Zealous Leap Ruins Lives

[Airam]

I have been a loyal swtor player since launch. I main a focus spec sentinel on the Ebon Hawk server. This issue has not been addressed due to the rarity of focus in pve, and the paucity of focus sentinels in general. But, after days of testing in operations, world boss fights, and flashpoints, I can assure you that zealous leap needs to be fixed.

 

Zealous leap is fine in terms of damage, attack type, role in the focus rotation, cooldown time, etc. What is not fine is the inability to control or predict where zealous leap will land you. Unlike force leap or even the cauterize animation, zealous leap DOES move you away from where you were when you activate the ability. This has caused many deaths or near-deaths. I can think of a few situations where it has killed me:

 

• The Fabricator firing phases
  
• The red circles on the zorn/toth fight
  
• The red circles in the Dreadtooth fight, especially on high stacks
  
• Savrak
  
• Doctor Lorrick
  
• Gharj lava
  

 

Essentially, anytime that there is something hazardous nearby, such as the black purple aoe during the Kephess fight, I have to watch when I use zealous leap. The animation roots you for a second, so you have very little time to react. A lot of nitpicky positioning has to be done to use zealous leap or to readjust after using it (it has caused me to be cleaved by bosses quite often as well). The answer is not that I need to be a better player; several others have commented on the problems with zealous leap. Talenting into the increased movement speed after using zealous leap does NOT solve the issue--I have tried--for two reasons. One, it does not alter the fact that you are rooted in place after using zealous leap, and two, it does not mean you have any more control over your own placement.

 

The new focus build on the pts does not address these issues. Even if zealous leap can now be buffed so that you can use it when immobilized, it does not change the fact that YOU are immobilized after using it. I have tried the focus rotation on the PTS, but I have not played on the PTS extensively.

 

I will happily post a fraps that illuminates the issue so that you can see it is not an issue with the player (well, for the most part). :-)

Edited March 4, 2013 by Airam

[KeyboardNinja]

+1 to this issue. It's one of those really annoying things that an informed raid leader needs to presently consider when taking a focus knight / rage warrior into an operation. Because of this issue, focus sentinels see the following *direct* balance issues:

 

• Low DPS uptime on Toth during the red circle phase (since they effectively cannot use their auto-crit at all during this phase)
  
• Added stress to healers during the shield phase of F&S
  
• Added stress to the tank during the minefield (and lower DPS in some circumstances)
  
• Low DPS uptime on Kephess during the final burn phase (without modified tank positioning)
  
• Severe healing stress on Writhing Horror HM (due to Zealous landing in the pheromones; or worse, landing *out* of the pheromones)
  
• Low DPS uptime in the second phase of the Dread Guard (green circles)
  

 

Honestly, this seems like a pretty serious balance issue w.r.t. the various sentinel specs, since the other two specs pull higher single target DPS (on live) and *additionally* have more reliable positioning control and better uptime during circle phases.

[TheTbone]

Unless Zealous Leap is doing something really weird, Focus Leap does the exact same thing. Essentially the ability will either charge you to the FRONT of the target or the BACK of the target, depending on which one you are closer to.

 

This means that, yes, you need to be spatially aware of where the front and back of the target is and make sure it is clear before using your leap. It's an ability that can't be used ALL the time. Positioning and timing are key. There are several fights where I time my leap out so I can use it and then quickly run back to my spot. Still there are other fights where I just play it safe and don't use it at all for certain sections.

 

I suppose if it is key to your rotation and damage then that's a bummer, but I like that it requires some skill and thought every once in a while.

Edited March 4, 2013 by TheTbone

[KeyboardNinja]

I suppose if it is key to your rotation and damage then that's a bummer, but I like that it requires some skill and thought every once in a while.

 

The Focus rotation is built around generating 4 stacks of Singularity together with the auto-crit proc on Force Sweep. The stacks come from Zen, Stasis or Force Exhaustion and build extremely quickly. The auto-crit comes from either Force Leap or Zealous Leap, which is the limiting factor in the rotation (since the CD on Zealous Leap is much longer than Force Sweep, though it is reduced by several abilities, including Slash and Blade Storm). The problem is really that, without the auto-crit, Force Sweep is a rather underwhelming ability (even with 4 stacks of singularity). And without Force Sweep, Focus is an absurdly low DPS spec. The spec is really a one-trick pony in terms of high damage (though the variation in the priority queue is slightly higher than Watchman or Combat). There's no way to avoid or even delay using Zealous Leap without destroying your DPS output.

[Airam]

I have adjusted accordingly; however, I find the "challenge" presented by Zealous Leap is not a measurement of "skill and thought". I have played watchman, so if you're relating the strategy of using/not using force leap to the strategy of using/not using zealous leap, I find that the quality of life as a watchman sentinel vis-a-vis the "skill and thought" required in timing and using your leap is much higher than that of a focus sentinel. Moreover, Peripheral Samurai is correct in assessing the relative cruciality of ZL to the focus sentinel rotation. It is one thing to compensate when going, for instance, from HM Zorn and Toth to NiM with regard to the timing of ZL in red circle phases; it is another entirely to fear being cleaved because ZL has a shaky relationship with Toth's hitbox, especially if the tank is moving AT ALL. The second is something over which I have no control and I cannot afford not to ZL.

 

And no, I will not respec.

[Aaramis]

Good post, and definitely worth looking into. Would be nice to see a dev response here...

 

Focus is all-too often thought of only as a PvP spec, when in truth it has some good applications for PvE. And with the changes in 2.0, it's looking even nicer (+15% surge; +9% dmg after a Sweep; +15% crit chance for Dispatch and Slash; Slash now doing additional energy damage; Guarded being even better; and Twin Saber Throw becoming a focus-builder in Focus).

 

Zealous is, and has always been, a bit buggy. Would love to see the animation and landing revamped.