Check the comment in Dev tracker. It wasn't recorded..

I suggest you take a closer look at the changes not just the Tactical. Cooldowns are being reduced so the precision window is available MORE often.

When it comes to PvE, I've seen endless amounts of instances where players trying to get into raiding aren't welcomed in that side of the community because raid groups / guilds allegedly can't be bothered to teach new folks. Which I find to be ironic considering the fact that they themselves didn't start out knowing every raid like the backs of their own hands. I disagree that the raiding community is toxic and not willing to help new players progress and develop in raids. I have been in or led numerous guilds in the past 10+ years where progression teams for sm, vet, or NiM ops were an option. There was a mass exodus of competent raiders in 6.0 for two reasons, lack of content, and dumbing down the difficulty levels to the point mechanics in sm were pointless. With the introduction of 7.0 and 7.1 it appears BioWare has gone back to the roots of the game to increase the raider base to where it once was . This is great in theory but there are flaws due to a miscalculation of what the broader player base has become. What I am seeing with Guild progression teams isn't a lack of assistance but a lack of desire to learn or get better and more an expectation for raids and gearing to be stupid easy. To get people into discord to explain fights or gearing verbally instead of typing a tome in chat is like pulling hens teeth. For pug groups first rule of thumb is if you don't know the fights say so and a brief explanation or invite to a discord will be given the vast majority of times. If Bioware wants to build and maintain the raiding community, to what it once was, the R4 raid needs to be a success and new raids need to be included in semi regular drops. Not once every 3 to 4 years.

ROFL. All classes are viable in 7.0 with 1 exception and that is Merc DPS. That was a screw up just like the Watchman spec I mentioned in my original response. The problem appears that everyone wants a class with the best and viable isn't good enough. If as much effort was put into getting the best out of your preferred toon as is put into the complaining...just saying.

I suggest you take a look at what was posted in Dev tracker for 7.1 class balancing and also take a look at the new tactical that will replace the Fanged God form we lost. Once you read that if you think Combat is being nerfed you just flat out don't know the class.

Every expansion release has had class balance issues that were eventually resolved before the next release created new balancing issues. As an example, my main is a sentinel. My first sent was Focus and it was wicked op back in the Beta 1.0 days. They nerfed force sweep into the ground around 2.0 ish so I switched spec to watchman and it was wicked op with the dot spreads. Then they nerfed it into the ground (could not get past the Underlurker) so switched spec to Combat and stuck with it for quite some time because no new stuff came out for quite some time. 3 weeks ago switched from Combat to Concentration (used to be Focus). Not because combat wasn't viable (21-24K dps in ops) but wanted to see if all the chatter about OP concentration was fact or fiction. Turns out it's fact, force sweep back with massive damage on mobs and burst damage is impressive (show me the crits). But alas 7.1 nerf is coming for concentration and buff for combat. My point is, there is more than one option for each class and there are plenty of classes. Wish more on these message boards put their energy into adapting instead of complaining

ROFL because amplifiers were so much simpler NOT

There are plenty of 7.0 gearing guides out for those that remain confused about the gearing. I suggest you take the time to google. The 7.0 system for green/blue and purple pvp is downright simple, easy and fast. People complaining about gearing to 326 are complaining just for the sake of complaining. Obtaining purple rakata ops gear is tricky (but can force drops) and involves running vet , NiM farms and Nim ops not sm ops. There are a ton of EV, KP vets, NiM Nefra, and NiM Dash runs pugging weekly. But be warned if to many in the pug group don't know their class it will wipe. Easiest path to gear up for this ops content is GSF/PVP purple with a green 316 to force that piece of Rakata to drop.

Merc dps has been nerfed hard due to the changes in 7.0 just like watchman was dealt the nerf hammer in 3.0. This will eventually be fixed but is very frustrating for anyone playing merc because it is no longer a viable dps class for vet or NiM raids. The other DPS classes have either remained the same or received some minor buffs. The big problem I see in the community is the number of players that are clueless on how to play their class or gear their class. This was evident in 6.0 but level sinc and gear made everything stupid easy. Now with 7.0's version of level sinc these types of players are seeing how not knowing your class is a disaster for you. Suggest you take the time to learn your toon and improve your skills. On a personal note, I changed my mains spec, adopted the appropriate rotation, geared properly, and am loving the changes. Now just GIVE US NEW content.

I would rather be a "SIP" instead of a SEP (Self Entitled Person). I pay to play so give me stuff I don't have to earn is just being lazy. You don't need top tear gear to do any content other than full on NiM raids. 6.0 was a disaster because it gave away top tier gear for doing story line and it made sm ops so stupid easy mechanics were not needed. Now that the content is more difficult the self entitled have no clue how to play their class let alone gear properly. Suck it up snow flakes and get good

The new gearing system is a throw back to the pre 6.0 systems. Hard content gives the best gear. 6.0 was a disaster. Not only did they make top tier gear stupid easy to get but they dumbed down story mode ops so you didn't need to know the boss mechanics. So...it's not the gear most of the negative nelly's are complaining about. It's more like boohoo I have to learn how to play my character and perish the thought of actually learning a boss fight to progress from sm to vet to NiM. Also, the best gear will not save a bad player.

It's obvious you Q'ed for a veteran FP in both cases. Master mode requires a balanced group Veteran does not. You don't mention what level the toons were and given the number of wipes it's a given that the experience level was minimal. Note; don't confuse character level with experience level. It is extremely difficult if not impossible to wipe in veteran FP's if at least 1 player knows what they are doing and is geared. Kolto healing stations are abundant on every boss fight. The problem i've noticed is many newer players don't fess up at the beginning that they have never done the FP before. If they did, i would be happy to explain each boss fight to them. The teaching and learning aspect of grouping appears to have waned and has been replaced by the speed run.

On the face of it, looks like at least a 800 DPS loss. Will not pass judgment until the nerf happens. Will see if cool down on precision is adjusted first. If not it's not the 1st time my sent has been nerfed into the ground. 1st was Focus (now concentration) so switched to Watchman. 2nd was Watchman so switched to Combat. What disturbs me about the heavy handed nerfs,]on all classes, is they have pissed off most of the HM/NiM raiders so much that they are almost all gone. PVP more about team work so if your clipping 4 hits all the time your full of ****.

I don't know what planet you folks live on or what sub standard IP you have or if you just started ranting before you actually looked at the PING. Mine went down by 40 and the server is farther away. Lower number GOOD.As a result of the much better ping my APS is way up and ergo DPS

The metrics are kind. I have never experienced the mass exodus of guildies until this nerf. 90% of our long term players left to another mmo because of this and another 8% left this weekend. What's bothersome is these are all HM/NiM raiders that were playing since beta. I normally defend the devs but this was a huge misstep. I hope the game can recover.

If you take the time (not long with a boost) to get one toon to 300, run ops and pvp then gearing to full 248's is easy. If you rely solely on RNG then gearing will and should take longer. Why, because you're avoiding more difficult group content. Which is fine but comes with a cost.

Reading this thread it appears the 242 minimum gear requirement has been deemed a bad idea. I somewhat agree because the bolstering system has made gearing far less relevant than it was prior to 4.0. Now to the issue of the group finder Q, I haven't Q'ed for master mode FPS without a pre-made group for close to a year because of the number of under geared, insta 70 zero chivos that q into blood hunt thinking the bolster makes them a god. The 242 min is a good start. What i would prefer is the elimination of bolster in any/all hm or nim content.

More than "some" have thrown in the towel. The guild I run with has lost 98% of our hard core raiders. The heavy handed nerfs were viewed as a betrayal. What you need to realize is none of the people that left are casual players. Most have been with the game since beta. The reason they felt betrayed is, despite all the we will listen to your feedback comments coming from you and eric, they were not listened to. Also, I started playing this game in beta and must say the server population on the harbinger has tanked in the past month. I have never seen it this low. What I see coming down the pipe is an expansion of FTP to lure casuals into the game and hope to get previous long term players back. If you go the FTP route instead of rewarding us die hards that is when I'll join my former guildies on the mmo they fled to

Well said and agree 100%

I'm fine with the way it is. Best system they have had since Beta. The part about keeping the elites happy was sarcasm.

The bolster system in place now is the best this game has seen for subscribers that play both PVP and PVE. As one of those players i have full top tier gear and a high valour rank (not quite 100 but close). I understand 100% PVP'ers are upset that the "newbs" with full 248 and low valour actually have a fighting chance unlike the old days when top tier PVE gear just got you flagged as an easy kill. But really (with the exception of 4 on 4) winning or losing depends mostly on team coordination and skill. If a bolster change is a must i say scrap it for everyone with the exception of 100 valour pvp'ers with 242 gear (bump them to 248), 236 (bump to 242) anything less than 236... you don't deserve bolster.

I agree 4.0 gearing was a boon to gear multiple toons and to try things you might not have otherwise. It went hand in glove with the DVL event. However, with 5.0 alts are next to impossible to gear to nim levels. in my humble opinion the only segment of this community that has a valid complaint with gearing are those that run multiple toons. For those that primarily pvp and raid with their main the complaints ring hollow.

It created the false expectation of getting the best with little effort

Both PVP and PVE require skill. The reality is gear isn't the be all and end all. Raiders need to know mechanics and their rotation. PVP'ers need know how to coordinate as a group and what abilities best serve them against any class.

There was an issue with 4.0 gearing. It was way to easy. Top tear gear should be hard to get