Is this a bug or the new policy? I've never completed the Jedi Knight story, but I created a 60 Jedi Knight and now it shows on my Legendary status that I've completed the JK story. This is also true of the Smuggler story after having created a 60.

Is AP better than Pyro in PvE DPS? I ask because I don't really enjoy DoT classes so much, but I love the way AP plays.

I'm on Prophecy of the Five currently, but I'm willing to relocate. Looking to play either merc or gunslinger.

Yeah I'm definitely not looking to re-join a world-first kind of guild for SWTOR. Just looking for something that eventually will complete the content on Nightmare during the tier's time as the current content.

Other than a very small handful that are capable of getting world first boss kills, are there other decent operations guilds out there? It's hard to find a dedicated raid group to play with because the ranking sites are so outdated. So where are the operation guilds? I say that as a returning player who participated in every Nightmare mode Fatman server first kill pre-Rise of the Hutt Cartel. I'm interested in raiding, but it's pretty tough to find a real group. Can someone point me in the right direction? Thanks.

Since 2.0 dropped, 36/5/5 has looked to be the standard spec for SOS sniper / MM snipers, with some dabbling in 36/8/5 (+15% damage on Orbital Strike) with the PvP set bonuses for extra ticks on orbital strike. Recently, with some parses for proof, it's been looking like 36/3/7 is the best single-target DPS skill point distribution for all specs in all fights. http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#400dcrbdRkRMfkdzZ0cZG0b.3 The major change is that 2 points have been taken out of Energy Tanks (+10 energy) and put into Mortal Wound (Corrosive Dart has a 25% chance to tick twice). This change averages out to an increase of about 60 DPS, depending on your RNG. Some Abbreviations and Sniper Terminologies • FT: Followthrough • SOS: Series of Shots • OS: Orbital Strike • SNIPE: • AMBUSH: Ambush • CORDOT: Corrosive Dart • SS: Shatter Shot • TD: Takedown • SV: Sniper Volley • EP: Explosive Probe Quick Gearing Rundown • 100% ranged accuracy and 70% surge (approximately) are ideal BiS. Focus on accuracy before surge. • Avoid critical rating, ideally less than ~110. Take power everywhere in mods and enhancemenFT. • Augment cunning with Advanced Skill Augment 28. Set Bonus For maximum DPS output, the 2-pc PvE set bonus and 2-pc PvP set bonuses are the best. • PvE (2): Reduces the cooldown of Target Acquired or Illegal Mods by 15 seconds, and activating either ability restores 15 energy. • PvP (2): Increases duration of Orbital Strike or Orbital Strike by 3 seconds. If energy management troubles plague you when bosses are <30% and you start needing to use TD on cooldown it would be best for you to take the 4-pc PvE set bonus, which reduces the energy cost of TD by 7. Ideally, though the 2/2 split is best. Rotation When you're running 36/3/7 it's almost essential to keep CORDOT up as much as possible, with clipping being less detrimental than letting it fall off for more than 3 or 4 globals. Like most DPS classes, the 36/3/7 sniper has an opening rotation which is a little bit different from the standard rotation throughout the boss fight. The purpose of the opening rotation is essentially to do as much damage as possible right off the bat in your opener. OS -> AMBUSH -> FT -> SS -> SOS -> FT -> CORDOT -> SV -> SOS -> FT -> EP -> SNIPE -> SNIPE -> FT You want to use your cooldowns (adrenal, relic, illegal mods) right before the first SOS, so you can at least catch one tick of OS with all your cooldowns up. Picking up from where that rotation left off... AMBUSH -> FT -> CORDOT -> SOS -> FT -> SNIPE -> SNIPE -> FT This rotation only changes when Orbital Strike comes off cooldown. OS -> AMBUSH -> FT -> SOS -> SV-> FT -> CORDOT -> SOS -> FT -> EP -> SNIPE -> SNIPE -> FT Note that this is only a rough guide; I can't speak on energy management for everyone, but at times it can be a bit tough. Ambush such you need to be able to think on your feet, in terms of delaying an ability by 1 or 2 GCORDOTs or using a flurry of bolts because you know that if you don't, you'll bottom out of energy. This comes with experience and practice. It can be a little hard to explain in text, so check out this excellent video by Paowee for a demonstration. A good place to refresh SS is just before AMBUSH, so, SNIPE -> SNIPE -> FT -> SS. Ambush long Ambush both debuffs are up consistently, though, it isn't super important and you can refresh SS where it feels most comfortable and natural for you. • Avoid EP if you're dipping down in energy a bit, either throwing in a flurry of bolFT or moving straight on to SNIPE. • Use [Laze Target] every time it's available. • [Adrenaline Probe] is always going to be available if you **** up your energy. • Do NOT use SS if you have a juggernaut or arsenal merc attacking the same target Ambush you. Armor debuff is their class mechanic so using SS is a wasted global. A Little Bit on Priority and Movement So few bosses in this game are a straight "tank and spank", so no doubt at some point you're going to have to move. A good example is Titan-6 during Launch. Because sharpshooter's buffs are attached to you, if they run out due to DPS downtime you can't pick up where you left off. In situations like these, here's a priority list so you know where you pick up your rotation. FT (if buff hasn't fallen off) > TD > SOS > CORDOT (if it's fallen off) > AMBUSH (if buff hasn't fallen off) > SNIPE If you look at a damage distribution pie chart for sharpshooter, FT easily comes out on top (~25%) followed closely by SOS. These abilities are so high on the priority list because combined they make up close to 50% of your total damage output, therefore using them every time they're available is beneficial. TD is listed at a higher priority than SOS because, in a full-length single target boss fight, TD will make up ~6-7% of your total damage output, which makes it even more useful than SOS granted than you've only used it for 30% of the fight. It also procs FT quicker than SOS would so you're throwing out more uses of FT if you prioritize TD over SOS recovering from movement near the end of a boss fight. As well as the reasons above, all 3 of these abilities benefit from crit and surge buffs in the skill tree. • SOS: +19% crit chance, +30% crit multiplier. • FT: +4% crit chance, +30% crit multiplier. • TD: +19% crit chance, +30% crit multipler.

I feel like these relatively small changes to the game's UI would add up to quite noticeable quality of life improvements. Why aren’t the planets on the galaxy map labeled? I have to mouse over each one when I’m looking for a specific planet. Why aren’t nameplates clickable? That’s at least half the reason they even exist, conceptually. Why can’t you right click -> whisper from the guild pane? Having to check the guild pane, THEN manually type /whisper _____ is a huge hassle. Two of the most common (probably THE two most common) reasons to right click on the target’s portrait, inspect and group invite, are each relegated to their own mouse-over menu. This adds extra steps to functions that ought to be nearly-immediate and is frustrating to deal with after coming from games where inviting and inspecting are immediate. Can we please get more control over how our individual debuffs and/or buffs are displayed on targets? It’s hard to track your bleeding debuff when they all have the same icon. Add a “show only your debuffs on target” or an option to highlight your buffs or debuffs, i.e. make them larger than everyone else’s.

Check the combat log on torparse.

Yeah, I actually expect you to take the top spot in TFB over me. I've always considered myself a pretty average player. Good luck. You should write an AP guide.

Nice work. I really need to refine my AP play and I might ask you some detailed questions, if you don't care.

Ka'sumi, see if you can complete a 5 minute parse and post in this thread. http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=637291 I would be interested in seeing how difficult it would be to reproduce the conditions that gave you your 4.5 minute parse you currently have. 60+% immolate crit? I've spent a couple of hours parsing on the dummy doing five minute parses as AP and I've never once come close to that crit chance on immolate. A couple of other skills seem to have higher-than-average crit rates too. This is why I mentioned in some other thread on here that I think that even if you get all the TFB HM records too, it would be more likely a demonstration of great play from you, not so much the superiority of AP. My hunch is that, even with having better gear than you had when you parsed on the dummy, you will have a very hard time getting the same results because of the rather extreme RNG that was in your favor originally. But, I am always hungry to improve, and if I could learn something from you to make me a better PT (specifically AP), I'm all for it. So, go to that thread, adhere to their specifications, and see what you can come up with. I'd be very interested to see the results.

The notion that classes with trees other than DPS should do less damage than a class with three DPS trees is pretty outdated. That said, there's some rationale, albeit weak, for the philosophy to remain in place. My only problem is that there is such a disparity between the top and bottom. There's just too much headroom on the DPS charts.

Sort by powertech only. As for your last question, aside from attendance issues, seniority, and other "people issues," given equal skill and gear level, there's perhaps not a good answer.

Actually, you don't have the record on Olok, but if your point is that AP is viable, I'm not sure any serious powertech would argue against that. It's clearly viable. However, even if AP is the end-all, be-all powertech build, that says nothing about the other builds being bad. Both pyrotech and AP hybrid are both viable, and the logs bear this out in abundance. If it does turn out that you eventually end up holding the TFB records, too, I have a feeling this speaks more to your superiority as a player and perhaps gear than the "MAGIC AP SPEC FIXES ALL" mantra. By the way, using extreme parse outliers to champion a marginalized spec most likely isn't the right kind of data to use to determine overall viability. I mentioned this in the other thread that you're condescendingly parading around, but I'll say it here, too. It's not doing the players of this class any favors by spreading misinformation about the viability of the other DPS builds that people are working with, currently. And your tone, Jesus Christ. Really, take your meds. Congratulations on your records and apologies for not finding all of your records when I originally posted. I'm really not sure how I only saw three of them. My bad! Finally, I'm not a vanguard. You're looking in the wrong place. You will find me a spot above you on Operations Chief, and in the first or second place slot on several HM 16 TFB encounters.

Not even close. Of the 12 bosses in this tier on 16M HM, in the US, and not counting Dreadful Entity, three of the top parses are full AP. There are five full pyro and three AP hybrid parses (which are held by yours truly, actually). Please stop going around spreading false (or half-true) information about the viability of certain builds. By the way, I find it hilarious that you're flaunting a dummy parse just a few days after you were posting in two or three threads simultaneously that "it's called a dummy parse because you have to be a dummy to care about it" or some such nonsense. Dude. Take your meds. Jesus.

Congratulations on your records, but your build is not the only viable one. 16 HM TFB's pyrotech records tell a different story. Here are the top US records for 16M HM Terror from Beyond. Writhing Horror: Pyrotech, -TD Ciphas and Pals: Pyrotech, -TD (Bonus: Rank 2 is me, using 8/22/16 AP hybrid) Operator IX: 8/22/16 AP Hybrid (Me) Kephess: 8/22/16 AP Hybrid (Me again) Terror From Beyond: 8/22/16 AP Hybrid (Me yet again, and the log that will be posted tonight beats it by about 300 DPS lol) Most of us here acknowledge the class needs help, but spreading misinformation about the viability of either full pyrotech or the AP hybrid is not solving anything. Your arrogant, dismissive attitude is not helpful, and in fact, you are objectively wrong on the majority of things you post concerning the exclusive viability of full AP. Get over yourself and post constructively. You're not doing anyone any good by being so abrasive constantly in multiple threads. That said, I do appreciate you championing AP, as it's clearly a good spec to play, and is under-represented. The problem though is that your AP blinders make you as dismissive and ill-informed as the AP haters (of which there are very few, thankfully).

Vandalorian - Powertech - Advanced Prototype/Pyrotech hybrid 8/22/16 - 2714.49 URL: http://www.torparse.com/a/257535/time/1369806226/1369806534/0/Overview

EDIT: obsoleted on next page.

There is something wrong with your class' DPS trees when only a marginal fraction of your players reach the capstone of the tree. I do think it's interesting that powertechs are a class where a creative hybrid build is viable, and I don't want to discount that as a design win, but we are too weak overall, and one rather obvious path to take toward fixing the problem is strengthening the deep end of both DPS trees, such that they are actually worth speccing into.

ROFL sorry for the double post, but show me the parses. It is hilarious how you parade around, insulting multiple people in the thread, championing AP, then all I have to do is perform a cursory glance at 16HM parses to tell that you're bull********. Put up or shut up.

Actually, in most cases the highest powertech parses are either a pyro spec that excludes thermal detonator or an AP/pyro hybrid spec that either goes up to retractable blade or, at highest, prototype flamethrower. I use the latter spec. No idea how you got the idea that I'm a "pyro noob." Other problems with your post include a clear lack of parse research before posting, as well as using extreme outliers as examples of what should be expected or normal (which is ironic because, again, the most extreme outliers actually are pyro specs, but you wouldn't know that because you didn't research at all before posting). Take your condescension elsewhere and when you have something of substance to contribute, try again.

Where should I begin? Juggernaut DPS is actually quite good right now. I know on my juggernaut (full 162+; 156 weapon), I do only marginally less DPS than my powertech (168 in almost every slot; 162 weapon), and to be honest, at about half the effort. Maybe this is a problem with juggernauts being easy mode in comparison with some other classes, in terms of maximizing raid DPS. However, I have no reservations about saying that in equal gear, there's no question juggernauts are significantly better at DPS than powertechs. This goes a long way toward eliminating the "hybrid tax" argument that comes up in defense of classes like PT or juggernaut being designed to do less DPS than a sniper, for instance. I don't necessarily think that's an awful design goal, but I do think that the disparity between a sniper and a powertech is too high. Using extreme outliers to defend the notion that powertechs are fine is a bad way to go about it. On average, the class just isn't performing the way it should. Some powerful raid utility is one way to solve this (think ret paladins/shadow priests circa Sunwell-era in WoW, where their DPS wasn't stellar, but they were nonetheless indispensable to the raid because of the raid damage increase/resource regeneration that they brought). Ultimately though, finding an intelligent way to give them higher direct DPS is a better solution.

People play rage for pve?

The challenger (mara) set's 2-piece bonus looks extremely attractive to me. Increases Ravage damage by 8%. For a 2-piece, that's pretty insane. Ravage is our highest-damage ability in parses and just by having two pieces, you increase its damage significantly. The 4-piece is strictly mara though. On the other hand, the juggernaut set (Vindicator), has the saber throw distance bonus for 2-piece and 8% to scream on the 4-piece. Not sure those two boni together are as good as the mara 2-piece. Help me decide. I have an arkanian chest token burning a hole in my inventory.

So it's still true that elemental/internal = class with no armor pen debuff, kinetic/energy = class with armor pen debuff. I am, however, surprised to read that the Partisan SA relic is better than Arkanian Elemental Transcendence. It seems to me that that the four GCDs when you have the 410 power might not be useful in every case (main abilities on cooldown, using filler abilities, etc), whereas the damage proc from Elemental Transcendence seems always useful. But you seem to know your stuff. At least it's not so counter-intuitive now. I am the world's worst theorycrafter (obviously!), so I wish people would get with it as far as updating their guides. Old information and misinformation is everywhere and it makes it very hard for a person to find the correct info.