I've tried to explain this to you guys - the game is not balanced based on class capability. It is balanced based on actual ingame productivity by the classes. Merc dps ingame is roughly similar to Mara/Sent dps ingame. That's why they aren't going to do anything to help Mercs. The problem with this system is that the REASON ingame Merc dps is roughly equal to Mara/Sent dps is that Mara/Sent has seen a tidal wave of new players. These new 50s are undergeared and inexperienced with their class. So their productivity is naturally low. In contrast players have deserted the Merc dps ranks in droves. The people left are predominately those with a lot invested in their toons, i.e. they are experienced and well geared. So BW is essentially balancing good Mercs to be equal to crappy Mara/Sents.

That seems low, but yes at this point Merc dps is low man on the totem pole. He shouldn't be half that of the top dps though.

They aren't going to have 8 man queues until x-server is ready. I can understand that. But why the delay on x-server? Server populations are dropping fast. My guild is the largest PvP guild on our server and we are probably down 50% in the last week alone. My suggestion: allow people to queue in groups of 8, and 4 and singly for x-server. Then create matches according to the following priority: 1) 8 man team matched v. 8 man team 2) 2 4man teams matched v. 2 4 man teams 3) 8 singles vs. 8 singles 4) 1 4 man team + 4 singles v. 1 4 man team + 4 singles 5) 8 man team v. 2 4 man teams singles replace and disconnects or quitters. singles do not get a loss on their record if they enter a game as a replacement for a dc/quitter IF their team is behind in score when they enter the game. Get this done, BW. YOu wait two months and no one will be left. Frankly even one month from now is probably too late.

Server transfers are not the solution. Sure it might help half the people on a low pop server, but other (abandoned) half will simply quit. It will destroy their (BW's) business model. We need x-server queues for PvP and x-server group finders for PvE immediately. My server is one of the higher population servers and the number of players on the fleet has plummeted in the last week. I'd estimate average population is down 50%. During primetime hours there might be a single lev 50 wz match going on. During off peak hours it is worse. BW initially said that it wouldn't introduce x-server wz queues because it wanted to preserve a sense of community within a server. That was the right decision then. But the situation has changed. Now the sense of community on the server is being destroyed anyway by unsubscriptions.

People are stubborn. It's human nature. I'm stubborn and keep playing my Merc Pyro in PvP. You're stubborn and keep posting in this forum even though it has no effect. The devs are stubborn and refuse to give up their use of ingame meta averages to drive class (im)balance changes. Like I said, it's human nature.

For experienced players, yes you are correct. But BW is not balancing classes based on best gameplay practices. It is balancing classes based on average gameplay as expressed by the players currently in those classes. The average player doesn't interrupt and doesn't have any knowledge of the strengths/weaknesses of any other classes. They had trouble with Merc Arsenal, so Merc Arsenal got nerfed. I'm certainly not saying that BW's approach is the correct one in the long run, but that is how the game is being managed currently.

I got one on the very first time I completed the new HM FP. BH will continue to get nerfed by BW, but not via loot drops....

At this point even if no further rules changes are made, Mara/Sent will continue to get more powerful. That's simply because there is a vast underclass of Mara/Sents that re-rolled into the spec and are inexperienced and undergeared. As thei climb the learning curve and get better gear, their performance will increase. The only thing that can stop this would be further player migration into the subclass. Which is a possibility that can not be discounted. However at a certain point that has diminishing returns with respect to restraining Mara/Sent meta average productivity.

The need x-server right now even more than they need ranked wz. Non-moving wz queues are a huge incentive to leave the game. My server has an above average population and very frequently there is only a single lev 50 wz match going on. That means a queue wait time of 15 minutes is not unusual. During off-peak hours there are usually NO lev 50 wz matches. They didn't want to introduce x-server for non-ranked wz because they didn't want to destroy the sense of community in a server. That was the right decision then. But now server community is being destroyed anyway by unsubscriptions.

Directly, it is an across the board nerf. However there are indirect effects, and those are working in favor of melee dps. A general increase in TTK is in melee's favor. That's because the longer the fight lasts, the more likely it is at shorter ranges.

I would definitely get rid of the second (offhand) weapon and replace it with a generator. The biggest impact from the offhand weapon is to generate misses against a target. Sure it hits sometimes too, but the damage is minimal and would be directly replaced with a generator. In contrast the misses KILL you. Nearly 100% of the time you attack a melee with Rapid Shots, you will trigger Retaliation/Riposte which will lead to >1000 HP in damage to you and no use of GCD for the melee. This far outweighs by a factor of 5-10x any damage that the offhand weapon is doing. I am not joking when I say that the offhand weapon hurts rather than helps the Merc. It is LITERALLY the case.

In this game any toon without defensive abilities up has non-existent survivability. The difference is that Mara/Sent has more defensive abilities than any other subclass. On top of being the highest dps. And being the best team buffer. And yes, I play Mara too. But w.r.t. the OP's initial plea, sorry that's not going to be happening. BW has already decided that melee dps is getting the next buff and ranged dps, in particular Sorc dps and Merc dps will be getting the next nerfs. Mara/Sent in particular is invulnerable to any nerf bat because Mara/Sent meta average productivity is insulated by a dense layer of underperforming players. Don't believe me? BW is already on record that their next change is to lengthen TTK. Which helps melee dps and hurts ranged dps.

Whether we think Mara/Sent needs a nerf or buff is irrelevant. BW thinks we need a buff and that is all that matters. We are only midway through the melee buffing process. Next classes to get nerfed will be Merc dps and Sorc dps. It's a virtual certainty.

Merc Arsenal is doing more damage than it ever has based on meta averages. That's because all the poor performing Arsenal players quit after 1.2. And that's why Arsenal got a second nerf in 1.2c. Nerfs INCREASE class performance as measured by meta averages. Correspondingly that's why melee dps will continue to get buffed. The surge of new, poor performing, poorly geared players into those subclasses virtually guarantees their meta average productivity will remain low and will attract further buffing from BW. Indeed Zoeller is already on record as stating that they will increase TTK which is a melee dps buff and a ranged dps nerf since that increases the percentage of combat time that is at close range.

Are you seriously claiming that Rage Marauder does less single target damage than either Merc dps? On a single test dummy typical Rage Marauder dps is 30% higher than Merc dps. And Marauders specializing in the other trees can easily talent up their Smash to do as much damage as DFA because Decimate is a tier 1 talent. And cast it 5 times as often as DFA. And have even more single target dps. And be the best team buffer in the game. And have the best defense abilities in the game.

BW is inbetween a rock and a hard place. TTK is felt to be too fast by many. Yet if you raise TTK you increase the percentage of time when combat is occurring at close range which is yet another buff to melee dps and nerf to ranged dps. What am I saying? Of course they will buff melee dps more and nerf ranged dps. My bad...

Because every other classes' DoTs can also be cleansed?

You are correct and these phenomenon are linked. The nerfs drove away less skilled, less geared BHs, particuarly Mercs. Those left were predominately the hardcore adherents to the class - more skilled and better geared. That caused (sub)class meta averages to RISE after being nerfed. Which will lead to more nerfs down the road. There will be no return of an effective DFA.

You realize that Marauders have an AoE that they can cast 5 times as often as BHs can cast DFA, right? One that is instant cast instead of channeled. One that can be talented to do as much damage as DFA on a normal (non-critical) hit. And if talented properly actually has a 100% chance of a critical hit. No, you didn't know that. Marauder dps against multiple clustered target dummies would be a MULTIPLE of BH Merc dps. And yes, they also do more single target dps.

So I watched the video (its Voidstar) and I don't think he is playing Merc Pyro badly. Some observations: 1) At the start of the video he got owned right away by a PT Pyro (Sobeast). I don't consider this evidence that he is playing badly because PT Pyro is a much stronger class than Merc Pyro. 2) After that, he respawned, targeted Sobeast and killed him because Sobeast didn't attack back and was busy attacking someone else. See, this is evidence he knows what to do as a Merc Pyro! Merc Pyro is all about getting lucky and have enemies not pay attention to you. 3) After that, he does a reasonable job of continuing to dps while no one attacks him. Once the door breaks, he does a nice move to destealth an enemy Assassin. Sure he can't kill the Assassin until 2 of his teammates join in attacking the Assassin, but that's to be expected after all. He correctly switches to attempting to defend the other bridge controls where the enemy finally begins to shoot at him, at which point he dies rapidly. Again, that's not evidence he is a bad Merc Pyro, just that he is a Merc Pyro. 4) At the second set of doors, he has a pretty good sequence using LoS breaks against an Arsenal Merc, but I don't like how he eventually moves far away from the doors he is supposed to be defending. The attackers aren't able to take advantage of this but figuratively and literally speaking, he left the door open. 5) Once his side starts to attack, he correctly stops to help his teammates gang an enemy that has wandered too far away from the doors. That leaves the door unguarded. It is at this point that he makes his biggest mistake in the match. Rather than using Jet Boost, he uses Electro Dart to stop newly spawning enemies from intercepting his teammate planting on the door. As there were two enemies charging towards his teammate, one of them got through and stopped the planting. Over 6 minutes of attack time are wasted before his team gets another plant. 6) After the Electro Dart mistake, he once again does a decent job dpsing while virtually no one attacks him. There is some comic relief here as a really bad enemy Marauder makes several cameo appearances in the video. How bad is he? A couple of times he Force Charges the Merc Pyro and then runs away. Once he Force Charges the Merc Pyro and then at a range of 1 meter, runs AROUND the Merc Pyro a full 360 degrees while not attacking. These are the numberless hordes of Marauders that keep Marauder meta averages down and ensure further Marauder buffs are in the cards. Overall, I think he does a pretty good job of dpsing, but is a bit lacking in objective based gameplay.

If you are averaging 200k in wz with a Merc Pyro, then I definitely encourage you to continue. You are one of the few holding back the subclass meta average and helping prevent more nerfs.

The only way they will fix it is if they nerf other abilities correspondingly to keep Arsenal dps down. They already are on record as stating that the classes are roughly outputting where they want them to be. So a bug fix that buffs Arsenal will need to be counterbalanced. Over time, there will be a continued migration away from Merc dps which will leave the subclasses ever more dominated by very experienced, very well geared players who have too much invested in their toons to quit them. That will drive Merc productivity higher and cause yet more nerfs. This same phenomenon will also start affecting Sorc dps. Doubt me? It's already in the planning stages for the next patch. Zoeller is on record as saying that they want to raise TTK. Raising TTK without corresponding class adjustments simply increases the percentage of time the fight occurs at close range. Which is a melee buff and a ranged dps nerf. We are only midway through the melee buffing process. Only after the demographic bulge of new melee players is fully geared up and competent with their toons will meta averages for melee dps start rising.

I hear ya. My V90 Merc Pyro remains active for the same reason. But deep inside my heart I know that you and I are only making the problem worse. The only people left playing Merc healers and Merc dps are the better players with good gear. And BW is trying to drive our dps down to the same level as Marauders which are currently dominated by new players in crappy gear.

Well, I doubt BW sees this topic the same way you and I do. For example the latest quote from Zoeller indicates that they plan of increasing TTK. Absent any class specific adjustment, this is a nerf to ranged dps and a buff to melee dps. And how does BW intend to increase TTK? By lowering the intensity of offensive relics. This is does not contain any class specific adjustment. And so it will be a melee dps buff and a ranged dps nerf.

To the OP: and what do you think is going to happen with the current rules base in ranked wz with ops groups that come in with 4-5 Mara/Sents? I'll tell you what - chain casting Frenzy/Bloodlust/Predation so that the entire team was the effect of a red pvp powerup for 60-75 seconds. Game over. No opposing team can run away for 60-75 seconds. SWtoR has barely seen the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Mara/Sent power. Once the Mara/Sent player base learns how to properly utilize the tools available to them, the QQs will really start.