Personally I have found my DPS to keep up with the other classes but only when I slightly out-gear them. At full BiS sadly we get wrecked by Marauders and Snipers played well. And thanks to Bioware's oversight if there is more than 1 DPS inquisitor in the raid the person playing Madness has their damage nerfed by the other's dots. And since we have no group buff like Marauders do most people don't even take the class seriously anymore. I hope Bioware gives us a buff soon otherwise whats the point? Might as well level my Marauder

Hey guys, I am curious if anyone out there has any thoughts on how Madness Assassins are doing in 2.0 for Operation DPS. Does anyone still play this class/spec combo for PVE?

If this is how they want it to work then I am officially changing this from a "bug report" post to a "change this mechanic" post. The way it works now my deathmarks are getting eaten by Lightning Sorcs that only have their Affliction up on the target for proccing other abilities. I need my deathmarks to increase my overall damage, thus increasing the raid's damage. Right now 2 Lightning sorcs in raid kills my deathmarks in about 3 seconds and my Crushing Darkness gets maybe 1 tick out of that. Bioware, please rethink the way you want this to work. Madness Assassins are already gimped compared to other dps in operations. We dont need this bad decision hurting us even more. Please change it. Thank you!

I know there are a couple threads about this already but I wanted to revisit this issue. As it stands right now, Madness spec Assassins and Sorcerers are having their Deathmark stacks eaten by other Sorcerer's and Assassin's dots. While this bug may not be too significant for overall raid dps (assuming the Deathmark stacks being used are actually increasing the damage of the incorrect player's dots) it is a fairly significant issue for the Madness Assassin/Sorcerer being affected by the bug. I would estimate about 50-60% of my damage (Madness Assassin) comes from my dots. Missing out almost entirely on my Deathmarks is a pretty big deal. Some might argue that the damage of these classes has been balanced around the way these Deathmarks interact with other players. To that I would say fixing this issue would be exactly what my Assassin needs. I have done a good amount of level 55 operations and I can say Madness Assassins are currently putting out mildly subpar numbers compared to other melee DPS. Fixing this bug would put us right where we need to be. As for the effect on Madness Sorcerers, I am not sure about that but I would imagine fixing this bug would keep them fairly in line with Bioware's desired DPS range for the class/spec. Thoughts/comments are welcomed.

I wish I could prove it to you but Im not making this up. Madness Assassins, when played well, can put out some good numbers. I am well aware that Marauders have parsed, do parse, and always will parse higher than Assassins. But that did not stop me from doing better single target damage. Im not saying my DPS was higher, but at the end of the boss fights I was usually on top. This is mostly due to the fact that I know how to play my class well. I can preload 1 dot, and DF from range, while Im running to my next target. Believe me or not, it doesnt matter. I just hope that my skill + the nerfed Madness Assassin can keep me in a raid spot after the expansion releases.

Yeah but this is a gimmick that works probably... 1/3 of the time? if that. Same with stealth rezzing the group after a wipe. Can it be called utility if it cannot be relied on?

I have to be honest here, I wasnt aware of this. I pretty much always output more single target dps than any class in my raids, including marauders and PTs. I know that including AOE (which is a lot of boss fights) they come out on top. I guess now that I think about it, yeah, Assassins have always been subpar. I played mine well enough to turn heads within my guild. I guess all those years DPSing as a feral druid in WOW paid off. My skill at the class usually earned me a spot in guild raids. Guess the times are changing...

So lets say the Assassin is 5% lower than other classes. If we are talking about a hardcore raiding guild (which is what I prefer), why would any sane raid leader take an assassin to dps? They are single target dps only. Marauders have 5% better single target dps, MUCH better AOE dps, and a group damage buff. Any guild I would want to raid with would make this assessment and then ask me to switch to another class. Therein lies the problem... I dont want to switch classes. I have played my Assassin as dps very successfully since the beta. Im not about to change now just because Bioware's class balance monkey is a moron.

To everyone saying find a new guild: This is not my guild leader's fault. In hardcore raiding guilds thats the way it goes. This is not a new thing in MMOs. As stated above, its not my guild leader's fault that Bioware screwed the class up. I just hope they are viable dps in operations or this game is pretty much dead to me.

Good to know. Thanks

Reasons to bring a Marauder to Operations: Amazing single target DPS Amazing AOE DPS Group damage buff Reasons to bring an Assassin DPS to Operations: Possibly decent single target DPS (noone knows for sure) No other utility that matters for boss fights When you are talking about a progression guild they will always take the best class for the role. There is currently no reason to take an Assassin for DPS. I guess I should have seen this coming...

Sorry if my post sounded a little whiny, I was pretty upset when I found out. I'm not joking about the situation, but I can see the humor in it I guess..... sigh. edit: I would also like to point out that I am in a hardcore raiding guild that will do whatever they have to to progress quickly in the operations. Right now 2 Marauders are being taken for melee DPS.

I used to be one of the top dps in my guild. I was taken to almost every HM and NM operation as melee dps. As a madness Assassin I could always out dps marauders on a single target. Then the PTS came out. Assassins got completely screwed up by Bioware. Now my guild's raid leader (and myself) have no idea how madness DPS is going to fair at level 55. Therefore, I have officially lost my raid spot. In order to get my raid spot back again I have to wait and see if the class is even viable anymore at 55 and then prove myself all over again to my guild. All confidence in my class has been shot. I am trying to figure out if I even want to continue playing this game. Thanks Bioware. You really screwed me over this time.

Please see this thread http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=602249 and sign if you agree. Thanks

Please see this thread http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=602249 and sign if you agree. Thanks