Merc, Arsenals. Just wanna know...

[Philastra]

To all the Merc Arsenals, I just want to to know what you guys think of 1.2. Please dont respond if your a PT we all know PT pyros are still jus fine.

I was all with with what the PTS patch notes said in fact i thought what they did was gonna work but is what the exact oppisite for me. My merc is valor 77 so I hvae PvP'ed a lil bit and know the class.

 

1. Survivability went out the window for me.

2. Nothing was said about DFA in the notes? It does seem to hit for alot less.

3. Tracer seems to be almost useless in pvp and unload same we just stand there and have to use those abilities for our damage reduction but in that time get destroyed.

4. The patch really did seem to give the force users and melee a clear advantage.

 

I'm just really curious on other Arsenals opinions. Please offer any suggestions that may help me ..maybe im using the wrong spec, maybe my rotation is messed up but I am a DPS class and this patch seemed to knock it back around 40%.Again if your a PT no need to say its fine, yes we all know PT's are fine.

Don't wanna be OP just competitive.

Edited April 13, 2012 by Philastra

[JTCK]

Im a Arsenal Merc---and im ready to shelf my favorite toon. I lost a tremendous amount of dps in pvp and get murdered faster than ever like u said.

 

I dont want to stop playing this toon--but i will because i had a certain style which not many others used---i guess u found that style too, now its no more.

 

I used to be in the middle of fights blasting away, now i try to pick the farthest spot possible to try to get as many of the 3 sec channel casts off as i can....nonsense.

[JTCK]

sure there are short strong cast, but the fudged up the heat uses on them so theyre harder to cast than a channel spell

 

sorry not spells, heheheh ABILITIES!!!! sorry

Edited April 13, 2012 by JTCK

[Philastra]

I love the BH class as well its really all I like to play.. if I had a chnance to go PT i would jus so I could stay competitive in PvP. But as it stands now Merc, Arsenals are borked imo.

[Sambailey]

 

1. Survivability went out the window for me.

2. Nothing was said about DFA in the notes? It does seem to hit for alot less.

3. Tracer seems to be almost useless in pvp and unload same we just stand there and have to use those abilities for our damage reduction but in that time get destroyed.

4. The patch really did seem to give the force users and melee a clear advantage.

 

 

My experiences:

 

1. Yes, we are a lot more squishy now. Attacks that used to do 600~ to me do 1000~. That's not 5% off Power Barrier.

 

2. Damage was halved, and despite people saying it hits 6 times now instead of 3, I only ever seen it hitting 3 times. Games is currently under maintenance, so I can't go verify.

 

3. Tracer's damage wasn't that badly hit. I went from 3200~ opening crits (no stacks yet pre 1.2) to 2950~. They still clobber anything that's not a Tank, Marauder, or shielded sorc. But there is a slight down-time between Tracer and Unload, and I blame the new animation (go to the eternal lake of fire you morons who wanted Tracer/Fusion swaped).

 

4. I can't express my irritation enough on how much damage Juggs and Maras are doing this patch. There is absolutely nothing I can do to keep them off me for more than 5 seconds before they are White, and melting my face. Yes, I know my class very well, yes, I'm very well geared, don't put that "ltp" garbage up here.

 

There's something definitively wrong with our class today. And it's our survivability.

[JTCK]

yes exactly y i grind a mara and jugg now lol---no way ima be a tank or healing BH---they gave me guns to shoot people, and thats what i do.

 

i used to be able to control the huttball ramps, Not anymore. Im lucky if i knock 1 guy off that thing now.

 

and here comes some punk with a lightsaber---knocks my whole damn team off the ramp.

Edited April 13, 2012 by JTCK

[TheNinjaboy]

Two things happened to Mercenaries in 1.2 -

 

 

#1. They re-rolled Sith Warrior

 

#2. They started playing on their PT Pyro exclusively.

 

 

DPS Mercenaries got face------ in 1.2.

 

Check my sig for the pro / cons.

[Cegenaus]

ive noticed that tm does do less damage, for me in falls inbetween marginal and noticable. unload seems to be hitting for more. hsm definately hits for more, im getting 3k opening crits and i had a 5k armor pen crit, im gonna use an adrenal next time. rs seems to be hitting for exactly the same. the biggest difference ive noticed was our survivability, i go down in 3 gcds now. this may have to do with the combination of power barrier nerf + expertise buff since i seen most classes complain about dropping fast

 

in all i log my merc in just to complete the dailies and then im back lvling on my mara. ravage is a wicked ability

[Philastra]

At least im not the only one who thinks Merc,Arsenals got the shaft .

[Jenzali]

Our hardest hitting abilities got significantly buffed, and TM was only nerfed by about 10%. Survivability is slightly lower. But if you were using your abilities correctly you should actually be seeing a damage increase.

 

You may only feel weaker because some other classes became a lot stronger.

[Voxx_Voltaare]

Arsenal Merc here that just recently made 50(pre 1.2) and almost 40 valor. I haven't had much time to play since the update, but from the little pve and pvp I have done, I honestly haven't noticed that huge of a difference overall. Some things got reduced, others increased. I'm still finishing the epilogue missions on ilum and felt like I was getting through mobs in the same amount of time as before, as well as generating about the same overall heat.

 

I guess I can go along with the opinion that DFA got perhaps too big a nerf. The fact that it knocks most mobs out of the damage radius immediately, negates some of the residual damage that should be inflicted. As for PvP, I've never found DFA to be all that effective anyway.

 

I had no PvP gear prior to 1.2. Since the update I purchased a mixed set of Recruit Eliminator/Combat Tech(to get some crit back) until I can get my valor up. I'm sure a lot of other 50s out there have done the same and now have a lot more expertise than before. That could possibly account for some of the differences people are seeing. Maybe, I dunno.

 

I'm an arsenal holdout. I like the spec and I'll continue to play it. I don't feel the need to be the king of the hill against every other class. I'm still having fun just playing the game. I may not always be ranked the highest on the WZ board, but I'm usually up there and always have tons of kills, low death count, and lots of medals. As squishy as I feel sometimes, I'm sure I put a dent in a lot of other players with some of the DPS I lay on. As a ranged spec, I just always try to stay as far away from the mob as possible. As soon as I get more than two people on me, I usually just sit back and wait to respawn. I don't complain that I can't stand up to the mob. I scold myself for getting into a position to be mobbed. But sometimes you just can't avoid it.

 

I'm not trying to say that everyone who thinks the arsenal spec as nonviable is delusional. I just don't agree that it's as bad as all that. The boards here represent a very small vocal minority. Most people post complaints about what they don't like. Much fewer post about things they like.

[Gokuzx]

Arsenal Merc here that just recently made 50(pre 1.2) and almost 40 valor. I haven't had much time to play since the update, but from the little pve and pvp I have done, I honestly haven't noticed that huge of a difference overall. Some things got reduced, others increased. I'm still finishing the epilogue missions on ilum and felt like I was getting through mobs in the same amount of time as before, as well as generating about the same overall heat.

 

I guess I can go along with the opinion that DFA got perhaps too big a nerf. The fact that it knocks most mobs out of the damage radius immediately, negates some of the residual damage that should be inflicted. As for PvP, I've never found DFA to be all that effective anyway.

 

I had no PvP gear prior to 1.2. Since the update I purchased a mixed set of Recruit Eliminator/Combat Tech(to get some crit back) until I can get my valor up. I'm sure a lot of other 50s out there have done the same and now have a lot more expertise than before. That could possibly account for some of the differences people are seeing. Maybe, I dunno.

 

I'm an arsenal holdout. I like the spec and I'll continue to play it. I don't feel the need to be the king of the hill against every other class. I'm still having fun just playing the game. I may not always be ranked the highest on the WZ board, but I'm usually up there and always have tons of kills, low death count, and lots of medals. As squishy as I feel sometimes, I'm sure I put a dent in a lot of other players with some of the DPS I lay on. As a ranged spec, I just always try to stay as far away from the mob as possible. As soon as I get more than two people on me, I usually just sit back and wait to respawn. I don't complain that I can't stand up to the mob. I scold myself for getting into a position to be mobbed. But sometimes you just can't avoid it.

 

I'm not trying to say that everyone who thinks the arsenal spec as nonviable is delusional. I just don't agree that it's as bad as all that. The boards here represent a very small vocal minority. Most people post complaints about what they don't like. Much fewer post about things they like.

 

Amen bro dog.

[FoolMetalJacket]

I agree 100%. The only reason I'm getting to level 50 now is to unlock my Legacy stuff and complete the story, after that I'll probably quit it. With the buffs to other classes, I might as well just play my Sentinel and Sniper now.

 

I was thinking of making a Pyrotech Powertech to see what it's like, but I'm not even gonna bother now.

[Tricky-Ha]

My Arsen Merc is too busy looking good to notice that he's getting his arse wasted in warzones...he spends like the 1st 5 minutes wearing his low level gear all color matched & then changes back into BM gear after getting focused down killed in like 5 secs.

 

It's all running back & forth from safe zone to defender zones today & I'm not usually this much of a scrub, I'm just copying tactics of others non-healing Mercs that're basically doing the same now after patch 1.2.

[Asturias]

At least im not the only one who thinks Merc,Arsenals got the shaft .

 

No your not alone, my friends in my guild which all have BH see the change and its a joke. We got shafted hard and I don't care how much people try to sugar coat it. I don't know *** our main roll is anymore, maybe target practice for the glow stick classes.

[Angryorc]

Two things happened to Mercenaries in 1.2 -

#2. They started playing on their PT Pyro exclusively.

Check my sig for the pro / cons.

 

Hahaha... i'm busted

 

But I do like the buffed heatseekers.. 6.9k crit earlier on some sorc, normally people don't have 6.9k hp left after i've used my cooldowns unless said gay melee class with too much mitigation and mobility glued themselves to my face.

 

[Areaz]

Right now, Arsenal Mercs can pretty much drop any non tank at will. 3 Tracers and HSM is a lot of burst, I've had a lot of HSM crits for over 5.5k on BM geared players, and I've hit 7k on some questionably geared players. Unfortunately, if any melee DPS decides you need to die, there's not much you can do unless you have some help with you.

 

I definitely feel more squishy, but I feel more powerful as far as taking down targets goes. Works pretty well in a premade since I'll have guard or friends who can peel off enemies.

[mulzii]

Right now, Arsenal Mercs can pretty much drop any non tank at will. 3 Tracers and HSM is a lot of burst, I've had a lot of HSM crits for over 5.5k on BM geared players, and I've hit 7k on some questionably geared players. Unfortunately, if any melee DPS decides you need to die, there's not much you can do unless you have some help with you.

 

I definitely feel more squishy, but I feel more powerful as far as taking down targets goes. Works pretty well in a premade since I'll have guard or friends who can peel off enemies.

 

I'm curious on how you get 3 tracers off in todays pvp environment. Pvp is so chaotic, and with targets dropping so fast now, and the need to move constantly move (especially out of aoe's like gravs) i can very rarely get 3 tracers off before i'm dead, or i had to move and the target either died or they los me...

[Ashivauto]

I have to agree with alot of what most are saying.... My merc goes down alot easier than pre 1.2..... but my dmg is still up there and Im always at the top of the leader board.... Tm is worthless in pvp except to stack buffs/debuffs- but overall im still tearing players apart, but if anything is on cd and a melee gets to me I go down really fast and Im in full bm gear...

 

Our survivability is a joke and needs to be addressed

[Areaz]

I'm curious on how you get 3 tracers off in todays pvp environment. Pvp is so chaotic, and with targets dropping so fast now, and the need to move constantly move (especially out of aoe's like gravs) i can very rarely get 3 tracers off before i'm dead, or i had to move and the target either died or they los me...

 

Idk, make sure you're in a place where people will have difficulty seeing you. Don't stand on the door in voidstar, use the pillars, don't stand directly on the turret in civil war, use the stairways on either side, control the cat walks in huttball and use the boxes to get out of sight, use the terrain in novare coast. It's pretty easy, but sometimes you can get caught up in things and pop out of cover and get spotted. Usually people will realize that I'm tearing faces off after they've died at least once or twice, and if you can peel off some DPS from an objective to come find you, then you're doing your job well.

[Duckswtfpwn]

I have not found any issues at all with the nerfs. Yes Maras and Knights now *** pwn our faces. They got drastic buffs. I always seem to be #1 on damage in WZ still after patch. Sometimes 2nd if I'm with a Full BM Merc or PT.

 

1) DFA has not had any damage nerfs. They do half the damage, but the ticks of damage have been doubled. So the numbers you are seeing are much smaller. Because of this change people can move out of it easier without getting all the ticks so it won't do as much damage, but a person sitting in DFA will get hit for the same total amount post 1.2.

 

2) All of the PVP gear has basically had it's Expertise Doubled!!! Doubled People. I know so has yours but their damage reduction has gone up.

 

3) Once all 5 stacks of Heat Signature are up (only 3 Tracers) switch to Power shot for your filler. It does 10% more damage than Tracer Missile.

 

3b) "But Tracer Missile puts the buff for Rail shot to hit more" - Not according to the Math. Another 6% damage buff to Railshot < 10% increase that Powershot puts out.

 

I am excited that I own Sorc and Sage now. I am in full Rakata with only BM Helm, Boots, Legs.

[Loladarulz]

Tracer AND powershot were 10% nerfed if I remember well...

[Barberiann]

I have not found any issues at all with the nerfs. Yes Maras and Knights now *** pwn our faces. They got drastic buffs. I always seem to be #1 on damage in WZ still after patch. Sometimes 2nd if I'm with a Full BM Merc or PT.

 

1) DFA has not had any damage nerfs. They do half the damage, but the ticks of damage have been doubled. So the numbers you are seeing are much smaller. Because of this change people can move out of it easier without getting all the ticks so it won't do as much damage, but a person sitting in DFA will get hit for the same total amount post 1.2.

 

2) All of the PVP gear has basically had it's Expertise Doubled!!! Doubled People. I know so has yours but their damage reduction has gone up.

 

3) Once all 5 stacks of Heat Signature are up (only 3 Tracers) switch to Power shot for your filler. It does 10% more damage than Tracer Missile.

 

3b) "But Tracer Missile puts the buff for Rail shot to hit more" - Not according to the Math. Another 6% damage buff to Railshot < 10% increase that Powershot puts out.

 

I am excited that I own Sorc and Sage now. I am in full Rakata with only BM Helm, Boots, Legs.

 

1) I would agree with you on this point that DFA damage hasnt really changed. It hits 6 times instead of 3, with average hits being ~600 normal and ~1100 crit for me. The radius reduction sucks, but its not that bad

 

2) Yeah Expertise went up, but in different ways. Damage is now the most scaled buff from Exp, follow by damage reduction and lastly healing. So, everyones damage just went up alot in PvP, more so than the damage reduction. This leads to everyone in PvP gear having less survivability than pre 1.2

 

3) NO WAY should you be using Power Shot, you must be kidding me. Both abilities got a 10% nerf in damage. Tracer Missle hits for Elemental damage or whatever its called, so armor and sheifl and defenses and stuff do not affect the damage. Power Shot is white damage and hits like a Nerf gun (childrens toy reference), and it can be dodged, blocked etc. just like Unload can because they are both white, weapon damage. USE TRACER MISSLE

 

Overall, I am pretty dissapointed with the 1.2 changes. Howver, the buff to Heatseeker missles is INSANE. With my Power Adrenal and a Crit/Surge relic popped I can easily hit 6k/7k crits with these and that is NASTY damage.

 

Tracer Missle def got a damage reduction, I think more than 10% that they told us. I'm basically full BM except for my weapons and pre 1.2 I used to crit TM for around 2800-3000. After 1.2, I am getting crits for like 1900-2100. Thats a pretty significant drop in damage.

 

And the fact that they said they wanted to make our rotation more active or whatever BS they told us in the patch notes is just laughable. All we do differently post 1.2 is use Unload a little bit more.

 

For some unknown reason, I seem to be having alot more Heat Management issues running Arsenal than I did pre-1.2. I think there is some slight underlying bug that is affecting Tracer Missles heat or the number of times that we can proc the 8 heat vent ability from the talent tree.

 

And I would agree that survivability completely went out the window. Marauders, Juggs, PT's and Operatives completely dominate me now. Before 1.2, I would usually put up a fight to the more skilled players and could actually kill the not so good players. Def not the same any more.

[Veradicus]

For me it was simple, they took away our sustained and added to our burst. My HSM is critting for an extra 1000-1200 for a total of around 6k. Pre 1.2, I would've been lucky to get a 4.5k crit. I don't mind it.

 

The nerfs to Death From Above suck though. I also like using Unload more and seeing the color of my blasters

Edited April 16, 2012 by Veradicus

[Iandayen]

I love the people who don't take the time to actually think about the changes rofl.

 

First lets go over a few things.

 

Tracer missile nerf was 10% - that's almost nothing - my tracer hits almost as hard now as it did pre-patch in both pve and pvp.

 

Heatseekers - 10% damage buff - on an ability that hits this hard, that's huge - I have seen 6.5k crits in pvp and 10k crits from it in raids.

 

Unload - our single highest damaging and most heat efficient ability - we just got a more reliable proc rate on the ability that makes it do 30% more damage - HUGE buff.

 

Rail shot - no change.

 

So - you take a MINOR damage loss on tracer missile, but a HUGE buff to unload and heatseeker and you cry like the world is going to end.

 

If you can't see the fact that we got buffed for sustainable PVE dps and got a burst damage buff for pvp then you are one of those tracer spammers that runs away when interrupted rather than using his myriad of other abilities to win.