AO-Universe

So I decided to pick up AO again and try leveling a class I wanted to try but never got around to. I've started working up a solitus dual pistol soldier. I've got a goal, my pioneer backpack, and not one lick of sense. (I do have SL, AI, etc.) I plan to mission up to 120 tokens (Easy before title jump, IIRC) and then start hitting up ToTW and SL content. I will be soloing a lot as a lowbie on RK2.

My prior toons have been and enforcer, a 'crat, and a lowbie MA over the years so I have a grasp of the mechanics of the game...I transfered a lil stipend of cash, some clothes and then nuked a character I no longer liked playing to reuse the name.

My goals for this toon are:
1) Viable soloing in RK and SL
2) Direct ranged combat/dps for teaming. (Maybe off tank?)
3) Maxxed out token board.
4) A bitching hoverboard and sunglasses.

Beyond the guide content for soldiers, is there anything special I should look out for on pistols, such as a good line of pistols for leveling in RK as I work on my token board?

Any perk tips for pistols vs. assault rifles?

Most content I find is AR focused, does dual pistol solo well in the Shadowlands and on old RK? (Lowbie to 220)

How is the money/loot leveling in shadowlands?

Will Merv ever find his lost cactus?

Soldier is one of the professions I've never looked much in to. If someone else isn't able to help though, the profession academy on the official forum might be your best bet.

Welcome back.

For expansions players, pistol is a perfectly viable option. As you approach end-game you might consider pistol + smg (if you like lots of special attacks) as IP becomes plentiful. I think the current max-damage expansions soldier set up is dual Xan SMGs.

I don't have any first hand experience with expansions soldiers, but second-hand experience is based on org mates. One is a pistol/smg PvP soldier who had already won most duels within the first 30 seconds, which was when he finished letting off all his special attacks (I forget which 2 weapons he has, but I know he has a lot of special attacks -- a capped Full Auto among them). Another is a dual SMGs PvE soldier. I've watched him solo Ian Warr.

Not much else needs to be said. You probably already know about all the good pistols. At the low end is the Customized Desert Reet (no MBS so you can use it a lot longer than you really should). For soldiers there are Jobe Guard Personal Pistols (suffers from low MBS). Near the upper end there is the Pain of Patricia and Diamondline Kick Pistol (the latter is atrox only). You can't go wrong with typed Kyr'och and Ofab pistols if you can afford them (and have victory points to spare).

At the end, you have the Lust of Xan, but the Envy of Xan (SMGs) out damages them.

Thanks for the feedback, figured I'd ask here since the officials looked kinda dead. I just wanted to make sure that before I sank weeks into playing and leveling I wasn't wandering into a dead end. Having fun so far...

Thanks for hosting a big pile of usefull guides to get me back up to speed on content too!

Quite a bit, Yes. I doubt you'd find that many things in the Veteran shop to actually want to buy. The recall beacons are the only things that are truly useful.