1.3 patch notes out....

[Zaann]

I did not see any real improvements, they just moved a few talents around.

[Wulffion]

Was confused about:

"Terminal Velocity has been redesigned. While High-Velocity Gas Cylinder is active, there is a 50% chance per point to vent 1 Heat every 6 seconds."

 

But it must be a typo, should be similar to the power tech talent (8 heat per 6 seconds).

[MrSIlverSurfing]

Yeah I don't notice any improvements honestly. I think we could have actually received a stealth nerf on railshot if anything. 1 heat every 6 seconds is laughable. I hope this is a typo.

[DarkForster]

Hmmm interesting changes might be good, just wish left enviro suit alone. Edited June 6, 2012 by DarkForster

[Lithy]

Yeah I don't notice any improvements honestly. I think we could have actually received a stealth nerf on railshot if anything. 1 heat every 6 seconds is laughable. I hope this is a typo.

 

The blog says 8 heat, so it is a typo.

[Nightkin]

So we got "promised" a dps increase and overall easier rotations and all we got was this complete and utter garbage? Arsenal is still a stationary target that is easy to shutdown. The talent changes are to high up in arsenal to be viable for merc pyro leaving mercs in the dust in comparison to PTs. And no changes in regards to PPA procs from Unload and Powershot wich both require casting time in comparison to PTs instant cast Flameburst...

There were sooo many very good suggestions and they were all categorically ignored.

 

To sum it all up ; Im stunned by these "changes". I had high hopes but they are now reduced to ashes.

 

(english is not my native language so please refrain from flaming my spelling etc)

[TempestasSilva]

Yeah but the changes for us healers are amazing....oh wait...

[Kulis]

What blog are you quoting 8 heat from? If this isn't a typo we just got a giant nerf to the face lol. I imagine we will find out pretty quickly if it's a typo, it's a pretty big one imo.

 

Based on those notes, I am not seeing the improvement to arsenal dps that were quoted by a dev in an interview recently.

[Areaz]

Arsenal

 

Barrage now properly affects Unload while wielding a single blaster pistol.

Terminal Velocity has been redesigned. While High-Velocity Gas Cylinder is active, there is a 50% chance per point to vent 8 Heat every 6 seconds.

Tracer Lock and Light 'Em Up have swapped positions in the Skill Tree. Tracer Lock now requires Tracer Missile and Light 'Em Up now requires Tracer Lock.

Light 'Em Up now additionally grants an extra stack of Tracer Lock and Power Barrier, if applicable, with each Tracer Missile fired.

Custom Enviro Suit now increases healing received by 1% per point (down from 3%).

 

 

Pyrotech (Mercenary)

 

Advanced Targeting has been redesigned and now gives Unload and Rail Shot 10% of armor penetration per point.

 

There's some good changes there. The lost accuracy hurts a little, but the gained armor pen is definitely helpful, especially from a PvP standpoint. Also, being able to get 2 Tracer Locks per TM will make our rotation more fluid and the burst easier to get to since we can hit max stacks on both of our instants at the same time.

 

The only lame thing is the venting change. Pre-this you were able to vent 8 heat pretty much every 3s if you were being active and had your gear modded right. Now it's going to be limited to every 6, which could potentially hurt sustained DPS and require more Rapid Shotting.

Edited June 6, 2012 by Areaz

[Codek]

What blog are you quoting 8 heat from? If this isn't a typo we just got a giant nerf to the face lol. I imagine we will find out pretty quickly if it's a typo, it's a pretty big one imo.

 

Based on those notes, I am not seeing the improvement to arsenal dps that were quoted by a dev in an interview recently.

 

Probably this post here:

http://www.swtor.com/blog/class-changes-and-balance-game-update-1.3

[Brutalos]

and that's me done with TOR, what a joke

[Swaggz]

Yeah, I'm not really seeing any sort of improvements. No PvP survivability improvements, no addressing the Heat Sig/HSM issue in PvP, still overly reliant on TM, lack of mobility, still no interupt, and that new 100% chance to vent 8 heat every 6 seconds seems to be a nerf in disguise.

 

I'm still not seeing where these DPS changes that we were promised are at. Oh well, guess 1.3 seems to be another disappointment. 17 days left and counting. It's been fun!!!

[Enkaizu]

The only thing I have to say in order to calm people is that it is a work-in-progress and nowhere near the final patch notes.

 

I do however see nerfs to Arsenal which makes me very sad. Replacing our passive armor pen -> heat reduction is not helpful seeing as how Arsenal was probly the easiest spec in the game to handle resource.

 

Please Bioware do not chance HVGC, the 35% armor pen is far greater than venting 8heat every 6s passively

[Areaz]

Where are you guys seeing that they are making any changes to HVGC? All they're changing is the way Terminal Velocity works, which only works if you have HVGC active. It's still going to provide armor pen.

[mzhou]

Lol calm down guys, im arguably the highest dps arsenal merc on my server and I personally see nothing wrong with the new updates. They did not say that we lose the 35% damage increase on rail shot from tracer lock so I'm not going to go into that at the moment. 100% chance to vent 8 heat every 6 seconds is actually better for us. Every time i do go above 40 heat (which doesn't happen very often anyways) its because I have 3 tracers in a row not crit. With this we should never be overheating which in my eyes is certainly a plus.

 

Advanced Targeting has been redesigned and now gives Unload and Rail Shot 10% of armor penetration per point.

^ If that doesn't make you guys happy then I don't know what will. The best arsenal mercs will already have over 100% accuracy, with full rakata arsenal mercs at about 104% and full campaign at ~101% (after min-maxing). Ok we lose 1% accuracy but we gain 30% armor penetration. Since we are already at over 100% acc, the loss in accuracy is a minor loss in damage only to be replaced with a huge increase in our ability to get through the armor or raid bosses in PvE and tanks in PvP. BW promised us more damage and that they would make it easier for people to achieve that damage and for all intensive purposes they have succeeded.

 

Last I checked, interrupts and more mobility did not fall in the category of increased dps so I can't understand why there is still so much complaining.

[AcePortgas]

I am very disappointed with the changes BIOWARE have done to Arsenal. This is no way a DPS improvement. What a joke.

[tynt]

i guess i am the only one that noticed that railshot and unload receive can receive additional 30% armor pen (60% armor pen for railshot if pyrospec).

 

Overall doesn't look that bad at all.

[Choffware]

-----

Light 'Em Up now additionally grants an extra stack of Tracer Lock and Power Barrier, if applicable, with each Tracer Missile fired.

---

 

Ok I think this is a huge buff for arsenal Merc pvp burst. Now you can fire the HSM and rail shot at the same time... on top of a explosive dart and maybe a barrage proc... Our rotation shrunk from 5 TMs to 3. That's a big buff to burst DPS. Plus the 30% armor penetration is just icing...

 

The only nerf was to the low hanging skill that gave you %6 healing to yourself... Not sure why they did this but my guess is because some healing commandos and mercs were starting to get nearly "unkillable" in pvp so they needed a nerf.

Edited June 6, 2012 by Choffware

[Enkaizu]

100% chance to vent 8 heat every 6 seconds is actually better for us.

 

Advanced Targeting has been redesigned and now gives Unload and Rail Shot 10% of armor penetration per point.

^ If that doesn't make you guys happy then I don't know what will. The best arsenal mercs will already have over 100% accuracy, with full rakata arsenal mercs at about 104% and full campaign at ~101% (after min-maxing). Ok we lose 1% accuracy but we gain 30% armor penetration. Since we are already at over 100% acc, the loss in accuracy is a minor loss in damage only to be replaced with a huge increase in our ability to get through the armor or raid bosses in PvE and tanks in PvP. BW promised us more damage and that they would make it easier for people to achieve that damage and for all intensive purposes they have succeeded.

 

Last I checked, interrupts and more mobility did not fall in the category of increased dps so I can't understand why there is still so much complaining.

 

You actually lose 3% accuracy in the long run, and overall you lose armor pen. The 30% armor pen we gain is ONLY to Unload and Rail shot, versus 35% to everything. Also with the losing of accuracy, we lose the ability to stat Power/Crit/Surge higher.

 

Venting 8heat every 6 seconds is not better for us than 35% armor penetration. The idea was that you actively manage your heat instead of spamming the crap out of Tracer Missile, with this change you can welcome back tracer spammers. If you are over 30 heat, you don't cast another Tracer Missile, you either wait for passive heat venting, use Thermal Sensor Override, or if you're desperate you use Vent Heat. This is in no way a net gain.

[MrSIlverSurfing]

Lol calm down guys, im arguably the highest dps arsenal merc on my server and I personally see nothing wrong with the new updates. They did not say that we lose the 35% damage increase on rail shot from tracer lock so I'm not going to go into that at the moment. 100% chance to vent 8 heat every 6 seconds is actually better for us. Every time i do go above 40 heat (which doesn't happen very often anyways) its because I have 3 tracers in a row not crit. With this we should never be overheating which in my eyes is certainly a plus.

 

Advanced Targeting has been redesigned and now gives Unload and Rail Shot 10% of armor penetration per point.

^ If that doesn't make you guys happy then I don't know what will. The best arsenal mercs will already have over 100% accuracy, with full rakata arsenal mercs at about 104% and full campaign at ~101% (after min-maxing). Ok we lose 1% accuracy but we gain 30% armor penetration. Since we are already at over 100% acc, the loss in accuracy is a minor loss in damage only to be replaced with a huge increase in our ability to get through the armor or raid bosses in PvE and tanks in PvP. BW promised us more damage and that they would make it easier for people to achieve that damage and for all intensive purposes they have succeeded.

 

Last I checked, interrupts and more mobility did not fall in the category of increased dps so I can't understand why there is still so much complaining.

 

I have to agree with you here. I don't feel that the changes were earth shattering, but they are descent. With Tank Assassins and hybrid healing/DPS ops being balanced more its cool. My secondary toon is a Tank Sin and he honestly needed a bit of a nerf.

 

I'm hoping that the 30% armor penetratoin change will be positive. I'm glad that I dont have to worry about TM spamming all day. I'm liking the changes atm. I would have preferred tha tthe 30% armor pen to be in power shot. I friggin hate using unload (Our best skill now).

Edited June 6, 2012 by MrSIlverSurfing

[Choffware]

You actually lose 3% accuracy in the long run, and overall you lose armor pen. The 30% armor pen we gain is ONLY to Unload and Rail shot, versus 35% to everything. Also with the losing of accuracy, we lose the ability to stat Power/Crit/Surge higher.

 

What? how do we loose 35% armor pen? I can' t find anything that says we loose all around armor pen.

[Swaggz]

Lol calm down guys, im arguably the highest dps arsenal merc on my server and I personally see nothing wrong with the new updates. They did not say that we lose the 35% damage increase on rail shot from tracer lock so I'm not going to go into that at the moment. 100% chance to vent 8 heat every 6 seconds is actually better for us. Every time i do go above 40 heat (which doesn't happen very often anyways) its because I have 3 tracers in a row not crit. With this we should never be overheating which in my eyes is certainly a plus.

 

Advanced Targeting has been redesigned and now gives Unload and Rail Shot 10% of armor penetration per point.

^ If that doesn't make you guys happy then I don't know what will. The best arsenal mercs will already have over 100% accuracy, with full rakata arsenal mercs at about 104% and full campaign at ~101% (after min-maxing). Ok we lose 1% accuracy but we gain 30% armor penetration. Since we are already at over 100% acc, the loss in accuracy is a minor loss in damage only to be replaced with a huge increase in our ability to get through the armor or raid bosses in PvE and tanks in PvP. BW promised us more damage and that they would make it easier for people to achieve that damage and for all intensive purposes they have succeeded.

 

Last I checked, interrupts and more mobility did not fall in the category of increased dps so I can't understand why there is still so much complaining.

 

But that's the thing. Yes, we lose 3% accuracy (3/3 Advanced Targeting=3% accuracy pre 1.3) and only gain 30% AP on 2 abilities. So we have the 35% from our Cylinder, 20% from Heat Sigs, and now a talented 30% extra on Rail Shot/Unload. That sounds all well and dandy, but what about those of us who used that 3% accuracy inorder to boost our power/crit/surge? How much of those stats are we going to have to drop inorder to make up for that 3%? 75...85...100+ Power? 2+% crit? Surge will be the least affected stat, but still, some run a little over 75% due to the fact of the extra Power people run.

 

So in the end, is that extra 30% AP (which once all the math is done, I'm sure it won't be a full 30%...) to Unload and Rail Shot be enough to make up for the loss of Power, Crit, and Surge?

[MrSIlverSurfing]

What? how do we loose 35% armor pen? I can' t find anything that says we loose all around armor pen.

 

We dont lose armor pen. From what I'm hearing that it is still on high velocity gas and hasn't changed.

We gain 30% armor pen and lose the 3% accuracy bonus. Not sure how this will pan out, but maybe my railshot will hit hard since pvp burst isn't great for mercs??

[tynt]

It will pan out to be 55% armor pen for undebuffed target for unload and railshot, and a 75% armor pen for fully rebuffed target for those abilities. Also equal 55% armor rebuff for all other abilities with fully rebuffed target. Huge positive change and it's beyond retarded to complain about this massive dps increase.

[Kulis]

I don't know about some of the folks posting here, but I am in Campaign gear and Rakata gear modded with Blackhole Arsenal gear mods. I only have 1 point put into Advanced Targeting and am running the alacrity build. The 1% is a drop in the bucket to pick up for increase armor pen on Unload and Rail Shot.

 

Looking at my parse from Firebrand/Stormcaller and Toth/Zorn from last night, 28% of my damage came from Unload and 11% of my damage came from Rail Shot. I see this as a dps buff. It will be interesting to see how Terminal Velocity works out. Also, crit might become less important for us. From what I have read from others and experienced personally, the amount of crit we strived to achieve was all based on Terminal Velocity and the need to vent heat as soon it was off CD.

 

I look forward to what Aerro and Myk have to say about this after some testing. The two top Arsenal Mercs I have been following and trying to mirror. (at least in my humble opinion)

 

So some of this lost power you speak of, might just be rearranged from some crit that we may not need to carry. Also, right now I sit at 99.82% accuracy. When I remove 51 accuracy, I drop down to 98.32%. So it won't take much in the way of mods (57 accuracy on the blackhole and campaign mods) to make up a loss of 1%-3%.

 

So for the Arsenal guys that are freaking out, don't throw the baby out with the bath water. I think this will be better than you think it will for us.

 

Cheers!