Introduction

Thank you for your interest in becoming a bureaucrat! We are a very unique profession in have access to a wide variety of crowd control measures and being able to greatly enhance a team’s effectiveness. This guide is meant to provide information for both new and experienced players with information the bureaucrat profession. For the new players, this will give an idea of what to expect and how to get started. For the experienced players, there are lots of reference information in the latter half of the guide. This is by no means a definitive ‘end all’ starter guide but efforts have been made to cover as much as possible.

Charles ‘Kithrak’ Houston Bureaucrat Professional

Index

• Overview
• Character Creation
• Weapon Choice
• Armor Choice
• Skills

Overview

What can the bureaucrat do?

The bureaucrat has access to and can, cast direct-damage nanos(nukes), root single or multiple opponents in place, snare(reduce the run speed) of single or multiple targets, charm up to a maximum of 2 monsters, have a droid, run buffs/debuff speeches on the team or in an area, give experience(xp)/shadowknowledge(sk) buffs, recover xp/sk pool more quickly and, put monsters to sleep(calm).

What is the bureaucrat good at?

Bureaucrats really stand out in the areas of crowd control through the use of calm nanos in player versus environment encounters(PvE), buffing xp/sk and charming. Early on, we are very strong at soloing. We are very well balanced in PvE for the low to mid levels under 150. We enjoy some very unique bureaucrat only equipment(ie. Tier 2 helm).

What are the bureaucrat’s weaknesses?

Bureaucrats are bad at surviving in player versus player(PvP). Being unable to heal ourselves, this catches up in the high-end when our ability to solo drops off considerably compared to other professions. Crowd control nanos in PvE are notoriously unreliable against bosses or against a growing list of non-bosses that inexplicably(and without logic) that are also immune to most of our nanos in the raiding scene with serious implications for the high-end game.

Note, most of these weaknesses only appear in the latter levels of the game. For the casual player, the bureaucrat profession is still one of the most versatile and interesting professions out there.

Character Creation

What breed should I choose?

The first choice have to make when you create a character is what breed you want to be. There are a variety of factors that should be considered when choosing a particular breed. Factors such as ability caps, availability of breed specific equipment and for some, the breed’s looks are important. The important thing is that you pick a breed that you like. Because, regardless of the breed that you choose; there are no overwhelming advantages or disadvantages that cannot be compensated with items or perks. Lets take a look at them in alphabetical order:

Atrox

Advantages
Lowest IP cost to raise strength and stamina and have the highest breed cap. They get the highest modifier to hit points gained per body development point. There are some fairly decent Atrox only items available that can provide even more hit points.

Disadvantages
These advantages are offset by the fact that their intelligenceability essential to the bureaucrat), sense and psychic skills cap out at very low levels and are expensive to raise. They have the lowest modifier to Nano points gained per body development point. Due to their low intelligence cap, they may have difficulty equipping bureaucrat specific items and armors that are based on intelligence.

My opinion
Even though the bureaucrat is a Nano intensive profession, there have been many Atrox bureaucrats that have excelled despite the low ability caps. The main reason for choosing them would be for their slightly higher hit points that will let them take a few more hits than the other breeds. The biggest problem currently would be trying to wear QL 300 Chosen / Faithful profession armor as it requires 1100 intelligence and 900 psychic.

If having more hit points are more important than having a large Nano pool or higher base Nano skill then the Atrox is a good choice.

Opifex

Advantages
Their IP cost to raise agility and sense are low and cap the highest of all breeds. Due to the higher agility and sense cap their base evade skills can be slightly higher than the other breeds. They get a normal modifier for their hit points and Nano pool. There are a few minor Opifex only items that buff evade skills.

Disadvantages
No real distinct disadvantage except perhaps that there aren’t any particularly good Opifex only items in-game right now.

My opinion
A reason to choose Opifex over Solitus? To stand out from the crowd perhaps. Like the Solitus breed that will be discussed later, the Opifex has no particular strengths or weaknesses.

Nanomage

Advantages
They have the lowest cost to raise intelligence and psychic with the highest breed cap. This means that they will receive slightly more trickle down to their base Nano skills than the other professions. They also get gain the most Nano points per point spent in the Nano pool skill. Early on, they can continuously cast more Nanos before having to recharge. There are also many Nanomage only items that give bonuses to further boost their Nano skills. They can equip QL 300 Chosen / Faithful profession armor with relative ease.

Disadvantages
Nanomages have the lowest hit point modifier for their body development skill. This means they are more fragile than the Solitus and Opifex breed and a lot less durable than the hardy Atrox. The Nanomage only items that give the boosts to Nano skills are relatively expensive and difficult to acquire. The Chosen / Faithful profession armor for the bureaucrat are not all that great and look ridiculous.

My opinion
The Nanomage was the breed that I choose for the reason that they were supposed to be the ‘best’ at Nano skills. With perks and the items in the Shadowlands expansion this is not the case. Still, I like the Nanomage breed on principle and our much higher intelligence cap compared to the other breeds will become more apparent at level 220.

Solitus

Advantages
Average cost in all abilities with no particular weaknesses. They have an average bonus to body development and Nano pool like the Opifex. Well rounded in ability, they have the most armor options to choose from early in the game. They are the most normal looking of the breeds.

Disadvantage
They’re average. They have no big weaknesses but at the same time they have no big strengths either.

My opinion
The Solitus is one of the most popular breed options next to Nanomage. Some players have actually chosen the Solitus solely because of how they look with the bureaucrat suits. If you’re unsure of what breed to pick, you can’t go wrong with the Solitus.

Weapon Choice

What weapon should I use?

For better or worse below level 200, bureaucrats are able to do reasonably well on most any weapon(melee or ranged) types. There means there are no single ‘best’ weapon choice for the bureaucrat unlike the other weapons based professions. After level 200 however, the exponentially increasing cost of our many dark blue weapon skills mean that some weapon choices are probably better than others without depleting your IP pool.
This section on Weapon Choice is only meant to give an overview of possible weapon setups.

Pistol
Primary weapon skill: Pistol
Specials typically available: Burst, Fling Shot

Pros
This is the only light blue weapon skill available to the bureaucrat. We have a buff called Gunslinger that can buff our pistol skill by an additional +20 on top of the general expertise buff. We also have access to the Pistol Mastery group perk and no other weapon buffing perks, strongly suggesting the intended bureaucrat weapon type. Pistols have the benefit of having the most buffing options to choose from so you are not restricted to only using them as weapons and can swap between damage and buffing.

Cons
Pistols are relatively low damage compared the other weapon types and generally perform poorly in PvP. The better pistols out there usually have special attacks associated with them. This means any benefits gained by being more IP efficient are lost when you are required to raise your dark blue ranged special skills to wield it in the end. The best pistols in the game are profession locked to Adventurers and Soldiers.

Assault Rifle
Primary weapon skill(s): Assault Rifle, Heavy Weapons, Ranged Energy
Specials typically available: Burst, Fling Shot, Full Auto

Pros
Assault Rifles are relatively high damage and have more special attack(s) associated with them.

Cons
Since Shadowlands, the best assault rifles are profession locked to the soldiers. Also the exponentially increasing IP cost of the weapon and its specials may prove too costly to maintain after level 200. Recently, special attacks received a defense check making them evadable. With the bureaucrat’s dark blue special attacks it means our chances of successfully landing a special are greatly decreased. The best assault rifles are profession locked to the Soldier profession.

Bow
Primary weapon skill: Bow
Specials typically available: Aimed Shot, Fling Shot

Pros
Bows have received a substantial damage upgrade since the Shadowlands expansion. Bows use the physical initiative skill modifier for their attack speed. Since this is light blue it is cheaper to improve than ranged or melee initiative.

Cons
Bow skill is relatively difficult to buff unless you have access to very expensive and rare high level items. Aside from the physical initiative skill, bow and its special attacks are dark blue. Bureaucrats do not have access to the Bow Mastery perk line, further hindering our ability to effectively use bows.

MG / SMG
Primary weapon skill: MG / SMG
Specials typically available: Burst

Pros
Fast attack speed and decent range are the hallmarks of the sub-machine gun line. They can achieve decent damage and usually focus on the burst special.

Cons
Like the assault rifle, the main problem for choosing this weapon option will be the ability to continue to improve the weapon skill after level 200 from skill costs that increase exponentially. We do not have access to the Sub-Machine Gun Mastery perk line and the highest damage sub-machine guns have been profession locked to fixer only.

Rifle
Primary weapon skill: Rifle
Specials typically available: Aimed Shot, Fling Shot

Pros
Before Shadowlands(yes, again) this was the most popular weapon choice for most Nano-based professions those seeking to PvP due to this weapon’s ability to use aimed shot. This special has a fast recharge and able to deal a respectable amount of damage at a long range. Even though we do not have access to the perk lines that buff rifle, it is one of the more easily Nano buffed weapon skills out there along with aimed shot.

Cons
The Caterwaul, the best aimed shot rifle for PvP have been made agent only making this weapon choice far less appealing than it used to. As with nearly all other ranged weapon types discussed earlier, the best rifles have been profession locked, this case to the agent. It also goes without saying that it is only a matter of time until this the aimed shot’s unevadable qualities will be changed in the future.

Shotgun
Primary weapon skill: Shotgun
Specials typically available: None

Pros
The shotgun used to be a popular alternate weapon choice for bureaucrat. They do a reasonable amount of damage at a reasonable speed. Because shotguns usually do not have specials associated with them, requiring only one dark blue skill has made it IPly viable to maintain even at higher levels.

Cons
They have dropped quite a bit in popularity after patch 14.2.1 that changed the Martial Artist critical chance Nano to become a self-only buff. We have no access to the Shotgun Mastery perk line and the best shotguns have since been profession locked to traders only.

Martial Arts
Primary weapon skill: Martial Arts
Specials typically available: Brawl, Dimach, various techniques

Pros
Martial Arts use Physical Init., a light blue skill for their attack speed. The advantage is that there is no need to purchase weapons(fists are free) and there is a general perk line available, Kung-Fu Master.

Cons
All of the bureaucrat’s Nano lines place emphasis on keeping the target away from us(Roots, Snares, Fears). Bureaucrats are not good at ‘tanking’ or absorbing damage at close quarter combat. The specials associated with martial arts are dark blue and very expensive to improve at high levels. The martial artist and shade have better damage templates for their fists, effectively meaning that the best martial arts damage have been profession locked again.

Melee Weapons
Primary weapon skill: Various, depending on weapon choice.
Specials typically available: Brawl, Fast Attack

Pros
Melee weapons(1h-blunt, 1h-edged, 2h-blunt, 2h-edged) tend to be faster and do slightly more damage than their ranged weapon counterparts. Look unique in going melee when most bureaucrats choose ranged.

Cons
Once again, the bureaucrat’s Nano lines emphasize keeping the target from reaching the bureaucrat. While most of the better melee weapons are not profession locked they carry steep requirements with numerous special skills that are dark blue. We have no access to any melee oriented perk lines to help. Unless carefully planned, a melee setup can become unviable at higher levels.

No Weapons

Pros
Don’t have the worry about what weapon to use or upgrade as you level because you are not using any! Save lots of IPs and look cute wielding social items like stuffed leet dolls and food plates into battle.

Cons
Despite the mediocre weapon choices we have to choose from that is not a reason to forgo using a weapon altogether. Yes, IP is scarce in the beginning but wielding a stuffed leet and soda can into battle is just bad on principle. Even wielding a weapon many levels below you will contribute damage and help speed combat along.

Armor Choice

What armor should I wear?

This really only applies to the early levels below 100. In the beginning when IP are scarce you will be limited in what armor you can wear based on your breed. As you progress, you will eventually have enough free IP to max out your abilities to the cap set by your breed. Because of this, in the high end game your armor choice are only limited in what you are able to obtain.

The early levels below 100 go by relatively quickly. Below are a list of breeds and some example armor types for players below 125 that are easy to obtain through mission rewards or from store terminals.

Atrox
Excels in: Strength and Stamina
Example armor types: Platsteel Armors, Nomad Armor, Omni-Tek Armors(for Omni players)

Nanomage
Excels in: Intelligence and Psychic
Example armor types: Cyber Armors

Opifex
Excels in: Agility and Sense
Example armor types: Metaplast Armors, Steel-Ribbed Armors, Omni-Tek Armors(for Omni players)

Solitus
Excels in: Any
Example armor types: Any. You can pick any armor type and only increase those 2 armor skills.

Premium Starter Armors

The following armor types give better protection that the armor types that you can mission for or buy at the stores. Most of these armor types give better protection and abilities but cost more. If money isn’t a problem, these would probably be a better choice. You can usually find these armor types for sale at your local city’s shopping channels.

Some examples of what premium tradeskilled armors are available out there.

Carbonum Plate (+ NCUs)
Variants: Omni Carbonum (+ hp), Storm Carbonum (+ Nano resist)
Needs: Stamina and Agility

Junkmetal Armor(+ hp)
Needs: Strength and Agility

CAS Symbiotic (+ hp)
Needs: Stamina and Strength

Omni-Tek Steel Ribbed (+ initiatives, Omni only)
Needs: Sense and Agility

Apocalypse Leather (+ initiatives, Clan and Neutral only)
Needs: Sense and Agility

Skills

What skills should I put my IP points into?

This is one of the questions most commonly asked by new and starting bureaucrats on the profession forums. It is also one of the most open ended questions. What sort of skills you should be increasing is highly dependant on your breed, weapon choice and what you plan to do with your bureaucrat. Below are some suggestions on skills that are universal to all bureaucrats regardless of style followed by some tips on suggestions to budget your limited IP pool early in the game below level 100.

This section is in no way meant to dictate that this is the only correct way to spend your skill points.

Primary Skills

These are skills that any bureaucrat can safely max every level because we will always use them.
Abilities: Intelligence
Speed: NanoCombat Init.
Nano & Aiding: Bio Metamorphoses, Psychological Modifications, Matter Creation, Time and Space, Sensory Improvement.

Secondary Skills

Depending on your weapon and armor choice, these skills are next in line as being most important. You will usually have enough IP points to max these as well. Add points into these as you are able. But it is not vital that you must max these all the time.

Abilities: Body Development, Nano Pool, The two abilities used by your armor type.
Speed: Doge-Rng, Evade-ClsC, Run Speed(see note below)
Weapons: The primary attack skill of your chosen weapon type.

Additional Skills

These skills below are useful to have but have limited usefulness or are extremely expensive to raise. Most of them are based on your personal preferences and individual play styles.

Speed:

Ranged Init. – Most bureaucrats using ranged weapons will probably want to increase this at some time. Because it is so expensive and there are probably more pressing skills to increase, raise this only if you have the IPs to spare.

Duck-Exp – Most mob attacks check against the Evade-ClsC or Doge-Rng skill. There are a few mob types in the Shadowlands that do check against Duck-Exp, but those are few. Use your discretion in raising this skill.

Run Speed – Early on, it is definitely a good idea to raise this every level until it is around 200 or so. After that, you can raise it whenever you find yourself having trouble keeping up with the rest of your team.

Trade & Repair:

Computer Literacy – Early on, raise this as needed to equip better computer belts and NCUs or to access the grid.

Psychology – This skill is used is some specific trade skill processes and to equip some bureaucrat items. It also gives a bonus to the attack rating of our charms only (14-20%), making them less likely to be resisted. Psychology has no other effects on any other bureaucrat Nano. If you plan on using charms a lot, investing in psychology is a good idea. Otherwise you can pass this over until you have a need to equip a specific item such as a bureaucrat suit.

Mech Engi – This skill are used by bureaucrats that decide to use trimmers for their droids. If you do not use trimmers, there is no need to raise this skill.

Nano & Aiding:

First Aid – This skill allows us to use better stims and spindles. While less useful on Rubi-Ka, spindles are extremely useful in the Shadowlands. Since we cannot heal ourselves in battle, this could be a very useful skill investment.

Treatment – This skill allows us to use better aid-kits, coils and equip better implants or symbiants. I recommend raising this as needed to use a better aid kit or put on better implants/symbiants.

Spying:

Break&Entry – Raising this skill will enable you to pick the locks on the chests while inside Rubi-Ka missions. The skill needed depends on the mission level. A skill of 400 will be sufficient to open all chests in a level 200 mission. Do not bother raising this to pick chests in the Shadowlands. The skill needed is much higher and the chest usually contains nothing of value.(At this time.)

Navigation:
Map Navig – You will probably want to raise it up to about 130 for the monster scanner upgrade and then leave it alone.