any Commando assault specialist out there?

[Danapa]

Im thinking to switching from gunnery to assault for pvp and i need some feedback is it better for pvp? wich skills do you use for pvp as an assault commando? do you think you have gained more mobility? because you have to keep using charged bolts and full auto wich are both stationary what about plasma grenade? is it worth the 4 ammo points? does it stack with the other dots? and i think this is obvious but its assault plastique much better than sticky grenade? thank you Edited December 19, 2011 by Danapa

[SAMSONYT]

Im a commando assault specialst, Personaly I prefer specialist, but it all depends on what you want to do, for you I would stick with the tree you have already started because you cant take back your skill points you would probally be better of not switching but if you do I find specialist much better it provides you with abilities for alot of situations but you should really max out specialist otherwise its probaly not worth it

[Semoa]

Im a commando assault specialst, Personaly I prefer specialist, but it all depends on what you want to do, for you I would stick with the tree you have already started because you cant take back your skill points you would probally be better of not switching but if you do I find specialist much better it provides you with abilities for alot of situations but you should really max out specialist otherwise its probaly not worth it

 

You do know about the NPC on the fleet who will let you reset your Training points right?

[JoxerNL]

Im thinking to switching from gunnery to assault for pvp and i need some feedback is it better for pvp? wich skills do you use for pvp as an assault commando? do you think you have gained more mobility? because you have to keep using charged bolts and full auto wich are both stationary what about plasma grenade? is it worth the 4 ammo points? does it stack with the other dots? and i think this is obvious but its assault plastique much better than sticky grenade? thank you

 

I'll answer what i can :

You gain more mobility in general in Assault Tree

 

Assault Plastique is an upgrade from the sticky grenade, so you wont use that anymore. (it says they share the same cooldown timer, so why even use the lower dmg one?)

[ChimaeraUK]

I play commando assault, although i'm still trying to get a good rotation, there's no obvious priority for all occasions, you have to play a bit smarter i think, it's certainly the lower DPS of the two tree's.

 

I start off with Incendiary round to set them on fire, then follow it up with a sticky grenade and high impact bolt, the 3 combined are quite ammo intensive but if timed right they give quite a lot of burst damage. I then use full auto and charged bolts with hammer shots to try and generate a free high impact bolt (3 x points in Ionic Accelerator).

 

I put 2 points in rapid recharge to try and offset the ammo loss, usually a few hammer shots after the initial burst is enough to get it back up again.

 

I think the real key, especially in PvP and bosses is to keep them ablaze using incendiary round as that allows you to use high impact bolt when it's available to maximise damage.

 

I'm not going to pretend that i know everything or that this is the best way to do it, but it works ok for me, there aren't a lot of resources detailing assault commandos.

[sithkllr]

I started off with Assault spec but switched to gunnery for PVP. It have better knockbacks, bigger emergency heals, and higher dps. You can really assist in taking players down by softeneing them up with grav round. Plus High Impact Bolt can be used every time its up since you will just be using Grav round as your main attack and it allows HiB to be used.

 

There is nothing about Assualt that I miss except maybe for the Reactive Barrier skill that frees you from snares.

Edited January 16, 2012 by sithkllr

[Kroniclyblunted]

Ive played both specs so far in pvp, imo Assault Specialist is my favorite. Yes gunnery has some nice Burst damage, shorter CD's on knockbacks & range, & of course the armor pen debuff, but majority of the time you are in a stationary position using your abilities. With the AS spec you have the advantage of being mobile which is far more valuable in warzones. Here is why I say this, examples in voidstar, you can DOT up multiple targets which will help prevent the other team from arming doors & extending the bridges, this really shines when you are the last defender and your teammates are on the other side or waiting to come out of spawn. The same applies to Alderaan and the control points, while defending I can DOT multiple targets, kite the enemy while still being able to cast Assault Plast., Incendiary Round, hammer shot with movement debuff to my current target etc etc. Your gameplay options as AS is far greater than Gunnery which is so stationary, id say it gives your team in warzones a better chance to win as well. Well thats just my 2 cents on Assault Specialist spec for Trooper Commandoes. Edited January 16, 2012 by Kroniclyblunted

[LordZym]

One comment for the above. If you get the amount of ping i do in the game because of bugs in places like Aldeeran stationary is the best position to be

[Afran]

Assault Plastique is an upgrade from the sticky grenade, so you wont use that anymore. (it says they share the same cooldown timer, so why even use the lower dmg one?)

 

Just so people don't read this and take Sticky Grenade off their bar, Sticky Grenade still has it's uses as Assault (mostly in PvE, but some occassions in PvP) as Assault Plastique doesn't have any splash damage.

[Stovokor]

I've tried both Gunnery and Assault extensively in PvP and this is my take on how viable these specs were and will be...

I think Gunnery worked well against random teams or during the period everyone was racing to 50. During this period, not many players especially melee's that chain sequences had acquired high level gear. It was easy to rake up obscene damage scores and be a factor.

 

My server is full of premades on the imperial side and since valor 30 I have gone Assault. Why ? Cause good premade or double premade's are NOT gonna allow you to plant yourselves and get off Grav sequences. Once geared melee are in your face or some tank pulls you the Gunnery Commando's / Bounty mirror tend to have that blank look on their face. ( Ask your melee friends if they recognize the what to do now look ?? )

 

 

Gunnery

> Unhindered you will undoubtedly rake up huge dps numbers

> If you consistently have a support group to keep you up this spec is sweet

> Your utility if que alone is negligible. Objective / Utility wise you have very little to offer other then just damage especially if you are outnumbered.

> Due to the talent, you rarely run out of ammo

> You need to be inconspicuous or let other people take the brunt of the attention to build the armor debuff / HiB / build your own shield

> Likely shines in Huttball with good positioning

 

 

Assault

> Your Utility is obscene in Voidstar and Alderaan. Stopping multiple players from capping is your forte.

> While defending, due to mobility you will be able to delay even 2 -3 enemies by using LOS + DOT's.

> You get to LOL when stealthers who disappear die a few seconds later from Assault Plastique

> Your ability to snare someone is truly mobile while Gunnery snare is dependent on Full-Auto which requires casting.

> Tendency to run low on ammo

> Die very rarely for some reason or another in this spec.. could be the shield refreshes faster.

 

 

With assault spec, I know I can make a difference in Voidstar / Alderaan either solo que or duo with Shadow. Majority of the time enough to bring out the win even against premades with gear. Basically I am freeing up one additional player due to my ability to delay them or survive longer. Sometimes I get highest damage sometimes not but surprisingly in games when I am not the highest DPS i will get 2 - 3 MVP so I think people do notice the contribution.

 

The above is with 314 expertise and prior to Jan 18 patch

 

 

** Typo : Meant 2 - 3 MVP not medals even when I am not highest DPS.

Medal range is 6 - 9 depending on the games

Edited January 21, 2012 by Stovokor

[raptorcrewchief]

Assault spec is absolutely amazing IMO. I've had a lot more success with warzones, being more mobile and doing more damage. Gunnery is great if you just want to sit in the back but Assault is better if you want to jump in and enjoy the fun.

[weaponxr]

Ive played both specs so far in pvp, imo Assault Specialist is my favorite. Yes gunnery has some nice Burst damage, shorter CD's on knockbacks & range, & of course the armor pen debuff, but majority of the time you are in a stationary position using your abilities. With the AS spec you have the advantage of being mobile which is far more valuable in warzones. Here is why I say this, examples in voidstar, you can DOT up multiple targets which will help prevent the other team from arming doors & extending the bridges, this really shines when you are the last defender and your teammates are on the other side or waiting to come out of spawn. The same applies to Alderaan and the control points, while defending I can DOT multiple targets, kite the enemy while still being able to cast Assault Plast., Incendiary Round, hammer shot with movement debuff to my current target etc etc. Your gameplay options as AS is far greater than Gunnery which is so stationary, id say it gives your team in warzones a better chance to win as well. Well thats just my 2 cents on Assault Specialist spec for Trooper Commandoes.

 

yup that is my tactic as well, It really helps out a lot.

[homfridus]

I've tried both Gunnery and Assault extensively in PvP and this is my take on how viable these specs were and will be...

I think Gunnery worked well against random teams or during the period everyone was racing to 50. During this period, not many players especially melee's that chain sequences had acquired high level gear. It was easy to rake up obscene damage scores and be a factor.

 

My server is full of premades on the imperial side and since valor 30 I have gone Assault. Why ? Cause good premade or double premade's are NOT gonna allow you to plant yourselves and get off Grav sequences. Once geared melee are in your face or some tank pulls you the Gunnery Commando's / Bounty mirror tend to have that blank look on their face. ( Ask your melee friends if they recognize the what to do now look ?? )

 

 

Gunnery

> Unhindered you will undoubtedly rake up huge dps numbers

> If you consistently have a support group to keep you up this spec is sweet

> Your utility if que alone is negligible. Objective / Utility wise you have very little to offer other then just damage especially if you are outnumbered.

> Due to the talent, you rarely run out of ammo

> You need to be inconspicuous or let other people take the brunt of the attention to build the armor debuff / HiB / build your own shield

> Likely shines in Huttball with good positioning

 

 

Assault

> Your Utility is obscene in Voidstar and Alderaan. Stopping multiple players from capping is your forte.

> While defending, due to mobility you will be able to delay even 2 -3 enemies by using LOS + DOT's.

> You get to LOL when stealthers who disappear die a few seconds later from Assault Plastique

> Your ability to snare someone is truly mobile while Gunnery snare is dependent on Full-Auto which requires casting.

> Tendency to run low on ammo

> Die very rarely for some reason or another in this spec.. could be the shield refreshes faster.

 

 

With assault spec, I know I can make a difference in Voidstar / Alderaan either solo que or duo with Shadow. Majority of the time enough to bring out the win even against premades with gear. Basically I am freeing up one additional player due to my ability to delay them or survive longer. Sometimes I get highest damage sometimes not but surprisingly in games when I am not the highest DPS i will get 2 -3 medals so I think people do notice the contribution.

 

The above is with 314 expertise and prior to Jan 18 patch

 

Awesome post, best explanation I've read yet. This is why I run assault, you can support your team with extreme utility. The not dying as much is true as well, as you are always running around and dotting and losing - people are to lazy to target and follow you.

Edited January 20, 2012 by homfridus

[raptorcrewchief]

Awesome post, best explanation I've read yet. This is why I run assault, you can support your team with extreme utility. The not dying as much is true as well, as you are always running around and dotting and losing - people are to lazy to target and follow you.

 

People are too lazy to target and follow you, huh?

 

Maybe I'm crazy but the last dozen warzones I've played, it feels as soon as I get close to a group of people everyone stops attacking my team and gangs up on me. Maybe I did something to annoy them...

 

Lol I do notice when I blast the enemy off a bridge or into some acid they seem to target me as soon as they re-spawn

Edited January 20, 2012 by raptorcrewchief

[Corran]

People are too lazy to target and follow you, huh?

 

Maybe I'm crazy but the last dozen warzones I've played, it feels as soon as I get close to a group of people everyone stops attacking my team and gangs up on me. Maybe I did something to annoy them...

 

Lol I do notice when I blast the enemy off a bridge or into some acid they seem to target me as soon as they re-spawn

 

it's the general hatred of grav round spam. even if you are full assault they see a big guy in armor and you are their priority

[dscry]

I wish BW would fix the AS tree to be more viable for a dps choice, as far as I am concerned it just does not do enough damage and although your mobility goes up, it doesnt make up for the loss in damage.

 

1. Instead of charged bolts, speccing to increasing the damage on Explosive Round and using that as the CD kick off for HiB would be smarter and play more into the moblity of this tree.

 

2. Taking off the shared cooldown of Assault Platique - this is just stupid, as Demo rounds does not share the same cd as HiB or anything else ... why should it

 

3. Decrease cost and remove activation timer of Plasma grenade ... one of my biggest gripes about our class in whole is that our best grenade, even tho it has a cd has a activation timer, such a great ability and I only use it on stealthers because 4 ammo is too high for most situations

 

4. change the dot dmg increase in the second to last tier to instead increase kinetic damage by 30% for targets with less than 30% hp

 

5. Give better ammo distrobution from abilites in this tree, altho I do tend to run out eventually as a gunnery spec, when I was Assault it was horrible, you have to run at the enemy and force them to kill you just to recharge ammo.

 

Sadly even tho the utility goes way up, your dps is cut way down, and if you only do WZs its fine but using the spec in instances its just so less dps that I can not in good faith use it and god forbid your full auto doesnt click off HiB then you are standing there for 3-5 seconds using charged bolt ... might as well do more dmg as a gunnery

[dejavy]

61 lvl valor Gunnery i am. Biochem rakata adrenals etc are always with me and of all kinds(crit, power, alacricity, surge) Assault is good but i chose gunnery and it's far from because of spaming one button. In most cases i don't spam because premades don't allow me to but still combo of 1 grav - demo - HIB - plasma grenade (instant use) makes everyone cry and takes only 2gcd. If they all crit (have 45% tech crit with smuggler buff) i bring about 10-13k damage and burning dot in 2 seconds. Then i use alacricity adrenal with crit\surge relic in this build http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#800Mc0MZMIkbRrdRkszZb.1 and my gravs become 1.09 sec cast time. Healers don't have a time for 1 strong heal even, they just die. Unfortunately AS can't kill a healer no matter what he does. More over stockstrike in gunnery works like cast breaking ability bumping the caster 4 meters ahead. But the most funny thing to conc charge foes from bridges or anywhere else 12meters around you. And having 2 items of pvp set your conc charge works every 15 secs which also works as aoe cast breaking thing. Prelast fact that made me a confirmed gunner is 10% shield on me and penetra debuff on foes that allows my mates destroy tanks like paper dolls. And the last argument is my slowering full auto ability which brings about 5-6k under talent proc.

 

AS is mobile but it has no chance against snipers and anyone else in the open field saying nothing about sorcs. Yes, gunnery is easily made uneffective hiding from him but in other aspects it awns if your hands are straight and know some other buttons except grav. You'll be surprised but i prefer acting in melee stockstriking casters and bumping melees from my healer. More over i'm not so noticable while in mess.

 

P.S.

I played AS since 55-59 valor lvl. Tested it in detail. That's the reason why i'm so confirmed about the specs differences.

 

P.S. 2 Uping my vanguard hybrid assault\tactic - THAT will be the best assault usage

Edited February 1, 2012 by dejavy

[FIGHTorFIGHT]

I am nearing 60 valour ~550 expertise and I agree with the above about gunnery being better.

 

With assault you gain mobility but at a massive cost in burst damage and knockbacks.

 

While you can rack up good damage numbers with assault dots, you are hugely ineffective against healers and especially sorcs since you can't punch through their bubble quickly.

 

You will blow like 5-7 ammo against a sorc with bubble and do zero damage with assault, whereas 7 ammo using gunnery and will easily break bubble and do a ton of damage as well.

 

The 3 ammo cost of incendiary round is a huge drawback. A 2 ammo grav round will do similar damage instantly and give a debuff and buff.

 

Assault is also trash in pve which means big respec costs if you do any raiding.

 

A lot of people worry that they will be focus fired if they use gunnery, but this is a good thing in arranged pvp since that will put less pressure on the healers, and with heavy armor + reactive shield + guard you can take a ton of punishment which is an advantage over softy DPS classes which die much faster when focused.

 

The moment you stop being focused you are able to dish out huge burst instead of weak dots.

[xpycb]

excuse me, may be it's a wrong post, but can u answer does the DOT(plasma cell, incendianary round, plasma grenade) stackeble to each other? and stackable to itself(plasma cell, incendiary round)?

[lnknprk]

excuse me, may be it's a wrong post, but can u answer does the DOT(plasma cell, incendianary round, plasma grenade) stackeble to each other? and stackable to itself(plasma cell, incendiary round)?

 

I'm not sure, but this is my opinion based on common sense of the game. Plasma Cell, Incen Round, and Plasma Grenade should have their own DoT, so they stack with each other. Plasma Cell and Incen Round will just refresh their DoT, so if you use 2 Incen Rounds you won't have 2 different DoTs on the target it will be the same DoT, just refreshed. As for Plasma Grenade, the CD on it makes it so you will never run into the situation where you can cast back to back of them before the DoT runs it's course. This is all of course based on your attacks. If there's another Assault Spec Trooper, then it's different. If there's another Assaul Spec, then it's the same situation as when 2 Gunnery speced Commandos are together. 2 sets of Grav Round debuffs.

Edited February 2, 2012 by lnknprk

[schwiz]

I think assault is a lot of fun in pvp. It is really annoying though fighting against smart players that clense your dots nerfing the rest of your damage.

[lnknprk]

I think assault is a lot of fun in pvp. It is really annoying though fighting against smart players that clense your dots nerfing the rest of your damage.

 

Well isn't that the same as playing Gunnery. In one spec you're screwed by healers, since they are usually the ones that pay attention to what needs to be cleansed. In another spec you're screwed by DPS/Tanks that know how to interrupt.