gatoraviator Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 (edited) I love PvP. If there was no PvP content in SWTOR I would never have even bought the game. Fighting other players as a Merc can be extremely fun and rewarding if you know what you're doing. On the other hand, if you don't know the basics it can be very frustrating and makes you scratch your head guessing where you went wrong after you lose a match. I would like to share some information that might prove useful and give you an edge in those BGs. I am not an "expert" pvper but this is just my input on what I have found useful in playing a Mercenary. However, I have gotten Immortal in BGs as a dps class which is quite difficult so I'm not a PvP slouch . First of all, here are the stats you should focus on as a Mercenary. This stat prioritization is what I have found from simple observation with playing the class, not hard facts on a spreadsheet. Expertise > Aim > Power > Surge > Alacrity > Crit > Accuracy Expertise - Increases all damage and healing by a % to other players based on the expertise value. This also stacks with your damage reduction %. Example: 30% armor + 10% expertise = 40% damage reduction. Aim - Very obvious. Your primary stat gives a boost to multiple stats. Power - Increases overall damage and healing output 100% of the time. Not 20%. Not 30%. 100% of the time. Surge - Increases Crit damage and healing %. Since Mercs have a very high crit chance this stat is essential to killing your opponents quickly and efficiently. Alacrity - Most people like to call this "haste" to make things easier. Contrary to what many players have said about Alacrity being useless in PvP, it is actually quite useful. Haste decreases channeling time AND the global cooldown of skills that require a casting time like Tracer Missile or Power Shot. However, it does not lower the global cooldown of instant abilites like Rail Shot or Heatseeker Missiles. Any Merc knows that he's going to be using Tracer Missile / Power Shot probably 50% of the time so Alacrity has its uses. Even though Alacrity builds up heat faster, a majority of the time your main objective is to kill your target ASAP. You can always Vent Heat or Reload later if you find a chance to get out of combat. Crit - Increases Critical chance % of all damage and healing skills. Having a high crit chance is great for Mercs, but the conversion rate for Crit rating is sub-par at best so it would be wise to swap crit for other more efficient stats like Surge or Power. Accuracy - Pretty much useless in PvP once you hit the cap. I wouldn't even go so far as saying getting to the hit cap is necessary in PvP. Even as a dual wielding dps class, your off hand dps is so low in comparison to main hand dps that any hit rating over the cap is pretty worthless. Think about it; how many of your attacks actually use both weapons? Not many. Get to 95% hit chance if you like and focus boosting other stats instead. -------------- Once you have the knowledge of how stats play a part in PvP combat, your next step should be on knowing what talent points go where. Since I am not aware of any Armory for SWTOR I'll just list what talents are useful for PvP as Arsenal. Power Barrier - Probably the best two talent points you will spend for PvP. Gives your Tracer Missiles 100% chance to increase your damage reduction by +2% and stacks up to five times for a total of +10%. Jet Escape - I don't know how many times this has saved me from certain death. This talent reduces the cooldown of Jet Boost by 10 seconds and Determination by 30 seconds. Stack this with your Eliminator set bonus and you'll have a 15 second Jet Boost cooldown. Not bad at all. Afterburners - Gives your Rocket Punch a knockback effect and also increases the knockback distance of Jet Boost. I would never play Huttball without this talent. Having two knockbacks gives you more utility in tight situations. It would be wise to keybind Rocket Punch in case someone decides to get in melee range. Pinning Fire - Unload now slows enemies by 50% after every tick of damage. This mechanic is useful because it makes it almost impossible for enemy players to cancel the slow effect of Unload with their 2 min cooldown. Light 'Em Up - Doubles the number of heat signatures on your target with each missile. A must have for PvP. Stabilizers - Reduces the pushback suffered from attacks with casting Tracer Missile, Power Shot, and Concussion Missile by 75%. There will be many times when you are left with no options but to cast Tracer / Power shot at melee range, making this talent a no brainer. The rest of your talent points is up to personal preference. However, some talents are obviously more effective than others in a combat situtation so choose wisely. Hopefully, this will help you have a more pleasant and rewarding PvP experience playing a Mercenary! Good luck. Edited January 31, 2012 by gatoraviator Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Koendewit Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 I thought it was: Tracer missile Tracer missile Tracer missile Tracer missile Tracer missile Tracer missile repeat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ihateyouall Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 Tracer Missile Fixed it for you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kreugen Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 (edited) Rocket punch (if being meleed) -> Tracer x2 for debuff -> heatseeker -> unload -> rail shot (if 4x tracer lock) -> tracer until unload procs (because everything else is on cooldown) Also AOE death from above > fusion missile > explosive dart (sweeping blasters is too much heat for too little damage) and don't forget to heal, stun, aoe knockback, damage reduction shield, regen cooldown, and concussion missile Or you laugh at people who think good BH are only using tracer missile. Edited February 1, 2012 by Kreugen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zepath Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 I thought it was: Tracer missile Tracer missile Tracer missile Tracer missile Tracer missile Tracer missile repeat You are right .... right now. You watch how this will work. They will nerf tracer missile because they never intended the arsenal merc to be a "one button" build ... but they won't boost anything else, making the arsenal merc totally useless ... forcing everyone into a thermal build. Then after a few weeks of everyone whining about getting owned by thermal builds, they will nerf that, which, along with last week's nerf of healing will render the Merc class completely useless (or at least, not any fun to play). Then everyone will move on and whine about the next class and build .... and 6 months from now, the only build that will be worth a crap will be the Jedi Counselor and the Inquisitor Sorc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrip Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 (edited) You stat values are way off. http://sithwarrior.com/forums/Thread-Arsenal-Mercenary-Gunnery-Commando-DPS-Compendium Edited February 17, 2012 by Mrip Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cebby Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 Contradicting info about alacrity vs the GCD. Anyone have proof that you can lower the GCD? Because I kno gcd is 1.5 secs, and the way i understand it, any cast time under 1.5 secs wont benefit from alacrity Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anticept Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 You do realize that merc can be pyro or bodyguard too OP so making a guide for Arsenal mercs should just contain one line that says use tracer missile. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Proppa Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 I thought it was: Tracer missile Tracer missile Tracer missile Tracer missile Tracer missile Tracer missile repeat This. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wolveroach Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 So says the lightning spammer above. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
napeh Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 You do realize that merc can be pyro or bodyguard too OP so making a guide for Arsenal mercs should just contain one line that says use tracer missile. He said merc, you cant guard. Any anyone who thinks you can just sit there and spam tracer missiles for top effectiveness is obviously a *******. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Proppa Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 So says the lightning spammer above. I've rolled Vanguard now, Sorc was boring Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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