There doesn't seem to be a whole lot of interest in this thread, so I'll post my latest instalment and then let it fall off the front page. Here are some important facts for modelling our abilities. Both are fairly obvious. 1) Corrosive Dart and Grenade have ticks spaced 3s apart. Corrosive Grenade has a tick on the "initial" (Second 0), while corrosive dart does not. Both have ticks on the last tick (Second 15 or 18 (talented) and 21, respectively). Lethal Injectors adds 3 seconds, and therefore one additional tick (increasing DPE by 20%, but not affecting DPS) 2) Weakening Blast will apply (and be consumed by) simultaneous events, like a Corrosive Dart double-tick, or the internal damage from cull. An interesting consideration is the value of a "Hybrid" spec including Kolto Probes to generate TAs. Aside from the ability to start with Two TAs and a Stim-Boost already running, thanks to Kolto Infusions, and the loss of weakening blast, devouring microbes and imperial brew, it changes the calculations of Cull as follows Cull+KP: DPE 96.97, DPG: 1742.77* * Take Home Message: Unless you need to stay out of melee (or need the heals), shiv is *always* a better TA generator than Kolto Probe.

Editing Original Thread to Include numbers for "Snipe" and "Hidden Strike" Our DPS ability priority, then, for max damage per global cooldown (not factoring in ability cooldowns or TA generation): If energy is limiting, it becomes I have some trouble "quantifying" the value (and cost) of TA. At it's essence, a TA "costs" you the damage/energy difference between a shiv and another GCD, but the trouble is that nothing in our rotation is spammable - which means that a TA may only be compared to a Rifle Shot, Overloaded Shot or Snipe, the latter two of which are worse than Shiv in most ways anyway. It seems then that there's no real global cost to generating a TA, only a situational one (depending on which cooldowns need to be refreshed first).

One thing these data allow us to do is place a minimum value on energy; that of our "cull+shiv" combo, one of our lowest DPE that is constantly being used. Stim Boost: >6710 "Damage" of energy (always worth it, unless the fight is going to end less than ~15s from now) Precision Instruments: Over a 500s single-target fight, >13.55 DPS worth of energy saved per point. Endorphin Rush: Over a 500s fight, >10.84 DPS worth of energy saved per point. Which allows us to compare those two talents to concealed attacks and surgical strikes Surgical Strikes: Assuming on cooldown use of shiv and Backstab (both unlikely and sub-optimal, I think), 4.2775 (Shiv) + 2.5645 (BS) DPS per point, ie 6.842. *Note, the backstab bonus is actually slightly bigger, since you'd have taken concealed attacks. Concealed Attacks: Assuming on cooldown use of backstab, 7.49 DPS per point. At a glance, Imperial Brew is worth 14.46 DPS per point, making it better than all of the above, as suspected. Take Home Messages: Your spec should be 7/3/31, unless you're frequently capping out on energy. Stim Boost should always be up.

I had a qreat many questions about Lethality, so I've set about answering some of them. I wondered whether the talents in Medic or Concealment are better, how important it is to refresh dots before the weakened versions, and how valuable backstab was for concealment. I apologize for the horrid formatting of the tables, any suggestions are welcome. Please note this isn't intended to be a be-all-end-all for discussion, and it's nowhere near as useful as a good simulator, but I think it serves as a valuable "at a glance" indication of ability priorities and theory-crafting starting point. My methodology is as follows; Now some important facts 1) The internal damage from cull counts as a poison for purposes of triggering Lethal Purpose (and Weakening Blast). 2) "Dark Spike" (From internal damage relic) does not. 3) Lethal Injectors and corrosive microbes affect the weak version of corrosive dart Legend: DPE=Damage Per Energy, DPG= Damage Per Global Cooldown (eg "opportunity cost" of not having hit another button), DPS = Damage per second (for most abilities, DPG/1.5, for dots, DPG/duration). The abilities are presented sorted by the DPE. RifleShot DPE =Infinite, DPG = 700.58, DPS = 467.05 OrbiStrik DPE =196.32, DPG =2944.74, DPS =1963.16 Backstab DPE =153.87, DPG =1538.71, DPS =1025.81 HidStrike DPE =110.08, DPG =1871.39, DPS =1247.59 ExplProb DPE = 92.55, DPG =1851.00, DPS =1234.00 ShivNoTA DPE = 85.55, DPG =1283.26, DPS = 855.51 Snipe....... DPE = 71.34 , DPG =1426.91, DPS = 951.27 OverShot DPE = 64.56, DPG =1097.53, DPS = 731.69 FragGren DPE = 49.83, DPG = 996.53, DPS = 664.35 Now we come to the trickier abilities with second-order effects (energy returns off crit), increased damage <30%, and interactions between one another. These numbers will vary a great deal based on gear (especially crit %). (Ext) indicates the calculations were from the dot AND it's weak version, added up. CorrDart DPE = 343.09, DPG =4340.10, DPS = 241.12 Dart(Ext) DPE = 690.79, DPG =5077.30, DPS = 169.24 CorGren DPE = 244.54, DPG =3091.04, DPS = 147.19 Gren(Ext DPE = 380.95, DPG =3580.97, DPS = 119.36 Cull(2Ps) DPE = 153.43, DPG =2710.98, DPS =1807.32 Cull(1Ps) DPE = 102.47, DPG =1878.76, DPS =1252.51 Shiv+Cull DPE = 122.26, DPG =1997.12, DPS =1331.41 WkBlast DPE = Infinite, DPG = 2072.??, DPS = 138.??* * Take Home Messages: Linking to the original post where they are discussed) Your spec should be 7/3/31, unless you're frequently capping out on energy. Stim Boost should always be up. Unless you need to stay out of melee (or need the heals), shiv is *always* a better TA generator than Kolto Probe.

I'm afraid this is a rather complex question, but I'll do my best to summarize it reasonable Q&A form. Please note that this *isn't* a complaint about healer balance at all, just an inquiry into the process of balancing them. There are quite a few scaling factors that affect healers differently than damage-dealers; Trauma affects heals (but not damage), Expertise improves healing at half the rate it does damage, the power stat affects healing less than it does damage. How are these (and other mechanics) adjusted so that scaling of healers is proportional to scaling of damage dealers in PvP?

Thank you for these comparisons - some data is infinitely preferrable to no data. It certainly seems to be implying that the buff to operatives (and nerfs to the other two healers) weren't uncalled for (or hugely out of line, although I can see why BHs grumble). Given that these numbers don't even include shields...

Your question sugggests a slight confusion in terminology; Crit Rating is a stat on gear (+Crit), which is converted to Crit percentage (the number you're referring to). Your buff is added to the percentage. The conversion of rating-to-% is a level based formula, so you need more crit-rating gear to get 1% crit at high levels than you do at low levels. So "5 crit rating" means more to a level 10 than a 50. What you're seeing is normal - it's the decrease in crit % associated with level gain. This is typically done in MMOs to allow small stat gains to be meaningful while levelling, without having huge (>100% crit % etc) on max level gear. The same is true of many (but, IIRC, not all) "rating" stats in this game.

There are many factors here; A level 15 wearing full purples will be bolstered to a much stronger power level than a level 45 wearing level 36 greens. Your power isn't a question of how good your gear is, but how good it is relative to your level. Not all things scale evenly. To offset the greater variety of tools you have being high level, the lower level bolster buffs are quite powerful. Player skill, player communication, team cooridination will essentially trump both of the above, and what you're probably seeing is those same skilled players who trounced you when they were 50 and you were 20 rolling alts, familiar with pvp and all the class mechanics, trouncing you once again. In summary; aside from the seperation of level 1-49 from level 50, the way the bolster mechanic works and the way lower levels interact with higher levels hasn't changed (to our knowledge) since you were a low level...

It's not that unusual. There are a couple of factors that play into this; 1) Less mobility (no sprint) than sorcs to be better placed for heals. 2) Weak AE heal, 3) Shield >> Hots, since it's far more likley to absorb it's full amount, 4) Vulnerability to interupts - if KI is interupted before you've built up TA, you basically just sit on your *** until it unlocks, while Sorcerors and Mercenaries both can cast an alternate heal. Things that will push your healing numbers up to respectable amounts tend to be; a good streak spamming probe on a target being focused <30%, and less mobility-constrained warzone (Alderaan or Void-Star).

Keep in mind that previously, even if you did get a champion token, it could have been a repeat of an existing piece you already had. The commendation system will favour a smoother gearing up, and eliminate some of that RNG frustration.

Adrenals, expertise power-ups, crit relics. Your pick. I haven't played concealment in pvp (heals atm), but the discrepancy you're talking about seems well within the bounds of a 2-3% expertise advantage and a temp buff or two. Keep in mind that not all light armor targets are "Squishy" (eg; Assassins, Shadows), as they have mitigation boosts, and that the light armor targets that are squishy (consular/sorc) typically have a shield up to reduce your damage. Ops are among the squishiest class.

Tested it today. With a sample size of only 45, I got 66% crits (my listed crit rating is 35.19, diagnositic should be 24% higher than that ie 59.19). Looks fine to me.

I have mixed feelings about "Increasing RE rates"... as I've spent a great deal of time and a considerable investment into REing. I realize that's probably just the "I've done OK so far, why should it be easier after I've done it" attitude talking. In a more detached perspective I can see that it's a barrier of entry to crafting that might not be beneficial to the game, but I also feel like the current system had longevity to it (my current efforts at proccing gear for twinks has, to date, only yielded a full set of mods, armoring and barrells for bounty hunters - so I still have a ways to go), and a sense of accomplishment. It's also a pretty good time and money sink, neither of which is a bad idea in an MMO. I guess what I'd hope for is a more targetted approach; maybe eliminate "Already KNown" procs (which admitedly are very frustrating), which would effectively increase RE rates by about a third but do so in a way that targets one of the most frustrating aspects. Another target much rather see a few useless schematics erased (If I proc'd a redoubt, you can be damn sure I didn't want "Anti-Armor" prefix!). With those two fixes and then a REDUCTION in the RE rates, I think the system would be a lot less frustrating and maintain it's longevity.