So you're okay with 20 comms for 10-12 minutes of gameplay while the winning team got 88 for the same time investment? Sounds like you're playing very inefficiently. Unless you derive pleasure from losing and spending far more time advancing than other players...and to that I say, to each their own. I think another thing people seem to be completely missing is that some gametypes and some character classes simply can't get those medals. How many screenshots have we seen of top healers earning only 3 medals because their activities don't count toward offensive or defensive medals like dps classes do? The system needs reworking. It really is indefensible.

This occurs even outside of late entries. In Huttball, a well-coordinated pre-made can crush a pug group 6-0 in roughly 4 minutes. In that time, it is nearly impossible to get more than 4 medals in the new system because of the way offensive and defensive medals are awarded in that specific game type. I ended that match with 120k dmg (again, just 4 minutes of play and focusing on retrieving the ball) and some healing and got 3 medals. After the loss, I was awarded nothing. I didn't mind so much since it was just a 4 minute match...however... You know does get 8 medals and full rewards for the 4 minute game? The winners. That kind of system will keep the losing team in stasis while the winning team would continue gearing up better and faster because ending matches quickly provides enough medals for full credit to the winning team regardless of how few medals they might earn. That can't be working as intended.

You don't use Ravage in your rotation for the first two instant hits? You're missing out.

At first I thought that stupid 'zoom in during the beat' thing was just for the purposes of introducing the song, maybe used for some highlights. Then I realized you kept doing that crap more than halfway into the video. Closed out. I know you're just getting started, but there's a lesson to be had in the saying, "Less is more." It was fine, unique even, in the beginning. But to use it throughout the entire video? Awful. IMO, anyway.

What I don't understand is the fact that Bioware had it mostly figured out from 1.1.5. The previous 4 medal requirement meant anyone, winners or losers a like, would get moderately good rewards for playing the match to its end. A losing match where a player earned more than 4 medals received 2/3 of the winners rewards. Perfectly acceptable and there was still solid incentive to play at your best to get that extra boost in rewards for winning. On top of that, they rewarded warzones played so even if you lost all the time you still got something. Now, there really is no logic in staying in a losing match. You get less than half the rewards of the winning team even if you performed exceptionally and you get no credit toward any pvp quests. There is also zero punishment for leaving a match. What did they think would happen?

I pretty much main a marauder for PvP (got a PT and Sorc up there as well, but enjoy the Marauder the most) and I'll state without hesitation: The buffs are completely out of whack. My marauder was in full BM, had Biochem and I made use of the proper stims, adrenals and relics in each fight. They were pretty much never off of cooldown. Though I played Annihilation spec before 1.2 and will continue to do so now, I still never ended a match under 300k dmg and I always had minimal deaths thanks to the defensive cooldowns and escapes we were provided. There are several very well-known players on my server on both factions that play similarly. We demonstrated what the class was capable of. What 1.2 did was bring up the wide majority of marauders that played beneath the level of those min/maxers. Far too often people would play the class and perform horrendously, barely rising above six figure dps while playing offensively in a match like Voidstar (I'm not exaggerating. At least on my server, this was the norm for sentinel/marauder players). After the patch, they now make a difference in warzones, which is nice... However, this has now made those who actually took their time to learn the class and play it properly become practically Godlike. The playerbase has been punished by Bioware's decision to make the class far easier to play for the majority by substantially increasing their dps potential. All this served to do was frustrate others because the bad players are now lethal and the good players are now unstoppable. Personally, I think all they needed to do was provide a minor buff to some abilities and, more importantly, change the way Strength is weighted and the reliance on accuracy for Marauders. Aim and Willpower (in my experience) provide far more of a difference in dmg and healing output than Strength does for marauders. It's part of the reason they hit like wet noodles before becoming optimally geared and before they acquire the right trinkets and such. If they did that, the lower geared players could still be moderately effective, even lacking skill. I hope things change. Playing as a marauder has become less interesting and people are understandably upset by the changes.

Just to add an update, we returned to it with a different composition and found it almost too easy. With two marauders, there was never any remote danger of the cast going off and he was downed in short order. As a way to make the fight seem less hectic, our tank offered an excellent strategy. Likening the lightning fields to the Oil Slicks from Karagga, the entire group would move as one, tight unit from beginning of the fight to the end, led by the tank. This way, even though the lightning field would target a player randomly, we could control where it landed. This made navigating the area while consistently dpsing and interrupting him a breeze. This still works with stationary ranged dps and sorc healers, as there were more than enough periods where we could sit between lightning field cast. It only ever became hectic at 10%, but by then even instant cast abilities were enough to quickly down him. Thanks again for all the input and discussion.

These posts have all been very helpful. Judging from the responses, it does seem like it was simply a lack of precision on our part. Heh, now I feel doubly bad about losing to him at 2%. Appreciate the help, all. We'll give it another try later tonight.

Basically what the topic title says. Could use some insight into completing the hard mode version of this encounter when interrupts are lacking. LR-5 Sentinel's Incinerate will provide one stack of the DoT on anyone standing within a 5-10m range of the target if it's not interrupted within about .5-.7 seconds (it's a 2 second channel which provides a stack of the DoT every 1/3 of the cast). A single stack can bring a tank down about 10k health and if this occurs during the last 10% phase (where each lightning area attack is at it's largest and most powerful the moment it touches down), that's a wipe. Sure enough, this is where our group (with only the tank and one dps sniper available for interrupts) would always fall. I can easily see this done with a marauder or other classes with solid interrupts that can be done on the go, but I'm not sure how certain group compositions will get past this. Completely missing the interrupt should never happen, of course, but even being a half-second late (with consideration to the fact that interrupts are close range and we need to keep moving him around the room) is enough to make the last 10% nigh impossible. Worse yet, if the entire room is filled with lightning fields and the group needs to move in a rather tight formation, one .5 second slip and the group is killed. For those who have beaten it today on Hard, any insight and advice would be greatly appreciated. The closest we came was 2% where, again, the Droid used incinerate while we were moving to avoid a lightning field and our interrupt came after the first stack of the DoT. It's good to know that we can consistently get him to 10% before it becomes partially a matter of luck...but we could be missing something obvious. Thanks in advance.

The video may be old, but he's still addressing correspondence as of one month ago, telling people he's been updating the program and directing them to their site. Not quite awol.

Uh...there are youtube videos of people programming bots as a tutorial for those using the bots including links to download the best programs for it. I'm shocked someone who's spent as much time with the game as you has yet to come across it.

I see nothing wrong with this idea. People who need it will play it (and there are many who do) and those who don't will not need it. It's just an optional tool that I could see even expert level players trying out new strategies with. This would also allow for guild vs. guild scrimmage when larger guilds would want to play against one another but do not have that opportunity due to the queue system. Come 1.2, those players who don't know will likely stick with unranked as it'll be the closest thing to 'practice' warzones. Still not a bad idea, IMO.

The dramatic difference in gear was not acceptable. Look at 1.2. Full BM in a week, tops. Compare to the Legacy system where people have played for months to earn unlocks. That's what the devs are afraid of, benefits to Legacy Level 50 players that would keep newer players several months away minimum from reaching them. I'd say that's a legitimate fear. Thankfully, the devs are, so far, heading in the direction you proposed. Allowing for classes that were previously locked by faction, new abilities that do not provide a distinct advantage over other players and legacy-based equipment, unique in appearance. I'm sure there'll be more along those lines to come.

The Legacy system appears to be heading in this direction. The devs are cautious, however, in providing benefits that place the newer players at a distinct disadvantage.

Awesome post. Hopefully people see this.