i think it is about your level where the rotation for marksman really starts to work. never leveled as leth but guildmates that have have said that most groups die before the dots really do their work and is otherwise unsatisfying (targets are dead before finish rampup) and the rapid target switching in marksman is faster for questing.

i read the op answers so figured i put my predictions in early. 1. We feel that gunslingers/snipers are currently in a pretty good place for endgame PvE content, as their raid utility and survivability is higher than that of many other classes – so currently, the idea is that what slingers and snipers may lack in DPS, they make up for in their raw ability to survive or raid utility. In a distant future update, we will be adding some DPS for slingers/snipers in exchange for some of that utility, but we are not yet ready to discuss the details of these changes. We feel that the scatterbombs is being used in an unintended manor but do not wish to remove the wall bang from pvp. We have plans to fix engineering/Saboteur and will be nerfing OS further soon but are not yet ready to discuss them. 2. we are aware slingers/snipers lack survivability in arenas and we were going to implement a better version of evasion but that was too OP. we are currently working on new defenses but are not ready to discuss the details. It may be a new ability tho we don’t like doing that outside of large releases. 3. We will be implementing phase 2 of make sure no one uses Flyby/OS ever again soon. This update will remove all abilities buffing OS from every tree but engineering/Saboteur and attach them into the engineering/Saboteur tree. We are not yet ready to discuss what if any additional talents will be used to replace the removed ones. After phase 2 has been implemented phase 3 will re-work engineering. You can discuss potential changes below.

honestly i am at the point i never queue for ranked because i dislike arenas. some classes are just better designed for the arena style of gameplay and the simple solution is to create solo queue ranked warzones

i assume the idea of the class rep and questions was to voice concerns to the devs that are not on their radar. I and several other people have posted clear evidence that the devs know that engineering is if not broken very bent. I have a hard time believing the devs are deliberately withholding information regarding the fix of a known and serious issue with the class. If they are then the class questions are not a way to engage the community they are a way to make the community think they are engaged. Our questions should reflect concerns we have with the class not already known to the devs. As you said we already used a question last time to ask about engineering 10 months ago and the most recent twitch shows they are doing something.

currently questions put in to the pve thread prior to this thread being created are not on this list.

is from the last time we had any questions answered. is from after the OS nerf. The devs seem fully aware eng is broken and plan at some point to nerf OS further into the ground and alter engineering to improve it. I dont think we should waste a question on engineering that amounts to "still broken when are you fixing it" we will get a slightly more detailed response that amounts to still working on it we are aware of the problem. Maybe i am wrong but i would hope the devs would volunteer their planned changes to engineering when they have them rather than wait for our class questions. I only hope the delay is because it is low on their priority list and still in planning phases rather than deliberately withholding information for a question they know will be asked to appear magnanimous.

i fully agree with GrandHighAdmiral. What the original design for each class was seems to have been changed since the game released and many people view what a sniper is supposed to be differently. The change in OS definitely reflects some design shift. I find it hard to believe that OS could for such a long time maintain its damage and then be nerfed with the idea it was never intended to do such damage. a question should be: What are the design goals for the sniper in relation to other classes and the individual sniper specs, to what extent do snipers and their specs meet or exceed those design goals in both operations and pvp, and what potential changes are in development to meet the design goals? (with special emphasis on engineering and marksman) which is a more detailed way to ask what is the current status of snipers from the dev perspective? do you like it? what do you have planned? I think a well written status of the class post with design goals would create a large opportunity for player discussion and also move away from the trend of the submitted dev questions being less about wanting information and more towards telling them they are wrong. This would answer all my current questions about the class. Sure i would like to improve snipers in arenas, make OS more powerful, make SoS trigger FT on a tick rather than after all ticks, and improve the set bonuses but theses arnt questions. we could create a snipers QoL list and general concerns list to submit to the devs after we get an answer on who we are. Here is an old post from before the forum reset. dated 11/3/11 from Georg Zoeller. Is this general philosophy still in effect?

So everyone knows snipers die fast in arenas but don’t have the same issue in warzones. I think the issue is the nature of our defensive cooldowns rather than power. wzs create combat areas where a sniper can choose his position with knowledge of where the enemy has to be to score. Moving away from an objective will reduce the likelihood of being attacked and give opportunity to recover and re-engage. In arenas the players are the objectives. There is no mechanism to force players into an open zone. I have seen arenas where no one kills anyone and each side picks their position and refuses to approach the other team forcing the acid event which obviously favors some classes above others. The other issue is most of the sniper defenses are based on creating distance or stopping movement. This mechanic is highly effective in wzs because you can find support, find healing spawn, and make the enemy return to capturing the objective. In arenas there is no more support no healing spawn and no reason for any attacker to break from a weak target. With all that in mind take a look at inquisitors, operatives, and marauders. (everyone not in heavy armor) Sorc: force barrier this stops all incoming damage and often forces enemies to change targets (how often you can discuss with the sorcs) also able to heal Operative: in combat stealth (breaks target and combat) and has ability to heal Assassin: in combat stealth (breaks combat) and phase walk (both break target) Marauder: in combat stealth (breaks target) and undying rage (minor target break less than sorcs) Each class has some ability to prevent focus damage not only by mitigation but by altering the target of the attackers. While well-coordinated teams can reacquire target breaks often in the heat of the moment a broken target lock is not immediately reacquired for some time (not so much for sorcs). TL;DR Without creating new abilities (like a force camo stealth for snipers) I would suggest altering countermeasures. Example: Hitting countermeasures will force any enemy players to target the nearest enemy clear their focus target and prevent them from targeting the sniper for several seconds ideally this would also break combat. Or stop combat/prevent combat and temporarily alter the sniper to appear friendly (green name and marker). The player version of scramble IFF.

Here is a snip from an old post from before the forum reset. dated 11/3/11 from Georg Zoeller. as far as i can tell this design philosophy is still in effect. no class was designed to take on a sniper starting from 35m with no LOS issues in a direct dps race.

thank you thank you. i wont deny i am proud of that one

inter-fraction chat would only lead to discussions of the lowest common denominator

Here is an old post from before the forum reset. dated 11/3/11 from Georg Zoeller. as far as i can tell this design philosophy is still in effect. Some of the abilities dont work the same anymore and roll has been added but that seems to be a counter to the addition of mobility boosts to several classes in 2.0. as well as a fix to the finicky roll to cover that many snipers exchange for crouch. the stealth detection is an addition to the area denial but is still weak against approaches from behind. Quote:

given what they said i can only think of two options to achieve their goal. OS is now channeled. Becomes like lighting storm or Suppressive Fire or OS has a damage modifier or secondary explosion with splash damage that increases damage based on number of targets hit. some of the talents would need to be re-evaluated. and i would hate to see the signature Agent move turned worthless and given that you only get the skill at 48 makes it rather lackluster.

I would like to see a buffer/debuffer support class. I dont care if it is a new class or attached to an existing one. The class is fully capable of filling a dps or heal position in a group depending what they choose to specialize in. the way to keep things balanced is to limit the amount buffs alter the fight to the equivalent role. (reduces damage equal to that of one healer's ability to heal or increases damage of remaining dps equal to that of one dps) defensive buffs (increase ability to take damage) sorc bubbles, stat increases, or specific damage type negations defensive debuffs (decreases the ability of target or targets ability to inflict damage ) reduce accuracy, reduce damage, reduce attack speed offense debuffs (increase damage target or targets take) boost weaknesses to internal, elemental, force, tech, ranged, or melee attacks. reduce total armor and defense (lower accuracy needed by dps) offense buffs (increase damage team members do) increases to all damage related stats (crit, accuracy, power, alacrity ect)

So I haven’t seen a post on the forums discussing how the sentinel PvE question could relate to the sniper so I figured what the hell couldn’t hurt. Given sentinels/marauders are pure dps class (like snipers) how the individual trees are divided may be a similar style. Rage sounds remarkably like engineering (high burst high aoe), combat like marksman (good burst good sustained), and annihilation like lethality (great sustained low burst). With this in mind other points such as "Ideally, any damage spec should be able to deal formidable AoE damage when necessary (and should prefer to leave most AoE attacks out of their rotation in a single-target fight)." leads to question if this is a cross class trend or a sentinel specific one (how often was OS/plasma probe intended to be used on single-targets) I am not an expert with lethality but the carnage/annihilation vs marksman/lethality is similar in practice (lower use of the assumed sustained king in part due to mechanics and time for full effect to take place. There maybe more potential crossover details i missed or i might be reading too much into the answers. Either way keep in mind (ideally) all the classes were designed as a whole and are interrelated. we should be able to derive some information about snipers from some of the other dps questions.

Saying the trees are different because they are different classes is pointless. The question is what makes them different. Each performs a ranged dps role differently. And to be more specific sorcs and mercs can heal so the base concept of how a dps merc and sorc will work in both pvp and pve will be significantly different as to the degree each is expected to heal. Which is a question they can ask on their forums. The overall feel post was before the game was live. Sniper Volley doesn’t work that way described anymore. Roll has created a 20sec instant move to create significant range on any melee. Spotter limits the area a stealth can approach a sniper. Evasion now removes all negative effects including dots. The addition of reflect to jugs as well as higher mobility moves in most classes in 2.0 has cut the effectiveness of legshot and alpha strike. And this is from a pvp perspective alone. I should also point out the quote is not available on swtor.com or anywhere on the current forums. I had to go to a third party website that recorded and tracked all dev posts from current and previous versions of the forums. This is a MMORPG classes often fluctuate on what their role is between expansions and significant content changes. Everything has a potential to be changed . Engineering has become a melee dps due to the use of mines. So even the idea that sniper will always be long ranged is inaccurate. consider it to be a state of the union type speech. where we are, where we are going, how we will get there. You cant discount the usefulness of such a post compared to Sniper = ranged dps (sometimes) that is on the current class description.

not quite. ranged dps is vague. how snipers dps between skill trees as well as mercs and sorcs varies considerably. There is a role in mind that defines what a sniper is and how it is supposed to be different from mercs and sorcs. there are already many questions on the front page dealing with what is the intent behind different specs. Angelsfluttersky #2 and Paowee #1 are asking about the changes made to leathality and the intention and use in raid environment vs hybrid specs. Evrydayimsmugglin #1 is a question about if snipers are to be reliant on other classes or is roll to be used as a major defense. Angelsfluttersky #3 is question about if engineering is designed for the mines to be the primary damage dealer. Angelsfluttersky #1 is also about the intent behind engineering and the limited viablity of plasma probe in mobile boss fights. the answer will shape future questions and provide a basis for new discussion. you could always pose your own question tho.

What is the current role of a sniper in pvp and pve broken down by spec. How does development team want these specs to be used? Regarding: SoS -> target dies -> FT does not proc. Can this be fixed or do we just live with it? Armor appearances (i am sorry skotal but that is not related to the Combat Team) after reading what you wrote for my #1 and what i did maybe role isnt the best word to use. Maybe something along the lines of What is the concept behind the sniper in pvp and pve broken down by spec? but i guess people can just read my post if they want the details. 2# looks fine 3# well it did ask for questions but if you want stricktly combat here is one that i'd like answered. Why in the mm tree (what would be called the most turret like spec) does ballistic dampeners require the sniper to leave cover to re-apply?

The most important thing i would like to see answered completely and comprehensively is what is the design philosophy behind snipers. Something that includes what is the current role of a sniper in pvp and pve broken down by spec. Not how they are currently used but how the development team wants them to be used. I have had several forum debates about what the current intent vs the original intent of what snipers are supposed to be. Here is an old post from before the forum reset. dated 11/3/11 from Georg Zoeller several new skills have been added and others have changed. does this concept still apply? I think a lengthy and in depth response will greatly improve discussion about balance between classes in pve and pvp. a response will also serve as a great introduction to the sniper forums and provide fast and dev approved responses to posts demanding nerfs for class defining concepts. additionally responses on pvp vs pve set bonuses, if target dies when SoS is being channeled it does not proc FT, raid utility (can we get an ability to direct threat onto a tank), armor appearance (lets limit the number of antennas, headlights, giant flashing lights on the sniper rifle, ect) would love to see an art contest for new armor appearance.

so....not even a content vs features wording change where you could argue subscribers get all content for free and features are cartel. you try to throw in the idea of the cartel coins that are given to subscribers means that subs do have access to the features if they just wait for the coins.....too bad the blog post says unlimited access.

i'd be up for it just got a lvl 50 gunslinger and all my pvp gear is in legacy armor well most of it is so i can swtich between sides with a few mails.

last night went really well for me imp side. (i always solo queue) finished my weekly was weird never finished weekly that early. Also got a 7700 flytext hit on someone in huttball but didnt register on scoreboard.

go juyo

figured i post this pretty much the only screenshot i took of a wz scoreboard. from 12/24/12. was a loss but the hit was high. http://i.imgur.com/wWD5uk2.jpg Biggest Hit(Sniper) 7352

i have been wanting the cowboy hat for imp toons since i saw the smuggler set. Hoped they would make it to the cartel market. In fact after seeing the cartel suggestion topic the first search i did was to look for cowboy hat recommendation.