Neo Steam Online Tinkerer Tips

Neo Steam Online Tinkerer Tips by Dawg Pilez

Let me add my 2 pence to the Tinkerer. This is my view on what is useful and how one might play to be effective during their journey.

This class isn’t meant for melee atks but it doesn’t hurt to always carry a melee wpn. I use whichever is the strongest at the time. I primarily use a 2/h sword but I recently found a nice 1/h and shield. In the end, it’s your choice. In either case, hotkey ur 2ndary melee wpn. They use guns which are slow and powerful. With the right combo, you will 2 shot anything. Some skills single shot mobs early on even at lvl skill lvls. Being able to switch between melee to ranged is useful to making use of skills during cooldown and dmg maximizing. U can shoot, switch to melee and atk instantly. Use and abuse this when appropriate.

Tinks where heavy armor, period. Ur not cool wearing anything else. Ur also not cool for using blunt wpns since they have sword skills. If you choose not to invest in sword skills, having a quality melee wpn is still a smart idea as they are good when ur gun skills are cooling down. A fast, strong melee wpn dispenses enemies just as fast if not faster at times in melee than with a gun shooting. Study mob hps so you minimize dmg.

Buy Combination bullets. I haven’t seen the other types out yet and they are used for all bullet skills. They stack 255 and aren’t too expensive (70 golds). Also, stack up on stamina potions and sell any mp pots u get since this class uses stamina for skills instead of mp. Also, buy vbombs as you will be using them. They are a bit more expensive so go easy on them on pve but unload on pvp.

—Blademaster

Focal Slice Starts at lvl 1/10
I’m not choosing to lvl it as this class isn’t meant to melee. They have the option too but with 2 melee sword skills and some alternative atks, I would recommend leaving it as it. Useful when you pull out your blade for free dmg. Strongest melee atk we get when maxed but it seems like a waste 9 points for a skill maximized by melees, not tinks. If you’re making a melee build, get this maxed.

Blade Whirl lvl 3.
Aoe melee skill. Get only if you are making a melee build (why?). Good for farming. Other melee skill that we have.

Dual Wield
Useless imo unless u really want to dual wield for stats. A passive melee skill for a ranged fighter. Not necessary at all.

—-Gizmology

Gizmology (lvl 1) and Dismantle (lvl 17) 0/10
If you want to craft, get it. If you don’t, don’t. But guilds will love u. It’s a good way to save money if you have the skills. But if you don’t want to craft until the end game, you are wise to use the skill points elsewhere. Maxing these skills take time so feel free to lvl them up slowly over your travels. You save a lot of pts by not becoming one so be sure if you wish to dive in and spend 20 pts on non-combat skills. Dismantle is imperative for a crafter as it yields mats fast than mining.

Plant Explosive (Bomb) Lvl 11
Never failing AoE skill. 10 sec cool down means it’s somewhat spam worthy minus needing bombs and the 2 second cast time. You summon a little bomb buddie. He’s relatively stuck to where he spawned at so he’s only affective if you lure a mob into him or are already surrounded (in which case, spirit screen makes for a good cover for this skill). Very useful as a guard. Kiters may wish to avoid this skill b/c of the casting time and it being relatively stationary though I’ve managed to pull some out while the mob was slowed. Great trap for pvp. It’s a must have for melee tinks since it’s another close range aoe. It has decent blast radius and will approach approaching mobs. It does decent dmg. The true use of this skill in pvp lies in multiple traps by many tinks. With this skill, any melee rushing in will get a nasty surprise. If you get it, consider maxing it as u want to get the most band out of your proxys. You need to buy bombs to use this skill which are around 50 a pop.

Bolster lvl 3 Buff
Boosts atk by a lot. It lasts for a 5mins initially and increases by 1 minute per rank. At rank 6 it adds 105 to atk. Get it and keep it maxed, period.

Pulse Engine lvl 14
I’m in constant limbo about this skill. It only costs sp to use and is ranged with a chance to do more dmg on machines under %20 hp and everyone under %10. Instant casting skill but in no way better than electrify. It makes for another spam ranged skill for pvp. Because of the chance to fail, the limited amount of sp initially, and the limited use for the skill when compared to burst shot, this skill scores lowest in my priority list. Chances are, if burst shot doesn’t skill anything at 30% hp, u can use tech shot to wipe away any remaining hp and avoid this skill all together. This skill is stronger than tech volley while having a 20 sec refresh lowers its usability. I unlearned this skill

-(Suggestion section, feel free to skip)
The skill should be revamped so it does more dmg to machines regardless of hp while the +dmg to enemies below 10% is next to worthless and should probably be removed. The skill doesn’t tell you that there’s A CHANCE to do more dmg. You will notice that using this skill may yield a “Failed” notice. This means you dealt normal dmg. I asked the gms and as I theorized, this could do around 30% more dmg. You will never see the higher dmg until you fight something a normal pulse engine couldn’t kill the mob at 20% hp but the powered version does. It’s a strong move on it’s own but the skill’s ability is hardly noticeable. Either constant higher dmg to mobs or make it a stun or some other status effect b/c a chance to do higher dmg to a machine at or below 20% doesn’t compare to inflicting slow, higher dmg at or below 50% or a 10 sec refresh.

Electrify lvl 14
Strong skill that can slow. Max it. Does great dmg and has a lower cooldown than Pulse engine and causes more dmg. Uses a volt bomb so carry a few.

Siege Pylon (lvl 20) and Siege Engine (25)
Skills purely for sieges. Why not do ur part and lvl them. Depending on how you want to play you should choose to lvl these much later in the game (58+). Not investing pts in this will save you 16 pts to allocate in more non-siege events. Suggest waiting until in a guild b4 picking (and specialize since each skill costs neo steam). Pylons build turrets while engines build mobile machines. You might think you’re cool putting point in it now, but until rvr comes out, these skills serve no purpose for you. When it does come out and you do want these skills, I suggest picking one and specializing. While this doesn’t serve as an advantage in rvr, it will save you some points. However, if you research what machines/pylons are effective, you can split your points in between them or even max both. It’s up to you.

—Artillerist

Tech volley lvl 11
Ur standard powered up shot. Adds another skill to the queue of skills u may do to kill something. It’s worth the point to learn it to have a skill to use instead of simple bullets. No special qualities but cheap to use. Considering that it’s the spam skill for tinks, think about maxing it. It’s definitely worth it. Get more bang out of ur buck.

Healing Shot lvl 11
This skill fails many times until you lvl it to 3-4. At lvl 1, u fail this skill all the time and it heals for a low amount of hp. It’s unreliable when not maxed. You can heal others and yourself (f1 I believe). Recommended to max if you get it or save it for later. Popping a hp pot is a lot easier. Healing pet is more effective as well. The better action of this skill is the removal of a debuff. This is a useful ability to have when something nasty has been afflicted on you or yours. Maxing it should be considered as it is only as good as the lvl range of the skill. At higher lvls, if it’s not maxed, it will work less. It can help you get rid of anything but stun on yourself (for obvious reasons) and in pvp it gives you the chance to dodge 2 debuffs (spirit screen+ this). Only worth getting if you keep it maxed.

Poison Shot lvl 11
GET THIS SKILL. This skill is a very powerful DoT that may kill the mob w/o u doing anything else. It’s the first skill you should cast, next to electrify (to slow). Pair with Malign Attack it become more lethal, often 2 shotting enemies. It is next to required to max this skill period. It’s unknown whether or not the higher skill lvl it is, the more poison dmg it does as well or if it does a fixed percentage of hp and the skill lvl only raises effect chance. In either case, keep it maxed. It’s the bread and butter skill of a ranged tink.

Detection Shot lvl 14
Seems only useful in a pvp setting. It uncovered invisible players and traps along with slowing them (on success). U can use it in pvp. No use in pve so far. If u want the skill, put 1 point in it for pvp. Higher skill lvls increase slow duration. The skill says that is slows revealed targets. How u target an invis player is a mystery to me. It has very little use as far as I’ve seen especially since vbomb does dmg and slows. Maxing it is ur choice. I suggest getting it much later. My guess is, like other debuffs, you have to skill it to match enemy lvls. Just like healing shot, this will fail if not maxed. I’ve decided not to get it and hope my bomb buddy and stun defense saves me from assassins.

Malign Attack Lvl 17
This is the lethal 2 punch to the poison shot combo. Does mondo dmg but needs to be used up close. On it’s own w/o poison status, it doesn’t less dmg. Get it and use it when mobs are poisoned and close. 2 shotting mobs is quite easy with this skill. Not necessary to max it early on since it’s still quite powerful even at lvl 1. Has a lengthy cool down so max it to get the most out of this skill. It’s never more powerful than an evenly skilled burst shot.

Burst Shot Lvl 25
40 second cooldown right from the bat. Does more dmg when the mob is at/below %50. This is the skill combo as the finisher coup de grace. Pvp wise this skill downs fleeing enemies.. Pve, this will give a noticeable shock to mobs. Maxing it isn’t necessary. Lvl it to the point where when used, it will kill players. 5 or so is probably enough though I’m playing my class to be the best at the skills I have so I have it capped.

—Blockade <—–0_o’

Spirit Screen lvl 11 Buff
Can absorb dmg and might wear off when it does. In pvp it’s priceless. This skill may soaked up more than one attack/skill. This skill is a life saver.1 pt is enough to have a guaranteed free shield. Higher skill lvls give you a chance to absorb more hits along with increasing the duration. My guess is that it’s worth maxing for the chance if you have some points to spend. One pt is good enough as well to avoid initial pvp nuke, debuffs.

Hurricane Counter lvl 1 Buff
Can reflect dmg. Succeeds more with a shield. If you are meleeing and are surrounded, you will see this affect. Its not necessary to have this skill
though if you get nuked in pvp, it might give the caster some recoil dmg. Consider dropping some points in this skill later. It’s not more important than spirit screen though.

——-Skill combos

Poison shot>–> malign atk (many mobs are downed by this. There is a filler of time u between the 2 skills that u can spam whatever depending on the mob)

Strong mobs

Electrify>Poison shot>Tech volley>Malign Attack>Burst shot

Can try this as well

Bomb>Tech volley(pulls the mob)>Electrify>Poison shot>Pulse engine>Malign Attack>(bomb explodes)>|switch to melee focal slice|>| switch back to gun Tech volley>>poison shot.
(rather advanced, but should maximize dmg when in melee range)

—For PVP (working)

B/c Malign shot works only at close range, Tink should focus on using the environment for cover and sneaking up and ambushing a single target. Lay a trap if u want to lure someone to you. If you are at close range do this.

*At a range
Tech volley (gets rid of spirit screen or whatever shield they might have)>VBOMB (u can do this first too but I would save it for 2nd)> poison >pusle engine> Here you have a choice. Burst shot if you think it will kill them. otherwise, snipe them and wait for either an opening or tech volley refresh.

Save burst shot b/c you lose nothing if you kill them before you use it or if they healed before they reach 50%. If you wish to spam, use burst shot at 49% b/c sometimes they regen at 50% giving them 51% making the skill fail. If you see an opening you can rush in with malign while they are poisoned.

No one lives this combo if poison, malign, vbomb, and either pulse engine or burst shot are maxed. No one…that doesn’t heal which is why if you strike fast and sudden, u will catch them off guard and get an easy kill. I’ve done this time and time again in pvp. Atk those that are slippin.
*Ultimate combo
(I’m doing this combo as if you were fighting a tink with spirit screen)
Normal fire>tech volley>electrify>poison>pulse enginge>|rush in|malign>burst

-At a range
We kill slower at a range w/o malign atk. Sometimes rushing in with malign is bad. Bad times to use malign are:
a)Ur atking a summoner
the enemy has friends
c) u are being goaded to atk to get CtArms.

If u are ranging ppl. Ur best bet is to mess them up and slow them for others to kill. Fleeing players will goad u to atk them in a safer area.

Vbomb>poison>tech>pulse> (if below 50%) burst> repeat.

Only if you think u can rush them while they are slowed to deal a massive malign, I wouldn’t bank on it. If you rush in, does press Malign and auto run, manually run up to the player and use it. Using auto run while they are fleeing ensures that u will have get the skill off b/c this skill requires that you are stationary to fire. Autorun casting will get you to the cusp of the range and try to use it. But, the enemy moving so you will be stuck in a endless cycle of fake shots and running. If you run manually to a decent enough range you can fire off the skill. You need to but quite close to the person (about 4-5 npc bodily spaces away but this isn’t confirmed). You better make sure this skill them b/c chances are you are in enemy ground or they have their skills refreshed.

U can only spam tech volley, and poison shot on a gun from long range. U can insert electrify (vbomb) pulse engine (penguin lol) if you want some extra dmg. These skills are the only skills usable from a range and a cooldown below 20. Of course, this can change with future updates and higher skill lvls.

-Core machines and U
(still working on this portion)

Core machines are a system that only helps us and hurts our foes. Likewise we must guard against machine abilities. Consider these when investing in pvp slot gear.

——Head: In order of priority (opinion)
Stun defense
Sleep Defense
*Immune Root Defense
*Slow Defense (movement speed)
*Poison Defense
*Exhaustion Defense (attack speed)

-NOTE
*These skills you can self cure with heal shot. All of these skills are buffs. Even if the defense doesn’t negate the status, it MAY give you a chance to spacerbar resist. Furthermore the order isn’t static. Things change in a group.

——Upper Armor(in no order)

*Bulwark Defense – defense buff
Max Damage 285 | Machine Grade Effect: Increases Damage

Demon Armor – turns normal damage into HP
Max Damage 570 | Machine Grade Effect: Increases Damage

*Pain Ward – Defense Buff
Max Damage 900 | Machine Grade Effect: Increases Damage

**Machine Guard – defense against machine ability

**Beast Guard – defense against monster skill

-NOTE
*Idk the difference between the to.

**IDK how many machines are out there but I think Beast Guard is more useful. For a rogwel player, beast guard should defend against elerd summons and pets. Elerds might consider machine guard to guard against Rog summons. I’m up in the air about this one but I do think either of these skills are very useful.

——–Gloves
*Electrozap: rez with a 20 min refresh
**Steel intake valve: get gold and neosteam from enemies
Rusty intake valve: get neosteam from enemies

-NOTE
*In pvp, get this one. Somewhat useful in pve when no rezzer is around. It’s worth making a glove and slotting it with this and keeping it in ur inventory.

**Choose this one over the other for obvious reasons. Use when not in pvp.

——Lower armor

Rusty Stabilizer – minimize steam machine damage

*Steel Stabilizer – minimize steam machine damage

**Pyrrhic Shell – Def boost and self stun

***Energy Vessel: Boosts hp (buff). A great skill

-NOTE
*It’s a higher grade than rusty, so it’s harder to make. If you’re skillful, you can swap a pair of pants with this skill in, use machine skills, and they swap it out. Machine dmg isn’t very bad though. If this skill decreases NS costs on machine skills, this would be a better skill

**Unless you can get rid of stun with a stun defense or something, you really are a sitting duck. There must be more to it than just soaking up damage. Tinks are burst dmg class and any second stunned is time not spent attacking =P. This skill is passable to a meat shield.

***Clearly the best best choice among the rest (opinion)

——Shoes

Magnetic Inhibitor – enemy skill lock

Amplified Inhibitor – enemy skill lock

IDK which is better….Amplified costs more and is harder to make.
——————————————————————

-The skills Shtick

As far as skills go, if the max lvl in this game is 1xx You get one skill pt per lvl until lvl 60 where you get 2 per. . You need to choose to either be good at a few things or “meh” at many. Being a “meh” crafter is next to useless at high lvls so be a crafter or don’t. Consider maxing “increase chance” skills that you use. If you don’t like a skill, make sure you don’t like it before lvl 30 so you can reset. Also consider a crafter as an alt. You can save 10 pts from dismantle if you do this. If you don’t want to be a crafter, you save 20 points.

Those that choose to dual wield should play a class meant to melee. That aside, learn the melee skills, bomb, vbomb, electrify, and all the buffs. If u 1/h and shield the hurricane counter should occur more often. I suggest still having a gun, pulling with electrify, sniping, bomb them, then use the melee skills. This makes you an effective ranged/melee fighter.

Another thing that everyone might consider is if they want to skill up siege skills or the crafting/dismantle. Depending on your play style, you can choose to not learn one of the siege skills and max everything else out. You can also choose to not be the greatest crafter or dismantler. In these cases, you won’t lose out on battle related skills. Idk which you should pick if you go this route. My thought would be dismantle or one of the siege skills that doesn’t sound good to you. Since I’m no pro, this issue is really up to the more experienced players to think about.

Just my 2 pence and 4 marbles. This isn’t objective and may change. I hope it helps you guys. Sorry for grammar/spelling errors. Comments and corrects are more than welcome. bashing me for my guide isn’t nice =(