What abilities can I drop?

[Kurugi]

Already dropped explosive round since Ion pulse seemed to replace it in function, though the longer range could still be situationaly Not sure if full auto or sticky grenade are still widely useful since being close range I usually lose some channel on full auto and I focus more on pulse cannon/mortar volley for aoe over sticky grenade. Again, the longer range can be useful sometimes.

 

So which abilities did you find yourself scrapping after you became a vanguard, or should I still try to be utilizing all of them?

[AndyRWager]

Not a vanguard... but pulse cannon has a pretty long cool down, and mortar volley's cool down is even more so. So why get rid of sticky grenade, for those AOE opportunities in between the cool downs? As far as full auto goes, yes it's still used. It's basically your best single target DPS skill(and very important if you're assault specced).

 

The cool thing about this game, is skills don't really get "replaced." I even use explosive round at times(being a commando, if I have to chase to get the kill, explosive round is very good).

[Philosomanic]

You should definitely hold onto Mortar Volley and Pulse Cannon. They're incredibly powerful AoE. Even if you lose some channel, they can do massive damage if they hit even two targets. Especially in PvE, these are incredibly useful. Mortar Volley knocks down standard/weak enemies, so if you start it at a distance they won't even get close enough to hit the channel. You can use Pulse Cannon after Neural Surge for an AoE they can't escape. Especially for solo PvE (leveling by questing) or node defense in warzones, you should use these frequently. Sticky Grenade -> MV/PC will get any group of normal mobs to a sliver of health.

 

Here are the skills that you could drop.

 

Full Auto: If you're Assault, keep this skill. For Tactics/Shield, it's situationally useful at best. It's one of our strongest 30m ranged skills. It does strong damage and is nearly ammo-free (costs 2, regenerates 1.8 while channeling). Assault has high enough damage at 30m range that it's sometimes useful to stay at 30m, making this a strong skill. However, Tactics and Shield should be closing to melee, so they'll rarely want to stand still and channel this skill.

 

Explosive Round: This skill is of minimal use, if any. I only use it every once in a while to stop a cap. You may want to keep it in a sup-prime spot on your quickbars. However, definitely don't bother buying upgrades for it. It costs far, far too much ammo to be worth the small damage. I've got this on my lowest-priority quickbar (along with vehicles, pets, quick travel, and sparkle powder), and I use it maybe once a week.

 

Blitz: Utterly useless for PvP, seeing as you can't use it at all on players. If you PvE, this is occasionally useful for taking out trash mobs. However, you can't use it on anything strong. I never remember to use it and I'm primarily PvP, so I never even bought this.

 

Explosive Surge: This is also one that's highly situational. If you have points in Static Field, it's sometimes useful to apply the debuff to everyone around you. Likewise, if a Mortar Volley/Pulse Cannon leaves a group of trash mobs at a sliver of health, I'll spam this once or twice to finish them off. In PvP, it's good for stopping a cap in a hurry because you don't have to target an enemy. However, in terms of damage, it's not worth it for the high ammo cost. The ammo for one use of Explosive Surge takes five seconds to regenerate.

 

Stealth Scan: If you PvP, keep this skill. However, it's almost entirely worthless for PvE. I've heard that you can use it to reveal a few raid bosses that vanish, but other than that there's no real use for it. If you don't PvP, you can safely take this off your bars.

Edited May 30, 2012 by Philosomanic

[ATango]

I wouldn't remove Pulse Cannon and Mortar Volley. These are very powerful and useful abilities imho.

 

For PvP I would remove Blitz and Explosive Round.

 

For PvE you could remove Stealth Scan and Explosive round although I still like the knockdown cc of the ability on standard mobs

 

Full Auto comes in handy when your rooted and no means to get out of it. Also Explosive Surge is useful as a lazy finisher or interruptor. Very useful in Novare Coast, Voidstar and AlderaanCW. I love it because I can stay on my current target and pop it in between other players trying to cap a point or finish off someone lingering at 5-10% health without having to switch from my current target. Yes, it's expensive but its utility outweighs the cost especially when paired with Static Shield damage debuff. Unfortunately Static Shield does not add to protection values.

 

If your not a tank I would still keep Taunts on your bar for PvE. If a stray mob gets away and starts pounding at a healer you can get it off of them. Kite them or die trying, a dead healer hurts the op more than a dead dps in most cases so keep the taunts on the bar in the event that you need to save the op group. In well coordinated fixed groups you could look at taking them off your bar. In PvP taunts are vital.

Edited May 30, 2012 by ATango