now or just save it for the future?

I did do some reading and scanning of the forums and various guides before posting. I feel good about that. I'd like to get second opinions on what intervals I should change gear at? For instance, i'm Lvl 50 now with 2/3 (Sadly ._.) of a lvl 50 mutant set. Should I upgrade at 70 and then 100? Which sets do you recommend? Price?

Sorry for the lengthy post. :3 Good luck and happy hunting!

Outstanding Missions:

Call to Arms (Lvl 10)
Way of the Old (Lvl 16)
Berserker Bots! (Lvl 40

I currently reside in Highridge Crag. Finished with this area and getting ready to move on. Before I do, i'd like to complete the above mentioned missions. What's the easiest/quickest and energy-conserving way to get to each of these? I haven't seen a teleporter since the mines.

Here are maps:

http://img709.images... ... ormmap.png
http://img59.imagesh... ... 141270.png
http://ed-the-head.a...e.com/maps.html

The easiest way to get to a portal is to go to Character>Config>Instant Teleport back to Taulin Rad Lands. From there, go to Taulin City - it has everything, including a portal.

Skills:

Mutant:

Bite Mutation (Lvl 3) -Early stages of SS2-
Glowing Hands (Lvl 100)
Variance (Lvl 1)
Recover (Lvl 1)


Core:

Data Processor (Lvl 100)

I still have my free skill/class reset, should I bother using it now or just save it for the future?

The only points that I see "wasted" (IMO) are the 3 in Bite Mutation. In the grand scheme of things, though, 3 points are nothing. That's definitely not a reason to use a skill reset.

I did do some reading and scanning of the forums and various guides before posting. I feel good about that. I'd like to get second opinions on what intervals I should change gear at? For instance, i'm Lvl 50 now with 2/3 (Sadly ._.) of a lvl 50 mutant set. Should I upgrade at 70 and then 100? Which sets do you recommend? Price?

This page lists Mutant Sets and their stats, so you can compare Set A to Set B to find how their stats differ:

viewtopic.php?t=7180

You really, really want to wear a completed set. A completed set gets you the Assassin enhancement, which increases XP. You want that.

The sets are almost always at every 10 levels (i.e. 50, 60, 70). I can't give you a recommendation for if you need the 50 and the 60 and the 70 and the 80 and the 90 (without skipping any) because I don't remember back then.

If I had used them, it would've been because my Faction already had them. So...I also couldn't recommend a price, since I never have bought any. You might consider making them yourself instead of buying. That's how they got into the game in the first place, after all.

What I can tell you is that, at level 100, you definitely want the 6-piece HK set. After that, the next higher set I used was the Level 130 set.

Also important are Rad weapons. Glowing Hands and Variance increase the DMG of these. This can make your total DMG stat higher with a Rad weapon than if you were using a Core weapon with a higher DMG stat.

The Rontgen Lvl 100 Mutant set is HK correct?

Up to 64 FC now.. would you say it's worth more or less than that?

Res= Researcher?