A True Progen Warrior Newbie Guide

[Whitelighter]

Have some time on my hands and I have been meaning to do post this. There is an awful lot of new players, either with the class or the game entirely, that have little to no clue about how to effectively play a PW. Of course anything I say is going to be based off my own experiances and observations. I played a maxxed out PW in Live, a lv80-ish PW in ST3 (RL slowed me down), and currently have a OL118 PW in ST4. So lets get started!

Overview

The Progen Warrior (PW) is the get-in-yer-face and pound ya class. We get a total of 6 weapon slots (2 starting, +1 @ OL10, +1 @ OL50, +1 @ OL75, +1 @ OL135), and 3 device slots. The PW is intended to use projectile weapons which allow for some mid-range, high damage guns. Typically seen as the tank in a group setting due to our ability to use lv9 shields and 82,000 hull points at OL135. Also some of our skills are slanted towards that role of increasing aggro and reducing damage. Most PWs will have slight variations in their skills so some may be set-up for tanking better than others. You start out using a beam weapon, but shortly after you get the mission to upgrade to projectiles. Most Progen skills and gear buffs are based on projectiles so you use those.

Skills

Beam Weapons

Until you are OL150 you shouldn't put any points into this. While a few PWs have focused on using beam weapons, we are usually restricted from the nicer beams that Jenquai can use.

Missile Weapons

These are better than Beams I guess, but still not ideal for a Progen of any class. You get the benefit of longer range than projectiles have, but lose some of the buffs from other things. While not ideal, missiles can be a decent option compared to projectiles.

Projectiles

Any Progen with more than two brain cells will MAX this skill. Once you get to lv7 projectile weapons the damage they can inflict is just amazing. Again, MAX THIS SKILL!

Build Weapons

This is up for debate depending on your options. If you have a weapon building character already you can skip this and save some skill points, if you don't you should take it. Player Made (PM) weapons gives better buffs, fire faster and PM ammo does 30% more damage. As a class built for combat you want all the damage you can get from your guns.

Shield and Reactor Techs

These should always be at the highest level you can get them. These are your lifelines! You'll take these all the way to MAX rank.

Devices

Another thing that should be MAXXED to Tech 8. We don't get to use lv9 devices, but there is some amazing lv8 devices you will want. They buff things from weapon fire rate, shield/reactor regen, scan range, you name it and there is probably a device that buffs it.

Engine Tech

Usually people debate on how high to take this skill. Personally if you can I say take it to the MAX as speed is important to all classes. Higher level engines let you reverse kite easier, meaning you can kill some higher level mobs than you think you can. I always take it to lv4 quick as I can, then finish it out as the last skill I upgrade.

Shield Sap

One of my favorite skills personally. This allows you to (at higher ranks of it) drain shield from an enemy (or a GROUP of enemies!) and refill your own shields with it. If you MAX this, which you should, you can keep using the lower rank (SHIELD TRANSFER) as it is increased in power from having the higher ranks and is very cheap on energy cost.

Shield Inversion

Often debated, this skill has its uses and its drawbacks. At MAX rank its great for farming lower level mobs, and as a small DPS boost in regular hunting. Plus the graphic is kinda cool looking. My opinion is that the skill points are better spent elsewhere.

Repair Equipment

Not a bad skill, I would sugguest taking this to level-3 and stopping there. Again, past level-3 the skill points are better spent somewhere else.

Self Destruct

Ah SD, the poor man's Wormhole. This skill, while worthless as its intended design, does have one great use: Set your home base to Queen Anne's Revenge (in Blackbeards Wake) and you can use SD to get almost anywhere in the galaxy in a few minutes! Don't put any points into this though, the level 1 effect can do the above trick.

Gravity Link

My other favorite skill next to shield sap! This will slow your target, and at rank 5 (and higher) it also gives a nice debuff on the target, weakening its resistance to IMPACT damage! I would sugguest taking this to lv5 (Immobilization), anything after that is up to you.

Enrage

A simple, commonly used tank ability. Causes the mobs to focus attacks on you. If you plan on grouping a lot this could be handy. Otherwise I'd skip it.

Combat Trance

This is a great ability. Gives passive resistance to all damage types (except PSI which VERY few mobs use), and the last 2 levels of it gives increased reactor and shield regen. This is a staple PW talent, you'll want it.

Critical Targeting

Gives an increased chance to land a critical hit for more damage. Combine this (70% at max rank) with the buffs from various gear and you'll be at, or very close to, 100% critical hits. This should be a no-brainer to max.

Damage Control

This is a personal choice talent for most. I happen to think its worth the points. At max rank it has the same effect of adding 200% more hull points and for a class with 82000 hull points, that means a lot more beating to kill us.

At OL150 you have 276 skill points to spend. If you Max the no-choices (projectiles, shields, reactors, devices, Combat Trance, Critical Targeting, Engine to Tech 4) that leaves you with 92 skill points. After you hit OL150 you get 1 skill point per "extra level", so spend them wisely. They aren't easy to come by.

Progen Warrior Tips and Tricks

Reverse Kiting - Simple to do and highly effective. Throw Gravity Link on the mob and hit reverse thrust while firing at it. You stay with-in your damage range, while out of the mobs damage range. You'd be amazed at how much higher level stuff you can kill this way.

Poor Man's Wormhole - Already mentioned above but I'm going to add it again here. Travel to Queen Anne's Revenge station in Blackbeard's Wake, once you register there you can use a combination of Self Destruct and the gates in that sector to travel almost anywhere in the galaxy with-in minutes! Self Destruct doesn't cause XP Debt or gear damage.

Those are just 2 of the common tricks for a PW, I'll let you figure out the rest .

Some gear buffs you'll want to watch out for are:

+ Projectile Skill

+ Projectile Range

Turbo Weapons

+ Reactor Recharge

+ Shield Recharge (just not anything with +Recharge Shield Skill! that won't help you!)

+ Scan

+ Speed

Here are some useful sites along the way:

Character Skill Planner

Net7 Item Database (Ran by Slayerman!)

EnB Galaxy Maps NOTE these are from Live and not COMPLETELY accurate, but very helpful.

Old EnB Live Leveling Guide Again, from Live but it can give you some ideas

Level 30 HU Mission Walkthrough Can also be found in this forum

And since I still have time to kill, here are some really useful items you can hunt down:

Steingerd's Embrace +30% reactor Regen, swap it in and buff, then swap it out for a combat device

Puk's Wing Projectile Energy Conservation

Taniwha's Pride Projectile Energy Conservation with an added Impact/Explosive Debuff to target

Tatsu's Pride Same as the above, but with plasma/energy debuffs. Hard to get

Normandy Shield Line Has an activated +shield regen buff. Even if you use another shield, have one for the buff

Slime Cannon Has some nice buffs, less DPS than PM guns but the buff for the other guns offsets it

Roc's Device Line Nice, cheap and at lv5+ it gives a much needed scan boost

Sting Line devices Has an actived Projectile Weapon Skill buff. another swap in and buff then swap out device

Cat's Paw Line Devices Nice combat speed (thrust) buff. Though some of the mid-level ones have a Projectile Range debuff, can opt for the Hapry Line of Devices instead to avoid this

Just some basic devices you'll most likely want. There are tons more but these are the ones you'll start using early.

That should be more than enough information to get you started. You can also hit me up in-game and I'll answer what I can.

[esoconn1]

Great post Whitelighter. Sound advice.

I also played a maxed PW in live, a couple of times in ST3 and now have 1 to lvl 80, as I have leveled a Privateer first this time around to currently 148.

The only thing I would add would be an addendum to the Progen Warrior's Tips and Tricks section:

Obtaining a lvl 5 Puk's Wing engine from cl 28 Research Vessel mobs in Grissom around Dzurai Nav 1. The buffs on this engine are primarily focused on the Progen Sentinal, indicated by the boost to the Powerdown skill, but the Conserve Projectile Energy buff on the engine makes it a no brainer until you obtain a Reaver or (hope against hope) a Ballista for conservation purposes.

Once you are close to using level 8 devices, there is a quest in Paramis Station, given by a gal whose name is too obscure for me to spell properly, but is dressed in white and is identical to Megan, who gives a mission for you to obtain a Nitrous Oxide System device. It is level 8, but you can obtain it anytime you're strong enough to accomplish her mission.

The NOS is invaluable to any class. The Progen can kite anything currently in game with this device and take little to no damage. The stats on the device are:

Increase Speed Cap by 500% when equipped.

Decrease warp engage/cooldown times by 55% when equipped.

Increase warp speed by 750.0 when equipped.

72.0% less energy used to engage warp when equipped.

There are alot of different ideas on how to play a PW and getting into the finer points usually degenerates into a case of semantics based on personal play style. Whitelighter has done a tremendous job on this post and I hope only to add a little more to the tactics/tips side of things while taking nothing away from what he has already said.

If you are playing the most powerful warrior in the game, remember,'Hesitation is weakness.'

[Whitelighter]

Ty Ice! I thought about putting in some of the nicer items that help,a nd since the server is still down and might be for a while I may edit some in. I didn't know about the NOS device lol. Does it just increase the cap or does it also act as a Cat's Paw type device? I assume it is the former but figured I'd ask.

[mcneal222]

good post white its really usefull for the new pw player

and progen think about hold you cl/el/tl ballanced dont make 18/15/5 like a pw what i have see yesterday lol

[Whitelighter]

and progen think about hold you cl/el/tl ballanced dont make 18/15/5 like a pw what i have see yesterday lol

Yea I see that all the time. I guess you can do it but IMO PWs live and die by their shields/reactors. All our guns are useless when you have no reactor juice and taking hull damage from having a lv4 shield at cl40 lol

[esoconn1]

The NOS increases my Puk's Wing from its base 127 m/s thrust to 681 thrust forward and around 390 in reverse.

It acts as a Cat's Paw/Lazarus and Roadrunner-Plus all-in-one. Essential for the PW who has only 3 device slots at their disposal.

An aside, in response to the balanced leveling, it is ideal, imo, to keep combat your lowest or next to lowest experience line. It's difficult to do, because PW is a combat beast, but as Whitelighter said, the PW lives and dies by his reactor and shield.

Forgive my personal example, but my PW is overall level 80. His experience is Combat 17, Explore 19, Trade 44. The advantage to this is he uses level 6 shields and reactors with lvl 3, soon to be lvl 4 guns: total domination.

While I know this boring path to progession may not be for most, it serves many purposes. The one afore mentioned about shield and reactor, also Icepick is using the lvl5 Puk's Wing. He's also an accomplished weapons builder, so he'll always have 200% weapons up til lvl 8 weapons, where the % drops off drastically without pm comps (which are easy enough to obtain), and his device skill in maxed to his level. Skill points are at a premium, which is another thing Whitelighter made very clear. Much of the time in early leveling there aren't near enough to get what you want upgraded. By taking this leveling approach, you aren't skill point starved.

I hope this is helpful.

[Irbis]

in my country "NOS" means "nose". i dont know any other meanings of this words.

can we finaly start using full names without assuming that everybody knows everything?

if you want to give any adivices to new players better do that in their language of understonding, otherwise its like teaching economics in l33t speak - you dont teach anything, you just make your audience feel dumber.

no offence ofcourse - its just my ironical style of talking.

[little]

Very nice guide, thanks a lot to all who contribute.

(...) but is dressed in white and is identical to Megan, who gives a mission for you to obtain a Nitrous Oxide System device. (...)The NOS is invaluable to any class.

Irbis, The NOS was mention in previous post

[Irbis]

Very nice guide, thanks a lot to all who contribute.

Irbis, The NOS was mention in previous post

opsy, looks like ive kicked myself in the balls heh. sorry

[gamorex]

Shield Sap

One of my favorite skills personally. This allows you to (at higher ranks of it) drain shield from an enemy (or a GROUP of enemies!) and refill your own shields with it. If you MAX this, which you should, you can keep using the lower rank (SHIELD TRANSFER) as it is increased in power from having the higher ranks and is very cheap on energy cost.

Actually, Shield Sap takes the mobs shield and turns it in to ENERGY, not shields. I think the JE's Shield Leech adds the taken shields and add it to your shields.

And I agree with Irbis, I am new to E&B and I don't know all of the acronyms of the game. If some one could make a list of the most common, that would be really helpful.

[esoconn1]

You actually have the 2 skills confused Gamorex. Shield Sap does indeed take shield from your enemy and convert it to your own as a PW. Shield Leech takes shield and turns it into reactor energy. Easy to confuse the two, so don't feel bad.

[seekeronos]

good post white its really usefull for the new pw player

and progen think about hold you cl/el/tl ballanced dont make 18/15/5 like a pw what i have see yesterday lol

As that unbalanced PW in question... I'd have to say I shoulda known better, having been a JE in live where not only did you need balance, but most often being insanely ahead on EL/TL was more of a must.

Looks like it carries over to the PW just as well.

Y'all pardon me now whilst I load up my tiny cargo hold and make like a gimpy hauler between Fenris & Somer~

[madline]

Ok, ok i played PW when game was live, ST3 and now in ST4, with the most post here i agree but a PW will always be unbalanced lol, a PW is a combat animal and why i should run trades to get Tlvl up first?

I miss some Device in the list that make a PW most stronger, Ward Of Livig Stone is one, Power Of Living Stone, The Voriacius Blood all Devices what helps your shield and reaktor. Next a PW is blind 8) so it happens that your sig is higher then your scan range lol, a Zenshai Nav Computer device can help a bit.

If i have 5 weapon slots i use only 4 if iam unbalanced, in the fith slot i put a Spooky Breed PL that increase thrust speed or u spend 1 skill point in ML skill und use a lvl 2 Bricol Prime with 2 nice PL buffs on it.

At the time u on lvl 5 guns comes the time for pushing Tlvl, go for Organics around lvl 20-25 and farm them, then transfere loot to a player. If u loot ammo dont destroy it, ammo gives good exp if u trade it to a player.

Here is i thing iam missing most and thats the most important, what reactor and shield is best.

If u wtach market channel u see all time , looking for best PW reactor lvl 3 or 4 or whatever but witch one is it? must answers tell Nero, but is Nero realy the best for a PW?

Lets take a Nero lvl5, Nero have 2 good buffs on it: Recharge Shields (Activated) Improved Shield Inversion (Equip) the Cap is 1226 and Recharge on a200% build is 26, not bad but if your set up is for distance and high trust worthless.

I always change reactors and shield, if i go for high lvl killing i need range, so i use Caligula, if i go for infight a Nero or Titus.

Same with shield, if i use a Nero then i use a Waterloo, if i use a Titus with highest Cap then i use a Falkirk for more range on PL.

I hope u understand the most of my broken english, that my way to play a PW but feel free to play it different, have fun thats the only thing that count.

[Whitelighter]

You can level unbalanced, but unlike a TE or a TT who can kite pretty effectively, it will eventually catch up to you. At some point you will not be able to tank the mobs nor will you be able to out run them with reverse kiting. In my experiance this tends to happen around the higher CL30s/OL90. You'll end up having to run those dreaded trade routes anyway, so might as well get it over with early and benefit from it rather than wait till you have to and no other choice.

Here is how I leveled, it wasn't the funnest route but it was effective. I think with some tweaks here and there, after the next P-wipe I can level it easier and faster.

Fairly Balanced up to CL20-25 (my levels were something like 2X/15/15)

Got to CL30/TL26, then ran TL up to 50(!). Took about 4 days (7hours or so a day) to hit TL50. Wasnt too bad, plus the money was a nice boost for upgrading

After that I had no problem getting up to CL43

Ran 2 or 3 tours a few days ago that brought my EL from 20 to 29.

Then I noticed I couldnt hunt like I prefer to hunt, which is +5 or more CLs above me. So I've ran some more trade routes (Starting last night actually) and am currently at OL125. And should easily hit OL130 or OL135 sometime today.

I know what you're thinking, and no I dont play that much really. On average I might get in 4 hours, once in a while I can slip in a big day of 7-8 hours. Its all about managing your time to make the most of it. Which is another benefit of having high TL. If I only get to play 3 hours today, I sure don't want to waste an hour of it spamming market for someone to make my ammo or upgrade my guns. When Im out hunting, I always start thinking of whats next. My next hunting spot, what skills I want to increase next and when I'll be able to. I always follow the rule that PL, Shields, Reactor gets priority on upgrading first. Then Critical Targeting, Shield Sap then Combat Trance. The only exception is at CL35/36. Save enough skill points to be able to upgrade Combat Trance immediately at CL35 over anything else, and at CL36 get your new weapons.

As far as devices, yeah there is a lot missing from that list. I just put up some of the early level ones people should use. Personally right now I have about 10-12 devices I swap around depending on what I plan on doing. And I dont even have all the ones I want yet lol.

As I've said a few times, there is never going to be and end-all be-all way of leveling. This is just what works best for me. I try to maximize my time, and I find myself playing solo more often than not.

[little]

Fairly Balanced up to CL20-25 (my levels were something like 2X/15/15)Got to CL30/TL26, then ran TL up to 50(!). Took about 4 days (7hours or so a day) to hit TL50.

How ?! what are you doing to get that much Trade xp to reach TL50 in only 4 days ?

[esoconn1]

A constant 4 days of trade runs. That's the down side of the early leveling scheme to keep yourself dominant on the battlefield. Not a lot of fun, but worthwhile.

[Irbis]

hearing that someone can hit any level cap in just 4 days makes me somehow discouraged... the feeling is quite simple: i play normaly, i go here, fly there, mine some roids, explore a bit etc and the exp gain is quite small, but then again - i am having fun.

for every game ive played i was always the powergamer. grinding like hell, hours by hours. which quite fast made me hate the game, growing a feeling of charity, second job rather then having fun. i promised myself to not be like that when playing EnBemu. i am planing this to be the last MMO of my choice and i cant afford to grow "tired" of it...

wow, one helish off-topic eh?

[Whitelighter]

hearing that someone can hit any level cap in just 4 days makes me somehow discouraged... the feeling is quite simple: i play normaly, i go here, fly there, mine some roids, explore a bit etc and the exp gain is quite small, but then again - i am having fun.

for every game ive played i was always the powergamer. grinding like hell, hours by hours. which quite fast made me hate the game, growing a feeling of charity, second job rather then having fun. i promised myself to not be like that when playing EnBemu. i am planing this to be the last MMO of my choice and i cant afford to grow "tired" of it...

wow, one helish off-topic eh?

I agree, grinding to max level ASAP is a good way to burn out. Normally I level just a bit ahead of 'the pack'. Just this time 2 things happened: I had a few days off and had the house to myself, I was also wanting to try leveling a different way than I usually do. And it was about 2 weeks of casual playing for me to hit TL28-ish, THEN 4 days to run it to TL50.

And I'll throw this in here as well, theres a new bug (for me atleast) I found. Combat Trance lv7 does not like stacking with Ivory Ward. It bugs after a while and doesn't give the full resists it should. Works fine until you move long enough to lose Trance, then the resists 'cap' themselves at 50 instead of the 73 it should be.

[Ryle [N7R]]

There is nothing wrong with a 50/25/25 PW

At OL 100 youre more than a match for pretty much anything VG can throw at you. Go out and kill all those Crystal Critters and Melbonae (or however its spelled. You can just mop the floor with them, and since they are CL 38-46 you still get combat xp sloughing off into your EL and TL levels, not to mention the junk loot you can sell at the station.

For me the run from OL 100 - 150 took about 3 days, as long as I was CL 50 when I started.