Just because of the way SWtoR's Mob's set up, as a Scoundrel you are constantly clicking main attacks that do nothing because the Mob is 12 meters away or such. Sure you could reposition or you could just fire your basic attack, "Flurry of Bolts", twice and do more damage than most 10 meter attacks in less time. This means that unless you are fighting an Elite Boss you might as well just use Flurry of Bolts and a few grenades and skip the Stealth/Upper Hand attacks. If the 10 meter attacks were 15 meters they would reach most Mobs in an average battle and so would have a use in PvE. Right now if I see normal PvE Mobs I just run the battles un-Stealthed from 30 meters, which is okay, but certainly not the dynamic Scoundrel battle you are envisioning or what players are building their character's abilities to do. Just a QoL change to add more dynamism into Scoundrel/ Operative gameplay, if that would still be balanced.

The problem with Scoundrel/Op was you are a bit squishy and forced to melee, but can only do that with Upper hand and CC attacks. For mobs in the past it was always Grenade, Carbine Burst, Grenade, then attack the Boss or Lt with Shiv/Whip and Upper hand attacks. Never very fluid, but it sounds worse now with less AoE. Which tree other than Healer is most fluid and mobile? I am not a regular PvP'er so PvP is not of top importance, fun is. In Gunslinger/Sniper, I was surprised to find out that Sharpshooter/MM was the most mobile.

Yes. I just liked the mobility of Engineering. Now Sharpshooter/Marksman is the most mobile, which was unexpected, or at least you only need to be in cover to do a few shots. Engineering seems too bound to a set of rotations now. I think I will go Sharpshooter with high Alacrity, see how far it can get.

Yep. They completely ruined my favorite characters, my Sniper and Gunslinger, Engineer. Before gameplay flowed with the battle with these two, now it's just the same rotation repeated to total ennui (deathly boredom). What a total failure 3.0 is. I un-subbed as soon as I saw Sweeping Gunfire was a turret mode attack now, turning the Gunslinger into a turret-only attacker. Used to be if you were not in cover you could respond with Sweeping Gunfire and Thermal Grenade or start in cover and then roll into Sweeping Gunfire and Thermal Grenade. Now Engineering is just another turret-mode sub-class with a fixed rotation. Well, all I can do is un-sub until Sweeping Gunfire is restored to normal use, and I have done so. A moronic and thoughtless change to the one Smuggler defining power that gave a bit of mobility. Changing it to Cover-only use was completely unnecessary for balance and just locks the Gunslinger into a turret-only Class. Don't you even play the game BW?

I keep seeing this referenced in the powers descriptions, but my Sniper doesn't have Series of Shots anywhere. Do they mean that new garbage Suppressive Fire power that I have to become a turret to use now?

Un-subbed. Founder. Closed Beta Tester.

Concentration is working well for me. It bursts damage when I need high damage and mostly has the Focus to do so. No trouble with any PvE elite boss so far, but I am a 2 levels higher than them. Still I would expect to compete with them well if at my level. That's what the description said and this is how I like to play melee scrappers.

All the bad critiques talked me out of reviving my old Sentinel, my oldest character that I dropped because I didn't think it did enough damage for a scrapper archetype. Melee DPS lives on defeating it's foes quickly, that's why you play one over a melee Tank. If it's not fast action BW failed the Class.

There is no joy in Mudville, I am gathering.

I saw that. I just made both myself, but where the game fails a bit is that the Light side counterpart, or vice verse, has the almost exact same powers by a different name and animation. No faction balance problems, but no faction variety either. So you play for the best storyline and so far that is Imperial Agent (female), Imperial Sorcerer/Sin (female), Bounty Hunter (male). Maybe Smuggler (female). The gender preference is purely the best voice acting delivered by the actors. I don't view my avatars as extensions of me, just the main character in a story, so gender is not an issue. The other story lines have been not as good as these 4. Not bad, but not the best.

I don't use cover for either unless it's a boss fight of great challenge. I just run in with grenades and quick-shot and the aoe burst, pretty soon takedown comes up. With Scoundrel/OP you never use cover because it pops you out of stealth. Just take the middle tree and toss grenades around and you'll be a Smuggler Gunslinger or action Sniper. Scoundrel does not fit for me. I try to envision a Star Wars Smuggler doing that stuff and I get nothing. Scoundrel should rely on Blaster tricks and confusion. Not pistol whipping sucker punches. Like a diversion where your foe's all run to a spot and you drop the wall on them with trick-shooting.

A good writer would create a way to do both. It's a writer's crutch to Send the story back to the writer. We want to do both. A real hero would do both, and you know I am right. There is no "Try". You remember, right? And, what did Luke Skywalker do?

Yes, it was Bowdaar aggroing all three Bosses to me. It made me re-skill though into Sucker Punch. Not sure I like that because you don't use your blaster too much. May try the third tree after awhile.

No it is a balance critique, not a request for help. So, thank you, but I have been playing SWtoR since the Beta so I know what to do. In fact my Scoundrel was created within the first three months of SWtoR going Live. I always thought BW would make it fun to play though if I waited long enough. Scoundrel really doesn't seem like a stealth/ dirty tricks /back-shooting Class at all. You perform the trick, get upper hand, then do little damage for enabling it. My companions get every kill on the Bosses and their not burst damage by any measure.

I have been playing a wide variety of Classes in their level progression missions in the past few weeks. All of them do fine in old blue gear. This includes Commando, Sorcerer, Sniper, Guardian, Jedi Shadow. The Scoundrel in full purple modded gear gets crushed and can't even keep their companion healed, and it's just a boss fight in a Class leveling mission! Nothing hard, the mission is even coded green in the mission log. Enough is enough. This has been going on for 2-3 years with the Scoundrel (Founder-Beta tester, subbed all that time). The Scoundrel is weaker than it's companions, never gets the kill, it's big attacks are average for other classes. It has no range attacks and lackluster melee attacks. It's stealth is only momentary and grants no defense. The Upper Hand attacks are jokes for such an elaborate set-up. I am not talking about PvP, just basic leveling mission Bosses. Bowdaar even has purple items with blue stuff and I can't keep him alive even when only healing him. I did this same mission with a Gunslinger a while back and had no trouble. The new power set-up had better fix these problems. I think it will be the last chance to make the Scoundrel play normally. Normal as in having the same challenge level as the other Classes.

Absolutely. No Joystick support or cockpit view has turned me off of Galactic Starfighter and I am not going to play it in it's current unfinished state. BW, I am a Founder and Beta Tester and your lack of interest in re-creating the Star Wars space travel, star ships and space combat has always left me wondering if you take the game seriously. For you, Star Wars space travel seems like it is always an arcade afterthought, when to all the fans and players it is the main driver of the movies and lore. Please take space travel in SWtoR and Galactic Starfighter more seriously and make the experience as real as is reasonably possible and you will win over a lot of new players and old ones who grew tired just PVE questing. Trust me, Space Travel is what makes Star Wars come to life for fans. That is why the movies devote so much time and plot development to events that occur in space.

Keep Upper Hand coming up either with backblast or healing or pistol whip and use it to fire the short range aoe burst from your pistol ----with your stun kick and grenades mixed in. You don't need backblast all the time.

It depends on how robust the optional powers are. From what I read I am assuming there will be a pool of powers to choose from that will make your character work somewhat uniquely. If they are just fluff then the Disciplines are just a content nerf that lowers the choices players can freely make now. We will soon see which way it is.

Exactly. I think I will level my Scoundrel to 55 now, but still wondering if Disciplines will ruin this secondary heal ability. Sometimes game devs paint smiley faces on what are really content nerfs. I am not locked into one path, I just want it to work and I know with no heals my current Scoundrel would not be playable in PvE. The difficult PvE that my Guardian, Vanguard, and Powertech do with relative ease, but the Scoundrel, Operative, Commando, and Merc can't do without the occasional heal. And it's not about being the best of the best. It's about being different as you choose.

Maybe my search-fu is weak, but nothing came up under Scoundrel Hybrid since Feb. When they replace the skill trees with the Discipline's fixed paths for the sub-classes, I am concerned that my Scoundrel, Operative, Commando, Mercenary will have no access to Heals unless they take that path, in which case, with the current balance and powers, they will not be able to play the PvE content. We'll see, but I give each of these classes the basic heals to the pushback reduction skill. Not interested in setting the highest damage or heal parse, I want the versatility and do just fine when teamed up, with the added utility. To get by with no healing my Scoundrel and alike will need much higher DPs and either higher range or more control abilities. An always-on Shotgun at slightly higher range might do or give it knockback+knockdown. That sort of thing.

SWtoR has PvP? You mean that stuff with the capture "the Biscuit" teams? No thanks.

Thanks for the info.

Currently an Lt. and heard that there is Captain later on, any others? Also, does my Commando ever get the Commando title in his name tag?

I use a Speedpad and Mouse and I always run out of buttons so I tie logical sequences to the same button. I needed Force Kick and Riposte for quick responses to battles so I put them on the same button figuring what the heck. Why not? What results is this very cool martial arts move with a reverse-kick spinning into your riposte thrust (when parry is active of course). One of the best looking moves the Jedi Knight has in my opinion. Very handy too.

Sounds good. I am always ready to duel or whatever, but don't like constant battles out-numbered or hugely out-leveled.