Post-Patch 1.2

[FoolMetalJacket]

So, I've noticed that EVERY other class got buffed and the Bounty Hunter got nerfed (again), both in damage, damage radius, cooldown, AND heat management.

 

Well, here I go...

 

[RANT]

 

Am I missing something here? Or does Bioware just not want me to play my Mercenary anymore? I wouldn't be so annoyed if it weren't my main, and only high-level character right now.

 

I'm thinking I shouldn't even bother playing it now, and just focus on my Force-using characters... that is, my Jedi Sentinel, Jedi Shadow, Sith Juggernaut, and Sith Sorcerer. I mean, those classes got some nice buffs. With the umbrella debuffing and nerfing that Bioware has so graciously bestowed upon our class in most respects, I can't see how I can possibly SURVIVE in PvP (pub warzones or otherwise), much less do well. My relative lack of skill nonwithstanding.

 

The nerfs on Tracer Missile, Powershot, and Death From Above was probably the things that pissed me off the most. It was bad enough before that DFA was easily interrupted, now I can't even hit those fast-moving groups of stun-spamming Jedi.

 

The only actual buff I saw was for Barrage, and that's still unrelaible since it still doesn't trigger 100% of the time. I can understand the Heat Signature debuff working only for the BH that triggered it, but the rest? I will probably play to level 50 just to unlock my Legacy crap, but that's it. No reason to struggle to keep up with melee classes if I don't have to. I don't even know if it's worth the trouble to even finish my BH storyline, as much as I've enjoyed it thus far.

 

Now, technically Heatseeker Missiles got buffed (by a measly 10%), and I can't say I dislike that, but it doesn't make up for the 2-second casting times on TM and PS.

 

I'm sure my Trooper counterparts feel the same. It was hard enough before to take a Force-using class on toe-to-toe and survive, what with the massive advantages melee classes have over mobile ranged classes (BH and Trooper). Sure, my Imperial Sniper and Republic Scoundrel are a tad more viable to use in PvP now, but I might as well just play my Jedi/Sith classes now, and forget my BH.

 

And to top it all off Bounty Hunters STILL only have 2 abilities with stun effects, and no other abilities to help reduce stun times or break out of stuns. Because, you know, the Resolve system still sucks. I swear that it only works for high-level Guardians and Juggernauts.

 

They could have at least given us greater backpedaling speed to be equal to our forward walking speed, or SOMETHING. Literally everything that's USEFUL in PvP combat got nerfed, and across the board Mercs and Techs got boned on DPS, since that what happens when you kill our mainstay weapons, our MISSILES. Not to mention for the healers out there (I know you're out there), there's no point in trying anymore, since with Supercharged Gas nerfed (Bioware wanted more hot air for themselves, I guess) and Kolto abilities STILL crippled by Heat Management, you might as well use your Sith Inquisitor or Imperial Agent for a healing class. Their DPS/Healing didn't suffer, it got improved.

 

[/RANT]

 

Really disappointed with the imbalanced class "updates". Bounty Hunters got a massive sucker punch and every other class either got buffed (or fairly rebalanced, not majorly affecting gameplay). Puts on a massive damper on my glee for the UI customization and other nice features they added.

[xobobox]

My arsenal Merc is fine. I played 5 matchs this morning. The only real problem I had was that everyones expertise was jacked in comparison. TM and PS now generate 16 Heat(down from 25), and has a 2-second activation time (up from 1.5), but Muzzle Fluting lowers the cast time of TM and PS by .5 back to the original 1.5 cast time. Same cast time, less heat.

 

They took 10% damage from PS and gave it to HS which is fine with me. I wasn't using powershot much in the first place and HS damage increases 5% with each heat signature applied. Even more damage! Now I have almost no reason to use PS. HS now also takes into account the correct number of heat signatures on the target.

 

DFA just had the radius changed a bit. It actually begins dealing damage sooner after activation.

 

They also significantly increased the chance for "Barage" to occur from TM and PS

 

As far as I can tell WE JUST GOT BUFFED DUDE!

 

Get some better PVP gear. You'll be fine.

 

http://www.torhead.com/patch/1.2

[Karkais]

So far my BH shieldtech feels relatively unchanged, except that death from above is now nigh pointless due to its range nerf.

 

I used to start a fight with it, but where it used to hit the entire trashgroup, it now hits basically 1 mob cause they tend to stand so far apart... And since my shieldtech is basically melee , I cant really collect them together and then shoot either, since it requires distance from targets. Great job in another pointless change, bioware.

 

The death from above change really needs rolling back.

 

ps. I ignore posts from pvpers but this thread was a suitable outlet.

Edited April 12, 2012 by Karkais

[DEuZZ]

This game is no more fun! reduced dps on my merc so much i'm useless. Also i hate the new tracer missile animation!

And we still don't have any mobility at all, that they did not add that to our class now is beyond stupid!

Merc DPS now is PURE joke!!!! Before bioware said we would be op with skills like interrupt etc, but NOW we are NOT op with that! we do hopeless dps, so give us something more, or buff our dps again, cuz the way it is right now, we do LOW dps can't kill anything, and no form of mobility at all!

Edited April 12, 2012 by DEuZZ

[ButterStrawKid]

the only nerf i see is the radius of death from above. other than that all i see are buffs. just because you gotta use other abilities other than tracer missile to do dmg doesnt mean the class sucks it means you have to learn to press more than 1 button to steam roll someone in 1.2. i got a full BM merc and im doing just as good before the patch maybe a little less dmg since expertise got buffed making EVERYONE do less dmg

[tokabowl]

As a healer merc, I feel like the bodyguards got nerfed, supercharged gas should take away more heat, they nerfed it down to 8 heat cut its stats in half, then for Kolto shield they made it cost 16 heat up from 0 which is rediculous

[tamatsu]

I feel the same way. My champ gear is worthless now which forced me to buy this recruit stuff. Then my BH gets nerfed down so much that my TM is doing 1000 to 1300 (crit for 2000 some times) and if any thing you now have to have all 5 stacks for HM to do enough damage to matter. Which means..... you guessed it more TM spam. Which by the way procs every thing for a merc. Maybe bioware need to think about that if people have an issue with TM being over powered why not make other skills give stacks for RS and yes i do use PS when i have to but if my spec makes TM better why would i spam PS over TM. Edited April 12, 2012 by tamatsu

[Acidbottle]

made me realise why i get so sick and tired of mmos. devs can chop and change things to how they see fit .. we, the paying customer, just have to suck it all up and take it up the rear quarters.

 

its the way it is and the way it will always be. however, past experience shows that if you QQ in extreme amounts sometimes they change their mind, not often but on ocassion.

[Dasthug]

My arsenal Merc is fine. I played 5 matchs this morning. The only real problem I had was that everyones expertise was jacked in comparison. TM and PS now generate 16 Heat(down from 25), and has a 2-second activation time (up from 1.5), but Muzzle Fluting lowers the cast time of TM and PS by .5 back to the original 1.5 cast time. Same cast time, less heat.

 

PS and TM always generated 16 heat when spec'd right. This patch didn't change that.

[DEuZZ]

the only nerf i see is the radius of death from above. other than that all i see are buffs. just because you gotta use other abilities other than tracer missile to do dmg doesnt mean the class sucks it means you have to learn to press more than 1 button to steam roll someone in 1.2. i got a full BM merc and im doing just as good before the patch maybe a little less dmg since expertise got buffed making EVERYONE do less dmg

 

So your saying that "easy" classes to play as you belive are easy anyway is a bad thing? all mmo's ive played there always been a class thats more easy then others, dont make it BAD or WRONG! understand some people like it little more easy, for those who dont just go play a "hard" class...

And about dmg reduce on others are u trolling? assassin do the same dmg as TANK/DPS! way beyond merc's and worse they have a million CC abilities, + immunity shield and yes u saw i said TANK/DPS! they are pretty much immortals!

And what about marauders? have u seen them now? they was strong before all got nerfed, and in 1.2 they got buffed LOL?

And then there are sorcs mmmmmmm! you sir are a sad person a troller!

[Cegenaus]

so far ive noticed that:

1. tm hits for less
   
2. unload seems to hit for more
   
3. hsm definitely hits for more
   
4. rs seems untouched
   
5. i die in three global cds
   

 

the last one bothers me the most. i got absolutely demolished by a jugg/guard earlier and i was stunned, thats never happened since day 1 ega. i need to play more wzs but if this is the case then its carnage marauder for me from now on

[trjerome]

Is there a viable PvE solo build for BH's now? I ain't found one unless I move back 2 planets. Went from doing 1.2k on lvl-appropriate mobs to doing 600 on mobs 5 lvl's below me with my TM - and DFA isn't worth the time is counter-productive now. Guess I'll re-role and try a tank.

[LoKiei]

PT BH, at least AP got a big buff.

[DEuZZ]

so far ive noticed that:

1. tm hits for less
   
2. unload seems to hit for more
   
3. hsm definitely hits for more
   
4. rs seems untouched
   
5. i die in three global cds
   

 

the last one bothers me the most. i got absolutely demolished by a jugg/guard earlier and i was stunned, thats never happened since day 1 ega. i need to play more wzs but if this is the case then its carnage marauder for me from now on

 

So u did not notice death from above does ZERO dmg now? like crits 1000 MAX and WAY less people it hits too, like before 5-6 now max 3....!

Did not notice the nerf on Jet Boost? unload seems to hit for less on me! not trolling even i'm serious!

We are a joke now, with this low dps, and no mobility we are like walking target dummies!

[Cegenaus]

So u did not notice death from above does ZERO dmg now? like crits 1000 MAX and WAY less people it hits too, like before 5-6 now max 3....!

Did not notice the nerf on Jet Boost? unload seems to hit for less on me! not trolling even i'm serious!

We are a joke now, with this low dps, and no mobility we are like walking target dummies!

 

1. i noticed DFA did less damage but i didnt get to test it effectively enough before i posted
   
2. i didnt notice the nerf on jetboost as i was stuck in voidstar or GCW most of the time where i wasnt using it constantly
   
3. i agree with being walking dummies. i went down like a $2 whore and it seems like everyone knows this and focused the **** out of me but i dont think its exactly the end of the world. tm still hits decently, unload still does well, hsm hits even harder than before, and rs seems untouched
   

[DEuZZ]

1. i noticed DFA did less damage but i didnt get to test it effectively enough before i posted
   
2. i didnt notice the nerf on jetboost as i was stuck in voidstar or GCW most of the time where i wasnt using it constantly
   
3. i agree with being walking dummies. i went down like a $2 whore and it seems like everyone knows this and focused the **** out of me but i dont think its exactly the end of the world. tm still hits decently, unload still does well, hsm hits even harder than before, and rs seems untouched
   

 

Ye.. It almost feel like i'm "picked on" for being a bh.. Know it sounds dumb but hell.... I admit tm are OK not good anymore like it was, and other classes do way more dmg now overall.. Unload is weaker to me ;S i did higher hits with it before patch :\ and i agree rs is the same! only thing that is... I dno... My friends quit swtor and only one of them was bh... They gonna wait for d3... Think ill do the same tbh, when it gets to insane nerfing all the time its just not fun anymore u know? we wasnt best class to begin with...

[Karotka]

Dunno...

As Merc DPS spec, I didnt see big difference, something is having less dmg, something more dmg...

But healing got nerfed...why???

[surfer_bloke]

I def have noticed the nerf to DFA, packs of mobs I used to be able to take down now come out untouched, tres anoying. also mobs I used to be able to solo (some elites/ champions) I now get my arse handed to me. Cant be my gear as im in columi/rakata and I was doing ok pre 1.2 on weds night.

 

Its really frustrating, now I know its gonna take a while to re learn and tweak the specs. But atm I feel bit useless in PVE

[Gnugthreeonefive]

When you say BHs, I feel included as a Powertech. I'm still dominating. The proc nerf is no biggie at all. You quickly learn to work around it.

 

The DFA nerf is the biggest blow - 58% less area of effect. But let's face it, DFA especially, and BHs in general, were pretty OP pre 1.2.

 

We may still be.

Edited April 13, 2012 by Gnugthreeonefive

[varmintcong]

Something is definitely wrong with pyro merc damage. I have full BM gear and put all my original mods back into my gear for the expertise buff. i have close to 1200 expertise now and none of my abilities hit nearly as hard. Before, a thermal detonator could hit a guy for 3500-4000, now im lucky to get 2000-2500. Pretty much the same proportions for Rail Shot and Rapid Shots.

 

For a guy who normally did 400-500k damage per match on average going to about 150-250K in a full match. I can tell you something is definitely off.

 

What's even more troubling is some mercs claim their damage went up. This seems logical since the new expertise gap should theoretically see a damage increase. The fact that mine went so significantly down without really changing any play style is very disturbing.

 

I hope this is some sort of bug that will be fixed soon. I have no idea what is going on.

[SentinelThain]

A lot of whingeing for nothing methinks.I was on last night and my merc is just as good as before 1.2.I wish people would stop crying over relatively small changes to our proffession.Just enjoy the game.

[varmintcong]

A lot of whingeing for nothing methinks.I was on last night and my merc is just as good as before 1.2.I wish people would stop crying over relatively small changes to our proffession.Just enjoy the game.

 

The reports are rather inconsistent. I myself am noticing about a 30-40% damage decrease after pvping all day as a pyro merc. Others are reporting a rather good dps increase. Something is not right.

[Cruloss]

I also observed about 50% reduction in my output, I usually had 150-170k dmg but yesterday couldn't pass 75k. not sure if it is related to new recruit gear, I added some to put my expertise up to 16% from 10% but still have mixture of cent, champ and bm. maybe i should go full recruit instead of champ and cent parts?

[Loladarulz]

there is 3% critical nerf if you didnt notice for all BHs... dmg overall is nerfed

[Achyllis]

Is the overall damage decrease in PvP possibly linked to less effective healing and the increased frequency of player deaths? If healers are no longer keeping your enemies alive, you can crank out more kills than pre 1.2 with vastly less damage right?