This really only pertains to Champion Gear as BM combat medic has alacrity all over it. Anyone else out there considering going 3 Eliminator Peices, 2 Combat Medic peices as Arsenal? There are 2 combat medic pieces with Crit and Surge on them where the Eliminator set lacks those. Coupled with the 2pc bonus from the medic set (extra 3sec on shield) it becomes even more attractive to go that route. I am already using the Combat Medic bracers and main-hand for the crit. Figure that mixing the sets will provide me with optimal stats. Although that 4pc Champ bonus is quite nice..

Gault I found harder to gear (Torian has my left overs) and he tends to lag a bit in his attacking as was mentioned. Also, if he pulls aggro he folds like a house of cards, to melee mobs especially. Torian at least has the heavy armor and defensive screen ability when I am fighting an elite to withstand punishment for a period of time. Also if you give him a few pieces of defensive gear it helps. I have been gearing him with Combat-Tech HM drops instead of eliminator. IMO he's our best DPS companion when kitted out. Gault has his uses, but he is a slimy mofo, so he stays on the ship or fetches me a lockbox or two.

I have been running around with Torian doing my dailies at 50, as Merc Arsenal it's just unfair how fast I kill strong/elite mobs with him out. Even did a HM BT with two buddies of mine who are a tank and healer and it went smooth with Torian as the second DPS (I should mention I have him geared to the teeth.. lvl 50 artifact Techstaff, full set of orange gear with at least level 50 blue mods, if not better in each slot etc..) I have him in Perforation stance about 95% of the time. I've dabbled a bit with Exsanguination but it seems lackluster, was wondering if anyone else was running around with Torian geared out and saw any effective reason, even situational to have Torian in Exsang stance.

http://http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=269806 Six page discussion on the subject already. Tracer Missile is dominating the pvp forums right now, and unfortunately it's most nerf posts. Anyone who has never played Arsenal just doesn't get it.

Everyone changes abilities based on what class they are facing. Melee classes require an entirely different strategy than ranged. We can't kite as Arsenal so we have to improvise. I didn't say it wasn't different, I was explaining that it's not a 6 button class as you implied. It's not as if range management isn't important for us too. And we don't have an interrupt outside of CCs/lack luster knockbacks. I would give a lot for an interrupt. Non-bodyguard merc healing is atrocious and generates heat retardedly fast, kolto overload is a joke and the talented vent heat heal is negligable. Our heals as Arsenal are pretty insignificant in the grand scheme of things.

It's alright, he also cited 2 tracer crits for 5k total. Unless he hit 50 and ran into full BM Mercs and Sorcs those numbers are far beyond reach

I can understand a BM geared player with full stacks of heat signature and expertise buffs getting to 3k tracer and 6k HSM on a fresh 50, but pre-50 and evenly geared 50s, thats a hell of a stretch. Honestly I can't wait for combat logs to debunk all these reports of 3k tracers and 5k HSMs pre-50. Most of the crying about tracer comes from the 1-49 bracket. The tracer spammers at 50 don't break 125k total damage in WZs Pyro is hit or miss from what I have seen, relying heavily on timing. Definitely a more demanding play style but personally my favorite skill/animation in the game is Heatseeker and thats why I stay arsenal.

Just because as merc there are 5-6 main abilities doesnt mean we dont have other skills we use. I can pull out 15 different skills that I use situationally too. Everyone has their core set of abilites that are their go to skills. This just solidifies my point even more that the Tracer facerollers give us a bad name. I have plenty of heat management abilities, heals, AoEs, and other various skills just like everyone else that I use quite often, but since I threw 2 or 3 tracers at you to build up my stacks I'm accused of playing a broken class. Play an arsenal merc before you come to these forums and claim that all we do (even the good ones) is chain the same 5 abilities over and over. Or at least read the first post in the thread that outlines the fact that the entire playstyle of the class revolves around tracers and its buffs/debuffs/procs. The rotation I posted was in a perfect world where people ignore me and allow me to stand there and turret you to death. If I have anyone attacking me that "rotation" changes drastically to include defensive/reactive abilities. In all honesty there really is no such thing as a skill rotation in pvp. It's more about recognizing what skill is optimal at that moment in time and using it.

The exaggerations are really getting out of hand. People claiming 3k Tracer crits and 5k HSM crits. That just doesn't happen, ever. Our hardest hitting ability is HSM and my highest WZ HSM so far was 3800ish. I have never seen 4k on any ability, Tracer never sniffs 3k. We don't 3 shot people. It is literally impossible for anyone to get 3 shot by tracers from full health. If I could consistently 3 shot people with Tracers, I would do it non stop. If that was the case I would be the first one to say lets fix this. The fact is, is doesn't need fixing. It isn't broken. There's not much crying coming from the 50s, it's mostly the 10-49 bracket. What the Merc community needs is a fresh level 40 (yes forty.. when you first get HSM) to make a video showcasing TM spam vs efficient play and the differences.

That combination of skills will not kill most people unless you chain a few crits in there.. Ever seen how much damage we do when we don't crit? It's laughable. I never said it was complicated or skillful to realize that HSM Unload and Railshot are intended to be weaved in. What is skillful is learning to use LOS to your advantage, even as a ranged class. Not to mention learning the appropriate time to use the skills I refer to.. there are plenty of mercs who use HSM/UL/RS but do it at the wrong time (RS on less than 3 tracer locks, HSM before a 4 stack of heat signature, unload off barage, etc). The Tracer Spammers that pollute the Merc player base have no idea what to do, see the post above. Interrupt a skilled merc's first or second tracer and see what happens (most wont use a third until after the burst skills). He/She wont stand there mashing the button till the timer is up, usually we react with a defensive ability of our own be it Electro Dart, a heal, shield etc.. However the Tracer Spammers have no idea what even happened, hell half probably think its something like the unload bug. Tracer Spammers give the real Mercs a bad name. Don't expect every Merc to sit there and spam missiles at you. You WILL lose to the ones that know what they are doing. This is what is happening. People expect all of us to be Tracer Spammers and they have figured out the way to counter it. Yet somehow they still lose sometimes. The ones you lose to are the ones who play the class effectively. But since you lost to someone you thought was a TM spammer you think Tracer needs a nerf. We just pull out all the tricks not just the opening act. TM spam is so far from optimal its ridiculous that people are even still doing it at this point with all the discussion about it, about how it actually gimps you and how incredibly easy it is to counter. Mercs are deadmeat if you can CC/Interrupt them. We have a knockback that is easily countered. Don't start a fight with a merc with force leap. Use it to counter the kb. Simple. We have ZERO escape maneuvers.

You can make the case that any class/spec in this game is formitable. The point of this thread is not to discuss the lethality of mercenarys and commandos. It's to educate the community on what has become erroneously referred to as Tracer Missile Spam. The problem is that in the 1-49 bracket you get the hooligans who think tracer spam is the way to play. Which in turn makes everyone think that's all any of us do. When they get rolled by a skilled merc utilizing our entire arsenal (see what I did there) of skills it automatically becomes "zomg tracer nerf qq" threads. There's at least three on page one. I am trying to get it out there that its not the tracer spammers that roll you its the ones who know how to play the class correctly. And from what I have observed that is a small number.. 25-30% of us

Extremely good points. Next time any one of you sees a Tracer Spammer running around, make a point to watch what happens after they hit 65-70 heat. If I played my merc the way people assume we all play (TM TM TM TM TM faceroll) I would be sitting in the corner of the WZ venting heat for 50% of the battle. It comes down to heat management and smart play. The mercs that "roll" you are the ones that know how to play the class properly, not the ones throwing Tracers around like candy on halloween. Nerfing the damage to Tracer will only widen the gap between the quality players and the ones who think that TM spam is a ticket to greatness. The ones that TM spam are the same ones who end games with zero healing. Apparently thats the best way to play the class though...

When we have ranked WZs and combat logs, the top teir Arsenal Mercs will be in the 35-40% range. What will Lightning be for dps Sorcs? 65-70%?

Good point about Pyro. Pyro can chain abilities to burst anywhere between 7k to 10k in a matter of a few seconds in the right situation. Arsenal can't touch that, we just have highly sustainable damage, yet we fold like a house of cards. Arsenal has its niche, as does Pyro. The fact is the majority of the people that are making noise about Tracer and getting it nerfed are un-educated in the nuances of the play style. Using a proper rotation as Arsenal you'll do more dps, have more mobility and overall be more effective than the Tracer Spammers.

Average hp of 1-49 bracket is in the 11-12k range. You need to chain at least 5 crits in a row if not 6 to take someone out that fast. It is impossible to 3 shot any class with tracers/gravs. 3 tracers/gravs.. even crits would top out at 6k and change. Again. Impossible that you 3, even 4 shot with tracer/grav spam. If you were hit for 4880 by a grav they had all sorts of buffs. I never saw tracer touch 3k with 75% surge in the late 40s even with 5 stacks up. Nice try. For tracer/grav to hit that hard it has to be light armor, full stacks with 80+ surge and expertise buffs. The build up spell isnt what crushes people. Its perceived that way because we have no combat log and you cant see what else is hitting you. The mercs know its the burst after the tracers that does the real damage. The HSM+Railshot combo that clocks you for 5k (IF they crit) after the first two tracers land for ~3k (if they crit). Next time Tracer/grav hits that hard take a screen shot for me. Pulling a number like that out of the air is ridiculous. I might have believed 3080. 4880? Impossible. You must have confused HSM for Tracer.