I'm back playing again after a 2.5-3 year break and I was just reading over some of my old posts. The posts in question: http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=876241&highlight=Phase+walk http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=885559 One of my biggest complaints back then was the Phase Walk ability which, at that time, both Sorcs and Sins had. My main complaints about it then were it being 60 meters, usuable through walls and floors, usuable while stunned, doesn't require a target, instantly breaks LoS. ........................... ^This is the important one. Also important to remember is that it enabled a skilled Sorc player to interrupt a capper through a wall from 90 meters away (60 meter teleport range + 30 attack range) all within the span of one global cooldown. The video in the second link @07:32 just shows how skilled players could really abuse it. As an ex-Sin main, it makes me glad that I can't abuse this ability anymore. My suggestion would be to nerf range or consume all remaining force when used. Was/Am I out-of-line wanting this ability nerfed or changed and if so why? What is the PvP community's thoughts in Phase Walk in the current meta?

I play IO alot and usually catch most people off guard with the burst it can dish out. It has good burst and really high DoT damage. My only complaint about it is the atrocious spread mechanic and having to give up Rail Shot. I argue with myself sometimes about which Chaff Flare is better as well. Arsenal is guaranteed to absorb 2 tech / force attacks but IO has a 35% chance to block each attack for 6 seconds. It also frees up a Tier 4 utility by not having to take Thrill of the Hunt. I usually put that point into Stabilized Armor if I'm playing ranked.

Honestly, my biggest desire is to see Innovative Ordinance / Assault Specialist DoT spread mechanic be reworked into something more fluid and less clunky. I think it is currently the only spec in the game that requires each of it's DoTs to be spread by different abilities. Those 2 abilities are even harder to use efficiently to spread damage, both being tied to a target and one being a delayed interaction. Also, replacing abilities with more powerful versions (some with worse animations than the original -- looking at you Mag Shot) that do nothing but increase damage is not exciting at all. It needs to be changed somehow. No other ability in the game ignores terrain, i.e. walls, floors, etc., instantly breaks LoS up to 60 meters away, and trivializes responding to objectives. When people who know how to abuse it and use it to it's maximum capabilities, it begins to be frustrating playing against it. A range nerf is least likely to diminish it's functionality.

I mostly play Annihilation / Watchman when I play Marauder / Sentinel but sometimes switch over to other specs. Fury / Concentration is currently the best Mara / Sent spec and mainly due to CC immunity every 30 seconds. Moving the DoT to Annihilation / Watchman but excluding it from the DoT spread mechanic from Smash / Force Sweep will give it some better single target DPS. Correct me if I am wrong but isn't Fury / Concentration supposed to be the burst spec? Why give it sustain damage as well? AP Powertech / Tactics VG has the same functionality of which I also think it should be moved to Pyro / Plasma. Leap immunity from Obliterate / Zealous Leap only applies to 1 class (2 others if you take the respective utility but no one does) and rightfully so. Snipers / Gunslingers are the best ranged DPS at dealing with melee and complete leap immunity allows them to perform better in this role. Wouldn't moving DoT spread back to Deathfield / Force in Balance allow them to do what the class is designed around without having to be in melee range as much? Lacerate / Whirling Blow is no longer a necessary part of your rotation but still gives functionality to the spec. Maybe add a stackable damage reduction mechanic to Deathfield / Force in Balance based on each enemy you hit up to a certain maximum percentage. This doesn't change how the class plays at max level so I'm pretty indifferent about this suggestion.

I've played Lightening Sorc / Telekinetics Sage here and there as well. Taking a step back and really trying to understand and analyze the mechanics of a class, you can really start to notice where some of the major drawbacks are. I think a major flaw with Lightening / Telekinetics is that some of its rotation and DPS is tied to taking damage and using mobility to proc Lightening Bolt / Telekinetic Burst. If you use Force Speed to do more damage, now you have a harder time to escape melee or get to LoS. Intentionally taking damage in PVE and PVP to increase your own damage is less than ideal. Using Force Speed in PVP to increase damage is more costly than it is to use in PVE. 1) Sorceress / Sage Phase Walk needs to be looked at as well. Maybe reduce range to 30 meters. --It's all ready one of the strongest mobility tools in PVP to respond to objectives and pretty much breaks Huttball. No other ability in the game let's you travel through walls or floors and instantly break LoS. It completely nullifies any map design or obstacles that all other classes have to overcome.-- 2) Corruption / Seer Roaming Mend / Wandering Mend should be changed to include some kind of internal cooldown or rate limit on the bounce or heal. --I think this currently heals too fast during the GCD.--

With the 6.0 expansion potentially on the horizon, let's all post suggestions to fix clunky or inconsistent class mechanics for our favorite class or classes. These should not be changes that would push your class into broken territory, but to allow the class or spec to play more fluidly. As a Mercenary/Commando player starting at launch and again in 2014, I recently started playing again late 2018. Although I welcome the great new DCD's Mercenaries and Commandos have received since the last time I played (before reflect bubble and heal after shield), some mechanics are still the same and maybe Bioware can streamline some of the functionality. Let's begin: **Note: These are just base class mechanics / functionalities. NOT Utility Points. 1) Mercenary Abilities Change Rocket Out / Propulsion Round to instead move the player forward. --Having to backpedal even for less than a second to line up a straight one or hitting terrain feels bad-- 2) Bodyguard / Combat Medic Add utility to Chaff Flare / Diversion. Immune to soft CC for 6 seconds maybe. --DPS specs get some utility from this-- Allow Kolto Shot / Med Shot to trigger and consume Kolto Shell / Trauma Probe off of the rate limit --As a "fire and forget" ability, it is quite boring. This would make it more interactive to use as a core ability-- 3) Arsenal / Gunnery Fix Heatseeker Missile sound animation to trigger on each use --It rarely goes off but when it does, it sounds amazing-- 4) Innovative Ordnance / Assault Specialist Remove Fusion Missile / Plasma Grenade from other specs and replace Mag Shot / Mag Bolt with it. Remove the cast time and give it the placeable AOE reticle. --The separate DoT spread mechanic tied to 2 unreliable abilites is very clunky. This will allow spreads to be much more reliable and consistent. Get rid of Mag Shot / Mag Bolt completely-- Change Serrated Shot / Serrated Bolt damage to yellow damage. --Getting this deflected or missed kills half of the DPS. We have plenty of other white damage to compensate if this gets absorbed or resisted by yellow DCD's from other classes.-- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Other classes that I play, although not as often as Mercenary: 1) Annihilation / Watchman Move Ravage / Blade Barrage DoT to Annihilation / Watchman and away from Fury / Concentration. --Annihilation / Watchman is the DoT spec after all-- 2) Fury / Concentration Remove Obliterate / Zealous Leap ability to jump to in-cover or un-leapable enemies. 4) Assassin Abilities Change Phantom Stride / Shadow Stride to appear behind the enemy. --This change will allow more predictable leaps and synergize better with core abilities-- 4) Hatred / Serenity Move DoT spread back to Deathfield / Force in Balance Lacerate / Whirling Blow roots enemies for 1.5 seconds with a ~15 internal cooldown. --The root duration is to allow Deathfield / Force in Balance to be cast immediately after the GCD.-- Feel free to leave feedback or criticism on the above suggestions but more importantly: POST YOUR OWN! Try to make them PVP / PVE friendly! I realize that this may fall on deaf ears to Bioware but it is still fun to see what other players can come up with.

My character's voice is permanently modulated to sound synthesized after I completed The Esseles Flashpoint. It happened right when you have to talk to the engineers through the comms array. Ever since then, she's been sounding like that in any conversation. Really annoying. Submitted in-game ticket but all they suggested was update my graphics drivers. Anyone else have a similar issue?

You were right about Sins not having a utility pick for PW. For some reason, I was thinking of the Phantom Stride utility which is in the same location as Sorc's PW pick. I played my Sin all throughout 3.0 to 4.0 and pretty much lived at the off node. Even at that time, I found PW ridiculously broken because I could still stop caps from 90 meters away in less than a GCD or start a cap from 60 meters away after I sapped the guard. The problem is more prevalent now because of the amount of Sorcerer players. Usually half the team are Sorcs. You have to kill each one 3 times if they know what they are doing if they took Bastion utility, which most do since it's such a crutch. Don't you find it extremely annoying as a stealth player to have your cap disturbed from 90 meters away in an instant even after you killed the guard or you have the Sorc/Sin player in execute range and they just port onto the health pack and come back with full health while you're sitting at 20-40 %. Hatred Sins have atleast 2 abilities that can be used to stop caps from 90 meters away although one requires the use of Recklessness and the other a utility pick in heroic. Deception is same as above but now also has Low Slash. Darkness is same as above but now also has pull. All sins can stop AOE caps from 60 meters away in less than a GCD. Hatred and Darkness from 70 meters. All Sorcs can from 90-95 meters away in less than a GCD. I get it, it's a cool ability. My entire complaint revolves around this single capability that no other class can do and has no counterplay. Being able to reach a node to stop a cap from 90 meters away without a target in less than a GCD is completely unfair.

Roll does not travel through walls or floors and only has a range 12 meters I believe. Double roll for 24. The new strides and teleports to enemies/allies only have a range of 30 meters and require a target. Sins and Sorcs can stop game changing caps from up to 90 meters away in less than 1 GCD. 60 meter PW range plus 30-35 meters for ranged abilities. Working through walls and floors in any direction makes reinforcing or returning to nodes trivial. Why play any other class when you have the best ability in the game for objectives?

I don't really feel like dissecting your post again on my phone so I won't bother but judging from your posts it seems to me like you don't PvP enough to be knowledgable about different classes and their specs or you only PvP on your Sorc/Sage and nothing else. First of all, Sins do have a PW utility in the Herioc tier. Second, Merc has the same cooldown on E-Net regardless of spec. We can exchange back and forth how different abilities can be used or mitigated but the fact remains that Phase Walk remains the only ability that can instantly teleport a player up to 60 meters away through walls, obstacles, and floors. This capability wasn't designed for most of the objective based maps. It makes travel time and routes non-existent. Players can stop match changing caps from 90 meters away in less then a GCD: 60 meter PW and 30-35 meter ranged abilities. No other class/ability/utility can do this.

Hardstuns, Mezzes, E-Net, roots, map terrain, etc. more than just one. And that's the point, almost all of them need a utility point spent on them to make them somewhat useful. PW needs zero utility point, it has all the goodies built into the ability. No one takes the PW utility in Herioc because it isn't necessary. I only want some of the already provided utility of the skill to be moved out of the base ability and moved into the Herioc talent pick such as usable while stunned. This is like comparing apples to oranges. Saber Reflect isn't a mobility skill. You've just listed the counters to Saber Reflect yourself, and let me point out it wasn't just one. Barrier is annoying but I don't think it needs any change now that Bastion no longer works through acid except keeping cap on Odessen Proving Ground. That's just a dumb mechanic. You can only see it if you walk near it or watch it being placed. 60 meters in any direction through walls and floors is 15-30 seconds if not more. Sorry but basic attack, leap, low slash, whatever, doesn't work through the gate at first door on Voidstar but guess what does? You guessed it! Guarding on AHG and almost dead? Let me just instantly port while hard stunned in execute range onto the health pack in the back and continue to delay for another 30 seconds. I can go on and on.... I don't want the range to be less than 30 meters but it also shouldn't be twice the distance of all other gap closers and all ranged abilities in the game. Anywhere between 32-45 meters might be more reasonable. Increase the cooldown to 1 minute 30 seconds so it can be in line with its only counter. Is that not fair? 2.5 - 3 minute buff would be better. You're right about the GCD, keep it off. Warzones are littered with tanks/healers and they just sit in the middle node and turtle. If there are 2 pairs, you can forget about ever capturing that node. How do you win against this tactic? Easy, your stealth should be contesting their node. Well, not when you have a half decent Sorc or Sin that can instantly keep you from getting the node from 60 meters away through walls/obstacles or floors even after you've sapped or killed the guard. After you've been dispatched, they just place it nearby and head back to all the action instantly available from 60 meters away for the next attempt at capturing their node.

First of all, I'm not surprised I got a "working as intended" from a consular/inquisitor player. Now onto my rebuttal: I meant to say you can place it mostly anywhere on any map and teleport back to it if within 60 meters. That means you have a escape/gap closer twice as long as any other ability that not only works through walls and floors but is off the global cooldown and usuable while stunned and requires no target. As far as I know, no other ability even comes close to having this kind of utility. Leaps, strides, pulls, etc. all require a target. Roll only has a range of 12 meters and halved when slowed and unusable while rooted. Phase Walk nullifies any and every obstacle in almost every warzone. The other abilities you listed are laughable compared to PW. All have some sort of counterplay. The only thing that stops PW is electro net and that's better saved for bubble. Boy, I wish I could use my channeled heal while using rocket out when I play my merc heals. Man, isn't it great that I can use my channeled heal and roll at the same time while playing operative heal....oh wait. It bothers me because there is one counter to Phase Walk. One! And it's on twice as long of a cooldown and best spent on the barrier if you can even time it right. Do you think Sorcs and Sins porting back and forth across the map on every warzone to instantaneously reinforce contested nodes isn't boring gameplay? How are you supposed to work the off node while the middle node is always being turtled by 2 pairs of healers/tanks? The guard calls and reinforcements arrive instantly from 60 meters away. Every second counts when trying to cap and PW eliminates 15-30 seconds of travel time that all other classes have to do around obstacles, walls, barriers. I never said I want the ability to go away since I know it won't but it definitely needs some changes like a longer cooldown, reduced range, shorter buff time, on GCD, breaks casting, or not usuable while stunned. Most mobility skills that came with 4.0 suffer from one or all of the drawbacks listed in the previous sentence. PW suffers from none. How is that fair?

@07:30 I'm back on my "Fix Phase Walk campaign". If people think this is a fair mechanic which makes PvP so frustrating to enjoy, please find another game. No other base class has an ability like this but regs and ranked are littered with both ACs. Placeable anywhere with 60 meter range which is twice as far as any other mobility ability, does not require a target, usuable while stunned, works through walls/floors, does not break channel, 45s cooldown which lasts 5 minutes and works off the GCD. I'm sorry, what? http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=876241&highlight=Phase+walk ^ Read for suggested changes or uses for the ability.

Snave, Great work setting this up! We need this and hopefully it'll bring about positive changes in the future for a more pleasurable PvP experience. My only suggestion is to please ask Musco if BW has any intention at looking to change the single most broken ability in PvP: Phase Walk. I feel like it effects the outcome of both regs and ranked too much. Sorcs have to be killed three times in ranked. Sorcs and sins can single handedly win or lose the objective in regs because of this ability. I started a thread on this ability a couple months ago. I'm sure you're aware of its uses but I have offered some suggestions. I will likely be starting another one due to a video I just saw of how ridiculously stupid this ability is. Please have a read: http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=876241&highlight=Phase+walk

I'm all for increased cooldown. What might be better though is remove the usuable while stunned feature and attach it to the heroic talent for phase walk both Sorc and Assassin have.

Can't let this die! Continue with the Inquisitor nerfs! ^ my merc main poking the fire.

http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=876241&highlight=Phase+walk Something I started several months ago. Pretty much my thoughts exactly on what KrackerJack said. My suggestions for change: Reduce range to 30-35 range. Increase cool down to 1.5 minutes Not useable while stunned (usuable while stunned with utility pick in heroic tier for both ACs) Decrease active buff time to 2 mins. *numbers are just placeholders. That determination should be made by Bioware. One of the above, a few, or all (my personal thought) would make it less annoying/frustrating. In my opinion, it is the most match breaking ability in the game and 2 ACs have it with one of them being the most OP class in PvP.

I was actually able to make it to silver playing mostly IO rather than Arsenal although I played side by side with a Lethality Op pretty much my first few games and he did a good job off healing. I started playing Rage instead and the difference is night and day. Hatred is also a monster if played correctly. It's quite common to double the DPS of anyone else. I'm going to be trying a Fury Marauder next since I think they have a really good kit for arenas. Best of luck mate!

Title explains it mostly. Placed/spawned randomly around arenas. Thoughts?

No offense but the top looks like you had some nasty DPS on your team and lackluster DPS on the other. Also healer match. Again, another healer match. Can we get some screen shots of all DPS matches in here?

I do agree that these are excellent players and know the class very well. However, I've seen them and others get obliterated by carnage, concealment, AP, etc. in 2-3 global cool downs. Being matched against those types of compositions, you've just drawn the short straw. No way to get out of that burst without blowing all your cool downs at once and you likely still won't survive. Mercs are the least capable of mitigating the opening burst. That's the problem. Its not a learn to play issue. You're a healer. Of course they'll last longer in 3 DPS 1 healer/tank games. The problem is increased tenfold when it's an all DPS match. AP Powertechs have half the useful talents for solos built into the spec. Mercs have to spec into it and forgo offensive talents just to keep up with PT defensives.

Ask for controversial PVE/PVP abilities spanning all classes to have different effects only usable at max expertise.

Are you referring to Pyro shield? I agree that it's worthless and in order to even do a full shield build, you have to sacrifice a heroic to put 3 in masterful. Mercenarie's ability bloat is atrocious. Razor net would just be an additional effect on electronet, no additional skill required. I think chaff flare needs to be the same effect baseline for all specs. Give it an additional baseline power to go along with the threat drop that's only usuable at max expertise such as a toned down Overload from my earlier post. Functional in both PVE and PvP. Broken or OP in neither.

Here's just 2 examples of focus breaks that I've been thinking about for a while: I think both are from SWG but I can't be sure if the shield one is or not. A major DCD with a long cool down such as bubble: Overload (shield) - the player reduces all incoming white/yellow damage by 99% with a 1% damage increase. As the player takes damage, incoming damage reduction is reduced but outgoing damage is increased simultaneously. Only direct attacks affect the skill. DoT damage and/or damage attached to CC skills do not. Lasts 8-10 seconds. For example: 99% damage reduction / 1 % damage increase > player takes multiple white/yellow direct attacks > 75% damage reduction / 25% damage increase > etc. Much like the Marauders Undying Rage, this would act as a focus break/disengage but still allow the Mercenary to deal damage if not Cc'ed through it. It would be unwise to continue to tunnel the Merc through the CD as it would boost their damage. Rate limit of 1.5 seconds with a cap on damage. Razor Net - if applied to another player within melee range/10 meters, electro net acts as an AOE net around the Mercenary with a radius of 5 meters and reduces accuracy of affected players by 25%. Increase cool down on Electro net to 2 minutes. All current net effects still apply in addition to the above.

With the new 8v8 warzone out, I think this ability will be even more problematic. I've already started to see PW puddles pretty much on every node, even if it's turned off that round. Once the new round starts, that node will likely already be capped by a Sin or Sorc. The walls and barriers along with the elevated South node from Mid do little to keep this Inquisitor class from reaching the node before anyone else if placed appropriately. They can probably reach every node from Mid in less then 5 seconds offering them the critical seconds to cap it. Not only that, but also allows them to be practically impossible to be capped on unless killed because they can just PW back onto the node if pushed then CC'ed. As it currently functions, this is the most ridiculous ability in the game. Nothing to counter this except net but who wants to waste net on an ability with half the cool down. I still suggest they need to move some of the built-in functions and attach them to the already in-place heroic utility for each AC. The useable while stunned needs to be the first one changed. This is just dumb. Every other AC that has something like this needs to use a heroic utility to even just get to use it while immobilized. Maybe even allow other players to channel the puddle off but give a reduced cool down of maybe 15-20 seconds. Can we please just focus on the ability and not which class has it? It's broken even if any other class had it.