This was my reply to a post involving a discussion on the Imperial Agent Operative Class's damage compared to other damage dealing classes. All the replies where very specific and had proof of one reason or another why their operatives weren't preforming as good as 'the other dps classes'. Imho - Its player error. Here was my reply: I have to say this, especially after reading so much of these forums..... Bioware is specifically trying to design a game free of strict requirements for this or that; where a player is doing good in a game because they feel they are doing a good job, they know they did a good job when the content is clear. Just as they know there is always room to get better; no set way in stone how to do something....freedom to play a character how you feel that character should be played, and not be punished or judged for it. And yet, the community for mmorpgs has become so shallow, that it isn't about content, it isn't about how beautiful the game looks, how it blew other mmorpg graphics OUT of the water on maxed out settings, How it integrated the voice acting in so well, that when you first play a class story, it is like watching a movie unfold. You never read of hear praise about that on these forums. THe community is too shallow. Instead they rely on programs, systems, and utilities which were not intended to be part of this universe, to show and justify they 'know' what they are talking about. They have the 'proof'. All they have proof of is that they have lost sight of, or never knew, what the real appeal to gaming is. It is about enjoying the game. It is about getting lost in a world apart from your own for a few hours each day to relax. Its about doing things you can't do, have always wanted to, and maybe have even done. The gaming community as a whole is in a very sad sate, especially when a game like Swtor releases with so many new levels of depth, character, beauty - for any mmorpg made to date... that all people focus on is wut it doesn't had compared to some other game...... Those people have lost sight of what gaming is all about. When you find a good game....you don't complain about the UI... I never wished i could rearrange where my icons where on legend of Zelda...i just played the game the way ti was made, and got wrapped up in it because of that very reason. Swtor is a beautiful achievement for 'The shakey' future of Mmorpgs. It started at with release, with every thing it needed to succeed. The game had a solid amount of content at release to keep people interested and busy. Most of the class story elements where complete and just as deep and captivating as the developers had hoped they would be. The graphics, lighting and shadow effects for the worlds and characters themselves was definitely way above any standard mmorpgs had before its release. And the most tragic thing is, despite all these new and wonderful possibilities and experiences Bioware brought to us by opening up the world of SwTor, all people ever talked about was what the game didn't have. And then, just like the masses have corrupted society with their need to validate just how much better than one another they really are, in an area that offers no accountability for ones words or actions; This beautiful creation, when born was the most Balanced/Well Designed Class System, began to morph into to something completely and utterly unstable, as Bioware perceived themselves as saving a sinking ship, listening to the shouts and whines of a group of people who actually made up less than 5% total subscribers. So waste your time boasting about this or that, How u don't know jack unless u pull 'these numbers' - Cause honestly, your the sad one, your the one I pity, because even know you are going through the motions, you are paying the money; The beauty, depth, and magic of this game is lost on you to meaningless numbers, people use to measure themselves against some imaginary standard..... When the only standard Bioware wanted to make, was to have fun and enjoy yourself. Just My 2 Cents Main - Melony, Lvl 46 Operative, Newly Transferred to Jung Ma from Ajunta Pall where she was know as Lil'Red p.s. forgive the grammar errors, I was very tired when I wrote this, but not so tired that I could read through anymore baseless bs without replying. Have a great gaming experience; you're paying for that aren't you? Then why are u working so hard to find something wrong with it; When in fact its your fundamental lack of understanding of 'playing a game' truly is. -Just wanted to re-Post this somewhere That I know Bioware will see it. Because They did a wonderful job with the release of SWTOR, and even though the changes made have taken the game and community in the utterly wrong direction it needs to be for SwTOR to survive, I wanted them to know, at least one person playing there game, appreciates the depth, beauty, and detail of the Swtor Universe. No one ever says Thank you anymore; So thank You, I love this Game. I think you need to stop letting the few 'under 5%' of the total amount of the subscribers, using the forums, dictate where you are taking your game. You created this world, you envisioned and brought it life; why on earth, would you allow people who know nothing of the plays, concepts, and directions you had planned for the game, dictate to you, what is right and wrong with the Universe YOU Created. I am slightly embarrassed to have to tell a Billion dollar company the reality of the situation, but you are in complete and utter control of whether SwTor last or not, and right now, quite honestly it is not looking good. Right now for some reason, The developers are focused on doing something that that had achieve to begin with, but then ruined later and are now trying to fix - Pvp. When this game released, and even in beta, despite the differences and changes, when released to the larger community, it was the most Balanced / Well Designed and Implemented Class structure system ever created from the birth of an mmorpg. SO now, they are racing against time to try to accomplish their 'Self-inflicted PVP redesign deadline', and releasing new content and things for the rest of the Swtor Universe. - This is definitely the wrong direction. So to Bioware, I say this: 1> You need to stop tampering with the mechanics of a game you designed to be a particular way, and then changed it because people who had no idea how it worked told u it was wrong and not up to their 'standards'. When you make your own dinner, do u not eat it and throw it away if someone tells u you made it wrong??? Truly, the minor adjustments made to classes were needed and welcomed and added slight variate to what we had come to know. The removal of dots stopping a node cap, should had been implemented at launch, but - was still fun, before they did change it, to hold a node all by yourself against 4 people. Then, after things had been settled for quite some time, and honestly the only 'Overpowered Class' design wise was the Hybrid Sins/Sorcs - For Sins it was tank hybrid/or full tank + dps gear = self healing wall of invincibility. And sorc/sage hybrids had use of a bug which allowed them to put out far more healing than intended with too great a frequency for them to be challenged managing their force 'resources'. Even the class changes they made in 1.2 were not game breaking for pve, and actually gave the game a little needed vitality because you were relearning how the system worked, but it completely redefined the value of expertise, tried to fix and avoid the mistakes and exploits of the valor/pvp system early on, and basically told everyone - 'We know we just basically changed the entire game with these changes, here is a free month for the trouble, while you get to learn the 'new' way. Completely New. This was just the result of what happens when all you see is hate and criticism on the forums about what changes are 'needed' for the game to survive and how if this or that isn't added, it will never make it - or even how it could release missing this feature or that feature...... Unfortunately you brought something beautiful to a empty, shallow, 'self-enititled to this or that' mmorpg generation who have forgot what 'gaming' really is. For that, I admit that the challenge for Swtor to survive will be uphill for quite some time, but it is really really pushing the limit on how many major changes you can make to a game people, like normal gaming people who still play games to get lost in another world and relax and enjoy the show, will adjust to, before just deciding that Bioware has fallen in to the 'Tricks and perception' of the Forum lords. Who, have always, never represented more than 5-10% of a company's paying customers. Any more changes, and the people who play the game to enough it for what it was designed and meant to be, will decide that you will always be changing and 'selling out' on design, 'new systems' and the like, just like the current mmorpgs out, and therefore have lost the value of uniqueness and depth that the game presented us at release. You are the game designer. You are its creator. How you let people who have not conceptualized, visualized, planned, and created as much for this game to be completed as you have, TELL YOU, how it is broken, not designed how it should be, Tell u the RULES of your own game, Tell you u don't know what you are talking about, should fire your whole design team (ok maybe some of the armor artist designers...cough cough..)m and basically should have never even tried to release an mmorpg cause this one sucks...etc... you decide... out of all the things people were posting on the forums... that these people... these people who are telling you how YOUR Creation should work, operate and wut rules it follows, know what the heck they are talking about, and assume they are talking for the community as a whole? If you are concerned about losing customers because of the 'design' of your game... aren't going to last to begin with. If you aren't confident enough to know you 'Designed YOUR OWN CREATION WELL AND RIGHT', then it had no future to begin with. You control what WE experience in the SwTor World. WE are PAYING you SPECIFICALLY to provide this for us. If we don't like what you have established as far as the norm of what variety and services you provide compared to other similar providers, we will search for a different provider..... that is a casual gamer. They are the one paying this games bills and make up the majority of subscriptions for any major mmorpg. The casual gamer also doesn't want 'easier' content, anything easy at all to be honest. The casual gamer isn't about that really. The opportunity and ability to be able to complete everything there is to do in a game is required; but how you achieve that isn't important to the casual gamer. Its the stage on which you present it, the depth of the world you create, the pull of wanting to know more or the lack of interest in a particular aspect of all.....the casual gamer is there for an escape, a break from 'reality' so to speak, and isn't dwelling on what the game lacks, and is generally happy with wut it already has. I am not a business professional, nor do I even have a 4 year degree; but that doesn't mean I don't know what needs to be done to save this dying game. Stop with the whole PVP obsession, from the beginning you stated that it was not intended to be a primary focus, but something to do as a part of the whole SWTOR experience. I am not sure, how you thought it wouldn't be as popular as it has become, especially with the DAOC, WOW, WARHAMMER, and Even City of Heroes and other super hero game - all had rather large PVP communities..... Ok, but that is besides the point. You made a huge and beautifully brilliant mistake in 1.2 . One, you ruined the balance completely to your very own game. It was Balanced, the most balanced out even, but you changed it, and continued to change it til 1.2 . I think, without the free month 1.2 would have almost killed swtor. It was a major overall in all the time and energy people had put into the game up till that point, and was a completely different system and set of mechanics compared to the existing combat ones. Even though these changes, espcially the major value change in expertise, and level ranges of the pvp gear tiers where in fact what caused people to cancel their account; It actually bought Bioware more time, and a chance for them to save themselves from sinking into a 'stale' type pvp enviorment, very mechanical, very 1 2 3 ish, kinda thing. 1.2 actually opened the door for the chnages now, added difficulty to pvp and content when there was none before, and refocused the remaining 'need to be better than you' forum jockeys, a short term goal to achieve to master, only so they could come back to the forum and complain about what is wrong this time. You are never gonna make everyone happy at the same time, but that isn't what is the most sad and tragic thing about the 'Shacky Future' of Swtor. Unless Bioware wakes up, and retakes control of the direction in which swtor is going, and maintaining and providing the 'universe' it set out to create, it will not last. Instead of designing a new combat system, a friend of mine suggested they could have made a pod racing circuit kinda thing. Where u start with a shoddy one, and fix it up, race it on the racing curcuit, have ranks, have real player race arenas with a wage system, a way for players who 'purchase race tickets' can view replays or watch the live race, what ever.... Races could be simple like need for speed type things, with a similar environment as the space missions, where players are in a linear sand box, face different obstacles and bonus goals, and get exp and cash for placing in particular ranking positions, within say the amateur, semi-pro, and Galactic racing circuits or something; each award different titles, money, exp whatever, but something that a player can invest there money in and work on, that has nothing to do with anything else in the game. It is a solid idea. Also, the Player housing system in Star wars galaxies and DAOC were great for those games... And maybe if Swtor didn't want to tackle that headache, they could just simply introduce ways to buy new ships, customize our ships with different designs, 'luxuries' outside of legacy, such as a billiard table, convert a storage area to a disco... just silly things, that people might like to do similar to sims, just occupying their time, for no reason at all, but to show their friends when they board their ships. Simply things like those two dea, things that add depth, and then of course, Keeping it timely with the story progression of the classes; will be the type of things that make Swtor last or not. Though pvp 'needs to be balanced and fair', anyone who has played any mmorpg with pvp knows it has never ever really been. Just keep designing the game around game concepts and ideas, and not based off the written words of people who claim this or that is wrong, or in being different and not a feature or having the same features as a game already existing is a bad thing. People are shallow. Stop trying to make less than 10% of yer subscribers happy, and get back to what you originally planned timeline wise for the Advancement of the STory and Depth of your unique game. If you don't do that, you will just end up like every other game out there... full of potential, but ultimately a dud....and it will be all your own fault... for not being confident enough as designers and game visionaries, to stick to what you originally intended, instead of selling out and changing concept and design, for 'more' money? When a mmorpg is good, It grabs you, almost literally sucks u in whenever you are playing, and puts u in a mind frame where you are a part of a particular type of world now..... If you continue to sell out and change t hings you intentionally designed one way, to make people who had no part of that design 'satisfied' with the 'way you created something', this game has no future anyway. With Swtor, time is running out, but there is still a little bit of time left, and if you catch yourselves in time, and settle and decide on the 'new and final' set of rules for 'at bare minimum a year' with tweaks and what not here and there, then you get back to providing the other 90% of your subscribes what they came to you in the first place for - a game with depth, detailed character design and world construction, and creating the perfect reflection with combat and story design, to make 'the customers' character, the main character throughout solo play. That is one of the Most unique things about Swtor, and if they honestly don't return their focus to expanding the 'depth' and 'story' of the game, it will be a rapid end of the game.

I have to say this, especially after reading so much of these forums..... Bioware is specifically trying to design a game free of strict requirements for this or that; where a player is doing good in a game because they feel they are doing a good job, they know they did a good job when the content is clear. Just as they know there is always room to get better; no set way in stone how to do something....freedom to play a character how you feel that character should be played, and not be punished or judged for it. And yet, the community for mmorpgs has become so shallow, that it isn't about content, it isn't about how beautiful the game looks, how it blew other mmorpg graphics OUT of the water on maxed out settings, How it integrated the voice acting in so well, that when you first play a class story, it is like watching a movie unfold. You never read of hear praise about that on these forums. THe community is too shallow. Instead they rely on programs, systems, and utilities which were not intended to be part of this universe, to show and justify they 'know' what they are talking about. They have the 'proof'. All they have proof of is that they have lost sight of, or never knew, what the real appeal to gaming is. It is about enjoying the game. It is about getting lost in a world apart from your own for a few hours each day to relax. Its about doing things you can't do, have always wanted to, and maybe have even done. The gaming community as a whole is in a very sad sate, especially when a game like Swtor releases with so many new levels of depth, character, beauty - for any mmorpg made to date... that all people focus on is wut it doesn't had compared to some other game...... Those people have lost sight of what gaming is all about. When you find a good game....you don't complain about the UI... I never wished i could rearrange where my icons where on legend of Zelda...i just played the game the way ti was made, and got wrapped up in it because of that very reason. Swtor is a beautiful achievement for 'The shakey' future of Mmorpgs. It started at with release, with every thing it needed to succeed. The game had a solid amount of content at release to keep people interested and busy. Most of the class story elements where complete and just as deep and captivating as the developers had hoped they would be. The graphics, lighting and shadow effects for the worlds and characters themselves was definitely way above any standard mmorpgs had before its release. And the most tragic thing is, despite all these new and wonderful possibilities and experiences Bioware brought to us by opening up the world of SwTor, all people ever talked about was what the game didn't have. And then, just like the masses have corrupted society with their need to validate just how much better than one another they really are, in an area that offers no accountability for ones words or actions; This beautiful creation, when born was the most Balanced/Well Designed Class System, began to morph into to something completely and utterly unstable, as Bioware perceived themselves as saving a sinking ship, listening to the shouts and whines of a group of people who actually made up less than 5% total subscribers. So waste your time boasting about this or that, How u don't know jack unless u pull 'these numbers' - Cause honestly, your the sad one, your the one I pity, because even know you are going through the motions, you are paying the money; The beauty, depth, and magic of this game is lost on you to meaningless numbers, people use to measure themselves against some imaginary standard..... When the only standard Bioware wanted to make, was to have fun and enjoy yourself. Just My 2 Cents Main - Melony, Lvl 46 Operative, Newly Transferred to Jung Ma from Ajunta Pall where she was know as Lil'Red p.s. forgive the grammar errors, I was very tired when I wrote this, but not so tired that I could read through anymore baseless bs without replying. Have a great gaming experience; you're paying for that aren't you? Then why are u working so hard to find something wrong with it; When in fact its your fundamental lack of understanding of 'playing a game' truly is.

So Close, missed it by 1 point and misplaced points...... Honestly, the best dmg output/ pvp option for full 31 concealment looks like this to me http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#401MZGhr0ddRbGRZhr0z.1 all the tools to get away, the pre-ta from Kolto, the bonus for poisoned targets, the longer duration dart, speed boost from our stun, healing allowed after cloaking, the root, knockdown, and dots from being full concealment. I think, burst dmg or not, This spec will be harder to handle and neutralize than say a 31 spec Lethality version.

This is my first operative - and let m ejust say that after the trooper, warrior, inquisitor and bounty hunter story line, The Agent's is the most bizzarre and awesome ever! Anyway, here is my starting spec for dps http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#401MccMzZGhModdRdMMZh.1 And honestly for pvp, I find it hard justifying Not going at least high enough in conceal to get the healing debuff from cloaking removed. Unless healers get that anyway....

Lol - Edited and Deleted because I miss read a response and wrote a book about what I misread! My 2cents. -

Where is this set from pls!!!!

O M G! Lol Please Tell me where that awesome Helmet is from!!!!!

In All Honesty, Full Pyro for merc/Commando is joke compared to the Tank Ac's version...... They get... an ondemand Spammable Dot 100% of the time on Flame burst which is instant.... Punch/Stock is also instant... They get a 100% chance to snare burning targets... They get 60% armor reduction more than mercs, 6% higher fire crit, 3% tech crit for spending 6 points in their tactics/ap tree... there is so tree we can put six points in as full pyro spec merc and get anywhere near the same benefits. Don't Tell me its viable, when compared to our Other AC option, It is clearly lacking luster for mercs/commandos. This si from another post incase u forgot how mercs/commandos work lol...... Hi, LVL 50 Assault Vanguard on low pop server, uneven faction balance, rerolled ajunta pall empire with some friends...... Rolled a BH, been a 50 tank once, decided to try the dps/heal AC. Honestly, As an Assault Vanguard, I literally laughed in the faces of Arsenal Mercs, and Ate them for dinner every time I saw one. Why? Cause half the baddies give u 3 sec of no action when u interrupt their precious missile spam, and since I was 1/22/18, my interupt was only on a 6 sec cooldown lol, not including my two stuns. But I hear people crying about it all the time, and Honestly I have lost to Merc B4 in PvP, but as my Vanguard, I never lost to one 1v1, especially in Ilum, where u could get plenty of 1v1 on the low pop servers in the am when I got off work......... But, of course I read the forums, hear all the 'nerf tm crys' and I am like wth, lets try it..... Should have went PT...... Currently Lvl 27 BH MERC. Since you specifically mentioned pre 50 wz's is where u see missile, I will tell u why.... At lvl 20 we finally get our precious TM, which, besides being another 1.5 sec cast just like powershot.... now can lower the targets armor by up to 20%, 4 % for each Heat signature..... now before I continue... at lvl 20, we have 11 talent spec points. We spent 6 on skills that directly mention TRACER missile, well 2 points that deal with all missiles, Power shot our castable 1 min cc, and Unload. We spent 3 points to get 9% aim buff!, and 1 point to either..... increase our 'tech crit' by 3% if we run our 'chance to proc a small dot cylinder or heal cylinder, or lower the heat of railshot by 8. So, That 6 points to Help with TM and Powershot. Those are are only spammable skills at this lvl w/o a cooldown. Everything else has AT least a 15 second cooldown. Then we Get Super F'ing Awesome Missile' according to some people, and it gives us 4% armor reduction to the target per heat signature, 1 sig per missile... and opens up the use of Railshot on those targets with heat sigs...... b4 we got tracer... we had to run Gas Cylinder and proc the dot on it, or use railshot on a cc'd mob........ OK. Also, just in case u don't know, railshot has a 15 sec cd and requires a target to be incapacitated, burning/bleeding/or have a heat sig (pretty much any kind of dot). Lvl 20... My Skill Choices are: 1.5 sec cast Power shot for 16 heat 1.5 sec cast Tracer Missiles for 16 heat + 4% armor reduction and Heat sig on Target Channeled 3 sec cast Unload, not sure on heat, 15 sec cooldown Railshot - when a target has heat sig, or dot on them or is incapacitated I wanna say Fusion Missile has a 2-2.5 sec Cast Time not sure, But I do know it cost 33 heat and is on a 30 sec cooldown... Death from Above - 1Min Cooldown Explosive dart and Rapid Shots Fusion Misslie dmg pretty much blows, but I use it on people grp'd up anyway to be annoying in PVP. if I have the heat..... So I can Spam... My basic Attack rapid shots..... in pvp.... Or my 1.5 sec power shot......... Or my Tracer missile on a 1.5 sec cast that + Makes my target vurn to railshot, lowers the targets ARMOR by 4% per stack up to 20%... While waiting for my Unload on Cooldown, Railshot on Cooldown, Fussion Missile if I wanted to use it, and my explosive dart which also has a 15 sec cooldown.... Honestly, at lvl 20... in heavy armor.... U ar looking at tops...2k armor maybe..... U do realize, that even if I hit u with 5 tracer missiles..... All it does it reduce ur 'debuffed armor rating' by 400 armor. Every at 50, it only comes out to 1,600 less armor on someone with 8k armor....... not a huge diff dmg wise........ Anyway. If I run in HVC I can 'negate 35% of yer 1600 armor after I have hit u with 5 tracers in a row uninterrupted. Putting u around 1040 armor. So basically, If u let me get 5 tracer missiles off, I can almost make yer armor count for half of what it really is when dmg is calculated. So at lvl 20, do i spam power shot... which gives no bonuses at all, or do I spam Tracer missle which opens u up to rail shot, puts a debuff on u, and is the same cast time? I'll let u pick It only gets worse from here. By lvl 22, I now have a talent that gives me 100% chance to gain 2% dmg reduction, Stacking up to 5 times, each time I use tracer or powershot.....last 15seconds...... at lvl 25, I get a skill that adds an additional heat sig to tracer. So now I only need 3 to hit u for max debuff, but still need 5 for max defensive buff. Buy 31I have gotten skills that finally Buff a skill besides tracer... my unload, on a 15 sec cooldown... yeah!; But at LVL 30, I got Tracer Lock! Which increases the dmg of railshot by 6% for each Heat Signature.... so again, I need to fire off 3 tracers to get the max bonus from this. Finally, by lvl 37.......my powershot... AND U GUESSED IT TRACER MISSILES, have a 30% chance to reset the cooldown on my Unload (15sec cooldown, not more than once every 6 seconds)...........Finally at 40 I get Heatseeker, A new attack........ on a 15 sec cooldown... but wouldn't u know it... It gets a 5% dmg buff for each Heat Signature on a Target..... and we apply those with wut skill.... oh, Tracer Missile............. Now at 50, I have more Specialization options open to me.... I can Be Arsenal (tracer Missiles Spec with 10 points spent in other tress), a Hybrid with Healer + Arsenal...... A hybrid with Arsenal and Pyro..... or Full Pyro. The dmg for Merc Arsenal and Merc Pyro isn't really on par with each other. Arsenal is best for the Tank AC's because they get 2 insta cast abilities to use to try and proc a free railshot, and a Merc Gets one 1.5sec cast, and a 3 second channeled ability instead. Also, As a Tank AC, U get A guaranteed dot by going pyro and useing gas cylinder, And Mercs don't get that at all. Maybe with Full Eliminator it works out better dmg wise, But I haven't reached that lvl to test it, and After Playing an Assault vanguard, and having the Auto Dot from my spammable insta cast, I can't see the benifit in survivability playing as Merc Pyro in Pvp. I would basically be trading Tracer Missile 'spam' for Powershot 'spam' trying to get the free railshot proc, both with a 1.5 second cast time... still Making me a Turret Class type dps. As a tank Ac, u have Mobility, 2 insta casts to proc free rail shots.... 60% Armor reduction, A garunteed dot linked to yer spammable insta attack, slightly move survivability, and a 6-8 second interupt and 2 stuns. Even if the Tank only goes to 18 in Arsenal, They get even more mobility by taking 22 points in their middle 'pve (supposedly) dps tree and taking a talent that increases their movement speed by 30% and makes them immune to snaring effects for 8 seconds. To get even close to the same kind of armor penetration from railshot as a merc, U need to take at least 21 points in the arsenal tree, and it still leaves u at 20% less armor penetration in High Volocity Gas Cylinder, and U still have to fire off 3 tracers to get the 'most bag' for yer buck as that hybrid. You don't get the added mobility, u don't get a root/snare resist/breaker, and u are still stuck spamming Tracer or Power shot, one of yer 1.5 sec cast skill no matter wut dps spec u take as a Merc. Tank Ac's get more bang for their points both as full Pyro/Assault, and Hybrids of those specs, Than Commando/Mercs do. So hopefully.... now u understand why it seems like u see so many pre-50 BH's Spamming tracer 2-3 times at the very least in WZ....... The whole tree is based and designed around it, And Pyro/Assault isn't as effective as a Commando/Merc as it is for Tank Ac's and they don't gain any mobility from it... they just become turret 'spammers' of a different type. Anyway, I don't overly spam tracer, if anything I try to get 2 off, for my 4 stacks, and run through my rotation of things with cooldowns depending on the situation. As Arsenal Spec Merc, Then only reason not to use Tracer missile pre- lvl 33 is... U have 5 stacks on yer target, U get interrupted and switch to power shot or..... explosive dart, fusion missile, dfa or railshot can be used. After 37, U can Add in a Barrage proc, which is the free 'unload' chance to proc once every 6 seconds.... after 40 u can add Heatseeker on a 15 sec cooldown. It is the way the tree is designed. It's true, I have seen people just use tracer, get interrupted, and stand there till its back up, even at 50... but if the cooldowns are up, and my debuff is stacked at least twice on a target, I use every ability I have available to the greatest benefit I can in pre 50 pvp. Sorry U think all Commandos and Mercs do is Spam 1 Button. Aside from all that, We are super squishy 1 on 1 in pvp, and honestly, After fighting them on my Assault Vanguard, and now Playing one, I don't see why people are crying nerf........

I lvl'd an Assault Vanguard to 50, begin as shield tech with Jorgan, Switched to assault for pvp post 30 and never looked back....... Just recently rerolled on Ajunta Pall, since i was on low pop server, with 70% imp, 30 repub, And decided to try the other AC's Mirror..... Lvl 27, almost 28, and already tired of watching Tracer.... Honestly I wish the animation for it was the same as our first missile... Missile blast...... 1> less annoying and more realistic (kinda... endless supply of missiles and al) 2> would be much less noticable in pvp much like our Commando counter parts ( u don't know a commando is casting grav until a> it hits u and u get the animation for it, or b> u are watching his cast bar, and would have probably recieved a lot less QQ as a result. At 50, I play to either try Pyro/bodyguard hybrid after I get full eliminator... not very hopefully about this; since the TANK Ac's version of Pyro is far superior to that of the Commando/Merc point for point, and the Merc version doesn't get the on demand snare, dot, or the 60% armor reduction + 6% fire crit and 3% tech crit with just putting 6 points first two tier talents in either bodyguard or arsenal trees like the Tank Ac's do if they go the full 31 points. Or more likely, a bodyguard/Arsenal hybrid who still uses tracer missiles for debuff/dmg reduction, increased crit/dmg while actually using the proper cylinder (combat support), with more utility, survivability, and overall usefulness in grp settings.

If I had to guess about the 'nerf' as we are calling it from the vague article everyone is referring to, it will have to deal with the heat vrs ammo difference, and when dmg happens for dfa. I guess I kind of tired of hearing how TM is OP. As Assault Vanguard, I could wipe the floor with Arsenal Mercs, unless they were deep healing tree hybrids, then it was actually a fight.... but most aren't, and in 1 vrs 1 situations, Mercs/Commando Pure Gunnery/ Arsenal Spec (31point talent) Are the squishiest AC's on the battlefield. They have a 12 second 25%dmg reduction shield, a 2 Second on demand snare connected to an ability with a 15second cooldown (unless they are standing still 'casting' 1.5sec TM's or PS to get the Unload barrage, 10% dmg reduction which stacks at 2% a stack off 'castable abilities, no interrupt, 1 castable cc - which either fills a resolve bar or over fills it which is worse, an instant cc that causes 800 resolve.... so to last the full 4 seconds, the target must basically have no resolve on a 1min cool down, and 2 knock backs if talented (resolve negets knocback effects).... which in all honesty are most useful in huttball..... yer rocket punch knockback/Jetpack will never save u as a merc/commando unless u are using it to interrupt a cast of a commando to interupt grav round or a heal cast since both AC's have the same cc options, knock a sniper/gunslinger without hunker down/entrench buff out of cover, use it in world pvp to knock someone off a cliff, or use it in huttball or voidtsar to insta gibb people on bridges, fitpits, and if using it anywhere else, rocket punch doesn't knock people back further than 4-6 meters.... pretty much still in melee range, and though jet boost is a tad further, every melee but ops/scoundrel have 'leap/sprint/pull' closers to be right back on u. Unless u put 11 points in bodyguard for the uninterruptable shield - and while u are doing that, might as well put 13 point, get another heal (aoe!), and 50% chance to proc a 5% bonus to healing because u just sacrificed yer Heatseeker missile and 2 cooldown reductions for two of yer abilities and run in Combat Support Cell instead of HVC; Merc/Comm are the squishiest Dps AC's out there 1 vrs 1, hands down. People argue sniper/gunslinger is super squishy... but i guess they haven't met a dirty fighting/lethality sniper who had their cooldowns up; otherwise they would know, that with cast and forget orbital strike, Hunker down/ entrench 20 seconds of U can't stop me no matter wut u do immunity on a 60 sec cooldown, a dmg reduction bubble, a more effective knockback, cover (if they ever fix it in pvp snipers/gunslinger will destroy people 1 on 1), and their ability to snare and remove snares..... They are not as squishy as people really believe. IF cover wasn't bugged in warzones and some open world pvp places, the cover dmg bonus apllied to 'Cover in place and included a slight melee dmg reduction. Snipers/Gunslingers w/cooldowns in dirtyfighting/lethality would pretty much be the kings of 1v1 while in cover. Plus in their pvp tree, much like pyro, almost all of their dmg is unmitigated by armor. Snipers/Gunslingers aren't squishy.... unless u are their other AC, who seems to eat them..... their cover mechanic is bugged/flawed, and non lethality/dirty fighting have to deal with things most AC's dont at all..... Primarily most of their hard hitting skills are 'Ranged Attacks, instead of Tech, kinetic and what not, so they can be dodged, deflected, absorbed by tanks, etc. If their mechanic had a slight tweak to what was a tech/ranged attack, and the cover system actually worked worth a damn... then Sniper/Gunslinger would be one of the most deadly AC's to face in PVP 1v1. -Edited for accuracy

Hi, LVL 50 Assault Vanguard on low pop server, uneven faction balance, rerolled ajunta pall empire with some friends...... Rolled a BH, been a 50 tank once, decided to try the dps/heal AC. Honestly, As an Assault Vanguard, I literally laughed in the faces of Arsenal Mercs, and Ate them for dinner every time I saw one. Why? Cause half the baddies give u 3 sec of no action when u interrupt their precious missile spam, and since I was 1/22/18, my interupt was only on a 6 sec cooldown lol, not including my two stuns. But I hear people crying about it all the time, and Honestly I have lost to Merc B4 in PvP, but as my Vanguard, I never lost to one 1v1, especially in Ilum, where u could get plenty of 1v1 on the low pop servers in the am when I got off work......... But, of course I read the forums, hear all the 'nerf tm crys' and I am like wth, lets try it..... Should have went PT...... Currently Lvl 27 BH MERC. Since you specifically mentioned pre 50 wz's is where u see missile, I will tell u why.... At lvl 20 we finally get our precious TM, which, besides being another 1.5 sec cast just like powershot.... now can lower the targets armor by up to 20%, 4 % for each Heat signature..... now before I continue... at lvl 20, we have 11 talent spec points. We spent 6 on skills that directly mention TRACER missile, well 2 points that deal with all missiles, Power shot, our castable 1 min cc, and Unload. We spent 3 points to get 9% aim buff!, and 1 point to either..... increase our 'tech crit' by 3% if we run our 'chance to proc a small dot cylinder or heal cylinder, or lower the heat of railshot by 8. So, That 6 points to Help with TM and Powershot. Those are are only spammable skills at this lvl w/o a cooldown. Everything else has AT least a 15 second cooldown. Then we Get Super F'ing Awesome Missile' according to some people, and it gives us 4% armor reduction to the target per heat signature, 1 sig per missile... and opens up the use of Railshot on those targets with heat sigs...... b4 we got tracer... we had to run Gas Cylinder and proc the dot on it, or use railshot on a cc'd mob........ OK. Also, just in case u don't know, railshot has a 15 sec cd and requires a target to be incapacitated, burning/bleeding/or have a heat sig (pretty much any kind of dot). Lvl 20... My Skill Choices are: 1.5 sec cast Power shot for 16 heat 1.5 sec cast Tracer Missiles for 16 heat + 4% armor reduction and Heat sig on Target Channeled 3 sec cast Unload, not sure on heat, 15 sec cooldown Railshot - when a target has heat sig, or dot on them or is incapacitated I wanna say Fusion Missile has a 2-2.5 sec Cast Time not sure, But I do know it cost 33 heat and is on a 30 sec cooldown... Death from Above - 1Min Cooldown Explosive dart and Rapid Shots Fusion Misslie dmg pretty much blows, but I use it on people grp'd up anyway to be annoying in PVP. if I have the heat..... So I can Spam... My basic Attack rapid shots..... in pvp.... Or my 1.5 sec power shot......... Or my Tracer missile on a 1.5 sec cast that + Makes my target vurn to railshot, lowers the targets ARMOR by 4% per stack up to 20%... While waiting for my Unload on Cooldown, Railshot on Cooldown, Fussion Missile if I wanted to use it, and my explosive dart which also has a 15 sec cooldown.... Honestly, at lvl 20... in heavy armor.... U ar looking at tops...2k armor maybe..... U do realize, that even if I hit u with 5 tracer missiles..... All it does it reduce ur 'debuffed armor rating' by 400 armor. Every at 50, it only comes out to 1,600 less armor on someone with 8k armor....... not a huge diff dmg wise........ So at lvl 20, do i spam power shot... which gives no bonuses at all, or do I spam Tracer missle which opens u up to rail shot, puts a debuff on u, and is the same cast time? I'll let u pick It only gets worse from here. By lvl 22, I now have a talent that gives me 100% chance to gain 2% dmg reduction, Stacking up to 5 times, each time I use tracer or powershot.....last 15seconds...... at lvl 25, I get a skill that adds an additional heat sig to tracer. So now I only need 3 to hit u for max debuff, but still need 5 for max defensive buff. Buy 31 I have gotten skills that finally Buff a skill besides tracer... my unload, on a 15 sec cooldown... yeah!; But at LVL 30, I got Tracer Lock! Which increases the dmg of railshot by 6% for each Heat Signature.... so again, I need to fire off 3 tracers to get the max bonus from this. Finally, by lvl 37.......my powershot... AND U GUESSED IT TRACER MISSILES, have a 30% chance to reset the cooldown on my Unload (15sec cooldown, not more than once every 6 seconds)...........Finally at 40 I get Heatseeker, A new attack........ on a 15 sec cooldown... but wouldn't u know it... It gets a 5% dmg buff for each Heat Signature on a Target..... and we apply those with wut skill.... oh, Tracer Missile............. Now at 50, I have more Specialization options open to me.... I can Be Arsenal (tracer Missiles Spec with 10 points spent in other tress), a Hybrid with Healer + Arsenal...... A hybrid with Arsenal and Pyro..... or Full Pyro. Tank Ac's get more bang for their points both as full Pyro/Assault, and Hybrids of those specs, Than Commando/Mercs do and by far way more mobility. So hopefully.... now u understand why it seems like u see so many pre-50 BH's Spamming tracer 2-3 times at the very least in WZ....... The whole tree is based and designed around it, And Pyro/Assault isn't as effective as a Commando/Merc as it is for Tank Ac's and they don't gain hardle any mobility from it. Anyway, I don't overly spam tracer, if anything I try to get 2 off, for my 4 stacks, and run through my rotation of things with cooldowns depending on the situation. As Arsenal Spec Merc, Then only reason not to use Tracer missile pre- lvl 33 is... U have 5 stacks on yer target, U get interrupted and switch to power shot or..... explosive dart, fusion missile, dfa or railshot can be used. After 37, U can Add in a Barrage proc, which is the free 'unload' chance to proc once every 6 seconds.... after 40 u can add Heatseeker on a 15 sec cooldown. It is the way the tree is designed. It's true, I have seen people just use tracer, get interrupted, and stand there till its back up, even at 50... but if the cooldowns are up, and my debuff is stacked at least twice on a target, I use every ability I have available to the greatest benefit I can in pre 50 pvp. Sorry U think all Commandos and Mercs do is Spam 1 Button. Aside from all that, We are super squishy 1 on 1 in pvp, and honestly, After fighting them on my Assault Vanguard, and now Playing one, I don't see why people are crying nerf........ - Edited for accuracy

I Lol'd At this........ Gunslinger, Dirty Fighting, even in just all champ gear, plus Hunker down and his defensive abilities up, IS FAR BETTER THAN ANY THING AN ARSEnal merc can do,, in PVP> Period. In a Duel, with yer cooldowns up and equal gear, 1 on 1 , equal buffs, u should win Every Single Time. If cover wasn't bugged in PVP Lethality and Dirtyfighting would destroy people when their stuff is off Cooldown. Barring the cover problems, Hunker down is one of the strongest defensive abilities in the game for a pure dps spec, with the exception of course to the sent/maura 5 sec of God mode lol. Only real problems snipers have atm are - I think marks/sharp have too many 'ranged' dmg abilities, at least some of the follow ups in the rotation should be a diff type, and 2> the cover in place, and roll to cover bugs. If those two things were fixed, Gun/Sniper would be one of the most deadly Ac's in pvp, hands down.

This is comical and supposed to be funny right? U know wuts more funny and sad about this quote and the people agreeing with it...... Almost every class Has 4 primary main attacks they spam, use on cooldown in pvp. The only ones who have 4-6, not counting yer defensive, adrenals, relics, cc break or ccs, are Healers.. an average of 4-5 when not underfire, Pure dps classes an average of 4-6. Both Trooper and BH share the same 4 button primary rotations in pvp I played a vanguard Assault spec at lvl 50 on a low pop server b4 rerolling to Ajunta pall. 1> the game is a whole lot better with so many people about.... 2, I really wish I could transfer my vanguard here because compared to my merc...... He is a god lol. Assault spec Trooper, Pyro Bh is way more powerful in pvp than an arsenal BH. Even Gunnery Commandos have an advatage over Arsenal Bh's, in simple animations....... U don't notice a gunnery's grav shot unless it hits u and u see the graphic or u are watching their cast bar...... U can spot An arsenal merc casting tracer half way across the map. People might not think its a big deal... but its a big enough deal that 80% of the people that started complaining about tracer missile didn't even know the name of the mirror ability for troopers till it was brought up. All they saw was some merc bent over shooting missles from their back over and over and over again. Anyway, the comment about omg u have to use more than 4 buttons is ridiculous, most pvp dps primary skills are a set of 4 buttons, with others u press on conditions.... Trooper Vanguard/Powertechs, Marknman/Sharpshooter, and any shared tree spec for all the classes. Only Hybrids and melee have more than 4 primary attacks to get the debuffs/buffs they need on people for pvp, everything else is use as 'conditional'. As far as Merc being Op.... LMAO. As a Lvl 50 I would literally laugh at them in pvp. 4 ways to shut em down, including a interupt on a 6 sec timer, 4 dots to put on em, 1 bleed, 3 elemental, and all my abilities were insta cast, where as their dmging abilities are channeled or have cast times. BH Mercs are squishy. I play one now. If u leave me alone, I will eat u alive... If u get in my face and know wut u are doing, I am pretty much dead unless i pull some major crits out of my butt. This is pre 50 on my merc, as I just rerolled, and only lvl 27, so I am lacking some bread and butter for 50, but..... nothing higher in the tree increases my survivability. And as I said b4, as vanguard, I ate Mercs, unless they were bodyguard. Only Op class I ran into, in 1vrs 1 terms were shadow/sin Tank hybrids... they would drop below 75% health 1 v1 and u couldn't interupt their stupid rocks.... Geared out Sorcs ate me too, but that is because as a vanguard, my only defense against dots is a 25% dmg reduction (lol, please give use sabre ward equiv instead and LAST STAND! seriously, f'ing jedi lol) on a 12sec cooldown. After that if I didn't hurt em enough, I was pretty much toast. For those who say Assault/Pyro is OP, They pretty much live and die By railshot procs..... yeah their dmg on plastic/thero can crit hard, but its the chain railshots, not how big the numbers are, as much as how many they get off for free that kills u. And honestly, as a Commando or Merc, Pyro is nowhere near as effective as it is for the Tank Ac's, because as a tank, yer abilities that trigger it are both instant + u get 100% chance to apply a burn spamming Pusle/Burst, which just happens to also have a chance to proc Railshot. Also, Tank class get 60% more armor ignore in their Dot stance as a baseline in the middle tree which everyone takes. A Vanguard/Powertech rail shot IGNORES 30% of a targets armor, always, and penatrates 60% of whatever is remaining. A Merc or Commando Railshot gets NOWHERE near that. Not even close. And If a Merc or Commando goes Pyro, Both their 'railshot proc abilities' aren't Instant, like the tank spec version is and they don't get the 100% to apply the burn. That, and Powershot is a 1.5 second cast, and Unload is a channeled spell with a 15 sec cooldown. huge Difference. Also, about the 30% ignore armor 60% armor pen on railshot that tanks get....... in comparrison....... Merc/Commando Get...... only if they spec 2/21/18 pyro...... 30% armor ignore, 20% armor reduction...... LOL which is anywhere from 2-400 less armor rating for light to medium, and tops out around 5-800 for heavy armor. Oh, and if they run HVC, they get a whooping 35% Armor Penatration buff... oh, and 30% increased dmg on railshot! lol That's a Huge difference, especially when u consider the skills they use to get that free railshot have a cast time, or are channeled and on a 15 sec timer..... and it would still require them to shoot off at least 3 tracers to max out the '20 lol %' armor reduction which honestly, doesn't even get them up to 40% armor penatration total and the 30% increase dmg to railshot. So... As Pyro, tanks get 60% armor pen, a free garunteed dot on an instant cast ability, 2 abilities to proc HIB, 1 instant and spammable, 1 on a 15 sec cooldown but instant, 1 insta dot on cast, and that isn't even going all teh way up in tree, just to 18 points, which is popular for carloina and tactics/assault hybrid vanguards. As Pyro as Merc, U have to go 2/21/18 gunn/arsen + pyro with 2 points for crit bonus in heals tree to get 20% armor reduction, and Up to 30% dmg Increase on Railshot!, if u can get off 3 1.5 sec tracer missles for the target lock stack, 35% armor pen, but u have to sacrfice yer 'chance to proc a brun effect stance to get that. A chance to proc HIb with 1.5 castable/spammable ability, or a 15% higher chance than a tank spec using yer Channeled Ability on a 15 sec cooldown. Not only that, but u get yer 'castable' dot as well, and don't forget a 30% increase in dmg of yer Rail shot, if u can get off 3 missles for yer 5 stacks of tracer lock..... well, lets just call it 24% increase dmg to rail shot . Anyway, My point is this.... PYRO IS For DPS PVP Tank ACs. Yes, I can see a Merc or Commando running it, using it, maybe doing ok in a premade.... But the way The Commando / Merc trees are designed..... You are better off Going the Healing Hybrid for Pvp, Than going Full or anytype of Hybrid Pyro... It just really doesn't make since if u have ever Played Assault/Pyro as the Tank Ac's. Hell, to be honest, when the difference in tree designs... it's almost as if they punish Commandos/Mercs for considering going Pyro, Which is why we have all these Grav/Tracer missile people about. Pyro/Assault just isn't as Cost/resource efficient as Gunn/arsenal as it is for Tanks. We don't get the garunteed dot, when don't have instant cast which proc Hib, We STILL need tracer for 'max' Hib Dmg, and we still have to act like a Turret to 'setup' the spikes.... Where as the Tank AC's retain their mobility, can Kite far better than a Commando/Merc due to auto snare from Pyro/Assault snare for Burning targets, And have an Interrupt on a 6 to 8 sec cooldown....and More utility and survivabilty. If Pyro/Assault made A Merc/Commando a Mobile force to deal with like it does the tank Ac's, I think we would see a lot more of them, BUt they get more bang for their buck in that tree. Anyway, way off topic, full of errors, and at work so gotta go... Vent all u want, just putting in my 5 cents lol. Stop crying Nerf, seriously. Game isn't nearly as unbalanced as say, a game like... Oh, Wow. lol. Not even close. Pretty Balanced Classes, need tweeks here and there, and would love to see more variety, but other than that... PvP wise, they are getting us closer and closer to 'Balanced all around'. Like everyone else, wondering wut the 'nerfs' and 'buffs' are gonna be, but we will just have to wait and see. Honestly, I already think any force user is OP in Huttball. But that's is my personal opinion, they just all have way more tools and utility in that particular game than non force users.

I would like to see more abilities used in rotation for the merc class, Though honestly, the bare bones is 4 button rotation, not including cooldowns, and that pretty much sums up the basic rotations for all classes. tanks have a few more as do the stealthers, but for the most part, most classes that are ranged have a 4-6 button rotation for pvp not including relics, defense, and buffs. Anyway, from my view point, mercs are fine the way they are. would like to see more variety in skills, but balance wise the class is fine. And also, As a Vanguard, i don't have a 1 min cc for pve! which is freaking huge in my book, so I wouldn't complain too much about interrupts. P.s. Sori about the spelling. Lol. -Edited for accuracy

I am a dps vanguard, lvl 50, don't have but 2 pieces of champ armor, the weapon relic and one trinket.. the weapon is the tank version... anyway, rest is cent gear for pvp...... Not even full assault spec, I am 1/22/18 lol. Anyway...... i eat dps mercs..... all day long. Seriously. rather fight them than a shadow/sin tank or geared sorc any day of the week.