Sigh.

Overall, I agree. Although the idea of a support ship is good in theory, I simply don't think it will translate well in to the current GSF meta game. As was previously stated, it is likely that less educated pilots will fly the Bloodmark solely because of it's iconic look. I think it's easy to say that that won't go over well. On the point of improving it, I think it's too late to completely change it's role as a "support" scout. Besides, that playstyle appeals to some, myself included. I think it would be best to make a few changes, allow it to go live, and tweak it from there, because I think we all know that the new ships probably won't get tested on the PTS. The few changes that I can think of are the following: 1) Increase the range of all buffs/debuff to 10,000m 2) Replace Thermite Torpedo with Rocket Pods (or reduce the lock on time of Thermite Torps, no one uses them currently and I don't like having useless components in the game) 3) Replace Indirection Drive with Retro Thrusters Besides that, I can't think of any justifiable changes that would allow the Bloodmark to stay true to it's intended support role. Personally, I'm interested in flying this ship because, as I mentioned previously, I enjoy playing support roles, and I also enjoy a challenge. However if it goes live as-is, I may just have to resist flying her.

For the love of God, this. I think the announcement of the season 1 rewards shows that gear isn't the only content that will get people in to matches.

Great link, it's pretty exciting. It reminds me of BFII space battles. On a different note, a vertical Huttball? Sounds interesting.

I use fully upgraded Concussion Missiles on my Quell with the Engine draining upgrade, and there have been a few times that the missile hits, the damage hits, but the debuff isn't applied. Sometimes I wonder if the debuff did apply, but it just wasn't showing up on my HUD. Either way, it seems a bit buggy.

I always ran with Quads on my Sting. That was before players discovered Burst Lasers (or at least before I heard about them). I tried out Burst, and I just couldn't get in to it. It's superior to Quads in satellite humping matches, but outside of that I felt I performed better with Quads. Both have their strengths, but when it comes down to it you should choose what feels most natural to you.

I very rarely get matches where the majority of the enemy team is either a Bomber or a Gunship. I hate to say it, but you really should know how to approach a Gunship by now, they really aren't all that hard to take down, especially if a teammate tags along to help. Bombers are a bit of a different story. I don't mind the minelayers at all, if a player puts a mine in a good position, and I get hit by it, good for them and shame on me. It was a stationary target that I ran in to (unless it was a Seeker Mine, but the radius on that isn't too bad). However, I think Dronelayers are gimmicky. I don't like that players can just set down railgun and missile drones and forget about them while they shoot at the enemy team. I think that's the issue most people have with bombers. The drones aren't going anywhere though, so if you get hit by one, hit R, then gun it down. I don't find my GSF matches lacking dogfighting at all. I see more NovaDives than I used to, and strikes are gaining popularity. I myself favor my Quell and Blackbolt.

In my opinion, in arenas, a Vengeance Jugg is more threatening because of Unstoppable, and how it allows them to get off a Ravage. A good Vengeance player will cycle through his DCD's, making them pretty solid imo. Mara's have more defensive abilities in general, but as a previous person said, Vengeance has access to both passive and active damage reduction. If you pay attention, you can easily cc, knockback, or at worst activate a DCD to negate a Carnage Mara's Gore window.

They're not OP yet, but 2.7 looks like it may have them heading that way. The low percentage imo may be because most Snipers/Slingers you see are alts. There are very few people I know who actually main a Sniper. I think a lot of people just roll them for an alt. I could be wrong, but that's just a guess. Alternatively, Snipers can sometimes be the target of choice in arenas, if there isn't a Merc, Sorc or healer.

http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=724264 Overall, very nice. A lot of what I suggested in my thread actually got changed. I'm sure most of these changes were in the works prior to my post, but still. Damn glad the Full Auto pushback got fixed, and Tech Override got it's CD reduced.

http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=724264 Finally, the CD reduction of Power Surge that we've been asking for! I'm sure I posted this while some of these changes were in the works, but the Unload issue was spot on. Thank you for fixing that, BW.

The CD on Power Surge is ridiculous for what it does. It should have it's CD lowered, and have two charges baseline. The other two ranged classes, Sniper and Sorcerer, fair far better here. A Sniper flat-out cannot be interrupted, and a Sorcerer has Polarity Shift, which has a 2 minute CD, and lasts for 10 seconds (Lightning gets it on a 1m45s CD and 15 second duration, all while increasing their chance for Forked Lightning, increasing their DPS). Keep in mind, a Sorcerer in any spec has Polarity Shift, which means Corruption Sorcerers have it. Bodyguard Mercs have Power Surge on a 2 minute CD, providing them one whopping instant cast. They also have to spend a point in their talent tree to become immune to interrupts when Energy Shield is up. While Energy Shield has an identical CD to Polarity Shift, Mercs have to pop a DCD for a similar effect, Sorcerers do not. I'm not saying Bodyguard needs drastic changes, but 2 instant casts wouldn't break the class by any means. The point of that comparison was to show how DPS Sorcs have interrupt protection, in contrast to DPS Mercenaries. While I don't think we need a Polarity Shift-esqe CD, providing the class with more opportunities for instant casts achieves that effect through alternate means.

Thank you for such positive feedback! I tried my best to present the knowledge my experience with the class has given me in the most thought-out manner possible. Once again, thank you for the feedback. I did see the dev post from Eric, which stated that the combat team was working on changes for Merc/Mando that would supposedly roll out with the rest of the 2.7, and I hope it's at least something the community has put forth, and not a small tweak in damage or something of the like. That being said, I think the combat team is having a hard time approaching changes to this class. When 2.0 was on the PTS, and players saw that Arsenal/Gunnery had received nearly no changes, the devs either got to work on it then, or had been previously. But, the Arsenal changes were the very last changes to roll out; now I think of it I don't believe it even made it onto the PTS it came out so late. This seems to be the case once again, as we are pretty much the last to have our class changes announced. This leads me to believe either they're having a hard time figuring out what to do, or we're on the bottom of their priority list.

A 30m disengage has been thrown around for quite some time by the Merc/Mando community, and I think it's a good idea. It seemed to be a good idea for the class pre-2.4, but now with Mercs almost always being the primary target in arenas, it seems like it's an even better idea, as it would allow us to get away from the pack of enemies in our face, and back on the edge of the battle where we belong. That way we might actually be able to get a few casts off before they reach us again. And of course, just as I suggested in my op, a ranged root is needed.

In case you don't know, on orange and some purple gear (including the PvP gear) all the stats are given by Armorings, Mods and Enhancements. These can be moved from one set of modifiable gear to another set of modifiable gear via pulling them out. This carries the stats of the PvP gear over to the empty shell of your choice, so you can have the look you want. It's worth noting that the set bonuses offered by the PvP gear is attached to the Armoring, not the shell (at launch it was attached to the shell), so you don't have to worry about losing that either. The Armorings also require you put them in the same slot of gear you took it out of, ie. the Armoring from a PvP headpiece has to be put into another headpiece, it cannot go in to a chestpiece, boots etc.

Every time I click on one of these expansion threads, I always expect it to be unrealistic and ill-informed. This thread was no different. First off, why would a company waste money packaging boxes for their expansion, when they can save all that money and do it digitally? (Also, come on, we're talking about EA here). Next, BW has already said (many times) that any races added to the game will have to feasibly be able to have a romance with the companions, keep the already established human model, and SPEAK BASIC. For a game that is fully voiced, they can't just throw a Wookiee in there with the voice actors sounding as they do, not to mention the fact that it's covered in fur and does not share the human model already shared by all the playable races. That means they'd have to adjust all the armor in game to be able to render properly on a Wookiee. Not going to happen. And finally, PvE space: a vague maybe, and if it was implemented, it wouldn't be far from GSF aka NOT SWG. On the topic of housing however, I do think I remember a dev at a cantina event neither confirming nor denying the production of housing. With Wildstar featuring the housing it has, I wouldn't be surprised if they had something in the works to keep up the competition.

I'm glad that you mostly agree, Cash. I believe I saw Eric say that Merc/Mando are getting some changes with 2.7, the combat team just hasn't finished with them yet.

Which is too bad, because for the longest time Sniper/Slinger was probably the most balanced class. From launch till 2.0, they were very well balanced in PvP. Overall, I agree with the OP- AoE CC needs toning down. Flashbang for Snipers is getting a fair nerf, but Intimidating Roar needs tweaking. If you have two Warriors in an arena, which is very common, it gets a bit out of hand.

The irony.

Ah, alright. I hear ya.

I must have missed that.. source?

http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=724264

While I appreciate your opinion, every class should be viable. I choose to continue to play the class.

Currently, a DPS Mercenary is, for the most part, a liability in arenas. I consider myself among the more skilled players of the Advanced Class, having played Merc since early access, and having PvPed through all the nerfs, changes and buffs. But I'm not here to flaunt, I am here to provide a constructive post for both providing feedback and information, and spurring conversation amongst the community. Please by all means, post your opinions, ideas and critisism below, but I ask you do so in a respectful manner. Not just to me, but to anyone who happens to post in this thread So, on to it. Personally, I think escape and the ability to deal respectful damage under focus is the issue. Arsenal provides quite a bit of survivability talents, but we're the number one target to focus down in ranked therefore the survivability it provides is nearly useless. Pyro has less survivability talents than Arsenal, but it has a better ability to deal damage on the move, which makes it a superior choice when it comes to arenas. Yes, we have a KB, yes we have a stun, and yes we have Hydraulic Overrides, but honestly how much does that help when all the DD's on the enemy team focus you? I understand that no class should be able to perform normally under that kind of focus, but no class should become as shut down as a Mercenary becomes. At it's core, it stems from the lack of kiting tools, and the reliance on casted attacks. To show this, we'll compare the Mercenary to the other ranged class that is not immune to leaps and interrupts, the Sorcerer. To counter pressure, particularly melee, Sorcs have the following: 1) A momentary sprint with a generous CD (in 2.7 DPS Sorcs will have root resistance on this from t2 Corruption) 2) A ranged slow with a short CD 3) A KB 4) A stun 5) Force Barrier 6) A good instant heal with a moderate CD 7) A CD for 10(?) seconds of interrupt immunity That is all un-talented. Madness can get a ranged root, a instant AoE, and an instant Lightning Strike or Crushing Darkness from a Wrath proc (note that LS will be more viable to use with 4 stacks of Focal Lightning come 2.7). Lightning has a point-blank AoE mez (from bubble break), a KB root, and a AoE root/slow from Chain Lightning. With that said, lets look at what the Mercenary has to kite, and function under pressure. 1) A stun 2) A KB 3) Electro Net 4) Power Surge (1 instant cast if Pyro, 2 as Arsenal) 5) A moderate instant AoE heal with a generous CD 6) Hydraulic Overrides. That's it un-talented. Talented isn't much more impressive. Arsenal gets a MELEE root, a slightly improved KB, 4 more seconds on HO and a slow that needs to be channelled. Pyro gets a unimpressive slow off of CGC, if it procs. The most glaring difference, in my opinion, is the Sorcerers access to ranged roots and slows, and the ability to cast some moves on the run off of procs in their talent tree. I think the Mercenary class is going to take a lot of looking-at and tweaking by the devs. When I say tweaking, I mean bending till it snaps. The issue is at the core of the trees, which offer no procs for instant casts (Power Surge CD is ridiculous for what the ability does), and the appalling lack of ranged roots or slows. The quickest band-aid fixes for now, to help the class until a talent tree tweaking is done, includes the following: 1) Reduce the CD of Power Surge by 60 seconds, and have it provide 2 charges baseline 2) Make Concussion Missile instant, instead of casted Keep in mind these are the most simple, bare-bones changes. This would by no means fix the class, but it would definitely help. When it comes to the talent trees, there are a few points I would like to touch on: Arsenal 1) The root on Rocket Punch is ridiculous. While it does help get away from a Knight that had leapt to us, it is ridiculous that it is our only root. 2) The reliance on casts is what really makes Arsenal crumble under focus in arenas. Our two main abilities, Tracer Missile and Unload, both require us to be stationary. While I cannot think of a specific change to the tree that would help this, the touch on Unload leads me to my next gripe. 3) Unload is arguably Arsenal's greatest asset. We get a slow from it, and have the chance to proc a CD reset with increased damage. Having to be stationary to channel this is a fair trade-off, but the way in which it deals damage presents a major flaw. Unload does not immediately deal damage. The damage starts just a bit after the channel begins, and the final tick of damage is literally exactly when the channel ends. Because of this, if we receive even one bit of pushback when using this skill, we lose that final tick of damage. This, in my opinion, is wrong. To fix this, Unload should either deal damage immediately and the final tick should be just a bit before the end of the channel, or it should be immune to pushback in Arsenal. Pyrotech 1) Pyro is our most mobile skill tree. Despite this fact, it is less mobile than the Powertech equivalent, and is far easier to shut down through pressure and interrupts. The biggest idea I've always had to fix this issue, is to take the 45% chance to proc PPA from Powershot, and move it to Missile Salvo. However, the issue with this is that it may affect PvE. To try and off-balance this change, I think it could be worth looking into increasing the damage of Powershot (as the damage from Missile Salvo is less, typically), and applying a very short CD. While these changes may not be ideal, I continued to run myself in circles over it and will leave the debate far open for this one. 2) The burst of Pyro is still formidable, yet obviously less than pre-2.0. This is due to part of Thermal Detonator's damage being moved to a DoT. However, this DoT can easily be cleansed. The tech healers can cleanse it, Sorcs can use Barrier (not ideal, but if you're putting damage in to a target in an arena the rest of your team should be too), Snipers can use Evasion, and it keeps a Marauder's Cloak of Pain up. While I think asking for the up-front damage Thermal Detonator of the past has come and gone, I think at least asking the DoT it applies to be uncleansable is a valid argument. Because basically, when it is cleansed, we lose part of the damage TD used to deal pre-2.0. 3) Aside from being slightly more mobile than Arsenal, Pyro only has one tool for kiting: CGC. The slow this provides is only 30%, and it can be cleansed. Pyro is the Mercenary's equivilent of a Sorc's Madness. It's the kiting DoT tree. However, a Madness Sorcs has many more kiting tools than a Mercenary. A ranged root, low CD slow, and a constant slow from their Force Lightning spam. With this in mind, I think that Pyro Mercenaries should recieve a a ranged root somewhere in the talent tree. Note that this would need to be Mercenary-only talent, one that wouldn't exist in the Powertech version of the tree. The root, in my opinion should be 2 seconds, and be applied from a PPA Railshot. The talent would either replace Fullsuit FOE or the CD reduction on damage talent for Jet Boost (I'm not in game at the moment and cannot remember the name of the talent). This would synergize well with the 45% PPA from Missile Salvo, allowing Pyro Mercs to kite and maintain damage on the move. Although this may sound like overkill, a Smasher's second leap (again, the name escapes me), Carnage's vanish, and PT's Hydraulic Overrides all counterbalance this so they cannot be constantly rooted. If you've read this far, I thank you so much for taking the time to read this. This is the culmination of a lot of consideration on my part, my participation in arenas and my love for the Mercenary class. I've stuck with my first class through it all, and I will continue to do so. Please, give this feedback, share your thoughts and theory craft with me. While this is not a complete rundown on the changes that could be made, it's a decent start in my opinion. P.S. I typed this up on my phone (an absolute nightmare, but I had a sudden burst of inspiration to type this while out of tje house), so I apologize for any typos. You know how autocorrect is.

You fell victim unto the troll.