Agree ^^ The diminishing returns are on surge and crit RATING, not so much on surge and crit %. Thus, any talents or companion bonuses etc do not count towards the diminishing returns. In the end, however, if gear continues to scale, this will become more of a problem.

^^^ PT DPS >>>>>>>>>>>>> Operative DPS

There is now a damage meter, however, it is not as user friendly as the 3rd party add-ons in other games. It requires others synching to it as well to compare data. Most top end raiders use it. I have heard rumors of a HoT and DoT monitoring add-on in the works. Google: MoX Parcer

You need a crafted armoring that can be put into any slot. You can google the ingredients for Advanced Skill Armoring 27, however, off the top of my head i think it requires: 6 Molecular Stabilizers (the tough part) 2 Energy Matrix thingies 8 Mandalorian Iron 12 Zol Alloy 12 Durasteel At this point you will have to pay someone (there are not a lot of people with these patterns around) to craft the item unless a friend or guildmate has the pattern. On my server the fee is around 200k. If you advertise enough in general chat looking for someone with the recipie, or just stay in fleet looking for someone able to craft the item, you will find someone. Good luck

This is spot on. Agree ^^^ I would add that Arsenal Mercenaries can still do very well in PvE on sustained DPS fights; They just parse a tad bit lower than a skilled and equally geared Lethality Sniper

The original OP post was from February.... RiP

I currently play an Operative Healer and an Arsenal DPS Merc in PvE. Both raid HM TFB (4/5) In my experience, both are viable at both DPS and heals. However, there is less of a learning curve and you can get better results with Mercenary DPS and Operative Heals in PvE.

I have seen Operatives who can parse decent numbers, but they are few and far between. My understanding (from personal experience and talking to others) is that you can do well as Operative DPS if you are a very good player. There is very little room for error in rotations. Min/Maxing is essential.

The affects seem to be intermittant. To truly test go onto the target dummy for 5-6 mins. Look for the number of unload hits. There should be 6 each time unless you are not accuracy capped. I get big hits as before the patch as well. 8/10 or more times the 4-piece set bonus works. However, sometimes (in the same fight) it doesn't. I didnt believe this one either untill raiding with another merc who was complaining about it I watched my heat after every Rail Shot. Every once in awhile my heat went up after using a rail shot. This can all be easily tested looking at parses in your damage logs after attacking the target dummy. Unfortunately, intermittant problems are the most difficult to diagnose. There are many posts on these, as well as other forums, noting the same issues. It is not as if I am upset because of my DPS or that I am pulling up the caboose as far as DPS in raids that I write this. Remember the bug with unload after 1.2 that lasted months...

There was a dev response on my posting in the Customer Service forum: http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=541253 I hope all mercs who are concerned about the problem follow this proceedure and report these intermittant bugs which are in affect a nerf. The more of us that report these issues, the more likely they are to address the problems. While I do not have any hope of a timely fix, I am at least hoping for an EVENTUAL fix so that we are not bugged forever. Last night in HM TFB my DPS was again extremely erratic. Sometimes I would get 6 hits from unload, other times 3-4 as one example which was easy to see in real time.

I should have ammended that. It seems to be intermittantly not working. Same with barrage damage buff. Try yourself on the target dummy. BTW, thanks for all the great guides.

I have a post in Customer Service asking for aknowledgement of these bugs. If mercs that care could post a reply on that thread aknowledging that they have the same problems, maybe it has a slightly higher chance of getting attention. I will continue to bump that thread untill they delete it over the next weeks/months. http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=541253

I am suprised there is not more discussion and outrage at the bugs which significantly affect our dps as of 1.4. 1) Unload is only hitting 4/6 times most of the time, a 33% reduction to our best attack. 2) Barrage is no longer buffing the damage of unload, a furthar nerf of our best attack. 3) The four piece PvE bonus does not work 100% of the time, leading to increased heat -- and a dps loss. 4) The tracer lock buff/stacks no longer buff the damage to Rail Shot If the community does not continually bring these issues to the attention of the dev team. They will NEVER be fixed. The squeeky wheel gets the grease.

If you are primarily a PvE healer, make sure that you are using the 2 piece PvP set bonus (modded with PvE mods) combnied with the 2 piece PvE set bonus. The 15% bonus to RN can help a lot. I was very suprised when once, on an heavy raid damage fight, RN parsed as my top heal after using it on cooldown. Generally I agree with KI with probe with your HoT rolling on 2-3 peeps max unless it is a heavy movement fight.

RN is easily our best HPS (heals per second) and HPE (heals per energy) abilities with the 2 piece PvP and 2 piece PvE bonus and hitting 3 or more targets. Kolto Infusion is useful if you have to get a strong heal off quickly. Other than that, it is far inferior to Kolto Injection plus probe as far as HPE and, more importantly, sustained healing in HPS, and HPE.

I agree. I don't even have Kolto Infusion hotkeyed on my mouse... Which brings me to a big piece of advice I forgot. It is MUCH easier and faster to heal using hotkeys. Don't be a clicker. Either use keypad numbers to cast or, better yet, if you have a gaming mouse use keybinds on your mouse. Clicking a target with the mouse and then having to click on an ability on a screen significantly increases your reaction time.

What about DPS Operatives. Lately there haven't been as many QQ posts as around 1.2, however, that is because hardly any DPS Operatives exist anymore after nerf after nerf after stealth nerf. DPS Operatives underperform (at equal skill and gear) all other classes at PvE and PvP.

Gear wise get 35% crit (with buff), 70% surge, then stack cunning>power. You don't want more than 200 alacrity. In combat try to keep up your hots (kolto probe) on the tank and at least one other person (yourself can be a good choice) for the TA procs. If you are healing with a sorcerer, keeping it on them will help overall raid healing when they canabalize for energy. Make sure to watch your TA stacks and use free heals (surgical probe) when you have 3. Try not to drop below 1 TA for the healing buff. Always have stim boost active Strive to stay above 60% energy Your main heal will be Kolto Injection followed immediately by a surgical probe. (The injection produces a TA which the probe then uses up) - these should be always used seamlessly together unless the target doesn't need much healing. I start casting surgical probe before my cast of kolto injection is through casting. This also helps you stay energy neutral. When used correctly, Recouperative Nanotech (our AoE) is powerful. In many healing intensive fights I use it on cooldown. There are 2 keys to using this. 1) Be aware that it only heals members within 10m of the target (you can target the boss). I often target myself and place myself most advantageously to get the 3 other party members most in need of heals. 2) I highly recommend gearing using 2 pieces of PvE for the 2 piece set bonus (reduced cost of RN) and 2 pieces of BM which have PvE mods. (Use the BM gear shell but with rakata/BH mods). The PvP 2 piece set bonus is a 15% increase to RN and is arguably the best of all 4 set bonuses. Diagnostic scan (when talented) can be a decent heal and a good source of energy regen when you get in an energy hole. Remember you can start channeling and stop half way through to cast something else. When you have decent gear it will crit for 500 a pop. With the crit bonus it crits as much or more than it doesn't. Last but not least, Toxic Scan (your debuff removal) can be one of your most powerful tools in keeping the raid alive and effective. Try to use it, especially on the tank, when you see debuffs on players who are not in mortal danger. While it doesn't show up on the meters, it can save a lot of energy in requiring less healing. If you see people on fire, hit them with it. These are the basics I use. I am sure some might disagree, but many have done well with this strategy. Have fun.

Like I said in an earlier post, mercs can complete all content, it is just easier and with more room for error with a sorcerer and an operative.

*Bump* One of the funniest threads I have seen.

Not sure about when leveling up, however, I know that i could clear the 2+ Belsavis dailies much easier solo as medic than concealment using a tank companion. When I had lesser gear than I have now I could complete the heroic as medic but couldn't as concealment... It just takes a while However, I did find that I generally leveled up faster as concealment as opposed to medic. However, the tough fights are easier as medic.

More designated heals. IE: You are primarily responsible for one tank and the sorc for the other. You are responsible for the tank and he more for the raid. However, that should not be taken to an extreme. Healers should help each other out where needed. Additionally, if you are clearing content and no one is dying, overheal away.... So what, unless the dps need help.

No I don't play an endgame merc healer. My merc is only lvl 44. However, looking at healing meters and experience running with 2 BH vs other combo's, my experience right now is that merc healers need help since the 1.2 nerf. Reading through the forums indicates that is also the consensus of the vast majority of endgame EC population. Don't get me wrong, skilled merc healers can do well. 2 skilled merc healers can clear all content. It is just much more difficult to do it with a merc than a sorc or operative. There is less room for error from the merc and the other players. Many guilds don' t even want a merc healer for PvE. See: http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=431048 http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=505065 Please dont take this as a crack against mercs. You are in the same position now that operatives were pre 1.2. As I said before, things change with patches. Hopefully with GZ gone, mercs will get some love.

The fact that they had that questionaire about how you feel about your class gives me hope that they will be addressing class balance issues. However, it could all be for show to make it appear as if they give a &*^%...

I noticed a significant spike in my Healing output since going to the 2 piece PvP shell and 2 piece PvE set bonus combination a few months ago. I highly recommend it to any Operative healer.