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ThatGnome

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  1. Make sure that your main healing skills are on a quickbar which you can access when you're in cover. Because when the tank loses aggro and four ranged enemies decide that you are their worstest enemy and need killing now, watching their fire splatter against a rock while you pop up for the occasional instant heal is rather a pleasant thing. Otherwise, yes, the Sawbones is good enough. I've got three healers up to 50+, one each Sorceror, Commando, and Scoundrel, and the Sawbones is my personal favourite. I don't think there's a huge difference in effectiveness, but different classes do operate in different ways and suit different styles of play.
  2. I think the only way round that might be to group with one of the Troopers/Smugglers who can get the quest, and turn it in with them I haven't tried it, but I don't see why it wouldn't work.
  3. It's worth checking to see whether they're an actual healer in those circumstances. There are people who queu and DPS/Healers, presumably hoping for a faster pop, with little intention fo doing the second. Seems to be popular with Commando/Mercenary types just lately, for some reason. My Combat Medic got interrogated over it last night when I joined a group part way through CWG, and who thought I might be another. Seems like a good way to hit ignore lists if you ask me, but then I wouldn't do it past the low levels where role isn't really significant - I healed Athiss as a level 22 Commando in Gunnery spec (before going CM full time) when our healer dropped out, but there's a point where that becomes too hard. I tend to be a healer myself so don't tank often, but when I do there's a couple of things I want from the healers. One, don't assume I'm a telepath and know what's happening behind my back, so that means yelling when you're being attacked and no one is paying attention. I'm a Powertech, I can shoot them at most ranges. Two, if you can help keep the mobs close together, that'll help me keep aggro on them.
  4. On the fleet go to the supplies section. There's a vendor there selling Coruscant mods (and one selling Coruscant gear) that will suit your level. Left hand end on the lower level,. You spend them simply by picking the gear you want to buy and confirming the purchase, no need to turn them in since the gear is sold for Commendations rather than credits.
  5. And to muddy the waters, I'd go with Slicing, one of the Gathering skills - Bioanalysis probably, and Diplomacy. The last, because it's a simple way to increase your LS/DS score and because while it's not so immediately profitable Companions Gifts and Medical Supplies always seem to sell well on the GTN so the money does come in.
  6. I hate Marauders. And Sentinels. I will never join another flashpoint where I have to heal for one again. So, first was Athiss, my Sorceror 21 Healer, a Powertech 22 Tank, a Sniper 21 DPS, a Marauder 19 DPS. The DPS won't stop pulling until he dies, because he's got Rage and he's going to spend it, and if other people have no resources to spend that's not his problem. He wears a mix of Cunning and Strength armour, he needs on a piece of Cunning armour and excuses himself saying he thought it was useful because it's medium armour - so the PT and I patiently explain the difference between Cunning and Strength armour and why he needs the second and doesn't need the first. He breaks CC repeatedly, both mine as Sorc and a couple of Droid hacks from the Sniper, even after it's explained why that's not needed. He ignores adds to focus on the most powerful enemy, even when the PT asks him not to. He dies in the last fight, because he won't stop swinging to get away from the fire. Then he Needs on a sniper rifle, just because. Well, that's bad, but I like to believe it's a new player in their first real FP where roles matter. Surely te same can't be true at higher levels. I switch to Republic, get my Combat Medic out, queue, and almost immediately get a Maelstrom Prison run. Well, I'm level 40, so it's a little bit below my level, but why not it's not as if I need something harder. a Shadow and Sage from the same guiild, and a Sentinel. The Sentinel is less competent than the Marauder, and rude in chat to the healer who wasn't keeping him alive and the tank who wasn't holding aggro. As far as I could tell he never did anything to lower his own threat, and concentrated on attacking whichever target the tank was on "because burning down the mobs quicker is better!" As you can probably imagine, a Sentinel determined to keep using their Focus rather than "letting it go to waste" is rather good at taking aggro from a Shadow with no/little force, and if the tank doesn't have enough to aggro the other mobs then they look for a target like the healer to turn into a smear on the ground. Almost the whole time that Sentinel was in the group then I was tanking encounters by healing myself through the damage everything was inflicting, while the sage off-healed and the shadow and sentinel did DPS. Rather predictably he didn't try to use cover to avoid the laser. Immediately afterwards we vote-kicked him, and got a perfectly nice Vanguard DPS a few seconds later who finished the mission with us.
  7. There's an Agent on my server named Bond. BasildonBond.
  8. One thing I'd want to do different would be to find a way to get Psych Meds in there. 23/0/23 would do it, and it's very useful to have the ability to clear negative mental effects both in PvE and PvP.
  9. The new class that I would like would be one based on exploration. Members of the Empire's Interstellar Exploration Service or the Republic's Survey and Exploration Division. Field Scientists and Explorers as the two ACs. The scientist/researcher type would be DPS/Heal deploying AoE heals and/or buffs and grenades/mines with lower damage but debuff effects. The explorer/scout would be Tank/DPS, pistol with a melee off-hand weapon, medium armour, with a tank tree good at avoiding damage and removing debuffs on themselves, and a DPS tree based on single target damage. Then the class stories would be based around discovering planetary secrets, of which there are plenty on the less inhabited worlds - I imagine Nar Shadaa would be a change of pace, having to find the lost logs of some historical explorer, for example.
  10. Scoundrel - Sawbones spec - Akaavi once I had her, Bowdaar if the combat turns out unusually hard Agent - Concealment - Ensign Temple, Doc Lokin for the hardest combats. Vanguard - Shield Spec - Elara, all the time, unless I actually had to have a different companion for their quest Commando - Combat Medic - Aric Jorgan, usually None of my other characters have their full range of possible companions, though I've a gunslinger (Saboteur spec) on Hoth who usually uses Risha as her companion.
  11. You can play a Commando with a Rifle, if you really want to. There's not a huge difference in effectiveness. Though I have to see my Commando with body size 3 looks fine with her Assault Cannon.
  12. In general I upgrade my gear when I start to hit the cap for Planetary Commendations. Sometimes that means I have to accept mods that I'll outgrow in a level or so, but those can be passed down to companions. While I'd like to do it once per planet, it doesn't always work out like that if you're taking the commendations as quest rewards and being fairly comprehensive. I temd to think that Biochem is a better option for a first character. Certainly for characters who aren't healers, that's the way I'd go. And Stims/adrenals may be consumables, but they give a short term boost that helps in those fights that push a character more than slightly better mods.
  13. Actually looking at the notes, my Combat Medic will be poking her head out of the corner thinking it might be safe to move a little further into the room. Some of that stuff looks good.
  14. If I am remembering it correctly you can get to it by passing through the PvP area and heading south - it's about as far south-west as you can go on the map, and bypasses the Imperial outpost. There's an alternative route through a cave in the Dune Sea (just south of the imperial base there, I think) which avoids the PvP area, but that's rather hard to find in my experience.
  15. Bounty Hunters have to pay for advertising. What, you don't think all those people find oyu and offer you a job just because of your skills, do you? Smugglers make loads of money, but the lifestyle is very expensive. The finest accomodations, food, companions, bribes - our expenses add up, man.
  16. If it's Orange or Purple modable, put in a new Hilt, Mod, and Enhancement and you're gold.
  17. There are restrictions for people who aren't subscribers on the number of Flashpoints you can run in total over a week, I think. But as long as you don't hit those you can keep running flashpoints and getting experience indefinitely. I would note that once you out-level the FP, the amount of experience is very small.
  18. My Bounty Hunter goes where the money is. He isn't remotely loyal to the Empire, just to his "crew". If he got a good offer, he'd work for the Republic with no hesitation. Or for a third faction, for that matter. The Hutt Cartel has money, Hutt Cartel has his attention. My Smuggler is also pretty mercenary, but she hates the Hutts and is well in with the Republic. The Empire seems like it would be bad for business, so she wouldn't go to them. A third faction that wasn't the Hutts, she might think about it. They'd have to offer something equivalent to being in the Supreme Chancellor's good books, though. My Trooper is a Republic loyalist with a crew that mostly feels similarly. No desire, reason, or safety in defection, especially since he expects to be on the winning side. My Agent despises the Sith. She also hates the Republic for the hypocrisy of it's agents. Her most rational choice is to get out of the crosshairs and be independent. My Consular is immensely curious. For a chance to investigate ancient Sith writings, he'd "pretend" to defect.. That is might then stick doesn't really bother him.
  19. If you're regularly being attacked in group content, the person best able to fix that is the tank. The best advice is the same as that given to a DPS who complains how they're always pulling aggro off the tank, and that's to wait a bit. I should mention that healing does create threat for every active enemy, and particularly with ranged mobs that makes them likely to focus on you - the tank is less likely to be close to them, so their AoE taunt may not include them. At least your case that's not as bad as it sounds, because you can use cover to reduce their effectiveness. If you're being attacked by melee, head over to the tank so they can taunt them off you. Frankly though my experience in group content is that I rarely take offensive actions until the fight is wearing down, and then only if my side is topped up on health. If they are, I can go to work with Backstab and Shiv to help finish off a powerful enemy. Vital Shot is an exception, with a good range and not creating much threat, that I'll throw in when I have plenty of energy. Also, I don't recommend using Disappearing Act. It puts you into stealth which helps with incoming damage, but it also reduces your healing done/received by 100%. This is not a good trade.
  20. Well, going through your healing abilities in order. Underworld Medicine. Your slowest, most energy expensive (25 energy), and biggest heal. Talented, it gives you a stack of Upper Hand every time it's used. Upper Hand is a very good thing to have active for a Sawbones or any Scoundrel for that matter. Diagnostic Scan. Slow, consumes no energy, heals very little. If your energy looks like it's going to drop below 60%, use this instead of larger heals unless you're sure the fight will be lost without that. Kolto Pack. A little faster than UM, 20 energy but consumes Upper Hand, doesn't heal as much as UH though loads more than DS, and now adds a Heal-over-Time effect that has a chance of giving back Upper Hand. I used to advise Sawbones to ignore it entirely, now I don't, but it's still an occasional trick. Slow Release Medpac. Instant, 15 energy, heal over time that comes out a bit short of Kolto Pack, but it can be stacked twice on a target. Talented, it can generate a stack of Upper Hand every tick (it won't, but it will generate some unless you're very unlucky). I recommend casting one on a target, letting it run most of the way down, then adding the second - it's less expensive in energy that way for the period involved. Remember as well to renew it before it runs out, else you have to cast it twice again. Triage. Instant but on a short cooldown, 10 energy. It doesn't heal until you take a few talents from high in the awbones tree, but it cleanses some effects and can be talented to clear more. Particularly valuable against enemies that put out lots of DoT effects. Emergency Medpac. Instant, consumes Upper Hand but if the target has less than 30% health is returns UH to you when talented, and heals for less than Kolto Pack. If you've got SRMP running on several targets, you'll probably have enough Upper Hands coming in that you can spam this. Kolto Cloud. Instant, 30 energy, HoT for a little more than Kolto Pack, but it affects up to four targets. While it's healing, all your other healing abilities have an increased effect. Energy is critical, keeping it at 60% or higher is always good since that's where your regeneration is at it's best. So a mix of abilities is a good thing. A rotation that works for me is to drop Slow Release Medpac on a companion just before I order them to attack, then I start casting Underworld Medicine. By the time that's done casting, I will have regenerated enough energy to add a second SRMP. After that I concentrate on keeping SRMP active by recasting it when it runs down, using Emergency Medpac whenever I have three stacks of Upper Hand, using Kolot Cloud rarely (when it comes off cooldown if I'm in a group and it'll affect more targets), and only using Underworld Medicine if I need a really big heal on someone and have time to cast it. Also note, our instants can be cast from cover and you'll take a lot less damage than if you're using channeled abilities. Ranged enemies are very willing to stand and shooting you while their melee comrades get wrecked by a companion.
  21. And sometimes it's to see the story that you've never seen before - I'd never actually done Lost Island, so running it at 55 was a way of seeing content I hadn't seen before. Normally when I do a Level 550 FP on my level 55 Scoundrel, it's with my guild and lower level characters who need a hand, but there are a few that character hasn't done yet and I want to pick up the achievements for it.
  22. The group that sticks in my mind was a couple of weeks ago on an Athiss run. I was on my Combat Medic Commando, we had a Guardian Tank, a Gunslinger, and a DPS Sage. The Tank didn't know what a Shield was for, what Soresu Form did, or how to use Guard. The Sage used Force Lift at the start of fights, and then attacked the target he'd lifted. When they started attacking him he'd stop doing damage and spend his time healing himself. The Gunslinger was extremely competent by contrast, but he didn't know any of the Boss fights and preferred to find out what to do by trying things and seeing what worked. And on the subject of queueing as something you aren't, if you can do the job then I'm fine with it. The DPS Guardian who claims they can Tank, and then ignores evry mob except the one they're whacking, not so much. Though I also have to say, the DPS Merc and Sorceror who got into two of my Operative's groups as healers despite having no points at all in their healing tree or any intention of using healing except on themslelves - you are very lucky that I can field respec and was willing to, because both times the Tank was rightly annoyed.
  23. Type the rest of your message in normally. Hold down the Shift key and click the name of the Mission/Item you want displayed, and that will put it into the message. There are speeder vendors on the Fleet and on most planets after Tatooine. I'm not sure of the prices, I've got several spares from previous characters so I don't need to buy one. It used to cost a bit over 20k credits for training and a speeder That's types of gear. Green is your basic items, useful at their level but not strong. Blue is the next grade up. Purple is the highest quality version of an item. So if I have a Chestpiece with 200 armour when it's Green, it might be 225 in Blue, and 250 in Purple. The other stats will improve too. Orange is slightly different. By default, Orange gear has no rating. Instead, you can obtain a variety of pieces that can be put into it, called Modifications - they're but from the Modification vendors, and cost planetary commendations of the type that you've probably picked up by now. I you like the look of a particular piece of Orange gear and want to keep using it, you can replace those modifications with higher level/grade ones. Thats it for now, thanks a lot for your patience. You can drag a chat window away from the group and keep it open, yes. And create new windows if you want to, showing the particular bits of chat that are relevant to you. I always create one that will show what's going on with any group I'm in, ignoring general chat entirely. Right click on an existing chat window tab and pick the option to create a new window, then right click on that tab and edit what it shows.
  24. Tanks: Some Guardians Some Vanguards Some Shadows All three of those classes can also be DPS Healers: Some Scoundrels Some Sages Some Commandoes Those three classes may also be DPS DPS only: Gunslingers Sentinels
  25. I think there's one in both. The one on Dromund Kaas is in the building on the left as you head up the steps to the market. The one on the Fleet is in the Combat Training section by the skills vendor, unless he's moved.
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