Just wanted to say thanks for the input. Sniper has never been a the easiest class to play, but like one of the previous posters that was something I enjoyed about it. After reading through the forums and watching videos it seems like it might just be too much of a hill to climb this time. Sometimes you just grow tired of always wishing you were on the other side of the balance equation. Think I'll play around with the remainder of the sub and see what other possibilities exist. Thanks again.

I was an avid PvP'er what seems like forever ago. The only way I know how to describe it is that Smash use to be ridiculous, Sins were damn near gods, and operative healers were pretty much unkillable. I'm not here to reminisce though. I want to know as a die hard sniper - is it worth coming back? All I use to do is PVP, and that's all I'd be interested in doing if I came back. I got a free 7 day subscription, but I'm in the "deer in the headlights," stage where all the changes (having to level up again, etc.) have me wondering if it's worth it in the end? I know it take a great deal of effort to play a sniper effectively in PvP. Configuring hotkeys, macros, etc while worth it in the end is work all the same. All that aside though I'd like to know what other PVP snipers think about their situations. If you could do it all over again would you bother with sniper considering the knowledge currently gained of 3.0 and beyond?

To the OP I can only say, wow and WOW!!!

As a guy just returning (resubbed about 4 days ago) I can't help but laugh. Bio did this to me once with the BM gear. Fine I said. Sucks that all my work is essentially negated but whatever. Everyone says it'll help with the caliber of PvP. It didn't. The same people still got slaughtered only I ended up at 75% health instead of 80% health. Work towards warhero gear the tell me. Get ready for rated - it'll be different. Most of my grind for WH was done when rateds were not even in the game mind you. This meant that I acquired most of my WH converting reg wz comms to ranked wz comms. Hell, by the time ranked WZs got here I was full WH already. So take the price of WH gear multiply it by 3 and you have some idea of the reg comms it cost. Now, even if you don't consider the fact that I thought ranked warzones made WH gear acquisition easy (even if you lost), you now bend me over for a second time. That saying, "Fool me once shame on me, fool me twice ..." comes to mind. I came back because I was at a crossroads with a decision. I like to focus on one game at a time. My choices were GW2, SWTOR, and Planetside 2. After this news SWTOR is not even a consideration. PS2 has a grind but at least they are upfront and open about it. I doubt they'll reduce cert point cost by 66% down the road. It's not because the game (swtor) is not adequate, but because Bioware does not seem to fathom what an investment is. I can handle the class imbalances because honestly it provides a test. I can handle the F2P stuff because failure has a cost. I can even handle the dry end game. I could handle all of this because I had my PvP. That is to say I had a goal I could constantly work towards that made me feel as if I had achieved something meaningful. You're not going to screw me with a third ridiculous grind for marginally better gear that you'll only turn around and negate in the future. I won't bother slinging wasted threats. I'll go the same way I suspect many a subscriber has; with a quick click of the "cancel subscription," button and a silently sighed "to hell with this sh*t."

-sniper has to be in cover or can spec to have this for 6 seconds after exiting cover -the sniper is stationary (my advice LoS, DoT, etc the sniper and keep on moving) -several classes have KB + root or slow combo -The ambush KB like the commando stock strike KB (which mind you doesn't have a 2.5 sec cast time) has to be specc'ed into -And did you know that Leg shot can miss or be dodged? Didn't think you did. -Please don't lie. Once the sniper dies the AoE (Orbital), plasma probe, etc go away. -It has a 2 or 3 second cooldown (can't be bothered to check atm) which can be reduced with talents -it's not instant which is actually a big negative in terms of PvP, but I digress -Once you put down that CC immunity you can not move or it's gone -A little known fact is that a MM sniper can stop the CC immunity, but (and here's the kicker) there is such a lack of snipers around that everyone just assumes it's 100% immunity. You want to counter this bring another MM sniper. -Ask a sniper exactly how much damage is *absorbed* not reduced. They probably don't know. BW in their infinite wisdom of vagueness still to this day doesn't actually tell us how much damage is soaks up. I can say it isn't much. -There are 2 shields. One that ups your dodge by 100% which last 3 seconds - I believe 4 seconds with PvP set bonus. What all this means is that for a very short period of time a sniper is hard to hit/kill, but trust and believe it is possible. -that is broken if a rat so much as pisses in the wind and a droplet of said piss lands on one of those CC'd people So you make a generalization concerning snipers and then compare them to specific specs of other classes. Here is some food for thought. Different specs have different drawbacks. Sniper specs can give up burst dps, survivability, or sustained dps. The same can be said for other classes. Instead of trying to figure out how to nerf a class that actually takes some talent to be done "right." consider working at not (for lack of a better word) sucking. As a V-rank 90 sniper I know some sorcs and aresenal merc who regularly hand me my lunch. Stop wallowing in mediocrity and despair - figure out ways around your perceived weakness.

Couple of things from an eng loving sniper that is currently spec'ed MM. That probe is a complete give-and-take. 1) If you see the probe then that means the burst potential of that sniper is essentially null and void. Yeah there is exp probe but we're talking about true "****-*** just happened-I want my mommy" burst. 2) If the probe is down it is not being used in conjunction with Int. Probe as a defensive/offensive stun. (again taking down damage potential of the sniper) 3) If the probe is down...it's down...seriously it doesn't move. What I mean to say is that probe placement has to be pretty damn good to COMPLETELY stop a door cap. I won't give away trade secrets, but suffice it to say that capping with a probe down while difficult is within the realm of possibility if it was a hasty plant. 4) Kill the sniper. I guess you also don't think orbital strike should stop a cap either huh? The long an short of all this is that the sniper (and by extension his probe) is easily dealt with. As a sniper I pride myself in staying alive and preventing caps but even I realize that I am easily countered / destroyed if even 2 dps bother to make it their business. Use some teamwork and KILL THE SNIPER.

I too use to be real big on the East / West as opposed to Grass/Snow. But when a person says East/West there is a moment of hesitation where some players have to actually stop, look at their minimap/compass, rethink what east/west is and then go. Granted, this all *should* happen in a matter of nano-seconds. What made grass / snow alright by me was the people who get confused and can't remember east from west. Reinforcements don't come and nodes get capped. When a person types snow and grass and the average pub sees it there is a split second where a picture of grass/snow flashes in the conscious and subconscious mind. People then know without any hesitation exactly what is meant. While I don't enjoy grass/snow I do enjoy winning. So I'll keep doing what is necessary to facilitate victory - that is to call it grass / snow. Hell, even I've gotten confused a time or two and said east when I meant west or vice versa.

If you're a PvP'er it's to your benefit. Sure Pof5 got a lot of good pvp'ers imp side but holy hell are there a lot of bad ones. Coming from Port Nowhere some of the stuff I saw literally blew my mind. The level of fail was so epic I had to pinch myself to make sure I wasn't dreaming sometimes. Pugs with less than 13k health (I didn't even know that was possible). Got one node in Novare Coast? The pugs believe you need 3 people to defend it while the other 5 people just magically go take a second one. Sorcs with str gear - seriously ***?!?! I was waiting for some kinda game event equivalent of "caught on candid camera," to pop out and tell me I'd just been punked. Never happened. Now I realize this may also be the case republic side as there was very little good comp to be had, but just know the grass isn't necessarily greener.

Because this is a process, we did need to start somewhere, and that means that some servers needed to become available first so we could begin monitoring to inform later decisions. Really, our information about populations and what players are doing now that transfers are available informs our next steps each time. - from AllisonBerryman I know the devs have accounted for the fact that some population numbers are increasing simply because people are logging on expecting a server transfer. I know this to be the case for Port Nowhere as people I haven't seen for months are now logging in (and after finding no server transfer quickly logging out). Again, I know the devs know this so that won't be a reason for some servers to have further delay in transferring. Surely.

Yeah man, I too watched this and was a bit shocked by just how bad the PvP was. I am just trying to be honest and it will sound harsh, but that was bad. If it's any relief a lot of your competition didn't see too great either. But yeah... that was bad. I'm a sniper by trade and when I saw the dance at the bunker in N. Coast I almost punched my screen wondering what you or that sniper was doing, but I digress. As callous as it sounds it doesn't surprise me that 7 weeks in you're still not full WH. *To be fair* Sorcs don't fair to well against snipers though.

Ops = stealth = control your destiny and the circumstances of your demise Sniper = no stealth = die according to the will of others Think on that and you tell us which has the "potential" to get destroyed more assuming equal player skill.

Actually in the case of the main hand (or just main) weapon it doesn't matter which set you have. Even mousing over the desired item will say that the set you have can be converted. For example I had the BM Enforcer Sniper Rifle. I wanted the WH Field Tech Rifle. Mousing over the WH Field Tech Rifle showed a rated WZ comm requirement and a requirement for the BM Enforcer Rifle. This is EXCLUSIVE to the main weapon I've noticed. And of course it doesn't apply to belt and bracers as you just buy those outright.

I was a v-rank... 78 assault commando (pyro merc mirror) post 1.2. So, I have a pretty good idea of how this going to go for you. First off Cover is an adjustment. The thing with cover revolves primarily around 1)the hotkey you designate for it and 2) hotkeys for skills related to cover. That will be your biggest hurdle up front. My advice, find a hotkey that you instinctively go to. You want no hesitation getting into and out of cover. You'd rather be in it than out of it. The second big adjustment will be your new type of survivability. You actually have more of it as a sniper (vaires with spec) but it is not as apparent as it was on your heavy armor merc. As a merc you essentially accept that EVERY encounter is a dps race. You accept that you're going to take a truck load of damage and hope that when you shield gives out and the LoS dance is done you're the victor. As a Commando/merc there was always this lack of control I felt. Even with cryo grenade, concuss round, etc my damage was always a roll of the dice. I always went into a fight hoping I'd win not really knowing. As a sniper you'll come to know your chances of winning an encounter within the first 5-10 seconds of it starting. I mean to say that a Sniper requires more thought, but because of this you're constantly thinking (I know what I typed is a paradox). Depending on your spec: Front load burst via MM, throttled to back end burst via Leth, or put it anywhere you want it burst via Eng - you'll plan differently. For example if you're Leth you play more like your pyro merc. That is to say that you're going to apply all your dots and blow every damage cooldown you have as quickly as possible because your survival is forfeit otherwise. As an MM you'll be intensely focused on terrain and distance constantly panning the camera and calculating the next move should your opponent do X,Y, or Z. As Eng there is a psychological element to wear and how you choose to place your probe / Orbital. It's all about Control which just is not the case for merc/commando. As a sniper I really hope you're a hotkey gamer. I'm not saying a clicker can't do considerably well (unmolested) but the beauty of this class is that it rewards twitch/split second reaction times. A merc could get by clicking away because none of your abilities really have to be coordinated. As a pryo once the target is burning you are good to go. There are too many time sensitive attack chains in Eng and MM spec to be clicking (my opinion). You might be able to get away with it in Leth but only because cooldowns are a bit more forgiving. The last big change which also speaks to control will be a true interrupt. This doesn't just help in killing a healer when and how you want to (it definitely does). But for me, this opened up the world of 2 v 1. You're on an opponent get him to 75% health or lower and now you see a healer running to help. It would take too long to explain but because you're rdps and have an absolute mechanic to stop the first heal it makes stopping the 2nd and / or third heal considerably easier allowing you to finish your primary kill and A) Run for it, B) Kill the healer too. Yeah...I'm gonna stop

New look: Front: http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/254/screenshot2012051212592.jpg/ Back: http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/268/screenshot2012051212595.jpg/ Gun drawn: http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/577/screenshot2012051212585.jpg/ http://imageshack.us/f/577/screenshot2012051212574.jpg/

Depends on the circumstance: Organized group w/ proper support (i.e. floating guard and great healers) = MM or MM / Eng hybrid or Leth Organized group w/o proper support (i.e. full dps group etc) = Eng Solo play = Eng Duels = Leth or Eng In terms of sustained burst Sustained burst ***? What I mean is the ability to burst one opponent and with minimal setup / cool down dependence select a new target and burst them as well. My order would be MM and Leth neck and neck with Eng lagging slightly behind, due only to the long cool down on PP> Technically speaking MM far and away out burst Leth, but the energy management is so horrible unless you're full MM (sniper volley etc) that it's a hard build to commit with. As it relates to survivability the order is 1) Eng 2) Leth 3)MM. This is apparent if only by looking at the trees themselves. Overall = 1) Eng 2) Leth 3) MM