[size=150][u][b]0.695 STM1993's Cybernetic - Complete Skill Build [100] [/b][/u][/size]
Deadly long ranged build used by me during 0.695. Very knowledge-intensive. Use with Pistols, Ruger or M4A1 for optimal results. Ideal for laggers.

[size=85]1:Plasma; 2:Invis; 3:BT; 4:SR; 5:Energize
F1: Shockwave (keep this skill selected for right click)
F2: Force Fields[/size]

[b]Plasma Ball[/b] (10+5)
[b]Firestorm[/b] (6)
[b]Energize[/b] (7)
[b]Vapor[/b] (10+1)
[b]Critical Shot[/b] (7)
These are your offensive skills.

[b]Self-Repair[/b] (10)
[b]Bullet Time[/b] (1)
[b]Shockwave[/b] (8)
[b]Invisibility[/b] (10+2)
[b]Corpse Construction[/b] (2)
These make up your defensive skills.

[b]Dash[/b] (10)
[b]Static Charges[/b] (5)
These are for both offense and defense.

[b]Force Fields[/b] (5)
[b]Stolen Seekers[/b] (9)
These are mainly filler skills.


[size=150][u]Using this build:[/u][/size]
This build is basically a Glass Cannon: it is all about avoiding the enemy's brunt and killing him quickly. To do this, you need to have a strong understanding of the game and the map you are playing on so that you can predict your enemy and use the terrain against him, all while positioning yourself in a way that minimizes the risks of being attacked. You are also required to have excellent aiming ability, otherwise the build's strong offense cannot be utilized and you will be easily beaten. In this section, I will share with you my tips and elaborate on how I use this build and the logic behind the skills I chose.

The main defense of this build is to keep a healthy distance between you and your enemy; far enough so he can't reach you but close enough for you to see and hit him. Generally in Subvein, the person chasing you is at a defensive disadvantage while the person running away is at a defensive advantage. Terrain-wise, being on high ground makes it harder to get hit by those below you while also giving you an easy escape option of jumping off to a lower floor.

The main offense of this build is strong weapon damage and area manipulation. If you have trouble sniping him or fighting him in general combat, you can lure him to fight an uphill battle against you. When the enemy is chasing you, you can move to the stairs and position yourself at the top of a flight stairs and open fire when he attempts to charge up; this maximizes your firepower while your enemy has trouble shooting back and is forced to take all the damage, leading to a swift victory. You can also lure him to a narrow corridor with yourself close to an exit, using the enclosed area to prevent your enemy from dodging your attacks while you have the option of escaping if you find yourself overwhelmed. You can also take advantage of the fact that your enemy must pass through certain chokepoints (like a flight of stairs to reach high ground) before he can reach you, which will make aiming a whole lot easier.


[size=150][b]* Go to options, set B.LagComp to 1.00, and P.LagComp to 0.60. (and other options)[/b][/size]
[b]Bullet and Player Lag Compensation[/b], these settings are used to graphically slow down your own bullets and telegraphing the enemy's position based on your ping respectively; the higher the number the greater the amount of compensation applied. Using these settings will greatly aid you with aiming in Subvein and are graphically very accurate when you need to aim far away. As a rule of thumb, B.LC must always be set to 1.00 if you are serious about aiming properly.

[b]P.LC settings however[/b], vary based on preference, the default is 0.30. See, the problem with P.LC is that it will make your enemy warpier, especially if he is fighting you at close range, constantly changing directions at high speeds or walking near the edge of a cliff. If you are not comfortable with the warpiness, you should use a lower value. I suggest playing around until you are comfortable. Note that this doesn't mean you don't have to lead anymore. It is a good idea to try to get your bullets to hit a bit further than where your enemy is going and thus shoot the air slightly further from where he is going.

[b]Consider setting[/b] cursor size to 1 while you're at it. 0.50 HUD Alpha and 0.15 HUD Alpha 2. Disable "automatically open buy menu", disable "display tutorial", disable "in-game help", disable "switch to selected skills", enable "autocast selected skills", enable "quickwheel selection", disable "always display objectives in HUD", disable "always display missions in HUD". These settings can improve your vision, minimize distractions and give you flexibility in casting skills. My personal mouse speed is 0.60.

[b]If you are facing FPS lag[/b], try disabling "Map Atmospherics". If that still doesn't work, you have no choice but to disable "View Shadows". I strongly recommend keeping View Shadows enabled if you can help it, because it is a massive visual advantage to keep it on; you can see where your vision is blocked and enemies more clearly.


[size=150][b]* Master the art of hand-switching.[/b][/size]
[b]People REALLY underestimate[/b] the importance of using the 'X' button; to switch hands. I cannot stress this enough. You see, there are two benefits. First and more obviously, it allows you to shoot around corners or walls, which means you will be able to shoot the moment your shooting arm is no longer obstructed by the wall. This means you will minimize exposure of your character's hitbox AND also minimize the time needed for you to get into shooting position.

[b]The other lesser known[/b], subtle benefit is the shooting angle. It is very difficult to explain this, but trying to shoot an enemy that is moving to your right with your left hand or your right hand makes a difference as to how likely the bullet is going to hit your enemy (especially in lag) and consequently how much easier it would be to aim. Think of it this way: your enemy's hitbox is a rectangle, and ideally if you want to hit your enemy you'd shoot the longer length side, not the shorter width.

[b]Having said this[/b], the hand-switching angle properties only applies to your gun. Skills like plasma ball will always launch from the center of your character, not from your hand. Thus, if you are using plasma ball from around a corner, take the effort to step out a bit more before casting; the cursor line can be a bit deceiving.


[size=150][b]* Why did I use Energize?[/b][/size]
[b]Two reasons: Aim and Economy[/b]. By increasing bullet speed, it means it is much easier to aim your shots as you don't need to lead as much and you give your enemies a much harder time trying to dodge you. The loss in ammo is usually insignificant, but I stuck with level 7 rather than go higher as the bullet speed benefit is sufficient for me at level 7 while higher levels provide little benefit while magnifying the ammo loss.

[b]The other lesser known[/b] property of Energize is that it makes the gun glow an orange aura to its owner AND makes the said gun last about 2-3 times longer on the ground. This makes it easier for you to go back and pickup your weapon. Consequently that will save you a lot of money that would otherwise have been spent rebuying the same gun. Furthermore you get to keep the maximum bullet speed that you gained by using the same energized gun instead of energizing a new one. Yes, it is true that the enemy can pick up your energized gun and drop it elsewhere or even use it themselves, but usually your enemy will stick to their weapon as it is troublesome for them to attempt to handicap you, and they will usually stick to their own guns especially if they have their own Energize.


[size=150][b]* Why did I use Static Charges (SC)?[/b][/size]
[b]SC has 3 uses - Aim, Pressure and Mana[/b]. With SC, whenever you hit your enemy, you will see some white orbs appear around him indicating he has been afflicted by your SC. This tells you that yes, your aim is correct, and you have hit your enemy, the number of orbs will tell you roughly how much health he has left (more = less), and this will greatly improve your confidence in your aim. The white orbs from SC only appear when the server confirms that you have hit your enemy. Blood you say? In Subvein, you will NEVER trust blood on hitting as an indicator. This is because the blood appears when the bullet you shoot APPEARS to have hit the enemy according to your client's graphics, when in reality, according to the server, you missed, so you're better off just shooting the air and seeing no blood. That's why SC is so reliable for aim.

[b]The second use is Pressure[/b]. Having been hit by you and building up so many charges, your enemy will get scared because he knows you're hitting him and you're going to kill him. Since SC gives your enemy mana regen as well when he barriers, he will attempt to use Barrier to absorb your damage and to gain more charges and thus survive. However, on the other hand, staying still by using Barrier makes him a sitting duck ESPECIALLY if he is bleeding(low health), and your enemy knows that. This conflict of whether he should barrier or run makes things easy for you. If he decides to barrier all the way and you don't have the firepower to deal with it, you can simply leave him alone. Then he'll either continue sitting there while you get away or he'll stop barriering and start moving towards you which is your cue to start shooting. Either way, if he isn't dead, he'll also have to deal with the fact that his passive healing will not trigger while your bullets keep hitting him. This is the psychological pressure induced on your enemies.

[b]The third use is of course[/b], mana. With a few costly active skills, you'd need the mana to ensure that you can cast again. But just as importantly, since your mana regenerates faster, this means your Barrier will also regenerate faster, making your Barrier stronger and thus make you harder to kill when you use Barrier. This is great, it means you can shoot enemies from a distance accurately while tanking the enemy's attack, whereas if your opponents aren't long rangers themselves, they will be forced to get close to you in order to deal effective damage but taking damage trying to get to you, and they will have to deal with the psychological effects mentioned above.

[b]The increased enemy barrier strength[/b] may give you problems - it makes the enemy harder to kill as well especially if they use the charges along with Self-Repair. The exact level of Static Charges you want is subject to your personal preference, but for me I used 5 SC so that charges don't build up too quickly while keeping good mana regen. A very high level SC may be great and last only a very short time so you can wait it out easily, but it can diminish your short term killing ability if your enemy is very persistent about using barrier. This problem is also why I avoid using Energize above level 7; too much ammo loss means lacking the firepower needed to shoot through the barrier. Although not advisable, if you have the opportunity and are good at it, you can use the knife to stab the enemy while he is barriering. Be careful of enemies who have Force Fields, as they can activate the FF and charge at you without fear of getting hurt while your own bullets may bounce off their FF and hurt you and thus go against the pressure mentioned above; in that case you have to wait till his FF breaks or he exposes a gap.


[size=150][b]* How do I use Shockwave for this build?[/b][/size]
[b]Use it to cover your escape[/b]. Someone using plasma balls against you and you don't know where to run to? Shockwave. Someone charging at you, and is either too fast or unreachable due to FF/walls or both? Shockwave. It'd buy you a bit more than 2s of time to run, turn invisible and heal up or whatever. There is no point trying to use Shockwave to kill people by yourself. The shock range and duration are not long enough to make it truly useful for plasma ball. The damage reduction coupled with your static charges means he can tank through your damage. Take note when using Shockwave: vertical AOE is from the ground you are standing on and infinitely upwards; if the enemy is below you he will not get shocked. Make sure your characters' feet are firmly on the ground before you cast Shockwave if your target is below you, and don't bother casting shockwave if your enemy is running away from you DOWN a slope.

[b]Having said that[/b], that doesn't mean you shouldn't use Shockwave when there's an opportunity for a guaranteed kill. For example, if the enemy is next to a burning car, you can shockwave him and then blow up the car. Another example would be having teammates who have really high damage shoot the shockwaved guy to death; a team of 2 ganging on one shocked victim is guaranteed death for the victim.


[size=150][b]* Why do I have Dash 10?[/b][/size]
[b]Let's face it[/b]: you are useless without Dash. Without sufficient running speed, you will be VERY easily overtaken by close-range builds that have lots of points in Dash, and you'd be screwed. You can't possibly always be able to use Shockwave to freeze someone in place since its an active skill that needs to be aimed and even then the freezing doesn't last forever. You will also take a much longer time to get into a good position to shoot someone without Dash. Yes, it is true that the sprint recoil will go up with a high level Dash, but it also recovers fast enough and it increases gradually on sprinting rather than instantly maximum, so this renders the problem minimal.


[size=150][b]* Why do I use 11 Vapor?[/b][/size]
[b]Vapor is an extremely useful skill[/b]. First of all, its passive so it doesn't take up skill slots. Secondly, it is EXCELLENT for area denial; upon killing an enemy, he will vaporize, leaving behind a circle of gas that will deal damage to enemies who are within the AOE. What's even better is that Vapor cause chain reactions: if another enemy(unless its a gangster bot) dies within the Vapor, you will create an additional Vapor, thus doubling the damage against a third enemy if there are any and cause him to vaporize, creating 3 vapors... you get the idea, a self-sustaining damage-multiplying vapor. High level Vapor is always better since the AOE is bigger and the duration lasts much longer, and is also consequently an excellent skill as a filler. While it is true that enemies who walk into a Vapor field will regenerate mana at the same rate as the damage and SC will aggravate this, people will rarely barrier(or even have the chance to do so because everything happens so quickly) while in Vapor, and by the time they barrier they are already at your mercy and can be easily shot to death.


[size=150][b]* Plasma Ball Usage[/b][/size]
[b]Plasma Ball[/b] is a long ranged projectile skill where you lob a fireball to where you point your cursor at, which then explodes(easy to aim for laggers and crowd-clearing!). The further the plasma ball has travelled, the more damage it deals. Firestorm simply improves your chances of shooting more than 1 plasma ball in one cast at the cost of the plasma balls' travelling speed.

[b]I use Plasma Ball as a punisher and sniper[/b], to kill an enemy in one shot when he makes a mistake in his movement. As such, I need the most damaging Plasma Ball possible. Firstly, the logic for level 15 plasma ball: it has the highest single plasma ball damage, and that is what I want. However, being Subvein, there are trade-offs, but the trade-offs for using such a high level plasma ball are minimal. Firstly, the long 4s cooldown is not an issue as you're only using plasma ball when the opportunity presents itself and you would normally have long waiting periods between each opportunity. Secondly, the 30 mana cost is rarely a problem because as mentioned, there are long waiting periods, and furthermore you are using SC, which allows you to quickly regenerate all the mana you have spent. Last but not least, the full 2s of movement speed loss upon casting is not an issue, because you are a long-ranger; you'd be too far to reach and furthermore 2s is actually pretty short.

[b]Lets face it:[/b] a single plasma ball, even if level 15, is not sufficient to make sure you kill someone; there is a good chance he'd still survive albeit wounded. To minimize this problem, you'd want to be able to shoot at least 2 plasma balls in one shot to make sure it kills, hence you'd want to have some points in Firestorm. However, I stopped short at level 6 (40% for x2). This is because at level 6, the chances of a double or more plasma is good enough, while any further increase in level is highly detrimental to your plasma ball projectile speed while still having a chance of shooting only 1 plasma ball. You need the projectile speed, otherwise your plasma balls will be so slow that people will have enough time to see it coming and react accordingly even when they were caught by surprise. This major problem makes it undesirable to use a Firestorm beyond 6. Yes, I really hate having to rely on luck, and Firestorm is a LUCK skill, which is incredibly stupid, but I digress. So to sum up, you want maximum damage for minimal projectile speed loss. Take note that each plasma ball from firestorm will land one by one at long distances, but it shouldn't be an issue as the gap between each ball is quite short.

[b]How do I punish my enemies with plasma ball then[/b]? First and foremost, you must realize that Plasma Ball is more like a sniper rifle than a rocket launcher because plasma ball does more damage the further it travels. NEVER use plasma ball at close range because that is asking to get yourself killed while dealing no damage, the only time when you are excused for doing so is if your enemy is bleeding which indicates he is very low on health. Instead, most of your plasma ball shots should have you pointing somewhere near the far ends of your screen, or at least around the range when M4 gains superiority (about 35m?).

[b]The other thing is height[/b]. You need to realize that plasma ball doesn't always hit at the spot you want and end up flying way over where you pointed your cursor, because plasma ball's vertical aiming angle is quite bad. On the other hand, if you are on high ground and shooting a target on low ground, your plasma balls have better accuracy. Therefore, as a rule of thumb, don't cast Plasma Ball if your target is on higher ground or is walking up a ramp. Instead, either be on the same level as your enemy or get on higher ground. When in doubt, jump before throwing a plasma ball; it helps a lot with accuracy.

[b]The general rule is to blast chokepoints[/b]; narrow areas where your enemies are forced to go through if they want to get to a certain location. By looking out for these chokepoints, you can more easily time your plasma ball to hit just as they reach while the enemy has great trouble trying to avoid getting hit, thus maximizing your accuracy. Furthermore if there are a group of enemies going up the same chokepoint, it also means you have a high chance of hitting ALL of them. The most common chokepoints are the top of a flight of stairs; where high platforms are not available, stairs are the only way to access high ground and they are narrow enough to limit your enemy's movement to up or down, and generally your enemy will be preoccupied with going up. Bonus points if the flight of stairs in question is also a crossroad junction where your enemies have to eventually walk into in order to access other routes. If 2 enemies are accessing the chokepoint, aim for the FIRST guy who walks up, so you are more likely to hit both enemies and furthermore you can create a Vapor field to finish off or block off the other enemy in the event the second guy doesn't die.

[b]If you see a battle ongoing[/b] but they are not at a chokepoint, observe the situation for a while. If you notice that the combatants(usually close range) tend to circle around a certain area, blast the center of that area; the center is usually the most concentrated area and if you have time to observe your enemy, your enemy must be so preoccupied with the difficult dogfight they are engaging in that they won't notice your plasma balls and very likely step right into your plasma balls' point of detonation. Bonus points if the combatants are both enemies or there are more than 1 enemy in the same area because if the plasma doesn't kill them both, the Vapor WILL. Don't worry about hurting your teammates; even with friendly fire turned on skills such as plasma ball and vapor will not hurt your teammates, just watch your fire if you are shooting with your gun.

[b]There are some lesser-known flight properties[/b] of Plasma Ball that will be helpful to know. Firstly, if the plasma ball is blocked during its flight, it will detonate at the spot of being blocked, so beware if you are using plasma ball on level ground with your target if there are other enemies in the way. Fortunately, contrary to popular belief, plasma ball does not fly in a perfectly straight line. In fact, the plasma ball flies at a vertical angle somewhat like lobbing a grenade; it will initially travel upwards and thus over obstacles in its path, reaching the highest point in the middle of its flight path, then gradually dropping down to its destination. So don't worry too much about plasma ball being blocked if the obstacle is rather short and is somewhere in the middle of the flight path.

[b]Plasma Ball explosions work past walls and most skill defenses[/b]. If you know your enemy is sitting behind a box or thin wall, you can use plasma ball to flush the enemy out of his hiding spot. If he refuses to move, then you earn yourself a kill. Also know that Force Fields, Silver Shield and Bullet time will not save your enemy from Plasma Ball damage. However, take note that Nanosuit can negate Plasma Ball and Shockwave can freeze your plasma balls.

[b]Lastly[/b], after casting plasma ball, don't keep watching your plasma ball fly until it detonates. I know it is very tempting and satisfying to see your plasma ball through, but you can't change the flight path of your plasma ball once it has been cast. Use the time to scan your surroundings. Of course, that doesn't mean you can't watch your enemy just to make sure you know where he is going if the plasma ball fails to kill him. On a final note, practice with your plasma ball timing and you will eventually become unstoppable with plasma ball.


[size=150][b]* Why Bullet Time and Force Fields?[/b][/size]
[b]Sometimes, even with Dash[/b], you will have trouble avoiding enemy fire. This is where defensive skills come in. Other than Invisibility(elaborated next section) and Corpse Construction, there are 4 of such shields in the game: Nanosuit, Silver Shield, Bullet Time and Force Fields. In Subvein you have to be flexible and adjust to the situation, but Nanosuit is a passive skill that forces you to follow a timer and thus cause you to lose your flexibility, and we do not want that, not to mention it is skillpoint expensive. Silver Shield absorbs damage very well since most damage in Subvein comes from autos and shotguns, but it won't be effective against high damage single bullet weapons like Deagle, M60 and Ruger. S.Shield reduces your accuracy since you need at least BF 1 and can't be uncast until the 11+s cooldown is over, so its bad for long range builds.

[b]Bullet Time slows down enemy bullets coming your way[/b], which is great when you are running away from enemy fire; just watch your back and your pursuers will have a hard time getting to you (unless they are very close to you and can circle you or they have synergized Dash, in which case you're pretty much screwed). At higher levels, enemy bullets will move faster within your BT and you don't want that for defensive reasons. You don't need and won't be using BT to cook bullets. BT can also be deactivated whenever you like as long as there are no bullets in your BT(or a trick with invis). Stolen Seekers is actually a filler skill, but as a side-effect it adds to the defensive value of your BT because enemies trying to shoot you will see your BT turn green and worry about triggering your Stolen Seekers, and if they still persist or are using a shotgun, their bullets will be easily converted, turn 180 degrees instantly and fire back at them.

[b]Force Fields[/b] is a decent shield as unlike BT, it offers absolute gun protection as long as bullets aren't being shot through the gaps in your FF formation. Therefore, it is a great defense skill to use when you are charging forward. However you can't really use it while shooting the enemy at the same time (forced to either block or shoot) because there is 1 gap right in front of you where you are shooting your gun from. It can't be uncast whenever you like as it lasts on a timer and when its timer runs out you are quickly put at a disadvantaged state. As a long ranger you won't need this skill as BT is sufficient, but I put points into FF anyway as a filler to get Corpse Construction, not to mention I do not want to put FF in a key that I'm more comfortable with when I have other active skills I'd use more frequently. If you do use FF, I suggest you use it together with BT.


[size=150][b]* Self-Repair[/b][/size]
[b]Self-Repair is both a filler and a healer[/b]. Ideally, you will never need to use Self-Repair because the passive healing is sufficient. However, if you are impatient or need to heal up urgently, Self-Repair is the best healing skill without causing you to lose any weapon firepower like Vampirism or Regeneration, and it is great to know that Self-Repair can be deactivated whenever you like. A higher level Self-Repair acts as a filler AND also provides the fastest possible healing rate.


[size=150][b]* Invisibility[/b][/size]
[b]Invisibility is actually a filler skill[/b] to access Dash. However, there are some situations where using Invisibility is a BIG help for getting away from your enemy. As its name implies, invisibility renders you unseen by the enemy so that you can avoid being seen and attacked by the enemy while you get away from them or move to a new position. A high level invisibility would be very useful for this build for defensive reasons: low mana drain rate and high invisibility movement speed. The weapon damage loss penalty is no issue here since you'll have sufficient time to wait it out, aren't using it to attack the enemy upclose and plasma ball damage is not affected by the penalty.

[b]I must caution you though[/b]: Firstly, do NOT let yourself be seen turning invisible or your enemies will know your intention and start spraying around in your direction. Secondly, if you get hit while invisible, you will be briefly revealed and in this time the enemy can kill you very quickly and easily. Thirdly, your invisibility can be compromised if you are bleeding(red health) as it leaves behind a blood trail that enemies can follow and deduce your location. All these 3 scenarios can happen together. In these situations, assume your invisibility is compromised and use BT and run until you are relatively safe.

[b]What's impressive about Invisibility[/b] is that Invisibility has a few lesser known uses. Firstly, projectiles with seeking properties like Hornet's missiles or bullets cooked in BT will lose sight of you and thus stop seeking towards you. Secondly and more importantly, it can mask you during Self-Repair and also allow you to deactivate BT when there are bullets within it. By casting Self-Repair first and THEN casting Invisibility, you will be able to heal while being invisible. By casting Invisibility while BT is on, BT is temporarily disabled and thus there are no bullets inside the BT field, allowing you to then safely deactivate BT instead of risking recasting the BT (especially a problem in lag). Even more impressive is that deactivating skills does NOT count as casting a skill, so you can uncast Self-Repair and BT while remaining invisible and be free to move around unseen. This is useful for hiding the giant circular graphics of BT and Self-Repair that will give your position away. Oh, and Invisibility can delay Force Fields, so you can literally turn invisible to make Force Fields last longer or re-appear out of invis with a sudden FF explosion.


[size=150][b]* Critical Shot and Corpse Construction[/b][/size]
[b]Critical Shot is a Mental passive skill[/b] that gives you a chance of firing a critical bullet; a red bullet that deals 150% of the usual damage and causes the enemy to be wounded (unable to heal beyond a certain amount of HP), at the cost of loss of your own maximum health, making you effectively a glass cannon. Crit suits this build extremely well as you will be avoiding close range encounters and the critical damage gives you the extra DPS against enemies, especially against enemies who use Static Charges. However, Crit is only available when you have invested 20 skillpoints into the Mental tree and I find the max HP loss quite troublesome. I made some careful considerations and I've decided to use 7 Critical Shot.

[b]I sometimes find myself drained to 20HP or less[/b] if I get caught by a close range player and the max HP loss will aggravate this problem along with making large team games difficult, especially if they also use Venom Shot against me. To mitigate this, I decided to get Corpse Construction. I put exactly 2 points into Corpse so as to completely offset the -12hp from 7 Crit with exactly +12 max hp; +10 for the first kill and +the remaining 2 on 2nd kill. I didn't spend any more points on Corpse so that my hitbox size increase is minimal; we don't want a large hitbox since it means its easier to hit you. +8% is almost negligible, but once it reaches +12% it becomes noticeable, and any further increase is detrimental.


[size=150][b]* Choice of Weapons[/b][/size]
[b]You can't go around without a proper gun in Subvein[/b]; you need the right gun for the right situation and build. Now, this is a long-ranged build, so you're looking for long ranged guns and a backup weapon for close encounters. Before I go into the weapons, I'd like to say that you should memorize your spawnpoint locations on the map and make frequent visits there, so that you can constantly refill your ammo(it doesn't cost much unless its a Superweapon) and not run the risk of running out at the worst time possible. You should also not be too trigger-happy; try to delay shooting where you see fit.

[b]Lets look at the weapons that aren't long ranged[/b]. Shotguns are obviously short-ranged. SMGs have slow bullets and lose too much damage over distance, so they are limited to at most mid-range. Machine Guns are okay, but they are too inaccurate and they kill your mobility. Having said that, you can still use these weapons well under the right circumstances; just remember that you are a glass cannon whose defense is based on avoiding and not tanking damage. If you are facing enemy vehicles, consider packing 1 Bazooka with you.

[b]We'll start with Sniper Rifles[/b] - Ruger and PSG-1. Sniper rifles have the best long range damage per shot, allowing you to take pot-shots and shoot through silver shield. Longer vision allows you to see when the enemy is coming, and longer range of Plasma Ball. Snipers deal more damage as the bullet travels further.
[b]- The Ruger[/b] is [color=#FF0000]one of the best guns[/color] for this build. It has perfect accuracy even when moving and is capable of killing in 2-3 shots (generally 45-55 damage per shot) with a rate of fire of 2 shots per second - all for a very low cost of only 3k. Energize level 7 will have 8 bullets. Effective against vehicles too.
[b]- The PSG-1[/b] is for dedicated sniping, but its a poor weapon choice. It may kill in 1-2 shots, double the ammo and much longer vision than Ruger, but it has fatally poor mobility, drawtime, its movement recoil takes a long time to settle down and it costs twice as much too. The extra vision is not very useful for plasma sniping since that range is too difficult to predict. Avoid the PSG at all costs.

[b]Next up: Rifles[/b] - AK47 and M4A1. Rifles are autos with a low rate of fire, so they are pretty weak at close range and can't take pot shots like sniper rifles. However, they compensate with high bullet speed with minimal damage loss over range, making them excellent long-range weapons. Furthermore, being autos, they can be sprayed a little. 30 ammo by default, 7 Energize will have 23.
[b]- The AK-47[/b] is a power rifle. Although strong and can shoot through Silver Shield, it has heavy movement recoil, forcing you to barrier and shoot. This limits the weapon's mobility in general combat and thus confine it to long range only and even then it is outclassed by other long range weapons. Avoid spending 4k on this weapon and only pick it up from the ground if you don't already have a good long ranged weapon. Fire in bursts 2-3 to control the recoil.
[b]- The M4A1[/b] is the [color=#FF0000]all-rounder gun[/color] for this build. For 5k, the M4 prides itself with EXCELLENT accuracy even when moving. The downside is its weak damage, so it will be very troublesome has a lot of tanking defenses like Silver Shield or Static Charges or the enemy is driving a car. Be sure to reload at all times. Fire in bursts of 3.

[b]Your backup weapon: Pistols[/b]. Very fast drawtime; you can switch to the weapon and fire almost instantly. Pistols can be spammed due to high rate of fire, making them comfortable to use and have a good DPS. Pistols have good range capability due to their accuracy(including moving accuracy) and high bullet speed. In other words, pistols are mini-Rifles and are perfect backup weapons. They have limited ammo capacity though, so I do not recommend energizing your pistol. I cannot stress this enough and this applies to all other builds as well: ALWAYS KEEP A PISTOL, DON'T EVER DROP IT AND LEARN TO SWITCH TO IT!
[b]- The USP[/b] is your default pistol and it functions like a [color=#FF0000]mini-M4A1[/color]. It is [color=#FF0000]highly economical[/color] as everyone spawns with it by default and you can easily get ammo for it from fallen enemies. Shoot in bursts of 3 to keep your accuracy at longer ranges, otherwise you can spam.
[b]- The Desert Eagle (Deagle)[/b] is a power pistol. You may consider buying this if you need more damage to shoot through enemy defenses such as Silver Shield. Players make the mistake of spamming this weapon; the Deagle should be fired shot by shot and barrier should be taken advantage of, spamming is only advisable at close range.
[b]- The Shock Revolver[/b] is [color=#FF0000]THE superweapon[/color] for this build. Basically USP with Deagle damage, bullet speed between the M4 and Ruger, almost no recoil at all(so it can be spammed while remaining accurate). To top it off, it ignores Barrier, so its extremely effective against enemies who constantly Barrier or are Static Charged, causing them to panic. Buy one if you have the money to spare, or you can just pick one up from your fallen enemies.


[size=150][b]* Why didn't I get other skills?[/b][/size]
[b]Finally, I will move on to elaborate on other skills[/b]. In the previous sections, I told you vampirism and regeneration as healing kills your weapon damage output. Nanosuit and silver shield are not suitable for defense and are skillpoint intensive. Microvolt is a useless and detrimental to have even as a filler. I will start with weapon damage related skills, followed by other active skills and close range skills.

[b]Phasic Bullets is self-defeating[/b]. Phasic allows your energized gun to have a chance to fire blue bullets that deal 70% damage but will pierce through enemies and bounce off walls repeatedly, potentially dealing more damage. There are a lot of problems: less damage on DIRECT hit, you are forced to ricochet the bullets if you want the damage. It doesn't help that bullets still lose damage over range except snipers. For snipers, the problem is because this is chance-based, you end up randomly getting sniper shots dealing less than desirable damage on direct hit or simply not ricochet when you want them to. If you want 100% chance, you need to get Phasic to level 15 (big waste of skillpoints and synergies)! This wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't for the fact that Phasic only activates when you energize a weapon for the bullet speed, not when your weapon is de-energized and your de-energized gun would likely be your backup/close range gun. Shooting around corners is generally more useful for close range weapons and even so, it is difficult and rare to get your bullets to ricochet perfectly to score angled/multiple shots. And in the first place, since you are a long ranger, you would damn well be avoiding places that are narrow and you will thrive in wide open spaces where Phasic has little use, not to mention Plasma explosions can work past walls, which is generally enough for wall-clearing purposes and simpler to use and understand.

[b]Frenzy is even worse[/b]. One, big waste of skillpoints and needs to be cast so it adds clutter. Two, Frenzy is very stressful to use; you are forced to keep watching your timer and keep your Frenzy going in order to obtain the high rate of fire and hence damage, and sometimes an overly high rate of fire makes you end up wasting ammo. Three, Frenzy's penalties leave your character extremely vulnerable: you take significantly more damage. Weapon Handling upgrade improves your accuracy, but honestly you won't need it when you use the right weapons and it slows you down while you are shooting thus killing your mobility. Clip Magnet would have been great with good aim(otherwise the long reload will get you killed) as it allows you to literally keep shooting without ever reloading and this is especially useful against Static Charges, but alas, it is tied to Frenzy. Its simply not worth it and Frenzy is in fact harmful to your build.

[b]Explosive Rage(ER) aka Rupture[/b] is not even worthy of being compared to Vapor. Big waste of skillpoints for one obviously. Unlike Vapor, ER has absolutely no area denial, just an instant explosion of damage that can chain to multiple opponents. ER requires you to build up charges by taking damage so that you can unleash a more powerful explosion, and releases all charges automatically on kill. Furthermore, its penalty kills your bullet speed. This is simply absurd, you are a long ranger, you are meant to AVOID damage and you need the bullet speed (why else get Energize?). So Explosive Rage is out of the picture.

[b]The point of Venom Shot[/b] is to pressure a single enemy, delay his passive healing for the duration of the venom + 5s and finish him off if he is dying by dealing small damage over time. A venomed enemy will shoot faster and if the venom has Infection(allowing it to spread to other targets), it causes him to run faster. First off, you can kill multiple enemies instantly with Plasma, so what point is there to have a second skill meant for finishing them off slowly? Even if they indeed do not die, you have Vapor if there are multiple targets, and you have SC for all the benefits explained earlier. You also have an energized long-range gun like M4A1 or Ruger(more on that below), use it to finish your weakened enemies off for goodness sake, you don't need to waste extra skillpoints and clutter your skill hotkeys just to finish people off. The mana regen of SC defeats the purpose of using venom to finish off weak enemies as using SC together with Venom causes otherwise sitting ducks to become angry tanks. You will also give yourself A LOT of problems if your enemy moves faster and shoots faster because he will catch up to you more easily and kill you upclose more quickly. Couple with the fact that Venom Shot is difficult as hell to aim especially if you are a lagger, you simply DO NOT want Venom Shot for your build. If you wish to use Dash less than 10 but still want to access Critical Shot, you can consider placing the remaining points into Venom Shot purely as a filler and just don't bother using it.

[b]The remaining skills are all close-ranged[/b], so its pretty obvious why I avoid them, but I'll make quick mention of them anyway. Radiate and Stagnation will kill yourself and is an active skill. Blade Fury(BF) kills your weapon accuracy and can't be readily uncast. Blackhole is an active skill that will make you an easy target and Darkness makes you blind. Finally, Disabling Drop(DD) is meant for disabling your enemy upclose from falling from high heights, but high heights is your advantage and if you must escape from high heights and fall down, DD will make you take more damage and furthermore reveals your location as people can see a big red circle when you land. This forces you to use Invisibility to hide yourself, but usually when you need to drop from such a height you are already spotted and need to retaliate; turning invisible while falling won't save you.


[size=150][b]* Your enemies[/b][/size]
[b]What I have elaborated above[/b] is the general playstyle of this build. For this short section, I'll briefly talk about the enemies you'll encounter and what you can do.

[b]Tanky players are manageable[/b]. If you can't kill them quickly despite your high firepower, then they'd just be a nuisance since their attacks are usually easy to avoid. For Nanosuit, you need to find a way to kill the guy before he finds cover and becomes invulnerable while you take advantage of his penalty. For Force Fields, you need to shoot through the gaps or just keep your distance until the FF explodes. For Bullet Time, your energized guns will be a big help if you can't use Plasma against them and their BT-cooked bullets should be easy avoid. Usually uses AK or MGs if they aren't abusing the Uzi/MP5.

[b]Close-ranged high-mobility builds can be a nightmare[/b]. They can get close to you very easily and quickly, have the defenses (commonly Silver Shield) to absorb damage during the chase, may have a disabling skill (usually Shockwave nowadays) and kill you very quickly. You can't really do much about it, just stay alert and keep moving, kill them before they kill you. Usually uses Uzi, MP5 or Spas-12.

[b]Long-ranged builds are just like you[/b]. Both of you can see and hit each other, both of you excel at long range. It'd be a competition to determine who is the better ranger; who dodges/takes cover better, who kills faster and who can stop the other from escaping or who can take the other out by surprise. Usually the one with the Ruger wins.

[b]For vehicles[/b], try to find high ground where vehicles cannot access to prevent them from running over you and to prevent enemies from taking advantage of vehicle armor to get close to you. If vehicles are common, have 1 Bazooka in your inventory at all times (M4 and Pistol are not effective against vehicles). If you are feeling very confident and it isn't a large game, you can go vehicle-hunting with the M60 (in this case, you don't buy a Bazooka as you'd be encumbered and you don't need one anyway).

[b]For team games[/b], you are generally the front-line support, sticking close to teammates at the front. Your teammates will be your meat shield, you will provide the covering fire from a distance, although that shouldn't stop you from occasionally taking the lead to finish off an enemy or protect your teammate. You can be a suitable flagger as you can shoot off pursuers as well as hold them in place with Shockwave and you can reach the enemy flag quickly. You will be a suitable gunner for vehicles due to your high damage output. For VERY large games, you are the team's artillery, providing long range fire with your Ruger and Plasma Ball.

[b]For zombies[/b], I have no idea since Outbreak is yet to be released. My prediction is that the build will lose out to Physical players(Vampirism, Frenzy, Radiate, Rage) and Phasic + Microvolt Cybers so the build won't be top-tier against zombies. However it will fare decently with its high mobility, high weapon damage per shot and a highly useful damage amplifier in Vapor, and the ideal weapon would be M60.


[u]Final Note:[/u]
All in all, remember to keep moving, take advantage of everything you possibly can, especially from afar, and avoid risking close-quarters combat. Watch your surroundings at all times and know as much about the situation you are in as possible so as to be prepared. Happy owning!