Anyone else think that the high level solo quests are way too difficult?

[oddmyth]

but are you Kinetic spec, as i did use it but i think i'm specced wrong as still using Crit and accuracy, should i throw defence in there or is it not needed.

 

You shouldn't need accuracy at all til 50, and crit does little to nothing for a Kinetic Shadow.

Kinetic shadows use defensive stats, shield/absorb/defense.

[oddmyth]

I honestly think that it's an Infiltration problem at this point. I don't think anyone here is arguing that it's too hard to level as Kinetic Combat. I'm 46 and there are still lot of regular quest mobs on Voss that you can't take on by yourself unless you're able to gimmick the fight by kiting using LOS. There are at least two fights that I can remember that took me at least 6+ tries to beat before I gave up and went and did something else.

 

Generally as Infiltration you end up being either too squishy for Theran to keep up or Qyzen or Iresso don't last long enough because you can't heal them.

 

Kiting and LOS aren't gimmicks, they are genuine combat techniques.

I'm starting Voss tonight as a Kinetic Shadow, I'll report back on difficulty.

 

Stark has literally been the hardest fight for me so far, and that's the beginning of the Voss line. We'll see how this goes.

[Rejectoo]

Kiting and LOS aren't gimmicks, they are genuine combat techniques.

I'm starting Voss tonight as a Kinetic Shadow, I'll report back on difficulty.

 

Stark has literally been the hardest fight for me so far, and that's the beginning of the Voss line. We'll see how this goes.

 

I agree Stark was a pain. However I was 2 or 3 levels lower so I excepted that.

 

The Trials quest on Voss was a challenge to but it was great and well written. I survived but it was close with some of those elites. Again was like a lvl or 2 lower.

 

 

Was very disappointing in the Voss First Child boss compared to Stark

 

Edited January 6, 2012 by Rejectoo

[Morvoldo]

You shouldn't need accuracy at all til 50, and crit does little to nothing for a Kinetic Shadow.

Kinetic shadows use defensive stats, shield/absorb/defense.

 

thank you thats what i thought, also thought about looking at a Kinetic/Balance spec kinda half en Half with using Force tech as main but keeping a little defence talents as atm i re-speced to Balance, the Twin Diciplins talent that procs with project is nice as it gives 10% melee dmg output

 

kinda like this http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#601rI0corzZZfMfRbbzb.1

but still unsure as will only give me 1 or 2 stun ability

Edited January 6, 2012 by Morvoldo

[Rejectoo]

You shouldn't need accuracy at all til 50, and crit does little to nothing for a Kinetic Shadow.

Kinetic shadows use defensive stats, shield/absorb/defense.

 

I agree with the accuracy. But I have been rolling a crit build and no issues really. I will switch to what you say once I am 50 and wanting to tank Hard and Nightmare FPs and Heroics but for now Cirt build cause I want to kill fast get in and out of the quest area.

 

thank you thats what i thought, also thought about looking at a Kinetic/Balance spec kinda half en Half with using Force tech as main but keeping a little defence talents as atm i re-speced to Balance, the Twin Diciplins talent that procs with project is nice as it gives 10% melee dmg output

 

kinda like this http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#601rI0corzZZfMfRbbzb.1

but still unsure as will only give me 1 or 2 stun ability

 

I am going to be rolling a 31/0/10 build right now. I should get slow time at 50

Edited January 6, 2012 by Rejectoo

[Dirtydurst]

I rolled deep infiltration the whole way, used a tank for most of the lvling and then switch to a healer at about lvl 40. Make sure you use low slash to get in backstabs, etc. Don't be afraid to kite and use LOS as well. For boss fights I would suggest using your vanish and saping the boss and then killing any adds.

[denodak]

Kiting and LOS aren't gimmicks, they are genuine combat techniques.

 

I didn't mean that they weren't viable strategies or that you shouldn't use them. I just must meant that you can't always use them. Some fights don't have anything to LOS around and some enemies you can't kite because they're ranged. It's THOSE fights that give me headaches because you're forced to sit there and soak the damage somehow. And, in general, as Infiltration it just feels like you just don't have the tools to do that. Just my opinion.

[Morvoldo]

in Voss u cant sap hardly any of the elites as they apear when you enter a point or they are summoned, you use vanish and you go out of combat and elite/boss vanishes so your basically screwed as your straight into a fight, like 1 part of the class quest you gotta kill this jedi/sith guy he has 2 norms with him basically u gotta take all 3 hit both normals while and elite is kicking your arse , for shadow infil it doesent work.

Voss i find is strange as its completly different to any of the other planets before as you did have a conversation with an eilte soon as fight begins cloak/vanish and then Mindmaze elite and do your normal from stealth moves that give you that buffs and damage, on Voss its nothing like that fight straight away cloak and they go oh and most of em are immune to stun

 

Edit. sorry normal quest "Darker than Dark" i was refiring to, class quest you gotta kill a guy with a sheild that heals him while taking out Guns, and they dont apear until you engage.

Edited January 6, 2012 by Morvoldo

[denodak]

in Voss u cant sap hardly any of the elites as they apear when you enter a point or they are summoned, you use vanish and you go out of combat and elite/boss vanishes so your basically screwed as your straight into a fight, like 1 part of the class quest you gotta kill this jedi/sith guy he has 2 norms with him basically u gotta take all 3 hit both normals while and elite is kicking your arse , for shadow infil it doesent work.

Voss i find is strange as its completly different to any of the other planets before as you did have a conversation with an eilte soon as fight begins cloak/vanish and then Mindmaze elite and do your normal from stealth moves that give you that buffs and damage, on Voss its nothing like that fight straight away cloak and they go oh and most of em are immune to stun

 

Edit. sorry normal quest "Darker than Dark" i was refiring to, class quest you gotta kill a guy with a sheild that heals him while taking out Guns, and they dont apear until you engage.

 

Very much this. On Voss you're often forced into a "fair fight" and more often than not, you get your tail handed to you. It's just frustrating.

[Rejectoo]

in Voss u cant sap hardly any of the elites as they apear when you enter a point or they are summoned, you use vanish and you go out of combat and elite/boss vanishes so your basically screwed as your straight into a fight, like 1 part of the class quest you gotta kill this jedi/sith guy he has 2 norms with him basically u gotta take all 3 hit both normals while and elite is kicking your arse , for shadow infil it doesent work.

Voss i find is strange as its completly different to any of the other planets before as you did have a conversation with an eilte soon as fight begins cloak/vanish and then Mindmaze elite and do your normal from stealth moves that give you that buffs and damage, on Voss its nothing like that fight straight away cloak and they go oh and most of em are immune to stun

 

Edit. sorry normal quest "Darker than Dark" i was refiring to, class quest you gotta kill a guy with a sheild that heals him while taking out Guns, and they dont apear until you engage.

 

I know that quest and I did Force Cloak and they did not disappear. I did it cause some reason Theran and the speeder bike summons bug hit me and he was not there to heal me so I had to cloak and summon him and then kill all 3. But yes kill weakest first always.

[Rejectoo]

Very much this. On Voss you're often forced into a "fair fight" and more often than not, you get your tail handed to you. It's just frustrating.

 

I am glad I did not even look at Inf spec for this class then cause man there are a lot of people that complain about it.

[denodak]

I am glad I did not even look at Inf spec for this class then cause man there are a lot of people that complain about it.

 

Don't get me wrong, I'm loving the spec for Flashpoints and PVP. You put out a boatload of burst damage and you have a couple good CC options there as well. The problem is that I just don't think they're enough to solo a lot of the quest mobs in later levels. Which is odd because usually for an MMO it's reversed.

[oddmyth]

thank you thats what i thought, also thought about looking at a Kinetic/Balance spec kinda half en Half with using Force tech as main but keeping a little defence talents as atm i re-speced to Balance, the Twin Diciplins talent that procs with project is nice as it gives 10% melee dmg output

 

kinda like this http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#601rI0corzZZfMfRbbzb.1

but still unsure as will only give me 1 or 2 stun ability

 

I'm currently rolling 31/0/10, well 31/0/5 at 45. However I'm going to switch to 24/0/17 http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#601rcrokrskZZf0cRroz.1

 

And play with that for a while just to see how it feels without Slow Time and Harnessed Shadows. Force in Balance hits twice as hard as Slow Time, but has a CD that's twice as long, however you can use it from 30m, it costs 5 force less when talented and FiB dmg isn't reduced by armor. I'm not sure about the threat for Slow Time versus FiB, but I'm interested to find out.

 

Right now Slow Time isn't hitting as hard as it should. Its averaging 400-600 dmg when it should be hitting for close to 900-1000 dmg with a fully talented Force Break (30% dmg increase). I'm assuming this is kinectic dmg reduction from higher armor on mobs, however since this seems to be the case on any light/medium/heavy armored mob, I think its bugged.

 

FiB however is internal damage and shouldn't suffer such high damage reduction. So I'm hoping that Slow Time and FiB are close to threat equivalent. I found the high cost of Slow Time kept me from casting it on cooldown (the debuff lasts 15 seconds), so FiB being 5 force less will certainly help me get more Projects and Double Strikes in. The extra damage and crit chance on DS will also be a plus and the free Mind Crush is certainly welcome as that will only help threat further.

 

I wouldn't get rid of Force Pull/Stasis/Bombardment however, those are all pretty key tanking talents.

 

Overall only having to manage Mind Crush and Particle Acceleration procs and Force Breach/Kinetic Ward falloff sounds like a godsend. Having Slow Time, Breach and Kinetic Ward falloff at the same time and PA proc after a DS in the same interval leaves me Force starved for a good 3 GCD's (losing PA procs to the animation lag in Project is killng me). I'm hoping this will change much of that as well.

 

I'll find out tonight!

[Morvoldo]

ok Kinectic combat has allowed me to continue as using Theran, tho Kinectic kinda kicks arse does loads of dmg also, no wonder so many chose it, keeps u alive longer and the force regen is sweet, why cant sage or other shadow specs have that, still kept all same stats like crit,accuracy (as its on newish gear) anyways wil go back to Infiltraite or Balance once level 50 tho as dont realy wanna tank raids (hats off to those who do), but Bio realy wants to re-look at those specs.

 

thanks

Edited January 6, 2012 by Morvoldo

[Ageouss]

I'm only 37 but leveled up to 34 going for the 25/0/16 spec. I had 16 in Balance and was filling out Kinetic. I then switched at 34 to the 31/0/10 spec where I had all my points at that level in Kinetic.

 

Some play style differences I found, free instant Mind Crush seems great but it still takes a GCD so it's not really completely free. I'd love to see a full theorycraft analysis if the "free instant" Mind Crush is really worth it considering other options you could be using the GCD for. You also have to watch your buff bar like a hawk to not miss it so in either spec you still have your eyes glued to your buff bar.

 

Comparing FiB to Slow Time you also need to consider that FiB only hits 3 targets where Slow Time hits more (5?) and Slow Time provides a debuff.

 

You also lose Force Break which makes Force Breach 15% stronger. Honestly from a quick look with with out crunching numbers I don't see why 25/0/16 is considered the AoE spec and 31/0/10 is considered the single target spec.

 

I do miss the 30m range on FiB.

[IBJammin]

Shadow Infiltrator is definitely squishy. Since my kiting skills are still being developed I've just accepted the fact that I need to use the GTN to gear up a little ahead of drops and that I need to come do the bosses when I'm a level ahead. It's not a huge deal for me as there's enough content and possibility to level outside of the class story but I gotta admit that it can get frustrating.

 

I still have a lot of l2p to happen so I accept the handicap but you just have to adjust to what's needed.

 

Does not Force Cloak work to help you get set on Voss or are they seeing through the stealth too quickly?

[HibashiraSakai]

48 Seer here.

 

The only Elite mob I had problem with is Stark. I died multiple times trying to kill him.

 

My style is Qyzen tanking and half DPS, I heal and half DPS. On rare occasions would I need to heal the whole time. With proper gears, most elites are fairly straight forward.

 

The only 2 mob types I have issue with are Sith Inquisitor lightning-DPS type or commando-self heal DPS type. Both types require a lot of interrupts and I can only do it when I'm focused on the mob instead of Qyzen.

 

Stark was hard since his damage output was so high and he self heals. I had to burn all my cool downs and only win by a hair.

[oddmyth]

Some play style differences I found, free instant Mind Crush seems great but it still takes a GCD so it's not really completely free. I'd love to see a full theorycraft analysis if the "free instant" Mind Crush is really worth it considering other options you could be using the GCD for. You also have to watch your buff bar like a hawk to not miss it so in either spec you still have your eyes glued to your buff bar.

 

In regards to free Mind Crush. The "want" here is the "free" part of a high damage ability. The problem with kinetic combat is that you can force starve yourself very easily trying to maintain your dps cycle AND your buff/debuff cycle. Its easy to see a proc happen, its hard to make sure you have enough force to use the proc before it dissapears (even harder as a shadow because of the stupid project animation bug where PA doesn't get consumed on cast, but on hit).

 

Comparing FiB to Slow Time you also need to consider that FiB only hits 3 targets where Slow Time hits more (5?) and Slow Time provides a debuff.

 

You also lose Force Break which makes Force Breach 15% stronger. Honestly from a quick look with with out crunching numbers I don't see why 25/0/16 is considered the AoE spec and 31/0/10 is considered the single target spec.

 

I do miss the 30m range on FiB.

 

Quite honestly I'm not looking at this spec for endgame tanking, because losing a 10-12% heal every 30 seconds or so and a 5% dmg reduction debuff isn't in my or my groups best interest. This is more of a higher dmg output spec for general purpose tanking, that costs less force and has easier ability uptime. I do think that Force Break is completely bugged, but I will tackled that task later. I do think that you are correct in that this is the single target spec and 31/0/10 is the AOE spec. 25/0/16 buffs your DS damage alot, FiB and instant Mind Crush are excellent low cost / high damage tools for a minimum of mobs.

 

Right now I can deal with taking 5% more damage, in hardmode FP's I'm not sure I can take that chance.

[Typeslice]

43 Infilitration here. No real issues so far. Some good fights, but nothing unbeatable.

[kyuyu]

I'm a level 39 Sage and I have tried out both Balance and Seer for leveling. As Balance I lack the healing to keep my companion alive when the damage starts coming in and as a Seer I lack the damage to kill the stronger mobs before they kill my companion.

I'm not willing to rule out the possibility that I just suck but it seems like there was an absurd leap in difficulty from around 35+

I honestly don't know if I am going to get this character to 50 if I almost die every fight.

 

Honestly you did something wrong if you run out of force as seer or even die.

 

I leveled as seer to 50 and I soloed even champion mobs. I also soloed a couple of area quests and finished my class quest 3 levels below the boss.

 

As seer sage, you use your dps companions, either Zenith or Nadia for regular quests and use Lt. for heroic ones. You dot mobs then spam healing your companions. Use target of target a lot to rotate between dps mobs and healing your companion.

 

Do not forget to gear your companions. As a healer, your companions' gear is more important than you since your heal won't be improved much from gear but your companions dps will increase a ton if you give them the best gear possible.

[Circular_Logic]

It's a shame that having any level of challenge to pve can generate this many tears. It's the same on all class boards, too many people complaining that they can't auto attack mobs to death post 40. Respec change companions and figure out something that works. It's a game, it's not designed for bots.

[Gyrfalcon]

While that is sound advice and I appreciate it, it's not very motivational.

I appreciate classes have different strengths and weaknesses but it feels a bit extreme that I should have to fight an elite for anywhere between 2-5 minutes while almost every other class can kill it, and it's adds, in under 1 minute. It's simply not productive or efficient to level like that.

 

I really hope that I am just missing some key factor in playing a Sage and when I figure it out it'll be smooth leveling right up to 50 but at the moment it seems insurmountable and I am just not enjoying the process.

 

This is my experience as well as a Seer. I found that, as soon as I hit Quesh - at level 36 - every Elite mob became a challenge. If I just heal, I can take down anything, but I'm there for literally a couple of minutes for just one Elite and his friends. Even if I DPS some - although it risks Qyzen getting too low on health - to speed things up, having to Meditate after every single fight slows me down a lot compared to the Immortal Juggernaut I played at this level in beta. I'm finding it incredibly frustrating and am tempted to switch specs and give up on being a healer at all. I should note that I haven't had any trouble healing in the few Flashpoints I've done. It's only solo content once I hit Quesh that I've found aggravating.

 

And, before someone suggests it, I promise I have Qyzen as well-geared as I can afford to get him - every quest that rewards companion gear and a few commendation-bought items have gone to him. It has been hard to find a weapon upgrade for him, as the vendors I've checked don't stock techblades. But, in my mind, I shouldn't have to scour three planets to find gear just so I can handle solo content. If I wanted to solo Heroic quests, that'd be different, but all I want to do is to be able to progress through the story without each individual quest taking half an hour.

 

Also, as to the question of skill, it's entirely possible that I'm not that good at playing the class. But why should I have to be in the top 10% of players to progress through solo content without banging my head into the keyboard every 10 minutes? Isn't this supposed to be fun? If I have to train as hard as I would for a new job just to see level 45, it's time to play something else where fun isn't on a cliff that you can only get to by making a series of jumps onto narrow ledges that require split-second timing.

[Gyrfalcon]

I swapped Qyzen for Zenith and have had an easier time. I'm still dying a lot more frequently than I'd like, i.e. at all, but it is possible to progress. If the difficulty takes another jump after Quesh, however, I don't think I'm going to end up a healer.

[Jswizzle]

Hey all, level 45 sage here.

 

I've barely touched Voss, but I don't expect it to be much different than previous planets. I can't speak for other classes, but when I'm slacking or do something wrong on my Sage I go splat.

 

I don't have a problem with the game keeping me on my toes. I beat Stark at level 41, it took a few tries till I realized how to win. If you are losing to Elites and bosses a lot you probably aren't using your interrupt ability. Even on my Sage who heals lots, I have to interrupt lots of enemies.

 

Also if you take damage a lot period you need to stack +defense gear. I put + defense gear on Nadia and watch her face plant everything in light armor.

[Alaudo]

Hi all.

Today i've tried to kill Master Syo Bakarn and i got one question: did the developers test this boss? It seems imposible for soloing him with normal gear. I've tried all my companions, all spells (earthquake allways) were interruped, all my save abilities were used. The best result was down to 15% bosses health. And i dont want to say about some laggy non useble abilities that just dont work sometimes. Had to call my guildmate to kill a solo storyline boss. I have a good amount of mmo experiense (about 10 years and beta testing SWTOR ofc) but this ussue just raged me wild ><

:jawa_evil:

 

Jedi Shadow... 10/31/0

Edited January 8, 2012 by Alaudo