Here: http://i.imgur.com/AoOsZd8.png As you can see, before MA, WM ticks every 3 second. After MA, it starts ticking every 2.4s. If you refresh it by re-applying the dot or by casting TKWave/MC, it will continue to refresh at 2.4s rate as long as it doesn't fall off. So applying MA before first WM application is a nice DPS increase. I have no idea if this is intentional or not but it has been like this since 4.0. And yes, Commando raid buff absolutely does mess up some sustained specs. If you run such a spec, it is probably best to just let it fall off and re-apply.

For PVE, all tanking and healing classes are viable. Vanguards/Powertechs are probably slightly better than the others due to HtL/HO but it is not a huge difference. Commandoes/Mercs are better than Sorc/Sage and Op/Scoundrel but again, the difference between them is small. In general, for PVE play what you enjoy. I would recommend that you pick a different class than your co-healer/co-tank though. So, for example, if your co-healer is a sage, pick a commando or a scoundrel. For PVP, all tank classes are roughly equal. Healing-wise, I would recommend Sage/Sorc because of their high-mobility.

Since you can just not use the stacks, building them earlier is not a problem. However, all Sentinel specs (but especially Concentration) absolutely DO sit on the stacks instead of using them if they go up to 30 at the wrong time. Here is a simple fix for Predation and Zen. Keep Zen as it is. Give Predation a cool down. Getting attacked (and maybe attacking) reduces its cool down by X seconds.

Try this, you will do more DPS: Obliterate Berserk Raging Burst Force Crush Ravage Furious Strike (hit .3 sec before Ravage finishes) Obliterate battering Assault Raging Burst Vicious Slash Force Scream Furious Strike Vicious Slash Or simply put: Replace Battering Assault with Force Scream.

That boss aggro-drops (maybe to protect against people who do not know the mechanic?). So I don't understand why he didn't go for one of you after spinning kicking DPS. Sounds like a bug.

Even worse than that since you need to cast Disturbance to proc fast TK throw. So assuming the sage has Mental Alacrity, MC (1 GCD), WM (1 GCD), Turbulance (1 GCD), TK Wave (1 GCD), Disturbance (almost 1 GCD), TK Throw (almost 1 gcd). The lesson here being, if you let a sage free cast for 6 GCDs, then s/he can deal a lot of damage. How surprising.

Maybe something like this? Sage seers are clearly meant to kite in the face of enemy opposition (and have reasonably good tools for kiting). But they only get 1 insta-HOT and every other heal is a long cast/channel. What does the dev team think about this? Is it possibly to buff seer's healing (perhaps via resplendence stacks) to reduce cast time / or provide HOT components? Btw, I really like the raid viability question.

That's a good point. Let me ask it this way then. If a raid has one spot open and there are two players of equal skill level and equal gear level. One of them is a dirty fighting Gunslinger, the other is a Balance Sage. Is there any reason to pick the Sage over Gunslinger (or Assault Commando)? Master-Nala's point about PVP is true though. I just wish it was more competitive in PVE.

Right, I am a new player so maybe I am missing something but what is the point of Balance spec? - Balance has less survivability compared to gunslingers and commandos due to light armor and worse defensive cool downs. Balance sages usually have to use Noble Sacrifice as part of their rotation so they require even more attention from a healer. - It does significantly less damage compared to both specs. Also, dirty fighting has an execute so will actually do even better in operations vs a dummy parse. - It doesn't really have a lot of group utility either. Force management is very difficult so you can't Force Armor or heal anyone without destroying your damage output. Meanwhile, gunslingers have an awesome AoE dcd that can benefit the whole group and many other things. So, if an operation has one room open for single target sustained ranged DPS, I just don't see why anyone would pick a Balance sage over a Dirty Fighting Gunslinger or an Assault Commando. (Again, I am very new so feel free to tell me why I am wrong )