Okema Posted February 21, 2013 Share Posted February 21, 2013 (edited) I haven't played on the PTS yet, but the assassin changes don't look too good compared to what I heard, especially compared to what the other classes got in terms of defensive CDs (also the TTK goes way up imo; higher expertise, changes in alacrity etc.). The phase walk thing is fun and nice, but I don't think it offers the utility needed to make DPS shadows viable. Also I'm hearing that they decreased crit a lot, making alacrity a must, means you really need to get VS to put out discharges fast enough. Also, no more instant-force lift. With reduced crit if it's really true, the kinetic-hybrid might be dead too. With the defensive stats finally working, guess what shadow's job will be from now on (crit thing isn't right, got wrong informations)... Hope I'm wrong on what I wrote here, but this might really kill any chance to get a dps shadow in any ranked team (plus it makes the hybrid-spec kinda lackluster). Edited February 21, 2013 by Okema Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Panzerfire Posted February 21, 2013 Share Posted February 21, 2013 Alright from what I've tested and experienced so far. Madness lost Duplicity making its damage even lengthier, stuff dies before you can properly damage it. DR's on all stats got changed, not sure if it's a bug or intentional but my pvp gear went like this: lvl 50 on main server - lvl 55 on PTS Accuracy : 99% - 95% (98% with the +3% in our tree) Crit chance: 37% - 26% Surge : 76% - 66% This is a rough sketch, anyway, DR's have been adjusted for 69/72 gear and in order for this gear not to dominate pvp the DR on expertise got removed (start building up EWH gear). Deception has some nice buffs and you can get a lot of mauls in, but yeah, tank will be best. Also, smashes hit for 10-12k on recruits/pve gear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiaRB Posted February 21, 2013 Share Posted February 21, 2013 (edited) havent played on PTS yet, but from patch notes, seems inf spec is going to be totally pointless to play now. 30% less damage from projects/upheavals. plus without high crit its really pointless because noncrit damage isnt very good. never have played balance much so dont really know how that might be. i guess with changes to the way shields work we'll might be back to just a tank AC with two useless DPS trees. Edited February 21, 2013 by MiaRB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frerbear Posted February 21, 2013 Share Posted February 21, 2013 Balance looks like it will be doing some more dps so that shouldnt be a problem. I havent been on there yet though. Doesnt look like alot is being done on balance except for sever force doing more damage Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamieKirby Posted February 21, 2013 Share Posted February 21, 2013 havent played on PTS yet, but from patch notes, seems inf spec is going to be totally pointless to play now. 30% less damage from projects/upheavals. plus without high crit its really pointless because noncrit damage isnt very good. never have played balance much so dont really know how that might be. i guess with changes to the way shields work we'll might be back to just a tank AC with two useless DPS trees. Just because you won't have any idea on how to play a spec, doesn't mean its useless, you L2P first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArchangelLBC Posted February 21, 2013 Share Posted February 21, 2013 Can someone post the changes in the skill trees? I'm curious what hybrids they've killed and which are now viable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frerbear Posted February 21, 2013 Share Posted February 21, 2013 Balance looks like it will be doing some more dps so that shouldnt be a problem. I havent been on there yet though. Doesnt look like alot is being done on balance except for sever force doing more damage Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CJNJ Posted February 21, 2013 Share Posted February 21, 2013 Balance looks like it will be doing some more dps so that shouldnt be a problem. I havent been on there yet though. Doesnt look like alot is being done on balance except for sever force doing more damage All of the balance dots got buffed sure, but at the same time we lost SS from our list of useable moves as well. I'm no shadow expert, but I know that the nearly-free SS was a great move for force management. Personally I think we Hanna need to start using saber strike alittle more often now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Przemo_No Posted February 21, 2013 Share Posted February 21, 2013 I am concerned about debuffing Force Breach. Ok, no cooldown, but now we need to build up the Shadow Technique? this will make things last way longer... and we're supposed to deal damage... not wait for dealing it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Missandei Posted February 21, 2013 Share Posted February 21, 2013 (edited) A new ability, Phase Walk, has been added. Phase Walk allows the Shadow to place a mark that can be instantly returned to at a later time, after which Phase Walk goes on cooldown. This ability is usable in stealth mode and trainable at level 51. Could someone elaborate is it required to be in Stealth to use this new ability? If so - it is absolute useless ability. Edited February 21, 2013 by Missandei Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ytrezapoiuyt Posted February 21, 2013 Share Posted February 21, 2013 Stealth is needed otherwise it would have been too much, especially in huttball or in the last pvp map when you have an orb or the ball. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Missandei Posted February 21, 2013 Share Posted February 21, 2013 (edited) Stealth is needed otherwise it would have been too much, especially in huttball or in the last pvp map when you have an orb or the ball. Huttball and Orb is wasted upon entering the Stealth. So it could work the same way with PhaseWalk.. Because if stealth is needed for PhaseWalk - the ability is absolutely useless... Edited February 21, 2013 by Missandei Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roestzwiebel Posted February 21, 2013 Share Posted February 21, 2013 (edited) Stealth is (currently on PTS) not required. It can be used out of stealth or in stealth (doesn't break it). Don't know how it works in Huttball. Only had one game and when I got the ball it felt like getting smashed by 4200123k Damage But I think if you carry the ball, you will lose it if you click "Phase Walk" off. Edited February 21, 2013 by roestzwiebel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Missandei Posted February 21, 2013 Share Posted February 21, 2013 (edited) Stealth is (currently on PTS) not required. It can be used out of stealth or in stealth (doesn't break it). *Relieved and happy*.. Thought so, but want the proof.. *happy* Edited February 21, 2013 by Missandei Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anstalt Posted February 21, 2013 Share Posted February 21, 2013 I am concerned about debuffing Force Breach. Ok, no cooldown, but now we need to build up the Shadow Technique? this will make things last way longer... and we're supposed to deal damage... not wait for dealing it Force Breach is gonna need testing to assess it's affectiveness. Current cooldown is 9seconds in full inf spec. In new spec, you need a charge to use it, gained from shadow technique. shadow technique has internal cooldown of 4.5s but is also *guarunteed* when using project after 2xCS. So, by my reckoning, 2xCS + Project should be enough to get you 1-2 charges so that you can use FB, so that is a FB every 6 seconds if you have the force to use it. So, its going to come down to actual damage dealt relative to the number of shadow technique charges you have stacked. If 2 stacks is enough to equal what we have now, then the change is slightly better. If 3 stacks is needed, then the change is probably worse. 4 stacks or more and it is a major nerf. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zaxem Posted February 21, 2013 Share Posted February 21, 2013 Force Breach is gonna need testing to assess it's affectiveness. Current cooldown is 9seconds in full inf spec. In new spec, you need a charge to use it, gained from shadow technique. shadow technique has internal cooldown of 4.5s but is also *guarunteed* when using project after 2xCS. So, by my reckoning, 2xCS + Project should be enough to get you 1-2 charges so that you can use FB, so that is a FB every 6 seconds if you have the force to use it. So, its going to come down to actual damage dealt relative to the number of shadow technique charges you have stacked. If 2 stacks is enough to equal what we have now, then the change is slightly better. If 3 stacks is needed, then the change is probably worse. 4 stacks or more and it is a major nerf. only stacks up to a max of 3 times now at least on my sin on the pts it does Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Damastes Posted February 21, 2013 Share Posted February 21, 2013 (edited) My Shadow is the only character I'm currently unable to copy over, and the only one I actually want to copy over. But I was able to copy a low-level Assassin, and, just for some reference, here were some notes I took of the talent changes, from the perspective of an Infiltration Shadow (Edit: That would be a PVE-oriented Infiltration Shadow): Balance We could take Force Synergy (3/3) and now Psychokinesis (2/2). Psychokinesis is changed to the following: Reduces the cost of Double Strike, Spinning Strike, and Clairvoyant Strike by 2 and Project by 6. Kinetic Combat We could take Technique Mastery (3/3) and Applied Force (2/2). Infiltration New talent that increases Shadow Strike damage by 6% at three points invested.Circling Shadows can now also be granted by Shadow Strike and Whirling Blow.Shadow Technique: Attacks have a 25% chance to deal X damage and build 1 Static Charge (Assassin name). Stacks up to 3 times and increases damage dealt by your next Force Breach. Cannot occur more than once ever 4.5 seconds.Blackout now restores 15 Force (up from 10).Whirling Edge (Assassin name) replaces Situational Awareness. At two points invested, reduces the cost of Whirling Blow by 10 and increases its damage by 30%.Profundity now takes two talent points, rather than three, to achieve the same result.Sith Executioner (Assassin name) is a new talent that, with two points invested, increases damage dealt to targets below 30% health by 6%, and reduces the cost of Spinning Strike by 10.Impose Weakness is a new talent that, with one point invested, causes Low Slash and Spinning Kick to have a 100% chance to automatically trigger Find Weakness on a separate, 10-second rate limit. I am guessing this means that you can get two procs of Find Weakness, which can then grant two Circling Shadows.Nerve Wracking is a talent moved from the Kinetic Combat tree that, with two points invested, increases damage by 6% to targets controlled by Spinning Kick or Force Stun.Each use of Clairvoyant Strike builds Voltage. At two stacks, this gives Project a 100% chance to trigger Shadow Technique off of its normal rate limit. Those notes are all based on putting full points into each of the relevant talents. I stopped labeling things for Assassins at some point, but I think I kept using Shadow skills. Apologies I was also basing changes off of Torhead's talents, rather than from memory, so I hope they were up to date. Please point out errors. Edited February 21, 2013 by Damastes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadowsite Posted February 21, 2013 Share Posted February 21, 2013 (edited) @Damastes right on all points but one. Nerve Wracking is not a new talent. It's been in Darkness/KC for a long time, mate. EDIT: Oh damn sry. I didn't notice the Infiltration title above (don't know how) but anyway Nerve Wracking used to be in KC/Darkness so, technically it's not a new talent, it's just been moved and modified to affect Force Stun/Electrecute Edited February 21, 2013 by Shadowsite Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frerbear Posted February 21, 2013 Share Posted February 21, 2013 All of the balance dots got buffed sure, but at the same time we lost SS from our list of useable moves as well. I'm no shadow expert, but I know that the nearly-free SS was a great move for force management. Personally I think we Hanna need to start using saber strike alittle more often now I was not aware that we were losing our procced SS, I didn't see anything in the patch notes and i have not been on the PTS yet. If we are losing that, then it is definitely a problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Damastes Posted February 21, 2013 Share Posted February 21, 2013 @Damastes right on all points but one. Nerve Wracking is not a new talent. It's been in Darkness/KC for a long time, mate. EDIT: Oh damn sry. I didn't notice the Infiltration title above (don't know how) but anyway Nerve Wracking used to be in KC/Darkness so, technically it's not a new talent, it's just been moved and modified to affect Force Stun/Electrecute Thanks for the correction! I'm relieved to say my memory didn't completely fail me, as I've never used that talent in any build Frerbear: Infiltration Tactics is now a Tier 4 Infiltration talent, so it is definitely a loss for Balance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frerbear Posted February 21, 2013 Share Posted February 21, 2013 That is absolutely horse ****, it is going to bring down balance dps and now there is no use for SS, too much force. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WooduckAUS Posted February 21, 2013 Share Posted February 21, 2013 I'm going to try and get on the PTS soon, but from what i'm reading and hearing is......... balance gets nerf infil get possible small buff but not verified and needs testing SENTS GET MAJOR UPGRADES AND NOW DO MORE DPS. Am i reading this right...? Because if i am, not a happy camper over here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WooduckAUS Posted February 21, 2013 Share Posted February 21, 2013 Still not on the PTS yet..... Found this link http://pts.swtor-spy.com/skill-tree-calculator/ If these are correct, then this looks really interesting and will require a lot more time to decide whether or not this will work. Skill trees are completely different. Not angry anymore, very curious instead....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Okema Posted February 21, 2013 Author Share Posted February 21, 2013 Ohh on another good news, tank shadow got their armor reduced by 20%. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leafy_Bug Posted February 21, 2013 Share Posted February 21, 2013 Ohh on another good news, tank shadow got their armor reduced by 20%. I hope this is a joke. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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