Sigh, read the original post, lightning and madness both have AOE in their single target rotations as compared with IO and arsenal (on the assumption that class rebalance has ranged burst (MM, lightning and arsenal) equal and sustained (madness, IO and virulence) equal for all classes). Suppressive fire has significant more AOE then sweeping blasters making marksman superior to arsenal, if AOE damage is so insignificant then don't have it in the game, as I said single target is the priority but if one class does the same dps but also has superior aoe then why take the class with inferior aoe?

Clearly you didn't read what I posted. I said if you buff madness to IO levels then madness has the advantage over the merc equivalent (sustained ranged dps) if you put arsenal single target dps the same as lightning and marksman (ranged burst) then those 2 have an advantage over arsenal due better AOE. As I said single target is the priority but aoe damage needs to be considered.

When taking into consideration dps numbers is AOE damage taken into consideration? If lightning sorc and arsenal are supposed to do the same damage, lightning has the advantage because they have AOE damage in their single target rotation, if madness sorc gets buffed to the same as IO (which in theory is fine) madness will have the advantage due to death fields dot spread, for IO you need to use 2 abilities that are not in the single target rotation to get your dot spread, this will mean that madness will out perform IO. If marksman and arsenal are supposed to be they same Marksman has significantly better AOE with suppressive fire as compared with sweeping blasters again giving marksman the advantage. While most dps number balancing should consider single target dps, AOE damage and how easily it's applied shouldn't be ignored.

Perhaps I'm a little naïve but to me class balancing in terms of dps should mean ANY composition can kill any fight without having to resort to cheesing. I want to know is it reasonable to be able to clear tight dps checks on Nim with a group that contains a lightning sorc, a marksman sniper and this version of an Arsenal merc? If the answer is yes then the nerf is fine, if the answer is no then then the dps nerf to arsenal can't be as severe and the dps of marksman and lightning needs to be buffed.

It's never been about the damage it's about the survivability. I don't know why people are complaining about trauma regulators so much it's energy rebounders that make TR so powerful. If TR is up every 2 minutes (which is what it would be without ER) then is questionable what worth it is in compared with other utilities, but on a 40 sec Cd which is what it is with ER then it's a H2F every 50 secs. Remove ER fix the snare on BB (make Arsenal mercs have to kite melee) and yes the nerf to chaff flare is good and mercs are fine. Removing ER also removes cheese dps from the class in PVE because it amplifies pyro shield.

So exactly how is a class like IO overpowered?. Yes on a single target it will perform well mainly because of the sub 30% execution phase. Above 30% it's almost exactly the same as Arsenal with none of heat management issues, harder rotation and worse AOE. If you are going to nerf IO's single target sustained then dot spread/heat management needs an improvement (making sweeping blasters free and spread dots will fix this) do this and I'll agree, do nothing and just nerf the single target and playing IO compared to Arsenal will be absolutely pointless.

Option 2 as long as it is a decent amount of components I would suggest roughly 20 per boss and 50 for completing the operation. That would equate to roughly 150 unassembled components for most operations.

You do realize that explosive dart and fusion missile are use in IO dot spread? Not everyone plays Arsenal only.

Advanced Prototype: Currently I feel like this spec is in a fairly strong position, but I still feel as though it could use a slight damage buff so here is my suggested change • Make Rail Shot automatically crit on targets with the Retractable Blade DoT. Perhaps a bit over the top but was all I could think of. This would be insane the amount of damage this spec would do would be crazy that would mean a railshot crit every 4th GCD. If you want to buff AP (It needs a buff but not a huge one) increase the dot damage by 10 %, make shatterslug dot spread and increase magnetic blast by 3-5%. The problem is if you give buffs to any of the other abilities then you potentially put the burst window into way OP for PvP buff fillers and dots (and aoe) and the class get the sustained damage increase it needs without stupid levels of burst.

I think everyone can agree translocate is the most useless ability in the game and should be scrapped from PT tanks (probably in favor of an additional cd)

You are aware that mercs have a utility (afterburners) they can take that allows this to be done with missile blast and it can be done in melee or ranged distance so no there is no need for a rocket punch return. And the jugg affect is called unstoppable and it lasts four seconds after leap watch their buff bar and use stuns/knock backs after this affect.

Mercs - Remove energy rebounder utility (and possibly nerf trauma regulators by 3-5 stacks) Arsenal - Have chaff flare work the same as IO and have the bodyguard spec get the 5 force/tech attack resistance - Have the snare from blazing bolts work every second BB (this would be uninterruptable) as a 70% snare for 3/8secs for a highly mobile class is too high. IO - Better resource management and AOE damage also cost of off healing is too resource expensive atm Bodyguard - Allow one rapid scan to be free and instant every 10 secs (similar to sorcs) to help with their mobility in ranked also have smoke screen as a passive to make them more competitive in ranked arenas. Also chaff flare defensive as mentioned above. Snipers - A small but very irritating issue I have is why in cover can snipers not be interrupted? In entrench sure but in cover they be able to interrupted like any other ranged class. Engineering - Plasma probe needs a nerf, Spammable 8 m AOE with a 70% slow need I say more. Virulence - Lower the cost of takedown. Marksman - Buff damage Sorcs Dps - Buff damage of both specs and make resources on Madness better. Corruption - A force positive ability for off dps. Powertechs - Lower the CD of hydraulics back to 3.0 levels, buff kolto (significantly for dps) AP - Make the dot tick harder and buff magnetic blast by 3-5 % so burst doesn't get out of control again (it still needs a damage buff) and make AP have better aoe (maybe shatterslug could dot spread?) Pyro - Buff damage and have energy rebounders Shield specialist = make Oil slick affect force/tech and or return explosive fuel to resist 35% force/tech like it used to. Assassin Hatred - better defensives, better damage Juggenaut - Better mobility all specs (particularly vengeance and immortal) Dps - Better defensives particularly in vengeance and a damage buff Immortal - Better mitigation against force/tech (all passives pretty much increase defense which is high anyway from gear) Operative Medicine - Better burst/less channeling of bigger heals for ranked arenas/spike damage in ops Concealment - Better damage make some adjustments to their ability to control a target.

It's 2.5 years old has an awful clearance rate, doesn't drop Nim gear yet is harder then many of the Nim fights, it's time to nerf HM MnB. Of the 3 "mare" fights of Hardmare the other two, Cora and Revan, have both been nerfed significantly yet MnB was made harder at 4.0, Why was it made harder? Of course people could cheese the opening phase with 2 PT tanks but the can still with 2 Jugg tanks. No one was calling for a buff to the fight (particularly the increase in damage) and while some enjoy the challenge it's putting too many people off this operation knowing they will have to bang their head on this fight for potentially months, It's HM not Nim. To fix this fight bring the damage back to 3.0 equivalent levels and lower the spawn rate of the yellow AOES (Thermite rocket mortar) by 15 seconds. This will make the fight far more accessible and should improve the clearance rate of theis fight and probably the operation because atm it's too unforgiving to be a HM fight.

Only thing pubs ever do is stack healers sometimes add a guard to that. 4 cross healers 1 tank and 3 terrible dps, all they can do is cause stalemates at best.

And? The only way to fix the Bastion population problem is a server merge so if choosing the same name with an alt code in it fixes the issue so be it.

Lulz kolto surge is not the issue or the reflect. To fix mercs you need to remove energy rebounders. Taking damage lowering energy shield when dps mercs with the 4 set bonus already have the cd lower is what breaks the spec. Because the short cd on damage on mercs amplifies the affects of trauma regulators. Trauma regulators could use a nerf to 10 stacks no biggie, but its the low cd on energy shield which makes TR so powerful. After that, nerf the 70% snare on blazing bolts to once every 15 secs (every second BB) and send the arsenal threat dump of 5 tech attacks to healers and make the arsenal threat dump the same IO. Now mercs are good without being gods. Kolto Overload should always have been a powerful defensive it's on a 3 minute cd and if you compare other 2.5-3 minute cd's (undying rage, God bubble, imperial preparations, aoe shield, invincible etc) Kolto overload no longer seems that OP.

The devs should close this server and merge it with the Bastion. With the removal of PVP servers merging with the Bastion isn't the same as it once was and you fix 2 problems, a) the Harbingers server issues and b) the Bastions population issue.

You are doing it wrong because you should have your dots up before you use your supercharge as the dots hit harder plus supercharge burn won't apply until you have use a ranged attack on a target already affected by incendiary missile also when players are stacked are you dot spreading with fusion missile and explosive dart? I often dot spread and hit my supercharge with them then tunnel my primary target. Remember you will have to use your basic attack from time to time, IO cannot be played without using it as watching your rotation means you are 1 ability short in your full rotation (this will put your mag proc out of whack). Lastly are you taking the gyroscopic alignment jets and afterburners utilities? Both are great utilities for kiting and heat management and I wouldn't PVP in IO without either.

To the OP a). You aren't being bullied by how you are spec'd you simply are doing it wrong. b) You are doing it wrong because 1. Your set bonus is for tanking it will not improve your dps 2. The threat you generate even if guarded would be significant enough to pull off many tanks especially sm tanks. 3. Understand the defense tree has many passives/abilities which relate primarily to threat and mitigation where as the dps trees will have passives and abilities that relate to damage. 4. Understand in defense tree to maintain your focus you need to take damage this means you will be spamming basic a lot 5. Passive in defense tree is soresu stance which lowers damage by 5%. 6. If you do pull threat you have no threat dump (although you will be tanky and will be able to easily survive but won't necessarily know how to tank the boss) because the dps threat dump becomes an AOE taunt in defense spec.

Problem with tanks is mitigation stats aren't nearly as useful as they should be so people use dps stats + endurance making them pseudo dps also the fact dps can guard which is absurd and should be removed immediately. As for commandos the biggest issue with Mercs in general is energy rebounders taking damage to lower the cd on enrgy shield should be on pt's not mercs. The reason it needs to go is because all mercsa taking trauma regulators and H2F as a result of getting hit while their shield is up this is amplified on dps mercs due to 4 set bonus already lowering the cd by 15 secs. Perhaps nerfing how many ticks trauma regulators give from 15 to 10 might be an improvement as well. Kolto overload is not the problem it has a long CD and as a result should be quite powerful. The only other aspect of Mercs I would adjust would be the snare on blazing bolts to occur every 15 secs. Much like the AOE on engineering needs a nerf (in either size or cd) a 70% snare for 3 secs out of every 8 for a highly mobile class seems overtuned especially since arsenal is a stupidly easy spec to play anyway.

Everyone booted

The only way to do something like this legitimately would be same class vs same class (spec even), again the biggest problem will be the nil all draws that would occur with healers.

As someone who primarily plays IO I totally agree with you. IO has arguably the tightest resource management of any dps spec in the game, IO does not have a 70% snare every 8 secs, IO does not mitigate 5 force/tech abilities every 45 secs (get 6 secs of increased defense), IO does not get the huge buff to rapid scan every 3rd tracer missile, IO does not have nearly as much burst as Arsenal and the burst window requires multiple dot stacking with supercharge gas, IO cannot soft stun mid fight to heal up until all dots have ended (very difficult as soft stunning usually occurs when you are out of dcd's or the opponent has a strong dcd up) self healing hurts heat much more in IO then arsenal (can't spam rapid scan to heal up). The only utility/ability I would remove from all merc specs is energy rebounder (and given to dps PT's) but Arsenal needs to have another ability removed (probably the blazing bolts snare since so many playing arsenal this is unfair to melee and they can still take the 40% slow on tracer for kiting purposes)

You realise the op is a sentinel everything I told the op to do was for a sentinel (don't fight when shields are up los. mez stealth or hard stun) and once the cd's are down they're easy kill (for most merc rerollers) . I also said in a vacuum 1 v 1 with all dcd's available.

Without their defensives Mercs are still the squishy glass cannon they always have been so in a vacuum of one v one all dcd's up to beat a merc you need to 1. Reflect - Hard stun them then LoS them til it wears off. 2. Energy shield -Stealth out and don't reengage the merc until the 12 secs is up 3. Kolto overload - Soft stun 4. Electro net - Save cc break for this Killing a merc requires strategy and patience just trying to melt them down won't work. Remember 2 of their H2F are the result of bad dps (unless you are playing watchman) and hitting them while their defensives are up.