Won't come with patch 1.4 ... it's already kind of known what awaits us with that update. However your suggestions actually look reasonable and intresting, which is quite unusual for these forums. Maybe one could make a compilation of (utility) skills that could still be introduced to the game ... either with a specific class & spec in mind or not. I fear for that thread however and it would need a strict no discussion policy in order not to derail.

Snipers just seem so strong because every other ranged option is so mind blowingly bad. Seriously I would like to PvP with my actual main character but sadly it's a Merc and I dislike being carried. And putting Sniper and survivability in the same sentence without any 'no' or ironic notion is just silly.

I don't see why my Bounty Hunter who's a war hero of the Empire couldn't have a sith underling who's less acomplished, seeks a different style of life and has aligning agendas. More power to the blaster wielders!

In the opening post it was mentioned that there should be no discussion in the specific threads. And I realized there are some general things popping up a lot in all the threads I'm interested in: Almost all comments go into the same direction. With some posts falling out of line when it comes to the 'plz don't nerf me' pledges. There are fewer uninformed cases of posts than usual where I'm inclined to think the only problem might be a 'L2P' one. In general the phrasing of the question is really smart. Not just asking about ones opinion but going further by adding a seemingly unimportant question that makes everyone reflect more and less biased on what they want to write. I hope I don't jinx anything by revealing why the yellow did ask what we think others might think of our class ... no, I don't think they want to have hearsay as feedback. I really hope we hear not only what Bioware intends to do with the feedback but can see (and play) the results soon. Maybe I'll do a 'consensus' meter later when there are more posts to give myself and other players an idea what how many people think of their character.

It was well known in advance that the time the vendor was being made accessible was limited, common sense tells you that once the vendor of a certain commodity is gone so are the goods. Yes, actually you're at fault. Also for the Empire faction the purple crystals are still easily purchasable. You just have to buy an entire item with it ... all Q56 (Columi) tank weapons come with an endurance crystal. And I feel with you on the Rectruit gear, erasing an entire color scheme for each class is something I really dislike and hope they bring it back either as craftable items or empty orange shells.

I have 4 Empire characters and Sentinel will be my first (and probably only) Republic one. The char still has to grow a bit but always having Marauders in my group I'd give some feedback anyway. 1. Annahilation widely considered to be the best at everything - damage, utility, PvE, PvP. I personally believe this to be true, but to get to the specs potential you need very good timing and overview of your cooldowns and what's happening during the encounter. Carnage is almost where Annahilation is an Annahilation is considered the top spec for any occasion. The class has more utility than any other class with it's group buffs on top of that. Usually my guild wants to have at least one Marauder for each 8 people in the raid ... with the group buffs not being limited to 1 Marauder buff per cooldown period there is some concern that class stacking might be the future if content progressively gets harder. The defensive CDs are widly known as being ridiculous in PvP ... we usually joke about it as no one expects a fix anytime soon, the more hardcore PvPers among my friends just gave up hope on any balance here. I heard some people say being melee is a downside in general. 2. I chew through things while leveling ... faster than with my assassin, juggernaut, sniper or merc. Yes, not 50 yet and I already have a higher kill rate. For some time I pondered about switching to Marauder full time for all it's perks. However I do not want Annahilation to be nerfed, on the contrary other specs (including Carnage) should brought up to the same level in terms of both damage and utility. First is actually quite easy as it's just tweaks to non-broken classes. However the second part will be a bit harder to achieve and as much important. In PvP the class doesn't have a knockback or a real stun, but two short CD interrupts are very dangerous for all healers and ranged classes you target ... in itself this part of the ability set seems balanced. Defensive wise the cooldowns are extremely potent and more than enough make up for beeing a melee with medium armor ... the class is a butcher in PvP and if your cooldowns are up you are the hardest class to kill above all ... which feels like a juggernaut (the word, not the class ... still ironic though) rolling over your enemies. The animations are imho not as pretty as the single-sabre cousin's though. I don't think melee is bad thanks to your charge and the ability to do 100% DPS while moving within range of your target. In short: Annahilation is the spec that should be targeted for buffing all the other classes and specs in both regards, utility and damage. PS: I'm sorry for the Empire terminology ... I'm just that much more familiar with it ... in fact even my Sentinal is called 'H'tisami', wich is I'm a sith backwards. :>

My main character is a Mercenary, usually Arsenal spec but not exclusively. 1. Everyone dislikes the fact that I can't interrupt, no one understands this really. My healers appreciate me being able to dispel myself and having a good sense when to use my two defensive cooldowns. Something I adressed recently, so everyone can be more aware on how to mitigate damage apart from not standing in the red circles. I am the person who's asked about what spec to chose or what stats you should have in my operation ... I just like numbers and know my way around finding information quickly on the internet. While not being the raid leader nor wanting to be my vote in things concerning gear, encounters and similar is usually strongly tanking under advisement. Usually I rank first in damage with an exception being Toth and Zorn where I sometimes am out-dps'd by our Marauder. Our group is equally geared and all DDs are full Q61 with my main-hand being an exception, which leads to some respect with my group despite the fact that being great at DPS'ing is hardly a useful life-skill and hardly hard at all. 2. I don't understand why I do that great in the meters, since I trust that other classes (eg. Annahilation Marauders) have a higher potential. While not unhappy I don't think Merc is a good damage dealer but that in some way others could improve their rotation (and most importantly use of CDs) and easily pull ahead. I can't interrupt. Don't understand it. Don't like it. My Merc has every good looking armor piece that's available - yes I'm a fashionist and a number cruncher - and Bounty Hunters have a loot of good looking gear available (Hydra Set, RD-15A Assault, TT-16 Powertech, etc). I like the rockets, especially since the animation of Tracer Missile was changed. The Legacy jet boost is awesome and I bought it fully upgraded just to finally use the jet pack more frequently. A character with a lot of style and it's a well rounded aesthetic experience playing it. Now for the bad part ... not performance but gameplay gives me some issues: Arsenal is extremely one sided ... spamming TMs isn't good gameplay. Easy fix is to lower RS and HSM cooldowns. This would buff the damage output as a side effect, but it might just put our potential right where the top tier specs are right now. Anyway it would effectively decrease the number of Tracer Missiles by at least a small amount. Pyrotech is a totally different beast and while it can be on par with Arsenal it is two things: luck dependant and clunky. And both reasons come from the same - imho not very well informed - decision to give the RS proc an 6 second internal cooldown. Due to unstable heat venting you rapid shot a lot sometimes and sometimes almost not at all. Also the fact that the cylinder has a rather low chance to ignite your target is sometimes a bit of an issue - espcially since I know the other Bounty Hunter AC doesn't have this particular problem. Everything that makes Pyrotech well rounded for Powertechs is lacking when playing the spec as a mercenary. /edit: Almost forgot ... PvP ... no movment skill ... and as with the interrupt the only class that lacks this!

I only PvE on my Juggernaut specced Immortal or hybrid-tank. 1. It's commenly known that Immortal's DPS are lower than that of other tanks, usually something not held against me, but it's still something that doesn't escape even the people that don't play the class. Sometimes others overlook the recent add in AoE threat, a past weakness that's fixed. I never had a problem with single target threat, knowing how it works and when to taunt in order to maintain aggro, sometimes people however expect me to lose the mob - I can only imagine because of previous encounters with less taunting Juggernauts. I play an assassin tank to ... they're my 'active' twinks (as in I raid with them frequently) ... and I'm asked to help out the other 8-man main operation if they lack a tank and can choose freely - so I don't think anyone thinks there's a difference between me playing Darkness or Immortal. 2. The damage and as a result single target threat has to be looked at. The defensive cooldowns and mitigation are very nice and while I can't actively augment my survivability like an assassin I have to deal less with damage spikes in most fights. Juggernaut is the best off-tank however, using Intercede on the main tank who then taunts the boss gives you another short CD defensive cooldown if you communicate sufficiently. I love the animation of the character and it feels more sithy than the assassin. Some armor options don't look to hot though ... this of course is highly subjective but I like my armor iconic, simple and without mich useless extra armor like gigantic shoulderpads etc. Sonic Barrier absorb a little more damage or even better Foce Scream could have a lower cooldown for the spec, simply knowing you're actively boosting your mitigation is fun as a tank. Enraged Defense should be augmented by the talent tree in a way that it doesn't drop threat anymore - it's a last resort cooldown as a tank and can be quite risky with strong damage dealers and impossible in encounters with threat drops. And of course ... this probably also shows in your data ... Immortal's damage is behind a lot.

I play my assassin only as a tank in PvE. 1. No different than other tanks. The people I raid with don't discriminate any class believing (and proving) that the content can be done with any combination of classes you might bring. The recent nerf hasn't had any impact on any of our two main tank assassins or my twink. 2. I have another tank (Juggernaut) too, so my observations might go beyond what some can experience. There is not much wrong with Darkness assassins. My first concern are more of an aesthetic nature: you don't use your lightsaber much in an effective rotation. The other isn't really about balancing but scaling properly ... this is far from exclusive for the class or spec but Dark Charge heals don't scale with gear which should be adressed as it will become a problem as gear progresses in the next couple of patches - maybe fix it now before this becomes an issue. Other than that ... solid damage for a tank, good mitigation and useful cooldowns and no concerns for threat. The recent nerf doesn't bother me, I agree that the spec was superior to the competition but now spike damage might be an issue in future operations (as I expect the numbers to grow generally larger).

Flashpoint trash is fine. The Mobs die just by looking at them. Operations however might have a pack or two too many, especially EC. Probably just to stretch content. Anyway. Spacebar and knowing how to skip trash is key to minimizing the time you need to do a FP. And of course competent damage dealers are a factor when it comes to speed.

While I second the 'sooner than later' demand here, you do realize that even one seemingly unimaginitive mechanic more can alter any fight rather drastically. And adding some simple ones that make fights a lot tougher is pretty easy ... DoTs to dispell and manage (think Wrack) or additional Adds on Bosses like the twin tanks or some malicious interactions between the colonel and his two adds and turrets could bring a lot more heat than you might imagine.

Does 'nonexistent' count as a valid 3rd faction?

'Not too bad' can equal 'pretty' once you consider mimic, intonation, etc. Somthing obviously lost with written text. Consider this and confront in a kind way to clear things up before turning to a third party. A great deal of human grief comes from simple miscommunication. And I you might want to look up the actual term 'passive agressive'.

Use the right rotation, minimalize movement (aka downtime) and optimize cooldowns (including Bloodthirst). Optimize gear, check up on diminishing return curves, be informed about patch notes that concern your class. Use CC effectively with no need to be told what to CC ... it just happens without second thought. Be situationally awarene of your surroundings. Respect the encounter mechanics and use them to you and your teams advantage. Focus the right targets first. Knowing what the right target is without being told. Minimize incoming damage not only by movement but also through smart timing of defensive cooldowns. Knowing the fight without needing an explenation ... in fact you're the one doing the explaining if anything. Communicate important things and shut up about the rest while the encounter is ongoing. Try to be even in DPS with everyone else ... this includes doing your best and helping others polishing their stats and rotations. Be aware that you are a part of a team. Not you and your damage kill the boss it's the raid as a unit. Never ever initially pull unless it's a very specific part of the encounter. This is what it takes to be a good DPS. The following is what it takes to be a outstanding DPS: Be willing to reroll if the developer breaks your class. (I hope this doesn't happen in SW:ToR, but as an ex-WoW player I'm telling you this is a point worth consideration.) You have to be able to wipe repeatedly and still concentrate throughout the raid - if the planned duration is 2 hours do it for 2 hours, if it's 8 hours then you'll be concentrated for 8 hours. If this doesn't fit your playstyle adress it or look for another raid. Without focus there is no gain no matter how hardcore of a raider you are. Many people will fail at the last point due to not wanting to dedicate that amount of time to a game, but a lot of people are out there playing a lot and not being able to fulfill that criteria.

Nice quadruple post there. ;> Anyway as with other classes Snipers have gotten a great gift with the Field Respec. Discussions like this have to be done on a boss by boss basis and even then your role (and spec) in the fight can differ occasionally. For example Marksmanship is better when being part of the team dealing with Zorn and Kephess. Engeneering is nice for the Colonel but a no-go for Nightmare Pilgrim. Just to put some examples out there. This is the one thing a simulator won't be able to show (even if you update the equipment and rotations). This is more important for Snipers than for other classes because the specs are a lot closer together.

My hunter likes the targets well killed! And of course display the great skill of being able to shoot in rapid fire mode while the weapons are already holstered. Real bad"behind"! That being sad I'd like my merc to be a tiny bit less bad *** and say with certainty that once the mob is lootable there I personally don't see any need for more shooting. If anything fix this for ammo conservation, my dear hunters ammo bills are probably high enough as it is. /edit: Had to edit ****** into something less with less * and more letters. Thank you spam filter for censuring ... never knew ****** was an insult or anything but a compliment (excluding irony of course - but then everything should be *'d anyway).

What I see right now is that there is a great imbalance between players, not classes. Until now I won the race to the top in nearly all operations since we're doing NMP & HM EC, as a Merc. There is one Lethality Sniper that's almost only 20-30 DPS behind me, a Marauder that often is the same amount ahead for Toth and Zorn and 10-15% lower for the rest of the encounters. Multiple sorcerers that are 20-40% below my damage while one is almost even at NMP (in pretty much equal gear). Another Merc that is maybe 2-5% behind. And so on ... the top DPSers are really really close and then there's some that fall behind quite a bit. What this shows me is how punishing this game really is to not optimizing your gear, movement, rotations and using all your tools at the right moment (or not doing it). This is what makes SW:ToR so appealing, the numbers aren't ridiculously high, there is some gear customization (although it could be better to be honest) and if you really play while playing and don't watch TV or try to multitask for the 3-8 minutes you fight a boss you're rewarded with performing well. Even in a game this just makes me happy ... not being on top but knowing that I did everything I could and that there is no room of improvement ... I dare say play your character to perfection. So in the end - excluding Annahilation Marauders that have a too high theoretical potential - I agree that the common spec choices are balanced. There are underdogs like Pyrotech Merc that can compete and there are those specs that arn't just there yet, but each class has an option that you can spec and do well with.

The answer is rather simple ... * no interrupt * no escape ability * no movement enhancing ability * worst of the knockback skills * no utility that the healers don't already provide (rezz & mezz) * below average amount of stun abilities * one skill tree has a debuff that can be provided by multiple classes and doesn't stack * we're outshined in DPS and burst by Annihilation Marauders and probably well played Snipers * 2nd weakest set of defensive cooldowns for PvP of all classes (Sorcerer beats us to the last spot) Why I still play my Merc despite all these facts? Because I love the style, the background story, animation and if you're good at the game - meaning you are able to concentrate for 5 minutes and hit every CD, proc and optimize movement, which isn't rocketscience - you can more than compete with the other classes. This might sound ambivalent and it really is. I think the basic mechanics of the class are really enjoyable but I would like to bring more to the table than loads of rockets. I think apart from an interrupt the only two things thing the Mercenary needs at the moment is an improvement for heat management for Pyrotech (internal CD on RS procs isn't working for the Merc spec) to make it less clunky and another stolen ability from WoW: Misdirect. It gives us a nice exclusive toy that helps tanks pick up aggro at the start and another shiny button.

Please don't. No haircuts over 9000!

When is 1.4 expected to hit the PTS? ___ Are there any plans to provide more orange gear to keep the revolution going? There are plrenty of recolors and armor models available in-game that don't have a customizable version. ___ Speaking as someone who not only has access but already obtained pieces of campaign gear I believe the greater playerbase (and my alts) would appreciate if Rakata armorings transfer the set bonus as well. ___ Are there new set boni planned for the next tier operation? This of course is a rather major project for any balancing team but can be quite rewarding when considering other games success with set boni ___ Last question really is on behalf of the friends I play with: Any plans to introduce more challenging Flashpoints? Maybe even whip up the existing low level ones as more T2 (or T3 :> ) hard modes?

I'm not quite sure if another class is what the game needs. There's plenty of room for improvement (not speaking buffs/nerfs here) for the existing ones ... especially since a new class would take a large amount of development time that will be missed for more pressing aspects of the game. But to humor the thread ... if anything something new should be done here. A single-AC class with tank, heal and supportive skill tree. The reason is simple really ... what kind of classes already exist in abundance? Exactly!

+1! This is really important. Rushing through planetary quests for the 4th time is okay with me. Getting another set of Matrix shards is not that bad. But all the datacrons again? The one on the fleet? With every character? Just make a perk out of it combined with a shared codex for all characters in the legacy. However with Republic and Imperial characters being united the stat bonus should stay limited at 40 points.

Yes, please make a version that's purchasable for in-game funds. Even better! A recolor ... different arcs of lighning and a darker or white paintjob? So the refer a friends mount would still be actually unique. I can't refer anyone ... all the people I know that possible be interested in the game either tried it already or are already playing.

I never came to peace that little flame jets are coming out of my assassins cloth boots. There should either be an option to have it look like a sprint or a more force themed flying effect. Anyway I bought the upgrade right away as I saw it as a great opportunity for my main Bounty Hunter to actually use that jet pack more frequently and I do use it a low as more often than you think you use mounts to travel a short distance and then demount again to attack/gather/turn something in/etc.

110% is quite alright. Faster speeder skills should either be unlocked by a) a high legacy levels b) boat loads of credits c) an extensive quest similar to the aratech vehicles. In any case it should be a riding skill that doesn't give you access to a new tier of speeders but enhances all the tier three ones you've learned. Or a new World Boss that drops tokens which you can exchange for a couple of recolors of a new speeder that's just faster than the rest.