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Rotation for Operations PvE Sniper


Heatthead

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Assuming you are marksman spec, here is what I've found to work great for me. focus is on sustained damage in HM operations and FP.

 

you'll never want to go below 60 energy unless you are about to intentionally pop adrenaline probe. most boss fights are long enough to pop one probe near the beginning and have its cooldown finish before the end of the fight (at least once), allowing a burn down towards the end.

 

pay close attention to when the energy is consumed for your abilities. an example is that Series of Shots and followthrough consume their energy at the beginning of the cast, while ambush, snipe, etc. occur at the end of the cast. That means it is bad to use series of shots when below 80 energy, as you'll fall down into the bugged 3/sec energy regen zone. here is my take on various abilities:

 

series of shots

- don't use when below 80 energy

- use to proc reactive shot

- use as early as possible to get cooldown cycling again

- net cost is 2 energy (3s cast time = 18 energy recovered)

 

ambush

- use as early as possible to get cooldown cycling again.

- laze before use whenever possible

- inefficient when energy bar is full

- same cooldown time as series of shots so they are great to use in sequence

- net cost is 0 energy (no reactive shot proc, 2.5s cast = 15 energy)

- net cost is 6 energy (with reactive shot proc)

 

followthrough

- best used after ambush, since ambush is more energy efficient than snipe

- be careful of using when starting a snipe below 80 or ambush below 75 energy

- net cost is 0 energy (global cooldown and assuming 2 points into recoil control)

 

snipe

- can be an energy killer

- inefficient when energy bar is full

- don't get carried away with sniper volley (I passed on sniper volley in my latest respec. to me, 3 points is not worth a few seconds of alacrity that just causes me to burn energy)

- net cost is 11 energy

 

rapid fire

- most energy effective sustained dps a marksman has

 

 

 

a typical opening rotation might go something like:

 

- scattershot

- target acquired + crit/surge relic (get cooldown cycling as soon as possible)

- series of shots

- rapid fire

- series of shots

- series of shots

- laze

- ambush

- followthrough

- alternate snipe and rifle shots

- bring energy back up to 100-110 range

 

repeat:

 

- series of shots

- ambush

- followthrough

- snipe / rifle shot mix

 

occasionally increase frequency of snipe / followthrough to burn down energy in preparation for adrenaline probe.

 

for fights that force you to move frequently, increase use of snipe / followthrough since you'll be recovering energy while on the move and rifle shotting

 

here is my current PvE sustained dps spec: http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#400bsrddRoRgzZbcZG.1

 

I hope that helps with sustained dps!

Edited by KseriousEG
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...

a typical opening rotation might go something like:

 

- scattershot

- target acquired + crit/surge relic (get cooldown cycling as soon as possible)

- series of shots

- rapid fire

- series of shots

- series of shots

- laze

- ambush

- followthrough

- alternate snipe and rifle shots

- bring energy back up to 100-110 range

 

repeat:

 

- series of shots

- ambush

- followthrough

- snipe / rifle shot mix

...

 

I tried this rotation (although I lack rapid fire) and I like it. The only thing that gripes me is that Snap Shot seems abit wasted now in a standard rotation. Sure you can fire off an instant Snipe if you have to move about but it still seems highly situational.

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My snap shot is my first ability used on boss fights/fp big groups. Instant snipe + explosive probe takes down my energy, but then the long Ambush activation time let's me regen it practically back to full.

 

I kept getting annoyed when I first got snap shot, because my typical Ambush opening led into a Snipe -> instant Snipe suddenly tanked my energy, and I couldn't get the cooldown of my explosive probe going immediately

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Here's my rotation. Totally stole it from someone else in my very early days of learning the class but it has worked wonders for me.

 

It's a 6 second ABCC "priority" rotation based around Followthrough. The list isn't my personal priority (I don't use Orbtial Strike or SoS first, for example) since its mostly based on what's being attacked and how much energy I have, but it allows you to stay above 60 Energy for the entire fight.

 

One note though: NEVER use ambush without Reactive Shot. Its too easy to make RS proc to justify an entire second extra casting time on Ambush.

 

A - Followthrough

 

B - Snipe or (Reactive Shot) Ambush

 

C -

Series of Shots (Counts as two Cs)

Orbital Strike (Counts as two Cs)

Snipe

Ambush (Reactive Shot only)

Explosive Probe

Rifle Shot

 

Of course mix in stuff like Laze Target, Shatter Shot, etc. when needed.

 

I know I might be forgetting an ability or two, but you should be able to figure out when best to use it.

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The typical accepted rotation for MM looks like this...

 

Snipe(or RS Ambush if its available) -> Followthrough

Filler

Filler

Snipe(or RS Ambush if its available) -> Followthrough

Filler

Filler

...repeat.

 

You want to make sure that you are able to use FT every single time that it is up.

Fillers:

Explosive Prove

SoS (Counts as 2 fillers)

Orbital Strike

Takedown

Rifle Shot

Shatter Shot

Corrosive Dart

 

I typically do not ever use 2 SoS in a row when I activate Rapid Fire. If you do, you are wasting time on your followthrough. The way I use it is it allows me to do 3 consecutive SoS filler sequences.

Never use Ambush without RS active. I almost always use is after I do SoS as I will typically crit at one point in that sequence allowing for the 1.5s cast and they have the same CD so it works out well.

 

Also, in regards to your snap shot question. The reason for snap shot is not so you can put it in your rotation. It is there because in many boss fights, we are required to get up and move. The snap shot ability is so when we are required to move, we can jump right back into our rotation without having to cast the 1.5s snipe. Basically makes it so moving doesnt totally kill our DPS.

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If I'm going to hit a single target for a long time:

Laze, cover, instant snipe, followthrough, shattershot (if target is high armor), trinket/adrenal, series of shots, rapid fire, series of shots, ambush (assuming rapid fire is triggered), followthrough.

 

I don't have sniper volley so after that what I do varies.

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