Well, let's see. I have two melee specialized characters myself; not trolls, but one human and one elf. In our group im sort of the expert on this subject these days, though there are things even I needed help with(some manuvers, for example).
Race-wise, Trolls are good, but no longer the dominating force at melee anymore. If you want to play a troll just to play a troll, though, then go for it. Take character prefrence over advantages in combat, naturally, but Trolls don't have the massive advantage anymore over their other counterparts.
To be sure, they CAN still soak hits with the best of them, but with the 1/2 Str being applied now, their huge numbers don't mean as much. On top of it, everyone can get the Martial Arts skills from Arsenal to up their DV. On top of THAT their Agility takes a hit, so unless you get genetech or Exceptional Attribute, both expensive, you'll be running with less average Agility which is the combat skill. on top of THAT, even regular folks can get +1 reach with the Kick Attack manuver. So again, they aren't bad, play a troll to play a troll, though, and not thinking there will be an advantage. (I wasn't saying you were, but i figured i'd clear this up at the beginning, since ive known some folks that were a bit dissapointed coming from 2-3 to 4 when it came to trolls.)
That being said, the folks here have some good tips. I did take some kind of ranged weapon for both of them. One of them(the human) despises using guns, but he figures it's good to have SOME ranged capability, I gave him Throwing Weapons. He's got high Agility and Strength to use these with. And i went Cyber for both of them, too(for the record, Originally the human was an Adept with Bioware but i though Cyber fit the whole thing better so i went with it).
If you go Cyber:
-Bone Lacing, as high a level as you can. We don't play with Availability at chargen, so i was able to get Titanium. But whatever's allowed, go for it.
-Muscle Augmentation and Toner. You want to pump the Agility and Strength. If you go with Troll, you will definately want Agility. (one thing i love about elf martial artists,
) I managed to get a Suprathyroid, luckily. If you guys don't play with Availability either; Suprathyroids are good buys, if not a bit expensive.
-Synthacardium. You'll want to combine this with Gymnastics Dodge, if you want to play a Captain Dodge type of martial artists. 3 levels of this, plus a good Gymnastics score and you'll be dodging hella well.
-That being said, pick up some Reaction Enhancers and a good Reaction. If you go troll, you CAN get away with a lower Strength. You'll be making up for the DV with Bone Lacing and Muscle Augmentation. Honestly, you could leave Strength at 5(that's sort of the number i shoot for making a melee fighter-regardless of race), bring it to 7 with Aug, and between the Martial Arts DV bonuses and Bone Lacing, you'll be JUST fine. (I went stronger for both of my guys, but that was more for character purposes of intimidation factor.)
-If you can some more armor like a Dermal Sheath. Armor is good if you have to close in.
-And yeah, at least 2, try for 3 IPs.
-Don't neglect Edge.
-If you can, Enhanced Articulation will also help your Athletics.
Bio Adepts are nasty too; a couple points of Bio(a synaptic booster, muscle toner, synthacardium, etc.), and you can still have stuff to play with; but keep in mind, playing a troll bio-adept is going to be VERY expensive. (points for magic, points for troll, points for resources, etc.) I would say here the powers, once you take care of the Critical Strike, Elemental Strike(these are nice), Killing Hands if you want it, you can take Increased Gymnastics, maybe, if you want the Dodge Master, and Combat Sense is pretty good for that, too. (Perhaps Biocompatibility can help with the essence loss here). Then again, Biocompatibility is just an awesome positive quality, IMO.
As for the elf i made, he uses guns sometimes, but he's almost made for just 100% sheer insane over the top fun; he's got a pair of near maxed cyberlegs and a torso; with foot anchors, and blades in all four limbs. Do not try this at home without permission.
The GM had given me permission to have some fun here, since he's only in the group for three sessions or so every six months, he does't really throw off the campaign. (His words are...''if you bring me some more six-siders, you can do that.''
) But custom-attribute, modular cyberlimbs are fantastic for martial artists, too. You can get ones that increase damage with punches, throwing, kicking, or hitting with weapons, the stats can be boosted to pretty scary levels(even WITH the availability rule, without it, trust me, it gets nuts.) Going this route is possible, too.
All of THAT being said, in the end play the race you want. Elves have the Agility benefit(and you can get their Strength up without a problem), Humans have Edge, Trolls have the Body/soaking lots of hits advantage, Dwarves...honestly i don't see to many martial arts dwarves; however their Willpower bonus can help with the Stun Damage.(Which, with a lot of armor, you may well be taking alot of.) Orks have Body going for them, a bit of Strength and don't take the Agility hit that Trolls to.
But skillset and quality wise; get 3-4 levels of Martial Arts of choice, at least 4-5 manuvers, appropriate combat skill, a backup combat skill, a great Dodge/Gymnastics/Athletics Group and then you can round out with skills of choice.
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I have found it quite possible to build a human melee adept for 400 points that has a melee attack pool of 17 dice, a melee block pool of 21 dice, a ranged full defense of 15 dice and a base Unarmed Combat damage of 13P with -2AP, which is damn near .50 cal sniper rifle damage. He does only have 2 IP, but a full defense, free action move and then whack would usually cripple/kill most stuff within reach, particularly as only one net attack success is enough for major hurt.
Hmm...is this Human, Strength 5(7)[4 DV], 6 levels of Critical Strike[10DV], 2 from MA[12 DV] and Hardliner Gloves[13DV]?, with Penetrating Strike: 2? and i think it's the 5(7] Agility, with 6(+2) MA[15], and two extra dice from MA as well for the attack pool? My cyber human hits for 11 DV(9 Strength, 2 MA, 3 Bone Lacing, 1 Hardliner), so it's not far off; adepts naturally can go higher. I think my fellow defends full with...17 dice(7 Unarmed, 7 Reaction, 2 Synthacardium, 1 Athletics), and ranged full at...11. Did you take Combat Sense to help that?
The elf hits with his arms for very strong but reasonable amounts(around 7 DV after all said and done); but he kicks for crazy stupid amounts if i start tacking on his Nightengale Feet of Fury and/or Raptor Legs. (Sometimes i prefer using his normal legs, though, taking a very small DV hit but using his varied foot/leg blades. It's still stupid damage though, making most people RATHER take the hit from the sniper rifle.) It's more or less if he kicks someone, it's the Team Rocket/Godhand effect.(unless they hit a wall. Yikes.)
But again, martial arts are mega fun; but definately get a little rounding out in there. Even if it's throwing weapons with some flash-bangs(great to have.)