Well, look at the bright side, while the OPs raiders are running NiM KP to try and get their T3 relics we get to stop at T2. Unless, of course, they actually change the T3 relics so that they proc in WZs/Arenas.

I'm wondering if they are going to change the Tier 3 relics. Currently those do not proc in PvP so, honestly, PvPers can stop at the Tier 2s.

So the players that can only do 300k damage in WZs with little to no objective points is not a case of being bad? Nor are the ones that can't seem to call out incoming when they choose to guard? Or how about the ones that pay no attention to the node and let it get ninjaed while they are sending out companions for crew skills? Let me guess the ones that are incapable of peeling for a healer are the good ones. I suppose the good ones are also the ones that jump into WZs with empty gear slots. How about those that refuse to learn the objectives, those are the best ones. All of these are examples that I have seen time and time again in this game and are the reason people que as groups. They have nothing to do with bad character balancing, nor do they have anything to really do with bad matchmaking. A bad player is a bad player and I don't care who you are or what class you are playing and whether you scream that group is unfair and that you only want solos on your team. The truth of the matter is that you want as few of the above mentioned types on your team as possible.

I'm going to guess that you mean an 8 man super que and you could tell by the fact that they all had the same guild tag. But honestly, very few guilds that I know even do that any more and those that still do it, do it so rarely or their numbers are so low that it honestly isn't really an issue. As for a regular 4 man premade, pretty much everyone does it in order to keep the level of bads on their team to a manageable level. When I run with a premade, which is about 1/3 of the time, we take turns guarding the node so that we know that a competent person will be there to call out incs. We know that each of us is decent at our class, knows our rotations, and the map objectives. So, like I said, it keeps the bads to a manageable number. Of course, every time I see a "premades are bad" thread it always occurs to me that people never complain when they have a premade on their side and win, just when they have one on the other side and lose.

Because the guy I quoted said "instant" burst and I assumed he was talking about a crit from HSM. That rotation I put up there simply shows the abilities needed for a full damage HSM. It is also assuming relic procs and the instant crit from the set bonus. It is by no means the rotation I use or would recommend. Just the fewest abilities needed and to show that his instant isn't instant.

By instant you do mean "needing 2, possibly 3, GCDs to set up" right? Priming Shot, gcd, TM, gcd, HSM. or Priming Shot (misses, absorbed, etc), gcd, Power Surge, gcd, TM, gcd, HSM

It's easier once a player figures out where all of the speed boosts and grapple points are.

Bolster works fine. The issue isn't with that. The issue, and it's not really even an issue, is that a lot of the players are new. They haven't figured out their rotations yet, they haven't been running the same FPs for 2 or more years, and no one has explained gearing to them. If it is a player's first time in a FP, especially one of the harder ones, they are going to do poorly but that is not against them. You mentioned the Assault on Tython. That last boss can be tricky for new players but the fact that your team, with the 69 in it, made it past the first boss, which is far harder, shows that player could have done it and gearing wasn't the issue. Knowing the mechanics was. I've completed Bloodhunt with a team of players that, aside from myself, weren't max level. We did wipe on the first boss a few times until they got the mechanics down, but after that, we one shotted everything.

Because if you can't stop some of the escapes it makes killing those classes that have them almost impossible. Especially when it comes to good healers.

Yeah, I meant Tracer Missile. It was late and I was drunk.

If a merc/mando is sitting there facetanking and not trying to kite then they are a bad merc/mando that is only relying on the new defenses because they have no idea about how to play the class. I would be far more concerned about the 1 merc/mando that kites, uses los, and knows when to pull back from a fight than the three that are running in and popping the dcds right off the bat. Conversely, if players are not able to handle bad mercs/mandos facetanking then those individuals might not be quite as skilled as they thought they were. Easiest way to shut down a merc/mando rotation is to still use interrupts but I can count on one hand the number of times that people have actually tried to interrupt a HSM or Blazing Bolts cast since 5.0 hit. They usually just stand there and let me shoot them in the face.

So remove the one thing that can keep sorcs/sages from bubbling? But, just to show you that I am willing to negotiate on this, you can have e-net when they remove leaps and stealth from the game.

Well it's not just that but many of BW's previous additions to the game encouraged people to play alts. With the new Galactic Command and the RNG crates the game has become a lot less alt friendly. The new system pushes people to play a single toon a lot more since new gear, aside from buying it off the GTN, only comes from the crates. So people with 5, 10, or more alts, and there are some out there, are suddenly forced to play a single character. I think BW's new business strategy is focused on finding the longest possible grind there is.

They were nerfed into the ground in 1.2 and just now received buffs to put them on the same playing field as the other classes that have been considering them easy kills for the last 4+ years. Just because you can't seem to handle them doesn't mean they need to be nerfed again.

I tried GSF when it was first added and I did not care for it all that much. I just could not quite get into it. Last week I decided to give it another go. I needed a break from normal PvPing and I was tired of doing planetary heroics and the very idea of running chapters again makes me want to gouge out my eyes. Any way, I found it to be a really nice change of pace from the other content. I will fully admit that I am not very good at it but I do believe that I have finally found a ship that has the abilities that fits how I want to play and I am slowly, very slowly, getting better. I hardly crash any more so progress is being made. There are a few changes that I would like to see though. 1: Selling back of ship parts, upgrades, and even the ships themselves. Wouldn't have to be at full value but even at 50% buy back it would accommodate newer players that are testing out ships, weapons, shields, and whatever else trying to find a ship that they like flying and an ability set to match. 2: The daily should be increased to 4 matches and have the same reward crate than normal PvP does. The weekly should be upped to 10 and share the same reward crate as the PvP weekly as well. Definitely do not think it should be 20 matches. That seems like it would be a bit excessive. But, no, I do not think it should be removed from the bonus rotation.

Now take what you're feeling right now and imagine it going on for 4+ years and you'll understand what mercs/mandos have been feeling since 1.2.

The way that it is worded he is describing someone using Pyro Shield, Energy Rebounder, and Trauma Regulators to enhance their shield and making it OP since he clearly said "all three utilities". Even though he does give an ability list later I think his main focus was on Energy Shield and it's buffs. Though, in either case, it does not change my original statement that people are not taking Pyro Shield since there are better choices.

Very few people that I know of are actually taking Pyro Shield. There are far more useful abilities out there that will help out far more than a little reflect damage.

A well played marauder/sent can still kill a mercenary or a commando.

Instead you can open 50 crates and have 4 duplicate belts as the only set pieces you've seen.

I've seen mercs and mandos die to pretty much every class barring sorc/sages. Hell, I've killed them myself on my jug. If you can't kill one then the issue is with you and you not knowing how to negate their defenses.

There is an issue with the Galactic Command interface and Group Finder. Currently if you que for any Flash Point, Uprising, or Operation by using the Group Finder at the top left of your map and then open the Galactic Command interface either by going to the top of the page or by hitting ctrl+g you are kicked out of the Groud Finder que and are unable to reque. You can, however, go into the Galactic Command interface after that and use the flash point finder there but it is locked to story mode and will not allow you to change it. To correct the issue a player has to log out and then back in. Opening GC interface will not interfere with PvP or GSF ques if you use the icons next to your map or the interface. The interface will not interfere with Uprising ques if you que for them with the interface. Only interferes if you use group finder. Opening the interface will kick you out of the ops que if you use it or the group finder.

Did a ranked WZ the other day consisting of 4 commandos on the other team with 1 merc (me) and 3 marauders. One of the maras hit his speed and we went right at them. The first commando got burned down in seconds. The other three lasted longer of course but they did with the first round ending with two of us still standing. In the second round same thing though they were a little bit more prepared. They still died with there being 3 of us standing the second time. But according to all the doomsayers out there, the 4 mandos should have won, especially going against 3 maras and a merc with no issues.

At one time, you could respec in the starting area before the match would begin and it caused issues. In Voidstar, especially, teams would have dps/healing classes respec to heals and dps/tanks respec to tanks so that the opposing team could not kill anyone and not make it through the first set of doors. So think about this. You have a team of 1 jug, 1 pt, 3 sorcs, and 3 mercs. At the beginning the jug and pt switch to tanking and all 6 of the rest switch to heals. They send a tank and 3 heals to each side. As long as they are relatively competent those 4 on a door are going to hold it against all 7 or 8. It's an extreme example but I think you get the idea.

They aren't, actually, the best stats to wear because so many things can bypass them. If a person is going to play an actual tank, they are going to run with lettered mods for the extra endurance over the extra defense. They are also going to run with endurance augments over anything else. While their mitigations stats,(shield, absorb, and defense) will take care of some of the damage, endurance will be their primary means of surviving. The other part of this is that, unless I am remembering incorrectly, none of the mitigation stats protect from the damage that a tank will be receiving through their guard, if they are using it. Endurance, lets them soak up that damage.