Well I just took mortar volley off my bar.

[Plaidpants]

I'm upset because I do my dailies spec'd as a healer. MV/DFA actually did damage!

 

And it still does the exact same damage. People need to QQ more.

[Ganrax]

And it still does the exact same damage. People need to QQ more.

 

I'm seeing the same thing, it just ticks a few more times so the individual ticks will be lower obviously but my damage is the same. I still kill an entire pack that is in it's radius with it. Hell the radius nerf isn't even that bad, I have no issues killing a full group of the normal mobs in the new Corellia daily area with a single mortar volley, you just have to be smarter about your placement. As far as operation fights go too, the 2 fights I can think of where I'm going to use mortar volley would be Karraga and Foreman. In Foreman our offtank picks up the adds anyway so it could be a 2m radius and I'd still hit them all with mortar volley. Karraga is easier now too since the ability goes off faster so I can actually catch them under the boss and not let them get spread out.

[Averam_G]

I hate how the animation looks now. Its as if its in fast forward. It is far too fast looking for a big gun like that. The old animation looked more powerful, as the weapon indeed was. I agree with that is was the only real opener that I used for PvE/AoE. I'm sorely disappointed and I am back on the fence about this whole game, it's surprising that one little thing can make a difference.

[Tweej]

It works faster... you need to be more accurate to get best of it... so no more plant randomly near a crowd and wiping them all... but due to the speed, in the same time as one round of Volley you can pull off another ability so its swings and roundabouts for me... I don't see it as a nerf at all... and i'm a Sheild Vanguard.

[revial]

The near instant reaction time greatly overcomes the nerf to radius. Only incredibly bad players would take it off their hotbar. It's actually useful in pvp against non-baddies now. As far as I'm concerned, even though this was basically a bug fix and should be considered a nerf, the reality is that it is infinitely more useful now (well, in pvp; I admit I can see the emo angst in pve).

 

I suppose BHs, who always had instant cast on their 'Mortar Volley' mirror, simply see it as a straight nerf. Good thing this isn't the BH forum.

 

Now, Pulse Cannon still has an annoying lag time before starting, and Mortar Volley's near instant activation really increases my annoyance at Pulse Cannon. I still use it of course, but I daydream of what it would be like with an instant Pulse Cannon as well.

Edited April 14, 2012 by revial

[Easpeak]

Volley looks ridiculous but it works well.

[TehMerc]

Now, Pulse Cannon still has an annoying lag time before starting, and Mortar Volley's near instant activation really increases my annoyance at Pulse Cannon. I still use it of course, but I daydream of what it would be like with an instant Pulse Cannon as well.

 

Not sure why people seem to keep reporting this, one of the changes on the PTR was Pulse Cannon getting a 4th tick (damage split between the 4 ticks, so less each but still the same) with the 1st going off almost as soon as the channel starts, even before the lightning part of the animation.

 

Check it again.

[Arzoo]

Not sure why people seem to keep reporting this, one of the changes on the PTR was Pulse Cannon getting a 4th tick (damage split between the 4 ticks, so less each but still the same) with the 1st going off almost as soon as the channel starts, even before the lightning part of the animation.

 

Check it again.

 

 

I've seen multiple players complain about this same thing; they aren't getting that instant first tick.

 

That said I've been seeing 4 ticks as I should be.

[TehMerc]

I've seen multiple players complain about this same thing; they aren't getting that instant first tick.

 

That said I've been seeing 4 ticks as I should be.

 

Honestly I think people are just not paying enough attention, like with the ones complaining about mortar volley. They don't see one big hit but a few small ones and oh noes, the ability is broken.

[ironwolff]

I absolutely destroyed a assassin the other day with a mortar volley/grav/Hib combo that was hilarious.

 

He unstealthed I knocked him, cryo'd, mortar, grav round, HIB and he was dead. Was like HAHAHAHA.

 

I like the new animation, and it seems now Im doing more damage.

 

I think thats because its actually hitting now, where as before they just ran off and/or charged me lol.

[RenaDyne]

Sure, MV is great in PVP, everything seems to be going top tier for PVP, the people who are mad are the PVE'rs

[Pourekos]

Sure, MV is great in PVP, everything seems to be going top tier for PVP, the people who are mad are the PVE'rs

 

Exactly. For PvE, especially packs of mobs, it is of very little utility now since it not only has a much smaller radius, but it also usually knocks the regular mobs out of its damage area with the first hit. For an ability with a 1 minute cd I find this to be kind of useless.

[MishraArtificer]

This was originally posted in the Bounty Hunter forum, as I've been planning on making on as my next character once my Trooper dings 50. I feel it needs repeating here...

Only the damage per tick was reduced, the net damage is the same.

 

DFA was three ticks of damage, It was changed to six ticks. The initial damage is now instant.

To compensate for doubling the ticks the damage per tick was reduced. It has the same total damage over the course of the full channel...

...which, after the first tick, usually hits NOTHING.

 

Looking back over my character's playtime (LVL 47 Trooper/Vanguard, server Canderous Ordo), I can say the Mortar Volley was most effective on the early planets, where mobs would actually stand close enough together that AoE abilities actually DID something. After ...I want to say Alderaan, the mobs started standing just far enough apart that Mortar Volley was only hitting half the mob. (Of course, the mobs were larger after that, too, so that likely had something to do with it.)

 

Having played for a few minutes after the 1.2 patch finally downloaded, Belsavis is finally starting to be a problem. I'm back on Hoth to finish some Heroics (and one random AREA-4), but I shudder to think what Voss will be like after this.

 

All the damage in the world doesn't matter if it never reaches it's target. At this point, with the knockback effect throwing the mob out of the blast radius after the first tick, ticks 2-6 are practically superfluous...not to mention an excellent free root effect on YOU while you're casting the rest of the volley, something players on PvP servers ought to be really worried about.

 

And to the gentleman who posted about still being able to hit a target with Death From Above for full damage, you just made their argument for them: only A target?

[ounkeo]

Despite my misgivings, mortar volley ended up being better than I thought. I do miss the extended radius pre 1.2, but let's be honest, it was listed as 5m radius but it went out closer to 10m.

 

Damage seems ok still, spread out over an extra round, meaning you'll get smaller crits with it, but not really an issue.

 

I do miss being able to kill 3-5 mobs at a time but will have to settle for 2-3 (maybe). The speed of the rounds sort of make up for it though; making it situationally better than pre 1.2

[Nemeaus]

Totally agree. Really punishes a healer when they're trying to keep someone up.

 

I haven't had any damage issues, been critting between 800 up to 1000ish on people with pvp gear using power boosters.

 

Along with how fast Pulse Cannon starts attacking I've been doing serious damage, went from 450k as my highest to almost 600k last warzone. Helps that I've been Tactics for awhile.

 

Bear in mind i used to have to push my pulse cannon hot key TWICE just to get the **** to fire. It made my soul cry. I'm not some entitled whiner but they still have a way to go before anything is "fixed" or "working as intended". I will concede that my damage has bumped up a bit though.

[icegreentea]

Well, I send tano vik in first so that he grabs aggro from all the mobs and they bunch up around him. I then use MV to hit all of them together. Replace Tano with the raid/flash point tank for PVE and it works fine.

[MishraArtificer]

Well, I send tano vik in first so that he grabs aggro from all the mobs and they bunch up around him. I then use MV to hit all of them together. Replace Tano with the raid/flash point tank for PVE and it works fine.

Which would be perfectly fine...except, as a Shield Spec Vanguard in PvE, I AM THE TANK. I bring Elara Dorne with me to heal so I don't get steamrollered.

[Raeln]

Well, I send tano vik in first so that he grabs aggro from all the mobs and they bunch up around him. I then use MV to hit all of them together. Replace Tano with the raid/flash point tank for PVE and it works fine.

 

Considering how mobs tend to act in combat, even with a raid tank - it's rare to hit all the mobs with a MV. Mobs tend to try to walk around to the side of the tank.

 

Watching the MV animation is lulzy now, feels like I'm firing a fast roman candle.