The Sniper's Handbook

[Karaokelove]

Thanks for the info, Leonique.

[vironass]

 

As of the time of this writing, there is no evidence available to suggest that it is possible to spec into an effective hybrid build. All of the information I have been able to find has cemented the fact that the most solid builds are 31/x/x, x/31/x, and x/x/31. Every single hybrid build I've seen has suffered some major flaw, from lack of damage output, to unsustainable energy usage. As I find out more information I will continue to update this section, but as it stands, you should avoid hybrid builds if you wish to play an effective Sniper.[/sPOIL

 

Although i am a gunslinger and not a sniper i found sniper's forum more interresting than gunslingers so i would like to post my ideas about a hybrid spec i am playing right now

Spec is http://db.darthhater.com/skill_calc/smuggler/gunslinger/#::fe2f2ef2ef2ef5efef20e3f2efefefe8:

Most of the times i am not going under 300k+ on this spec.(i suppose you can just turn all these gunslinger's talents into sniper's talents cause i think are the same )

It has great AoE dmg as it doesnt suffer from single target dmg and burst.Imo even this spec doesnt have the xtra absorb from cover it still has nice utility cause its like pillar hug dot and spam the thermal grenade(grenade that has 3 sec cd) and just go for a cover-probe deto-series of shots when you want to gain energy and burst some1 down.

On this spec i did my best dmg score in wz 421k without lacking out of energy to much and having a big problem

Just to close as it seems you are well known of the class and good at maths(!) i would like to thank you for your time if you read this and i would like some respond and your thots about what i am playing right now.

Cheers snipers and a cheer for the good work in forums Soz for my baaad english but even tho if you manage to read it dont forget to repply i would appriciate that!

[MajinUltima]

I'm curious where a lot of this info comes from, because Karaoke's guide has several points or comments I question the validity of... for example, the hate on Alacrity, which does reduce the GCD... though there seems to be some weird rumor going around that it does not.

 

Tested it on my Sorcerer quite easily. Used Static Barrier with a 1.50sec Cooldown from skills, and a small amount of Alacrity; the GCD triggered by the Barrier on every other skill wore off a fraction of a second before Barrier came off cooldown. I would assume the same is true for Snipers, and maybe even melee (since this isn't WOW).

 

I'm working on my Sniper as MM and eager to improve myself with it, I'm just rather disheartened that the main thread for Snipers in general seems to be one guy's largely arbitrary opinion (no offense to said guy as it takes effort to write up huge posts).

 

I was already rolling my eyes at the impression that Snap Shot (making a 1.5sec cast time instead be a 1.5sec GCD, ie consuming the exact same amount of time) resulted in a lecture about energy management because you're using energy "faster"... when, in fact, you're using energy at the exact same rate.

 

The Alacrity hate in general is questionable, as it improves the DPCT of your abilities and you fill dead time with rifle shots anyway (which are themselves faster with improved DPCT due to a shorter GCD). We require something more than sims and guesswork math to actually recognize the value of stats and abilities.

 

So is there any substantially solid source to be found? Because, honestly, it just feels like I should largely make it up as I go along.

[Karaokelove]

@MajinUltima: The information in the guide comes from a combination of hours of research and in-game experience. However, there are many of my opinions scattered throughout the guide. Please be careful not to take said opinions as indisputable facts. I've done my best to help readers differentiate between the two.

 

My views on Alacrity and cooldown-reducing abilities definitely fall into the "opinion" category. I know plenty of players who are fans of Alacrity and find it has great utility (many of whom have posted very intelligent arguments on this thread). I'm simply not one of those players. However, if I just said "Alacrity is a waste of points" without posting a "lecture" of arguments to back up my claim, then I wouldn't be a very capable writer. Those arguments are there to help educate my readers on how I came to my conclusions, and to allow them to make a decision on if that information applies to them or not.

 

I'm sorry you did not find my guide as useful as others did. At the time it was written, "sims and guesswork math" was about all that was available. Now that more information has come out, I can finally go back through and fix up a lot of the sections with more accurate information. Believe me, if I find any information that Alacrity or any cooldown-reducing ability allows me to better do my job as a pure dps character, I will be sure to post it.

 

I will go ahead and say this about Alacrity: Investing points into Alacrity is certainly not going to gimp your character. However, as a pure dps class, there are much more important attributes to boost, such as Accuracy, Crit, Surge, and Power. Because investing points in Alacrity is usually done at the expense of one of these much more vital attributes, I simply can't recommend ever doing so, period. I just can't imagine a scenario where I would choose Alacrity over on of those other attributes.

 

As always, if you disagree with anything I've said in this post, please post your comments and arguments. Thanks for reading!

 

-Woody

[Karaokelove]

@vironass: Thanks for posting your build! It looks like a lot of fun to play, and also quite effective. I do have to admit that I have yet to really start studying the lethality tree, so I won't be much help there. Hopefully one of our more educated readers will be able to give you some feedback on that aspect of your build.

 

The one thing I can say is that I'm a little confused why you decided to invest 3 points into Blazing Speed, which is a cover-based ability, when the rest of your build seems to be based around mobility. It seems like those 3 points would have been better spent on Sharpshooter, Bravado, or Seize the Moment. I understand that you have to go into cover to use your Contingency Charges, but with no cover-based defense skills specced, staying in cover long enough to use Speed Shot is a risky proposition.

 

Hope that helps, and thanks again for posting your build!

 

 

 

P.S. A lot of you guys are making me take a 2nd look at the validity of Hybrid builds. Please keep posting your ideas, as well as your reasoning for your choices, and hopefully I will soon be able to update the Skill Tree section of the guide with a more in-depth coverage of Hybrids and their pve and pvp utility. Thanks!

Edited January 19, 2012 by Karaokelove

[Menias]

Hello and Thanks Karaokelove for this Excellent Guide,

 

I'm from Austria - so sorry for my bad English, i'm also have Put the Engineering

Tree for my Sniper and i loved it.

 

Can you tell me a how you Start a Fight with this Spec and who you can hold

your Regeneration by 60 ?.

 

Thanks a Lot

[Karaokelove]

@Menias: Sure thing. It really depends on what sort of fight you are getting into, though. I've been working on a section to add to the main guide about this exact topic. I'll go ahead and tell you a few things I've been doing while leveling, though.

 

If you're just going through regular planetary missions with your companion or a group, you can pretty much do whatever. I'll typically just Ambush and Snipe normal mobs, along with Frag Grenades and Cover Fire for groups. You really don't have to worry about efficiency or energy conservation too much here, unless you think there's a chance of aggroing a stronger mob or getting attacked by another player.

 

If I'm up against a group of regular mobs and 1 or more stronger mobs, I'll typically Flash Bang the group, Explosive Probe the strong mob (which won't bring him out of stun), Corossive Dart (which takes a bit to take him out of stun), Shatter Shot (which brings him out of stun while also igniting my probe). At this point I'll usually activate a Relic or Adrenal and go for Ambush, SoS, Laze+Snipe, and usually by that point I can use Takedown. Otherwise I might toss out a Rifle Shot and maybe another Snipe or Ambush. If there are at least 2 other mobs around him, I'll bust out Frag Grenade and Cover Fire. Cover Fire works great with Crit-boosting Adrenals and Relics because it hits so many times that you are bound to get several crits out of it.

 

I also love to use Debilitate+Eviscerate on Strong mobs. A lot of times I'll open with a stun, like Flash Bang or Slice Droid, and run up into melee range. I'll then lay on the Explosive Probe and Corrosive Dart, and then use Shatter Shot, which brings him out of stun. At that point I'll use Debilitate+Eviscerate which not only re-stuns him, but also usually interrupts a charge-up ability he was about to use. I'll then pop on an Interrogation Probe and proceed like normal.

 

For Elites, it can get a little trickier. I've been using Lokin set on healer mode, so I don't ever really have any issues with Elites, but without Lokin you have to be very careful how you use your energy. Since fights with Elites take a little longer, I'll usually get my DoTs on them as early as possible. I always pop my Relics and Adrenals just before using my most damaging abilities (Ambush, Laze+Snipe, and SoS), and I always use Shatter Shot at the beginning of the fight. I'll typically open with Flash Bang to get ahead in the beginning, and save Debilitate for when I need to interrupt an ability. Between Debilitate and Interrupt, it should be fairly easy to keep an Elite mob from doing any really powerful attacks. Also, never underestimate the power of Shield Probe, Ballistic Shield, Entrench, and Evasion.

 

As far as staying above 60% goes, I'm actually pretty bad about energy management. It's mostly because I've been focusing on PvE while I get to 50, where I've got 3 uses of Adrenaline Probe at my disposal. Also, skills like Energy Tanks, Efficient Engineering, Imperial Methodology, and Energy Overrides make energy management much easier. Because of that, I really don't have to concern myself too much with energy management. That's going to come back to bite me, however, when I start to do more pvp, so I've been trying to make myself pay more attention to my energy reserves. I think the most important thing is knowing when your abilities use energy. For instance, SoS uses the energy up front, while Snipe uses it at the end. If you are on the verge of dropping a regen level, it would be better to use Snipe instead of SoS because Snipe won't drop you to that lower level.

 

I hope that answers some of your questions. Again, I've got a much more in-depth explanation planned for the actual guide. I've also been playing with the Sniper spreadsheet and am in the process of working out some efficient rotations and energy-conservation strategies.

 

Thanks for the questions and good luck!

Edited January 19, 2012 by Karaokelove

[Vyrzeden]

I'm curious where a lot of this info comes from, because Karaoke's guide has several points or comments I question the validity of... for example, the hate on Alacrity, which does reduce the GCD... though there seems to be some weird rumor going around that it does not.

 

Tested it on my Sorcerer quite easily. Used Static Barrier with a 1.50sec Cooldown from skills, and a small amount of Alacrity; the GCD triggered by the Barrier on every other skill wore off a fraction of a second before Barrier came off cooldown. I would assume the same is true for Snipers, and maybe even melee (since this isn't WOW).

 

I'm working on my Sniper as MM and eager to improve myself with it, I'm just rather disheartened that the main thread for Snipers in general seems to be one guy's largely arbitrary opinion (no offense to said guy as it takes effort to write up huge posts).

 

I was already rolling my eyes at the impression that Snap Shot (making a 1.5sec cast time instead be a 1.5sec GCD, ie consuming the exact same amount of time) resulted in a lecture about energy management because you're using energy "faster"... when, in fact, you're using energy at the exact same rate.

 

The Alacrity hate in general is questionable, as it improves the DPCT of your abilities and you fill dead time with rifle shots anyway (which are themselves faster with improved DPCT due to a shorter GCD). We require something more than sims and guesswork math to actually recognize the value of stats and abilities.

 

So is there any substantially solid source to be found? Because, honestly, it just feels like I should largely make it up as I go along.

 

 

I actually have no problem with people asking genuine questions in threads like this (and Alarcrity is a good one), especially early in the game, but eloquently worded insults/attacks are still insults/attacks. Please consider rewording things in the future.

 

That said, I'll try to address a few things:

 

- SS Snipe. The energy discrepancy comes from when the energy cost is applied. All of our abilities apply the energy costs at the END of the cast with the exception of channeled abilities (SoS, Cull). This means that it is beneficial from an energy management standpoint to actual need to regen energy during this time (don't energy cap). Normal snipe will regen 1.5 seconds worth of energy during it's cast time. If you are above 60 and have snipers nest, that's 9 energy. If you start Snipe at full energy, you regen nothing.

 

Instant cast abilties benefit from the GCD in terms of regen. The energy cost is used immediately, and the GCD then acts for regen time. This is why it is beneficial to open with SS Snipe. If you Laze first it will crit, which not only allows Followthrough, but activates RS Ambush for MM Snipers.

 

So yes, you are exactly right that SS Snipe uses the same energy as normal snipe in the same 1.5 GCD, but the energy regen between the 2 is potentially different depending on your current energy level.

 

- Alacrity. As far as I know from other threads, it affects the GCD in very odd ways. Reports are that it does NOT change the GCD for instant cast abilities. However, it WILL get below the GCD if Alacrity brings the cast time of an ability below 1.5 seconds. I'll pick on Snipe since it is the most obvious one. SS Snipe with Alacrity will STILL have a GCD of 1.5. Normal Snipe will cast faster than 1.5 seconds with Alacrity and will thus let you use another ability sooner. Bug? Feature? WAI? Beats me, everything is still very early to determine this. I don't play a Sorc and I have no idea what abilities you used to test against Static Barrier (instants or cast times), but if you have some definitive tests that contradict this, please share.

 

Because of this, anything with a cast time/channel will use energy at a faster rate. The trick in it's value is simple. You need to save 1.5 seconds worth of time from Alacrity and fill in with 1 Rifle Shot to equal the same energy neutral rotation. So you have to determine 2 things:

 

1. How often will I save 1.5 seconds in my rotation with X amount of Alacrity.

2. How much does my DPS improve overall by adding an extra Rifle Shot (hint: not very much).

 

If you don't end up saving 1.5 seconds, then you are just waiting on energy regen and doing nothing OR spamming abilities faster and running yourself dry. In essence, your overall DPS is exactly the same unless you have a build/rotation that can keep up. For short periods of burst, sure. But for sustained periods of fighting most people have to fill with Rifle Shot anyway.

 

Finally, the OP links to several websites in the last post for more information. The 2 I like the most are Sniper's of the Old Republic and SithWarrior. A LOT of information in this thread can be found there.

[Karaokelove]

@Vyrzeden: as always, a very concise and informative post. Thank you!

[EthanLight]

A couple of things that I think need clearing up:

 

- According to tooltips, alacrity absolutely does not decrease the cooldown of any abilities. If you've got some evidence that shows its effect on the cooldown of abilities despite tooltips, I'd be interested in seeing it.

- Accuracy, as best I can discern, does not affect a target's armor. Yes, I know the tooltip says "reduces defense", but defense is an actual thing, and completely separate from the "armor" stat. I can prove this positively: I have gear with augment slots, and Accuracy augments. The damage (per attack) that I'm actually doing to a target is no different before or after putting the accuracy augments in. Accuracy reduces a target's ability to dodge, deflect, and parry attacks, and decreases resistances. I think Leonique meant to touch on this but I wanted to clarify that what he put forth isn't in addition to the supposed armor reduction, it is a correction.

- The 20% ranged defense increase is not at all affected by your attacker's position relative to you; The "cover cone" applies only to the "Cover" damage negation mechanic (i.e. Floating combat text says "Cover").

 

As far as Alacrity and the GCD are concerned, there's a fellow over on the Inq Sorcerer forum that puts forth that Alacrity only effects the GCD invoked by abilities whose activation times dip below the length of the standard GCD (1.5 seconds). He's apparently a member of the SithWarrior community, who have posted their findings there. It would make sense; The value of Alacrity would be basically nil for any class whose main abilities have short activation times (though I agree that it still has no value to Snipers, regardless). I haven't taken the time to test this myself, but the topic is here if you care to look into it: http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=157437

 

Overall helpful information, just a few things I think need to be re-examined/corrected.

Edited January 19, 2012 by EthanLight

[Fentanyl]

A couple of things that I think need clearing up:

- Accuracy, as best I can discern, does not affect a target's armor. Yes, I know the tooltip says "reduces defense", but defense is an actual thing, and completely separate from the "armor" stat.

 

Well said.

 

I have a feeling that the misconception occurred as a result of the multidimensional nature of the armor and defense ratings, themselves.

 

Armor rating makes a significant contribution to defense chance (the previously mentioned chance to parry, dodge, deflect, etc.). What you may not know is that all of these ingame outputs are different in name only. A Jedi's ability to "deflect" blaster fire is mechanically identical to a Sniper's chance to "dodge" attacks.

 

The text that is displayed/output varies according to class and certain other effect conditions.

 

In that sense, I have to shake my head a bit at the threads complaining about Jedi parry/deflect.

 

One of these days I'm going to make a diagram for Sniper stat inputs. Text can only accomplish so much!

[Karaokelove]

@EthanLight: What a fantastic post! Thank you for such valuable information. If I have time tonight, I'll do some more research regarding those topics and attempt to correct/clarify those areas of my guide. Thanks again!

 

@Fentanyl: As always, thanks for your valuable input. That information will come in handy when I'm trying to nail down exactly what attributes do what.

 

@Everyone: When I wrote the guide, most of the information floating around was questionable, at best. While a lot of the concepts in the guide are mostly correct, there are still a few areas that need to be corrected due to new/better information coming out about various game systems. I'm attempting to get these corrected/clarified as quickly as possible, but posts like EthanLight's and Fentanyl's definitely make my job easier. If you see anything that you think is either wrong or could be made clearer, please post your comments. And as always, thanks for reading!

Edited January 20, 2012 by Karaokelove

[Dwogger]

Can anyone advise of the good crew skill while leveling, but not the biochem? I am choosing between arms and cyber so far

[Karaokelove]

Can anyone advise of the good crew skill while leveling, but not the biochem? I am choosing between arms and cyber so far

 

Though I'm partial to Cybertech, either of those would be fine choices.

[menacegb]

Awesome Guide.................Thanks Karaokelove.

 

Every newbie Sniper should read this .

[menacegb]

Can anyone advise of the good crew skill while leveling, but not the biochem? I am choosing between arms and cyber so far

 

 

I went Armstech.

 

My 3 are......... Armstech, Scavenging (Must have for armstech IMO) & Underworld trading.

 

I did go Slicing instead of Scavenging to start with but changed it yesterday.

[Karaokelove]

Alright, finally hit 50 today with my Engineer spec. Expect a fairly in-depth overhaul of the guide within the next few days. If there is any information you think is either incorrect or could be stated in a more understandable manner, please post your thoughts asap so I can try to get most of the necessary changes made at once. Thanks!

[Tibbel]

You've got a good base to work from!

 

With some touch-ups, this will undoubtedly be a good source of basic information about the sniper advanced class.

 

Alright, finally hit 50 today with my Engineer spec. Expect a fairly in-depth overhaul of the guide within the next few days. If there is any information you think is either incorrect or could be stated in a more understandable manner, please post your thoughts asap so I can try to get most of the necessary changes made at once. Thanks!

 

 

Here are my comments:

 

 

1. Abbreviations

 

1a. Consider adding DPCT (Damage per Cast Time) here. While we are mostly concerned with DPE, there are are certain situations (most notably when Adrenaline Probe is coming off cooldown) when energy efficiency takes a back seat to time efficiency.

 

 

2. Important stats

 

2a. Accuracy -- You reference "Tech damage" here. Tech is not a type of damage; it is a type of attack.

 

There are four attack types: melee, ranged, tech, and force. Ranged and melee attacks can be defended and shielded, but not resisted; tech and force attacks are immune to both defense and shielding, but are avoidable by resistance. Defense and shield chance are much more prevalent on players and NPCs than resistance is.

 

There are four damage types: kinetic, energy, elemental, and internal. Kinetic and energy damage is mitigated by armor; elemental and internal damage is not.

 

2b. Alacrity -- This does not reduce cooldowns. It does reduce the GCD for abilities with cast/channeling times, but not for instant abilities. (i.e. a 1.4-second Snipe would have a GCD of 1.4 seconds, but a Snap Shot Snipe will have a 1.5-second GCD regardless of alacrity.)

 

2c. Armor -- Again, careful with the distinction between attack type and damage type. I suggest using wording like I used in comment (2a.) above.

 

2d. Defense -- Note that cover only grants ranged defense. Melee defense is not affected.

 

2e. Power -- The statement about diminishing returns in this paragraph is a little confusing. Power does not suffer from diminishing returns, but all other stats do to some degree. Every point of power grants you 0.23 "bonus damage" for factoring into various abilities' damage values.

 

You might also consider simply combining this paragraph with the one about tech power, since tech power is just power that applies only to tech attacks.

 

2f. Surge -- You note that Surge is no good without crit, but remember that cunning also increases crit chance of all our attacks (and aim increases crit chance for ranged attacks), so the statement about "until you get your crit rating to an acceptable level" is not quite right.

 

 

3. Cover

 

3a. Basic Cover -- Be sure to clarify this gives ranged defense, not melee. Also, if you are careful about distinguishing between attack types and damage types, then you can just say that ducking behind cover grants immunity to ranged attacks from enemies within 45 degrees in front.

 

 

4. Energy Management

 

4a. Just to clarify, to our best understanding, energy regen rate is based on percentage of maximum energy. (For example, with 2 points in Energy Tanks, the top bracket of 60%-100% is in effect from 66-110 energy.)

 

4b. The second-to-last paragraph in this section talks about dipping into a "4 EPS territory", but earlier in the section only 2, 3, and 5 EPS territories have been defined. (I suspect it's just a typo )

 

 

5. Rotations

 

5a. I think you've already seen some comments regarding your damage assumptions for Snipe. If you'd like more realistic numbers, I happen to know of a spreadsheet that could help provide you with them.

 

5b. The common practice when calculating DPE is to calculate it independent of cast time (i.e. not factoring in background energy regen). This prevents calculations from artificially deflating energy efficiency of shortened abilities. See my comments on Snap Shot (6b.) for an example.

 

 

6. Talent Trees

 

6a. Firstly, these are called "Skill Trees" in this game.

 

6b. Marksmanship -- Some comments about specific skills:

• Diversion: This works on PvE targets as well, elites and bosses included.
   
   
  
• Snap Shot: Shortening activation times does not cause energy to be used faster; it simply allows energy to be used faster. While small decreases in activation times are generally of limited value for sustained DPS because of our energy constraint, larger decreases can potentially allow an additional energy-free shot to be included in a rotation.
   
  In the case of Snap Shot, all it does for damage rotations is move the energy cost of Snipe from the end of the GCD to the beginning. (An instant Snipe still has 1.5 seconds of energy regen to come after its cost is applied.) It also locks the GCD to 1.5 seconds regardless of alacrity (since Snipe is now instant), but it also allows movement during those 1.5 seconds. The energy efficiency of Snipe is not altered at all.
   
   
  
• Sector Ranger: The real value of this skill for a DPS-focused sniper is in its large reduction to Orbital Strike's activation time. Whether that value merits inclusion in a spec is up for debate.
   
   
  
• Sniper Volley: This is a really terrible skill. (I'm usually not this subjective, but it's tough to make a good argument for Sniper Volley.) Among its numerous drawbacks are that it can't be refreshed once it's at 3 stacks, it only lasts for 6 seconds, it only stacks up from one of our lowest-DPE abilities, and that even its full effect of 9% alacrity is worth very little to an energy and cooldown-constrained MM rotation.

 

6c. Engineering -- Some comments about specific skills:

• Steady Shots: Engineering makes important use of Series of Shots, which also benefits from this skill.
   
   
  
• Engineer's Toolbelt: While reducing Flashbang's cooldown is nice for PvP and soloing, this skill also improves AoE by a good amount. Fragmentation Grenade is far superior to Suppressive Fire (higher DPE, much higher DPCT, better mobility, and all damage is up-front, so targets cannot run out of its area to avoid some of its damage). Allowing the use of Frag Grenage every 3 seconds rather than every 6 is a small increase in theoretical AoE, but a large practical increase.

 

6d. Hybrid Builds -- There is actually evidence that a hybrid MM/Eng build is competitive (if not slightly higher in DPS) than pure MM. There has been little scientific exploration of Eng/Leth or MM/Leth hybrid builds, but in my opinion it is too early to make hard claims for or against them.

 

6e. Final Thoughts -- Once again, "Skills" not "Talents".

 

 

8. Crew Skills

 

8a. A note about biochem: For lower levels (sub-50), there are schematics for re-usable adrenals/stims/medpacks available through reverse engineering. These are obviously less powerful than the level 50 versions.

 

 

9. Companions

 

 

 

9a. Ensign Raina Temple -- She wears medium armor. When she joins you on Hoth, she comes with modable dual pistols. Keeping her geared up is perhaps even easier than keeping Dr Lokin geared (although they compete for gear), and is probably a good idea if you run group quests with a healer friend or need one last DPS spot in a group. She has two stances, one for single-target and one for AoE, and she deals good damage with both while being able to stand out at range. She is a romance option for male characters.

 

9b. SCORPIO -- She is a melee tank and uses droid "armor". Yes, her name is actually in all capital letters. Also, she actually can't use an electrostaff; her possible weapons include techstaff or techblade. This is really unfortunate since neither of those weapon types are shared with any other character classes or companions, and they are not common at all in random drops. Pretty much the only weapon upgrades SCORPIO will ever get will be through a few specific quest rewards. She is another companion who sees more crafting time than field work.

 

Edited June 22, 2012 by Tibbel

[KDS-Volcane]

If you don't end up saving 1.5 seconds, then you are just waiting on energy regen and doing nothing OR spamming abilities faster and running yourself dry. In essence, your overall DPS is exactly the same unless you have a build/rotation that can keep up. For short periods of burst, sure. But for sustained periods of fighting most people have to fill with Rifle Shot anyway.

 

In PVP I think that time is very useful. Moreover, due to the repositioning that is required I never hit energy problems. It may not sound much but that burst can be quite critical. Speccing for 2pts in alacrity and using the top tier MM means a significant boost to a rapid fire set of 3 series of shots. That is also an easy part of a rotation and a good time to get some situational awareness.

Edited January 22, 2012 by KDS-Volcane

[Karaokelove]

@Tibbel: Wow. Just wow. That was such a fantastic post I don't even know what to say. Thank you so much for that valuable information. I'm going to sift through it and update the guide there applicable. The only issues I had were areas of conflicting information, where something you said directly contradicted something another reader had said, or contradicted something I had seen on another site. Those little tidbits I'm going to have to do some more research into before I make a final call, but most of your post is going to have a significant impact on the Sniper's Handbook. Thank you.

 

(I'm more inclined to take your advice over others as you've proved your knowledge of the game's mechanics with your awesome spreadsheet, but I feel that wouldn't be fair to the other sources of the conflicting information, which is why I feel the need to do further research. If I can't find any solid evidence one way or the other, I'll default to your information.)

[Dwogger]

Karaokelove, get some info for you, but not sure is it true...

Priorites:

Accuracy, up until ~216

Surge, up until ~275

Crit, up until ~300

Cunning

Surge, up until ~350

Crit, up until ~450

Power

Alacrity

Crit, beyond 450

Surge, beyond 350

Accuracy, beyond 216

 

Can anyone confirm it and give any comments about the changes in case of different talents added?

[Karaokelove]

@Dwogger: Thanks for the info! I'll cross-reference it with info provided at Sithwarrior.com and hopefully I can get it added to the guide shortly.

[IrnRose]

just wanted to say thanx for a great begginers guide to the sniper. Since i am still under lvl 20 won't have too many points to re-spec.

[Dwogger]

Karaokelove, well i actually get this info from that site too...

So I would like to know, is any other source can confirm this?

And one more: what about the build about this calculations? I mean, if you get 3 points in accuracy from talents, you need less rating, right? What are the numbers and there change in different builds?

 

 

And what about alacrity rating for snipers? Is it a useless stat or it has any affection on GCD?

[Karaokelove]

@Dwogger: Excellent questions!

 

For the 1st question, I'll look around to see if I can find anything, but right now sithwarrior.com seems to have a monopoly on the accurate theorycrafting threads.

 

For the 2nd question, that would make sense, though it's something I honestly haven't really thought about. If your abilities boost a specific stat, then it would theoretically free up some room for your equipment to boost a different stat.

 

For the 3rd question, all I can find is conflicting information on Alacrity. Tibbel has directed me to some solid threads over at Sithwarrior.com, but even those are saturated with arguments over what exactly Alacrity does. My conclusion on Alacrity is this: exactly what it does affect is fairly unimportant. As far as attribute priority goes, Alacrity is so far down on the list that you really shouldn't ever have to worry about it. You've already got Accuracy, Crit, Surge, Power, and possible Expertise to worry about. If you somehow manage to get all of those stats to their optimum levels, then you can take a look at Alacrity.

 

Hope that answers your questions.

Edited January 24, 2012 by Karaokelove